Checking in from the Big Apple (literally)

I'm at the brand new 24-hour, underground Apple Store on 5th Avenue so I have to make this real quick.

Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity was probably at last night's game at Madison Square Garden, so I don't have to tell you about last night's game. The 1-point, overtime loss to St. John's threw me into a tizzy of emotions: Hopefulness, Excitement, Anger, Sadness, and finally, Drunkenness. My buddy Mark and I met up with friends old and new at the alumni reception beforehand in MSG's South Terrace. We had amazing seats (first time to MSG, I had to make it worth my while) and were surrounded by Red Storm fans.

The game was tons of fun, and we enjoyed bantering back and forth with the other folks around us and waving our little red foam "Go Terriers" sticks. The only thing missing was getting that W. Still, we took a Big East team to OT (which elicited a round of "Holy Shit!!!" text messages to various friends) and Omari had a good look at the buzzer that would have won it.

After the game, the Terrier fans scoured the bars around MSG in search of a dartboard, but we were unsuccessful. Our group of alums, current students and bad-ass administrators eventually wound up at the Blarney Rock. The other patrons were wondering how their fave bar could turn into a "Bahston Bah" so quick.

Our next game against St. Joseph's is in 2 and a half hours. The High Roller is on a bus headed toward NYC as we speak, I can only hope he makes it in time. I'll be back in a day or two with a better recap and pics from the weekend.

A little MSG never hurt anyone

Tonight our Terriers will rock the Big Apple's Madison Square Garden when they dig their heels in against the Red Storm of St. John's. What should we expect? I expect a frenzied game between two teams with something to prove, making for one hell of a spectacle for anyone lucky enough to still be in college/have Thursday and Friday off from work/live in the NYC area.

I know a fair amount of BU folk attending so it looks as though our players won't be alone down there. Tall-boy is there as we speak, enjoying the excitement and the alumni reception. Hopefully I'll be able to duck out of work early tomorrow and hightail it down for Friday night's game. Here's to hoping for a big win, and a big New Years Eve weekend in New York City.

Terriers not Ram-bunctious enough for URI

Now that most of the frustration of the Rhode Island game has passed, I'm willing to write about it. A little bit - not too much.

We ended up losing the game by 14, but we were down about 5-10 most of the game. The only guy earning his free room on Buswell St was Tyler Morris, who played a hell of a game. On the "Shitting the bed" list was Corey Lowe, who couldn't find the hoop if he was bungee'd to it.

All in all, the game was a significant step back from the UMass game in which we kept it close by asserting the pace of the game. Against URI, we couldn't hit enough of our 3-pointers to stay close from the beginning. We need to get back to dictating OUR game if we want any chance of knocking off St. John's!

Enough of this schoolwork garbage, back to hoops

Now that finals are over, we can get back to the reason these guys are really at BU: to play basketball. The team has been silent for over two weeks now, and with the exception of Ibe I hope they didn't forget how they were playing before the break. BU nearly knocked off a good UMass team at the Greek on 12/8 by slowing down the tempo of the game, and they'll need to do the same tonight against URI. We can only hope that Wolff doesn't call a timeout before the winning shot again, if it comes to that.

Rhode Island (6-5) has a better record than BU (3-5) so far this year, but their RPI (235) isn't as good (208). In their last two games, URI beat a not great Utah team and lost to a not bad DePaul. They're a young team like BU, tough to figure out - I think they're better than BU, but definitely not unbeatable.

One thing to watch for will be the coaching. D-Wolff flat outcoached Travis Ford in the UMass game, and URI's Jim Baron isn't exactly known for his genius on the sidelines. Interesting note: both coaches are locked in (for better or worse) for loooooong contracts at their schools into the next decade, and both have their sons on the roster. Mini-Baron has been a solid contributor for the Rams with 15 points per game - could this be the game that Mini-Wolff comes back to the Terriers' lineup?

Oh So Close

Before everyone starts blaming Wolff for the loss with his time-out just before Tyler Morris sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4 seconds left in the game (I, too, blame him for the loss, partly. Keep reading.), we can't be too quick to forget the thirty-nine minutes and fifty-six seconds of play that proceeded that heartbreaking moment.

With an ending like that, it's easy to forget what a vomit-inducing, sloppy, sloppy game we played as a team. Tonight's game featured a combined 48 fouls, an abysmal shooting percentage from the floor and from the line, and the worse mohawk since this confusing image.

We started off well, with a good first half until about 5 minutes left. That's when things went downhill. We were lucky to be down only 3 at the half. In the second half, it seemed like we only got back into the game when Corey Lowe got hot. It appears that he's much more of a leader than I thought he was, if he can make the players around him that much better.

Though it wasn't all bad in tonight's game. Hell, we kept up with a somewhat decent A-10 team. Before he got into foul trouble, Big O was playing like I've never seen him play before. He was aggressive and dominant. Brian Macon had a great game too, but as a team, we didn't play at the level that I know that we can. Considering we lost in the final seconds, if we had played to our fullest potential, we could have came out with a win.

I'd also like to add that we had a pretty decent crowd at the game. I'd say about 45% of the crowd was UMassholes, but what did you expect? Perennial self-embarrasser Dean Elmore even made it out, only to lose a 3-point shooting contest to a girl who appeared to have never touched a basketball before. And in case you were wondering, yes, there was a hockey ticket promotion. But if it gets kids to the games, then I don't mind it (although my ratio of Hockey Jerseys to Basketball Jerseys worn by fans is now 7:1. That's not right.).

In the end, yeah, I guess you could put the blame on Wolff. After all, he called a time out with 4 seconds left, just before Morris was able to give us the lead, and then set up a final play in which we couldn't get a decent shot off. But any casual fan will know that it was three of the main things that have held us back in the past few years: turnovers, rebounding, and free throws. That's why we lost

2 in a Row?

Could we possibly beat two A10 teams in a row? I don't know.

What I do know, is that it's going to be one hell of a good game at the Greek when we host the Minutemen (insert your own joke here) of UMass.

This game is not only big for us, it also marks the return of Etienne Brower. Will he be booed? Will he be applauded? Will anyone even know or care who he is? We'll find out in half an hour.

As we are hosting UMass in the Greek, I'm hoping that they're giving away free hockey tickets or something, or else I fear that Agganis will look more empty than Kramer's next comedy show.

My prediction:

BU - 70 UMass - 64

HOME GAME

Quick note so as to not sway our viewers from showing up at the game, because to the right of this page it says at UMASS. It is indeed at Agganis, so show up!


[Update 5:25 PM by Tall-boy] Um, I'm an idiot. My bad. Go to the game!

We will, we will rock you

The Terriers got a nice little mention in Andy Katz's Weekly Watch on ESPN.com this week:

St. Bonaventure falls hard: The Bonnies continue to reel from the welding scandal. This time, they were rocked 74-46 at home by Boston U. after a beat-up Niagara took them out by 11 at home earlier in the week.

It's the first time this year (that I've noticed) we've been mentioned in any of the national media.

In case you forget about it, this is why St. Bonaventure sucks so badly these days.

The St. Bon Adventure

Damn. Well, something Coach Wolff said to the boys have the St. Joe's game lit a fire under their asses - BU came out of Olean, NY with a 74-46 win. It's BU's first win against the A-10 in 3 tries this season, and it's the first blowout win (especially on the road) that I can remember for a looooong time.

Everything was working against St. Bonaventure: the defense clamped down, BU dominated in the paint and on the boards, and shot a whopping SIXTY percent (and fifty-nine from 3-point land)! Tyler Morris dropped 5 bombs from long distance in the second half alone, and finished with 19. And here's the greatest part: Corey Lowe, who had 11 turnovers against St. Joe's, cut that number to 2 (along with 8 assists and 17 points). Macon, Brittain, and Omari played great. Even Ibe was competent out there - got a few nice baskets and didn't make stupid fouls. And he nearly converted a sweet alley-oop from Brian Macon, harkening back to the days of K-Fitz and high-flying Matt Turner.

As for the High Roller's drinking game, it succeeded in getting me "stinko." Especially potent were the rules about Sherrod Smith slicing through the lane, Corey draining a three, and wishing KG was still on the team - because let's face it, I wish KG was still on the team. Three Heineken keg cans later, and we had ourselves a 28-point victory over the A-10!

Get Pumped

The wait between a Monday game and a Saturday game can be frustrating, but it's time to get pumped up for tomorrow's game against St. Bonaventure.

This is a team that we must beat. Of all our A10 match-ups this season, this should be our easiest, but it's not safe to underestimate any game. We need to come out firing at the start of this game and stay out of foul trouble, which is my guess as to why we got blown out in the second half of our St. Josephs game.

So tune in Saturday night at 7:00 PM while you prep for your Saturday night. Like I've always said, there's nothing like a good BU basketball game to pre-game for your night on the town. Here's a little drinking game that I've concocted (still refining the rules) that will no doubt get you crunked before you head out and start paying for overpriced bottles of Bud. I've tried to craft the game so that the worse BU plays, the more drunk you'll get, making a loss easier to deal with.

So without further ado:

Drink Once:

Every time our shot clock runs out without us getting a shot off.
Every time Sherrod Smith slices through the lane for a bucket.
Every time Corey Lowe drains a three (hopefully this one will get you stinko)


Drink Twice:

Every time Scott Brittain travels.
For every new vein that's visible in Coach Wolff's forehead throughout the night.
Every time you think, "God damnit I wish KG was still on the team."


Drink Thrice:

Everytime Ibe makes a lay-up.
Everytime Ibe is called for a foul.
Everytime Ibe saunters back on defense after a turn-over and looks so confused that you'd swear he'd have no idea he was on a basketball court.


Chug Your Beer:

When we win.


Cheers and good luck.