A Boost for Our Bench Scoring: The Maine Preview

I am currently watching Georgetown-Notre Dame on CBS, and they flashed a stat onscreen that caught my eye. It said that Georgetown is ranked #345 out of 347 D-I schools in bench scoring with 17 points per game, and Notre Dame is last in the nation at #347 out of 347 with 13.6 bench points per game.

I immediately called bullshit. As a Terrier fan, I know that absolutely NOBODY has worse bench production than us.

Basketball State doesn't show bench scoring, so I had to add this up myself. All told, even including 5 or 6 games at the beginning when John Holland was coming off the bench, BU non-starters only scored 290 points in 28 games - an average of 10.3 points per game. So SUCK IT CBS, I had no idea where you got that stat from. I'd love to know what they were talking about.

Things could change today, as it's Senior Day and all our senior bench guys will start, meaning we will have Jake O'Brien and John Holland coming off the bench. Here's how I see our starting lineup:

G Mike Schulze
G Tunde Agboola
F Sherrod Smith
F Valdas Sirutis
F Brendan Sullivan

Anything else would be a travesty. Lowe, Strong and Morris don't need to start this game. All 5 of those bench guys should get at least 4 minutes, since this game is essentially meaningless. It would be really awesome if Scott Brittain could suit up for this one too, but I don't see it happening.

So let's have these guys go out and win this Senior Day for Scott.

John Holland should be AE Player of the Year

While famously lampooned in Wayne's World, our trip to Delaware wasn't nearly as lame as it might sound.

(And with that, I just set the single-season record for Wayne's World references - it's not even in my Top 20 movies either!)

We got to see the Terriers put on a hell of a win in their Bracketbuster game, bringing our career BB record to 3-0. We got to beat a team that had beaten us two years in a row. We got a win against the annoying Colonial conference. We defeated a team that had bolted the America East less than a decade ago.

All these things were good, but none matched the sensational John Holland.

After JH23 scored 20 in the first half, we were wondering if he'd make it to 40. He started out on a tear in the second half, so from then on we were just rooting for him to get the ball. He was making mid-range jumpers, put-backs, closely guarded threes... you name it. With 39 points, he drove to the hoop and got fouled, then this happened:



We thought this was a big deal at the time since we were rooting for it all game. His final basket came with a few seconds left in the game as the shot clock was winding down. The defender was challenging John to beat him for a meaningless bucket; John took the bait and burned him with a sweet drive to the bucket.

43 points!!! Are you kidding me?! Easily the greatest single-game effort I've seen by a BU player. After the game, the PA announcer said it was the highest point total in the history of Delaware's Bob Carpenter Center.

Other things:

• BU had a great road crowd again, thanks to the proximity to the Chambers clan's home base in Philly.
• Tyler Morris must have been sick - he only went in the game for 3-4 mins at a time, looked paler than Conan O'Brien and walked over to the giant garbage can to spit several times. If he had puked on the court, this would have topped the 43 point game. You know the flipcam was ready.
• After the game, we took a driving tour of Wilmington, DE, because... why the hell not? Frankly it wasn't that exciting besides seeing a couple cool old buildings. But the tour ended with a brewpub called Iron Mill Brewery which was mighty fine - I recommend their homemade Raspberry Wheat.

My Terrier Pet Peeve: The Delaware Preview

A couple things. First, that Binghamton game was the greatest. It seemed like Every Single Thing went right for the Terriers. Shots were falling, and we played amazing defense. Tyler, John, Jake and Carlos all shined. It's true that Binghamton was finishing a 4 game road trip, but it's still a team that almost beat us a month earlier. A 42 point win is a 42 in though. In the seniors' last game ever at Agganis, they finally proved once and for all that they could score there. Just a joy to watch.

Now, with only one more conference game left, we're locked into the #3 or #4 seed for the tournament. The #3 is wayyyyy better because we wouldn't have to play Stony Brook in the semifinals. So we have to root for Maine to lose one of their next 2 games, and then beat them in our last game. BOOOOOOO to Maine.

Now, I've got to get something off my chest. I love the Terriers, and they play a fun brand of basketball this year. But one thing really sticks in my craw: when the other team makes a bucket, it takes forever to get the ball inbounds. I'm not talking about if the other team is guarding us, it's just that it seems like the guy who's supposed to inbound it seems to forget he's has to inbound and is already running down the court. Then the point guard has to call someone back to inbound it.

I know, it doesn't really matter, but I hate it! It interrupts the flow of the game for me. Look for it next time you watch the Terriers. So note to the inbounders: Don't run down the court and forget to inbound!!

About today: it's BRACKETBUSTER SATURDAY! Or fake bracketbuster Saturday. Instead of a crappy MAAC team we got a crappy CAA team. But it's cool because Delaware is within driving distance for me. So I'll be among a small group of visiting Terrier fans today.

This game, in reality, doesn't really matter at all. The big one is next week. But we can at least use it to keep our momentum going. We're playing well now, we just need to continue that into the tournament.

Pleasure Reading: The Binghamton Preview

For your reading pleasure:

A Cinderella Emerged, Then Quickly Lost Its Way New York Times
Report Faults Binghamton's Leaders in Scandal New York Times
Binghamton's Scandal New York Times
Report: Weak oversight of Binghamton athletics The Associated Press
BU an embarrassment Press & Sun-Bulletin
Binghamton athletics sharply criticized in investigative report USA Today
Hoop nightmares: Big-time basketball dreams brought Binghamton shame, not fame New York Daily News
BU gets failing grade Press & Sun-Bulletin
Basketball program spun out of control at Binghamton University Elmira Star-Gazette
Binghamton Hoops' Dirty Laundry Gets Aired Out Sporting News
Binghamton slammed in SUNY report Albany Times Union
SUNY should focus on books not balls Troy Record
Report slams BU for putting athletics ahead of academics News 10 Now
To Dance, Binghamton Basketball Sold its Soul The Big Lead
Skadden's Judith Kaye Slams Binghamton Hoops Program The Am Law Daily
The entry titled "A cautionary tale for colleges with big sports dreams." Austin American-Statesman
Foul on Binghamton All Over Albany
SUNY Binghamton athletics under fire Buffalo Business First
Bad News Binghamton Inside Higher Ed
Binghamton University academic reputation "compromised" by scandal Elmira Star-Gazette

And finally,
The Ugly Truth Binghamton University Pipe Dream


Enjoy the game.

Heartbreak...

When they left the court, it really looked like the Terriers knew how much that game against Vermont could have meant.

BU played one of their best games of the season, but unfortunately so did the Catmounters.

We stormed back from big deficits to get back into the game, thanks to some huge plays from John Holland and Carlos Strong. Sometime late in the second half, I told myself, "No matter who wins, this is a fantastic college basketball game." With a minute left, we led by 4 and Tyler (who averages 90% at the line) was shooting a free throw. Fast forward to 9 seconds left, and we're down 1. With a chance to win the game, Corey Lowe dribbled the ball off his foot, and the game was over.

Corey was in tears coming off the court, but I don't blame him for the loss. He just made a mistake.

I'm hoping the team can take the Vermont game and use it as motivation for the America East tournament. They've proven they can play with, if not beat, every team in the conference.

To Be the Best You Gotta Beat the Best: The Vermont Preview

Tonight is a huge game for our Terriers. The last two wins... they were nice. It's important to take out the UNH's and the Albany's that are near the bottom of the conference.

But tonight, Vermont comes to town. This is a different story, because BU is 0-4 against the best 3 teams (Vermont, Maine, Stony Brook).

If we fail to pick off any of these teams, we're going to be stuck finishing in the middle of the pack. Depending on how we do over these last 4 games, we end the season as high as #2 or as low as #5.

Vermont killed us in the first matchup this year. We kept Blakely under wraps, but the rest of their guys were hitting every shot they took. Luckily, we are MONEY at The Greek lately. Five of the last six games there have been wins.

Should be a great game - and it's on TV! That means I'm braving the snow to make it to the bar! Go Terriers!

Last Road Game: The Albany Preview

BU athletics marketing came up with the perfect giveaway for Thursday's game against UNH - camouflage shirts. They were a huge hit... when I watched on TV I could hardly see any fans in the stands.

Ba-dum-ching.

BU gave the fans who were there reason to cheer. After a lackluster first half, we dominated the Wildcats in the second. Our shots were falling and theirs weren't, simple as that. Tyler had his first great game back from his injury, John and Jake both shined and Corey had 7 assists to 1 turnover.

Some good trends continued in this game:

• UNH still hasn't beaten us in Boston since 1994
• BU has won 5 out of its last 6 games in The Greek

Tonight we will play in Albany. Despite their last place standing, they will put our crowd to shame, which is kind of depressing. Still, I think we kick some more ass tonight and put some more pressure on the teams ahead of us not to screw up.

Get Excited: The New Hampshire Preview

New Hampshire Wildcats basketball, coming to an Agganis Arena near you... CAN YOU FEEL THE EXCITEMENT??

I know part of the plan to build excitement around the BU basketball team was to hold more games in The Greek, but I'm not sure that's working anymore. We barely had 1,000 for the Albany game, and they were giving away JERSEYS! Methinks the luster of having normal games in Agganis (as a gimmick to get more people to games) may be wearing off.

When it comes down to it, a game against UNH just isn't exciting to the normal student, even if it's at The Greek. That's because it's not so much of a big event anymore, especially when we're playing higher-profile opponents like Vermont and GW there this year.

My friends, prepare for the first sub-1,000 Agganis crowd ever (aside from an ill-fated Creed performance). I don't think the camou tshirts are going to save us, cool as they may be.

And this sucks, because we're finally getting good at playing there. Last time out, the Terriers sank a school-record 16 3-pointers (6 from Los!) en route to demolishing Albany. We have a winning record there this year.

When we played UNH earlier this year, we played OK but were lucky to escape with a win when their best player that day, Tyrone Conley, got hurt in the second half. UNH has never played in The Greek, so I'm hoping they suffer whatever befell the Terriers the first 5 years they played there. The Wildcats do not always set the nets on fire anyway, so that's my prediction for the game: UNH has shooting woes, BU wins by 10.

Shock! BU will not play MAAC Bracketbuster

OMG.

Yes it's still boring, but amazingly BU will NOT play a crappy MAAC team in this year's Bracketbuster!! We get to travel to Delaware instead (Hi... I'm in Delaware....).

After catching St. Peter's and Iona, we finally get someone else. And that someone else is a team we have played the last two years in a row, but whatever!

BU will attempt to extend its 2-0 all-time record in Bracketbuster games against a team that is actually pretty crappy. Delaware is sitting near the basement of the Colonial at 6-16 (2-9 in conference) and a lovely RPI of 205. In terms of common opponents, UD got beat by Northeastern and Bucknell, both of whom lost to BU, but defeated Vermont who has beaten BU.

In any case, this is a game that I could conceivable go to, so I'm happy. And it's a possible win over the CAA, always a good thing. What does everyone else think?

...And now back to 5th place

The only good thing to come out of Saturday's Stony Brook game was that we unexpectedly got two of our injured Terriers back in uniform, Tyler Morris and Brendan Sullivan. It didn't help us on the court, where we looked pretty awful.

The Fighting Popoko's got out to a 13-0 start and never looked back. I don't think we got closer than 6 or 7 for the rest of the game. So frustrating to watch. Each of their guys took turns making shots they shouldn't be making.

On our side, John Holland had one of his worst games he's ever had, and Corey wasn't pretty either. Our three turnovers to start the game (leaving us without a shot 3 minutes into the game) really set the tone.

So my 6-2 prediction for the second half... not looking too pretty right now. We'd have to win our final 6 to make that happen. We're behind freakin Binghamton, and tied in the loss column with Hartford. Awful.

The only silver lining is that 5 of our last 6 are at home. I think we can win 5 of those 6 (counting Vermont at home as the loss), but of course nothing is guaranteed with this league and this team. One thing's for sure though, you can count us out of the race for the top seed -- I don't see Stony Brook losing 3 more games this year. That team is legit. I think #3 is probably our ceiling, though #4 more likely.

More depressing news is likely coming this afternoon when the Bracketbusters matchups are announced. Once again, we're not good enough to get a high-profile TV game (or even a medium-profile ESPN360 game!). There is little doubt that with our mediocre fortunes this year we'll be saddled with another terrible MAAC team. The only suspense left is which it will be.

I think we can rule out:
Iona (played them this year)
Marist (played them this year)
St. Peter's (previous Bracketbuster)
Manhattan (previous Bracketbuster)
Siena (too good and will get a TV game)
Fairfield (not a hosting team)
Niagara (not a hosting team)
Rider (not a hosting team)

This leaves the following possible schools:
Loyola
Canisius

Check back later to see which one of these fun opponents awaits.