:: Can You Believe We've Been Doing This Shit for Six Years Now? ::
Friday, March 12, 2010
March 15, 2003
That was the last day BU was in an America East final. At the end of that game, which was won on a last-second shot by some frosted-hair pansy on Vermont, I stood in the front row of Case Gymnasium and stared motionless for about 10 minutes out at the court, where the Catmounters reveled with a few hundred of their fans. On our floor.
That's a terrible feeling. Tomorrow, it's time to return the favor.
If you're watching ESPN 2 tomorrow at about 1:55pm ET, I'll be the one dancing on Vermont's floor, possibly taking a dump on the Catamount's mouth at center court.
Fresh of the high of going to sleep a few benjamins richer, we awoke for another round of America East Specials. Our original plan was to get back to the arena by 11am to see the BU women play their semifinal game, however we could not get off our lazy butts in time... sorry ladies.
Let me say something: Of course I have nothing against women's basketball. I was quite the BU women's fan back in school. I don't even mind having the men's and women's tournament together, since I'm sure it saves everyone money. But not holding the men's semifinals until Sunday evening is insane. The combined format should preserve everything that was great about the men's tournament from years past.
Everyone in the conference in driving some major distance to get to the tournament. This year, half of our party couldn't wait for BU's 5pm game - which meant they drove 6 hours each way for 1 game. Taking away the Stony Brook Memorial Invitational Play-In Game on Friday night was bad enough... making the semifinals too late for many fans is unforgivable. Vermont fans had to drive 3.5 hours after their game ended at 10pm... good thing we don't have to worry about Maine ever making a semifinal!
America East: Please make this change for next year's tournament.
Back to this year's tournament. We had plenty of time to kill before our Sunday evening (I still can't believe that) game. There were brochures at the tournament's FanFest for something called Monster Mini-Golf that seemed interesting enough to waste a few hours on. Turns out it's an indoor arcade which is totally dark except for fluorescent things everywhere. It was kind of fun to play skee-ball and air hockey under black lights, but the real fun was on the putt-putt course. It actually looked really cool.
Finally, the time came to head back to watch BU - of course, not before more tailgating, more beer/Sparks, and more free Cabot cheese.
We were playing Stony Brook of course, the #1 seed that had beaten us soundly twice this season. That, combined with the fact that their cheering section was about 5x ours, meant we were going to have to be super loud. That worked for about a minute when the supposed "best player in the league" Muhammed El-Amin hit three straight 3-pointers to begin the game. The Terriers didn't lose hope though, as they quickly caught up, then ended the half on a ferocious 15-point run to end the half.
Play of the game: Towards the end of this run, the shot clock was running out and Corey had the ball near halfcourt. Instead of running toward the hoop, Corey just launched a 35-footer (no exaggeration) then found the hoop and the BU fans went apoplectic. That shot takes some large balls and was a huge momentum booster. The fans, the coaches, the bench and the players were pumped up to 11.
Halftime came and went, and then some of the air came out of everyone. Stony Brook immediately went on a 13-0 run, and we didn't score for over 5 minutes.
(Tangent: Dear BU Pep Band, can we stop the slow clap at the beginning of each half? Please? Nobody else joins in. And it gets real embarrassing/frustrating/annoying when it has to go on for 10 minutes including time-outs. Worse, it prevents anyone from starting any different cheers, specifically faster-paced ones that may be helpful in boosting energy in the fans and players, like D-FENSE. Can we maybe put a 2-minute time limit on it? Or at the very least end it after the first media time-out? PLEASE end this "tradition." Love, BU Hoops Blog.)
After we finally scored and the band mercifully stopped slow-clapping, the teams traded leads over the rest of the half. BU kept stalling though, and that's when Pat Chambers took matters into his own hands. He says he wasn't "trying" to get a Technical (wink, wink), but he got one anyway with about 6 mins left. The ensuing free throws left Stony Brook with a 53-48 lead. It fired everyone up though, and from then on it was BU making steals, getting rebounds and putbacks, making free throws and Corey with another big-time 3-pointer to take the lead.
BU won the game with defense. The "best player in the conference" disappeared down the stretch, and actually contributed 8 of SBU's 19 turnovers. And despite the non-stop trash talking and shoving by Tommy Brenton and Chris Martin, the Terriers kept their cool.
As the final seconds ticked down, the team started going crazy on the court and some of the fans came down to join. This group of seniors, which had never made it to the final game of the America East season, wasn't ready to be done yet.
I've attended the quarterfinals and semifinals of 9 America East tournaments in a row. Not since the second one have I come home feeling happy.
Of course that streak stopped this year when we demolished the host team Hartford 87-46 and then upset the top-seed Stony Brook 70-63 in a tense and amazing game. Corey Lowe looked like the player we always thought he might be, scoring 26 in the first game and 24 in the second, while contributing great defense and being a floor leader. He was the unquestioned MVP of the first two rounds of the tournament. Now, we have a date with the Catmounters for a trip to the Dance.
So how did it all go down? You really should have been there to see for yourself. But if you weren't...
Friday
Due to late starts from work, the weekend got off to a rough start. Traffic and a 6+ hour drive from DC to CT will put anyone in a bad mood, even those embarking on a hoops pilgrimmage. Sadly, but somewhat fortunately for our situation, the Binghamton situation and the combined men's and women's tournament at the same location meant we didn't have to get up there in time for the Stony Brook Memorial Play-In Game. We were sapped by the time we got to CT at 1:30am, so we called it a night so we could be at full strength the next day.
Saturday
Breakfast was delicious at the lakehouse courtesy of our amazing hosts. Of course, we all had the America East Special - two eggs over easy with cheese plus bacon and a sliced bagel.
We got to UH's Parking Lot N early to begin the annual tailgate. I wonder why nobody else tailgates at the America East Tournament. The weather was gorgeous and the Hartford parking cops were very cool in casting a blind eye toward the Miller Lites. Last year, the Albany Times-Union asked us about it:
A few cars over, recent Boston University alumni Chip Weiskotten and Mark Bassotti, natives now living in Washington, D.C., had set up shop with a BU flag, a grill and a crockpot filled with chili.
Both were such fervent basketball fans that, when they arrived back home this weekend, their respective moms had cut out various newspaper clippings on the championships for them to read.
"I'll root for Albany," Bassotti said, "unless they're playing B.U."
With the car painted with "Go BU" slogans and AC/DC blaring from the speakers, we let the sweet aura of Miller overtake us. We chatted with whichever Vermont fans wanted to come over and say hi. And the folks from Cabot Cheese loved us because we chanted, "Cheddar! Cheddar!" every time we saw them. And boy did they deliver.
Eventually, we did get inside to watch some basketball. We saw Stony Brook TCB against last place Albany. Finally, it was show-time and BU took the floor against Hartford. Unfortunately, Hartford never really seemed to take the floor against BU. This was absolute annihilation.
Poor Hartford - the hometown fans never got a chance to cheer for much this weekend, other than their women's team. J.O.B. and Corey shone brightest for BU, with 28 and 26 points. We happily went off to find some dinner downtown and were delighted to find some nice microbrew at City Steam Brewery.
We did end up going back to the arena for about half of the other two games... but they left a bit to be desired. Neither was close, and Maine (who we wanted to win due to Maine being the home state of the lady) was clearly going to lose. Plus, we wanted to check out Mohegan Sun.
The Sun was farther away than anticipated. We got there sometime around midnight. But we finally made it and were determined to play a few rounds at the craps table before we had to leave. We wanted to teach Honorary BU Alum Britt the basics of craps, so four of us put in $20 each and decided to play until the first shooter crapped out. Shouldn't take too long, right?
Cut to 45 minutes later, and the same dude is still freaking shooting! This guy couldn't miss -- a lot like BU earlier in the day against Hartford! Finally, he rolls a 7 and craps out. So we leave the table and drive home at 1:30... a combined $1,000 richer!!!
As someone mentioned on our way out, "I think this might be BU's weekend..."
I'm about to leave for Hartford 2010 in literally 5 minutes. I thought I'd post my predictions here since I'm not sure when I'll get online next - I'll try to post a vid or two from Chase though.
I'm hoping the High Roller can weigh in with some fearless prognostications from the left coast.
There, I said it. I know I'm the only one who thinks so. But John Holland's importance to BU's program cannot be understated.
John's numbers speak for themselves. He leads the team in points, rebounds and minutes per game. He's the first Terrier to ever lead the America East in scoring with 19.8 points per game. His rebounding numbers are solid at 6.2 per game, good enough for 8th in the conference. He has an innate ability to get to the free throw line, where he is surprisingly amazing: 84.6%, best in the conference among players with significant minutes. He's the last BU player since Tunji Awojobi to score 500 points in consecutive seasons... and this year, he has a chance for 600. His field goal percentage is 47.1%, excellent for a guy who shoots from everywhere on the floor. His defense is better and better every year, and he averages 1.6 steals per game which is 4th in the conference.
Beyond the numbers, John possesses intangibles that make BU a winning team with a shot to go far in the postseason. He's the first to dive on the floor after a loose ball. He's as intense as they come during the game, but loose as a goose and a helluva nice guy off the court. After hearing former Coach Wolff talk about how John needed to step up his intensity in practices the last two years, all reports point to John responding to the call this year in practice.
I'm not here to compare John to Marqus Blakely, whom I know is a monster and has his usual monster season. All I know is that John Holland is deserving of the honor of America East Player of the Year.
For shits and giggles, here are the rest of my picks:
AE Player of the Year: John Holland, BU
AE Defensive Player of the Year: Marqus Blakely, Vermont (I'll throw him a bone here)
We're feeling pretty confident, pretty happy about our seeding situation and playing Binghamton this coming weekend at the tournament - after all, we just beat them by 40 points. But then....
...Binghamton finds a new way to embarrass itself. Just days before the tournament is set to begin, and after playing the entire regular season, they decide to sit out the tournament. WTF.
This is fine if Binghamton had finished 9th as expected. But they finished 5th, so it affects every single matchup this weekend! It eliminates the (Formerly) Stony Brook Invitational Play-In Game completely - am I getting a refund for the ticket package I bought that includes this game? Of course not.
The biggest swings of fortune happen to the BU and Vermont squads. Vermont should be playing #7 New Hampshire, a decent team that could get hot - instead, after Bing pulled their French military maneuver they'll play UMBC, the most hapless bunch of haps that ever happed. Meanwhile, instead of facing the team we just beat by 40, we play the team we lucked into a last second win over - and oh yeah, they happen to be the tournament's host team.
It's unfortunate, and I think the decision (whoever's it was - the league, the school, the state...) was wrong, especially for the players who stuck with the program. And BU came out on the bad end of it.
But at the end of the day, WE WILL PLAY WHOEVER STEPS ONTO THE COURT AT 2:30 ACROSS FROM US, dammit! We still have to win 3 games to survive.
With a resounding 76-56 thumping of Maine, the Terriers ended the 2009-10 season on a high note. That makes 5 out of 6 wins in February, the only loss coming in the final seconds against Vermont. What made this win more notable than the others is that it was the first of the year over a top-3 opponent. That is a nice hump to get over, and such a convincing win gives hope going into the tournament.
We finish at 17-12 and 11-5 in the America East Conference, which is good for 4th place. How does that compare with the season that got Dennis Wolff fired last year? Well, last year we were 17-12 and 11-5 in the conference, which was good for 3rd place. Scott Brittain was out this year, but Tyler Morris and Carlos Strong missed most of last year, and this year the guys are a year more experienced.
So on the surface, it doesn't look like the coaching change made any tangible year over year difference. However, DWolff wasn't fired for going 17-12 or 11-5. He was fired for going 0-1.
Will Coach Pat Chambers make his mark on this portion of the record? If that's how we judged Wolff, it's only fair we judge Chambers by the same standards. I think it's fair to say that Chambers will be feeling some heavy expections from Mike Lynch et al as he heads to his first America East tournament.
So who do we play? Well right now, it's uncertain. We are supposed to play Binghamton, who finished 5th place despite some crazy obstacles. But one more obstacle may be put Bing's way, namely a voluntary or involuntary absence from this year's tournament in Hartford. NY Times reporter Pete Thamel tweeted that "The America East and Binghamton are deciding if Bearcats should play in conference tournament."
This would be bullshit for us, especially since we dominated Binghamton by 40 last week, and it would leave us with the host team Hartford. Meanwhile, Vermont would move from getting a tough UNH team to getting the hapless UMBC Retrievers. This may all be resolved by the time you read this post, so no use getting worked up about it now. I am sure that Chambers & Co. are doing everything they can to prepare the Terriers for whichever team shows up at 2:30 on Saturday.
