Aberration, or is this who we are?

Not a great start to the conference season for the Terriers. First, credit is due to Stony Brook: Tommy Brenton was the negative polarity to the positive charge of the basketball on the boards, and Bryan Dougher just could not miss from 3-point land. I watched at a local bar and the bartender thought this guy was Larry Bird or something - we just knew it was going in every time he went up for a shot.

But BU was bad in this game. Thirty-seven 3-pointer attempts, a school record, highlights a team that is unable or unwilling to take the ball to the hoop by dribble or by pass. We need to get tough and bring the ball to the hoop! Corey Lowe couldn't hit a thing, and that's the risk when all we do is take threes. A few games ago, there was a real effort to get the ball to Jeff Pelage against Marist - yes he had 5 turnovers on traveling violations, but he also had 8 points and 10 rebounds. That's production we need; his footwork will improve. JOB was our best player against Stony Brook with 27 points, but even Coach Chambers said, "Jake played great from 3-point land, but I’d like to see him get in there and mix it up a little bit more."

We can all agree that the Chambers Era is not off to the rosy start we all envisioned. There has been a very interesting discussion on the subject in the comments section of the last post. I think an adjustment period is expected and understandable. The players will eventually get used to the system and playbook if they haven't already. But much of our trouble this year stems from our complete lack of a bench, and I put some of the blame for this on Chambers' shoulders. BJ Bailey's departure isn't his fault, and neither is Scott Brittain's injury. But Chambers gambled by taking 3 transfers (who need to sit out a year) instead of a JuCo or 2 (who could play right away). Our problems right now prove that he lost that gamble.

My own take is that we lost a tough game to a decent opponent due somewhat to an inordinately bad performance by one of our better players. I think we'll be better by next game and in first or second place by the end of the year. But hey, I'm an optimist by nature!