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.

We Must Protect This House: The GW Preview

Today is the day we get to find out if the performance at the Terrier Tip-off worked. Coach Chambers can scream all he wants to rally the students, but if they still don't come to fill up The Greek tonight for GW, you have to wonder if they ever will.

I remember vividly the first game at Agganis Arena, a hope-filled win over Vermont seen by over 5000, a number that hasn't been matched since. Here's hoping today brings us back to that first game.

GW and I go back a long time. As they're my local team now and knowing quite a few alums, I attended quite a few Colonial games in 07-08, and flirted with sub-fandom for a while. I even have GW t-shirt. But it was a love/hate relationship, and ultimately the inferiority of the First Ladies dance team and the creepiness of the mascots pushed me to Howard instead.

However GW is a team that should be doing better. Long-time readers will know that a frequent target of mine is "Little George," who was described thusly by a blog ranking the 25 worst college mascots:

For some reason, the Colonial reminds me of the Norseman, McKinley High's mascot in "Freaks and Geeks." Both are unintentionally terrifying, with their gigantic heads and soulless eyes. While the Colonial isn't sporting a spine-tingling grin, somehow his look of placid indifference is even scarier.

The bad mascot news doesn't end there those. GW features an odd mix of several miscast mascots (see chart).


Now, there fantastic news for Colonial Nation, as Little George has been retired. I guess they got tired of re-painting his papier-mache face every year (really..) and replaced him with a much, much, much better version of Little George. Now they just have to puncture the 10-foot tall inflatable Big George and we'll be in business.

Damian Hollis has been my favorite Colonial for a while, mostly because he constantly looks like he's about to fall asleep. He comes from a long line of tall, athletic GW forwards like Rob Diggs and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, but has never achieved on the level of those two - again, mostly because he's about to fall asleep.

Hollis is the best player, and I'm not sure what to expect from the rest of the team. GW sucked last year, but still beat us.

I do know that BU is going to have to cut down on fouls and turnovers this game. The shots will fall eventually. Hopefully, many will be there to hear it. Hmm, there's a tree-falling-in-the-woods analogy somewhere in there...

Buckle up, everybody: The Iona Preview

Tonight we arrive, as KW so eloquently put it, at Milepost 0. First game, beginning of the journey that is the 09-10 BU Terriers season.

The Terriers are not making it easy on themselves. Already, Scott Brittain and BJ Bailey are out with concussions. That means were going to have a VERY thin bench for the next few days. More importantly, our youngest Terrier is off to a bumpy and painful start, and any more concussions for one of our senior captains could bring his long-term health into question. I don't even know if Trent Green had 3 concussions. Be safe, Scotty.

On paper, BU should dominate Iona College tonight, right? We won in last year's Bracketbuster, we didn't graduate any of our big scorers, they lost 2 out of their top 3 scorers and they are picked 9th out of 10 in the MAAC. My expectations would normally be for a win of blowout proportions.

But then you account for the injuries on our side (Iona is a little banged up too, but not as bad). And that we're on the road. And it's our guys' first game under Coach Pat Chambers' new system. And they have a lot of tall men.

It'll be a good first test, and a nice tune-up for the GW home opener. And hopefully a win!

BU's schedule: This time with Latin Flavor!

Most of you have seen and pored over the BU non-conference schedule, which came out via Twitter a month ago. I tweeted some reaction at the time, but here it is all in one place:

11/13/09 at Iona
11/17/09 vs George Washington
11/19/09 vs Kansas State
11/20/09 Indiana/Mississippi
11/22/09 TBD
11/25/09 vs Northeastern
11/29/09 vs Harvard
12/02/09 vs Connecticut
12/06/09 vs Bucknell
12/12/09 at Marist
12/22/09 vs Mount St. Mary's
12/29/09 at Dayton
2/19/09 TBD

With a brand new coaching staff, you'd expect to see a few changes from the past few schedules. But... no, not really. This year's out-of-conference slate looks a lot like last years. (Maybe that's because the AD has a bigger hand in putting together these games.)

Our home opener is GW for the second straight year. This is a series of which I'm a big fan. Last year we took them to OT, this year we should be able to finally break through. Sad they won't be playing here in DC, but on the bright side I won't have nightmares from their mascots.

Iona and Marist are middling MAAC teams - at least we can't get them in the Bracketbuster, as we did Iona last year. FUN FACT: John Holland's pops played at Iona.

Harvard and Northeastern are there every year. Doesn't make me like them any better.

Mount St. Mary's and Bucknell are both very decent teams from other low-major conferences. We split them last year; with an improved squad we should take both this year.

Now it starts to get really interesting. We play against UConn at the big Hartford arena, then against Dayton in their intimidating building. Chances of taking either game are slim as both are great teams, but it's a good learning experience for the guys that'll make chumps like Bucknell seem like JV Girls.


Finally, the crown jewel is the Puerto Rico Tip-Off beginning with Kansas State, then Indiana or Ole Miss, then George Mason/Villanova/Georgia Tech/Dayton (again). All are great power conference teams (or close enough), and we'll be lucky to steal one. Indiana is probably our best chance, since they're the Big Ten version of Binghamton except not nearly as addicted to crack.

As soon as we know a little more about all of these teams, I'll come back with a prediction for each game. Until then, we wait (im)patiently for the conference schedule to come out!

At least we didn't lose by 13

Although, maybe that would have been easier. Tonight's 63-58 overtime loss to GW was one of the ugliest, most sickening losses I remember at BU. As in it just made me sick to my stomach.

Look I know my prediction had BU coming out on top, but I really didn't think we would win this game. I had this as one of the two out-of-conference losses. So its own, this isn't a terrible loss.

But if you look at HOW it was lost, you just shake your head. The Colonials did just about everything they could to hand the game to us on a platter, and we wouldn't take it. They shoot 46% on field goals, so what do we do? We shoot 29% The shoot 55% on free throws, so what do we do? We shoot 46%. They turn the ball over like 25 times, so what do we do? Well, I mentioned the shooting percentages didn't I? Corey Lowe couldn't hit water if he fell off the BU Bridge tonight. We missed so many 3-foot shots that GW should have just stopped guarding us when we got into the paint. And Matt Wolff, I've defended the kid before... but yegods, every time we could NOT afford a mistake it seemed like he was throwing the ball away, or making a dumb foul, or taking an impossible shot.

[Deep breath]

OK, in the interest of sanity I will list a few positives.

• Jake O'Brien looked great and I like him a lot. He did NOT look like a freshman out there and he significantly outplayed the senior Rob Diggs while they were out there together. He was all hustle going after loose balls and rebounds. He was stepping up and trying to make plays with the ball when nobody else would.
  
• John Holland scored 22 and was the only consistent performer on offense. And he had a monster breakaway dunk in the first half.
• The Corey Lowe rebound and game-tying layup made for an exciting moment, even if it did just set up the crushing disappointment known as overtime.

I'm going to forget about this one ASAP and start looking forward to Bucknell. Maybe I'll even drive up there on Tuesday. Anything to move on.

I will say one thing: I believe that if Scott Brittain plays, BU wins this game. Jake the Snake played well, but once he fouled out we had NOTHING in the middle to step up against their redwoods. Maybe that's the best thing to think about to make myself feel better.

Big George, Raspy Elmore and Trailer Trash: The GW Preview

I have a love/hate relationship with GW. First off, it's practically the same exact school as BU in almost every way. I live about 3 blocks from the Charles Smith Center, and I've seen more GW games over the past 2 or 3 years than any other college besides BU. I've got plenty of friends who attended (Facebook lists 37, but even that might be low), a few past girlfriends, and I have a healthy respect for all things Colonial.

LOVE: Froggy Bottom Pub - the site of our biennial DC BU Alumni happy hour when BU comes to play GW in basketball.

HATE: The "G-G-G...G-DUUUB" chant at their games.

LOVE: Coach Karl Hobbs. He's basically Dean Elmore's clone, but a LOT better at basketball and a raspier voice. Seriously, which is which?!?? (OK, you can tell... but it's close.)




HATE: "Big George" the retarded-looking 12-foot tall mascot, and "Little George" the extremely creepy-looking 6-foot tall mascot. And for some reason a hippo. However, I'm hearing rumors that one or both George mascots will be getting an overhaul this season, welcome news indeed.

LOVE: The ladies of GW who visit McFaddens for Trailer Trash Tuesday $1 beer night.

HATE: The dudes of GW who visit McFaddens for Trailer Trash Tuesday $1 beer night.

The game should be a very good one. We haven't had much luck against them lately - as Matt Whitrock has noted, GW has won the last 4 matchups by 13 points each time. GW is way down again this year, and we're up. Last year, GW beat us (despite 100 screaming BU fans) but lost to both Binghamton and UMBC - that cannot happen again.

Over in enemy territory, the guy at GWhoops.com does a better job of breaking down the BU lineup than I ever could (find "Next: Boston U." on the lefthand side). He's right about the Terriers' front line, but I think he undersells BU's tremendous defense and the ability of Holland and Lowe to completely take over a game.

GW has insanely athletic big men, especially compared to us. The best Colonial is Rob Diggs, who has murdered us in the past few meetings. The other guy on the team that I like is Damian Hollis - he's got a good inside-out game and always seems to be dominating when I watch GW. He can also thrash down a nasty dunk. The problem with Hollis is he always looks like he's asleep. I'm hoping the Hot Dog can make a sign or a chant to that effect. GW is pretty weak on the perimeter and we have a major advantage there, however if you leave him alone Noel Wilmore will sink a 3-ball at the worst possible time.

It'll be interesting to see how Wolff will use the freshmen to combat GW's advantage down low. An article in the Freep today said Wolff might even start O'Brien today! I think all BU fans generally agreed that we thought we'd have a lineup like this:

G Morris
G Lowe
F Wolff
F Holland
C Brittain

If O'Brien starts (in place of Wolff? Brittain?), that would be an interesting way to shake things up. Oh, and the High Roller mentioned it yesterday, but for those out of town, the game will be streamed on the 'net - you have to pay for it but whatev.

My prediction for the game: BU 73 GW 65

[UPDATE] And we have our answer on the starting lineup question. According to the Hot Dog, Scott Brittain will not play tonight due to a concussion sustained in practice this week. This hurts when going up against a team with such a huge inside presence. Look for freshman Jake O'Brien to take Scott's place, with Vlad Sirutis and fellow frosh Jeff Pelage getting serious minutes as well.

The Better Belding

When it comes to the America East conference schedule, which came out yesterday, I think of it like Mr. Belding. Do you remember when he wanted to take the gang on their Senior Class Trip to Yosemite for a lovely, but slightly boring and predictable, nature outing? But then his brother the substitute teacher, Rod Belding, swooped in with the more exciting prospect of whitewater rafting, leaving Mr. Belding to sadly toss his Yosemite brochures in the trash.

Every year, the non-conference schedule swoops in, tempting us with fun exciting games like Notre Dame and UMass and GW. But where's that non-conference schedule gonna be when the end of the year comes and BU wants to try to make the Big Dance? That's right: taking off with some stewardess who's only in town for the weekend.

And that's when we'll realize who's been there with us the whole time - the predictable and slightly boring games with Maine, Binghamton and Stony Brook. The long, flowing golden locks of GW and the chiseled jaw of Marshall are not taking us whitewater rafting to the postseason... it's going to be the balding, paunchy Hartford's and Albany's.

To paraphrase, it may not be the most exciting schedule, but yesterday we got the better schedule.

Thu 1/8 - @ Albany
Sun 1/11 - vs. New Hampshire
Wed 1/14 - vs. Vermont
Sat 1/17 - @ Binghamton
Mon 1/19 - vs. Stony Brook
Thu 1/22 - vs. UMBC
Sun 1/25 - @ Maine
Sat 1/31 - @ Hartford
Mon 2/2 - @ UMBC
Thu 2/5 - vs. Albany
Sat 2/7 - @ New Hampshire
Wed 2/11 - @ Vermont
Sat 2/14 - vs. Binghamton
Wed 2/18 - @ Stony Brook
Sat 2/21 - vs. Bracketbuster TBA
Thu 2/26 - vs. Maine
Sun 3/1 - vs. Hartford

We found out which AE games are going to be held in The Greek too: Vermont on 1/14, Albany on 2/5, and Hartford on 3/1 (along with GW, Marshall, Holy Cross and the Bracketbuster). Vermont and Albany are no-brainers, as the dominant forces in the conference over the past few years. To me, Hartford is a mild upset - I thought they would give UMBC some respect for winning it all last year. But it'll be cool because the Hartford game is Senior Night - hopefully a starting lineup consisting of Matt Wolff, Marques Johnson and someone named Sam Tully can fill the Arena.

Wolff sez: More games at the Greek (including BracketBuster!)

I had a chat with D-Wolff recently, just like I did last year, for a quick summer update on the happenings surrounding the Terriers. He was cool enough to call me while driving between two different gyms in Vegas during the big recruiting week there a little while ago.

Scouting in Vegas? Sounds like fun right? But coaches like Wolff and his assistants aren't there to drop a couple C-notes on the blackjack tables at Caesar's or spend a couple hours watching Gallagher find new ways to smash watermelons. No, it's a real grind going from gym to gym to look at hundreds of kids and having to choose between eating a meal and going to take a leak. For a really good illustration of what it's like read about it here (scroll down to Tuesday, July 29, 2008) or here.

Anyway, so it was incredibly nice to Coach to set aside a few minutes for me. Like a jackass, I didn't actually record the conversation because I have no idea how to record both ends of a telephone call with a regular tape recorder. I took notes, but they aren't perfect. So for that reason, info gleamed from the interview will spill out in smaller bits.

Like this, to start: Coach says the team will inconvenience the almighty hockey team a bit more this year by playing SEVEN games in Agganis Arena a.k.a. The Greek. The most we've had before was either 3 or 4, I can't remember.

The idea behind this is to create more of a big-time atmosphere around the team, and to me it's true: the games seem more of a big deal when they are played in a real college arena, and not a high school gymnasium. The skeptics among us will point out that if the tiny Roof looks empty on game nights then the Greek is going to look like the loneliest place on earth. Others will point to the Terriers' dismal win-loss record at Agganis. Well I say eff that... I want my team to play at the nicest court we have.

There will be 3 non-conference games there: GW, Marshall and Holy Cross. Good choices all, since they're the 3 highest profile home opponents we've got.

The Greek will also be hosting a BracketBuster matchup - and it's the first time a home game has been awarded to an America East team. I am REALLY hoping for a TV game this year. It'll be nice to be relevant after getting stuck with meaningless games against Manhattan and St. Peter's the last 2 years.

That leaves 3 America East games to be hosted at Agganis. Anybody got guesses on which ones they will be?

The 08-09 schedule is out... and I'm already excited about making Notre Dame jokes

Here's the list of teams we hope to belittle in this space after the Terriers beat them during this upcoming season:

11/14 - vs. George Washington
11/18 - @ Bucknell
11/22 - vs. St. Peter's
11/25 - @ Northeastern
11/29 - @ Mount St. Mary's
12/3 - @ Harvard
12/6 - vs. Marshall
12/10 - vs. Yale
12/13 - @ Notre Dame
12/21 - vs. Delaware
12/29 - @ Cornell
1/2 - vs. Holy Cross

It's an interesting list. Much weaker than last year's; we effectively swapped out St. Bonnie, St. Joe's and UMass in exchange for Mount St. Mary, Bucknell and Cornell. We replaced the A-10 with the NEC, Patriot and Ivy - significant downgrade in talent.

But you know what? It's fine with me. Last year we only won 3 out-of-conference games, and if this schedule helps us win more than that, I'm all for it. I was really excited about last season, and that losing streak at the beginning of the year was a real turd in the punchbowl. And there is probably only one game on that whole list that is a near-certain loss (ND). The rest are eminently winnable.