Wolff might sit Corey against Albany... but I don't believe it

The Albany Times-Union is reporting (via Albany message board Big Purple Fans) that Coach Wolff is considering benching Corey in tomorrow's game at Albany:

It will be a “game-time decision” whether Boston University junior guard Corey Lowe will play at the University at Albany on Thursday night, according to BU assistant sports information director Scott Ellis.

Boston U. head coach Dennis Wolff is thinking about sitting Lowe, the team’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, because he was ejected from the Terriers’ 19-point loss to Holy Cross last Friday. Lowe received two technicals, one for shoving a Holy Cross player and one for arguing with an official.

Couple things - I thought both fouls were for talking to the refs after questionable foul calls, not shoving anybody. And I don't think he was ejected, he just racked up 5 fouls including the T's, so he fouled out. Some conferences have a rule that if a player accumulates 2 technicals in a game, he must sit out the next game -- however, the America East does not have this rule.

I highly doubt Wolff will sit his best player for this very important game. The main reason for this is that I don't think he was that mad about it! After the second technical, which was given for almost nothing done on Corey's part, Wolff didn't even look mad - I think he was happy one of his players cared enough to get fired up. And after the first technical, Wolff was so ripshit about the call that he HIMSELF got T'd up for arguing it.

Here's what's going on: Opponents have been focusing on tightly defending Corey Lowe on the perimeter over the last few games, which is a big reason why he's been off his game and our 3-pt shooting has suffered. If Wolff can plant the seed of doubt that Corey might not play, that forces Albany's Coach Will Brown to create a whole new defensive gameplan, instead of devoting all their practice/scouting toward stopping Lowe. Why else would he have his S.I.D. just deliver that information to an Albany journalist?? I'm thinking Dennis is engaging in a little gamesmanship here.

Wolff has benched players before, so it's possible - but count me surprised if Corey doesn't play tomorrow.

Whose fault is it?

This team is bad right now and looks like it's getting worse... thank God we're not playing NJIT this week. I don't think this season is a lost cause by any stretch -- at this point last year, things looked even more hopeless before it got turned around.

But a change needs to happen, and with the first conference game coming up on Thursday NOW is the time for it to happen.

Whose fault is it when the team falls behind by double-digits during the opening 5 minutes in back-to-back blowout losses due to defense -- the coaches drawing up the scheme and doing the scouting, or the players out there executing (or not executing, as the case may be)?

Whose fault is it that players reach for loose balls and go after rebounds with the intensity of a basset hound rather than a hyperactive Boston terrier -- the young ADULTS who are getting paid (tuition) to exert effort toward winning ballgames, or the coaches who are paid actual money (and in BU's case, a hefty chunk of it) in return for motivating these individuals?

Whose fault is it that the same players, shots and playbook that delivered 83 points on the road against Northeastern, a very good team, could manage barely half that at home 1 month later against Holy Cross, a very poor team?

I'm not inside Dennis Wolff's head. Nor am I inside John Holland's, Tyler Morris's, Scott Brittain's or Matt Wolff's. So I don't know what the problem is. And since the team has been bad for a few weeks now, apparently neither do they. If they did I'm sure the situation would be rectified.

This team has the tools -- players and coaches -- to be good, maybe even great. Nobody's getting fired during this season, and nobody's transferring away. These are the guys we're going to win with or lose with this year.

The real question is -- when is someone going to decide that in the end it really doesn't matter whose fault it is, and just fix it?

OK Maybe the Sky is Falling: The Holy Cross Preview

I cautioned people not to overreact to the back-to-back Notre Dame and Delaware losses. Well, now it might be time to start worrying.

The 30-point shellacking at the hands of an Ivy League school, good as they may be, was upsetting. There were clearly defensive breakdowns very early, and once we got down by 28-5, there was no looking back. I do believe the team was trying hard to get back in the game, but that was an impossible deficit. And they had nobody in the middle to answer their 7-footer.

I salute the efforts of Matt Wolff, who has shown the most hustle during this winning streak, and Tyler Morris, who has been averaging over 10 points over the last 5 games. Jeff Pelage played his best game against Cornell with 8 points and 8 boards.

You gotta wonder about John Holland, who has been absent lately, and Scott Brittain, who is still a non-factor this season. Wolff even benched Holland in favor of Carlos, which didn't have the desired effect on either of them.

Holy Cross has owned us lately - and we've sucked at The Greek this year. Signs point to a rough game for the Terriers, but we'll see if they can put it back together.

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.

We're a nationally recognized school!!

Straight from the front page of ESPN.com's mens basketball page. Too bad the cover story was about UMass and we look like we are affraid of the ball in this picture. Still, bad publicity is still publicity.


Thought I'd try something new, so here is my Boxline of the Week:

## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT
22 Strong, Carlos...... f  6-10   5-9    1-1    0  5  5  
    
   PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
   1  18  6  1  0  0  38

And, here's my Boxline of the Weak:

## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT
01 Konate, Ibrahim.....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0  

   PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
   0   0  0  3  0  0   8

Both came in our Narrow loss to Holy Cross. Look for this everyweek, this is something that I'm going to try to keep going.