#8 Egregiously Omitted Summer Story: Class of 2016 shaping up

I have never been big on recruiting news, so I may not have written about this anyway.  I also don't know what the hell I am talking about when it comes to high school recruits, so more than likely I'd either be regurgitating something I saw elsewhere on the internet, or talking out my ass. 

So forgive me if any of this turns out to be dead wrong, but it seems like our new Coach Jones is putting together one hell of a first recruiting class.  By my count, BU will have 4 scholarships available, due to the graduations of Pelage, Hazel, Griffin, and Partin.  As of now, three of those have been filled, and each signing is getting pretty legit kudos from people who know much more than me.

John Papale, SG - Choate (MA) - 6'3" 165 lbs - http://twitter.com/#!/JPapale12

One of the best pure shooters in the country, supposedly the kid is like a better verson of Corey Hassan, who we only got to see for one season but was a deadly shooter.  Papale had over 20 Division I scholarship offers including no less than 7 from the Atlantic 10.  This is what ESPN.com scouting had to say about him:

A big time shot maker with good size for the two-guard spot, Papale is far from a one trick pony thanks to a high basketball I.Q., well developed mid-range game, and his ability to rebound on the perimeter.

Uhhh... sign me up!  



NERR story
ESPN Boston story

Maurice Watson, PG - Boys Latin (PA) - 5'9" 150 lbs - http://twitter.com/#!/ReeceWatson10

"Reece" was ranked the #6 player in Pennsylvania, and dammit is he fast.  That's why Virginia, LaSalle, and 16 others wanted him.  The most ridiculous thing?  He hosted a college selection news conference for himself and broadcast it on Ustream, at which he unzipped his jacket to reveal a BU t-shirt.  That is fucking baller.  Here is some of ESPN's scouting report:

His speed is the calling card and he's got plenty of it. Can drive it and find shooters. Best attribute is that he's got an edge to him and pushes the basketball with purpose. Takes great care of the ball and isn't too risky with his passes.

And the only other thing that needs to be said is watch this video.  Can you imagine him playing next to DJ Irving?  Not even fair for whatever slow-moving white dude Vermont puts out there that day.



Recruit Scoop story
Philadelphia Inquirer story

Nathan Dieudonne, SF - Trinity (KY) - 6'6" 190 lbs. - http://twitter.com/#!/NathanDieudonne

He's a big inside presence, which we'll need desperately after this year with Pelage and Hazel leaving.  I don't know much about this guy other than he also had 20+ scholarship offers.  Not sure how Coach Jones got his Kentucky recruiting connections, but let's hope they pay off!  New England Recruiting Report had this to say about his game:

Dieudonne, who ran with the KYA All-Stars on the AAU circuit this summer, is an athletic combo-forward who can put the ball on the floor, score over top of defenders in the mid-range area, and make athletic plays around the rim. 

Louisville Courier-Journal story
NERR story


That's what we got so far, and we still can probably look forward to one more.  TODAY begins the fall signing period, so these guys will sign official Letters of Intent this month.  Welcome Baby Terriers!

Back in Third Again: The Stony Brook Preview

That's twice we've played for first place, and came up short both times. Thankfully this one went a little better than against Vermont, but that doesn't change the fact that we are back in 3rd place again now.

BU didn't exactly play up to their abilities against Maine, but Maine's defense is legit. Most of the game was frustrating -- in fact I said during the game that it was the most frustrating one I've ever seen. However, the final 3 minutes in which BU forced its way back from 10 points down to tie it up with 5 seconds left ALMOST redeemed it. At least we showed some heart.

There was some serious bullshit with the time they put back on the clock after the last Maine timeout... but that's in the past - gotta move on. Proud of the Pelaggio - his layup to tie it was CLUTCH!

We play at Stony Brook tonight. Gonna be honest - not overly optimistic about this. We just haven't played well against the top teams in the conference. Number one priority: stick to that young man Brian Dougher like glue.

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!

A Big Win in Puerto Rico!

My expectations for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off were not high before coming down here. I thought we could compete, but with such a stacked field I did not think we'd win a game.

By now you've heard that the Terriers did just that, staging a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the storied Indiana Hoosiers. Maybe you listened on the radio stream, or even followed along with my fevered series of tweets down the stretch. But this was a game that made the trip to Puerto Rico well worth its while. We didn't just travel here for the fun of watching the Terriers, we came here and witnessed something great.

BU was behind the whole game, due to another pretty poor shooting performance, but always remained within striking distance. In the first half, we got in a hole and clawed our way back to within 2 points just before halftime... unfortunately, IU hit a buzzer-beating 3 to make that deficit 5 again. They had held Corey Lowe scoreless in the first half, but rebounding kept us in the game.

In the second half, we hung around and made our move in the final minutes thanks to huge 3-pointers by Lowe, Carlos Strong, Tyler Morris and John Holland. Jake O'Brien, with a double-double, and Jeff Pelage led BU to a 52-32 rebounding advantage over the Hoosiers. Strong's only bucket of the game, a 3 that tied the game for the first time at 63, made the BU fans go bonkers. Clutch free throws by JOB and Corey kept us up until a lay-in by Jake with a minute remaining (off a pretty feed from Tyler) put us up by 4. Indiana couldn't hit any desperation shots after that, and the rest is history.


The keys to the win were certainly REBOUNDING, the lack of FOUL TROUBLE and Indiana's refusal and/or inability to institute a full court PRESS. That press had been utilized by the 3 teams that already beat us to take us out of our offensive rhythm, and it worked. Maybe Indiana just didn't have the athletic horses to take such a tack.

Sherrod Smith and Valdas Sirutis played meaningful minutes, and BJ Bailey played his first collegiate minutes, even scoring on a lovely fast break. He looked good out there.

Coach Chambers has that monkey off his back, and got his first head coaching win. He's got the team excited and disciplined, and as the team made their way off the court he led them in a simultaneous salute to the BU fans in attendance. Awesome moment.

As for the High Roller and I, we found a cool little hole-in-the-wall pub to celebrate in Old San Juan (we've gotten pretty good at ordering beers in Spanish). We get to spend today regaining our voices before taking on #21 ranked Georgia Tech on Sunday.

But this win over Indiana, our first over a BCS conference team since Michigan in 2004, is one we'll remember for a long time!

Just the Tip-Off

PAT CHAMBERS.

I could end the post there and I would have said enough. But it deserves a few more words. We have heard Pat Chambers talk a lot about getting kids fired up for basketball. This is the first time we saw it in action. Like a mad man, Chambers sprinted out onto the court, screaming at the fans to stand up, even jumping up on the scorers table. And the fans responded by standing up, and screaming back louder. Chambers lost his voice in about 2 seconds. He went on for about 5 minutes talking about supporting the team, getting fired up, the team has a new attitude.

It was a far cry from a Dennis Wolff tip-off performance, or even the BU women's coach. It might even succeed in getting people to go to games, who knows.

Random observations from the rest of the night:

-- Is it just me, or were the guy's intro songs slightly outdated? I think the time for "Hey Shorty, It's Your Berfday" and "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" has passed. (And John Holland, lose the Yanks cap dude. You're trying to connect with the student body!)

-- Speaking of outdated songs, someone with access please slip some newer material under Chris Parks' office door. I love the BU Band -- they are probably the most devoted BU sports fans there are -- but the old songs they have been playing since I was a freshman (a decade ago!!) just remind me of the OLD BU basketball. Pat Chambers is trying to re-invent this program with new life, but that old intro song the band plays (whatever it's called) keeps me back in the DWolff era. And were any students even born before "Push It" came out?

-- The Dance Team was good as usual, but I'm feeling the MJ fatigue. But the collab with the hoops team was "Bad" (meaning good). John Holland was not good, Tyler Morris was surprisingly good, and Jeff Pelage looked like he was having the most fun out there.

-- My ranking of the different dance performances of the night:

1. Fusion
2. BU Dance Team
3. BU Cheer Team
4. XCeption
5. Status Quo - not impressed by them. Bring back Lil' Phunk or Phunk Phenomenon!
...
99. BU Men's Basketball team - points for effort. At least it was better than this:



-- In the first round of the 3-point shooting contest, both girls beat Tyler Morris and Corey Lowe. In fact, both guys appeared to be drunk. But then Tyler redeemed the men by getting on fire in the second round, proving once and for all the men are the dominant gender.

-- The best dunks from the dunk contest were pretty impressive. Carlos Strong was the clear winner, so I'm glad he took the title for the second staight year. My favorite comment, courtesy of Dean Elmore: "Show 'em what it means to be from Maine, Carlos!"

A Night at the Pelaggio

You know, I lied last night when I wrote that we really couldn't learn anything from the Maine game. We learned that Jeff Pelage is going to be a fun player to watch over the next 4 years.

I have to remind myself that this was against Maine, but JP (or "Busta" as the Burger Man calls him) put on a fine show last night. After he seemingly kept scoring 9 points and 8 rebounds every time he got decent minutes... he finally broke through to double digits in BOTH categories, resulting in his first career double-double: 10 pts, 12 rebounds. Not to be outdone, John Holland had a dub-dub with 20 and 10. Jake O'Brien had 18 and 9... falling obviously 1 board short. What's crazy is I specifically remember when Jake and John both had 9 rebounds, and one of the last defensive possessions they were in the game, a rebound came down and both grabbed it at the same time, but Jake was closer. I remember thinking, 'Nice, both freshman are gonna have double-doubles!' And then John just ripped the ball out of Jake's hands, and Jake kind of backed off. So John Holland literally took a double-double right out of JOB's hands. I guess that'll be a lesson to him about why he should be more aggressive on the boards.

But back to Pelage, and speaking of aggression on the boards... he was a lunatic out there when he saw a missed shot coming his way. On several occasions he knocked down other BU players when he grabbed a rebound. This happened to Scott Brittain and either Matt Wolff or JOB I think. It was awesome and hilarious. He would not be denied.

In all his interviews, DW says he just needs to work harder and it will just come to him. He could be a force inside if he puts his mind to it.

Bracket Bluster: The Iona Preview

Today is BracketBuster Saturday. While Vermont is on The Deuce (do people still call it that?) playing in a real Bracketbuster against Buffalo, at the same time BU will be stuck inside Case Gym playing a sub-.500 team in a "Bracketbuster Pool game." Unfortunately this does not mean they're playing Marco Polo.

Back during our 8-game winning streak (R.I.P.) I got cocky and complained about the quality of our opponent, Iona College. Right now, Iona is 12-15, under .500 in conference play, and sitting in 6th place in the MAAC. Their RPI is languishing in the low 100's. Basically, they're not very good.

But let's get real, we're not busting anyone's bracket they way we're playing lately. I predicted before the season that we'd get stuck with some shitty MAAC team, and we are, just like usual.

What BU needs more than a better BB opponent is some wins and getting back to playing the way we were before. And some rest. The guys look tired.

Corey is mad from being benched against Stony Brook. We could have won the game if he played, but I'm pretty glad he got some rest anyway. I hope it lights a fire under his ass for the rest of the season. Last time he was benched, he came back to play the best ball of his life.

FCP says Wolff is planning to start Lowe against Iona, so everybody's back on good terms. Wolff also says he's planning to play all the starters their regular minutes. I suppose he wants to get them back into the flow of how we were playing before, but I can't say I wouldn't like to see quite a few minutes of Valdas, Pelage and --dare I say it?-- the Rod.

(Nah.... never happen)

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.

That ESPY for "Biggest Upset" is 3 long years in the past: The Bucknell Preview

The mid-major world fell in love with the Bucknell University Bison in 2005 when it knocked off NCAA Tournament favorite Kansas in the Big Dance. They became renowned giant-killers, and backed that up with a few big wins against huge programs over next couple years. (And that ESPY they won was against some familiar competition).

Make no mistake: this is not the same Bucknell team, and the difference is nobody is afraid to play this year's version.

Bucknell was picked to finish 5th in the 8-team Patriot League... and that was before their preseason 2nd teamer and best player Stephen Tyree went down with a season-ending knee injury during a pick-up game (idiot). They still don't know who is going to pick up the scoring slack. And Tyree is a big forward who was the PL Defender of the Year, so right off the bat that helps us immensely because...

Scott Brittain is going to be missing from the lineup again - he's not even going to make the trip. And I can't blame him... a flight to Philly, followed by a 2 or 3 hour bus ride in the middle of nowhere. In the meantime, Scott, we need to get you better. According to the Encyclopedia of Natural Healing:

To speed healing and increase oxygen to the brain, and to prevent further damage after a concussion, supplement with antioxidants. Vitamins A, C, E and all the B vitamins, as well as the minerals selenium and zinc, are antioxidants. In addition to stimulating the healing process, vitamin C also enhances the *immune system, reduces *blood pressure and protects against *bruising and blood clotting. Vitamin C should be taken with bioflavonoids to improve its effects. Vitamin E works to repair damaged tissue. When vitamins C and E work together, they have a greater effect than when they are taken separately.

Also:

Arnica is an excellent homeopathic remedy for a concussion resulting from a blow to the head, reducing *pain and speeding healing. Use the 30c strength, placing 2 tablets under the tongue. Repeat for two more doses, every fifteen minutes for a severe injury, or an hour apart if less severe.

So yeah, BU Sports Medicine... get on that.

As far as the guys who are still on the court for us, I'm optimistic. Johnny Holland seems to have picked up right where he left off. The freshmen, Jake O'Brien and Jeff Pelage, are picking up rave reviews from the most unlikely of sources. Carlos Strong is doing some real good things. And, most importantly, Corey Lowe and Tyler Morris can't possibly shoot as badly as they did on Friday night.

Three days ago, Bucknell got destroyed by Maryland by 29 points. Three years ago, in the only prior meeting between the BU's, we lost by 6 and Corey Hassan was our leading scorer. Tonight, I'm looking for something right in between...

My prediction for the game: BU 70 Bucknell 57

The n00bs

Coach Dennis Wolff has added two large men to the team this year, and I think it's only appropriate that we talk about them before they start playing for us.

One of last year's new large men was totally lame. Will Creekmore, some turd-flinger from Kansas, came in with gaudy numbers. Turned out those numbers were so gaudy because he was playing against high schoolers in Kansas. Once he came into contact with real men (aka Coach Dennis Wolff) he decided to retreat back to the midwest like some 6'8" Frenchman. The other, Matt Killen, never found the court much last year but at least he's balls enough to stick it out and work harder. He looked badass in the Terrier Tip-off dunk competition and frankly I don't think he got a fair shot. I asked Coach Wolff specifically about Matt this summer and he responded, "I KNOW Matt Killen is gonna be a player here, and a good one... I just don't know when." We're waitin for ya, Matty, no more Killen time. (har har... sigh)

While Killen will seem like a n00b since we saw so little of him last year, these other guys truly have never set foot on the Case Gym floor. The first is Jeff Pelage, who hails from Pompano Beach, FL - one assumes he did not make his recruiting visit to Boston during the months of October - May, otherwise what the hell is he doing up here? Bring some longjohns, pal.

Wolff describes Jeff as a "physical"post player, and I've read in multiple places that he's a "back-to-the-basket" center. From this I surmise that Jeff can't really shoot and will spend this season coming into the game, missing most of his shots, averaging more fouls than minutes and fouling out of every game. But you know what? We need one of those guys, and we haven't had one since Matt Czaplinski, so I say bring it on Jeff.

Our other large freshman is Jake O'Brien. By all accounts, everyone seems to be hyping JOB (new nickname a la "GOB" from Arrested Development). I don't want people to go overboard because of last time, but we're hearing good things. Jake tore it up in high school and was a state champ, just like C-Lowe. Not only that, but Wolff hasn't stopped fluttering since Jake stepped on campus. This summer, he told me that "no other freshman during my time here has made such a smooth adjustment to the college game," and that Jake "will be able to contribute immediately." This coming from a man who does not bestow compliments like that to unproven players willy-nilly. We need a down-low counterpart to Scott Brittain, and Jake would do nicely. Wolff himself says he brings a great ability to step out and hit the 3-ball with regularity, something we haven't had since Ryan Butt strode the pathways of West Campus. When Wolff breaks out the Butt analogy, you know we're in business. And, from a personal standpoint, this unveils a whole second era of Butt jokes.

One thing's holding me back from a full-on, JOB endorsement though. Jake spent his formative high school years at a place called BC High. Yeah, as in Chestnut Hill University High School. I know, I just gagged too. The "Eaglets," as they're known, grow up in the shadow of an Abercrombie-covered monument of sameness that would make me want to gouge my eyes out. Was he brainwashed while at BC High to hate everything about BU? Will he wait until the most important point in the season to suddenly sabotage the team? I kind of feel we should have a really crazy background check/loyalty test, kind of like they might have for the CIA. I guess time will tell on Jake's allegiances. For now, I'm giving JOB the benefit of the doubt, that he saw the superiority of BU from atop his perch at the other end of Comm Ave, and escaped to seek sweet refuge there.

The whole thing makes me wonder though if anybody has ever graduated from BU Academy and gone on to play basketball for Boston College.