Friday, November 28, 2008

Scouting the Terriers with BUTerriers.blogspot.com

We caught up with Tall-boy and High Roller from buterriers.blogspot.comfor some views on the upcoming game on Saturday night. It seems like it should be a good game between two teams who can use a good solid win early in the season. The two brothers combined on the answers to my questions, but then each came up with a prediction.


1) There was a lot of excitement about the Terriers entering the season as they were picked by many to win the America East. Why the reason for all the excitement?

We're bringing back pretty much our whole team from last year. We were picked to finish first last year and this year, and our young nucleus is another year older, another year wiser. It's the first year in a long time we haven't been killed by injuries or transfers in the offseason.

2) It seems to have carried over into the regular season though as the Terriers have started well. BU has won three times after an opening season loss to GW. Are folks in Boston starting to take notice or is the focus on the Celtics or BC or something else in the city?

It's a safe bet that people in Boston are not going to take much notice! It could be BC, the Celts, or the Pats. Even at BU, it's all about hockey - when the hockey team is ranked #1 early in the year, it doesn't bode well for attention to the hoops team! People in Boston will begin to take notice if and when we make the NCAA tournament.

3) In its last outing against crosstown rival NU, the Terriers made 15 three-pointers. Do they rely on the shots from behind the arc or was that game just a little over the top?

We do rely heavily on shots from behind the arc, but we usually don't make as many as we did against Northeastern. It was a pleasant surprise, and one of the key reasons we were able to beat them. But in general, we are a perimeter-oriented team.

4) 6-9 Scott Brittain averaged 10 points a game last year, but he's hardly getting 10 minutes a game this year. What's the story? Is there an injury or just someone better taking his minutes?

I'd say it's a combination of both. Scott missed the first 2 games after he got a concussion in practice, and Coach Wolff has been bringing him back slowly. But at the same time, freshman big-man Jake O'Brien has stepped up and filled in nicely. He's aggressive and LOVES to step out for a 3 once in a while. When Scott recovers fully, we're going to have a couple of real good scoring options down low.

5) 6-5 John Holland has been the Terriers leading scorer through three games. He's launched 27 three-pointers, is he just a standing jump shooter or does his game have more offensive options?
He is way more than just a 3 point shooter. He can slash and dash his way to the hoop, and hopefully he'll treat the good fans of the Mount to one of his patented thunderous dunks. He's pretty damn good on defense too - he made the All-Defensive team as a freshman. Holland can do it all. I'd wager that he'd have a good shot at the America East Player of the Year this year if it weren't for Vermont's Marqus Blakely.

6) It would appear that Corey Lowe is the main ballhandler for the Terriers. He's scoring some points as well. Tell us about his game. Is he the Terriers most valuable player?

Tyler Morris is our main ballhandler, but Corey does run the point when Tyler's out. But they're both better when they play off the ball. I'd say that's one of our weaknesses - lack of a true point guard. Corey probably is our MVP because he does so much. He can slash to the hoop, and he has never met a 3-point look he didn't like. But he's also getting better at creating shots for others.

7) The Mount has played several America East teams the last few years, series with Binghamton and Maine in recent memory and routinely scrimmages UMBC - is BU's style of play similar to the rest of the league or will we see something different at the Knott Arena on Saturday?

Coach Wolff runs his team with a focus on defense - moreso than any other America East team. He usually likes to grind out possessions and we don't run much. It backfires when our shots don't fall, which happens once in a while. This year though, we have a number of scoring threats, so we may see a more aggressive Terriers team.

8) What are your thoughts on the outcome of the game between two mid-majors mentioned in College Insider's most recent mid-major rankings this week (the Mount at 23 and BU in the others receiving votes category)?

The High Roller: Whoever wins, it'll be a step in the right direction towards gaining some national attention, in the mid-major world anyway. My prediction: BU 74-Mt St. Marys 66

Tall-Boy: The Mount is going to be one of the better teams we play out-of conference. I'm going to say the teams need more than 40 minutes to decide this thing - with BU squeezing out a 62-60 win in overtime.

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