Belated First BU Hoops Preview: Kentucky

Since the BU men's basketball schedule came out over the summer, a single game stuck out to most of the ten BU basketball fans out there in the world: a road date against Kentucky on Nov. 30 at Rupp Arena.

Most of all, being from Kentucky, this game really stood out to me. This marks the first time that BU will play a major team from my home state (no offense to Kenny Faried, but Morehead St. doesn't count), so this is a pretty momentous occasion, sadly enough.

Is BU going to get killed in this game? Probably. I'm not sure what the line is, but if we can lose by less than 20, I'll be shocked. Even under 30, I'll still be pretty pleased, because let's be honest here: Kentucky's coming off a loss; Kentucky's thus going to be angry. Kentucky's playing at home; thus Kentucky's playing in front of 23,000 people who live vicariously through the fortunes of this team; thus, they're also going to be pretty angry and demanding for blood.

Congrats, we're the sacrificial lambs in this situation.

We've been playing pretty well lately, finding ways to win, but this one might as well be a lost cause. UK's got possibly the two best freshmen in the country in Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight (who, by the way, played high school ball with the Junkyard Dog. Guess whose star shined brighter on that team)



But, again in all honesty, I'm not completely objective in this situation, for I hate Kentucky basketball by proxy of being a Louisville fan.

People can talk Duke-Carolina all they want, but UL-UK is the best rivalry in college basketball. The Tobacco Road rivalry is increased because of a lot of ESPN chatter, but you'll find nothing but pure, unadulterated hate between the Wildcats and Cardinals.

This hate's not entirely all-encompassing. Most of my friends go to Kentucky and are Kentucky fans. I've got family members who work for the school and live nearby the campus. These are good people who just have a passion for basketball.

But as it is with almost any other fan base, the actions of a crazed minority of fans can define an entire group. Just with Kentucky, that contingency just happens to be larger and crazier than most.

After all, this is the same fan base who's home to so many original nicknames like Ricky Three Stacks, Little Brother and Loserville (seriously, if Louisville is for losers, what in the hell is Lexington?). I mean, I can certainly understand Louisville's flaws, especially with Pitino (who couldn't?), but it simply goes too far.

This is the same fan base who continually denies that Adolph Rupp was a racist. Spoiler Alert: He was.

This is the same fan base who put up "FOR SALE" signs in the front yard of a national championship-winning coach who was not only a great coach, but an even better man in Tubby Smith, eventually driving him to leave for Minnesota as opposed to getting fired. The fact that he is black may or may not have had anything to do with that.

This is a fan base that hated Billy Gillispie and ran him out of town...wait a minute, they were right, he did suck.

This is the fan base that made these shirts:



But the worst has to be now as they continually rush to the defense of an indefensible man in John Calipari, and vehemently lash out at anyone who dare writes or says a bad thing about him. I'm sorry, but that kind of thing happens when you give a record-breaking contract to the only coach to have coached two abandoned Final Four teams: people, justifiably so, criticize such irresonsible and thoughtless action.

However, as a side note, Calipari's mother did just die after a bout with cancer, so we here at H & V offer nothing but thoughts and prayers for him and his family as they go through with this tragedy.

My point is that I am what Kentucky fans routinely like to as a "hater," implying that the only reason people could hate a program like Kentucky is from mere jealousy. Indeed, I do hate Kentucky, but that's something you're born with in that state: I hate UK just as much, if not less, than any UK fan hates U of L. But it's not their success I'm jealous of; in fact, it's their success that I truly respect. You have to. I've always said that while I think it's problematic to pick a single greatest college basketball program of all time, I think UK sits with UCLA as the greatest programs in the sport's history. Seven national titles, countless Final Fours, it's all admirable.

But with it comes a borderline-deplorable fan base (reasons listed above), a fan base overwhelmingly tainted by the actions and words of a vocal, influential minority.

My rant against Kentucky fans aside, don't expect much from this game. It will be a hostile environment because UK needs to win and win big, even though that shouldn't be way too hard.

God speed Terriers: I'm not expecting much, it's a no-lose situation, and it's always another opportunity for a remodeled team to continue to come together and improve.


Prediction:

Kentucky 94 BU 63

Matt Griffin = Clutch

As I've mentioned earlier, I'm working as a beat writer for the men's basketball team this season, so throughout the year, I'll be posting my FreeP articles up on the blog from time to time.

I start this week with my piece on Matt Griffin, whose perfect shooting day and 21 second half points propelled BU past a hapless Marist team.



The scene inside Case Gymnasium was placid if not downright sterile. A once-exuberant Boston University crowd had watched as its men's basketball team became entangled in a low-scoring struggle against a Marist College team that went all of 1-29 last season.

The hard bass lines of "Teach Me How To Dougie" reverberated and echoed through the rafters of The Roof as both teams continued to pile up turnovers and missed shots.

Even with only 15 minutes left in the game, the score was still locked in the 20s. The game didn't merely need a star. It was clamoring for one.

And then came Matt Griffin.

The junior guard, a transfer from Rider University, scored 21 points for the Terriers to ultimately push them past the Red Foxes (0-3) by a 58-37 score on Friday night.

Perhaps most remarkable about Griffin's performance was his perfection, not even in the metaphoric or hyperbolic sense. He was literally perfect for BU, shooting 7-of-7 from the field, including an impressive 5-of-5 from 3-point range.

"It was one of those feelings that you can't describe," Griffin said. "It was one of those times when you're in the zone and you don't want it to end."

Such confidence was apparent as the second half played out. Griffin continually found a way to get open, and after getting his shot off, he'd begin to backpedal, holding his stroke as the crowd rose to its feet. The inherent assumption was the same after a while – the ball, regardless of how it may have looked out of his hand, was going in.

Yet for so much certainty throughout so many crucial junctures in the second half, uncertainty was such a dominant theme for both Griffin and his team before and during the game.

Facing a Marist team that has not won a game since Jan. 2 of this year, it was presumed that BU coming off an impressive showing in the Preseason National Invitational Tournament would have little trouble in its home opener.

That was not the case through the first 20 minutes of the game.

With junior forward and co-captain Jake O'Brien playing limited minutes because of a stomach virus and senior forward John Holland held to seven points for the game, BU struggled mightily on the offensive end in the first half.

The team shot a collective 8-of-26 from the field and had already turned the ball over eight times, all of which added up to an unexpected 21-20 halftime lead.

"I just wasn't happy with the offense, us sharing the basketball, moving it," said BU coach Pat Chambers. "I felt like we were on our heels a little bit."

Going into the game, Griffin wasn't exactly the favorite in the clubhouse to be the deciding factor in the game. After starting the team's season-opener at Northeastern University, Griffin was listless in the team's first two games before a promising 10-point performance against Villanova University last Wednesday.

However, that slow start, together with the emergence of freshman guard D.J. Irving, pushed Griffin out of the starting lineup and further back on the team's depth chart.

Through it all, though, Griffin remained undeterred.

"When I came here, it wasn't about starting, it wasn't about coming off the bench," Griffin said. "None of that really mattered to me."

Thus the situation was presented – BU needed a second-half surge to avoid a disastrous home-opener and Griffin needed another opportunity to prove himself.

Match made.

With BU down 28-27 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the second half, Griffin buried a 3-pointer, giving him his first points of the game and giving the Terriers a lead they would not surrender.

From that point forward, Griffin kept his hot hand going, scoring 18 of the team's final 28 points to lead the charge on a 31-7 run that turned a stalemate into a rout.

The Marist game proved to be a critical litmus test for this BU team and its depth. With Griffin's career night, the Terriers managed to pass that first test.

"I think that's a great part of our team," Griffin said. "We have guys who can really come in and provide energy and really pick our team up."

But while the win over Marist was a necessary – albeit not always pretty – step forward for a remodeled BU roster still finding its way, the night undoubtedly belonged to Griffin.

"Matt Griffin earned every shot he made tonight," Chambers said. "Nobody works harder. He earned everything. I was so proud of him and so happy for him. As a coach, you root for kids like that who work so hard."

Back Again

Ok, so it's admittedly been a while, but two weeks without a computer and huge papers and tests to work for will do just that to you, or I guess by proxy, this particular blog.

Well, I'm back at it, and again, what a better way to resume things with some random notes and thoughts.


- I honestly think it's time that people begin to forgive Michael Vick. I love PETA as much as everyone else does (meaning, I hate them since, you know, everyone loves PETA), but those people that still continue to dog him over his past bother me beyond belief. And yes, pun intended with "dog him."



Was what he did wrong? Of course it was, I'm not a lunatic -- I'm fully aware that dog fighting is a horrific act. But consider the following: The man lost his job, his salary, his endorsements, his liveilhood and 18 months of his freedom to pay for what he did. I think it's fair to say he's adequately suffered and he's emerged a reformed man who is playing the best football of his career.

- I'll go into more detail on BU basketball at a more appropriate occasion (I still do have papers to finish), but I really like what I see so far. The team's playing a lot faster than they ever did last year, John Holland has been an absolute monster, O'Brien's improved, and we've got some really promising freshmen. I didn't think Chambers' first season was as successful as everyone else did, but I think his second season's absolutely crucial because we're starting to see his mark on the program, not his mark on what he inherited. And so far, I'm really liking how he has molded this program.

- One more thing on BU basketball: Evidently, only 200 tickets remain for BU's season-opener against Marist. I don't dispute that, but as a BU basketball fan, I've grown cynical when it comes to attendance, aka I don't trust BU fans to support basketball, sad as it is. Case has a capacity of 1,800; if there are more than 1,200 people at the game, I'll go all Frank Reynolds and drink soup out of my shoe.



- Why do so many damn Celtics fans not believe that I went to the same middle school as Rajon Rondo? I did, damnit!

- Trend I am feeling:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/11/16/four_loko_sales_may_be_curbed/

Not because I'm personally opposed to Four Loko (I don't drink the stuff), but it's just fun to see Teddy freak out and start to stockpile our apartment like a 1950's bomb shelter.

- Trend I'm not feeling:



John Wall was one of the few people who I liked on Kentucky's team last year, but my God, do I hate the John Wall Dance. It only got popular because Kentucky fans, after so many years of worshiping Adolph Rupp, finally realized there are African-Americans in this world who they don't try to run out of town like Tubby Smith. Therefore, the smallest things they do, like turn their wrist back and forth, it becomes law.

I thought it would go the way of the Eight Track and die out after he went pro, but it unfortunately looks like I was wrong.

- Deep regret about the end of BU soccer season, for both men and women. A great season for both teams, especially the women, and I look forward to play kicking back off at Nickerson Field again in about nine months.

- A final note here: Teddy, H&V friend Ryan McKetchnie (check out his stuff on America Least, his name's The Classroom), and I were at Raising Cane's last week and we came across a man named Steve who is evidently a huge BU fan. He missed the men's soccer game that night because he was at a boxing match and he was asking a lot of questions about BU basketball. He may or may not have thought we were on the team.

Anyhow, this man seems like a reclusive figure and I want to know this man. If anyone knows of a light-skinned black guy with a goat-tee named Steve who has a T map with Agganis Arena marked who also has an affinity for BU basketball, please let me know. Now that I'm 21, this man deserves alcohol of any sort on me.

BU/BC Hoops....Kind Of

Well my prediction last May of a renewal of the BU-BC basketball rivalry was kind of right.

According to Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman, BC and first-year head coach Steve Donahue will head west on Comm Ave to take on BU in a "secret scrimmage," scrimmages closed off to the general public that are used as a tune-up with the regular season mere weeks away.

http://community.foxsports.com/goodmanonfox/blog/page/3

It's not a real game, but let's hope this is a step in the right direction for what could be a halfway-decent rivalry. Lord knows if we're playing BC in anything, it will draw our students out, sad as that fact is.

I can understand why BC is apprehensive of playing BU in basketball -- it's something of a no-win situation. If they beat BU, well congratulations, you're an ACC school beating an America East team -- you're supposed to. But if they were to lose, there'd be scrutiny abound.

While I can understand that, I think this would be a good move for college basketball in Boston as a whole.

I don't know how exactly the closed scrimmages work but I'll go out on a limb and say that BC wins 83-74. We're going to be good this season, and BC won't exactly be setting the ACC ablaze, but at the end of the day they're still an ACC team with ACC facilities and ACC recruits.

God, the season needs to get here already.

Retiring the Nicknames

For those of you who didn't know, I abandoned my tenure as a columnist to be a beat writer for The Daily Free Press, hoping to better prepare myself for what lies ahead journalistically. And by that, I mean unemployment.

I've been working with the men's soccer team for the past couple of months and will be working with the men's basketball team this winter, something that's a great thrill since anyone who follows this blog knows my affinity for hoops, especially BU hoops.

What this also means is that I'm going to have to talk with players on a daily basis, meaning I can't let any of their nicknames slip out of my mouth. I really wouldn't want to imagine the scene that would ensue if I accidentally called Patrick Hazel "Ugly John."

For me at least, the best route to go about this is to just retire these names, meaning others can use them and continue their legacy, but still retire them as a means of me saving my livelihood.


John Holland



For whatever reason, reasons that have escaped me entirely, I never gave John, the best player on the team for the past two seasons, a nickname.

Some people called him JH23, but that's about as original of an idea as Facebook, or so says that movie I just saw. If I had to go with a nickname, though, it'd probably be "HollandOates."

He who giveth, taketh away. HollandOates is retired.


Jake O'Brien




Joke O'Brainless


This is a nickname developed by Frankie Frost and his bitter cunning, and it was a name I was originally on board for. I was still dismayed with his whole "I'm too good for BU, I'm gonna transfer" episode and I always thought most BU fans overrated him a tad bit, at least for a 6'8" guy PF with no post moves, not even a baby hook.

But from all I've heard, Jake's a very nice guy, so the nickname's probably undeserved, although I'm sure Frosty will continue to have it as a benchmark of his prepubescent vernacular.


Patrick Hazel




Ugly John Holland

Alluded to earlier, this nickname goes in the same folder as JOB's nickname: Hazel's a very nice guy from all I've heard, so it's probably due for this nickname to be put out to pasture.

However, the nickname is as mean as it is true...I'm going to have a hard time avoiding this one.


Darryl Partin




Transfer Corey Lowe


Obviously not the most succinct or original nickname on Earth, but he's new, so I just came up with it. All indications are that Partin's a gunner, and BU's gunner quota needs to be filled with C.L. Smooth over in Greece, so it fits well enough.


Matt Griffin




Asher Roth


I'm actually pretty proud of this nickname considering it was developed in the same vein as Partin's: aka on the fly, fringe class style.

Roth and Griffin both are dudes from the Philly suburbs who have carved a niche as white guys in an African-American dominated profession. Roth in hip-hop, Griffin in college basketball. Griffin's got his niche as the distributor as a PG, Roth filled the vacant, Douchy-Frat Boy-Rapper label.



Here's to hoping Griffin's a better point guard than Roth is an MC.


In all honesty, I'd given very little thought to the nicknames of the freshmen either because they're so new or because they didn't really have any characteristics that screamed for a nickname.

Thus, the following freshmen were never bestowed one: Travis Robinson, DJ Irving and Mike Terry. Gentlemen, you have been spared.


Dom Morris



I never came up with a nickname for Morris, but every time I heard his name, I thought of the briefly-lived Dom on Entourage.



The kid's already in a position to succeed: there's no way he can be as bad as the goon that I unfairly associate his name with.


HJ Gaskins




UPS


Gaskins was a classmate and teammate of Morris and Robinson at Teddy's alma mater Friends Central HS, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he's not the same caliber player as them.

Where Robinson was rated as an 89 on ESPN.com and Morris an 87, Gaskins was a 72. Evidently his dad was an AAU coach or some coach of some kind, so it's pretty easy to figure out that between that presence and the skill disparity, that Gaskins was part of a package deal.

Why not FedEx on this one? Well, has a UPS plane ever crashed into the ocean, forcing one of its employees to live on an isolated island with only the companionship of a volleyball? No, so UPS gets the edge here.


Mat Piotrowski




My Giant


My Giant was a 1998 movie starring Billy Crystal alongside Gheorghe Muresan about Hollywood agent who stumbles upon a 7'7" giant in Romania and tries to get him to enter show business as an actor.



Genius premise aside, Piotrowski's an abnormally tall white guy like Muresan and naming someone after a relatively-obscure late-90's movie is much more creative than just naming him after the person.


I do have to admit, as a final note here, that I'm going against my original sentiments and keeping two nicknames for two players. Self-discipline will be oozing when I talk with them.


Jeff Pelage




The Junkyard Dog


My days of calling Jeff "Junk" are over because that would definitely slip out of my mouth at some point. Also, Junk's got a negative connotation attached to it.

The Junkyard Dog, on the other hand, exudes nothing but respect and reverence. I can't abandon a nickname so perfect as perfect as this one.

Removing this nickname would remove Pelage's identity for me -- I just can't bring myself to remove it.


Malik Thomas



The Classroom


I love this nickname as much as I love this kid.

Chambers: "Malik, what's your favorite place to be on campus when you're not in the gym or in the classroom?"

Thomas: "The classroom!"

The Week That Was

Last week when I did my long-delayed return post, I took the route of making a comprehensive, albeit assorted, list of some quick-hit views on sports and what had transpired for that whole two month period that I was incognito.

Well, it turns out that this is a trend that I actually like more than "Teach Me How To Dougie," meaning I'm really, really on board with this idea to the point of jubilation.

Expect this to become a weekly fixture on the blog, with the segment title TBD.


- First off, congratulations to both the BU men's and women's soccer teams for winning the America East regular season titles. The men had a rough start to the season but have been on fire the past month (like a reversal of last season's fortunes), and the women's team hasn't allowed a goal in their last 11 matches, giving them the sixth longest scorless streak in NCAA history. Incredible, even if you're not a women's soccer fan.

So kudos to both teams and coaches.

- Mark my words: the hatred for LeBron will die down. The second he and the Heat capture a title, he'll be a revered figure again. Hell, if Kobe can redeem his public image the way he did, anyone (except for O.J.) can.

- I get this prevailing feeling in my gut that Boise State's not going to make the national championship. I think Auburn's going to lose at some point, most likely to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, and I think Oregon's bound to lose at some point, although with that offense, I'm not sure. Alabama will win out and make the national championship game: that much is certain. But if Oregon runs the table, Boise will be on the outside looking in once again.

If Boise has an undefeated regular season for the third season in a row, especially after being ranked in the preseason top five and having beaten a series of ranked opponents, I don't think that there's any greater evidence that there needs to be a playoff in college football.

- I take back my prediction on teams for the Scarlet & White scrimmage. An all-freshmen team would get swamped. Look for the three transfers and three returning players to each have a team, with the freshmen being divided up.

- So, after two games, does the NBA hierarchy go like this: Cavs > Celtics > Heat?

- Trend I'm not feeling:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5734494

It's obvious that the student shouldn't have been out there, but this should be a sign that people shouldn't be hoisted up on top of these rickety crane structures that are about as stable as Teddy after a few cans of Four Loco. It's time to build sturdier structures at Division I football programs -- believe me, they can afford them. It's just sad that a young man had to die in order for this to become painfully clear.

- Trend I am feeling:



- Isn't it about time people stop talking about Cam Newton, LaMichael James and Kellen Moore and start talking about Bilal Powell?



Am I a Louisville homer sometimes? You bet, but this guy's one of the top three rushers in the country but yet he gets almost no pub or respect outside of his own conference.

- Fantasy football team's now 2-5, but I'm now putting my hopes on the shoulders of the LeGarrette Blount, the guy most-known for punching out the guy from Boise State. Then again, that was a great punch, the product of some huge shoulders. So those are some good shoulders to put my hopes on.

Plus I probably would have punched that guy too.

- A final note here: Section 118 and Section 119 at hockey games have gotten to the point of being flat and absolutely unoriginal. I think this is still something of a hangover from last season's disappointment, kind of in the same way that there was so much excitement in the early part of last year because of the leftover euphoria from the national title.

But it's got to improve. Also, a note to the band: stop playing "Bad Romance." Aside from my problems with Mr. Gaga, it's just not a good song to play at an athletic event. And stop singing along to it 118 & 119: it's embarrassing.

However, much improved early lineup of songs played before the games. Love Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness" remix (although the original's much better), but also let's get rid of that song with Nicki Minaj.

Nothing good comes from STDs, children.

NBA Predictions

One of the most anticipated seasons in the history of the NBA is now upon us, and even though I'm two games behind in some cases, here are my predictions for the season. Playoff seeds, if applicable, are in (), as well as the conference rank:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic
1. Celtics (3)
2. Knicks (7)
3. Nets (12)
4. Sixers (13)
5. Raptors (15)

Southeast
1. Heat (1)
2. Magic (2)
3. Hawks (5)
4. Wizards (8)
5. Bobcats (10)

Central
1. Bulls (4)
2. Bucks (6)
3. Cavs (9)
4. Pacers (11)
5. Pistons (14)


First Round
Heat over Wizards
Magic over Knicks
Celtics over Bucks
Bulls over Hawks

Second Round
Heat over Bulls
Celtics over Magic

Conference Finals
Heat over Celtics


Western Conference

Northwest
1. Thunder (2)
2. Blazers (4)
3. Jazz (6)
4. Nuggets (8)
5. Timberwolves (15)

Southwest
1. Mavericks (3)
2. Spurs (5)
3. Grizzlies (10)
4. Rockets (11)
5. Hornets (12)

Pacific
1. Lakers (1)
2. Suns (7)
3. Clippers (9)
4. Kings (13)
5. Warriors (14)

Playoffs

First Round
Lakers over Nuggets
Thunder over Suns
Mavericks over Jazz
Spurs over Blazers

Second Round
Lakers over Spurs
Mavericks over Thunder

Conference Finals
Lakers over Mavericks


NBA Finals

Lakers over Heat

The Lakers will complete the three-peat, but it will be their last title as Kobe will inevitably start to wear down after this season. Can't really blame the guy considering he's been in the league since before he could buy a lottery ticket.

Didn't feel like explaining the picks, but if there are legit comments/questions to my methodology, go to the comment section.