WHITROCK: Injured Terriers hobbling into opener

It’s never easy.

Last winter, BU men’s basketball fans recoiled at the news of Carlos Strong and Tyler Morris’ season-ending injuries. While the Terriers were in the middle of what would become a five game losing streak, they were still a potential contender in America East up to that point. Strong and Morris’ absence forced the Terriers to rely on a shallow seven-man rotation.

Although BU’s collapse in the conference quarterfinals against UMBC cannot be directly attributed to exhaustion caused by a lack of depth ‘-‘- after all, the Retrievers’ depth issues were even greater ‘-‘- playing heavy minutes game after game with no alternative is rarely a desirable situation. It’s easy to see how over-reliance on a few key players can lead to physical and mental stress.

A new season and a clean bill of health was expected to leave the Terriers in prime position to make a run at the title, yet the team’s health has proven to be fleeting. Scott Brittain has not recovered from his latest concussion; he will not play in tomorrow’s game at Iona and may not return for quite some time. B.J. Bailey, the talented freshman combo guard, has also suffered a concussion, and while his lack of previous concussions makes his injury somewhat less concerning, he, too, will not compete tomorrow.

As if that wasn’t enough, Corey Lowe has a tender foot. It’s not severe enough to keep the Newton native off the court, and Lowe has managed to produce while less than 100 percent healthy in the past, but it’s certainly something warranting attention.

Including Lowe, three of the eight Terriers likely to regularly see significant playing time have some sort of notable injury. Whatever head coach Pat Chambers envisioned upon arriving in Boston, it wasn’t this.

With Brittain and Bailey unavailable, the Terriers will be forced to alter their rotation. In lieu of Brittain, Jeff Pelage should see starters’ minutes, and Valdas Sirutis becomes the third interior player on the depth chart. Bailey’s absence makes Sherrod Smith the fourth guard on the list.

Both Sirutis and Smith have logged effective minutes in the past, but neither has done so, or even been asked to do so, game after game after game. Depending on how long BU’s injured players are out, the Terrier reserves will need to eat minutes and be productive ‘- by no means impossible, but far from a guarantee.

Beyond Sirutis and Smith, the roster depth all but disappears. Tunde Agboola and Mike Schulze are walk-ons. While each is a fan favorite, playing two or three minutes at the end of a blowout does little to prepare a non-scholarship player for more critical moments. If more injuries occur, the Terrier walk-ons could be pressed into service out of necessity.

On paper, the Terriers clearly outclass their first opponent of the season, the Gaels of Iona College. Iona, however, holds a critical advantage. The Gaels are fully prepared to use any of eleven different players during tomorrow’s game. Contrast that with the Terriers, who don’t even have 11 eligible players healthy enough to play.

BU’s starting personnel fits well with a run-and-gun style, but the team’s lack of depth poses a problem. A player already has a disincentive to run himself into the ground ‘-‘- being tired and out of breath is no fun at all. Add in a short bench, and that player is now asked to run himself into the ground without the benefit of a sufficient break to recover. Maintaining the necessary level of effort and focus becomes more difficult as minutes increase.

Chambers’ ability as a speaker and motivator has already been seen ‘-‘- tomorrow, he will be tested as a tactician. An adept coach will attempt to expose the Terriers’ newfound weaknesses, either by throwing wave after wave of fresh bodies on the court or by making a concerted effort to get the BU regulars in foul trouble. Chambers will have to adapt his in-game instruction and substitution patterns appropriately.

To be fair to Chambers, he is not a player, and his ability to effect change on-court is indirect at best. Ultimately, the players are responsible for their own output. If John Holland has an off day shooting, Chambers can’t shoot the ball for him. All he can do is try to make decisions that create better situations for the five guys on the court.

Still, teams and their coaches are not judged by how they perform in best-case situations ‘-‘- rather, the measure of a coach in any sport is how he helps his players, both individually and collectively, in times of trouble. If there’s a positive to be taken from the Terriers’ injuries, perhaps the present situation will tell us more about Chambers and his team than would otherwise be known.

And perhaps, after being presented with repeated difficulties over the past few weeks, the Terriers can take solace in their opportunity to present difficulties for someone else.