The beginning of a basketball season comes with specific plans and goals ‘-‘- utilize this player in that role, run these sets on offense, implement this defensive philosophy and so forth. Preseason prognostication, albeit an academic enterprise, is based in part on the idea that these plans will be followed to some extent during the season. After all, expecting the unexpected is impossible, technically speaking.
Of course, nothing causes the best-laid plans to go to waste quite like a knee injury. Make that two, if you’ve been following Terrier basketball this season. Tyler Morris is gone with an ACL tear; Carlos Strong with a meniscus tear.
The Terrier backcourt, once the strength compelling America East coaches to name Boston University preseason favorites, is down to two contributors plus a handful of walk-ons and end-of-the-bench players. Corey Lowe and Marques Johnson are all BU’s got. John Holland may play on the perimeter, but on a fully loaded Terriers side he’d be a forward instead of the starting two-guard.
It’s not the remaining talent on the roster causing trepidation among the Terrier faithful. What BU currently lacks in quantity is made up for with quality. No, this is something different: this is fear of the unknown. What happens when a prototype shooting guard is shifted to the point? How do you beat a full-court press with four forwards on the court? What is the offense going to look like?
It’s not easy for a team to deal with injuries. The easy part is diagnosing the problem ‘-‘- injury-related issues show up on the court and in the box score. Nine second-half turnovers by BU fueled Vermont’s second-half run in Agganis last week. The rebounding was a problem, too, and having Strong on the court would have helped there. Prior to his injury, Strong was the Terriers’ best offensive rebounder on a per-possession basis not named Jeff Pelage.
But like a chameleon, Dennis Wolff’s team morphs to match the situation. By starting John Holland at the two, the Terriers instantly became longer, something that helped BU outrebound Binghamton by 14 in a big road win. Wolff, normally a strict adherent to man-to-man defensive principles, tinkered with some zone sets before implementing them more extensively in recent games; results have been positive so far.
Early in the season, BU opted to live and die by the 3-point shot. When things went well, the offense was explosive. Making 15 treys against Northeastern comes to mind. On the other hand, poor shooting from beyond the arc caused BU’s offense to grind to a halt, as was evident in the Terriers’ very first game. Shooting 28 percent from deep led to the team’s least efficient offensive performance of the season in an overtime loss to George Washington.
What has changed? When Morris and Strong were lost to injury, the Terriers were averaging just under 26 3-point attempts per game. Since that point, the Terriers have attempted less than 20 3s per game, even after including all the extra time from Monday’s four-overtime thriller. Some of this is an effect of pace (measured by possessions per 40 minutes) ‘-‘- BU’s five games post-injury all rank among the team’s six slowest of the season ‘-‘- but most of the difference is real. The Terriers are taking less 3s.
Being more selective from the perimeter usually has a positive effect on a team’s shooting percentage. Conventional wisdom is true in this instance. The Terriers are shooting 42.4 percent from deep in their last five games, first in the conference by an enormous margin. BU’s America East opponents have had no such luck, managing to make just 25.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Suggesting that the Terriers are somehow improved without Morris and Strong doesn’t make sense ‘-‘- both players played key roles and were valuable contributors. But if the team’s reaction to losing players has a positive effect on its performance, there may be a silver lining after all.
Yes, Scott Brittain, I’m talking about you. Brittain never exceeded three points during BU’s November and December games and started in just one contest (Dec. 10 versus Yale). Injuries thrust Brittain into the starting lineup, where he has shined, averaging 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Brittain also has six blocks in his past four games, impressive totals in a conference lacking shot-altering big men.
Brittain, like BU, came into the season with the weight of expectations firmly on his shoulders. Now the tables have turned ‘-‘- the Terriers, once conference favorites, have become the underdogs, the doubted, respected but not necessarily feared. Every loss has a built-in excuse. Knowing how to handle adversity is a virtue, not to mention a clich’eacute;, but that knowledge is not expected of anyone.
The new plan is an unfamiliar one, one that doesn’t include the Terriers holding a trophy or making an NCAA Tournament appearance. But there’s a chance here for BU to rise from the ashes. Nobody expects BU to win a conference title now ‘-‘- the target is off the Terriers’ collective back. What better time to make a run?
it is impossible for professors to ask permission of the studio that controls the copyright, but the problem is overlooked if the excerpt is distributed in small amounts for educational purposes.
However, if professors post the copyrighted scripts online, they can be more easily shared illegally.
‘The paperless policy makes us actually face this problem of electronic distribution of copyrighted documents,’ Merzbacher said. ‘It’s a collision between the word of the law and practical education practices not only used in COM, but in all universities.’
Merzbacher also predicted problems of classroom access to information if handouts are not an option. Many of the rooms in COM do not have the technological capability for electronically sharing documents, Merzbacher said.
‘For us to be paperless, we need to make sure all the classrooms are clearly mediated, not just having a TV in the corner, but good Internet coverage,’ he said.
Going paperless creates a weighty problem for COM freshman Danielle Tolkin, who said she now has to bring her computer to class if she wants to save money on printing.
‘It’s a lot more paper and ink that I now have to pay for,’ she said. ‘I can see why they wanted to go paperless, because they probably see a lot of documents in the trash, but for those of us that keep our documents, why are we being punished?’
hasn’t really been shown to the media light very much, and this is happening for the first time here.’
He said he does not think streaming the trial will help his case, but it will bring light to his situation and raise awareness for others in the same position.
‘It will prove invaluable . . . to everybody who is in a similar situation,’ Tenenbaum said. ‘I am one of 135,000 people being sued over this.’
BU School of Law Professor Jack Beermann said there are drawbacks to streaming the trial online.
‘The fear is that people will play to the camera and it will become more theatrical and less serious of a trial,’ Beermann said. ‘People are also concerned that people will feel more self conscious about what they say or do and that would affect the trial.’
Beermann said the Internet streaming will probably not sensationalize the case, but it will increase the publicity.
‘There is more coverage because people will have more access to it,’ Beermann said. ‘It may increase the level of discussion of it because more people have access to it.’
Though Beermann said Internet streaming some controversial cases ‘could detract from the seriousness of such proceedings,’ streaming this particular case is fine.
‘It gives people more of an understanding of what’s going on,’ he said.
Brian Barry, a College of Engineering sophomore, said he thinks the dollar amount the RIAA is asking of Tenenbaum per downloaded song is unconstitutional.
‘The punishment does not fit the crime,’ Barry said.
Tenenbaum’s case is based on the extreme demands, he said.
‘We’re claiming that that law is unconstitutional, and I think it’s pretty obvious that it is,’ Tenenbaum said. ‘It boils down that the damages are grossly excessive.’
Barry said he disagrees with Tenenbaum’s request to stream the trial online.
‘It’s a publicity stunt,’ Barry said. ‘As long as you have the student body behind you, streaming your trial will help your case.’
Marijuana Laws in October.
‘I personally believed that the issue was a viable one,’ he said. ‘I saw kids who had their futures ruined. I saw it as an issue of justice, of fairness.’
NORML BU Chapter President Olivia Soofi said the group worked to campaign for the issue before the election and would like to see a similar reform in BU’s marijuana policy.
‘If someone gets caught with marijuana . . . you get kicked out,’ Soofi, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, said. ‘Students lose financial aid. I just don’t think it’s fair.’
Soofi said group members have seen some excitement among the student body about the issue, and although they have had trouble discussing it with the university’s administration, they are continuing their efforts.
‘A lot of students feel really passionate about it,’ she said. ‘There have been people trying to get the zero-tolerance policy changed.’
After the 45-minute talk, Cicovacki answered questions from the audience, the topics ranging from religious extremism to subjectivity in current world conflicts.
BU students said although they agreed with Cicovacki’s arguments, his lecture lacked concrete answers.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Daniel Shaffer said he did not know what to expect from the talk, but found Cicovacki’s talking points about putting morality before politics and economics interesting.
‘I agree with them, but I think there are things that are not as clear,’ he said.
Shaffer said he did not think the speaker gave enough concrete examples of where morality fits into the world today.
Second year graduate student Matthew Wargo said he found the talk interesting, but said he did not expect it to focus so much on philosophy.
‘I suppose I was expecting [it to be] more political,’ Wargo said. ‘I find myself wanting to agree, but I think there’s a lot missing.’
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