NotDeadYet

First off, SBU looked great, The team play was very coordinated and the finisher finished. BU just never took it to them, and the fouls called tell that story. To win, BU has to use their speed to get the opposition into fouls trouble, and they didn't do it.

If SBU executes as they did tonight, they won't lose in conference. Warney is the real deal. If he controls the inner paint and isn't challenged by drivers or passing, SBU wins.

On Friday, UVM has to pass well on the interior, get Warney frustrated and cause Brenton to come inside to help him, making it a 4 on 3 game.

lsbal84

It will be the best thing you ever do.

bosiydid

Agreed... But boy, there will be times where you think back to simpler days...

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__________________

lsbal84

True Dat as my daughter says.

TerrierNation

I'll reserve overall judgement after 1 or 2 more recruiting classes. If he can't bring in the right players who can defend and rebound (which were previously strengths for BU ) then we're in serious trouble in the Patriot League. I agree with the other poster though. BU has lost just about every close game this year. Some of it is inexperience and fatigue, but some of it is coaching too.

Chambers brought in Griffin, Hazel, Irving, Robinson, Thomas and Morris. I agree that he was a mediocre in-game coach, but he could recruit as well as any coach in the AE.

farfromtheshow

Griffin, Hazel, Robinson, Thomas and Morris are all supporting-role players at best. C'mon man. Chambers decidedly did NOT prove that he was a good recruiter when it came to four-year talent.

He brought in nine freshmen looking at his two recruiting classes, he hit the bulls-eye on one (Irving). one for nine isn't exactly a stellar rate. His second recruiting class, Kennedy and Chiounuma, has proven to be AWFUL.

I'd put Jones first recruiting class - Watson, Papale, Dieudonne and Alston - as at least as good if not better than Chambers first four-year class.

Don't get it twisted, Chambers won because he inherited Corey Lowe, John Holland, Tyler Morris and Carlos Strong as juniors and seniors. His trip to the Championship game his first year was entirely because Corey Lowe went "ok, I'm going to put everyone on my back and win this" against Hartford and Stony Brook, before nearly repeating the feat against Vermont, and Chambers went to the Big Dance the following year because he had the best player in the AE in John Holland and Holland played like Holland in the final 15 minutes of the Chip. Let's not re-write history like it was Chambers' recruits who won the title - it was Wolff's (as an aside, Wolff remains the best recruiter I've seen at BU, it's not even close).

Chambers brought in some decent-to-good 2-year transfers his first year, but he failed to build off it in the following two recruiting classes, missing more than he hit.

UVM Hoop Cat

& Partin

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

UVM Hoop Cat

...that statement is a stretch, we pretty much stomped on BU in the title game. Or more specifically, Marqus did.

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

Majestic Mapp

Massive beatdown tonight. Before league play I thought UA had the best resume, UVM were the champs not to be counted out, but SBU had the best looking team. I watched the UCONN and Seton Hall games on TV and I was impressed with how they competed. Things are really shaping up nicely this year.

RE: Coach Jones
To this point I think I would give him a "B" grade. He's brought in a very good class this year (and a good recruit so far next year), got Dom Morris to play inside, and I just like his energy he has on the bench. The blown leads and close game management is an area of improvement. However, if he doesn't bring in more bigs in the next year or two, I will not be as generous in my assessment.

uvm4life20

I think your jones favoritism is showing. Morris is a supporting role player at best? I'm still waiting for 1 of UVM's role players to have a 17 and 10 game. A lot of those players are supporting role players but that's what you need. I liked Hazel's game as well. He was a really good role player to have especially his senior year. 1 outta 9 for stars isnt the best but that's a stat that down plays what he brought to BU. He did have a huge class to replace. Not easy to do. I agree that Jones class is much better though. Very impressive with Papale and Watson.

You can't blame Chambers for inheriting good players. You work with what you got. Lowe wasn't that close to beating UVM in the championship game. It certainly wasn't anything near a down to the wire game.

Also while Holland won the Chip Chambers was able to put the role players around him needed to succeed. You take away a few players away from that team and they don't win. I'm not a Chambers fan at all but he did do some good things at BU and it's not like Jones has nothing to work with. Jones would of walked into a team of O'brien, Morris, and Irving if it wasn't for BU decision. That is a pretty good big 3 for the AE.

TerrierNation

Forget about the Corey Lowe team for a minute...that was Chambers' first year and that group did not win the conference. I am talking about 2010-2011. Of course Holland was the key player, but Chambers still built a team around him in mere months of recruiting. The only other Wolff player who contributed was Pelage. (O'Brien contributed at first, but was injured for so much of the season).

Hazel was a very good player in the AE. He didn't score alot of points, but BU misses him badly. He was a physical player that was critical in getting to the NCAA tournament. Blocked shots and rebounded, exactly what they are now missing. Griffin was a role player, but he was good at it. Partin could flat out score and was Holland's sidekick. Then he made AE player of the year (don't agree with it, but I think you sell him short as a "decent" AE transfer). And why discount transfers? I would have loved it if Jones brought in a decent big man transfer. I think transfers are great...more proven commodities usually and instant leadership. That's exactly what those three transfers did for BU and we wouldn't have succeeded without it and they carried over alot of that the following year.

I don't see how Robinson, Morris and Thomas can be considered 'misses' at this point. They are all solid AE players. Not superstars, but those only come around every so often. Add in DJ and he had a good recruiting track record at BU. There have been misses like Terry, Kennedy (Vandross recruit?), and Chionuma. Every coach, including Jones, can have those.

I guess my issue is Jones was unable to bring in a post player the way Chambers brought in a player like Hazel and it is showing every game this season. He was unable to recruit our biggest need. Guards and all else have probably been roughly equal after that. And everyone is excited about Papale and Watson. Like I said, I'm not writing Jones off. He has a chance to bring in more players. And it is difficult to recruit big men at this level. But we will be eaten up by PL teams without more inside help. If he can't recruit that need effectively in the next class, then we have a problem. That's my main point.

farfromtheshow

As I've said on here before, Jones had a big man via the transfer rout, exactly the way Chambers did, and one who was bigger and better than Hazel, who fell through when BU pulled the plug on the America East: Circumstances out of Jones control have greatly hurt him this season, as he had a roster (plenty of it inherited) but a very good amount of it recruited by him (the frosh and the BCS transfer) that would have been more than good enough to have a great shot at winning the league. Circumstances that he inherited knee-capped his chances of making a run at the AE title this year, circumstances that Chambers inherited (Corey Lowe and John Holland) that were beyond his control played a HUGE role in BU winning the AE title and going to two title games.

My point is, to me, its highly hypocritical that I see the same people on here who sung Chambers praises (due to circumstances he inherited) are now bashing Jones (due to circumstances he inherited).

farfromtheshow

Corey Lowe averaged 24.7 points per game for the tournament over 3 games. He played out of his mind, and his 2nd half shooting binge put BU in a position to twice take the lead with about 7 minutes left, unfortunately John Holland blew an alley-oop on one possession and airballed a three on the next... he more than lived up to his reputation of being decidedly not a big game player (which lasted until the final 15 minutes of his final AE game).

My point was that Chambers road Wolff's players to 2 AE Title game appearances and one NCAA and people on here are acting like he was a great coach and Jones is garbage.

TerrierNation

Never said either of those things and neutral fans are backing up the fact that Chambers quickly built a very good team around Holland. His recruiting was good at least at the AE level. Perhaps the rest of the league is stepping up its game and Jones is a different situation now.

Chambers was not a good in-game coach, but Jones hasn't shown that ability yet either. They have a dismal record in close games. Still, it's very early and Jones is dealing with difficult circumstances this year. No one is calling him "garbage" or ready to fire him. Calm down

UVM Hoop Cat

Saying Corey Lowe had a great tournament in 09-10 is one point and certainly true. Saying he almost led BU to beating us in the championship game- a game we never trailed in and won by 13pts- is totally inaccurate.

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005