{"id":28636,"date":"2021-11-05T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T14:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=28636"},"modified":"2021-11-04T22:18:42","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T02:18:42","slug":"mens-basketball-terriers-return-experienced-roster-but-seek-improvements-ahead-of-2021-22-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2021\/11\/05\/mens-basketball-terriers-return-experienced-roster-but-seek-improvements-ahead-of-2021-22-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Basketball: Terriers Return Experienced Roster, But Seek Improvements Ahead of 2021-22 Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

By Hannah Yoshinaga<\/em><\/p>\n

The last time the Boston University men\u2019s basketball team played in front of fans, it was celebrating its first Patriot League title since 2011 \u2014 and the Terriers begin the 2021-22 season with similar aspirations Tuesday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After being named the preseason favorite last year, BU fell short of expectations and finished as the 7-seed. However, with a chip on their shoulder and some of the least roster turnover in the league, the Terriers feel they have a shot to regain the top spot in the league and earn an NCAA Tournament berth.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Dogs <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Terriers return one of the most veteran-heavy rosters in the conference, for which they were voted the Patriot League\u2019s top preseason team for the second year in a row.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I just love the type of people that they are,\u201d Jones said of this year\u2019s squad. \u201cIt\u2019s a close team, they get along really well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, he believes there are no guarantees even with an experienced lineup.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI told our guys I didn\u2019t think we deserved to be the preseason favorite,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think we earned it last year. You have to earn that right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/patriotleague\/status\/1448303910138089472?s=10<\/a><\/p>\n

Specifically, Jones wants a bigger buy-in from his team when it comes to adopting a tougher and more consistent mindset.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do things that good teams do, and good teams do the hard stuff well. Right now, that\u2019s what I\u2019m most concerned about, are we going to make the toughness plays, are we going to play through when things get really hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The BU coaching staff is also putting extra emphasis on defensive principles in practice, including footwork, communication and rebounding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones noted that the Terriers were a top rebounding team during their 2019-20 championship run \u2014 putting up 36.2 boards per game \u2014 but that they need to return to a similarly effective level this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Return of Non-Conference<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Jones hopes that being able to play non-conference games this season will provide an opportunity to work out some of the kinks before league play begins in January.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to URI, the Terriers\u2019 non-conference slate includes opponents such as Boston neighbor Northeastern and SEC powerhouse Florida State, which was ranked 20th in this season\u2019s first edition of the AP Top 25.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BU will also travel to Jacksonville, Fla. to play in the Jacksonville Classic Basketball Tournament on Nov. 21 and 22.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ll know more about who we are,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough and challenging. And I think we\u2019ve got to embrace the hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New Kids on the Block<\/span><\/h3>\n

BU will have an opportunity to embrace the hard right off the bat when it comes to getting healthy, as guards Ethan Brittain-Watts, Caelan Jones and Miles Brewster were among those being held out of practice as of Tuesday, Oct. 26. With multiple players sidelined, others \u2014 including newcomers Malcolm Chimezie and Nevin Zink \u2014 will be expected to play larger roles than originally anticipated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freshman forward Chimezie was ranked the No. 8 recruit in New York by ESPN and was a nominee for McDonald\u2019s All-American honors in 2021. In his final season at Archbishop Stepinac High School last winter, the Yonkers, N.Y. native averaged 10 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zink comes to BU as a junior transfer from USC Upstate after averaging 7.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.6 blocks and 22.7 minutes per game as a Spartan. He shot 62% from the field last season, the fourth-best mark in program history. A former NEPSAC All-New England Honorable Mention, he graduated from St. Andrew\u2019s School in nearby Barrington, R.I.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been awesome,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBoth those guys are really coachable guys, they\u2019re great guys, they\u2019re tough. It\u2019s been a lot of fun being around those two and coaching them so far.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers kick off their season on the road at URI\u2019s Ryan Center on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hannah Yoshinaga The last time the Boston University men\u2019s basketball team played in front of fans, it was celebrating its first Patriot League title since 2011 \u2014 and the Terriers begin the 2021-22 season with similar aspirations Tuesday.\u00a0 After being named the preseason favorite last year, BU fell short of expectations and finished as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18183,"featured_media":28679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1026,1027,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28636"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28713,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636\/revisions\/28713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}