As the season approaches every team has questions. This series is going to look at three key ones.
1. How does the return of Tommy Brenton impact the offense? – The redshirt junior forward missed all of last season with a knee injury. His offensive rebounding and ability to score in the paint should result in a big improvement on offense for the Seawolves. Last season SBU finished 9th in America East in two-point percentage, so Brenton should help there. His return will also allow Stony Brook to be one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the conference for the second season in a row.
2. Can the Seawolves defeat Boston University? – Stony Brook just couldn’t beat BU last season. While the Seawolves came close in the America East championship, they also lost by 13 and five earlier in the season. While John Holland is gone, the Terriers still are loaded with Darryl Partin and D.J. Irving in the backcourt and were selected first in the America East preseason poll. If Steve Pikiell wants to make the NCAA tournament, he’s going to have to come up with a game plan to beat BU, because chances are that at some point that’s what it will come down to.
3. Will Bryan Dougher make First Team All-America East? – Dougher was named to the preseason All-America East First Team. Being there at the end of the season is going to be up to him. After finishing on the Second Team each of the past two seasons, Dougher will have to improve his interior shooting in order to raise his scoring average and finish amongst the conference leaders. He contributes in a number of ways, but scoring is always the easiest way to get onto All-Conference teams.
Unranked AE ranked Dougher 12th on its list of the Top Players in America East. While Dougher struggled a bit last season, he could use fewer possessions in 2011-12 and actually see his scoring average rise with more playing time and better all-around shooting. Something like 15 points per game on a first place Stony Brook team, plus excellent backcourt defense, would probably be enough to get Dougher on the First Team. It’ll be a challenge, but he’s got the talent and the teammates to do it this season.
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