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dane85

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dane85 last won the day on March 18 2017

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  1. I don’t chime in often, but let me make three points: 1. If you want to criticize Killings regarding coaching, you are within your rights. But keep in mind that this is his first head coaching job, he is learning on the fly, and will learn from his mistakes. You have to have patience. 2. With respect to the makeup of this team, keep in mind that based on the timing when he was hired, Coach K was at a severe disadvantage in signing players. That said, what he brought in under those circumstances seems to be doing ok. The players he signs that will enroll for the 2022-23 year will be his first real recruiting class. 3. While most of us hate the transfer portal, until something changes, it is now a very regular part of doing business in Division I sports. (In fact, at the big time football level, schools are hiring transfer portal recruiters.) Thus, a transfer joining a program is no longer a rarity or a big deal. And considering the fact that basketball only requires five players on the court, a team can be quickly destroyed by the portal (as the Danes previously experienced) or alternatively can be significantly uplifted. Players who get recruited for big-time programs and get very little playing time will be on the move - sometimes to lesser programs where they can play all the time. There will still be players who stay at one school for four years, but the percentage of those who will not has greatly escalated. Whether we like it or not, we (and the coaching staff and the university) have to embrace that new reality.
  2. What were his injuries this year? He seemed to be a shell of the player he was when he joined the program (and we had huge expectations for him). He looked to be playing at about 50-60%. If he can get back to his capabilities, he could be a good role player at a nice program. I assumed he would depart. The guys that transferred in this past year may hopefully take a “wait and see” approach.
  3. Point taken - and I am not defending Benson (in fact I do think he should be on the hot seat). I don’t know enough about what the situation was between them to opine on that. I can understand that if Benson was predisposed to dump CB that the eventual decision would rub many the wrong way. I opined simply upon what I have seen over the past few years - and the quality of basketball that I have witnessed.
  4. We can agree to disagree - many of us believe the job performance was not up to par and the team was in steady decline and had become irrelevant - with no plan in place. Myself and many others have said the same thing - for months now. So I do believe a professional decision was made here. Is it possible that a personality clash with the AD expedited the decision, sure that is quite possible. But these types of changes are made all the time (and employees clash with their bosses all the time and eventually a move is made). Most coaches will tell you that their coaching style/effectiveness can grow stagnant if they remain in one place for too long. This time next year I believe we will hear that CB felt like the change gave him a new lease on life for him - a breath of fresh air; and I hope that at the same time, we are seeing a new energy in our program with a promising direction going forward.
  5. CB was loyal to the school and the school was loyal to him - for 20 years they shared a mutually beneficial relationship. He made an adult decision on prior occasions to remain coaching in a comfortable environment where his family is from and where they wished to remain living. Yes, his loyalty probably cost him some money but it also made his family happy with their quality of life in a location that was preferable to them (these are decisions that many professionals run into). The school chose to move on after 20 years - right or wrong, they made a professional decision to go in a new direction. I don’t think you can say that anyone made a rash decision here. Much like when the Yankees moved on from Joe Torre (and both sides had been loyal to one another for years), it was just time for a change. If CB had taken another offer before the school made its decision, no one would have criticized him for his lack of loyalty. CB has meant a lot to all of us and we have all thanked him for all that he has done. It’s now time to turn the page and hope that we choose a good replacement and then support that replacement as much as humanly possible. (As for the debate over the AD, I am all ears to the information being shared today and it has been very helpful.)
  6. Can someone provide a breakdown of the current roster in terms of year, eligibility, etc as well as recruit commitments for next year and/or the year after? And what were the Cam Healey injuries this year? He clearly was not the same player. If he can get healthy, it would be good to keep him but he also may be attractive to a higher level program as a role player.
  7. Nineteen years in one place as a head coach is almost unheard of these days. Coach Brown built a program from nothing into something and delivered some incredible memories along the way. He will be in the school’s HOF and probably down the road should be honored in the arena in some way. He was all class and ran a very clean program. This was also a very unique situation in that the coach was able to coach in what was basically his family’s hometown - so we benefited and his family’s quality of life benefited. I am sure every one of us on this board during CB’s tenure became proud to pound our chest that we were UA alum and for that we should all be forever indebted. That said, it appeared that the situation had grown stale - his relationship with the AD was not good, his recruiting had fallen off, his ability to get the most out of his team had waned, and there appeared to be no plan in place as to building his team. I think this change will be good for all concerned. CB is a good coach who probably needs a change of venue and a fresh start with better resources. I have no doubt he will do a nice job wherever he goes (and I doubt he will go to a SUNY as he will need to get paid commensurate with his experience and a SUNY can’t pay that). On our side of the coin, it’s time for a young, hungry coach with a good staff (that includes a recruiter) to put a new plan in place. Hopefully a couple of the recent transfers stick around as changing to another school won’t be easy for them. As mentioned by others, Benson’s performance has not been good and he should be under the microscope - I just hope we don’t get a poor coaching choice from him as the door is hitting him on the way out. THANK YOU COACH BROWN!
  8. Wow - talk about being thoroughly outcoached. Are you kidding me? A mediocre team losing to another mediocre team that was in foul trouble for 3/4 of the game. Great coaching by Hartford changing defenses all game to get through the foul issues. And we never made the necessary adjustments to take advantage of their problems. The announcers kept saying that Albany was a good defensive team - what team were they watching? Hartford shot 53% from the floor. UA could not get a stop and let a very mediocre team score 80 POINTS. Ho hum....Another year, another early exit. As I previously said, this team is no longer relevant - it’s now just another subpar team in a weak conference. What defines our team now? Who the hell knows! We have no true identity or plan.The longer this goes on, the more difficult it will become to recruit. ”But at least they have good grades!” Sorry CB, we can lose with you, we can lose without you - it’s time for a change and a rebuild of this program. Change for change sake is sometimes necessary.
  9. A one year contract is not realistic and is not going to happen. It offers no stability or consistency for the coach, the school, the players or recruits. My guess is CB gets a three year extension or we get a new coach. Given that an extension has not been given by now, and there has been no mention of contract negotiations (obviously they could be taking place without our knowledge), my guess is that a change may be coming. The school may also not be able to afford a pay increase for CB given the current climate. Change can be good and it might be time - for all concerned.
  10. I love everything CB has done - quality teams, quality men, true student-athletes and quality contributors to society. That said, the program is no longer relevant and I see no plan nor do I see (nor hear) fire in the belly of the coach. Sometimes change for all is just needed. We need to rebuild with a plan - and yes, there will likely be growing pains and we will need to be patient but this team has become unwatchable anyway. I would rather see five freshmen on the court applying full court pressure all game than watch this - we have no foundation to build upon, no stud recruits coming in, we have no PG, no inside game, and get crushed on the boards every night. In this day and age, CB should be commended for running a clean, virtually problem-free program. But we now need the athletes and we need a plan....
  11. This looks like a 6th grade CYO team - 12 points thus far!!! As I mentioned in my last rant, this team is just not good and there is no future - it’s time for a change. Thank you Coach for building this program.
  12. I am a long time, avid supporter of this team, this coach, and this program.....so let me say what we are all hesitant to say: This team is bad and almost unwatchable; there are probably 3 decent Division One level players on the squad; the level of our talent has dropped off dramatically over the past few years and those players (other than Cam Healey) are grad transfers; there is no plan in place - the current team is just a mishmosh of players thrown together - as opposed to building off some young foundation; we have no real PG; we have absolutely NO inside game; we used to put some fear into high level teams; we used to have a player or two that a team had to worry about - just not the case anymore. I love Coach Brown and all that he has done for this program (and our school) - but the program is stale and going nowhere with no vision or optimism for the future. I think we have all been patient given the success we had but it’s time for a change. We need a younger coach with high energy who has some recruiting contacts and the ability to tailor his coaching to the talent he has; we also need young, hungry assistants - hopefully one or two with recruiting relationships - that are able to help the head coach and not just be “yes men.” I used to look forward to watching this team and used to plan my schedule around their schedule....not anymore. They are not a relevant Div. I program anymore - they are now a team to be called when a team needs to add a W to its schedule. When I look at how far the men’s and women’s programs have fallen it saddens me....
  13. Like many other teams, SB has an inside game; they have a number of people who can handle the ball and score; and I hate to state the obvious, but guys like Rizzuto are not Div. I players. We are not getting recruits that match other teams - that is pretty disappointing especially when the Stony Brook coach is very new.
  14. ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL - three losses in a row to 2-7 Siena, 4-6 St. Francis, and 2-8 Brooklyn.....
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