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[MBB] Game #17: 1/12/19 - 3:00PM vs Maine


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8 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

If, IF that's true...I don't agree with you.  There has to be some soul searching. We all knew this would be a tough year. The scary thing is the lack of athleticism and talent. Let's face it, De Sousa and Rizzuto right now are complete zeros. All the JUCO's let's be real and honest...stink. This team is Clark, Healey shooting (please God forbid he drives) and Lulka. 3 players...where is everyone else? This may not be a popular opinion but there are kids on this roster that I suspect won't be here next year, they aren't D1 players. Which begs the question why NUMEROUS non-d1 players were even 

I think we are saying the same thing... .  And I totally agree, the lack of athleticism is striking. Maybe we have better than D-3 talent, but we just got burned at home to one of the worst D-1 teams ... .

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Wow. You guys are tough on a young team. I'm not sure they are ready yet, but I still like a lot of the pieces. Players develop at different speeds. There may be a few not here, but that is common in college these days. I have a feeling that several will step up by the end of the year. One or two might really surprise. 

Brown has always been a trust guy. You need to step up and earn that trust, then there is loyalty. Campbell earned the trust, and Brown is sticking with him: right or wrong. Brooks, French, Lauderdale, Miller, Flory or deSousa could flip that switch. I'm thinking at least 2 do by the end of February, and it will be a different team.

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Yesterday was not a good showing. But I’ve got confidence WB will turn it around. Why? Because he’s done it twice before. Look at 2003 and 2009 and then the years that followed. Despite the lack of AE Championships the last few years we are coming off of 4 straight years of 20+ wins. That, and the loss of  Cremo and Nichols, buy WB an awful lot of slack. It’s still a lot of Frehman starters and Flory/Rizzuto are behind in development due to injuries.  The JUCOs are definitely disappointing, but I think there was some late scrambling to get them. If they aren’t a .500 team or better next year I will be concerned. Until then I will not engage in hand wringing. 

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The young men on this team are all good atheletes. But, except for a few, they are not atheletic enough to compete at this level. You can teach players a lot of things but you cannot teach them to run faster, be more agile orhave better hand eye coordination.  

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1 hour ago, jimbo said:

Yesterday was not a good showing. But I’ve got confidence WB will turn it around. Why? Because he’s done it twice before. Look at 2003 and 2009 and then the years that followed. Despite the lack of AE Championships the last few years we are coming off of 4 straight years of 20+ wins. That, and the loss of  Cremo and Nichols, buy WB an awful lot of slack. It’s still a lot of Frehman starters and Flory/Rizzuto are behind in development due to injuries.  The JUCOs are definitely disappointing, but I think there was some late scrambling to get them. If they aren’t a .500 team or better next year I will be concerned. Until then I will not engage in hand wringing. 

I am in agreement with a lot of what is written here. We have lost before and then become a winner. Was it a game against Brown in December 2003 when the Albany team was boo'd off the court at halftime and that was a major turning point in that season? Huge difference now is that Jamar was on that team and they had what this team lacks. Hustle, athleticism, desire and heart. 

The two best returning players on the roster (like it or not David Nichols was going to be the most talented player on this roster this year) bailed on the program very late. There was definitely some scrambling to fill this roster out and find some talent to fill gaps as wide as the Grand Canyon. Does everyone think they like Cam Healy more if he is a compliment to Joe Cremo and David Nichols? What about Lulka and Rizzuto? They would be excellent compliments to those guys and were going to be able to come along at their own pace, then take over next season with some experience under their belt. 

This team isn't very good. It needs more pieces but I am sure Will Brown will do something to find them. We were 7-25 during a season after the first 3 year tourney run, and we figured it out. That was a brutal season possibly made worse by the fact that there was talent on the floor but the team still STUNK.

The thing that kills me about this team is the lack of hustle and heart. They take the punches, but never give any back. Very rarely is there any real emotion showed.

And for all the De Sousa talk, the kid looked totally lost out there yesterday. In my opinion he added extremely little in the time he was on the floor except some bad shots, that were pretty much blocked. I was hoping he would run around like his hair was on fire and seize the opportunity, but he didn't. 

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1 hour ago, jimbo said:

Yesterday was not a good showing. But I’ve got confidence WB will turn it around. Why? Because he’s done it twice before. Look at 2003 and 2009 and then the years that followed. Despite the lack of AE Championships the last few years we are coming off of 4 straight years of 20+ wins. That, and the loss of  Cremo and Nichols, buy WB an awful lot of slack. It’s still a lot of Frehman starters and Flory/Rizzuto are behind in development due to injuries.  The JUCOs are definitely disappointing, but I think there was some late scrambling to get them. If they aren’t a .500 team or better next year I will be concerned. Until then I will not engage in hand wringing. 

Flory and Rizzuto scored zip, nada, zero last night against one of worse D1 teams.  Behind in development or not, how can a ball not find it's way into their hands for an easy basket at some point of the game.  Someone has to start scoring cause these two aren't,  Campbell can't shoot, Hank has no post moves and struggles at the line, and de Sousa looks lost.  

Is is lack of talent, lack of confidence,  or the play calling that is causing these fellas to look so bad in a D1 uniform???

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51 minutes ago, UA'08 said:

We had one returning starter from last year. Was the coaching staff really unable to sell playing time to better JUCOs who might have been more of a risk, but with tremendous upside? 

 

If WB didn't know that they (Cremo, Nichols) were leaving (did he?), finding quality players in March has to be pretty tough. Up until that point who would come with the two top guards returning and replacements already waiting in the wings? 

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We are bad. That's a fact. But we are playing some young guys a ton of minutes.  We bring in a SF and a PF next year. 

Students leaves every year. We need to land a couple of impact players next year.  Players that can create off the dribble. 

Also let's not forget there are 14 league games left. Brown needs to figure out what we do well and continue to improve that.  Need to get these guys as much experience as possible.  

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9 minutes ago, jimbo said:

If WB didn't know that they (Cremo, Nichols) were leaving (did he?), finding quality players in March has to be pretty tough. Up until that point who would come with the two top guards returning and replacements already waiting in the wings? 

I doubt he knew they were planning on leaving (I'm sure he knew they were on track to graduate early). That's why those guys will be forgotten in UA history years from now cause they bailed and left Brown scrambling. They will not be remembered like Wilson, Siggers, Iati's, Hooley, Rowley's, etc. Screw em. 

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Nichols barely played his Freshman year, then was on the first team as a sophomore. (imagine the transfer circus last summer had he redshirted and had 2 years left). 

Young guys on the team need to develop their D1 skills. They have been forced into action early. Brown said it best yesterday: "Only Duke starts 4 freshman, and their guys are a little bit more experienced and advanced."

At the mid major level you need to develop 2 star guys into 3 and 4 star guys. They don't come to you that way.

They will be fine. Hopefully by the AE playoffs, but by next year if not. 

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1 hour ago, jimbo said:

If WB didn't know that they (Cremo, Nichols) were leaving (did he?), finding quality players in March has to be pretty tough. Up until that point who would come with the two top guards returning and replacements already waiting in the wings? 

It’s definitely tough. But there’s always late signing guys over the spring that could be high risk or what not, but with potential upside. Break off that character mold the staff likes to recruit and take a chance. 

Also if it was really slim pickings, give a scholarship to Fruscio who paid his dues as a walk-on knowing that scholarship will be open the following year. Instead he’s now locked into a guy who is severely undersized like Brooks for next year. Could have also just went with 12 scholarship players for this year and added an additional walk-on so you have some flexibility if there was really no talent out there.

 

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While I agree with pretty much everything written here--we are BAD right now, talent is lacking or young (choose one); I feel compelled to make one positive comment. I think our defense HAS improved and has gotten better nearly every game. The offense has definitely regressed and like someone once  said, you are not as bad as you look when you shoot poorly and probaably NOT as good as you think when you have a hot shooting game. (liberally quoted but I hope you get my point.) But anyhow my positive comment about yesterday's defense is the number of Stops we got, and the number of shot clock violations we caused.You could easily make the aguement that the difference in the game was the 4 or 5 desperation heaves maine made as the shot clock expired.

 

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I re-watched the game today, and I think Lauderdale was a bright spot. 

Since athleticism and strength are clearly a problem out there, what about this lineup:

F - Lulka

F - Lauderdale 

F - Campbell 

G - Miller

G - Clark

With these 5 on the floor, I don't expect a miracle, but I am so tired of seeing us throw away passes or getting the ball ripped away due to being out-muscled. I think Lauderdale is tough, and his footwork down on the post looks quicker and improved.

I don't exactly buy the freshman excuse because several kids who are getting playing time are at least in year 2 of a college program and, presumably, its strength and conditioning program. 

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