Dane Pound

Just now, PurpleHoops said:

Vermont just beat Hartford by 1, 69-68.

That was a hell of a basketball game. Gallagher did an amazing coaching job to nearly steal that one.

2 hours ago, Bball2020 said:

Had offers from umass, hartford , umass lowell etc in high school. With how bad are posts have played anyone know why he didnt get a chance this year? Looked a step slow at times but based on everything I read was a guy who got it done at a high level in high school. Not good that he left.

His competition for playing time was mostly with more experienced players - Hansen, Lulka, Lauderdale, Hanks. Next year might have been a different story had he stayed.

That transition from HS to college is tough sometimes. I've been surprised with how easy Hutch made it look. I tend to forget he's a freshman.

That wasn't a thing of beauty but in a weird way, I like games where other guys have to step up and fill other roles.

When he came in, I thought Sam Shaefer was a fancy three point shooter but on that offense rebound late in the first half, he went UP.

More Fruscio!

Hopefully there's no hangover from the Vermont game. Bing had a bye this weekend and should be well prepared for this game.

We got what we needed with scoring from Rizzuto off the bench and Hansen defending and rebounding. Lamb is just that good and Vermont is just that tough.

Tough ask for Hutch to guard Lamb early on.

That was a playoff kind of atmosphere and the difference in experience was on display. Most of Vermont's guys have played in big times and they maintained a high level and we fell off for a stretch in the second half.

Tough fouls on Hank. I thought we played well with him in the game.

I'm as worried about scoring as I am defending. Vermont has been crushing on the defensive end since that Stony Brook game. 

Hopefully we can keep our cool and execute. Ahmad was great against UMBC getting into the lane and finding shooters.

Davis for UVM is as much of a problem as anyone. You have to bring your big guy out to defend him at the three point line and then you have no one to help in the paint against Lamb.

I'll be curious to see Hansen on Lamb. That way, you can have De Sousa on Smith.

24 minutes ago, ctdanes said:

5-2 in conference. Haven't played great but i'd say trending upwards. hopefully the boys get up for uvm at home

Headed in February with a home game for a share of the conference lead. I'll take that.

UMBC big guys may be more athletic but were brutal at the free throw line - 3 of 9. That hurt them down the stretch.

Tough road win to bounce back after the Hartford loss.

Healy and Ahmad go 2-12 from three and we win on the road. I'll take that. Great to see other guys stepping up, we're a different team when other guys score besides the two big guns.

Love De Sousa posting up. Would love to see more of that.

Doesn't sound like we'll have Malachi De Sousa back for this game. After Hartford, CB said he was thinking about shutting Hutch down for a while until he got healthy. Haven't seen any more about that.

3 minutes ago, dslyank said:

This team is so frustratingly close to being really GOOD, maybe even winning the AmEast. No body is going to win this thing running away. Top to bottom the league is that close this year. Not sure if the league is just ALL BAD or all improved, but really on any given day any team in this league can beat another. If UA could just get their offense and shooting more consistent and CUT DOWN ON TURNOVERS, IMHO they could going dancing again. On the other hand, especially without a competent back-up at the point mid-pack and early exit also highly possible. 

I'd add that our lineup is so ragged at this point that we aren't able to have a consistent rotation, not to mention being able to work on things.

CB mentioned after the game that he might hold Hutch out for a while so he can get healthy. He hasn't looked like the same guy as earlier in the season because of the injury. I have expected we might see some of Sam Schaefer last night since he became available. He's at least a bigger wing that would help.

58 minutes ago, BestDaneSinceHamlet said:

Clark graduates, who knows JoJo's health, Healy clearly can't run the offense (though fantastic off the ball when he's on) and Amica is a frosh.  Like this year, where is the back-up plan at PG? Who else runs the point next year besides a true frosh and a coming off injury Anderson?

I thought Jojo was the backup plan to Ahmad and Rian Carter was the backup plan to that backup plan. Both are out for the year. Backup PG for Albany might be the most dangerous job in America

Didn't like the smaller lineup from the start. Rizzuto on Elliot and Hutch on Marks weren't good matchups at all. 

I thought Hansen and Lauderdale played hard and Lauderdale should have gotten more minutes. 

Lulka had a really solid freshman year and I had hopes for him but he drove me crazy in this game. 

Whoeverr recruited Stafl and Flowers for Hartford, in addition to getting the two grad transfers, should get a big raise.

Both teams had their PGs in foul trouble - Ahmad for us and Carter for Hartford. Hartford actually had a backup PG and that made the difference. Two point game when Ahamd picked up his forth foul. It was over when he went out of the game.

Haven't seen any updates but hopefully Hutch and Malachi de Sousa are healthy for this game.

10 minutes ago, DanesRGood said:

Not saying there something going on between them.  I'm just saying it was nice to see some fire from one of the players and some passion. Haven't seen much of that.  asn't saying anything negative.  Actually think it's a positive. Ahmad showing some leadership there.

Agree. That's your captain being a captain.

Ahmad was locked in. Thought he made a nice effort late in the game to get Rizzuto the ball and maybe get him going offensively. He's been a monster in conference play.

Great energy from the seniors - Clark, Lauderdale and Hansen. Maybe Hansen's best game since he's been here. Would be great to see the seniors take ownership of their remaining game and go out a winner.

Healy...just wow.

Crowd was 2K but it seemed like more. Maybe just because everyone went bananas when Frusc hit the bucket to go over 100. That was a party.

1 hour ago, ctdanes said:

JoJo shut down for the year. Tough one

Was afraid of that when he didn't get many minutes the last two games. Credit to him for trying to tough it out this year.

2 hours ago, Clickclack said:

To be fair... Two of those wins are against 300+ plus teams in the ae who will be fighting for dead last. Unh was a good win... Last night it's not a shock they lost. However, most of the conversation has been about same 2 or 3 guys carrying the program. They could very well be 2-2 with only two wins being against the drags of the conference. This week is going to tell us a lot. Simply saying, well they are better then the horrible start last year on its face may be a good thing but let's face it...can't get any worse.

 

 

I agree they aren't world beaters we beat but they're the same quality of team we were losing to last year. It's progress. Not as fast as I would like but it's improvement.

The irony of all this is, at the start of the year it was you who pointed out that we were one of the youngest teams in the conference and said .500 would be a large improvement. I agreed with you then and still feel the same way although I'd like to finish well over .500

16 minutes ago, jimbo said:

Here’s a fact....UA was 0-4 in conference at this point last season....about to go 0-5. This year we are 3-1. Why all the negativity? I’m not a coach and don’t pretend to be, so when WB says that they are learning how to win, I’ve got to take that as progress and the record speaks for it. 

 

Thank you for putting things in perspective!

We're 3-1 in conference with 3 of those games on the road. We just lost to a top 100 team (roughly) on their home floor.

We can beat the bottom half of the conference with Clark, Cam and Hutch carrying the offense. Against the top half of the conference, we're going to need more from more guys. I thought that after the UNH and Maine game and it's still true. 

Us shooting 27% from three and SB shooting 50% from three isn't going to help us.

I like the small lineup sometimes, but not in this game. That may be something we'll have to rethink down the road.

On the bright side, I thought Lulka looked more like he did his freshman year.

As poorly as we shot the ball tonight, we win on Wednesday and we're still tied for the conference lead. Plus, we finally have some home games.

1 hour ago, Clickclack said:

Lundardi has Albany in playin game as a 16...no doubt after exhaustive review of the alphabet and that A comes before H. 

Not the alphabet. It's the Will Brown effect.

1 hour ago, dslyank said:

Maybe BEST first 25 minutes all season! Then the drought????? I think we went 10+ minutes with NO ONE other than Clark scoring a point [at least it seemed that way.] I don't know if Clark makes bonehead plays and forced shots because he simply has to carry this team on his back OR because he is not doing his job getting others involved?? IMHO  the former. Maybe it is the old chicken/egg first question.

That crossed my mind last night also. When Clark went out after the T, I was surprised CB didn't play JoJo Anderson. 

The past two games, Clark has scored north of 25 points per game. That's both awesome and fun, but I don't know if it can be sustained.

Quiet night for Hutch. I was wondering if he's hit the freshman wall. He's been playing a ton of minutes, including last night.

Lulka looked tenative and a little lost since coming back from injury. It seemed like a point by CB to get him more minutes. That said, he was the only guy, other than Ahmad, to hit his free throws in crunch time.

One big positive, from the bench troika of bigs (Lulka, Lauderdale and Hansen) we got a combined 18 points and 10 rebounds. More of that. Also, hats off to Rizzuto for embracing his role of being the energizer on defense.

4 minutes ago, cwdickens said:

Breaking news: Stony Brook loses at Hartford; Albany is in 1st place without SBU

Albany and Hartford at the top of the standings. Just the way all the preseason publications didn't have it.

1 minute ago, McFan said:

Not really the toughest schedule so far but 3-0 is 3-0.  I’ll take it.

True. But two of them on the road. I'm not asking questions, I'm just enjoying it.

Tough foul on de Sousa.

We got an extra life that I'm not sure we deserved. Hope we make the most of it.

10 hours ago, Clickclack said:

This is going to be a very difficult game. UNH favored pretty much everywhere I've seen but basically a pick-em game. 

Agreed. 

They seem to want to play like Maine. Pour molasses on the court and limit possessions. Hopefully we can stay patient in halfcourt.