reeder

Went to my son's baseball game this morning wearing a UAlbany sweatshirt - had a bunch of parents come up to me to talk about the game.

A couple said that that UA should have won and thought the guard would play in the NBA.

Talk about exposure

http://www.albany.edu/sports/dashboard.pdf

This might be a good starting point for info on funding

Made it to Binghamton for the tournament - some thoughts:

1. What was up with Jamar's sneakers? Looked like suede converse with a silver patch.

2. I thought Brown did a very good job managing the rotation. Iati made a couple of quick 3's vs. UNH, Siggers made some shots, I also think Connelly is going to be a pretty good player.

3. When the game vs. UMBC was almost over, a handful of UA fans walked around the arena and started saying nasty things and giving the finger to some UMBC fans. Not sure if any of these UA fans are posters, but the behavior was not appropriate.

4. I'm glad the season is ending - I'm running out of frequent flier miles. Would be great if they get a tournament game in the Southeast.

5. The Binghamton fans were ridiculous (IMO) in the game vs. UVM. There were some bad calls, but they began to expect everything to be a foul. Three kids in the student section were escorted out of the building.

6. I am increasingly impressed by Lillis' game - he has learned to go to the basket pretty hard and either convert or get fouled.

Looking forward to watching the game on ESPN2.

I read somewhere where one kid accepted a scholarship already - a good first step.

It could be that the team spends so much energy catching up to get to overtime that there isn't much left. I think that in each of the three OT games, UA had to come from behind. I know that in the first UNH game, they led with a few minutes to go but lost the lead and had to rally back. Against Siena and again last night, they were behind until very late in the game.

IMO, I think the real issue is what DP posted on another thread - UA struggles against a team with versatile post players - or in the case of Siena, no center.

Niece piece on Levi and Jamar

AE on campus - Levi and Jamar

In the four games I can recall this team has struggled with teams that have big guys that shoot from the outside.

Great point - I think this is the match up problem that Brown was referencing. I agree that this is probably why Connelly got the minutes. Covington seems to be a good low post player - I think Connelly might be better guarding players on the perimeter.

I think a great illustration of this was in the VCU game where their 6'6"center dribbled the ball almost to midcourt and Zoellner followed him out there until Jamar waved his hand and had Zoellner go back to the paint but it was too late as they made a pass to the low post and made a lay up.

I think the home team decides when they want to play and everything else is folded in around that.

Last year, Binghamton played Albany at noon in the 4 - 5 game. This year it will be Binghamton vs. the 7 seed in the noon game.

I'm sure it won't be an issue, but I hope the team stays focused. New Hampshire has already won at the RACC.

They need to get some revenge on Thursday night.

I think this team has several players that may not be thrilled with their performance / opportunities this year - Iati, Jordan and Levi. I hope they all realize that the team is winning and that is what's really important.

Jon has two more years to help this team win. Not sure how much his illnesss impacted his shooting or was it simply a loss of confidence, but I think it's important for the program that he keep working and help this team not only for the rest of this year but for the next two as well.

Glad to see him scoring a bit. He was a scorer in HS, but I guess the transition is a bit challenging.

Will be interesting to see him, Covington, Yocum and Gifford battle for minutes next year

No problems at all with the Vermont feed.

I did get to their site pretty quickly as I tried the Albany link at about 6:50 to catch the pregame interviews and realized that it wasn't working. Maybe they reached the limit of web ports for listeners?

game is on tw3

I don't think that anyone on this thread is in the Albany area.

The Vermont feed was good and the announcers did a very good job.

the vermont feed works - link from their site.

Nice game - even indefeat:

1. Tough to ask Jamar to go at that pace for 40 minutes. Not just scoring, but all the ball handling as well.

2. Brent had a nice game - glad to see him take some 10 to 12 foot shots.

3. I liked Brian's aggressiveness in the first half.

4. Tough to win in that environment against a very good team while committing 20 turnovers.

5. Was anyone else wondering why Siggers wasn't in the game down the stretch. I do think that that 3 of his 4 shot attempts were blocked - not sure if that's why. Would like to have seen him in the game with Jamar, Brent and Iati to look for the game tying three down the stretch.

I hope they get enough rest on the 500 mile bus ride home (I thought they'd fly but TU says bus ride) and get ready for Vermont on Monday.

Read an article in the Atlanta paper yesterday - Albany has signed a linebacker from the Atlanta area.

Chris Van Zelden

Also, Central signed someone from the Atlanta area as well - forget his name.

thanks - I stand corrected.

I guess there really isn't a question about her status for two more seasons

I hate to even bring this up, but there has been a lot of discussion about the contract status of Coach Brown, what about Coach Patterson?

I think she got a 2 year extension after the 2004 season, so I think her contract expires this year.

I don't follow the women's team that closely but I know that they are not having a very good year.

Thoughts?

My brief research on concussions:

The Colorado Medical Society has developed guidelines for return to contact sports (or practice) following a concussion. In these guidelines, a Grade III concussion involves a complete loss of consciousness, a Grade II concussion involves only confusion and brief amnesia surrounding the injury, and Grade I involves a player who is only confused after a head blow.

 

A player with a Grade I concussion, and no symptoms when examined, may return to play after 20 minutes. A player with a Grade II concussion may return to play after there has been one week with no symptoms. A player with a Grade III concussion should not return for a full month (including no symptoms in the last week before returning).

I think Albany will be fine if:

1. Brent and Zoellner avoid early foul trouble trying to defend Adeleke

2. There are a few people scoring. At the BPG, it was Zoellner and Lu early and Jamar and Siggers late. Need a few scorers so that no one person has to carry a huge load.

classless state-school "students"

Dissed by the BU bloggers. Check the comments as well

There appears to be a good amount of growth in Brown as a coach. I haven't seen as many games as the rest of you. But looking at the Binghamton game last week and the game last night, I noticed a few really good things:

1. Ball movement was great

2. Players moving without the ball was great.

3. More screens and double screens

4. Improved player utilization.

Not sure if he is communicating better with the players, a change in philosophy or better assistants but I think there has been growth from a coaching perspective. It could be that he has better players - who knows?

Bracketbuster TV game is a nice feather in his cap. Winning the regular season title is the next objective, that will be nice as well.

I agree with the contract comments - pay him. Of course, it may mean another guarantee game to fund it.

Thanks for the correction on the seating capacity. As usual, you supply precise info. I knew the capacity was not exactly 5,000, but I could not recall the figure. What is your source for this figure?

From the construction company that built the RACC:

U.W. Marx built the 4,538 seating-capacity gymnasium adjacent to the existing Physical Education Department. The two story-level facility increased athletic department capacity to 200,000 SF adding locker rooms, racquetball courts, a nautilus room, indoor track, basketball, and volleyball courts.