reeder

A bit OT, but I was in Pittsburgh last week and had some time to kill before my flight. Happened to see signs for Robert Morris on the way to the airport so I did what most people would do - I went to see their new stadium.

There are stands on one side - the stadium is on a hill so if you look to the other side, you don't really see anything. The building attached to the stadium appeared to be the athletic offices, lockers... Pretty nice building. Couldn't really see the field as it was covered by a layer of snow but I think it's a turf field. They have a nice scoreboard although not as nice as Stony Brook.

In summary - nice field. University Field could be upgraded to that level without a very large capital outlay. In my opinion, not what you would expect for a 1AA school. With the exception of the scoreboard, the stadium is on par with the local high schools in my area.

First time that I saw the team since the games in Gainesville - added a bit more detail under trip reports.

Saw some good and some things they need to work on. Those of you that watch the team on a regular basis may already have thoughts on some of my comments, but I haven't seen them since the Coachex v. Cancer games:

1. Even when they were down, I didn't see much panic. There was one incident when Jamar missed a layup, UA called time out and Brown ripped into him pretty bad.

2. Jason Siggers has done a very good job in limited minutes. I knew he could shoot, but he had a nice basket where he made a nice short shot from the paint. He may not be able to drive like Jamar, but he can create his own shot.

3. The team had a tough time finishing shots. Jamar must have had 3 or 4 missed layups where the ball just didn't go in. Zoellner also missed a couple of short shots - he needs to dunk when he is right around the basket.

4. Levi and Brian Lillis played really well. Lillis just works so hard, I was tired just watching him run around. Also, although I think ALbany was outrebounded, it was great to watch Levi battle on the boards

5. When they were down by 11, my concern wasn't stopping Binghamton because I felt like they scored a bunch of baskets in a row off of turnovers and easy shots from the paint. I thought Albany could stop them, but I had no confidence that Albany could score enough points in the last 6 or 7 minutes to win the game.

6. I don't understand why Zoellner gets the ball so far away from the basket so much. I think there were two forced turnovers in a row when he had the ball against a lot of pressure defense.

7. Brent needs to watch the fouls. He can't get 2 fouls in the first 10 minutes and sit on the bench for the rest of the half. He did it against BU and it hurt and it happened again against Binghamton - there may have been other times, but I don't remember. There was one incident where he stuck his foot out and almost tripped a player that wasn't called - that could have fouled him out earlier than when he did. He needs to learn that when you have 3 or 4 fouls, that you can't take the same risks that you could otherwise.

8. Kudos to Binghamton - I ordered my tickets online and picked the seats. That took about 3 minutes. Was impressed by how fast the line at will call went to pick up the tickets. Nice crowd and very impressive student section. Regardless of their chants, there were a lot of very enthusiastic kids there supporting their team. The only downside was the time needed to leave the parking lot.

9. I was positive that Jamar would drive to the basket and either score or get fouled on the last possession. Jamar did show a lot of maturity down the stretch.

As some of you know, I try to go to the BPG every year with my son. We usually go skiing and to the game. This year the timing didn't work out so I decided to go to Binghamton instead. My youngest is 5 so I decided to bring him this year as well.

The plan was to go to the game on Saturday and then ski Saturday night and Sunday and fly back Sunday afternoon. Flew into Scranton (used frequent flier miles so my choices were somewhat limited) and stayed about 10 miles north of the airport.

The Game

My youngest couldn't understand why I wasn't rooting for the "green team" after all it was the green stadium. My oldest got into the game almost as much as I did. He was even heckling the Binghamton free throw shooters. Anyway, I was glad UA won as I would have had a tough time skiing after a loss. I think the team has to work through some offensive issues - but I'll post more about that later when I post my thoughts on the game.

I went to the Events Center last year, so I knew what to expect, but it was still impressive. Not just the facility, but the fan support as well. When I picked up my will call tickets, there was a line out the door. And the student section looked quite impressive.

If you are ever in the area and want to go skiing, Elk Mountain (about 45 miles south of Binghamton on 81) s a pretty good place. They have a kids program where the kids can take lessons for up to a full day. I'm not a good skier, as I only go this one time each year but the trails aren't too difficult.

For the heck of it, I went back and looked at Iati's 3 point shooting since the UCLA game.

made attempted pct

siena 0 6 0.00%

cleveland 1 6 16.67%

harvard 1 4 25.00%

bing 1 2 50.00%

stony 1 4 25.00%

brown 1 4 25.00%

hartford 0 0 0.00%

maine 1 3 33.33%

cornell 1 3 33.33%

bu 1 5 20.00%

uvs 0 3 0.00%

uvm 0 2 0.00%

unh 2 3 66.67%

umbc 0 5 0.00%

total 10 50 20.00%

Iati shot 31% from the 3 point line as a freshman while playing 40 minutes per game and being one of the focal points for the other team. He shot 47% in the 6 games that he played last year.

Makes you wonder if there is an injury that we don't know about. Maybe it's confidence or technique? Whatever it is, his role is too important to this team. UA needs more production from the perimeter. Maybe Siggers assumes that role?

I think that defense is obviously important to winning, but I think that consistent perimeter shooting is as if not more important to this team. I know that Brent and Jamar provide this frequently, but that takes them away from their primary roles.

I think this will be the difference for the rest of the season. Not just Iati, but perimeter shooting in general.

Didn't see or hear the game, but some thoughts:

1. The current lineup works when they are defending well. If they are not defending well, a lineup with Lillis, Lucius and Zo may not score a lot of points. If they cannot improve the defense, then I agree with moving Levi back to the 3 in place of Lu.

3. Free throws are huge to this team. When I checked the stats on the AE site last week, Jamar had made more free throws than anyone on the leaders list had attempted. The free throws make up for the occassional struggles with low post scoring and the absolute number of free throws that UA usually gets makes up for the challenges that Zo, Lu and Levi occassionally have from the line.

I'm pretty sure Gifford did play some AAU last year. Brown first saw him play at a AAU tournament and I think it was over the some that some other schools got interested.

I stand corrected - he did play AAU last summer.

In terms of stats for this year, I have not been able to find much either.

I don't know that Gifford will be ready to start next year - he only started a handful of games as a junior last year and didn't play any AAU ball last summer. We'll see how he progresses in his senior year. I know that Brown is very high on him, but I'd feel better if I could see where he was playing very well this year. Center will be a challenge next year, someone will have to step up - Covington probably gets the edge because of his experience this year. He will need to continue to work hard on his defense in the low post.

Yocum is a 5th year senior so I'm not sure he'd want to redshirt . I think he can help the team - even if it's just providing minutes.

I agree that we need Brent, but what makes this team good (IMO) is their depth offensively. Players like Iati need to step up and make perimeter shots. Not to single him out, but he may be the best overall shooter on the team. Siggers also needs to step up and help out offensively.

Defensively, it's another story. Zoellner is frequently in foul trouble and I'm not sure that Covington has the experience to help out for long periods of time at Center. That is when Brent is needed most - he does a pretty good job at defending in the low post. This was clear in the BU game when Peterkin had 11 points in the first half with Zoellner and Brent out with foul trouble.

This is still the most talented team in the conference.

I watched some of the game on ESPN2 last night. It's a bit tough when the offense is geared around the 2 kids going to the ACC.

From what I saw, Yocum got most (if not all) of his points on rebounds and put backs. Seemed to have a good touch around the basket. Also noticed that he set a lot of screens and played around the perimeter a lot (a bit like Zoellner does now).

Again, tough to tell much as I didn't see any offense going through him at all. The good news is that he did rebound and made the put backs. I can see why Brown had to have additional individual workouts to look at his offensive skills - he didn't really get a chance to display any as the other two kids had all of the plays run through them. Couldn't really tell if he could play with his back to his basket.

He is on a very good team and if he is a legit 6'9", even 6'8" he will certainly be able to contribute.

Sounded like a bad game overall (except Jamar).

A few thoughts:

1. Someone besides Brent and Jamar needs to step up. Levi played well against Utah Valley...

2. The team needs Iati to get his UCLA form back. I haven't looked at all of the stats, but I believe that with the exception of the Binghamton free throws, he has been in a bit of a slump.

3. With the injury to Brent, I wondered if he should play at all - but he played a lot of minutes. It shows how important he has become to this team.

All of this said, it's tough to win on the road. I hope Brent can let his thumb heal - New Hampshire is a much improved team as is UMBC.

Surely he has good intentions, but I don't think the team will respond well to this behavior over the course of the season. A locker room is a pretty sacred place - the team probably spends more time there than in their classes. You can't take that away and still expect the team to believe in you all season.

Wilson, Milne Capture Men's Basketball Weekly Honors

Albany’s Jamar Wilson (Bronx, N.Y./Our Savior New American School) was named America East Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday (January 9), while Binghamton’s Ian Milne (Winkler, Manitoba/Garden Valley Collegiate) earns his first Rookie of the Week honor. The awards were announced Monday (January 9).

Wilson scored a season-high 29 points against Hartford on 8-of-12 from the field and 11-of-13 from the line. With this performance, Wilson tied the top single-game scoring mark by an America East player this season. Against Maine, Wilson added 16 points and four assists. He has earned himself the No. 14 spot on Albany’s all-time scoring list with 1,183 points and No. 14 in career assists with 254.

Milne led Binghamton, with his season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, in the Bearcats win at New Hampshire. Milne hit 5-of-6 three points against the Wildcats and is currently shooting 53 percent from beyond the arc.

I saw 2 license plates in the parking lot with "Bauman" on them from PA. A long drive to see your son sit the bench even when its a blowout. Not a big deal, just an observation

I don't know the situation with Bauman but if he didn't play in the last couple of minutes against Maine, I'm not sure when he'll play.

I remember when he was offered, there was an article in the Pittsburgh paper that talked about his brother who transferred from a D1 school to a D2 school because he didn't get any playing time. I also remember a quote from him saying that he was told that he would get minutes at the 1 and the 2.

Let's hope the team doesn't look past Cornell. Their record may not be that good, but they led Long Beach State before Long Beach State had a good run to end the game. They played Washington tough (I think that was during Washington's undefeated streak).

Link not working.

Mentions UA - he was apparently at the game last night. Mentioned two groups of student fans yelling U A at each other

Talks about the tough start and how the team had a real tough time with the Siena loss - reading articles and message boards.

I've attached a link - it's an ESPN insider article so you need a membership to read it.

Kyle's log

Just saw Jamar's stats.

29 points

6 assists

2 turnovers

13 free throw attempts

Great game, maybe he's coming around. I'm sure there was some added incentive with all the POW recognition that Adeleke has received.

Great game - looks like a few of his games as a freshman. The downside is that he played 40 minutes and they have games on Saturday and Monday. Looks like Iati didn't get many minutes - tough to take out Jamar when he is playing this well.

Hartford has played pretty well this year, especially Adeleke. I think that Albany needs:

1. A good game from Zoellner, not necessarily a lot of points, but he can't get dominated like in the first half of the Sacred Heart game. I wonder if Albany goes to a zone for a good part of the game to force Hartford to make some perimeter shots?

2. Jamar to get to the free throw line. I haven't looked at the stats, but I think he needs to average 7 or 8 free throws per game. To do that, he needs to penetrate more.

3. To continue to be aggressive on offense. Don't want to get overly dependent on the perimeter shot.

Although I don't pay much attention to the NEC, he appears to have done a good job.

1. I can see several NEC basketball games every year on the fox channels. The AE games are usually not available because the cable companies here do not offer MSG, NESN or FoxNY. He also had some football games on TV last year.

2. In general, the basketball programs seem to be doing better. CCSU is a good team as well as Wagner and FDU. LIU has a brand new facility and a good coaching staff.

3. He appears to have come up with a plan to save football by allowing the schools to offer scholarships - jury is still out on how that will turn out.

He has done this with a group of schools with extremely limited resources.

On a side note, I was at the Stony Brook game last week and I waited around for Coach Brown to tell him job well done and he just promised me that they will get better. Additionally, he looks incredibly stressed and it might have something to do with his lack of job security. Is there anyway that we as Alumni can sound off and try and get this guy a contract??

I'm not sure what we can do as Alumni and fans besides support the program. I am sure that he is under tremendous stress. There is a lot of personal risk in his situation, there is also a lot of upside if he is successful.

It's not unlike being a General Manager of a struggling business who is hired to turn it around. You finally reach a point where the economic conditions improve, you have a good business plan and a good management team. There is nothing that you can tell the Board of Directors to make them understand any lack of success.

I have posted this previously - but UA has the most talent in the conference and this is not a strong conference. I think UA will be favorite in every conference game except the games at BU and at Vermont. They will win, he needs to make sure they continue to improve and the players have the same level of urgency that he does.

Looking at the stats:

1. Jamar had no field goals but he went to the line a lot. I think Jamar is at his best when he is penetrating - he will usually get fouled or get a lay up. Based on the number of free throws that he had, he must have been fouled a few times. IMO, moving Jamar to the 2 will allow him to do a lot more of that. The perimeter shots will come, but I think it's good that he seems to be penetrating and getting fouled.

2. I'm happy for Siggers - I think this is the most he's played all year. He did take a lot of shots - 8 in just 19 minutes. He made 3 in a row and then missed his next 5.

3. Free throw shooting obviously needs to improve. Not sure what Zoellner shot last year, but I think it was over 50% - if he can get back there then it would make a pretty big difference. As it is now, I think every team will try the Binghamton foul strategy.

4. Kudos to Levi for coming off the bench and having a big game.

5. Last point - it's good to see that Brent had a pretty good game with just two shots attempted. Got to the line and also got some rebounds.

Olddog71, I think the difference in ft% is primarily Zoellner. I haven't looked at the stats in detail, but last year, Jamar had a lot of ft's and while Zoellner didn't shoot that well from the line, he didn't have that many attempts. This year, with his increased aggression, he's getting a lot more attempts. The good news is that I think Jamar and Brent will get to the line a lot more as the season goes on.

Specifically, Zoellner will need to improve his free throws. He is clearly playnig much better, but he will be fouled more because he is more aggressive. Also, when they are in a close game, teams will use the Binghamton strategy and just foul him.

Also, over the next few games, it would be good to see Lillis make a few shots. The risk is that his defender starts to back off and sag into the lane creating a double team on Zoellner.

Binghamton plays a different brand of basketball - aggressive in the half court. Almost like the old Big East. That lends itself to sloppy play.

At halftime, Wyland interviewed Hall. He made a comment that a good opportunity has presented itself for the athletics department and that it could be exciting (I forget the exact words). I wonder what he was talking about. Wyland didn't ask.

Listened on the internet.

Good win - sounded like a decent crowd and it must be a big boost for their confidence.

Thoughts on what I heard:

1. Lillis seemed to have a great game - at last count they said he had 11 boards.

2. Jamar seemed to have a few bad turnovers. Twice, Wyland said that Jamar was doing too much and right after he said it, Jamar got a TO.

3. I think it took Brown too long to get Zoellner out of the game when he was being fouled late in the game. That late in the game, it was just a free throw contest.

4. Brown sounded so happy in the post game interview - must be a huge relief to get the win.

Good win - bring on Stony Brook.

Lillis makes a lot of sense at the point:

1. He will always look to pass first

2. Tall enough so that he should be able to make the pass into the post easier than some of the other guards

3. Will allow Iati and Jamar to play their natural positions

4. He is the only remaining choice - they need to let Jamar create shots

I think DP makes a great point about Jamar as a freshman - he was able to create when Opong ran the offense.

I also think that Tony makes a good point about being a running team. I would hope that the team has a plan with an option of having a faster team with a primary rotation of Jamar, Levi, Lucious, Jon, Brent and Brian. This is similar to the lineups of other teams in the conference. My guess is that Brown looked at his team and decided to run a more structured attack. Given the challenges, I would hope that he has reviewed all the options.