reeder

Patch, Agree with your post. If they can just control the turnovers, they should be able to beat most teams in this league. Would be great to get something more from Brent, however he is one of the most consistent 3 point shooters. If they can Zoellner to get back to the level he played vs. Binghamton, that will help as well.

I sent an e-mail asking about Dyson's status to Ostrom last week - I haven't received a reply yet (usually he replies very quickly). I heard he wasn't at the Binghamton game and was wondering about his status.

Vermont by 10. For Albany to be competitive and have any chance to win: 1. Jamar needs to get to the free throw line at least 10 times 2. Albany needs to reduce their turnovers 3. They need to shutdown Sorrentine - Lillis needs to have a big game defensively. Let's hope the Danes give them a run for their money

Patch, I am not giving up on Zoellner - just trying to make an observation. I believe that he will be a very good player. Brown surely understands the tradeoff that he is making to get him there.

I think the disappearances of Levi and Q are to some extent related to Jamar trying to get the ball to Zoellner. For the last few games, I think the pattern has been to try to feed the ball to Zoellner to start the game and he struggles; the result is that you are 5 or 7 minutes into the game with maybe 5 points or are trailing. When that happens, it seems like Jamar (or Jordan) tries to take over and drive to the basket for some easy shots or he gets fouled. It seems like the second half starts the same way. I don't have the specific stats, but it seems like UA has less around 5 points after five minutes consistently. I say all of this to say that the focus of the offense seems to be feeding Zoellner or letting Jamar and Jordan penetrate. I don't know that Levi and Q have plays called for them that much. I think this is where Brown needs to make a decision - if Zoellner begins to convert or is able to kick the ball out consistently then Levi gets perimeter shots, Q gets shots from the Zoellner passes, the team is winning and everyone is happy - like most of the Binghamton game. When this doesn't work, Jamar and Lucious take over and try to carry the team. I think there is a big difference between having a post presence and having an offensive threat in the post. Does Brown go back to having a post presence and not try so hard to feed the ball to Zoellner?

GreatDanes84, Your pictures did not display - couldn't see any of the ASU game shots.

1. Brian Lillis had a great game last night. Couple steals, 4-4 shooting including a reverse dunk. If he can work on his perimeter game, he'll be a very good player in this conference. 2. You wonder how Brown manages Zoellner. How do you help Zoellner understand how critical his performance is for the teams success without making him more frustrated than I'm sure he is. How many games does Brown try to pound it down low to Zoellner to start the game when he cannot convert? 3. I think the team really misses Iati's perimeter play. At the beginning of the year several players were making the 3's, but since conference play started it has really tapered off. Jamar is driving to the hole, would be great to have Iati on the perimeter for the pass and three point attempt. 4. Someone has to step up and hit the 10 to 12 foot shots. Listening to the games, it almost sounds like 3's and Jamar and Jordan going to the basket. Someone needs to find a short jump shot so that others are involved with the offense. 5. UMBC is a bad loss. Yes it was on the road and the kids were tired, but they were outrebounded by a team that only played there big man 23 minutes and had 17 turnovers against a team that doesn't really press. 6. UA must get to the free throw line. I think the free throws compensate for their struggles from the 3 point line. This was the first game that UA had fewer free throws than their opponent since the Boston University game. In fact, in games where the opposition had more free throws, UA is 1 and 4 (loss to UMBC, Wagner, Boston University and Lehigh while beating Sacred Heart). Jamar gets most of the free throw attempts because he drives so frequently. I think that Zoellner and Levi need to be more aggressive and get to the line. Even if their free throw percentage is not as high as Jordan and Jamar, that will force the other team into the bonus and double bonus a lot sooner. UA only had 5 free throw attempts in the second half last night - they had 18 in the first half.

Student turnout would be great to have but I don't think the administration should spend a lot of cycles trying to solve that problem. Over the years, there have been buses, meetings with fraternities, advisory councils (i was on an advisory council 20 years ago) and a lot of other efforts - not sure that there has been any consistent improvement based on that. I think the biggest improvement has been that athletes from the different sports attend the games to show support I think you focus on the community and get them excited. Then you focus on the freshmen - you have a section in the recruiting brochures, it's discussed at orientation. Maybe there is a tie in with intramurals. I don't know the numbers today as I graduated many years ago, but there were about 2k students in each quad uptown. I think there are 5 quads, that's 10k students within walking distance to the RACC. Even if you only count Indian and Dutch (I think those are the two closest to the gym) that is 4k students. That is still a decent size population to get 500 students to a game. UA has never been successful in gettting those students. Get the community first, then get the freshmen and create a culture that supports athletics.

Tough loss. Don't want to harp on the travel, but it's tough to travel 1800 miles in 1 week and play 3 games - they'll get back to Albany at 3 or 4 in the morning and go to classes tomorrow, practice and leave for Vermont on Friday. Hope they get a chance to rest a bit before playing UVM.

THORNWOOD 46, MORGAN PARK 36: Lonte Ward scored a game-high 19 points for the Thunderbirds (8-7). Corey Webb led the Mustangs (4-10) with 11 points. Morgan Park center Jimmy Covington, who committed to Albany over the holidays, scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

UA by 10 I think, the things they need to improve on are: 1. Perimeter defense. May not be huge tonight, but important against top tier teams - Vermont, BU, Northeastern. The inability to stop the 3 almost cost them the Binghamton game. 2. Turnovers - Jamar and Zoellner need to keep them under control 3. Zoellner needs to establish a consistent presence in the post. Doesn't necessarily need to score a lot - just needs to be a presence. Also needs to stop the careless fouls.

from the gazette: "We’ve got our two toughest bus trips back-to-back," said Brown, whose Danes defeated Maine, 58-49, on Sunday. "It took us seven hours each way to Maine, and now we’ve got a 5 1 /2-hour bus trip to Baltimore. Ideally, we’d like to fly, but we couldn’t get a flight back until Thursday, and Wednesday is the first day of classes. That’s why we’re going to drive down on Tuesday, and come back right after the game."

Besides this board, which is your favorite to visit. I would say: Siena - just the passion and the drama make it interesting to follow AE Board - good to hear what the other teams in conference are doing MidMajority.com (not so much a board, but a good site) - I check his site daily. Last game was the Binghamton - UNH game and he has covered UA twice.

Checked Mapquest 662 miles roundtrip to Baltimore 814 mile roundtrip to Orono 308 miles toundtrip to Burlington 1800 miles in 1 week culminating at Vermont. That's a lot to ask of these kids.

Read it online - focus is on Jamar playing point guard - making the transition from shooting guard. Says he never played the point before - even in HS. Couple of quotes from Brown about pulling him in the Binghamton game for turnovers and getting Jamar to think pass first and shoot second.

Would love to know what the travel itinerary is for this weeks games. We know they took a bus to Maine and back. Wonder how they are going to Baltimore and then to Vermont. The bus ride to Baltimore is probably the same time as to Maine. That's a lot of time in a bus before the Vermont game on Saturday.

I think post play is still a question mark. Jury is still out on Dyson - has anyone even seen him? Not sure if Connelly is a post player. Covington seems like a post player but at 6'6" do we need another?

From time to time the feed may not work - if it doesn't, the other team may have a feed as well.

Tough to win on the road, especially against good teams. I think Albany wins by 8. Maine turns the ball over a lot and Markwood is injured- I think they are starting a walk on. UA will get a good number of fast break points.

Did some calculations on attendance comparing last year. Last year's attendance (w/o the BPG) averaged 982 over 12 games. Year to date this year, the average attendance is 1375 for the four home dates (excluding the LIU game at St. Rose). 40% increase in attendance isn't bad. Yes, I know it's early but the trend is pretty good.

What happened with that game? 33% from the field 23% from 3 point 57% free throws Also, Why doesn't Hutcheson play more minutes. She had 29 last night but other games she plays less.

Was he on the bench last night? I recall a post after the BU or Northeastern game saying that he wasn't on the bench.

1. UA has struggled with the three for the past few games. They didn't panic last night and start chucking. 2. Brown apparently made a decision to feed Zoellner frequently to start the second half. Zoellner played very well. 3. Courtney didn't get a lot of minutes but helped with the pressure defense. I wonder if Brown goes more with a three guard lineup with Courtney because of his defensive presence. With Northeastern you had Barnes and Barea shooting away, last night you had the Binghamton guards making 3's. Maybe Coourtney becomes the defensive specialist to manage those situations.

A very good article in today's T-U. Dane's Bandwagon

Binghamton is a good team. Their record is not indicative of their level of play - challenging out of conference schedule. For Albany, 1. The 3 is important. They didn't shoot it well against New Hampshire or Northeastern. Brent Wilson has been the most consistent 3 point shooter in the last few games. Lucious has struggled from the 3 the last games - 1 for 11. 2. Jamar is getting good penetration but he is having a lot of turnovers and offensive fouls. He needs to either kick it out more frequently or shoot a couple more threes to keep the defenders honest. Jamar was so much quicker than the New Hampshire guards that they just couldn't stop him. Against Northeastern, the guards were able to get in his way and draw the charges. Not sure about Binghamton's guards - if they are very quick. 3. UA needs better post play. Zoellner has pretty much been a non factor in the last three conference games. He had 11 rebounds against Dartmouth but has not been a factor offensively since LIU. I think the third point is the most important. The last couple of games, UA has become a totally guard oriented offense. They need contributions from Zoellner to take the next step. I think UA wins because I don't think the Binghamton guards are as quick or shoot as well as Barea and Barnes. If UA doesn't get an improved game in the post it will be close.