reeder

I think the rebounding margin was 37 to 20.

I listened on the Syracuse link - for $3.95. The good news: 1. The check should have cleared 2. Relatively short drive back to Albany 3. No injuries 4. All of the remaining games are against "appropriate" competition The post play and rebounding gave them the win - if theyu were shooting well it could have gotten very ugly. Josh Wright and Terrence Roberts missed key shots when they were up by 24 late in the game - McNamara also had a very bad night shooting. That said, UA shot very bad. It sounded like many of the 3 point shots weren't even close. Also, I think Brent Wilson started the second half instead of Q - for what that's worth.

I think redshirting Dyson is a great idea. Not sure about the reasons but clearly he is not going to contribute much this year - in addition to the academic benefits, it gives him a chance to improve his basketball skills. I think they should redshirt Bauman as well. My only thought is that he is an insurance policy in case Iati and Lillis cannot return. Doesn't appear like he will play much this year either. I know he doesn't want to redshirt based on some comments while he was being recruited. I think in hindsight a lot of these kids would want to redshirt as it significantly improves their chance to graduate with their scholarship. I say hindsight because kids probably don't think about that while they are in school.

1. Dyson will be redshirted for academic reasons 2. Iati practiced with a shoulder harness - Brown and trainers will decide if he can play with the harness or will redshirt 3. Levi missed practice yesterday with a stomach virus - doesn't say if he'll play tomight

A few final thoughts about Villanova - I've had a day to think about the game a bit more: 1. UA played an effective 2 - 3 zone and a soft full court zone press for most of the game. I am not sure if it was new but it sure seemed to catch Villanova off guard. 2. Jordan, Jamar and Levi must have been tired - Jamar's only break came late in the first half when he got his third foul. Jordan and Levi didn't get a break. I think the three games next week will be particulary tough if this trio doesn't get some help from the bench - Let's hope Iati or Lillis return. 3. Lillis looked fine - he appeared to have a brace on his wrist. He was dribbling quite a bit before the game as the team warmed up. 4. The defensive communication was very good against Villanova - you could hear the guards yelling out commands to the rest of the team. Again, not sure if this is new, put they were very loud about double teams, screens... 5. What made the offense so productive (relatively) was good passing. The shots seemed to be put up so quickly right after the pass was made. 6. Jamar is uncanny at getting to the free throw line and he usually makes them. Even when he missed the shot he drew players with him or got fouled. 7. Perspective - It was amazing how big Villanova was (height, weight, strength... and how athletic. Frequently in mid majors you get one or the other. Now on to Syracuse

A few thoughts on the game: 1. Jamar Wilson worked hard every minute of the game. Villanova played very aggressive defense and Jamar handled it pretty well overall. He had a couple of bad turnovers but not bad considering the situation. 2. Zoellner seemed to be on a one second time delay. Villanova was big and the big guys were quick. Zoellner was just not in their league - he will be a good player in the AE but the size, strength and athleticism of Villanova was too much for him. 3. Brent Wilson played a great game - not just the 3's but he took a key charge, had a couple of good rebounds and played very good defense. 4. Wyatt had a great game - great dunk off a missed shot - also worked real hard when he had a chance. 5. Jordan - was unstoppable in the first half. He missed a couple of free throws early but he stuck the 3's when he had the shots. The Villanova D was so aggressive in the second half that he didn't get the ball much. 6. Levi played well - he looked very tired as he had to do a lot of ball handling because of the pressure. He didn't look real comfortable shooting the 3 - the aggressive D just made it hard to get good looks. UA was unable to get any rebounds. Zoellner was just too slow and not as aggressive as the Villanova big guys. Chris Wyatt did the best job of boxing out and trying to stop their big guys. Even with the rebounding disadvantage, UA hung in there but in the second half, Villanova started hitting 3's. When you are getting all the rebounds and hitting 3's it's a tough situation. Villanova is obviously a better team. That said, UA played incredibly well. I can't see how this team lost to Wagner and LIU.

Couple of posts from the Chicagohoops boards: The Real Brain Dead Guest Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 12:00 pm Post subject: Jimmy Covington -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations on being yet another local kid who does not have to pay for college! I do wonder if anyone knows why he commited so early? I thought he would at least go Mid-Major. Does he have family out there? Either way this is a great get for Albany. chi town Guest Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 6:41 pm Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Covington is an absolute beast!! Albany got a steal! What's up Chicago schools? How did ya miss this one???

Chicago Morgan Park's Jimmy Covington Verbals To Division I Albany (New York) Brian Stinnette December 20, 2004 Email Questions/Comments To brian@chicagohoops.com Chicago Morgan Park's Jimmy Covington has given a verbal commitment to play basketball next year for Division I Albany (New York). Covington ranks as one of the top post prospects in the Illinois Class of 2005. Covington, a 6-6 post, is known for his ability to bang inside. Covington never shys away from contact. He is a big time banger and rebounder. Covington played on the summer basketball circuit with Larry Butler's Illinois Warriors. He joins Julian Wright (Kansas), Phillip Perry (Wisconsin), Josh Tabb (Southern Illinois), Justin Dentmon (Washington), Jamar Smith (Illinois) and Billy Parrish (Eastern Illinois) as a Division I commit from the 2004 Warriors.

I think the kids are confident. Maybe they can give Villanova a run for their money - would be nice to see them be competitive against a Big East team.

Makes a big difference when they are playing good defense. Hartford was the number 2 scoring offense in the AE just behind ALbany and they were held to 59 points on 42% shooting.

I think BU is where Albany is headed - in terms of there program. They truly have a good program there. Kids graduate, they get young kids in and bring them along and they are always competitive.

I bet Brandon Perry is kicking himself right now.

Can he redshirt? Is there a deadline?

There is a clip on the fos news link that says x-rays were negative, awaiting results of MRI.

Iati had shoulder surgery last year after it was a problem throughout his senior year and the pre-season. Let's hope it's not the same shoulder problem. That said, Q should be the starter with iati backing up the guards. Q is bigger and very sound fundamentally, Iati would be a great lift off the bench by draining some 3's.

It is very difficult to be successful in D-1 football without tremendous alumni and community support. With the exception of the major conferences, football is not a good financial investment. That said, UB might be relatively successful in 1-AA football.

Fido, You seem to know quite a bit about volleyball - I obviously don't so I thought I'd ask you a few questions. 1. I would imagine UA would be very good next year as most of the players return, can they repeat? 2. What happened in New Haven? Was it just the crowd that was unnerving? Did they compete and just get beat by a better team? 3. Why do you think players from Indiana, California... would come to UA when the team wasn't very good, the facilities aren't real good, not a lot of fan support... Is Sheffield just a great recruiter? Thanks for the info.

Thoughts from the webcast of the game last night. 1. Zoellner needs to make more of the easy shots. It sounded like he made a few off good passes from Jamar, but when you are 5 or 6 inches taller than your defender, you shouldn't have to shoot hook shots and he needs to stop putting the ball on the floor. Turn and shoot, drop step, dunk - that should be Zoellner's repertoire. 2. Q should start with Levi and move Iati to the bench. Iati is a great three point shooter but Jamar (although I think he had a couple of bad shots last night) and Jordan both shoot them pretty well also - they need to haveQ and Levi get the garbage points. 3. Courtney played well - took and made some shots but he should not be taking a 3 pointer late in a close game. 4. I think the rotation should be: Jamar Jordan Zoellner Q Levine Iati - back up guards B. Wilson - back up forwards Dyson - back up center - he is big and seems to have a decent game, Brown needs to give him some minutes. I think Brown is still looking for the right rotation. He is pretty much out of time as the next game counts and the Syracuse and Villanova games probably won't tell you much.

UA matches up better than the last two years. One way to beat the press is to make some baskets - Albany should be able to do that this year. The other issue is to get rebounds - Zoellner got 13 on Monday, we need to have a pretty good rebound margin tonight.

I thought that Jordan didn't have a very good perimeter game based on some comments last year. Apparently he has worked very hard on that part of his game. Jamar needs to continue to make some outside shots. If he makes them as he did last night, he should cut down on the turnovers. The first few games he was trying to penetrate and there wouild be steals, bad passes or travel violations.

I graduated UA in 85 and to be frank never really knew much about Siena. I played football (JV) for two years and the local talk was always Union and RPI. From a basketball perspective the "rivalry" was Potsdam but as I recall Potsdam usually won. I would guess that the Siena rivalry existed way before I got to UA but was put on the back burner when they went D1. A couple of years back when I first found the UA board, I decided to go to the ECAC game against Robert Morris and UA played Siena the day before in hoops so I decided to attend - I was quite surprised that there was such a level of interest and "rivalry" with the two programs. I'm certainly happy that UA won the game this year as that game will lead to an increased following in the Capital District. I sense that the media focus has picked up. Also, while the Siena game is important - the conference games are the ones that really matter. I think Siena has done a good job at creating and maintaining basketball support in the capital district. We need UA to capitalize on that interest and get some fans.

UA has to get to the point where they can win especially against teams like Lehigh and Wagner. Lehigh, while an NCAA team lost at the RACC last year. Clearly they need to learn how to win. Certainly UA has more talent than last year, but they have to rebound and make free throws. When Zoellner is on the bench, they have a small lineup (assuming Dyson's role isn't expanded) - while Brent Wilson is 6'8" he seems to play a lot on the perimeter. If the three point shots aren't falling, rebounding is going to hurt. Let's see how Brown adjusts to this. I also think there is a transition in floor leadership - not necessarily in terms of pure basketball skills. This appears to be Jordan's team. That was clear in the Siena game and Jordan took many of the key shots in the Wagner and Lehigh games. This may not be a big deal, but it's clearly happening and the team must adjust to it. Jamar is clearly going through a transition as well. He appears to be much more of a point guard - the good news is that he is getting assists, penetrating... The bad news is that he hasn't played the point much at UA - I remember the LIU game two years ago when he did a lot of the ball handling and struggled a bit. He needs to minimize the turnovers and make good decisions. He definitely appears to be passing more - he will need a few more games to get into the groove. Expectations were reset after the Siena game - not just for the fans, but I believe the players and coaches as well. Brown needs to manage through these transitions. I also think he needs to figure out how to manage the lineup so that they are "bigger". They have a lot of talent, they need time to gel, figure out the rotation...

I think Brown understands that this is about competing in conference. He can suspend Levi - maybe this makes the team better. The conference games are the ones that counts - Levi can't hurt the team like this when he returns and those games really count.

Assume it's related to the technicals and if he did or didn't make an obscene gesture last night. He will be back for the Hartford game on 12/18.

1. Zoellner needs to get more touches. Apparently he had foul trouble in the first half, but he didn't seem to get the ball much at all in the second half - the perimeter players will have more open shots as teams double down on Zoellner. Does Albany have to play more zone to protect him? His last 2 games have been eerily similar to Billings games 2. Levi cannot get two technicals. The first resulted in a 4 point play. I think the second was when the lead was reduced to 4 points. He had gotten a couple of key rebounds and some easy buckets. 3. Jamar appears to be driving to the basket well but getting some fouls called against him or not converting. He also appears to be dribbling a lot - doing too much? 4. Jordan is playing great - he needs to convert more of his free throws. I think he and Jamar can get to the basket and dish the ball or get a lay up. 5. Brent Wilson appears to be playing well. Only question is if Zoellner is having fould trouble, does Brent's role change from 3 point shooter to post player - someone besides Levi has to get rebounds. 6. Dyson - got in the game, scored a bucket and got a rebound. Sounded like he played well. The last two games have pointed out a weakness - rebounding especially with Zoellner having foul trouble. I suggest they play more 2-3 zone and make the other teams beat them with 3's - protect the big man and own the glass. If that doesn't fly, they need to reconsider the roles - Brent (or Dyson) will need to play more in the paint - they cannot get outrebounded like this. If they get rebounds, the offense will take care of itself. The good news is that they have some time to figure this out.