godanesgo99

18 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

He's not returning dude...it's over. 

Obviously, and this didn't need to be said. Yes there is a chance he returns, but I'd put the odds at a thousand to one. Or worse.

Markwood brought respectability to Maine in just one season. TO MAINE!

Killings brought in back to back rookies of the year (Neely, Beagle), another on the all-rookie team (Reddish) and another who had a case to be on the all-rookie team (Jackson), and has 3 freshman signed for next year, one is a pre-season favorite for ROY in Margoupis, one could be on the all-rookie team in Robinson, and another that looks like they could grow into a contributor as early as year 1 in Adnan. 

While this year was terrible, at first glance it appears that DK was doing it the right way in building a solid core, then filling needs with the portal. I was willing to look past the poor results this year as it really appeared we were building for long term success instead of the quick short-lived rebound. Drumgoole and Beagle leaving doesn't totally negate that, but it sets us back another season. 

Fan faith and interest in the program is already at an all-time low. Not sure how we could recover from another last place season.

I wish I was in a position to do this, but frankly we need some of the more well off alum and local supporters to get active in the NIL programs. We have a renovated arena opening next year, and a freshman who clearly has the potential to be one of the all-time greats in the AE and the first UA alum in the NBA. He is every bit the player Lamb and Warney were as freshman, possibly better. 

Where are the local companies looking for spokespeople? Where are the outside recruiters that could convince him to rule this market with his likeness? 

I really thought the NIL rules would be awesome for UA and Siena. Here we are in one of the top 60 media markets in the country, with one of the highest rates of disposable income in the country according the Business Review. There are no major sports competitors for advertising dollars within two hours. SU is 2 hours away. NYC, Montreal, and Boston are close to 3. Buffalo is 4. Large market + no competition should mean $$$$$ for NIL for any stars from UA and Siena.

Wasn't Killings quoted somewhere saying his future is tied to Beagle? Maybe I'm just misremembering that and it was said by someone else. 

That post from Samurai that said Killings was gone that Monday was refuted by someone here saying that they had seen Killings with Beagle exploring the progress of the renovation. Most of us took that as a sign that we would have them both for one more season. 

Oh well. While this one hurts, players come and go. Coaches come and go. Entering the portal doesn't mean he is 100% gone, but I'm sure it's something like 99.9999999% done.

Hopefully whatever happens with Killings happens quickly. If he stays or goes the program needs to know for sure as quick as possible. Time for Killings to get to work, or time for a new hire to be found quick enough to not mean another dumpster fire for next season.

If Killings is staying, the School needs to make that public and clear as soon as possible. Uncertainty from his office brings uncertainty to the players on the team. Makes recruiting and retaining harder. We gave a loser coach in Gattuso an extension to not kill the football recruiting and team. We need something similar here. I'm not saying an extension, as that would be dumb, what I am saying is a public statement of support for another season or rip the band-aid off and get rid of him now. Recruits and players need some clarity.

The coach needs time to rerecruit the players we want to keep (Beagle and Drumgoole), time to keep the players already signed for next year, and time to hit the portal hard. Each day of uncertainty that goes by brings the chances of a winning season next year down.

Well, there goes next season. I don't blame the kid for moving on. Has to be hard being the best player on a team that doesn't even make the AE playoffs when you know you could be starring in the A10 or bigger league, or be an up an coming star in a P5 conference. 

Maybe this means that there is truth to Killings taking the assistant role at another school. I really thought we would get at least a year two to watch him develop, help usher in the renovated arena, and help bring the program back to where it should be.

Either way, this one hurts more than Cremo and Nichols moving on, as they both graduated and used it as an opportunity to play in the big time after giving UA multiple years. Beagle gave us nothing but a ROY trophy and a $&itty team to complain about.

While I still consider Cremo and Nichols as part of #purplefam, I'm not sure I will ever see Beagle that way if he does end up leaving. Obviously he still could return after testing the waters and trying for one more year to bring UA to the dance and be a legend here, but that almost never happens once someone joins the portal.

Good Luck Mr. Beagle. Reach your NBA dreams.

10 minutes ago, Dane96 said:

EDIT: Seeing your response to what Click says, seems like we are all on the same page.  If Drumgoole is option 3-5 in a starting lineup, then your lineup is strong.  

Per my understanding of whom we contacted so far in the Portal, the targets are a big and a PG.  With Neely coming back (we hope) and Beagle (we hope), then Drumgoole was at the very best going to be option 3.  Per what I know are our PG targets, Drumgoole would have been 4.  

Heck, maybe that's why he is leaving. 

Yeah, I'd definitely rather he stayed and think he is a major talent. I'm sure his stats were so bad because of how much he played and felt forced to carry the team. It just felt he played too selfishly at times and missed waaaaay too many shots. Again, he had to because of the lack of a supporting cast. The original post was made because I don't know if there are stats out there are not, but he has to hold the record for most missed shots in a season at UA. Can't think of anyone who shot so much with such a low percentage. 

Either way, I'd love for him to return. It's always hard losing talent and athleticism that could play at a higher level.

4 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

Biggest concern is loss of talent, this team has a serious deficit of talent. He pressed because he had to play with no shooting, no pg, no one else around him but Beagle who could play at this level. He would have been fine with Neely coming back as well as a decent PG if we managed to get one. Today this team is worse off than it was yesterday. 

Agreed, as I said, I hope he ends up staying after exploring the portal as he would have been better not being the only option 38 minutes a game. My only point is that him leaving isn't a death nail. 

While I loved Drumgoole's game, I'm not sure if him staying or leaving really moves the needle that much for this team. (I'd way rather he stays after testing the portal, but that doesn't matter at this point). While he had some really good games, his stats were dismal in about half the games we played. I posted multiple times that I thought he was pushing too hard and would have had better numbers had he played 5-10 minutes less per game, but at the end of the day he hurt the team by pushing as much as he helped it when shots were falling.

Can't have a guard that shoots with huge volume that finishes at 31% from 3 and an overall field goal percentage of 37% in conference play. Even if you look at the full season, the 3pt percentage jumps to 34%, but overall FG% stays at 37%. Just not efficient numbers. 

I'd love to see what he can do when he is not options 1, 3, and 4 to take the shot on every play. Yes, I'd like him to return, but let's be honest: whatever happens here doesn't swing the needle between top 4 or bottom 4 of the AE next season.

Either way, he is graduating. He will be a target of a higher level team and even if he stays mid-major, he is at a point where academics and what he wants a degree in at no cost to him should be the biggest driver of his decision.

With the Davis, Patel, Shafer, and now Edmead scholarships open, that's at least 4 spots to fill. Still no official word that I have seen on Hutch and Drumgoole. Add in guesses of a few others that could test the portal. My guess is that the team ends with 6 spots to fill.

There are 3 incoming freshman that are confirmed, and a walk-on that deserves a scholarship in Jackson. 

That math equals at least 1 scholarship to fill, potentially as many as 3 or 4.

The Twitterverse has shown exactly zero new offers from UA. I know the signing period isn't open yet, but seeing people entering the portal and offers popping up from other schools everywhere.

Does no news from Hutch and Drumgoole, combined with no new reported offers mean that the smoke of rumors of DK leaving have some spark behind them as well? 

Who won last year?

Re: Will Brown Tweets.... While some may see it as petty, the Hooley Shot and the utterly amazing feelings we all had as fans that day came up in my Facebook memories today. Images of me with my kids on the floor, video of the nets being cut and banner being raised while "Land Down Under" blared on PA system, the pics of SBU fans being silent and motionless in shock, etc. All those posts were there for me to see in my memories to relive. 

If I wasn't so despondent on how this season ended right meow, I probably would have shared the clips and videos on Facebook, this site, and or other social media, but I didn't because it's painful to remember the highs after this seasons lows.

While Brown may be "petty" and "taking jabs" it's also the anniversary of one of the greatest moments in sports history - definitely in UA sports history, the ESPN moment of the month from that year, and something to celebrate. Sharing it doesn't have to mean being petty.

I think I'll go back and watch the YouTube video "WOFX Call" right about meow.

I've been a DK supporter, but I'm on the fence. Can't say I want him back, but can't say I want him gone either. From day 1 it was "we need patience, as he needs 3 years to build his team and convert from an assistant to a head coach". So I that way, I'd like to give him a third year.

Did I ever think for a second we would drop so low to not make the AE tournament? No, and a school of our size in this league should NEVER drop that low. For that reason, I won't shed a single tear if he is let go.

I've been a supporter of his during the lawsuit, but that's because I'm still under the impression it was during a hype circle and maybe went a little too far, but I'm ok with an old school rough and tumble coach, and against everyone getting a trophy for trying. That said, some of the accusations are worse than what I am ok with. If true, I don't want him representing us, and fine with him gone. I still support him, but it's wavering with a lack of concrete evidence or info.

The biggest question I have: do we have good kids that are scholar athletes? If we don't make the AE tournament, is he preparing them for life? We almost always had at least 1 representative on the All-Academic team under Brown. Was anyone close? Do the players feel part of a family? Do they support him? If he was fired tomorrow then hired at another school, would multiples follow him? I gave him credit because at least 2 of his Marquette kids followed him here. That was a positive in my mind. Now one of those is suing him, and another got 0 minutes in the end of the season and didn't have positive body language in the end. 

I'm ok with giving him another year, as originally I said he needed 3, but when you put it all together, it's hard to sit back and watch. Whatever happens with him, I pray it happens quickly. Like before the "ides of March" quickly. We have a refinished arena opening next season, and whomever is the coach, they need to be working the portal and the existing team starting now.

I think a lot depends on what happens with the portal and how many spots the team has to fill. Unless I missed something, the team is currently full for next season, assuming Jackson ends up with the scholarship vacated by Schafer, and one of Hutch/Drumgoole leaves. 

Definitely Gone from Scholarship: Davis, Patel, Shafer

Coming in: Margoupis, Robinson, Adnan

Graduating but with eligibility remaining: Drumgoole, Hutchinson

Potential Scholarship Given: Jackson

If spaces end up opening, which they undoubtedly will, a player like Shane could be welcome. He is a local kid (Schalmont) and had an offer from UA years ago. 

I agree that an athlete transferring down from a bigger conference would be good, but the team has a lot of athleticism already, but lacks a calming influence. Someone who plays hard, but is an IQ guy more than an athlete. We need both, but the biggest issue this team had was a lack of basketball IQ. If Shane is that guy, then it would be welcome. Don't know enough about his game to know if he fits that mold.

3 hours ago, Dane96 said:

This place is starting to turn into the Siena swamp forum...and it has been trending that way for two years. 

Very true. The calculus looks like this:

Losing way more than we win

+

Scandals

+

Poorly thought out and executed plans and policies from the program/School

+

Overly negative people on the board

+

Aging of forum members as younger folks don't use forums, and opt for other social platforms 

+

Bickering and personal attacks

=======================

Less active message board with fewer new members and devolving conversations. 

The cure to this problem?

A winning program. Winning cures all.

2 hours ago, cwdickens said:

Sad, just plain sad.

Yes, you are. 

3 hours ago, bob87 said:

Wow 99

 

You really come up with some dozzies. If killings wins the 2024 national championship with the Danes next season and the lawsuit is resolved in his favor no Danes fan will be complaining. I must say that Killings is more likely to accomplish that than trump accomplishing any of the things you mentioned.  

 

Just comparing Killings to trump isn't good for Killings. The promise that athletics sold that he would be the guy to take albany to the next level so far has aged as poorly as don the con's promises. There are many examples but I am thinking in particular that he would balance the budget but instead has seen the largest deficit. Kind of like albany won loss record vs promise . Also to compare killings possible criminal action to trumps would certainly be a disservice to killings. Apparent one time incident by Killings.  

 

 

LOL Bob, love how people have poor reading comprehension and don't understand humor on a web board. No where did I compare Killings to Trump. I compared cwdickens hatred of Killings to the lefts hatred of Trump. Nothing positive can be said about Killings without him trying to find any angle to make it negative. Trump never tried to do all those things, but those were things that those on the left would applaud if it was done by anyone but him. If he did it, they would say yeah but he is a racist with orange skin or something like that. 

I truly believe that if the court cases end with no wrong doing found, Killings goes undefeated in the AE, and makes the Sweet 16 there are those on this board that find a way to turn it negative.  

Dickens has Trump Derangement Syndrome, oops I mean Killings Derangement Syndrome. The irrational over the top of hatred of him regardless of the facts. There is not anything Killings could possibly ever do that has any redeeming value whatsoever. 

Clarification: I am not a Trump fan, and I hate using this term from the MAGA crowd, but it is true. Trump could have made the minimum wage $50, cured cancer, and brokered lasting peace in the middle east and many on the left would not be able to acknowledge anything positive because of their hatred. Dane96 has clearly spoken out against Killings and has been clear on his stance. Silly that Dickens would find a way to bash even the slightest compliment. It's funny really.

While the Lady Danes are still active and a pleasure to watch, it's time to reflect on this terrible MBB season, figure out what is going to happen for next season and move on.

While I'm excited to watch the ladies compete for a championship, I'm looking forward to not caring about basketball for a while. 

Hopefully whatever is going to happen with DK and player movement is decided quickly so the team can regroup and start working on next season ASAP. 

Biggest Questions:

• What happens with DK and the lawsuit. Is his time at UA over? I'm in the minority with supporting him, but whatever happens, I hope it's quick.
• Do Hutch and Drumgoole enter the portal, graduate and move on, or use their eligibility to come back?
• Does Beagle stay for at least another year or two? He could probably play anywhere he wants next year.
• Does Jackson get a scholarship and stay, or does he enter the portal? He's another one that could probably get a solid offer after the year he had from a lot of schools.
• Reddish had an up and down season. Showed some great growth, but had some issues and missed a few games for breaking team rules. Does he stay or look to transfer? His brother was traded to the west coast. Could he look to transfer out there?
• Edmead, Ketner, and Kellogg all played extremely rarely as the season wound down. Edmead and Kellogg played a lot elsewhere before coming here. Do they stay?
• What does the future look like for Neely, Little, and Amica?
• Will SEFCU arena be ready for next season?

Finally:

While the season sucked and was painful to watch: Thank you to the players for not giving up and playing hard till the end. Thank you to Patel and Davis for giving UA your final season. Good luck with wherever life takes you! 

Gonna be an interesting and extra long off-season!

NJIT did their part. We can't hit a shot. Season over. Would have been nice to finish the season with a comeback and playoff spot, but ending the season a week early and getting a chance to reflect and start figuring out next season now is fine. I can use a break from following college basketball anyway.

I thought they played strong defense, hustled, and played well in the first half. Yes there were a couple failed rotations and UVM made them pay, but you just can't beat a team that is hitting everything while well contested. If you ignore the score and just watched the energy and play you'd think Albany was winning, not down 15 at the half.

Obviously we were never going to win this game, but a come back would be cool. NH pulled ahead of NJIT now, so we may control our own destiny.

14 minutes ago, cwdickens said:

We are entitled to our respected opinions, so as Willie Nelson would say "Just roll it and smoke it".   As you do not know me, let me tell you something.  I have followed UVM sports, long before UAlbany considered going D1 ... loved their hockey team... learned one thing from their sport past... being perfect in the regular season ...does not lead to success in the NCAA Tournament ....ask the UVM WBB .... further UVM has demonstrated how to stick with a coach  .... ask Tom Brennan ... sadly, no sports program is perfect ... you are just going on to cover up UAlbany issues

I'll roll it and smoke it in your honor while watching the game tonight. So happy for you following UVM long before UA considered a move to D1. I rooted against their hockey team and all of Hockey East as a Clarkson/ECAC fan back in the day (80's and early 90's). We all have our backgrounds. 

Not covering up UA's issues, they are public and shed a poor light on the university. I wish they would go away and we'd find out what really happened, the court cases were done and we could move on: either with DK as coach, or with him fired so we can start another rebuild. The difference here is UA didn't cover it up. They suspended the coach during the investigation, then made a public announcement, issued a suspension and forced a fine. DK issued an apology. It wasn't enough in many people's opinions, but as you said, we are all entitled to our opinions.  UVM hid it all and told the accuser to shut her mouth. 

Enough about these unfortunate incidents and lets root for a good game tonight. Win lose or draw, I am happy with the effort the team has put together to end the season. Could very easily be riding a 4 game winning streak into this final game. Beat Bing all game only to fold at the end of regulation and then lose badly in OT, beat UMBC easily, could have won at Maine without a bad turnover at the exact wrong moment, then beat NJIT easily. Hopefully those games have built confidence and they can play well tonight. At the very least the season is ending with some positive momentum. 

Here are the actual Womens Awards: 

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/americaeast.sidearmsports.com/documents/2023/2/28/2023_WBB_all_conference.pdf

• 1st Team: Cooper and Haegerstrand
• 3rd Team: Hahne
• All Defensive Team: Hahne
• All Academic: Cooper and Haegerstrand

None of the individual major awards like POY, DPOY, ROY, 6thPOY, NOY, COY

Definitely shows a great team effort and no reliance on a single player to win. Love that the UA All-Academic winners were also 1st teamers.  

3 hours ago, cwdickens said:

Sadly, once again, godanesgo99, you are wrong.  Both the UAlbany and the Vermont incident involve unwanted physical contact.  Perhaps, the difference you allude to is the fact that no criminal charges have been filed to date in the Vermont case (to the best of my knowledge).  Both cases are similar that both individuals alleging wrongdoing will have a chance of presenting their cases in civil court. 

Further, how the UAlbany handled Killings case is drawing much needed attention.  I have been of the opinion that the adults present at the time of the incident were not fully forthcoming in what they witnessed and took the opportunity between seasons to seek new employment.

I am of the opinion that Dwayne Killing could not fire up a CYO team.  For his methods, again, I am of the opinion he has none.

Just my opinion, let the GReat Danes and the Catamounts play the game and see what the outcome is.

WOW. No matter how wrong I may be on the actions of DK, how can you equate the two events? Even if the DK situation was a million times worse than what we have been told and it really was an all out assault and brutal beating in the locker room, it is still no where close to a RAPE.

DK admitted there was some inappropriate contact, paid a fine, and was suspended for 5 games. This may not have been enough in the opinion of many people here, but that is your opinion, and not everyone's. It's what the internal investigation decided on.

How it is even close to covering up an accusation of a rape and administrators telling a woman, while in her time of need and who had just gathered courage to make that accusation, that she should "Shut up and let it go so it doesn't hurt the school, force a suspension of a star player, hurt the teams record and chances at the NCAA tournament, and/or reduce attendance at basketball games." Then never say anything about it publicly and cover it up, until that girl sues the NCAA and the school over the event. 

You make me laugh with your vendetta against our coach and failure to see the difference. Apparently you are just jealous because UVM has been winning and UA hasn't.

2 hours ago, cwdickens said:

I see the Catamounts running the Great Danes out of town and taking personal satisfaction from eliminating the Great Danes for the AE Tournament.   Green and Gold Pride is on the line, as will as a full house of fans in Patrick Gym.  Further, the Catamounts are looking to avoid having to play in the First Four Game if they are the AE champs

Lastly the Vermont fans will say "Yeh, you BPF posters, keep your comments about the Catamount MBB program to yourself, you have problems of your own program."

 

Lol to the Catamount fans. 

Our coach tried to fire up players who were playing lazy and not living up to their potential. His method on how he tried to accomplish that is what has been debated. Right or wrong, he was at least trying to help his team win. No further comments on his methods and if they deserve dismissal or not.

Vermont leadership, including their coaches, covered up and silenced the accusations of the rape of at least one student athlete, rumored to be more than one, by their star player, and rumored to be other players involved. Covered up a team culture of rape and abuse. Regardless of if the accusations were true or not, the school completely dismissed the accusations and told the accuser(s) to stay in her lane and not push the issue because of the potential damage to the school and the star player.

The two issues are not even remotely the same. It's crazy that so far there seems to be no penalties at all for the UVM program, and everything seems to be swept under the rug. 

Does UVM play their roster with intention of resting their best to stay healthy for the playoffs? Would they rather play UA for a second consecutive game at home, or see NJIT come to town? Is it possible to beat UVM twice in a week with both games at Patrick? 

Absolutely love watching March basketball when its win or go home. While this is still regular season and still February, it will be the second straight "March" game for UA.