godanesgo99

I was starting a betting line with my prediction. Looking at the games and what I know of the teams I felt that was a good spot to start as an optimistic fan with purple and gold glasses

Since the season is no longer in doubt and we have a schedule - lets move the conversation out of the  "2020-2021 season in doubt?" thread and start the conversation on the upcoming season!

With a 22 games season, I'll start the prediction at: 13-9 final record

2020-21 UAlbany Men's Basketball Schedule
 

*denotes America East opponent

Just saw this article... Not sure if it was shared before.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2020/7/22/21334107/the-best-dog-logo-in-sports-university-albany-great-danes-college-basketball

I assume that the Times Useless just forgot Cam exists and he didn't leave the team, but still - considering he is probably a first team AE player this year its a pretty big oversight. 

Quote

The Great Danes have six returning players from last season's 14-18 team and are trying to incorporate seven new scholarship players and two walk-ons into the mix. 

.........

Because the Danes were restricted before Wednesday, Brown said he has not seen enough of Anderson (knee) and Lulka (ankle) to determine if they're completely rehabilitated from last season's injuries, and he doesn't know where his newcomers fit in.

In addition to Anderson and Lulka, UAlbany also returns juniors Antonio Rizzuto and Brent Hank and sophomores Trey Hutcheson and Sam Shafer.

Umm Cam Healy? Are we not aware of something?

1 hour ago, cwdickens said:

I suggest that everyone follow UAlbany Sports on Instagram ... usually daily postings from many teams from interesting to to a little bit silly... learn more there then from this site at this point...

Instagram? WTF is that lol.

All kidding aside, I never log into that site.

This was supposed to be the year with no Lamb and that big freshman class stepping into their junior year.

The success of this season, IMHO, will be decided be the following:

1. Will Lulka be healthy and provide what we thought he would as he hit his junior and senior year.

2. Will JoJo be healthy and provide even 75% of what he did at Northern Arizona

3. Will Hank continue to improve on the offensive end. Has he improved his hands and ability to catch the ball

4. Will Rizzuto show more than just a glimpse of what he brought as a freshman.

5. Will Hutch show a sophomore regression or continue to improve.

The transfers will help, but I've come to expect them to take time to adjust and not be the stars some others expect. I expect Healy to be back to what he was. I think we see a lot more from Shafer this year. Those 5 questions above will make the difference between contention and being in the bottom/middle of the pack.

17 hours ago, cwdickens said:

Below is my comments from a recent thread that I started; just in case you have not seen my comments:

I suspect Will Brown and Colleen Mullen are working hard to come up with a limited non conference schedule that will test their respective teams prior to the conference games.

The questions that I have are:

• When will the America East announce the conference schedule for men's and women's basketball? (I am hoping prior to Columbus Weekend)
• When will UAlbany announce the non conference schedule for men's and women's basketball? (I am hoping for early October)
• When will there be an announcement if fans will be allowed in the stands?

Opinion: Currently, I do not feel safe visiting the UAlbany campus for an athletic events however; I believe the UAlbany administration  is making every effort to control the COVID-19 spread.  I am hoping when 11-25-2020 arrives, the opportunity to attend an athletic event will be there.

Questions - concerns - thoughts... I too wonder about the Purple and Gold Scrimmage ....

I saw your comments. They are all great questions. I myself am not afraid to visit the UA campus, but that's another conversation.

I am hoping for some additional communication from the school soon.

My Facebook memories just reminded me that this is the one year anniversary of last year's purple and gold scrimmage. 

I have a tradition of taking a pic at the scrimmage of my son with the tallest player on the team that started with Richard Peters when my son was 5. This would be the 7th pic at age 11. Guess we are skipping a year ... 🤬

104.5 the team posted that it could be a possibility. I read the article the same way btw.

UA vs. Siena a possibility for this year?

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/documents-show-how-college-basketball-in-a-bubble-could-be-played-at-connecticuts-mohegan-sun-in-december/amp/?source=external

9 minutes ago, blorp said:

Was this something that we knew?

Will Brown's son.

Not sure I knew about it before now. I assume walk-on. 

Rider is predicted to be one of the worst teams in the MAAC this year, so he should be able to get a lot of playing time once he is eligible. Sitting out the COVID year may not be a bad thing anyway.

Personally, I think that his skillset just wasn't a match for Will Browns style. If given the chance to play big minutes in a faster paced environment he could excel and put up big numbers. He has the athleticism and skills to do that.  

29 minutes ago, madDOG said:

Anyone who thinks the statement 'black lives matter' is racist, or is intended to make white people feel sorry for being white, has a fundamental misunderstanding of what the movement is about. Please, let me try to help you understand....

Right now, when you hear "black lives matter' you're interpreting it as "black lives matter more than white/blue/latino/asian lives", which is incorrect. That is *not* what the movement is about, but unfortunately many have been lead to believe this by people who want to delegitimize the movement.

The correct way to interpret is: "black lives matter too". If you understand this, then there is no reason to respond with "all lives matter" because BLM is inherently about all lives (black/white/latino, etc) mattering. It is meant to reinforce that black lives matter as much as all other lives, and their issues should be taken as seriously as all others.

Hope this helps.

Probably a more eloquent way of saying the same thing I did. Thank you.  

2 hours ago, UA1882 said:

"Black lives Matter" - Is a racist 100 percent statement. 

They advocate for something that makes up a micro fraction of the issues. They ignore the thousands of black people (some children) killed in several cities. Is there racism this country....absolutley.  But dont scream that the "police are the issue". Look in the mirror first. 

Change the name to "All Black lives matter." And I will get behind that.  As long as they protest the dozens of black people killed in Chicago every week as well.  

There is freedom of speech in this country and I respect that. However please don't have an issue with people saying "BLUE LIVES MATTER" as well. 

• Blue lives do matter.
• White lives do matter
• All lives do matter

Please remember, just because we raise awareness for breast cancer in October, it doesn't mean we are saying that prostate cancer isn't also an issue. Just because someone says save the whales it doesn't mean Bing all the other fish in the sea. We should all support BLM. 

The issues of race or so multifaceted that you can't argue about black on black crime or someone will remind you that crime is local and the racist policies of the 40s-70s literally forced people to move to certain neighborhoods. Literally stole property value and equity. Crime is based on life situation and locality - most crimes occur within 2 miles of someones home. Why aren't people talking about white on white crime? (hint: that's the majority of crime in the US)

BLM is an important movement that needs to be heard by people across the country. Have bad things been done in its name? Yup!

Are their bad cops that ruin the reputation of the good cops? Yup! Are their good cops? Yup!

Should we shut up and try to listen to a people that have been marginalized for centuries? Yup!

Carry on. I'll try to keep politics out of future political comments. 

Agreed blorp...

Do I want the players on the court holding pro Biden or Pro Trump signs? Nope. That would be upsetting. 

Will it bother me if they take a knee during the Anthem, not a bit. Kneeling is a sign of respect, but showing that something is wrong. Like when a kid gets hurt in a little league game we have all the other kids take a knee. This is by far the most patriotic way to display their concern with the direction of the country, and to pay respect to the lives lost in the name of equality. 

OMFG seriously? A change.org petition about the shape of the ears in a team logo? Cancel culture on full display. 

I get it, it's cruel to crop their ears, but lets take a look at the history of why it was done: Cropping the ears was done with hunting dogs to protect them from being mutilated while hunting wild Seawolves (I mean wild boar).  The point is to make the dog look angry and mean. All the Great Danes I know have been lovable. The floppy ears make them look lovable.  

Maybe put some small print on the bottom of the logo "The University at Albany does not condone the cropping of ears. No Great Danes were harmed in the artist rendering of this logo."

I can't take this world anymore. 

Also, the existing Scooby/Damien has cropped ears. Was there a petition for him?

14 hours ago, alum73 said:

90s old stuff!  That's my new stuff!

Thats why I said asserting my age. As a student from 95-99 that that is the stuff that I started with. I know many of you are much older

21 minutes ago, Eli said:

Aren't we also getting new jerseys this sports season? Sounds like a full refresh. I remember during the homecoming game they had a lot of hype about a big announcement...most of us thought it was a big donation and SEFCU reno. Instead they trudged out a few athletes with some pretty lackluster jerseys. It was a HUGE disappointment.

That announcement was you can't have Under Armour with UA

My assumption is that all the new Under Armor apparel will be launched. A new Dane logo? The question will be to buy a bunch of new crap or assert my age by only wearing the old Damien stuff - or even my old 90's stuff. 

I think it is too early to discuss this or any of the options until they actually announce whats going to happen. 

That said, this will hurt mid-majors come tournament time, as there will be no way to accurately compare teams from different conferences. 

On 7/3/2020 at 5:43 PM, cwdickens said:

Unfortunately, godanesgo99, at best you have no clue about modern tribalism in American society.  Further, you took my comment out of context, leaving out a much broader statement, that had nothing to do with on how this country was formed. Shame on you.  Sadly, you likely never had the opportunity to take classes from Dr. Catherine Newbold or Dr. Harry Price.  With that said, I do not need a lesson on Constitutional law from you.

As a lawyer, and constitutional history buff, but typing in a forum with simplistic readers, we can believe whatever we like. 

On 7/2/2020 at 2:54 PM, cwdickens said:

The United States of America has become a country of tribal factions.  Political, Social, Economic, Health Issues and throw in sports for good measure.

 

Just for clarity, that is how this country was designed. It is not "becoming" that way. We have 50 independent states, joined together to regulate commerce between the states, and to plan for the common defense. 

This is why each state has a governor and legislature. It's why the electoral college exists.

5 hours ago, jimbo said:

The chance of getting him is slim to none....IMHO. He’s got Power 5 teams after him and his dad and uncle were both former $iena athletes...so if he wants to stay local it’s not gonna be with the Danes. 

Until UA makes the round of 32 this year, and the sweet 16 next year. He will want to be a part of that!

(Then I woke up)

Early 20-21 season projections are updated on the Bart Torvik site. His projections aren't that high on UA. That said, he still has Malachai on the team and hasn't added NJIT to the league yet.

https://www.barttorvik.com/?conlimit=AE&state=All&year=2021&sort=

So 3 guys that are traditional "big" sizes at 6'8" or higher. It doesn't really matter much in the AE, but the non conference and any potential post season could be tough against bigger teams.

If healthy, all 3 should get significant time. I am hoping Hank can add a little offensively this season. He has the body. Lulka showed a lot before his injuries, and Doles showed promise in the CAA.

I'm already excited for this season, but need to keep expectations low. On paper they have the talent to be the top team in a "Lambless" AE, but with most of the team retooled again it's probably anyone's guess.