olddog71

Our team will have great motivation on Thursday. We need to have a win against every team in the conference, and a victory on Thursday will seal that goal. I am quite sure that Coach Brown views this game as pitting himself as a young coach against a veteran winner, and I know which side Brown wants to be on. The way we turned around our fortunes against Vermont last night should strengthen the team's desire for revenge later this week. Let's hope the referees don't decide this contest.

This team is losing four seasoned veterans next year. It will be difficult to fill all those voids immediately. There will be plenty of opportunities for the remaining veterans to make major contributions at the beginning of the season. If anything, these veterans can be mentors to the incoming players to guide them in what the team will need next year. Iati was very important to the team in our OOC schedule, and he can play a major role again. He can also hone more of his skills in the off-season to gain playing time. I hope we posters will focus on the great opportunities that await this team after this season. We lose four players and pick up the same number, but this incoming team will be quite experienced, as other teams also lose players. Hopefully, we can discuss how many wins the team will have next year (20+?) more than playing time this year.

As Patch said, we need Jon Iati. If we have one or two bad injuries, he might be inserted right into the regular lineup again. The scoring focus has changed as the season has progressed. We are trying to go inside for higher percentage shots much more. Beforehand, we had relied too much on the three, and often opponents could too often guess what was coming next with our team. Even after Zoellner departs, I expect our current strategy to remain the same as we can get it inside to a tough Brent Gifford. Unfortunately, with many more talented players, not everyone will have the minutes they saw earlier. It's regrettable, but for the team and the fans it's much superior to ending a game with only four men on the floor, as happened just a short 24 months ago. I feel for Iati - but I also have great sympathy for Bauman and Connelly and some others. Hopefully, their turns will all come.

How was the crowd? Was it a sedate newbie crowd, or were the fans really into it?

Thanks, bob87! That statistic, as well as all the game numbers, are up on the UAlbany website now.

It's about the same as for last year's VT game. I am going to make two assumptions. (1) There were fewer students in attendance tonight than last year. (2) There were fewer VT fans because the team is not as good. Conclusion: Great upturn in attendance from last year from the community.

Thanks, gentlemen (or ladies, if the case may be) for the info. It was difficult to find anything but an occasional score on the web.

Thanks for the info. I too linked up to Albany at about the same time. (Maybe you just beat me too it.)

The Vermont feed was good and the announcers did a very good job. 12010[/snapback] Reeder, Glad you got to listen live to the game. Did you have any initial problems getting the UVM feed? If so, how did you resolve it? Just curious. Now that our season will definitely be extended, . . .

Anyone have any idea how many people attended the game?

Same result with UVM feed. Nothing. For those who have no info, UAlbany by 8 at halftime. 35-27.

Fantastic! A great turnout for a Monday night game. That number would be only 500 short of last year's VT turnout; without our students, without Coppenrath, without Sorrentine - speaks volumes of how far the program has come this year. What else do Capital District fans with public school children have to do this week?

PM me, please.

What was missing from the letters which the Times-Union published was the element of the motive for publishing the original letter. I think the reason for the publication of the letter was worse than the actual letter. In order for the newspaper to publish the original letter there had to be a major motive for spotlighting one particular fan's point-of-view. What was that motive? I can think of several possible answers, but I cannot come to a conclusion. The editor(s) of the paper chose to ignore their reason for publishing the original letter when (t)he(y) selected the rebuttals for this morning's edition. In my opinion (again) the paper did not take any responsibility for their role in the discussion that the paper created. Thank you, readers, for submitting cogent arguments in the defense of Will Brown. You are the ones who chose to be honest and objective in your analysis of the job the coach has done for the program.

For a fair appraisal of the game, I looked in vain through the Richmond Times-Dispatch for a report. I could not come up with anything. Was the game so boring to the people in the Richmond area that nobody could/would write about it?

haggyland, It's all an opinion, but I disagree with you on the announcers, at least from the audio perspective. The main guy was very professional, in my estimation. He knew the opposition, and he tried to be impartial. The other guy was not so partial. He kept using the word "we," for example. His bias really detracted from an otherwise very good broadcast. I'm not sure we would have put on such a professional broadcast. We have a year, though, to put it together. You brought up a very good point about where the cameras were pointing. That tactic is very poor. The game was very exciting, especially at the end, and the focus should have been on the ball. In any case, the main focus of this thread should be on the great effort of the team. They put on such a great show!

Great effort by the Danes tonight. We have more than redeemed ourselves and our league tonight. The games against Florida and UCLA were not flukes! The play-by-play announcer for VCU was truly outstanding. The color guy was not so good.

Sports Network has done a preview of the game tonight, and surprise! Surprise! The Network has UAlbany winning the game! Here's their preview: "The Sports Network "DATE & TIME: Friday, February 17th, 7:00 p.m. (et). "FACTS & STATS: Site: Alltel Pavilion at the Siegel Center (7,500) -- Richmond, Virginia. Television: ESPNU. Home Record: Albany 8-3, VCU 11-1. Away Record: Albany 7-5, VCU 5-7. Neutral Record: Albany 1-0, VCU 0-0. Conference Record: Albany 11-2, VCU 10-6. Series Record: First-ever meeting. "GAME NOTES: The Albany Great Danes will hit the road for a late season non- conference affair, as they invade the Siegel Center in Richmond this evening, for a clash with the Virginia Commonwealth Rams. The Great Danes are an impressive 16-8 on the season and an even better 11-2 in America East Conference play. The team holds a one-game lead atop the AEC standings heading down the stretch. Albany brings an impressive six-game win streak into this contest and is coming off an 87-73 rout of Maine on the road last weekend. The Rams have also played well in their conference, sporting a 10-6 league ledger in the Colonial Athletic Association, good for a tie for fifth place. However, VCU has lost three of its last four games coming in, including a heart- breaking 59-57 decision at Towson on Wednesday. This is the first-ever meeting between these two teams. "Jamar Wilson erupted for a season-high 30 points, in leading the Great Danes to their sixth straight win on February 11th. Wilson was 9-of-19 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line in the game. Jason Siggers and Levi Levine had solid games as well, coming off the bench with 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Great Danes have had a great deal of success this season, despite averaging a rather modest 67.5 ppg. Defensively, the team has been top-notch, allowing just 63.9 ppg, on .423 shooting. Jamar Wilson is clearly the top offensive threat for the team at 17.6 ppg. Brent Wilson is the only other double-figure threat in terms of scoring average at 10.0 ppg. "VCU buried itself at the half against Towson this week, shooting a mere .250 from the floor in the first 20 minutes and trailing at the break by a season- high 14 points. Guard Jesse Pellot-Rosa was the only bright spot offensively for the Rams, posting 12 points, on 5-of-10 shooting. The Rams are a mediocre offensive squad, but still boast a solid overall record due mainly to the team's play at the defensive end of the court. The Rams are netting a pedestrian 68.1 ppg, but holding foes to a mere 62.2 ppg. Forward Nick George leads the team in both scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.1 rpg). B.A. Walker is the only other player in double figures with 12.1 ppg and leads the team with 54 three-pointers. "The Rams have won 11 of 12 games at home this season, but the Great Danes are coming in red-hot. VCU may be the better team on most nights, but all the momentum is with Albany. A big road win could do wonders for the Danes as the postseason looms large in the near future. "Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Albany 65, Virginia Commonwealth 62 02/17 10:15:14 ET" I wish I could share the optimism of Sports Network, but I am going to go with VCU this time. They have a higher RPI than we, we are playing on their home court, and UAlbany is not sneaking up on an overconfident team tonight after VCU's loss this week at home. Nevertheless, we will make it close; we've been there before this season. VCU by 6.

alum73, Thanks for the info. Now we don't have to hear anything more from those who detract from our program. We have a guaranteed winning season. We have now accomplished something. We no longer have to hear that we never have had a winning season, nor have accomplished something. (Yes, I know I'm repeating myself.)

Albany came back from 1 down at 7:46 left to snag 14-point victory. How many points did K-Zo have? Did Brent Wilson play?

All of you posters have made many salient points about retaining Coach Brown after this season. I am with you. In short, Brown may have committed a couple stumbles in past seasons, but this year he has done nothing either major or middle-major wrong with this program. In short, he has grown in his job. In a major way. He is a work in progress who has already shown major improvement and whose program has made dramatic strides. As an educator - which I hope everyone in the UAlbany administration also considers himself to be, this factor is the most important in judging personnel.

Dane Pound, I'm not horrified that you brought Siena fans to the RACC. Good for you. I hope it was a pleasant experience all around, and it sounds like it from your description. It amazes me that several posters on the Siena forum make these incredible judgments about our program and our facilities without having experienced them. My sister-in-law, who has visited numerous games at the RACC, absolutely refuses to attend any event at the Pepsi. She feels much too uncomfortable there. And the view of the game is so much better in our seats at the RACC, as you ably point out. I don't mind an occasional game at the Pepsi (The Siena game has to be there because of the number of fans who want to attend.), but I prefer the comfort, lighting, sound system, and general amenities at our place. I do wonder what will happen to our ticket prices as our attendance increases. We already saw a substantial price increase this year. I guess it's the sacrifice one must pay to insure continued success. Great post, Dane Pound!

Anyone have any idea of how many people were turned away from the BPG? Obviously, there had to be a few. Many people come at the last moment, and when the President announces 7½ minutes before the game begins that the event is a sellout, then there had to be some. I know it must be somewhat difficult to determine the number, especially since the fan tickets and student tickets were dispensed differently. Just curious. Great sign of improvement in our program.

I am quite sure that a lot of readers of this forum have also been following the thread over on the AE forum about the Big Purple Growl. It seems that fans from other schools have criticized the behavior of some UAlbany fans during the game last night. Some of the forms of behavior they did not like include: (1) throwing objects onto the playing surface, or worse, at the BU bench (2) vulgar chants (3) personal comments made about specific BU players People who observed this behavior were either present at the game or witnessed it on TV. I think these opposing fans have very valid points. As a long-term UAlbany fan, I hope I don't see much of this behavior repeat itself. UAlbany fans should be doing what good fans do all over the world: support the team positively. One reason why we should not be involved in this negative stuff is because our team has to play at the other court in the near future. This reason is not my major motive for making this statement. The players and coaches for all the teams we meet work very hard to bring their product to the floor, and they simply do not deserve the treatment that some fans give them. I know I would not like it if I were in their shoes. That being said, I think that, unfortunately, the behavior of a few overshadowed the great amount of support we saw at the game last night. Some of the factors that pleased me included: (1) President Hall's walk to the middle of the floor to announce 7½ minutes before the start of the game that the event was sold out. It's also very obvious that most of the students have a tremendous amount of respect for the new president. (2) The sellout itself. I have been hoping for 14 years since the building opened that I would see every seat occupied by a fan. In the last few years, when we had a big game, I was a little disappointed at the turnout, but not last night. You guys did it! (2) The great number of students. Last year's biggest crowd numbered slightly over 4,000 people for the Vermont game. There were 500 more fans there last night. BU did not have nearly the number of fans there as VT did last year. That means there were how many more students last night than for VT? (4) The students just add a much better dimension to the game when they come out in large numbers. Here's one guy who really appreciates your enthusiasm! I hope last night will not be the last time the RACC witnesses a sellout. There is a layoff between last night and the Vermont game on the 20th, and I hope the great spirit does not diminish.