McFan

The only home Track & Field meet of the year is today at 4PM.  Come out and support for the best men's and women's team that the school has.  

Well, now we can advertise unlimited playing time.

1 hour ago, UA1882 said:

The selling point is the 2 very good guards. The type of guards you typically dont see together at this level. The facilities are very nice for a low major. If and it's a big if .... we get 2 impact transfers we can be very good.  Even Killings would have a hard time messing it up.  

Add to it the style of basketball we play.  And "we're just missing a few pieces.  We played UVM tight but ran out of gas and that was without any real bigs at all.  With you here we can get this done"

On 3/18/2024 at 3:32 PM, UA1882 said:

Thanks.

Portal is active.  A little surprised Beagle is not in the first day. He has to know where he is going because he has not played in a couple of months.  

Need to keep the "Big 2". Need to recruit "up" to start.  Bigger schools. Need to sell them on excellent guards.  Don't want to see D2 or D3 kids unless that's all we can get.  

If we lose the Big 2 you can expect 10 wins at the most next year.  

There are D2 (and even D3) kids that can thrive at the AE level.  Watching Colorado St win a play in game tonight over Virginia, they have 2 D2 and one D3 guys that are significant contributors.  
 

Love players w chips on their shoulders, and that can be kids coming down a level or kids coming up a level.

Good discussion.  I appreciate it.

2 hours ago, UA1882 said:

Not putting the kid down.  He tries really hard and seems like a good kid. However on good team, EX) Vermont.  He is a 5 to 10 minute guy.  

We have the budget and now arena to not only complete with Vermont but constantly outdue Vermont with the right coach.  

 

Two questions:

1.  Given the stats above how many minutes should Beagle get?

2.  How many minutes would Beagle get at UVM?

UVM has crushed this league for years.  To say he wouldn’t get many minutes there is unfair.  How many would he get at the other 6 teams ahead of us?

I get it he’s not a superstar.  But in the AE, given his performance the last 8 games, I see no reason he wouldn’t fight for a starting job or first big off the bench on teams not named UVM.  It sucks but we can’t compare ourselves w UVM.  

1 hour ago, Dane96 said:

Agreed...and he is NIOWHERE CLOSE to Travis Charles.  Not even in the same zip code. He seems like a good kid, but he is exactly what was said here-- 5 to 10 minute guy.  He is playing over his talent right now...his talent is a motor and eating up time. He also does a decent job of cleaning up bunnies. 

Clearly not Travis Charles but to think he’s only good for 5-10 minutes in the AE seems a bit much.  Scoring, rebounding, FG % and shot blocking he out performs Beagle statistically when given the chance.  He did this with no other big on the floor.   And this group (me included) thought Beagle was the man.  
 

Defensively?  Not sure either one is a stopper.  Beagles height gives him a big advantage most likely.

Sorry, it's not if I say so.  It's the stats saying so.  

Do you know how many players in the entire NCAA D1 missed less than 1/3 of their shots?  2.  Yes 2.  Missing 1/3 of your shots is incredibly good.  The first guy 6'5" is under 60%.   His 62% on the year would tie him w/ Zach Edey.  His 74% over the last 8 games would place him easily as #1 in the country in FG %.  His FG% was easily number 1 on the team w/ 6'10" Beagle in 2nd at 58%.   He'd be an 11 and 9 guy at 32 minutes/game.  He blocked more shots in far less minutes than Beagle did.

His FT shooting sucks and he commits to many fouls.  But to point out missing 1/3 of his shots as a weakness is akin to saying a .300 hitter sucks because he makes an out 70% of the time.  

Newton shot 62% from the floor on the year and nearly 75% over the last 8 games and averaged nearly 7 RBs and 8 PPG over that stretch.  All this in about 24 MPG.  Mostly as an undersized 5.  
 

Not sure we couldn’t find a spot for him next to a competent big.

12 minutes ago, godanesgo99 said:

They were impressive yesterday. Still too many easy, uncontested layups on drives to the paint, but that is what we give up without any big man presence in the paint. This team is talented and has the ability to win games, but will only go as far as their shooting percentage allows them to go. Was a fun game and surprisingly loud environment considering how empty the arena was. 

And I get people not getting too excited but when they are on, like they were last night, this is an entertaining bunch to watch.  It was shocking how few people were there (especially if you discount a couple of decent sized groups).  And they do hustle.  The defense was much better, especially when Marshall was on the floor.  Only gave up 26 in the 2nd half.  That's a 50 point improvement to some games.

100% agree on the shooting.  Live and die there.

That was a beat down from the jump.  UNH made a decent run after Marshall got his 2nd foul but UA pretty much dominated the other 30 minutes.  I'm not going crazy but it's realistic to think if this team can move up to a 6 or 5 seed they can win a playoff game.  Not sure how all the scenarios play out but a win Saturday should move the needle.

38 minutes ago, tnehurley said:

Thank you for all this info and results. CONGRATS to both mens and womens teams! Outstanding!! Agree on the indoor facility. Is this the most consistently good (great) sport at UA?

You're welcome.

To answer your question.  Yes.  And I don't think it's even close.  Last year was the only year neither team won and they both got 2nd.  

1 hour ago, Oldtimer said:

Time to give these teams an indoor track facility!!!

I honestly don't know how Coach Vives does it w/ these facilities.  Not a ton of great facilities in the AE but we've got a track not up to a lot of D3 schools.  My son runs D3 and races at a handful of D3 tracks.  All better than what we have at UA.

Dominating wins for both teams.  Congrats to the team and coaching staffs.  

Team Scores - Men20 of 20 Events Scored

Place		Team	Points
1		Albany	165
2		UMass Lowell	144.50
3		Binghamton	119.50
4		Maine	82
5		UMBC	77
6		New Hampshire	75
7		Bryant	56
8		Vermont	39
9		NJIT	22

Team Scores - Women20 of 20 Events Scored

Place		Team	Points
1		Albany	191
2		Binghamton	134
3		UMass Lowell	114
4		Bryant	93
5		UMBC	78
6		Vermont	50
7		Maine	48
8		NJIT	39
9		New Hampshire	33

Both teams have taken over the lead.  The Lady Danes seem to be in control to take back the title.  The men will battle UMass Lowell to the end.  

If anybody is interested in watching the Great Danes best program the AE Track and Field Championships today.  Coach Vives has the team ready to take back the title(s).  Both mens and women's teams should be in the hunt.  The event is being televised all day today.  Men are currently in 2nd and the women tied for 1st.  Most of the scoring events are today starting at 11:55.

https://americaeast.com/watch/default.aspx?Live=13668&path=conf

That was a well played game.  Good activity on both ends of the floor.  I stand by my statement however, we are going to need to shoot really well from distance to win games.  We did that last night for the most part.  Really hot start.

The team had a number of athletes but this one should be highlighted.   Shakur Williams ran 6.61 in the 60 meters and placed 6th.  A race than included World and Olympic Champions.  He beat the reigning 200m Olympic Champion Andre de Grasse from Canada.  .01 faster and he would have moved up to 4th place.  His time ties him for 15th in D1 in the nation.  Coincidentally it ties him w/ former Dane (and current USC) Travis Williams.  Still hate the portal.  All 14 runners in front of him are from power 5 conferences.  

https://results.millrosegames.org

4 hours ago, Dane96 said:

Even worse- It is DK's 800k; it is the assistants who will need to get partial payouts; it is the new coach; it is the new assistants. 

The only thing, and I do mean the only thing that makes this work (other than a boat of cash from Broadview or alumni) is going to Whitesell and giving him moderate cash, and let him bring on a new staff.

What is super crazy to me (and we don't know what is in the contract unless someone puts out request for it), why there isn't a buyout clause for Killings.  If there is, then I think he is gone.  Too much water under this bridge.  If there isn't, it's a mistake by Benson.  For clarity, Whitesell was owed two years on his contract when he was terminated.  However, there was an unrestricted buyout of 500k.  So, that means Whitesell (if he is not a paid assistant this year) was effectively paid around 100k less than a two year base salary.  Crazy side story, Whitesell's base was only 300k (Killings is in the 372 range), with a 100k extra income guaranteed bonus for a total of 400k in annual income.  Long and short of it, he's not going hungry. 

So, Benson COULD play around with this a bit if he thinks it is over for Killings.  Basically offer Whitesell a 2 year deal to take over, pay him only for one of those years if Whitesell is coaching for free this year.  If he is not coaching for free, sign him for 2 years and give him a very moderate raise.

I truly believe that the ship has sailed on this basketball administration.  I just don't see any growth.  Let's look at the facts- the team has won precisely 2 more D1 games than it did last year.  Yes, there are 7 more to go...however, I only see 2-3 wins as practical.  So, a 4-5 win improvement isn't saying much when you consider: the drama that has surrounded this team; the unknown about it's star local player; the seemingly inability to teach defense; the seemingly inability to give up a playing style when it can't produce winning results; a chaotic offense; no in-game chops; and a marketing slogan that hasn't really put fannies in the seats due to the team's inability to win basketball games.

It's time...and I don't care that Neely was out, the frosh center is out (who know how much of an impact he was going to have), Amica was injured (been a non-factor his whole career, sadly due to injuries); and his star center is out.  The other parts of the team are not great...period.  

The Capital Region was once an amazing place for low/mid-major basketball.  Though separated by 9 miles, collectively Siena and Albany have somehow gone ahead and killed that wonderful aspect of the Region. 

2-3 more wins might be optimistic.  I held out some optimism w/ Beagle still in play but these games w/o him have been really tough.  One game give up 114 (and score 102) and the next can't score more than 57 against Binghamton.  I don't know the AE like I used to but I'm assuming every team will eat us up on the interior.  We'll need huge shooting nights to win a game or 2.  

We can at least say that Beagle wasn’t the primary problem on defense.  

Odd stuff.  I thought the language around Neely was a sign too.  As I recall it was something like "he's been cleared to play and will play when Justin and his family feel it's the right time".  Sure enough he's done for the season.   Now this.  "Wasn't feeling right about playing"?  He's been a different player most of the year.  Numbers are similar but he's lost a ton of aggressiveness both offensively and defensively.  It's really odd to watch a kid (yes, still a kid) go from over the top aggressiveness (recall the T's) to this.  Let's see where this goes but I'm not liking the language or the body language.  

As improved as we’ve been offensively we still have the ability to look like a group of guys at the local park.  No flow at all at this point

I'm not a fan of either of the earlier options.  No way to grab dinner prior to a 6PM and on the weekends I'd prefer to be outside when/if the sun happens to shine.  5PM on the weekends I guess would be okay.  Dinner after the game?  Not sure how any of these work for the college students either.  Energy is always lower on the afternoon games and we don't need that.  

Last nights game alone shouldn’t change anyone’s opinion of this team.  A road loss to a team that is probably about where we are, lower half of the conference.  
 

I hope Beagle is being hampered by injury.  If not, he’s not in a good place.  That said a quiet 14 and 12 (w 6 missed FT’s).

I’ll go glass half full.  Absent a 6-8 minute stretch early 2nd half I thought they played ok.  Missed FT’s and some bad TO’s when it got close costs us.  I think effort was there.  Execution?  Not so much.  Still can’t hit 3’s consistently or when needed.