Coach Brown talks about this season

[Patch]

This is the first time I feel expectation from people," said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team was shackled by injuries and reduced to a six-man rotation last year. "I have my own basketball team now, and as a coach you want to have your own kids that fit your type of personality.

 

    "We had to play ugly to survive in the past. This team expects to be good, but it's going to take work. We have the pieces of the puzzle in place to be successful, but we all have to be on the same page."

 

   

    "We have a chance to be pretty good," Brown offers. "We have a lot of talent. There's only five positions on the floor, forty minutes at each position and 200 minutes in a game. We need to divide those up. That's competitive, it's healthy, and it shows you have arrived as a program. Now we have to go out and win games."- Coach Brown

 

Direct from the UA Men's Basketball page.

 

Let's hope everyone is on the same page.

[reeder]

Brown does have a good team. There are a lot of new faces and they will need some time to gel.

 

That said, they have some early games where they can get used to each other and they should be competitive when conference play begins.

 

I do think Brown will continue to feel pressure - the kids are talented and should win some games, he has to win to get his contract renewed. Also, this will be a test of his coaching ability. He has done a good job at recruiting, he now has to manage playing times, get the kids to have a winning attitude, get them comfortable feeding the ball to the big guys in the post...

 

I have said this before, but last year had Zoellner, Jordan and Wilson been able to play, they would have been a competitive team in the AE. Now those guys are back and if they get any help from Brent Wilson and Joe Dyson in the post, they will be a very competitive team.

[Dane Pound]

I think Brown had more pressure those 20 or so games when he was the interim coach. He had very little talent then and got his team to respond.

 

In the paper today he said he expects Lillis and B. Wilson to see playing time right away. That's very good in one respect because it means Brent Wilson's injury must not be too serious. When you add those two into the guys we know who will be playing:

Iati

Wilson

Levine

Jordan

Zoellener

Q

Wyatt

Perry

B.Wilson

Lillis

 

That's a ten man rotation without Dyson. How big of a player rotation can they run? 11 or 12 guys?

[UA66]

Courtney Johnson can play. He looked good at times running the show at point for the White Team (White Team won) in the recent intra-squad scrimmage. With last year's experience and a year of maturity, he will not hurt them if called upon. Assuming Dyson is healthy, there are 12 guys who can be relied upon in given situations.

I'm not surprised by Brown's comment about playing Lillis. I really liked what I saw of Lillis in the scrimmage: great leaping ability. He can be a very good rebounder despite 6'5" size.

[Patch]

Dyson if healthy will get minutes.

 

Courtney deserves time but it will be hard to come by and will be situational

 

No matter what "12" players will be impossible to play consistently, expect the rototion to be 10in the first half and around 8 or 9 in the second half.

[UA66]

I agree. It will be mostly a 10 man rotation, but it is nice to know that there is still some quality available, if need be, byond the 10 spot. What a nice problem to have, i.e. finding playing time for some of these guys, after the past three years.

[UAalum72]

Quotes from the Gazette:

 

Brown on Zoellner: ‘He adds a dimension ... that we have not had. He has the size and strength to score or get fouled...and he can clog up the middle. We can’t forget about him; he must get touches’.

 

Zoellner:'I haven't played in a long time and I can't wait. I know my job...But I also like to score. If I'm able to score some points early, it should loosen up the defense'.

 

Patterson:’We have all the ingredients you need to be successful’.

 

‘There aren’t many teams that can stop a 6-4, 190-pound post player, even when they know what we’re going to do’

 

Hutch: ‘They only picked us sixth. That means there’s not as much pressure…But we’ll remember it…I think this year’s team has more depth that last year’s…’

[reeder]

No mention of Dyson. The TU article mentioned that Brown commented on Lillis and Brent Wilson. Makes you wonder why he didn't mention Dyson.

 

Yes, he was apparently hurt, but you think Brown would have mentioned him as getting minutes.

[Patch]

I wouldn't read much into Brown's comments. He was probably sending a message about how he is going to tout those who have been the most energetic in practice.

 

From what I've heard Brent Wilson had looked tremendous in practice until getting hurt.

 

I think he is much better than what was expected.

 

They thought they were getting a real solid player who would only get better in time and with maturity.

 

When he arrived they found out that he was very good now and would be very capable this season.

 

Dyson came in a little out of shape and was adjusting to the college game and the college level of work on the court and then he was hurt ( as was "Q") and not practicing or scrimmaging.

 

I heard Dyson was making strides and then he was injured and that has slowed his progress. If healthy I'm sure he will get his minutes behind Zoellner.

 

If B. Wilson is healthy Dyson probably won't get time at the 4 because Brent is going to get minutes there. Besides being willing to bang bodies inside he is a very good passer and is suppose to be one of the better 3 PT shooters on the team, and that can come in handy when the Big Guy is playing well and drawing alot of attention inside.

[Dane Pound]

I was reading something the other day about how well Martin Bros (B. Wilson + Lillis) is at coaching at preparing kids for the college game. That certainly looks to be the case with Lillis and Wilson at least from what I saw in the scrimmage.

 

Some of the reaction to the freshman is relative anyway. When you have a better talent level returning it's harder for the freshman to impress. Two years ago when Wilson and Levine came in as freshman they were the best two Albany players simply because the team wasn't that good. It's alot better now and it's going to take alot more for the freshman to stand out.