Observations from Tonight's Game

[Albany Fan]

Albany unfortunately was playing short staffed as usual but hung around for a good while even at great disadvantage in my opinion. Siena fans think there's a world of difference in talent level but being that Albany is rated one of the weaker teams in America East, I think the Siena fans are way off in stating they will be the best team Albany sees compared to their own conference. Siena certainly would hold their own in America East but don't think they would dominate. I definitely see Albany putting big scare into Siena next couple times they play. I also don't think Lanier is that special of a coach. One great MAAC tourney run saved him as that regular season was not a very good one. Coach Brown on the other hand has seemed to maximize his limited talent as future looks real good. Hopefully the Pepsi Arena will be rocking for Albany against other opponents real soon as can't beat that for sports entertainment.

[Patch]

Brown talked about Phase I as being last year - Wilson and Levine.

 

Phase II is Iati, who is going to be a fun player to watch for 4 years and Martin who will be a very good player for the Danes for the next 4 years

 

Phase III will be the 6 new players in uniform next season.

 

The Danes competed hard but were totally dominated in the second half inside. With Siena getting 9 or so put back baskets they still only shot 38%.

 

If Jamar was on the court besides scoring he would have opened up alot of opportunities for Iati and Levine and the Danes would have been in the contest the whole way.

 

Siena's depth beat us as much as their talent.

 

Though we have glaring weaknesses I thought it was evident that we will be competitive on most nights in the AE.

[GreatDanes06]

they really were out matched. But you cant blame them. They had the B team out tonight, meaning we did not have alot to work with. The fact is Martin is a rebouding machine. Him and the 7-1 German next year are going to be scary. Iati needs to slow it down. He tries to do to much. But when he can get open and take that shot, oooooooo boy, so pretty. We need more out of Levi. Next year.

 

Now the fun stories from last night. As most of you know i'm a student, so i got to sit in the student pit. How great it was when President Hitchcock came down and sat with us. She sat right behind me. One point I sat down, so told me to get up. I stood up, she said "o hunny you dont have to get up for me." we all laughed. We truely will miss her.

 

It was a great night. Buy the way, who thinks that stupied "We love our Saints" song is really really dumb. Man we hated that one.

[Dane Pound]

I'm not sure about the rest of you but I'm not sure what I did wrong to get my tickets where I did. The previous two years we sat behind the Albany student section and for the most part with the same people we have season tickets with. Why we were stuck on the other side of the arena behind the "dog pound" I'm not sure. Really took some of the fun out of the game for me as I usually enjoy the antics of the Albany students at those games-it's tough to chant "DEFENSE" with them from the other side of the arena.

I though Iati had a good debut under very tough circumstances. He struggled in the second half when they switched to Mitchell on him but that's understandable. Alot of pressure on him to score and I thought he did well. Levi didn't shoot as well from three as I've come to expect but when he leads the team in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals it's tought to find fault. He had quite a night but not much help in the scoring department. Martin looked good especially on the glass. Don't know about Hughes' situation or what he can give us but if Hughes can rebound along with Martin that should be a huge help this year. Wyatt is like I remember him, not a great offensive player but physical. Mixed it up a bit with someone from $iena but I can't remember who. He made two bad plays in a row near the end of the first half but I can forgive him for going for the dunk as it was an agressive play.

I realize we lost both games by large margins but in a weird way this game fired me up the season. We've started the last two years with this game and a full compliment of players and played them tough. This year we can look to get some guys back down the road and meanwhile Johnson, St. Hillaire and Martin will get some extra time they probably wouldn't have gotten. I'd like to think this will make our Danes a better team in January.

By the way, I really enjoyed the $iena rich kids chanting "state school" as if it were an insult. Truly showed their true colors, spoiled freakin brats.

[GreatDanes06]

also a note...Pipkis had ice on his right leg all night.

[DaneFan2k3]

Dane Pound, did you buy tickets through Pepsi Arena or through the UAlbany Ticket office? you should have been on the Albany side if you bought through the school.

[alumni '92']

i bought my block of tickets (10) thru UA and also ended up on the wrong end of the arena (must have been near you DP)... also, didn't get them until only days before the game, which made it more difficult to distribute to the parties i was going with ... small things matter ... the seating situation definately took a little of the emotion out of the contest ... different feel at the wrong end of the court ... there were flashes of future success evident during the first half ... something to build on ... even if 'stranger things' didn't happen on friday evening ... we'll see siena again in 2004 ... focus on the upcoming AE season ... go DANES!

[Dane Pound]

I bought my tickets through the UA box office also. I know there were some Albany fans behind the Albany student section but not many. The people I recognized from the board and from the home games all bought their tickets through the UA box office and were on the "wrong" side of the arena also. As Alumni92 pointed out it changed the atmosphere from last year and for me took a little fun out of it. Who knows? The people at the Pepsi may have split up the Albany contingency to quiet us down. If GreatDanes84 is still in the student section next year maybe I'll see if he can sneak us down there so we can sit with the rowdies

By the way, did anyone recognize the guy carrying the $iena flag on the court this year? I could have sworn I've seen him sitting in the student section of the RACC.

[Patch]

I think you guys who got seated in poor areas at the Pepsi should let the Athletic Department know and respectfully express your concerns.

 

Now is the time for the Athletic Department to start to work out some of the "Kinks" so when we are good (and hopefully that will be soon) our loyal fans will not have their spirits dampened because of oversights of the department.

 

I have to say they did do a nice job with the "T" Shirts and the fan support was vocally the best of any of the 3 Siena Games.

 

Go Danes

Edited November 23, 2003 by Patch

[DOWNTOWN]

GreatDanes84...........I respectively disagree with your statement "We need more out of Levi". He only led the team in scoring,rebounds, assists and steals. What more would you like him to do? He is a warrior that gives you an attitude and toughness that a lot of players on this team would due well to emulate. In my opinion Levi is often overlooked and not given the recognition he deserves due to the outstanding play of ROY Jamar Wilson and the anticipated play of the much publicised freshmen John Iati.

[Patch]

DOWNTOWN

 

Well stated

 

What more could we ask of Levi except become a Dr. and heal Jamar.

 

Just the fact that this was Levi's 16th consecutive double figure game says so much about what he brings to the table game in and game out.

 

If a couple of guys (I won't name names) just duplicated Levi's EFFORT we would of hung with Siena a good deal longer.

[Dane96]

One thing worth mentioning. I think Wyatt played better than most think. HE missed an easy layup, but he had 7 pts, 4 boards, 2 assist and 2 blocks. Granted, that is not stellar paper numbers, but this is his first real competition in awhile, coming off injuries and against a tough team. Plus, his defensive assignment was not easy. First a 6'6 Mack Truck that most A-10 players would have problems with (HADDIX) and then a 6'10 pivot man. Bottom line...it wasn't terrible. And he showed some toughness when he got into into with a few Siena players. I think, barring injuries, I would take a 7pt, 7board season from him in the AE.

[Patch]

Dane 96

 

All I can say is 1 defensive rebound in 29 minutes from a guy whose primary purpose is to rebound and defend that is poor.

 

We need for someone in the middle other than Levi or Martin to get 6 or 7 defensive boards even if it has to be done by committee.

 

I hope Wyatt is up to the task but his track record doesn't lead me to believe so.

[AlbanyObserver]

How about 3 or 4 each for Q and Wyatt??? Is that a lot to ask for?

[Patch]

Hell if Wyatt, Q and Knotts in 80 minutes got 8 or 9 defensive boards instead of 2 Siena's shooting % would have gone done from 38% to around 30% we could of pushed the ball a little and got a few more solid looks. Even if we don't score they would of had about 10 less points and we're in the ball game.

 

And old coaches saying is one and done if you want to win - against us the first shot acts like an entry pass.