Tonight's Game

[Albany Fan]

Being at the game I was a little disappointed w/ the turnout. I remember reading that Deane promised to pretty much fill the RACC & then downplayed the game. He said playing Albany is no big deal as just another game as looking forward much more to the Siena game at Pepsi Arena on Sat night as his Siena tourney team will be honored. Nothing like going 15 yrs back to the past. Deane probably knew this would be lock for a win as Albany is depleted. Lets see if he brings his team back next year as will be different story. Unfortunately Albany heated up early tonight & then ran out of gas as affected shots in the 2nd half. I think Albany has bright future. Siena fans are having a good time (not). Deane also mentioned how he was mislead by big time college basketball as thought academics just as important as winning. I guess he missed the publication of graduation rates put out from time to time at major programs.

[alumni '92']

... i am in pain ... go danes

[Patch]

Wagner outrebounded the depleted Danes 28-11 in the second half. the Danes were hurt in the second half when Wagner went to a triangle and 2 on Levi and Iati. Courtney Johnson shot 1-11 and an abysmal 0-6 from 3. Knotts was ab abysmal 0-6 until the last minute when the game had already been decided he hit 2 meaningless 3s.

 

To Wagner's credit they just wore the Danes down. I hate to say it but I can't wait till next year when we will have a full team instead of 8 guys, 3 of which are walk ons who try their best.

[DaneFan2k3]

21 point lead ... 12 point lead ... ouchie. That hurts big time.

 

And Boston U beat Michigan tonight. That is LEGIT. We're in some trouble. But I think we already knew that.

[DOWNTOWN]

Eight players, three walk-ons does not make for a formitable D1 team. This game appeared to be a winnable one, but the second half stats speak volumes. I hope fans, administration etc. can weather the storm as this season is going to be a long and rocky road. I have been a proponent of not overlooking this years squad in favor of nexts years group, but it is easier said than done. When you see Das Big Man, Jamar and Luscious sitting in street clothes it is hard not to think "what if". When you see an empty spot on the bench where Jamal "Howard" Hughes should be............when you see Janis on cruthes........ahhh!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[AlbanyObserver]

Not that we have many options already, but I think Brown needs to start giving Todd Martin more than 16 minutes per game. He only logged nine last night and did some solid things during that period. I think he creates serious mismatches against teams. His reverse layup on the one break was impressive. I believe his defense is what is affecting Brown's usage of him right now. My point, with the studs taking over next year, we need to find out this season what Martin can do. If he doesn't get an opportunity now, he might fall behind the eight ball and get lost in the shuffle down the road. I say you throw him out there even if he makes mistakes. Brown and Martin can iron out his kinks watching game film the next day.

 

Kudos to "Q." I think we are all seeing game-to-game improvement. I find it hard to believe that this kid, a Division III transfer, is our most athletic Div. I player to date. Nice dunk as well. Maybe he can give some tips to Wyatt on how to "send it home, Jerome!"

[professor]

Problem with Wyatt is he is as "SOFT" as any kid in America. Absolutely zero toughness. If Q had Wyatt's body he'd by awesome. Everybody Wyatt guards abuses him!!

 

How about Knotts? He does nothing all game and decides to hit two shots with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Hey Knotts, TRANSFER BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We've got studs next year!!!!

[coachplayznoD]

I think that Albany is doing the best with what they have. I certainly think that losing Janis was a break, but at the same time, he was not going to help this team win more games. He would have helped them stay in more games (one more body allows others some needed rest time) Chris Wyatt has been a major disappoint. He has flashes (quick post up, hard drop step right and the lay up last night) but he lacks toughness/heart and it was really clear that he did not come to play last night. Coach Brown had to pull him minutes into the game. I think that there are two very solid starters (Iati and Levine) and a solid role player (Q will make an outstanding 7 or 8 man next year). Look to the futre my friends. Coach Brown has always won (Miller Place, Dowling, St. Rose, Sullivan) He can recruite. Look what he has coming in (Dyson plus some shooters and the the two transfers) He will get the job done. Very few teams can survive losing their best palyer (Jamar) this early in the year. It was going to take a while, but he is on the right track. Stay positive!

[AlbanyObserver]

Good post playznoD

 

Not to create more attendance debate, cause I know everyone loves discussing it. We only had 1,160 there last night???? I could have sworn it felt more like 1,500. Seems like some Siena fans came to the game, but not as many as I would have expected. They were probably all at home listening to their Saints drop another one. Bottom line, someone is fudging attendance figures ... there is no way Stony Brook outdrew us with a 1.339 crowd against Brown.

[Patch]

As for attendance if Dane2K3 had his electronic abacus (only kidding) we will get honest figures.

 

More importantly -

 

Courtney Johnson is putting in a solid physical effort but he's shooting 22% from the floor and his 1-11 performance was terrible last night. When teams are going triangle and 2 on Iati and Levi someone has to step up and help out. Courtney has not made many shots - in the last 4 games he's shooting 7-30. He will get a lot of open looks because teams like Wagner will invite him to shoot.

 

As for Todd Martin - he hit a nice 3 made a difficult layup BUT he gets lost on "D", he's not physical enough(yet) and how many times are guys going to rip the ball from his hands on the perimeter when he tries to turn and face. Right now I believe the coaches want his defensive intensity to improve and they want him to not allow some one to take the ball out of his hands on the wing which leads to fast break baskets for opponents. In the last three games I've attended I've seen this happen. Once he improves in those areas I think more minutes will come.

 

Wyatt and Knotts should be known factors by now - in 3 years Wyatt has proven he is marginal at best. Knotts is shooting 34% but remeber all his shots are wide open looks and it doesn't look like he has a burning desire to play.

 

On this team with only 8 players everyone will get some opportunity to play so I would imagine Martin who has a big upside will get more minutes - but he must understand and execute what the staff wants from him.

 

It's going to be a tough year and we have to support our Danes and their efforts.

 

Remeber next year we have 7 more bodies all who would be in the top 2 or 3 on this team and we only lose one as of now.

[Dane Pound]

Glad to see everyone relatively upbeat after a slow hemorage of a second half last night and one of the more painful losses I've seen in a while.

It's funny we talk about Q's athletism but he is really a pretty good shooter. Considering our offensive limitations I'd really like to see him shoot more and maybe get in double digit FGAs on a consistent basis. I don't know if Courtney Johnson was excited about starting or what but it seemed like he gambled for steals several times on defense last night and gave up easy baskets going the other way. It's too bad because he's played pretty good D up until now.

I'm curious, I saw the sign for the Wagner alumni reception or whatever that was. Did anyone see where they had that? It looked like it was upstairs somewhere. Just wondering because it didn't look like it was in the hall of fame room.

[UAalum72]

I'm curious, I saw the sign for the Wagner alumni reception or whatever that was. Did anyone see where they had that? It looked like it was upstairs somewhere. Just wondering because it didn't look like it was in the hall of fame room.

Yes it was upstairs for 55-60 people, some of them spilling out into the hallway. Don O. said he had to move people out of the way to get into his office.

[Oldtimer]

Patch-- your observations about Courtney are right on.

We will need his contributions now and they are: distribution, defense and slashing drives to the hoop. If he does those things he will play 30 minutes plus.

We can't afford those misses behind the arc. He is a very good walk-on but someone needs to give him confidence about what the team needs.

[Patch]

21 point lead ... 12 point lead ... ouchie. That hurts big time.

-DaneFan2K3

 

If you think blowing a big lead is just done by poor teams - how about #1 Women's UCONN doing it today against Duke. ASk UCONN if it hurts big time?