AE in AP Top 25

[getinthere42]

Vermont gets one vote. Not us but good to see for the conference.

 

Also shows that win against us got them that one vote, otherwise they would have been voted on earlier in the season.

[Dane Pound]

I was a little perplexed when I read Brian Ettkin's column about the game this morning (Chicken not always wise foul - TU He seems to imply that we aren't as good as we were last year. I'll admit we missed Zoellner in a game like yesterday but I think in many ways this team is playing better than they did last year. It's really that the conference is stronger than it was then. Vermont beat ACC leading Boston College and two of the bottom teams in the league, SB and Bing have road wins over and ACC team and a Big Ten team.

[Dane96]

I was a little perplexed when I read Brian Ettkin's column about the game this morning (Chicken not always wise foul - TU He seems to imply that we aren't as good as we were last year. I'll admit we missed Zoellner in a game like yesterday but I think in many ways this team is playing better than they did last year. It's really that the conference is stronger than it was then. Vermont beat ACC leading Boston College and two of the bottom teams in the league, SB and Bing have road wins over and ACC team and a Big Ten team.

 

DP...your on point. Ettkin is a non-basketball knowing fool.

 

THIS LEAGUE IS MUCH BETTER (witness Maine's thrashing yesterday). Top to bottom...this league is as good as it has been since UA joined.

 

I too echo your thoughts. While we of course will miss Siggers and Wilson, we do very well with the other players we have. With Ambrose, Allen, and our FIRST TRUE POINT GUARD (RAFFA), coming in...we will be fine. Raffa and Ambrose will make mistakes next year, however as you point out, Gifford, Covington, and Yocum will be more seasoned to help fill the 'Zo void. ANY TEAM WITH DOMINENT BIG MEN ARE GOING TO BE AT THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE: SEE ALBANY LAST YEAR...UVM (Coppenrath), BU (RYAN BUTT and OMG...brain freeze...the big athletic guy they had), and UVM this year (KLIMES and HOLM).

[bob87]

Frankly, I was more disappointed in Roger Wyland comments in todays paper page 2 because we know Etkin is an off the wall fool.

 

Rodger Wyland Quick take: "Sunday was the third sellout of the season for The UAlbany's men's basketball team. I can remember not long ago when the average was less than 1000. Now, its over 3000. Siena is still the king of Capital Region basketball, but UAlbany has closed the gap considerably over the past two years. I will say this: Albany likes it college basketball."

 

 

After a game like that, there is no need to mention Siena. And Siena is certainly no longer "king" of college basketball in this area. I went to their game last week and saw the lack of an excited environment in that arena. Frankly, the only time some of those fans make noise is when they boo their team of the refs. Also, ESPN's actions clearly show who the "king" of this area's college basketball is. One area team has deserved a bracketbuster game for the second year in a row and one area team is in the non-televised portion.

[purplehaze]

All we want is a little respect. The AE is clearly stronger this season from top to bottom. As far as Siena being king of the Capital region--shame on Rodger. Who's side is he on??? He should know better. Ettkin is not taken seriously by anyone with half a sports brain.

[Patch]

R-E-S-P-E-C-T !!!!!

 

We have it - don't let a few local people throw you into a tither!

 

Individual games don't mean much, it's your overall body of work.

 

First off throw long term history aside.

 

Some Siena Fans told us we could never recruit MAAC level players and that it would take us along time to get to Siena's level. Well our goals were much higher.

 

In two of the last three years the AE has been a higher ranked conference than the MAAC, just check the RPI.

 

In the last three years (this year totals not complete)......

 

UA is 52-34 - Siena is 36-47

UA's avg RPI is 137 - Siena's is 194

UA one Conference Championship - Siena none

UA one NCAA appearance - Siena none

UA two Nationally televised Bracketbuster games - Siena none

 

I don't know what some of us are looking for.

 

If it is RESPECT - we already have it. We're a proven commodity.

 

The real people that know basketball understand that - just look at the RPI and the Bracketbuster - they are neutral observers with no biases towards UA.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Here's how you know you have RESPECT from our friend Saints 73.....

 

"Great weekend for Capital Region Sports"

 

SUNY loses to Vermont (and any chance of winning the AE regular season title) and Siena sweeps their weekend road trip to move closer to first in the MAAC. Doesn't get much better than that!

 

He's touting Siena's two wins against 320+ RPI teams and bashing us for losing by four to UVM with an 84 RPI . It just shows the opposite direction the two programs are going in. He's so envious of our success.

 

Will any team in a conference played more 260+ RPI teams then Siena?

[UA_MA_2000]

While I would obviously concede that Siena has more basketball history and tradition in this area (simply because they have been Division I longer), I would take issue with them being the king of anything other than average student debt upon graduation. Note that our average basketball attendance (around 3,000?) is roughly equal to or higher than Siena's total enrollment (2,900). See http://www.siena.edu/About/ (stating that Siena has "2,900 undergraduates"). I'd say our program is coming along quite nicely.

[getinthere42]

Well those figures kind of shoots us in the foot. They have 2,900 students we have over 10,000. We should be averaging more than what we are. But every university that is in a non-BCS conference has similar problems with students attending games. It just goes back to winning. Unless you're playing big time programs at home. After eight seasons in D-I we're def. moving up.

[UA_MA_2000]

I would also note that not every student is a basketball fan or is even aware of our program, and this partially contributes to lower student figures at many campuses. I think if we get 10% of the students to show up, that is pretty good; however, I have been to a UW Badgers' football game where 25% of the students show up and attend (25% = 10,000 students). Evidence for me of the fact that some students are just clueless about sports, though, is when I ran across someone last week who just graduated from UAlbany this year and had no idea about our basketball program. This person couldn't understand why I was wearing school colors on the night of the Big Purple Growl. Go figure ... !

 

At this point in the University's development, to get 10% of the student body out for a basketball game, I think, is pretty good. I think the only time we'll ever get 50% or more of the student body to do something at any school is to protest something! But seriously, perhaps if more students lived on campus or downtown, that might help? UAlbany is somewhat of a commuter school. With applications up and growth increasing, I can only foresee positive growth!

[alum73]

I think sports fans and media both fail to realize how many people really don't care about sports in the least.