UA @ Hartford

[Clickclack]

Wow.....went on the road and took two wins. Team coming along very nicely even though they were threatened they never gave in and kept Hartford at bay.

 

- Jerel, with every passing game this guy is coming on stronger and stronger. Lillis needed the help and got it today. Evidently it's true, it takes the JUCOS a semester to come around. Looking forward to seeing the new and improved Jerel on Wednsday.

 

- Iati's 3 pointer with 2 tics to go was a monster shot. With Josh out Iati is forced to bring up the ball more and was forced into allot of TO's (4) it is what it is. Good to hear that Iati can soon return to his regular role and hit some 3's for us.

 

- Can anyone (who was there) comment on the officiating. It looked like the refs really took it to our bigs as most all of them were in foul trouble throughout the night.

 

- Brian and Brent with double doubles each.....when all 3 of these guys are on we are tough to beat.

 

It was a great effort once again on the road, still some defensive lapses to start the second half but nowhere near the tough stretch we went through earlier in the year. Really looks like this team is starting to come into it's own with the maturity and ability to fight through adversary not to mention cold spells. Something we simply could not do early on, see St. Bona and Boise ST.

 

Team should only get better as Josh comes back and can help running the point. What do we do with Jerel? At this point I'd keep him out there and Lillis at the point, but have Josh be the first guard of the bench.

[UA_MA_2000]

Gotta take care of business this Wednesday against Maine!

 

Hey all: Was the game on the Internet or available on TV? I had friends from school in town and was out to eat, so I missed the game. I was thrilled to see we took one at Hartford against a tough team. Last year, I went to the Hartford game, and we really struggled on offense, and, if I remember correctly, Jamar Wilson only had about 8 points. It was a tough game last year ... .

 

For those who were there, was there free pizza?

[OrangeDane]

Great team effort all around...great d in the first half to shut em down..as noted, Jerel was huge and his game to game improvement really reminds me of how Jason Siggers evolved in his initial campaign.....Jon Iati's bomb was a dagger and despite having some trouble valuing the ball late...the kids found a way to hang on...it was fun to be there...great turn out by Danes fans...I'd say we constituted about a quarter of the crowd to be conservative...gotta say that that place is a pretty nice facility, I think the bright interior lighting really does something for "field house style" venues like that one...it seems like it has the seats to handle an A-E tourney at some point....back to the game...anyway...I thought the officiating was pretty vintage A-E...while we were in foul trouble, I think that perhaps more reflected our physical defensive play more than poor officiating...there were some tough luck calls...poor Connelly fouled out when the Hartford kid ended up tripping over Connelly's feet, something that usually doesn't draw a whistle..unfortunately the kid tripped right in front of the ref, if I were blowing the whistle I think I woulda called it too even though it was perhaps a cheapy...if you were listening to the Hawks fans they were complaining about the officiating like crazy throughout the game...in fact late in the game one of the Hartford kids drove to the hoop on Brent...Brent made a move at the kid...from my angle Brent had to contact the kid a little..but no call and the layup rolled out...if memory serves we had a 4pt lead at that point so "hoop and harm" at that point woulda been big.....I'm wondering about the McClendon kid..his injury looked pretty serious...I was watching the action on the other end and did not see him go down...some other folks told me post game that they saw him go down and it looked to them like perhaps a hip issue ...anyway...I hope its nothing serious for the youngster...

Ms O-D and I enjoyed the evening thoroughly...Danes fans were taking over the Ruby Tuesdays up the road pre-game.....don't look now folks but the Danes are in first place!!! Way to go guys!!

[UAalum72]

No free pizza..

 

I'm sure the refs thought they were justified, but a lot of the fouls inside I thought were touch fouls, it seemed McClendon got more leeway...plus that little weasel #10 trying to draw contact like you'd expect of some kid in a CYO game

 

Without Josh this team is just short of ballhandlers, tough to handle the press

[UA_MA_2000]

Sounds exciting! I like the Hartford facility too. In particular, I like the big LCD (?) screen (I forget whether there are one or two screens there). I would LOVE to have one of those, or two, at the SEFCU.

 

I like how O.D. made a point about the lighting at Hartford. Very true. I always liked how lit up and clean that place feels. I wish the SEFCU had better lighting. Especially at the far end of the court (opposite the locker rooms). It just seems so dark sometimes at the SEFCU. Maybe it's just me!

 

The America East is anyone's conference this year. I still like UMBC, and I'm anxious to play them soon, but it's going to be a dogfight. I just hope, in whatever happens, we don't have to play Binghamton in the first or second round of the America East Tourney at their own place. That will suck.

[UA_MA_2000]

Statistics reveal a lot for the game. We shot 50% (8-16) from the 3-point range! That is huge for us. Been awhile since we lit it up from downtown. Also, Hartford shot terrible from the arc, 26% (6-23).

 

Looks like Wilson and Hastings had great games, especially Hastings. What a great game for Jerel. Great to see!

 

Who's this McCleandon fellow? I don't remember him. As a non-starter, he really tore it up: 19 points in 29 minutes ... .

[DanesRGood]

Great team effort all around...great d in the first half to shut em down..as noted, Jerel was huge and his game to game improvement really reminds me of how Jason Siggers evolved in his initial campaign.....Jon Iati's bomb was a dagger and despite having some trouble valuing the ball late...the kids found a way to hang on...it was fun to be there...great turn out by Danes fans...I'd say we constituted about a quarter of the crowd to be conservative...gotta say that that place is a pretty nice facility, I think the bright interior lighting really does something for "field house style" venues like that one...it seems like it has the seats to handle an A-E tourney at some point....back to the game...anyway...I thought the officiating was pretty vintage A-E...while we were in foul trouble, I think that perhaps more reflected our physical defensive play more than poor officiating...there were some tough luck calls...poor Connelly fouled out when the Hartford kid ended up tripping over Connelly's feet, something that usually doesn't draw a whistle..unfortunately the kid tripped right in front of the ref, if I were blowing the whistle I think I woulda called it too even though it was perhaps a cheapy...if you were listening to the Hawks fans they were complaining about the officiating like crazy throughout the game...in fact late in the game one of the Hartford kids drove to the hoop on Brent...Brent made a move at the kid...from my angle Brent had to contact the kid a little..but no call and the layup rolled out...if memory serves we had a 4pt lead at that point so "hoop and harm" at that point woulda been big.....I'm wondering about the McClendon kid..his injury looked pretty serious...I was watching the action on the other end and did not see him go down...some other folks told me post game that they saw him go down and it looked to them like perhaps a hip issue ...anyway...I hope its nothing serious for the youngster...

Ms O-D and I enjoyed the evening thoroughly...Danes fans were taking over the Ruby Tuesdays up the road pre-game.....don't look now folks but the Danes are in first place!!! Way to go guys!!

 

OrangeDane, were you and your wife sitting by the bar last night at Ruby's? If so, my buddy and I were the ones sitting at the bar chatting with you. I also started talking with the guy sitting in front of me at the game and it turned out to be Bob87. It was good to meet some people from the board.

 

As for the game, very good road win and it turned out to be a pretty exciting game. Two questions.

 

1) Why can't we just put teams away? We had big leads on several teams this year only to let them back in the game in the second half.

 

2) Why don't teams use pressure more against us? I know it tires them out as well but if opponenets played the first 20 minutes of the game using a full court press we would be down 30 at halftime with 30 turnovers.

 

I am really impressed with the way Jerel is playing the past few games. He is really coming on strong, playing very hard and looks like he is more comfortable and confident within the team system. Lillis and Connelly were way off with their shooting the first 10 minutes. I was worried it would be a long night for bothe of them. Thankfully it wasn't.

 

I really thought the officiating was poor. They called way too many touch fouls and then wouldn't call real fouls like the ones that little #10 was committing everytime he was molesting one of our players. There was one woman towards the top of the Albany section screaming like crazy at the refs. I remember her being at the CCSU game early in the season doing the same thing. It was funny. I kept wondering if she was one of the player's parents.

 

McClendon is a good player for Hartford. We really need a player like that in the middle who can score. I really hope he is OK. It was scary seeing him laying face down and not moving for about 5/6 minutes. That teams chucks up way too many threes. Maybe it's cause they were down but there were throwing them up there from all angles but our D was in their face.

 

Great time last night. I'm glad the team was able to head home with a win. Now I need to make it to a home gome. I'm 3-0 on the road!

[OrangeDane]

OrangeDane, were you and your wife sitting by the bar last night at Ruby's?

 

It sure was!! It was likewise nice to meet you...hope you can get over to UA for a home game soon!

 

There was one woman towards the top of the Albany section screaming like crazy at the refs. I remember her being at the CCSU game early in the season doing the same thing. It was funny. I kept wondering if she was one of the player's parents.

 

We got our seats online and they were in Section 5 behind scorers table..given proximity to the UH fan core we moved at halftime to the UA section behind bench and were sitting right next to this lady...she's great....non stop support...we need more fans like her!!

[bob87]

OrangeDane, were you and your wife sitting by the bar last night at Ruby's? If so, my buddy and I were the ones sitting at the bar chatting with you. I also started talking with the guy sitting in front of me at the game and it turned out to be Bob87. It was good to meet some people from the board.

 

As for the game, very good road win and it turned out to be a pretty exciting game. Two questions.

 

1) Why can't we just put teams away? We had big leads on several teams this year only to let them back in the game in the second half.

 

2) Why don't teams use pressure more against us? I know it tires them out as well but if opponenets played the first 20 minutes of the game using a full court press we would be down 30 at halftime with 30 turnovers.

 

I am really impressed with the way Jerel is playing the past few games. He is really coming on strong, playing very hard and looks like he is more comfortable and confident within the team system. Lillis and Connelly were way off with their shooting the first 10 minutes. I was worried it would be a long night for bothe of them. Thankfully it wasn't.

 

I really thought the officiating was poor. They called way too many touch fouls and then wouldn't call real fouls like the ones that little #10 was committing everytime he was molesting one of our players. There was one woman towards the top of the Albany section screaming like crazy at the refs. I remember her being at the CCSU game early in the season doing the same thing. It was funny. I kept wondering if she was one of the player's parents.

 

McClendon is a good player for Hartford. We really need a player like that in the middle who can score. I really hope he is OK. It was scary seeing him laying face down and not moving for about 5/6 minutes. That teams chucks up way too many threes. Maybe it's cause they were down but there were throwing them up there from all angles but our D was in their face.

 

Great time last night. I'm glad the team was able to head home with a win. Now I need to make it to a home gome. I'm 3-0 on the road!

 

 

Definitely a great win last night.

It was also good to meet you and talk to you. No excuses for not making a home game. We have 2 saturdays games left (2/2 BPG vs SB and 2/9 vs Hartford. OK I give you a pass on 2/2 if the football game goes the right way tonight and you are in Phoenix.

As far as the game, The refs were the typically mediocre.

1) I wouldn't complain too much about not putting teams away. I like that lately we have answered other teams runs with our own run to end up with 7-10 point road wins. Iati has hit a big 3 in eaxh of the last 2 games.

And back in a tie for first with a home game next.

[Dane96]

OrangeDane, were you and your wife sitting by the bar last night at Ruby's?

 

It sure was!! It was likewise nice to meet you...hope you can get over to UA for a home game soon!

 

There was one woman towards the top of the Albany section screaming like crazy at the refs. I remember her being at the CCSU game early in the season doing the same thing. It was funny. I kept wondering if she was one of the player's parents.

 

We got our seats online and they were in Section 5 behind scorers table..given proximity to the UH fan core we moved at halftime to the UA section behind bench and were sitting right next to this lady...she's great....non stop support...we need more fans like her!!

 

 

She is a great fan...probably our most ardent supporter. Probably knows more about the Danes than all of us combined. Between her and Brian Lillis' mom, the refs clearly knew they were stinking up the joint! We need more fans like the two of them!!

 

I am not sure how far up some of you guys were (I saw where Bob and UA72 were sitting...and it wasnt far up, but there was an exchange where a foul was committed...and WILL (plus his 150 person support staff- We the fans) started to yap. Simultaneously, the ref blew his whistle to ACTUALLY call the foul...and he turned to Will and goes "Will..come on...give me a chance...(Will tries to interject)...no really...WILL give me a chance to make the call."

 

It was REALLY FUNNY!

 

I will say this: The refs actually were all over McClendon. I think most of us have not had the opportunity to be that up close and personal to a big man during a game. What he was doing was pretty standard. They actually called him for a crap load of touch fouls...and Albany just beat him up with our three Centers. McClendon DOES have a tendency to drop his shoulder and barrel a guy over-- something he is not called for. However, I thought he got called for some ticky tack fouls.

 

#10 was a little PITA...and didnt get called for the 40 fouls he committed. Also, pretty stupid and NEAR (I say NEAR) dirty play on LILLIS' breakaway. That was pretty scary....and I loved the kid bitching that he got the ball...clearly he got all of Brian's head and shoulders.

 

UNREAL UA SUPPORT-- Give ourselves a hand. There were 1200 people in the building and I think we had at least 200 screaming fans. We really do come out in droves and it is awesome to see. Heck, GoDanesGo and his crew seemingly took over the section opposite us with their cheering....KUDOS!

This is two games now. At BU we nearly filled up the 300 or so seats of sections 9 and 10. This support is great-- Remember Logan Aronholt chose us over Kent State, Bowling Green, and others because he was told by his friends how insane our travelling party was in Columbus, OH for the UVA game.

 

BTW, the SCHAUB (ESPN) was in the building!

[DanesRGood]

I am not sure how far up some of you guys were (I saw where Bob and UA72 were sitting...and it wasnt far up, but there was an exchange where a foul was committed...and WILL (plus his 150 person support staff- We the fans) started to yap. Simultaneously, the ref blew his whistle to ACTUALLY call the foul...and he turned to Will and goes "Will..come on...give me a chance...(Will tries to interject)...no really...WILL give me a chance to make the call."

 

I was sitting in the row right behind Bob and I saw the exchange between the ref and Coach Brown. It was really funny.

 

#10 was a little PITA...and didnt get called for the 40 fouls he committed. Also, pretty stupid and NEAR (I say NEAR) dirty play on LILLIS' breakaway. That was pretty scary....and I loved the kid bitching that he got the ball...clearly he got all of Brian's head and shoulders.

 

I kinda thoguht it was a dirty play. Looked to me like he jumped right into him and then slapped downward with both arms knocking Brian to the ground. It was a little scary when he slid on his back into the leg of a table at the end of the court.

[bob87]

I am not sure how far up some of you guys were (I saw where Bob and UA72 were sitting...and it wasnt far up, but there was an exchange where a foul was committed...and WILL (plus his 150 person support staff- We the fans) started to yap. Simultaneously, the ref blew his whistle to ACTUALLY call the foul...and he turned to Will and goes "Will..come on...give me a chance...(Will tries to interject)...no really...WILL give me a chance to make the call."

 

I was sitting in the row right behind Bob and I saw the exchange between the ref and Coach Brown. It was really funny.

 

#10 was a little PITA...and didnt get called for the 40 fouls he committed. Also, pretty stupid and NEAR (I say NEAR) dirty play on LILLIS' breakaway. That was pretty scary....and I loved the kid bitching that he got the ball...clearly he got all of Brian's head and shoulders.

 

I kinda thoguht it was a dirty play. Looked to me like he jumped right into him and then slapped downward with both arms knocking Brian to the ground. It was a little scary when he slid on his back into the leg of a table at the end of the court.

 

 

I moved up about 3 rows from where I started watching the game. I saw that exchange with that ref. This was definitely not the first exchange between that ref and coach. That ref has been noticeable poor in the past.

[Dane96]

I am not sure how far up some of you guys were (I saw where Bob and UA72 were sitting...and it wasnt far up, but there was an exchange where a foul was committed...and WILL (plus his 150 person support staff- We the fans) started to yap. Simultaneously, the ref blew his whistle to ACTUALLY call the foul...and he turned to Will and goes "Will..come on...give me a chance...(Will tries to interject)...no really...WILL give me a chance to make the call."

 

I was sitting in the row right behind Bob and I saw the exchange between the ref and Coach Brown. It was really funny.

 

#10 was a little PITA...and didnt get called for the 40 fouls he committed. Also, pretty stupid and NEAR (I say NEAR) dirty play on LILLIS' breakaway. That was pretty scary....and I loved the kid bitching that he got the ball...clearly he got all of Brian's head and shoulders.

 

I kinda thoguht it was a dirty play. Looked to me like he jumped right into him and then slapped downward with both arms knocking Brian to the ground. It was a little scary when he slid on his back into the leg of a table at the end of the court.

 

Yeah...I saw that too...and so did Brian's mom who was sitting right next to me. Tough to see parents watch their kid go down like that.

 

Just want to be clear...it was not #10, Andre Torres, who fouled Brian...it was the big dude who also knocked (with McClendon) Brent in his chops. I have never witnessed Brent get so angry...

 

Yeah, Bob you are 100% correct. The ref (I forget his name) is the little dude with the tattoo on his bicep. HE is awful.