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Albany @ c-N-UH


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I figured I’d get this one started a bit earlier than most other game threads because there will be allot of talk about the upcoming game. Next up c-N-UH! <- I got this from some poster on the TU blog and I rather like it.

 

Albany comes into the game with a record of 5-2, c-N-UH has one more to go (Loyola) before they prepare for UA. They are coming off of a very poor performance in the tournament down in Orlando where they did not play well…..I watched most of the games. The best that the MAAC had to offer got beat by a team picked ninth in the MVC. I think it’s safe to put to bed all the talk of top 25, sweet 16 appearances etc. Hayseed nation got crazy over the summer with all the press, this fall back to reality is must sting a bit I would think. It’s difficult to project how c-N-UH is going to bounce back after the setback in Orlando. They are an experienced team, a team that’s been through the wars and NCAA run but it was a bit shocking to see just how mentally fragile they showed themselves to be in Orlando. They had no confidence in their FT shooting; outside shooting was nonexistent, certain players forced way too much on offense, coaching was very subpar etc. I don’t know if it’s excuses or what but apparently the entire team is also injured, there are rumors of bad shoulders bum ankles and at least one very overweight outside shooting big man (even bigger than last year). c-N-UH will be the favorite to win the game as they are at home and have owned us since the series resumed but I don’t think it will be a 30+ blowout that some of their fans are expecting/predicting.

 

~Offense~ On offense, Siena has 3 very good options, Kenny (I will never lose a game to UA while I’m here –something he said after last year’s game) , Edwin (talent wise the best of the bunch IMO) and Alex Franklin (a kid I respect most on that team, he just goes out and works and keeps his mouth shut). Ronald is a very solid PG with allot of experience, he’s the guy that gets them into what they do and usually keeps the offense humming and everyone happy, I’m not sure what to take from their 3 games in Orlando, he did not play well, it will be interesting to see how he bounces back. Ryan Rossiter (sp?) is coming along nicely for them; he was very much a positive for them in Orlando and could be poised for a breakout year once they hit the MAAC. I’m not at all enamored with their bench; in fact I’m no fan at all. They have no real depth at the PG or C position ….CJ, their highly touted NJ product has IMO been a huge disappointment for them, apparently he’s got all the talent but can’t seem to put any of it together in games (hopefully that will continue this Saturday), the other major contributors are rather young but I like Downey, haven’t seen much of Wignot.

 

c-N-UH loves to run and push the pace. The nearly ran us out of the building last year by applying the full court press and turning us over, especially in the first 5-8 minutes of the game. c-N-UH’s tempo (possessions/40 mins) is ranked 93rd in the country to our 145th. While I think we are much better equipped to get up and down the court with them this year, I would hope to only see it in short spurts. By running up and down the court we play into what c-N-UH wants to do. In watching the Orlando tourney, it was obvious that Siena is horrid in the half court. The game doesn’t have to be the pace we played last year when we got back into it but it can’t be a track meet as that is what they excel at. c-N-UH is a very subpar three point shooting team 26.9% on the year and we have been very good at defending the outside shot although we are not that much better at hitting from the outside (30%). Both teams are solid from inside the arc at around 50%. If we can make some shots and not give them the opportunity to rebound and run we can slow them down a bit.

 

~Defense~ c-N-UH’s bread and butter and IMO the single most important thing they do to setup their offense is turn the opposition over. They employ the full court press and they trap very effectively, they are as effective as they are because they are a quick and athletic team. We must handle their press with some degree of comfort if we are to have any chance at a positive outcome. We are a very good rebounding team and c-N-UH is OK but not a great rebounding team.

 

- We MUST be able to handle their press; this is the biggest area of concern for me. They are a very good at turning teams over and we’ve had our problems with TO’s in the early going. We’ve made fairly significant improvements in the TO department over the last few games but this will be a key for UA.

- Siena is not a big team although they are very active….hopefully we can continue to rebound like we have been.

 

Our coaching staff will have plenty of time to get the team ready for this one, this should play to our advantage as c-N-UH did not leave themselves a whole lot of time to prep. They play on Wednesday night and then travel home, if memory serves, they have not been home since they left for Orlando. UA should be able to get 2 or 3 full practices in; I don’t know how much time they will have although they will probably say we need it more since they are the top 25 team who is gonna crush us by 30+.

 

In all honesty, I have a ton of respect for Siena as a team (not c-N-UH’s fans), they will be a very formidable opponent and they should be the favorite to win this game. They deserve a ton of credit for basically owning us since we resumed this thing. However, Siena can be beat!

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They are coming off of a very poor performance in the tournament down in Orlando where they did not play well..........The best that the MAAC had to offer got beat by a team picked ninth in the MVC..................I watched most of the games..........it was a bit shocking to see just how mentally fragile they showed themselves to be in Orlando. They had no confidence in their FT shooting; outside shooting was nonexistent, certain players forced way too much on offense, coaching was very subpar etc............ Bosi

 

I totally disagree with you!!!!!

 

1. There performance in Fla. was not great but they were in position to win two of those games against real solid teams.

 

2. Wichita State was picked 9th in the powerful MVC we were picked 7th in the AE. Wichita State was pretty damn talented.

 

3. I too watched the games except I was very impressed with Siena quickness and their traps.

 

4. Outside shooting have you watched UA recently shooting against must less talented teams?

 

5. Don't expect their FT shooting to stay that poor, I consider how they shot FT against O State an abberation.

 

I do fell if we can limit TOs that lead to break out baskets and dunks we can be in the hunt and if we shoot the ball decent we'll be very competitive.

 

As for $iena being banged up, every team is banged up. Expect $iena to be hyped up at the TUC in front of their home fans and thousands of others.

 

This would be a terrible loss for $iena and a great upset win for UA other than that it would just be an expected win by a top 50-75 team over a predicted lower level AE team.

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They are coming off of a very poor performance in the tournament down in Orlando where they did not play well..........The best that the MAAC had to offer got beat by a team picked ninth in the MVC..................I watched most of the games..........it was a bit shocking to see just how mentally fragile they showed themselves to be in Orlando. They had no confidence in their FT shooting; outside shooting was nonexistent, certain players forced way too much on offense, coaching was very subpar etc............ Bosi

 

I totally disagree with you!!!!!

 

 

5. Don't expect their FT shooting to stay that poor, I consider how they shot FT against O State an abberation.

 

What do you make of them shooting 61% in the Tenn game, 57% in the WS game not to mention 43% in the OKS game? They are shooting 60% on the season as a team, that's good for 303 in the country. OKS game isn't nearly the aberration you think it is....furthermore the % has been declining in each of the last 4 games....that speaks to the LACK of confidence rather then an aberration. If they shoot well from the FT line that will be an aberration.

 

I stand behind my earlier point that they were a mess in Orlando....they were out of sorts not just a minute here or there, they were out of sorts entire HALF's. A team with that much experience and veteran leadership doesn't take HALF's off. Does that guarantee us a win....absolutely not! Does it raise legitimate questions about the mental state of c-N-UH as a team....IMO, YES! Just as success can be contagious so can failure. The Loyola game should help determine exactly how badly they are reeling or not reeling.

 

I agree with you on most of your other points....mind you, I am NOT predicting a win, I understand that we have a tough road to hoe this game and c-N-UH will come ready to play. Losing to us would be disastrous to their season and their hopes of top 25 etc. How we handle their press might very well determine the game.

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They are coming off of a very poor performance in the tournament down in Orlando where they did not play well..........The best that the MAAC had to offer got beat by a team picked ninth in the MVC..................I watched most of the games..........it was a bit shocking to see just how mentally fragile they showed themselves to be in Orlando. They had no confidence in their FT shooting; outside shooting was nonexistent, certain players forced way too much on offense, coaching was very subpar etc............ Bosi

 

I totally disagree with you!!!!!

 

1. There performance in Fla. was not great but they were in position to win two of those games against real solid teams.

 

2. Wichita State was picked 9th in the powerful MVC we were picked 7th in the AE. Wichita State was pretty damn talented.

 

3. I too watched the games except I was very impressed with Siena quickness and their traps.

 

4. Outside shooting have you watched UA recently shooting against must less talented teams?

 

5. Don't expect their FT shooting to stay that poor, I consider how they shot FT against O State an abberation.

 

I do fell if we can limit TOs that lead to break out baskets and dunks we can be in the hunt and if we shoot the ball decent we'll be very competitive.

 

As for $iena being banged up, every team is banged up. Expect $iena to be hyped up at the TUC in front of their home fans and thousands of others.

 

This would be a terrible loss for $iena and a great upset win for UA other than that it would just be an expected win by a top 50-75 team over a predicted lower level AE team.

 

As D96 pointed out, $iena is the CLEAR favorite in this game, in most people's opinions. Although Tennessee shoud have blown them out, they did perform to keep the loss from becoming completely embarrassing. The other two games were competetive, but the better teams won.

 

$iena is a good team, not a great team, not a top 50 team. They probably are a top 50-75 team, agreed.

They have talent, quickness, experience, and recent success. We have talent and quickness with the potential for BIG wins. The question is, when will we explode with an amazing game? When will we put together an entire game? Will it be against $iena? Nobody is delusional to think that UAlbany is capable of a win against $iena.

 

A $iena loss to UAlbany would be a disaster every year, even though every year the games are very competitive, because

$iena counts on its basketball program for its identity.

 

UAlbany needs to shoot well, absolutely. Shooting 31% will guarantee a loss. We have several sharp shooters on our team now, combined with quickness. If we hit our 3s and bring them out, we will be able to drive to the basket with success.

 

And I also agree completely that if we don't turn over the ball, we have the opportunity to take this game.

 

This year, we have the players to stay with their fast guards.... which wasn't the case in past years (for the most part).

If we put together a solid defensive game on Saturday, we have a good chance at a W

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What do you make of them shooting 61% in the Tenn game, 57% in the WS game not to mention 43% in the OKS game? They are shooting 60% on the season as a team, that's good for 303 in the country. OKS game isn't nearly the aberration you think it is....furthermore the % has been declining in each of the last 4 games....that speaks to the LACK of confidence rather then an aberration. If they shoot well from the FT line that will be an aberration.

 

They actually shot 71% from the line against Tennesse, 60 % against WS and 43% again Okla State. To me that says fatigue more than anything else. They played their starters 30+ minutes a game and played 3 games in 4 days against very good teams and they got worn down. The way they like to press and run combined with a short bench and a long tourney isn't a good combination. Your legs go and your shooting, from the FT line or outside goes. The exception could be Rossiter who might not be a good free throw shooter.

 

I thought in the second half of the Tennesse game if they would have called off the dogs (starters) and rested them they probably would have won the second game. Siena is a good team but they were not coming back from 20 down at halftime. Instead Fran kept the starters in to keep the score respectable and cost them the WS game in my uninformed opinion.

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What do you make of them shooting 61% in the Tenn game, 57% in the WS game not to mention 43% in the OKS game? They are shooting 60% on the season as a team, that's good for 303 in the country. OKS game isn't nearly the aberration you think it is....furthermore the % has been declining in each of the last 4 games....that speaks to the LACK of confidence rather then an aberration. If they shoot well from the FT line that will be an aberration.

 

They actually shot 71% from the line against Tennesse, 60 % against WS and 43% again Okla State. To me that says fatigue more than anything else. They played their starters 30+ minutes a game and played 3 games in 4 days against very good teams and they got worn down. The way they like to press and run combined with a short bench and a long tourney isn't a good combination. Your legs go and your shooting, from the FT line or outside goes. The exception could be Rossiter who might not be a good free throw shooter.

 

I thought in the second half of the Tennesse game if they would have called off the dogs (starters) and rested them they probably would have won the second game. Siena is a good team but they were not coming back from 20 down at halftime. Instead Fran kept the starters in to keep the score respectable and cost them the WS game in my uninformed opinion.

 

You are right...it was Tenn that shot 61% I looked at the wrong line. Your explanation certainly makes sense.

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As of 1:10 pm today, 9438 tickets had been sold so far

 

Could this thing push 13 or 14k?

 

According to Mark Mcgwire's blog, game is selling ahead of last year and is looking like it could be in the 14k range. Hopefully it'll go higher and there will be a lot of purple in there! http://blogs.timesunion.com/mcguire/?p=874#comment-4211

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Does anyone know if there's a line on this game?..or would there not be simply because it's between two lower conference teams?

The MAAC generally gets lines for their basketball games, the AE not (except in Post-season tournaments and early season neutral site tourneys.)

 

For this game I do not think there will be a line but I should know for certain by Friday.

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I spoke with someone I work with today a Siena fan and they said that they were worried about the game on saturday because their guys have had a busy schedule the past week. She mentioned how they flew in from FL Monday after 3 games and then have class, have to drive down to MD for Wed game and then have our Saturday game....which means less practice time for the guys during their finals week.

 

She seemed concern as I enjoyed seeing the fear in a Siena fan's face that they might actually lose to UA. I didn't think after our last game we had much of a hope of winning this one.... but thinking about how their team won't have much rest even if they are hungry for a win, it makes me happy as long as our guys can really put it all out on the court at the TU.

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