Stony Brook @ UA

[Clickclack]

I believe Will was sick, he actually looked the part to although I thought he put forth the most effort. I've got nothing else positive or even neutral to say so I'm gonna bite my tongue!

[haggyland]

How many offensive sets were there where it looked like the team was trying to work the ball closer to the half-court line instead of towards the basket?

[Clickclack]

How many offensive sets were there where it looked like the team was trying to work the ball closer to the half-court line instead of towards the basket?

 

Criticism will NOT be tolerated! You better shape up

[haggyland]

How many offensive sets were there where it looked like the team was trying to work the ball closer to the half-court line instead of towards the basket?

 

Criticism will NOT be tolerated! You better shape up

I tried to draw some positives from the game on the car ride home, and right after I thought about how Giffy looked more active in the paint I pictured that pass in the defensive end that went right to SBU. It was not a thing of beauty.

 

Luckily my Five Guys burger after the game wasn't nearly as disappointing.

[alum73]

I believe Will was sick, he actually looked the part to although I thought he put forth the most effort. I've got nothing else positive or even neutral to say so I'm gonna bite my tongue!

 

You are correct. Will is ill. I hope he feels better by Sunday.

[haggyland]

I believe Will was sick, he actually looked the part to although I thought he put forth the most effort. I've got nothing else positive or even neutral to say so I'm gonna bite my tongue!

 

You are correct. Will is ill. I hope he feels better by Sunday.

Here's to hoping a lot of the team had a 24 hour bug and that they can salvage a .500 weekend.

There is a lot of talent there, they just need to put it to better use.

[bob87]

Here's to hoping a lot of the team had a 24 hour bug and that they can salvage a .500 weekend.

There is a lot of talent there, they just need to put it to better use.

 

Hope so, the standings are amazingly bunched. With a win on Sunday UA could be in a 4 way tie for second at 4-3. With a loss they could be in 3 way tie for next to last at 3-4. There are a lot of other standings possibilities either with a win or a loss.

[Clickclack]

Post game thoughts......here

 

Good to see the coach own this one...something has to change. When the going is good, the coaching staff deserves credit....right now they also deserve some of the blame. One of the reason I like Coach Brown, he doesn't mince words. Right now....the ENTIRE (including the coaches) team isn't getting it done!

[bob87]

Mark S's blog included the fact that UA had beaten the 3 teams with better records in the league and has lost to 3 teams with records at or worse than Albanys.(2 are worse, 1 the same) I think it is extremely rare for a team to do it that way. That is one thing that makes it as frustrating as a fan. Are they as good as they look when playing the better teams or as bad as when they are not. As with most teams, the answer is probably they are somewhere in between how they look when they look good and when they look bad.

 

Anyway, here is the article from the regions best paper as well as the TU article.

 

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jan/24/124_albany/

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp...category=SPORTS

[DanesRGood]

Mark S's blog included the fact that UA had beaten the 3 teams with better records in the league and has lost to 3 teams with records at or worse than Albanys.(2 are worse, 1 the same) I think it is extremely rare for a team to do it that way. That is one thing that makes it as frustrating as a fan. Are they as good as they look when playing the better teams or as bad as when they are not. As with most teams, the answer is probably they are somewhere in between how they look when they look good and when they look bad.

 

Anyway, here is the article from the regions best paper as well as the TU article.

 

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jan/24/124_albany/

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp...category=SPORTS

 

A few things. They showed the AE standings on the screen and all I kept thinking was, "We beat the three teams above us and have lose to the last place team twice." Maine was in last place when we lost to them.

 

Obviously this goes for teams other than UA as well but Will, Tim and Anthony make this team go. They showed Will before the game and talked about how sick he was and they kept showing Tim on the bench with ice on his leg and then the foul trouble. Raffa had another rough game.

[Clickclack]

Watching yesterdays game....I am convinced that Raffa is the most important player on the court for us as he goes so goes the rest of the team because he has the ball in his hands allot. Tough to rely on a freshmen that much. He'll learn and pull out of this most recent tough stretch. Keep running him out there, it might not pay huge dividends this season but we need him to get up to speed as he'll be an integral part of this program for years to come. I know Coach Brown talked about the team leaving him out to dry and that's why he had a couple of TO's, FWIW, I thought to often on those TO's he got up in the air with nowhere to go. I like the fact that he doesn't pick up his dribble until he has somewhere to go, but likewise, you DO NOT get up in the air unless you have a plan. Last night a couple of times he got up and then threw it away. That's OK, he will learn!

 

Will was very sick from what I heard, the fact that he managed to put up 14 and 8 while receiving fluids etc. shows exactly what kind of player we have. Hopefully he will be ready to go on Sunday. The regular season title is still in reach although our margin of error has significantly diminished. I am concerned however that we can't seem to get any offense from anyone other then TWA, what happened to Brian's jumper, that shot was money early on in the season. I understand that he is probably the fourth option but we need to get some help from him on the offensive end.

[Dane Pound]

Funny the Gazette and the TU had the same quote but with different teams in their story:

 

From the Gazette story “I think that’s as disappointed and as embarrassed as I’ve been since the Hartford game here a couple of years ago,” said UAlb­any head coach Will Brown.

 

From the TU story "That was as disappointed and embarrassed as I've been since the Harvard game here a couple of years ago," he said.

 

I'm guessing Coach Brown meant the Harvard game from 2006 because that was exactly what last night felt like. The Coaches were frustrated, players looked frustrated and confused on offense. In a way I hope that was our Harvard game because we won eight straight after that one.

[Patch]

Watching yesterdays game....I am convinced that Raffa is the most important player on the court for us as he goes so goes the rest of the team - Bosi

 

I couldn't disagree with you more on Raffa at this stage.

 

He doesn't make anyone better.

 

When Tim Ambrose plays well we win. Timmy playing 15 minutes killed us, especially with Will struggling to be out there 25 minutes while sick.

 

Lets compare Raffa and Tim, very quickly.....

 

Raffa 27.5mpg 36 assists and 53 turnovers

 

Ambrose 22.1mpg 52. assists and 46 turnovers

 

Just my opinion.

 

It sure would help to have Will, Timmy and Raffa playing decent on the same night.

 

Has anyone had a Connelly siting recently? SR leadership?

[DanesRGood]

I am concerned however that we can't seem to get any offense from anyone other then TWA, what happened to Brian's jumper, that shot was money early on in the season. I understand that he is probably the fourth option but we need to get some help from him on the offensive end.

 

That is my biggest concern right now with this team. At one point it I think it was Raffa, Allen, Hasting, McRae and Connelly. That is rough and without defenses worrying about Tim and Will they don't leave Connelly open for the mid-range jumper or allow Raffa and room to make plays.

 

Another thing that's been bothering me is Barraza's playing time. Bascially he is brought it and they run the same screen play to try to get him a three and he either chucks it from way out or passes off. I think he either needs to be more a part of the total offense when on the court or if he can't then he should not be playing. I'm sure he is a great kid and I don't want people to think I'm blasting him because this comment is more how he is utilized then how he plays. Coach Brown calls the plays and if he is open at all he shoots it, that is not his fault. Don't they think other teams know what will happen when he is on the court?

[URUAfan]

Watching yesterdays game....I am convinced that Raffa is the most important player on the court for us as he goes so goes the rest of the team - Bosi

 

I couldn't disagree with you more on Raffa at this stage.

 

He doesn't make anyone better.

 

When Tim Ambrose plays well we win. Timmy playing 15 minutes killed us, especially with Will struggling to be out there 25 minutes while sick.

 

Lets compare Raffa and Tim, very quickly.....

 

Raffa 27.5mpg 36 assists and 53 turnovers

 

Ambrose 22.1mpg 52. assists and 46 turnovers

 

Just my opinion.

 

It sure would help to have Will, Timmy and Raffa playing decent on the same night.

 

Has anyone had a Connelly siting recently? SR leadership?

I couldnt agree more. Raffa is certainly a great player with tremendous upside, and will be key to the program in the future....but Ambrose is the only player who can create offense on his own, key since this team isnt as skilled offensively as we have seen in the past. And while Ambrose doesnt fill the stat sheet quite like Brian Lillis last year, he is second on the team in scoring and rebounding (not bad for a guy who isnt even 6' tall) and leads the team in assists. Plus, when Ambrose doesnt play 20 minutes, the team is 2-4 (with those two wins coming against lowly Canisus and Bryant).