UA @ FAU

[Dane96]

I'm not embarrased. A terrible game and FAU is ON FIRE from 3 tonight. This stuff happens. Learn from and build on it for conference time.

 

Spoken like true genius.

 

People...listen to this man and relax. When you play youth...and your star gets an early 2nd foul....it aint gonna help. Like I said a long time ago...this will be a learning year for a very young but talented team.

 

And UA '08....I have rarely NOT SEEN a coach bench a player with a 2nd foul in the first half. It is pretty standard. And yes, we are youthful...that is a FACT. URLI being a Junior is much different- JUCO ball and DI ball are two completely separate animals.

 

 

Relax people...this is all bull$iena until conference time. Let me say it like this; we are all upset we lost (as is the team and coaching staff, however it wont matter until tourney time. If you say to me Albany makes the dance this year...i would be happy. I could care less about seedings and play in games. This is a young but talented team that needs to learn how to win.

 

Tought loss...but unlike football where one or two losses kills you, these losses dont kill us. They will be horrific if we dont learn from them.

[Dane96]

We allowed them to shoot 55% from three.....

 

Mostly pissed that we did so many good things against UCF and completely $iena the bed here....

 

Two completely different teams...and different schemes. Cant compare.

[Clickclack]

With all due respect to you D....tonight I find myself sitting here taking stock of the direction this program is heading in....who knows perhaps it's my overwhelming disappointment at how this game went but I can't help it.

 

I've been a strong supporter of Coach Brown ever since I starter following the program, he's a great guy in my experience...but for what ever reason this program is mired in mediocrity. It appears to me we are stuck in some kind of hellish purgatory......stuck somewhere between real bad and real good.....15-15 two years ago....15-16 last year...and let's face it, 3-5 against some mediocre competition.

 

We are starting THREE seniors (MJ, Gifford and Harris) and TWO juniors in Ambrose and Urli. Yes, our bench is young and I like what I've seen out of them but this team is not all that young.

 

I'm also annoyed at people saying that OOC is bull$iena...I don't subscribe to that opinion. If you want respect, recognition and growth in the fanbase you can't approach OOC as bull$iena. Saying that it's bull$iena breeds the mediocrity I was talking about earlier.

 

I'm done with mediocrity....enough already with the also ran....I'm sure there will be those who will bristle at what I typed but I think a large number of the fanbase is sitting here like I am...wondering where do we go from here...3-5. Yes, the season is long and there is still time to right the ship but we took a substantial step back today.

[UA'08]

if you have a team that has 3 seniors and 2 jrs starting they are hardly a young team. they do have a young bench and the bench does include a senior, a redshirt sophomore and 2 redshirt freshmen. the only true freshmen that are seing action are metcalf black and tartt. and black's minutes are being limitted as each day goes by. i understand urli is a juco transfer but he has still played in college for 2 yrs.

 

 

Lineups for the 2 championship seasons

if you ask me we are just the same maturity wise right now compared to those teams

in 05-06

jamar- jr

lucious-sr

lillis-so

wilson-so

zoellner-sr

 

bench

levi-sr

siggers-jr (juco)

connely-fr

covington-fr

 

06-07

jamar- sr

siggers- sr

wilson-jr

lillis-jr

covington-so

 

bench

ross- jr(juco)

connely-so

gifford-fr

[Dane Pound]

Since UA08 brought up the 05-06 championship year I thought I'd mention that we started that year 2-6. That 6th loss was a brutal loss to Harvard at home that had a lot of people wondering why we were picked to win the league. My point is that it's one game.

 

Looking at the stats I'm can't believe we outrebounded FAU. Seemed like they were eating our lunch on offensive boards in the second half.

 

I half expect Will Brown to break out the "run a suicide for every percentage point over 40 the opponent shot." FAU shot 51% from the field and 56% from three. They almost shot better from 3 than they did from the free throw line.

[URUAfan]

I think its hard to compare the championship teams to this team...Allen, Gifford and Ambrose are the only guys on the team with more than a full year in Brown's system...and two of those three have been disappointments on the basketball floor (dont act like Gifford isn't a disappointment from what we all expected 4 years ago). While the team has plenty of juniors and seniors, they are youthful in their experience at UA. Its been tough to start the year...but some of our opponents (Cuse, Morgan St., and the upcoming battle with UNC) are very good. And while OOC play toughens up a team, NCAA bids are only won in the tournament. Personally, I'd rather struggle early and got hot late than vice versa

[haggyland]

Game write-up and Official Box are up on the UA website.

 

Time to do some graphing.

[olddog71]

FAU did beat American by a dozen, a team we were lucky to beat.

[UA'08]

05-06 wilson and lillis had 1 year under their belts to learn the system, and zoellner as well being a transfer from bc. also i forgot to add iati to the bench between the 05-07.

 

my point really is that i want to see this team win every game they should. just like all the albany football fans, i want to see albany move up in basketball just like everyone wants in football. i understand that football is more for the ability to get more scholarships and a new stadium but basketball should be treated the same way. if you settle for .500 play season to season we are not going to go anywhere.

 

now i hate to bring this up again but i believe the high number of transfers has hurt this program since the end of the 06-07 season. although rafa left on bad terms this team would be a force if they still had him. he did avg about 12 pts a game before he was hurt.

[Dane96]

With all due respect to you D....tonight I find myself sitting here taking stock of the direction this program is heading in....who knows perhaps it's my overwhelming disappointment at how this game went but I can't help it.

 

I've been a strong supporter of Coach Brown ever since I starter following the program, he's a great guy in my experience...but for what ever reason this program is mired in mediocrity. It appears to me we are stuck in some kind of hellish purgatory......stuck somewhere between real bad and real good.....15-15 two years ago....15-16 last year...and let's face it, 3-5 against some mediocre competition.

 

We are starting THREE seniors (MJ, Gifford and Harris) and TWO juniors in Ambrose and Urli. Yes, our bench is young and I like what I've seen out of them but this team is not all that young.

 

I'm also annoyed at people saying that OOC is bull$iena...I don't subscribe to that opinion. If you want respect, recognition and growth in the fanbase you can't approach OOC as bull$iena. Saying that it's bull$iena breeds the mediocrity I was talking about earlier.

 

I'm done with mediocrity....enough already with the also ran....I'm sure there will be those who will bristle at what I typed but I think a large number of the fanbase is sitting here like I am...wondering where do we go from here...3-5. Yes, the season is long and there is still time to right the ship but we took a substantial step back today.

 

You need to take a deep...really deep breath.

 

You are a good fan...but you are pushing the reality out of the way. The reality is...we are an extremely young team and these things happen. And frankly put...the OOC is bull$iena this year. Remember where you and this program came from.

 

I gotta be frank...and this isnt directed at you in particular...but a lot of "fans" are starting to sound like Siena fans. The reality is just going out the door.

 

Maybe its because I am a Jet fan...(immune to expectations).

 

Believe me, I want to win every frickin game...but guys...take a breath.

[Dane96]

if you have a team that has 3 seniors and 2 jrs starting they are hardly a young team. they do have a young bench and the bench does include a senior, a redshirt sophomore and 2 redshirt freshmen. the only true freshmen that are seing action are metcalf black and tartt. and black's minutes are being limitted as each day goes by. i understand urli is a juco transfer but he has still played in college for 2 yrs.

 

 

Lineups for the 2 championship seasons

if you ask me we are just the same maturity wise right now compared to those teams

in 05-06

jamar- jr

lucious-sr

lillis-so

wilson-so

zoellner-sr

 

bench

levi-sr

siggers-jr (juco)

connely-fr

covington-fr

 

06-07

jamar- sr

siggers- sr

wilson-jr

lillis-jr

covington-so

 

bench

ross- jr(juco)

connely-so

gifford-fr

 

Do you know how hard it is to adjust as a college ball player as a Frosh and Soph. Biggest learning/improvement adjustment is right around mid-season sophmore year...at just about any sport. Ask any coach at any level. It is rare to have an instant stud. Let's call it what it what it is: JAMAR WAS ALL WORLD. People forget how other stood around and let him do the work in 05-06. There is no Jamar on this team; I have been saying it for years...TIM AMBROSE IS NO JAMAR WILSON. And that isnt a huge slight to Ambrose...its reality. If Jamar is 6'4...he has a crack at the NBA...that's how good he is/was.

 

There is NO ONE to carry us like him. Frankly put, Will Harris hasn't put it together like he should...though he has been good. Tim Ambrose isnt that guy...and frankly...those guys like Jamar come through every X years (you guys are way too young to remember the Bennerman's, Bentons, and at our old level-- Graber's of the world.

 

Now, '08...do you realize how good Lucious Jordan was? He would have been All-MAAC had he stayed at a crappy Loyola program. Honestly...you are comparing apples to Oranges. ZO > Gifford as Sr. Lu and Jamar...better than Will and Timmy. Siggers at the end of 05'-06'...better than any guys playing right now. Fact is, those guys were more seasoned and more talented than where our true talent resides: OUR FROSH AND SOPHS. Ambrose, when he puts his $iena together is likely one of the top 4 guys out of 10 on the floor at any given time. Harris...when he plays with his heart...the same. Fact is...they dont...and that's on them.

 

But you're comparing teams that cannot be compared...when in truth...the BULK of this team is young. There was no youth like that on any of the teams you discuss.

[Dane96]

I think its hard to compare the championship teams to this team...Allen, Gifford and Ambrose are the only guys on the team with more than a full year in Brown's system...and two of those three have been disappointments on the basketball floor (dont act like Gifford isn't a disappointment from what we all expected 4 years ago). While the team has plenty of juniors and seniors, they are youthful in their experience at UA. Its been tough to start the year...but some of our opponents (Cuse, Morgan St., and the upcoming battle with UNC) are very good. And while OOC play toughens up a team, NCAA bids are only won in the tournament. Personally, I'd rather struggle early and got hot late than vice versa

 

Well said.

 

People forget that the teams we have played, and lost to, have been tearing it up. UCF and Morgan state are Top 25 Mid-Major programs. UCF, if they continue at this pace, will be a Top 40-50 team. FAU...has one REALLY great ballplayer. Syracuse...is bitch-slapping everyone they play. Detroit...anyone see the OT win over DePaul.

 

We have five losses, two of which we could have spun our way (UCF and Morgan). If you would have said we could have had a legit crack to go 2-3 against that bunch...and I would have taken it.

 

I guess BU should pack it up because they got prison raped by Harvard.

[B9j2j6s]

Guys this will only benefit us in the long run. YOUNG TEAM + ROAD TRIP = Bumps in the road/ugly defeats. Patience is the key and remember, marathon not a sprint.

 

THERE ARE TEAMS A LOT WORSE OFF THEN US RIGHT NOW.

[Dane96]

05-06 wilson and lillis had 1 year under their belts to learn the system, and zoellner as well being a transfer from bc. also i forgot to add iati to the bench between the 05-07.

 

my point really is that i want to see this team win every game they should. just like all the albany football fans, i want to see albany move up in basketball just like everyone wants in football. i understand that football is more for the ability to get more scholarships and a new stadium but basketball should be treated the same way. if you settle for .500 play season to season we are not going to go anywhere.

 

now i hate to bring this up again but i believe the high number of transfers has hurt this program since the end of the 06-07 season. although rafa left on bad terms this team would be a force if they still had him. he did avg about 12 pts a game before he was hurt.

 

 

Your points are disparate and have nothing to do with one another. Zoellner had 3 years of DI ball experience (travel, school, practice, etc) before he stepped foot on the floor for the Danes. All of us want to see UA at the highest level we can play at...and in the best conference. Right now, it is the AE. But to expect us to win all the time is just plain irrational. At least with the football thing--which by the way, not that he cared, but VINNY made a few of us eat our crow--we can point to a massive change in a key area as the lynchpin for losses (T/O margin). Here, there is no one thing to point to and you people are ready to jump off a bridge.

 

Transfers- not sure how that relates. I can honestly say that only one transfer, in my mind, has ever had an affect on the team...EJ Gallup. Not really sure how it happens. Guess Norm Roberts (with his 8 juniors) should jump off a cliff in two years when he has to give out 8 rides. Anthony Raffa was a cancer...and if you want the real truth...was selfish. I would put big money on it that the players, on a whole, were not too sad to see him go. I want you to explain how his 12 pts outweighed the most impt thing Raffa lacked- he didnt make his teammates better. He was compared oftent to JJB. JJB made his Northeastern teammates better...and that is the difference between the two.

 

Like I said early this year- I want to win them all, but if we are a .500 team this year that would be a success. Next year, if there is no improvement...I will have issues.

 

Take a breath people...you are grasping for straws and frankly...the only thing that matters is that they learn from mistakes...and dont repeat them in the Conference tourney.

[B9j2j6s]

Hey guys news flash check out the conference only one team is above .500.

 

SBU 5-1 (Wins against D-1 teams with a combined record of 6-16)

UNH 2-2 (Only D-1 win was against Marist)

UVM 3-4 (Not bad considering they started the season on a ten game road trip)

UA 3-5

UM 2-3 (Great win against Fordham but nothing else)

UH 2-4 (Only wins are against this years AE punching bags Marist and Fordham: Combined record 1-8)

BUMA 2-5 (Props for beating Indiana and Northeastern)

BUNY 2-5 (They have yet to beat a D-1 team)

UMBC 0-5 (They got creamed by Morgan State)

 

Hope this makes people feet a little better about the OOC record