Maine

[McFan]

This might be a good game to catch a shirt if they throw them out tonight.

 

You called it. Although I doubt you were envisioning pink .

 

 

Came home to find LadyDP had shoveled out the driveway. At least I had a present for her.

 

 

Man, that one stung.

 

Played well enough to win and couldn't close. I wasn't as unhappy about the defense as Clickclack was although Barnies did kill us at the end.

 

It's easy to armchair quarterback this game but I didn't understand putting the ball in Watts hands at the end of the game. I like him as a player I just didn't understand why the ball wasn't in Mike Black's hands at crunch time. That said if Watts hits that runner we're probably celebrating.

 

13 points from the bench is better.

 

Can't explain the ball in the hands of Watts. Mike was having a great game. I'll try to watch a replay but he barely touched the ball in the last 2 minutes.

Can't explain the holding off on the last possesion. Something like 37 seconds left and 29 on the shot clock, and we hold the ball for a last shot? Kind of? And that possesion is Watts dribbling and dribbling. Isn't that a classic 2 for 1 situation? A couple of times up by one or two we just held the ball. So frustrating.

 

Not just winnable, this was a game UA should have won.

[dslyank]

20 points from the bigs and help from the bench are real positives going forward. A very winnable game. But like others said, I did not understand the holding the ball for long stretches in the last five minutes (especially last 2); and even though it was a good shot and should have gone in, I wonder why Watts and not Logan/Black/Tim at the end. Also, no one else said it so I'll be the cry baby, the ref had absolutely no right to call that foul; Singletary was falling down and out of control, Black and Watts were backing off not even really even attempting to aggressively defend, and from where the ref was behind the basket to the right, I do not think he could have seen a foul even if one was committed. Very interested to see the replay on TW tonight.So even though it was a tough one to lose at home, I still feel we can compete with anyone in the AE and I hope the team does not lose confidence from this game any the bad streak of late. Hopefully, they will be even more hungry and work harder and NOT suffer the collapse of last year!!

[UAalum72]

Mike Black agrees with you UAlbany loss has foul ending

[Clickclack]

It seems to me like the coaching staff is implementing a new wrinkle in the offense, a pick and roll or pick and pop to get the bigs more involved. Seems to me like it's a work in progress as the guards misses a couple of rolls as I indicated in yesterdays post but I LIKE IT. Gotta get the bigs more involved.

[Doc]

Tough loss, but I think not being there in person softened the blow for me. This is a game we were supposed to lose (kenpom almost had the score spot on) and we had two pretty good looks for victory. Picked out some positives here on PAGN: http://pagn.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/basket-half-empty/

 

The main thing, the Offensive showed up against one of the tougher defenses in the AE. That's good news. And a lot of people carried the load- but especially Mike Black. We need him to be an All- Conf, go-to guy. He has the speed to cause havoc, he just has to make sure he's making good decisions and staying involved. The schedule softens up soon- i just hope we can take advantage of it.

[UAalum72]

BTW good job by the Pep Band hanging in there with only nine musicians getting thru the storm, but where did they come up with 26 cheerleaders? Classes don't start until next Wednesday. Also good to see the track teams in the student seats.

[Dane Pound]

Also good to see the track teams in the student seats.

 

The track team guys going to the other end to try and disrupt the free throws with 3 seconds left was good stuff. It'll be fun to have the students back for some of these games.

[dslyank]

PAGN makes a interesting point about Watts. I have not been a Watts fan but I agree with pagn that Watts appears on the verge of being a contributer. If Tim's shot at the end of the maine game was 1/2 way down, Watt's was 3/4ths. Maybe the coaches should pull a Tim and just turn him lose a bit and see what they get. I know Tim being a senior and shown considerable talent in the past is differnent then a red shirt freshman, but UA players in general often seem hesitant (especially offensively) and maybe it is time the coaches show some confidence in their players and stop worrying how young they are. Just ranting some and curious about how others feel

[Clickclack]

PAGN makes a interesting point about Watts. I have not been a Watts fan but I agree with pagn that Watts appears on the verge of being a contributer. If Tim's shot at the end of the maine game was 1/2 way down, Watt's was 3/4ths. Maybe the coaches should pull a Tim and just turn him lose a bit and see what they get. I know Tim being a senior and shown considerable talent in the past is differnent then a red shirt freshman, but UA players in general often seem hesitant (especially offensively) and maybe it is time the coaches show some confidence in their players and stop worrying how young they are. Just ranting some and curious about how others feel

 

I gotta be honest, much like you I wasn't a big fan of Watts early in the season but he's starting to grow on me as a player. He seems much more calm now and in control, I know it's not showing up yet in the box scores but it seems like the game is starting to slow down for him. I think he'll be a solid contributor off the bench moving forward.