Stony Brook 1/29

[haggyland]

Where has the coaching staff been? They run Iati into the ground while this kid just rots on the bench? Iati couldn't get off the bench last year until they had no choice and then it was like wow... He can shoot... Really? Hello?

 

Legendary post.

(I'll go away now. No need to worry.)

[UA'08]

We are going to disagree on some things but Gary Johnson isn't going to be one of them. If he can score as effciently as he did against SBU, he can probably do it against any defense in the conference.

11 DNP on the season. Avg 4.4 min a game. Not until the 23 game of the season he gets any real opportunity.

[uofalbany]

Mike Black is very talented, but he can not put the team on his shoulders and do it alone.

I agree with dp on the point that Johnson has athleticism and talent that can't be ignored. I'm really baffled on how he hasn't seen more playing time.

 

Who panics over college basketball? Until you've coached 12 seasons and have a 140 wins, 200 losses record....

I'm ready for a change. It's my university, and I expect more.

[UA'08]

Mike Black is very talented, but he can not put the team on his shoulders and do it alone.

I agree with dp on the point that Johnson has athleticism and talent that can't be ignored. I'm really baffled on how he hasn't seen more playing time.

 

Who panics over college basketball? Until you've coached 12 seasons and have a 140 wins, 200 losses record....

I'm ready for a change. It's my university, and I expect more.

 

We all know no change is coming. We will hit that 20 win mark and then he will have a 19 and 20 win season under his belt.

[uofalbany]

For a low mid major program, without getting to the ncaa tournament again..... high standards?

[UA'08]

Oh by the way, obviously someone on the coaching staff read the vermont game thread last saturday

 

FREE GARY JOHNSON!

[Clickclack]

UVM loses Apfield...no excuses they keep winning...our fragile team is falling apart at the seams.

 

As uofa said...this is our University (I'm still a student)...people are gonna look at the 20 wins and say wow...wonderful. We are simply not competitive against the top of the AE. SBU cleaned our clock and UVM did the same...we sill have to go on the road to SBU and BU. It's very likely we will once again go 0-6 against the top of the league again.

 

Nothing personal and I know Brown runs a clean program, kids go to class, grades are good, good community work, they beat Bing like a drum usually as well as UMBC and South Carolina. Granted the Washington win was big and beating Siena 2 out of 3 (blowing a third in horrific fashion) is also a + but like I said...nothing personal...not good enough when we are being embarrassed and worked like this by the top of the league for going on close to half a decade. As a paying fan/student I refuse to acknowledge that this is our reality. Truth be told we are also getting our ass handed to us on the recruiting trail, that's where we fall behind and it only cascades into the season. Jucos, Jucos and more Jucos who basically all suck... Quick Haggy, name a good juco in the last 5 years....

 

We are in the worst position possible...20 weak wins and no chance at an AE championship or NCAA run...we aren't good enough to beat SBU or UVM and haven't been in a while.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Clickclack

[haggyland]

Quick Haggy, name a good juco in the last 5 years....

 

I am not taking the bait. You know darn well that I am in "time out".

[Underpar]

Reality has set in. The pundits were/are right. Let's face it, the team is not very good. Vermont, BU and Stony will beat us like a rented mule 9 times out of 10. We need better players. But, we can't get better players because we are a bad team. And the beat goes on.

[purplehaze]

very predictable---we kinda knew when we saw the schedule schedule last fall---that this stretch of home games---BU/UVM/SBU---would bring out what we're seein here. It happens every season. Compressed into six days this season makes it harder to take.

[LoganAronhaltsKnees]

I look forward to seeing Gary Johnson not play for the rest of the season as a way of rewarding him for his performance last night.

[Clickclack]

I look forward to seeing Gary Johnson not play for the rest of the season as a way of rewarding him for his performance last night.

 

He'll play...no other choice...Iati was run into the ground. Flashback to Logan/Iati last year...Johnson is my opening day starter next year.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Clickclack

[DanesRGood]

It was kind of good to see what might be the starting 5 next year playing well together late in the first half. Evans, Hooley, Johnson, Rowley and Puk. they looked pretty good. then in the second half Coach Brown tried it again and it didn't look so good.

[UA_MA_2000]

Some thoughts on the game and previous posts:

 

* Stony Brook ("SB") is a very good team with athletes that one would typically see in higher-rated conferences. Notwithstanding their loss to UVM in Burlington, I expect them to win the regular season title and the AE Tournament.

 

* The New York Post has a College Basketball Blog that ranks the 16 Division One college basketball programs in the New York City metropolitan "arena" (*sic*). In that informal poll, SB has consistently been ranked in the top 3 this year, and on January 18, 2013 they were ranked #1---ahead of St. John's, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Iona, Fordham, etc. See http://www.nypost.co...J#axzz2JUyK30uQ On January 25, 2013, SB was ranked #2, behind only St. John's. See http://www.nypost.co...M#axzz2JUyK30uQ

 

* Jameel Warney has the potential to be the best player in the league in the coming years. He looked so comfortable in the post against us, and I am wondering why SB did not feed the ball to him more often.

 

* When we play SB again, whoever defends Brenton should be ready for that spin-move that he does when driving. He uses it often, and it seemed to be effective against us last night.

 

* I thought our defense under the basket when SB in-bounded the ball on the baseline was much improved last night. In one sequence, our defenders swatted the pass out-of-bounds twice in a row. I hope the staff continues to emphasize the importance of staying between "your man and the basket" on baseline-inbound plays.

 

* On defense, I recall us double teaming SB's PG off their high-ball screen a couple times. This seemed to be effective. I hope that we continue to mix up our approach to defending opponents' PGs coming off high-ball screens, utilizing the double team every now and then.

 

* The motion that I proposed in the UVM thread to free Gary Johnson seems to have been rendered moot. He has been freed. I withdraw without prejudice my previous motion to free Gary Johnson.

 

* G. Johnson and DJ Evans played great. I saw some very quick steps and nice moves from DJ Evans. The one play that comes to mind is when Evans got in the lane and lobbed the ball to Puk.

 

* Coming into conference play, I speculated that we would go 10-6, losing 5 of 6 to the axis of evil (SB, UVM, & BU). I thought we would steal one of those 6 games and then lose one game on the road to a team like Maine or Hartford. I continue to think we will go 10-6, but if we lose to BU and SB in February, I think we might go 9-7, unless we beat everyone else.

 

* Before the BU game, I did not think that the most important games of the year were the past 3. At that time, I thought that the most important two games of the year were, and continue to be in my view, our games at Maine and at home against Hartford. If we do not finish ahead of both of these teams, we drop to either the #4 or #5 seed, thereby requiring us to play Stonybrook in the second round if all goes well. It is critical that we obtain the #3 seed in the Tournament (either by finishing ahead of BU or in 4th behind BU). This assumes SB wins the league and UVM is the #2 seed. I think most of us will agree that UVM is a better matchup for us than SB. UVM might be the best "team" in the league, but SB has the best athletes and most raw talent.

 

* Our conference opponents will continue to put their best defenders and best athletes on our PG and backcourt players. We must counter this. I am very pleased as a fan that Coach tinkered with the lineup last night and gave some other players a chance to develop against the toughest defense in the league. With distance running there is no substitute in practice for lacing up and running a road or trail race. I think basketball is the same. Getting actual game minutes will improve our bench players and get them more comfortable with the pace of the game, improve their strength and conditioning, and allow them to grow and progress as players. Making mistakes is a part of that process.

 

* As a fan of college basketball, I do not always agree with the decisions and strategies employed by many coaches, including our own. Nevertheless, I do not think that the last 3 games should serve as the catalyst for an indictment of our Coach. Perhaps our collective expectations were elevated with our fast start and 16 wins. Who here expected us at the start of the season to go 12-4 or better in the Conference? Or perhaps to win 20 games? Having lost two of our better players from last year, I think a 10-6 finish and a #3 seed would be a stunning accomplishment. And as to the strength of our schedule, winning on the road against any opponent in Division I is not easy. We have done it consistently this year and beat Washington and Siena. We are closing in on a 20-win season with a team that was not predicted to do nearly as well as it has. We also have great kids who represent our program well and who do well in the classroom (didn't our men's basketball team have the highest, or close to it, GPA last year in the America East?) I leave issues of contract negotiations and the future direction of the program to the posters on here more informed to post on such matters. And reasonable minds can reasonably disagree. I have never met the Coach (other than an on-court handshake and/or hug shortly after the buzzer sounded in our 2007 win at UVM), but as a fan, I firmly support Coach and the job he has done this year. Well done.

Edited January 30, 2013 by UA_MA_2000

[UA'08]

Sorry UA_MA I'm going to have to say the free gary johnson motion was started by yours truly