Duke

[Dane Pound]

UAAAAAA UA UA UAAAAAA UUUUUU AAAAAAA UUUUU AAAAA

 

Here's to next year! Hopefully Enema is a Suero type difference maker on offense for us. We need a go to player that we can depend on, like a Suero, Ambrose, or Wilson.

 

Wilson maybe, he played defense. I appreciate the way we are again defending. All O, No D was not UA basketball.

 

I'd add Mike Black that list. Add him and move him near the top of that list.

[dslyank]

PROUD!

I think that one word says it all.

[KingDane]

Just got back from Philly. So awesome to be in the arena for that game. So proud of the team, the coaches, the fans and the effort everyone put forth today. Proud to walk around that arena in my UA clothes and felt like we belonged there. The score didn't show it in the end but if you could measure points by heart we would've won by 30. The way they fought to stay in the game against what are obviously bigger, faster and more athletic players was inspiring.

 

I loved at the end of the game, Duke was standing around running the clock out and every UA fan was on their feet doing the UA chant and really showing appreciation. Even before shaking hands with Coach K, Brown looked over and acknowledged the fans. After the hand shake the whole team walked over by the foul line in front of the UA sections and clapped and pointed and thanked the fans. I thought that was awesome and classy by a great group of kids.

 

 

I agree. I have criticized Coach Brown in the past ,but never will do so again. I went to the game because I don't get too many chances to watch UA live and this was the national stage.

 

Never saw a group of young men with so much class in defeat. That Will Brown could assemble such a quality group of men from all over the world, have them give 100%, and then take a moment to acknowledge their fans was a tribute to his leadership.

 

Thank you. Thank you.

[Underpar]

Coach Brown is a class guy. He clearly loves his job and is committed to having great atheletes who are good people and good students. As a proud alum he is my kind of coach. Give him a nice raise and a long term contract.

[Dane Pound]

Earlier posters have done a better job voicing their pride in how we played than I could have. Admittedly when that loose ball seemed to be bouncing around in the paint FOREVER when we were down 8 I wasn't thinking about being proud in defeat, I was thinking about winning.

 

I was glad to see Duke give credit to our "two good guards" but with the exception of some turnovers I thought our third guard, Peter Hooley, played pretty damn well for a freshman on a huge stage - 13 pts, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

 

Looking at this team early in the season I admit I wasn't sure how we were winning so many games. We didn't have an "unstoppable" player like we did with Jamar or Tim Ambrose or even Suero.

 

I think other people weren't sure either and we saw a variety of reasons why a team that "wasn't that good" was winning so much.

 

We were winning because we have a tough group of guys who played smart and as a cohesive unit. We saw it through the tourney and it was great to see it displayed on the national stage.

[DanesRGood]

Earlier posters have done a better job voicing their pride in how we played than I could have. Admittedly when that loose ball seemed to be bouncing around in the paint FOREVER when we were down 8 I wasn't thinking about being proud in defeat, I was thinking about winning.

 

I was glad to see Duke give credit to our "two good guards" but with the exception of some turnovers I thought our third guard, Peter Hooley, played pretty damn well for a freshman on a huge stage - 13 pts, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

 

That loose ball was really the back breaker. We clearly had momentum coming form 16 down to cut it to 8, Duke was nervous, their crowd was definitely nervous and the players were feeding off of it. Then that loose ball and an uncontested layup from Curry and the whole thing deflated. The Duke crowd went nuts. At that very moment I really thought about winning the game.

 

Agree on Hooley. So awesome to see him play the way he did against a very good team. 3 more years with him.

[Clickclack]

Hooley was incredibly impressive in this game...I've re-watched the game twice and the kid is going to be a serious baller in this league. GET MORE AUSTRALIANS!

[Patch]

http://t.co/Ml6cDLm85W

 

A day later Coach K still talking about Albany

[Patch]

From One Bid Wonders....

 

Clock Stirkes Midnight on Albany’s Cinderella Season

 

Great Danes fall to Duke, but not without frenetic fight, tremendous heart.

 

March 23rd, 2013 by Sam Perkins

 

(Philadelphia, PA) – At 2:28 pm Eastern Time, the clock hit 0:00 at the Wells Fargo Center and struck midnight on the Albany Great Danes’ Cinderella season.

Albany, a 15th seed in the NCAA Tournament and perhaps the biggest underdog to ever come out of the America East as the fourth seed in their own conference tournament, fell to second-seed Duke 73-61.

The Great Danes came up short in their upset bid, but walked off the hardwood and out of the bright lights of the game’s biggest stage with their heads held high: For 40 minutes, the bigger, stronger, faster Blue Devils hit Albany with everything it they had – usually in the form of a back-board shaking sledgehammer slam from Mason Plumlee, or a Seth Curry swish – and every time the Great Danes hit Duke right back.

Albany lost the game, but the Great Danes were magnificent in defeat, proving they belonged on the same court as one of the best teams in the country and arguably the most storied program in college basketball history.

“We challenged them. We made Duke work. We made Duke beat us,” said Albany head coach Will Brown.

From the opening tip until the final horn, the Great Danes played the Blue Devils as equals. And this wasn’t a Duke team looking past the Great Danes while playing at walk-through speed: this was a Duke squad still trying to swallow the bitter taste of last season’s upset by 15-seed Lehigh, squarely focused on Albany for revenge.

After spending a year stewing on the Lehigh debacle, Duke came out playing for blood. Albany played even harder.

“We didn’t quit, but we never did all season,” said redshirt freshman guard Peter Hooley. “We were right there with them. I think we are proud of ourselves. We never gave up.”

“We went down fighting against one of the best teams in the country,” said Albany senior shooting guard Jabob Iati.

Iati led the way for the Great Danes, scoring a team-high 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. The smallest player on the floor, Iati was fearless driving the lane and drilling deep three’s with several long arms in his face. Iati, who would be generously listed at 5’9”, added six rebounds and six assists, leaving every last drop he had on the floor in the final game of his career.

Redshirt freshman guard Peter Hooley scored 13 points off the bench, to go with eight rebounds and five assists. Senior point guard Mike Black and sophomore forward Sam Rowley added 10 points apiece. Reserve forward Luke Devlin continued to show flashes of brilliance, scoring nine points.

Iati and Hooley combined to hit 6-of-10 three’s Iati’s and keep Albany in the Game: Duke’s massive size advantage shut down the paint, forcing Albany into just 36.5 percent shooting from the floor (19-of-52). But Albany shot a blistering 60 percent from behind the arc (9-of-15) – the best long-range shooting performance against by a Blue Devils opponent all season against a defense that had held opponents to just 29.3 percent from downtown.

The duo of Curry, the younger brother of NBA sharpshooter Steph Curry and an NBA-level shooter in his own right, and Plumlee, a 6’10” 240 pound pulverizing pogo stick and sure-fire NBA draft pick, combined for 49 points for the Blue Devils.

“You have to pick your poison,” said Brown. “It’s hard, especially for us, to double team Plumlee. We were going to play him straight up and roll the dice. They shoot the three so well.”

Plumlee poured in 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, rattling the rim with six dunks to go with a trio of unstoppable jump hooks, while completely closing off the lane on the defensive end. Curry scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go along with six rebounds.

And yet against a team full of NBA prospects, with two All-ACC level talents clicking on all-cylinders, the Great Danes were still in the thick of it until the end. They did it the same way they ran the table in the America East Tournament as the lowest seed to ever win the auto-bid (knocking off top-seed Albany in the semifinals before taking down second seed Vermont on the road in the Championship Game) with guts, guile, and sheer tenacity – as well as a rousing halftime speech by first-year assistant Jon Iati; Jacob’s older brother and a star from the first two Great Danes squads to go to The Big Dance (2006 and 2007).

“They fought and fought for 40 minutes,” said 6’11” Duke star forward Ryan Kelly. Kelly averaged nearly 15 points per game during the season, including a 36 point explosion against Miami, but was frustrated and flustered into just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting by the Great Danes front court, with Albany senior reserve Blake Metcalf playing a staring role on D.

“They’re physically, athletically bigger than us at every single position,” Brown said. “Our motto really has been to fight, scrape and claw.

“You know, Jacob Iati is going to work for J.P. Morgan next year and Mason Plumlee is going to the NBA, and it’s like that at almost every position.”

With 12:17 remaining, Duke pushed its lead to 16, 54-38, on a pair of Curry free-throws and it appeared time to start up the busses. But Iati responded with a rainbow rainmaker at the other end and the Danes were right back in it again. Albany got as close as eight, 64-56, on a pair of Iati free-throws with 4:40 left, and appeared to come up with a big stop at the other end, but Curry came up out of a loose ball scramble with the rock and hit a floater to keep the Great Danes are arms length rest of the way.

Albany closes out the season 24-11, but the Great Danes got every last drop out of their abilities – a testament to their heart, and the efforts of Brown – and left Philadelphia with nothing left in the tank, nothing to hang their heads about, and a great deal of respect from Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

“Albany played like a team that just won a championship and had 24 wins,” said Krzyzewski, the all-time record holder in career wins and NCAA Tournament wins. “They shot the lights out of it — nine out of 15 from 3s. I thought they played really well, like we beat a team playing really well.”

[UA'08]

In case you missed it http://newyork.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Fnyc.podcast.play.it%2Fmedia%2Fd0%2Fd0%2Fd1%2Fd2%2FdF%2Fd7%2FdA%2F12F7A_3.MP3%3Fauthtok%3D5562043601944090568_qaprG9LX12n8cQqeV33QBgAVD8&podcast_name=Mike+Francesa+with+Will+Brown&podcast_artist=Mike+Francesa&station_id=62&tag=pages&dcid=CBS.NY

[UA_MA_2000]

Which article does that link go to? It took me to the CBS main page.

[UA'08]

Sorry the link only works with apple devices because its a podcast....

 

Try this link http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/865-wfan-audio/mike-francesa-with-will-brown/

[madDOG]

Wow. FGCU!!

 

That could/should have been us!!

Edited March 25, 2013 by madDOG

[Clickclack]

I'm just gonna put this out there... UA > creighton....

[uofalbany]

nm

Edited March 26, 2013 by uofalbany