2018-19

[godanesgo99]

1 hour ago, Clickclack said:

You'll have your break from smiling tomorrow between 7-10pm...;)

If I decide to drag myself to the game tomorrow. 

I'm torn. It's the real men wear pink game, and my wife is a survivor, so I am planning on going with the family, but the weather looks cold and the product on the field does nothing to warm the heart. I may just give my seats away (if I can find someone to take them). 

[tnehurley]

Found this on Twitter:

Open men’s basketball practice Sun Oct 14 11:00 am-2:00 pm

http://www.ualbanysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15800&ATCLID=211775699

[godanesgo99]

Looks like the practice on Sunday will also be the purple and gold game, according to the email I just received...

 

Quote

This message is being sent to you on behalf of Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Will Brown.

 Dear Friends of UAlbany Basketball,

 I hope all is well! We will be having an open practice with scrimmage on Sunday, 10/14 in the SEFCU Arena. Practice will start at 11am and we are looking to start the scrimmage at 12:30pm. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Director of Basketball Operations Ty Conyers at tconyers@albany.edu. Admittance to the practice is free for all fans looking to attend. This is the first opportunity for all fans to come see the 2018-19 Great Danes.

 Following practice we look forward to saying hello to all of you! See you on Sunday!

 

Edited October 12, 2018 by godanesgo99

[Eli]

I don't understand why they don't just call it what it is...lol. But whatever...I'll miss the practice part (not sure I care about watching our guys run suicides anyway) but I'll be there for the scrimmage. I may upload a few one minute videos for the folks on here who aren't local.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Eli

[Clickclack]

Won't be there today... Would appreciate a detailed report. 

[Eli]

I won't either it turns out...so no videos for the non-locals. Sorry! 

[UA1882]

Was at the practice, and I know some of you wanted an update, so I will give me honest opinion.  

Thought the team played well. Definitely improved as practice went on. Brown is coaching hard and really trying to teach this team. 

Rizzuto- did not practice,  was in sweats. 

De Sousa- played well. Needs to get stronger and make better decisions but overall I was impressed. 

Clark- Much improved. Much more in control. Really looked good and looks like will take a big step forward. 

Miller- did not stand out. Made a couple of nice defensive plays and always was in the right postion . 

Brooks- looked good offensively.  Defense needs to improve but he is working hard. 

Hanks- Raw , but I think showed promise. Working hard to improve. 

Healy- LOVED what I saw out of him . The redshirt year did wonders for his body. Hit several 3's . Worked in control with and without the ball. 

Campbell- well he was campbell. Nothing more or less. U guys decide on that. 

Lulka- again LOVED his play. Under control.  Hit a couple of 3's. Looking great. 

Jerotic - looked a little behind but could develop into a nice player. 

French - hit a couple of open shots. Had a couple of nice post moved that did not go in but ultimately can def help the team. 

Lauderdale- was impressed. But seemed out of gas a couple of times. Out of control a little as well at times, but overall looked like a men among boys. 

Fruscio- played hard as always.  Vocal.

[dslyank]

Pretty much agree with above; other than I thought at least offensively, Miller was the best player on the court. Agree, Clark much improved and much more in control; but still needs to improve his shooting %age. French though slight of frame was a rebounding machine and nice touch around the basket.

Dare I say it:  "This team is going to be DEEP"; especially if the some/most of the injured players come back and also are as good as advertised.

{heard Rizzuto is almost ready and I overheard Flory tell a fan he is NOT redshirting [unofficial of course]}

Edited October 14, 2018 by dslyank

[godanesgo99]

I was most impressed with the improvement and movement of Brent Hank. He just seemed so much more comfortable.

Healy might be my pick for AEROY.

DeSousa has some major ups. He had a few powerful dunks in the practice period.

Brooks impressed me for a little guy.

I didn't notice Miller much until the scrimmage period. He will end up a leader on the team.

Campbell looked good defensively, and while he hit a few 3s and a few mid range jumpers, his shot looked the same. It seemed to be all in his release.

The team is as advertised. Lots of talent, but still raw and Will have growing pains. I expect Brown to have them going strong by the second half of the conference schedule.

Edited October 14, 2018 by godanesgo99

[UA1882]

My starting lineup based on a 2 hour practice (and I know this will be wrong) would be 

Clark (slightly over Brooks ) do to being familiar with the program.  Which could change any second. 

Healy

Miller

De Sousa 

Lulka 

We would be playing 6'1, 6'1, 6'3, 6'6 and 6'8. That's fine again most teams. 

I know that Campbell will start but I liked these others more. I'm sure we will find out soon . 

[Dane Pound]

Apparently I timed my return to the CR perfectly this morning. I got to miss yet another knife in the heart from Richmond in football but still caught the open practice/scrimmage.

First, for the format. Obviously there are people on the board who don't like the open practice. I actually really enjoyed watching the staff work with the players, etc. After the practice they played 4 eight minute scrimmage periods.

My two cent takeaways:

Clark - He drives me a little crazy with shot selection sometimes but he can be as good as any guard in the conference. He has ever tool in the bag - speed, shooting, handle.  I just wish he would be a little more patient with the offense and consistent. Hopefully that will come.

Brooks - Really liked him. Seemed intent on running the offense and worked hard to get his teammates shots. Someone else mentioned his defense and I agree it will have to improve. I feel like 

Healy - Really skilled, really competes and I really liked him. I always think his shots are going in.

Miller - I thought he was really polished. The most experienced guard we have and it showed. Didn't force anything.

Devonte - You can say what you want about Devonte but he works and works. Good to see him knock down some shots. Admittedly, I watched the new guys more.

De Sousa - Smooth. Knocked down some outside shots and if he gets into the lane he's tough. Made some nice passes as well.

Jerotic - Nice looking player but as others said he looks a little behind where everyone else is. 

Lulka - Hit some outside shots, made some post moves. Nice. 

Lauderdale - I liked him. Banged and hit some jumpers in the Travis Charles area. He and Lulka were a nice combo on their team. Lulka's man had to honor him out to the three point line which allowed some space for Lauderdale to operate.

French - Probably one of the bigger surprises to me. For a guy his size he moved well, is skilled and played smart.

Hank - Didn't see a ton of him offensively but he took ownership of the paint and looked to dunk just about everything he got near the hoop.

 

My starting five:

Brooks 

Clark

Devonte

Lulka

Lauderdale

 

Not sure how you narrow it down to a playing group. At this point, the only guy I saw who I wouldn't put in the playing group is Jerotic. There are going to be some tough choices this fall but it's a good problem to have.

[Phoenix]

My few novice observations... Miller looked good, calm and in control, knocked down a number of shots; French was much more physical underneath than I was expecting; Lulka can really spread the floor, shot well from three and had some nice moves down low; Brooks is quick and a great passer, mainly looked to distribute instead of attempting to show off his reported deep range, but had a couple nice mid-range/floater shots; Lauderdale is a load; Malachi looked like a very talented freshman, a bit unsure at times and not always great decision making, but big enough to fight underneath and athletic enough to operate on the perimeter, he was mostly at the 3 but played some time at the 2 during the scrimmage; Healy was very involved and knocked down some outside shots.

I think there could be 10 guys averaging at least 5-8mpg. Clark and Brooks at PG.. Healy and Miller at SG.. Campbell and de Sousa at SF.. Lulka, Lauderdale, French and Hank in the front court.

I will assume Flory's out for the year..don't have any specific knowledge, just a better safe than sorry guess. I will assume Rizzuto is low guard on the totem pole based on injury and experience..maybe RS option. And I will assume Jerotic is also not seeing much action this year..looked furthest behind in the scrimmage..maybe another RS option. 

 

Edited October 15, 2018 by Phoenix

[godanesgo99]

Preseason poll is out: https://americaeast.com/news/2018/10/17/mens-basketball-vermont-tops-mens-aehoops-preaseason-poll-lamb-highlights-preseason-all-conference-honorees.aspx

1. Vermont (6) 62
2. Hartford (3) 59
3. UMBC 44
T4. Albany 40
T4. Stony Brook 40
6. Binghamton 29
T7. Maine 19
T7. New Hampshire 19
9. UMass Lowell 12

 

Almost identical to my first run at rankings, but I have SBU and UMBC swapped, and UML and Maine swapped. 

Just a few weeks away! 

[Dane Pound]

9 hours ago, godanesgo99 said:

Preseason poll is out: https://americaeast.com/news/2018/10/17/mens-basketball-vermont-tops-mens-aehoops-preaseason-poll-lamb-highlights-preseason-all-conference-honorees.aspx

1. Vermont (6) 62
2. Hartford (3) 59
3. UMBC 44
T4. Albany 40
T4. Stony Brook 40
6. Binghamton 29
T7. Maine 19
T7. New Hampshire 19
9. UMass Lowell 12

 

Almost identical to my first run at rankings, but I have SBU and UMBC swapped, and UML and Maine swapped. 

Just a few weeks away! 

Kind of amazing that SBU brings back a first-team all-conference player and we lose just about everyone but the mascot and the coaches pick us to finish the same. Most of the predictor sites pick us to finish 300+ in the RPI based on the stats from the two scholarship players we have returning. Nice sign of respect that the coaches have us finishing higher.

Also, the AE put together a nice video of highlights from last year in the press release. However, if I worked for the AE marketing department...every...single...UMBC...highlight...would have been from the Virginia game. Maybe there are copyright considerations and they couldn't use them.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Dane Pound

[godanesgo99]

The bottom 4 in the league are pretty terrible. I'm not sure UA was picked high because the coaches thought we would be good as much as they thought those teams would be real bad.