Beagle

[cwdickens]

LOL ....no one longer wants to start a MBB Game Day thread anymore .... thanks Dwayne.

An article from today's Times Union:

UALBANY MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

Danes adjust to not having Beagle

 

By Pete Dougherty

ALBANY — The second half of the America East men’s basketball season begins Thursday night, and for the University at Albany, it will be considerably different than the first eight games.

The Great Danes (11-12, 3-5 America East), losers of five of their previous six and below .500 overall for the first time since late November, play Thursday night at Binghamton, and will do so without Jonathan Beagle, their 6-foot-10 sophomore who “stepped away from the program” last week.

 

UAlbany coach Dwayne Killings had nothing new to offer Wednesday on Beagle’s situation other than he is still enrolled in school. Killings and the remaining players must figure out how to navigate the remaining schedule without the reigning conference Rookie of the Year.

“We were a little more low-post oriented at times,” Killings said. “Coming out of timeouts, key moments in the game, you have foul situations, you want to get to the line, you play through certain guys. We have to change.

“When you look at the game this past Saturday,” he continued, referring to a 114-102 home loss to Maryland Baltimore County, “we can score the ball. No matter what our personnel’s been all year, our challenge has been defending.”

Since the last time they faced Binghamton, a 95-75 victory Jan. 13 at home, the Danes have allowed an average of 91.7 points per game and scored 80.3. UAlbany was outrebounded by UMBC 39-33 in its first game without Beagle, the conference leader with 9.5 boards per game.

The Danes rank third in the nine-team conference in rebound margin (+1.3), but that could change for a roster with only one other player — 6-8 freshman Jack Margoulis — taller than 6-7.

“I’m not 6-10,” said Muneer Newton, a 6-5 junior who likely will get Beagle’s starting post. “I definitely need (rebounding) help, for sure. We need to get the guards in, the wings in.”

“We’ve got to be the hardest-playing team,” point guard Sebastian Thomas said. “On defense we have to be a gritty team. We lost a player who was our leading rebounder.”

Beagle isn’t the only starter missing for UAlbany. Sophomore forward Marcus Jackson, considered the team’s best defender, injured his hand last week in practice. He has missed the past two games and will be sidelined for several more until he is cleared to play.

“Offensively,” Killings said, “you can see we’re versatile, play fast, we’ve got a lot of guys who can score the ball. The other part of it is we’ve got some guys — we look at Amar’e and Sebastian — they get worn down.”

UALBANY AT BINGHAMTON

When: 6:07 p.m. Thursday

Where: Events Center, Vestal

TV/radio: ESPN+ (streaming), WTMM 104.5 FM

[jimbo]

The MBB season is pretty much swirling down the toilet with injury after injury, player MIA, ineffective coaching and phantom defense. Why bother with separate threads? 

[godanesgo99]

I'm thinking that this could be a major moment in the program, and I hope that some real information comes out soon. In my mind there are only a couple of possibilities...

1. Beagle was upset that he didn't start a few games earlier, didn't think he should have come out against Vermont when he did. Killings said the non start was a coaches decision, so it felt like it was punishment for something or trying to teach a lesson. If he stepped away because he couldn't take criticism or punishment, then good bye Jonathan, don't let the door hit you in the way out. We can't have players that can't take criticism or punishment. 

2. Is there the possibility of this being similar to the Fizulich issue? Depending on the details this could be bad for DK and the nail that ends his career. Would need more details on the situation to know who to support.

3. Something is going on personally for Jonathan either mentally, physically, or within his family/close circle - and then we need to wish him well and hope for a speedy recovery. I have spoken with him a couple times and he always seems like such a a good kid. If this is the case, I send love and hope he works through whatever it is. He deserves the support of everyone.

4. He was sick of losing and not touching the ball enough and quit on the team. This option is a bad look for him in his pursuit of future basketball options.

I think that until someone starts talking, it's all going to be pure speculation. Everyone is going to come up with their own thoughts and theories. With the team not winning or playing well, it's going to naturally turn to negativity and worst case scenario thinking. I hate to say it, but I hope it's option 3 and he can work through it with the support of friends, family, teammates, alumni, staff, and the #purplefam. We may post negatively after poor results but we do love and support our players. I'm sure if a player reads this board sometimes it could affect them negatively. Players need to learn to ignore comments when you hit the spotlight of D1 sports and beyond.

It really pains me to be rooting for it to be a personal problem, as no one deserves that, but that is best case scenario for the program as a whole. I think this is the only reason that the lack of comment and silence from the program would be warranted. Personal issues should remain confidential, but a reassuring public comment would be helpful to reduce fan speculation. If it's 1 or 4, then that's a bad look for him, but if it's #2 the school should suspend/remove DK immediately.

I probably shouldn't have posted this at all, but as fans we are emotionally attached the program and commenting is a form of therapy. I'm trying to remain positive and hoping for the best for all, but it feels like the season is over and we are only half way through conference play with the most athletic/exciting offensive team we have had in my memory. Better defense would make them a contender with the top 3-4 in the league. Without anyone over 6'7" that plays any significant time, the chances of winning more than 1-2 more games this season is extremely low.

 

Edited February 8 by godanesgo99

[Eli]

5 hours ago, cwdickens said:

LOL ....no one longer wants to start a MBB Game Day thread anymore .... thanks Dwayne.

GG pulled me back into FB a bit this past year - but if he has another bad year next year I'm likely gonna be out long term - but I have almost zero interest in UA sports. I legit have not watched a minute of UA MBB this year after being a season ticket holder for a decade. I was waiting till the end of the year, assuming we were still competitive but seeing as we aren't, not going to bother.

Couldn't care less about WBB, LAX, Softball/Baseball, Track, etc. FB and MBB are the only two sports I care about and one is completely devoid of hope (MBB).

[dslyank]

1 hour ago, Eli said:

GG pulled me back into FB a bit this past year - but if he has another bad year next year I'm likely gonna be out long term - but I have almost zero interest in UA sports. I legit have not watched a minute of UA MBB this year after being a season ticket holder for a decade. I was waiting till the end of the year, assuming we were still competitive but seeing as we aren't, not going to bother.

Couldn't care less about WBB, LAX, Softball/Baseball, Track, etc. FB and MBB are the only two sports I care about and one is completely devoid of hope (MBB).

Eli cannot believe you did not get caught up in the 3-5 years leading up to and including the final 4 appearance in Foxboro for the men's lacrosse team. I have been following UA athletics for 55+ years with MANY HIGHs and some lows; but there is/was nothing like the anticipation and excitement of the Thompsons' years and the final four, just afterwards. Each to their own of course; but being rated a top 10, top 5, and even #1 IN THE COUNTRY more than once in those years was an un-comparable feeling for me.

Anyhow, buddy don't lose "hope." Keep following the UA teams you have interest in; if football can have a season like they just did, why not men's basketball again in the "NEAR" future??🤩🤩 

Edited February 8 by dslyank

[Eli]

14 minutes ago, dslyank said:

Eli cannot believe you did not get caught up in the 3-5 years leading up to and including the final 4 appearance in Foxboro for the men's lacrosse team. I have been following UA athletics for 55+ years with MANY HIGHs and some lows; but there is/was nothing like the anticipation and excitement of the Thompsons' years and the final four, just afterwards. Each to their own of course; but being rated a top 10, top 5, and even #1 IN THE COUNTRY more than once in those years was an un-comparable feeling for me.

Anyhow, buddy don't lose "hope." Keep following the UA teams you have interest in; if football can have a season like they just did, why not men's basketball again in the "NEAR" future??🤩🤩 

I think it's more an indictment on the administration rather than the teams themselves. I do remember the years LAX was #1 and UA completely blew it - we didn't build on the momentum for whatever reason and now we're back to being just another LAX team or what not. We should have taken that PR and success and turned into a perennial powerhouse.

[Dane96]

3 hours ago, godanesgo99 said:

I'm thinking that this could be a major moment in the program, and I hope that some real information comes out soon. In my mind there are only a couple of possibilities...

1. Beagle was upset that he didn't start a few games earlier, didn't think he should have come out against Vermont when he did. Killings said the non start was a coaches decision, so it felt like it was punishment for something or trying to teach a lesson. If he stepped away because he couldn't take criticism or punishment, then good bye Jonathan, don't let the door hit you in the way out. We can't have players that can't take criticism or punishment. 

2. Is there the possibility of this being similar to the Fizulich issue? Depending on the details this could be bad for DK and the nail that ends his career. Would need more details on the situation to know who to support.

3. Something is going on personally for Jonathan either mentally, physically, or within his family/close circle - and then we need to wish him well and hope for a speedy recovery. I have spoken with him a couple times and he always seems like such a a good kid. If this is the case, I send love and hope he works through whatever it is. He deserves the support of everyone.

4. He was sick of losing and not touching the ball enough and quit on the team. This option is a bad look for him in his pursuit of future basketball options.

I think that until someone starts talking, it's all going to be pure speculation. Everyone is going to come up with their own thoughts and theories. With the team not winning or playing well, it's going to naturally turn to negativity and worst case scenario thinking. I hate to say it, but I hope it's option 3 and he can work through it with the support of friends, family, teammates, alumni, staff, and the #purplefam. We may post negatively after poor results but we do love and support our players. I'm sure if a player reads this board sometimes it could affect them negatively. Players need to learn to ignore comments when you hit the spotlight of D1 sports and beyond.

It really pains me to be rooting for it to be a personal problem, as no one deserves that, but that is best case scenario for the program as a whole. I think this is the only reason that the lack of comment and silence from the program would be warranted. Personal issues should remain confidential, but a reassuring public comment would be helpful to reduce fan speculation. If it's 1 or 4, then that's a bad look for him, but if it's #2 the school should suspend/remove DK immediately.

I probably shouldn't have posted this at all, but as fans we are emotionally attached the program and commenting is a form of therapy. I'm trying to remain positive and hoping for the best for all, but it feels like the season is over and we are only half way through conference play with the most athletic/exciting offensive team we have had in my memory. Better defense would make them a contender with the top 3-4 in the league. Without anyone over 6'7" that plays any significant time, the chances of winning more than 1-2 more games this season is extremely low.

 

This....all of this

[haggyland]

Roster now includes 6'7" freshman Mike Walker.

Did he come in as a January student? 

Box score shows a minute played against NJIT?

Probably not a good thing Beagle-wise that DK went looking for size in February. 

[cwdickens]

19 minutes ago, haggyland said:

Roster now includes 6'7" freshman Mike Walker.

Did he come in as a January student? 

Box score shows a minute played against NJIT?

Probably not a good thing Beagle-wise that DK went looking for size in February. 

Just a thought on Mike walker ...started school in the fall and became friends with members of the MBB team.  Perhaps, this led to an introduction with Killings and staff and/or was Mike part of the group that played against the WBB team in practice.