We Finally Win a Close One...
Binghamton (2-7), 65
Albany (3-6), 70
RACC, December 20, 2005 (The 1000th win in UA's history.)
First of all, I'm taking up a collection to get the cheerleaders new uniforms. That sort of charity has to be tax-deductible, right? This is by no means an indictment against our cheerleaders, only against their hideous purple and white uniforms. At least let the girls look like they're in college.
I said to someone last night if I had my druthers, I'd rather see us win a close one than blow Binghamton out. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, who knows, but with the start of a new season, it was important that this team start learning how to win close games and how to handle adversity. I'd like to think we took a step in the right direction tonight.
In reality, I was just hoping for a win and I am thrilled we got one.
A weird, nervous atmosphere before the start of the game. President Hall and AD McElroy circling the stands before tipoff, understandably assessing the state of the team 1/3 of the way into what has been a disappointing season.
It should also be noted that both were on hand to congratulate Jamar for becoming the 27th player in UA history to score 1000 points. Congratulations, Jamar.
The Danes and the 2300 strong in attendance tonight watched Binghamton claw their way back from an 8-point deficit with just about two minutes left to get within one with 23 seconds left-- thanks to a couple of phantom calls by the refs and Binghamton's unflappable Troy Hailey, who drained 10 consecutive free throws with under 4 minutes remaining.
Luckily we had Johnny Iati, who countered by connecting on 8 straight free throws of his own. First of all, nice job by Iati tonight. Johnny was the odd man out tonight as Brian took over tonight at point guard, cutting into Johnny's PT. However, Johnny really came through at the end with his free throw shooting, also adding a nice layup near the end. Iati also connected on a three earlier in the game. Not bad for nine minutes of PT. Good work, Johnny.
We did a nice job of getting the ball to Johnny down the stretch. I also liked Iati's comments in the Times Union. Despite the cut in Johnny's PT, he spoke up and told Coach Brown he'd hit free throws down the stretch. Instead of sitting back and sulking, Johnny stepped up, showed confidence and leadership, and promptly delivered.
We're gonna' need that type of attitude from all of our players if we're going to win anything this season. There's a glut at shooting guard and players are going to have to accept their roles, which will probably change a lot over the season. We have already seen this happen a few times with Johnny, Brian and Lucious just nine games into the season.
I digress...
It was important to see the team hang in and persevere as Jamar "fouled" out with just under 3 minutes to play, as did Brent, with just under one minute in regulation. They were our two high scorers, and despite a few turnovers by Jamar, both played pretty solid basketball tonight.
Of course, the big story tonight was Brian Lillis. Inserted into the starting lineup and playing point guard tonight, Brian had only 2 points (off of free throws) and 2 assists. His big contibution was coming up with 11 rebounds. Brian wasn't always crashing the boards and banging underneath. He was just always in the right place at the right time, in perfect position to come up with a loose ball. This probably has something to do with what Coach Brown calls his high "basketball IQ."
Brian had a big steal and rebound late in the first half, both which led to points and enabled the Danes to go into halftime with a 37-34 lead, the first time that happened at home all season.
Lucious had two big three pointers, one to cut Binghamton's lead from 15-6 to 15-9 early on. I think that shot helped the team and the crowd both relax a little bit. We definitely didn't want to let another team get out to an early 10-point lead on us, so that was huge. His other 3-pointer put us ahead, 28-26.
Transition defense, a pet peeve of mine, was bad early on-- Kirsten misses a little jumper, the team stands around, Binghamton gets down the court for a layup and goes up 10-4. However, we did a much better job getting back on defense in the second half.
I thought the only part of the game that was off tonight was our foul-shooting. Jamar misses the technical, Lucious misses two free throws down the stretch. All in all, 21-34, though Kirsten accounted for 5 of those misses (3-8.)
Personally, I thought Walker's strategy of putting us on the line was a little premature. Binghamton fouls Kirsten who hit one of two to put us up by 8 with just under 3 minutes remaining. It wasn't like we were shooting light out in the second half, anyway, and 3 minutes is a ton of time. Binghamton could've definitely have gone for the stop there instead of fouling.
Notes:
Shout out to the kids from Averill Park going nuts in the stand during the second half. Hilarious. I'm gonna' rent the short bus and caravan them to every game for the rest fot he season.
I never get on the refs. but something was up tonight.
Hope Binghamton's Mike Gordon is all right-- he took a shot from Zo (I think) and anyone near the Binghamton bench saw him wince in pain as the trainer attempted to touch his nose. Definitely broken.
Binghamton had a strong crowd behind them tonight. Hopefully we can counter with a comparable contingent to travel to the armpit of America on January 28th.
Finally, I was impressed with our crowd tonight, all things considered. Everyone at the end was nervous-- players, coaches and fans alike. Yet our fans did a nice job of staying involved and imploring the team with chants of "defense!" every trip down the court. I'd like to think this really helped the team tonight.
Albany (3-6), 70
RACC, December 20, 2005 (The 1000th win in UA's history.)
First of all, I'm taking up a collection to get the cheerleaders new uniforms. That sort of charity has to be tax-deductible, right? This is by no means an indictment against our cheerleaders, only against their hideous purple and white uniforms. At least let the girls look like they're in college.
I said to someone last night if I had my druthers, I'd rather see us win a close one than blow Binghamton out. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, who knows, but with the start of a new season, it was important that this team start learning how to win close games and how to handle adversity. I'd like to think we took a step in the right direction tonight.
In reality, I was just hoping for a win and I am thrilled we got one.
A weird, nervous atmosphere before the start of the game. President Hall and AD McElroy circling the stands before tipoff, understandably assessing the state of the team 1/3 of the way into what has been a disappointing season.
It should also be noted that both were on hand to congratulate Jamar for becoming the 27th player in UA history to score 1000 points. Congratulations, Jamar.
The Danes and the 2300 strong in attendance tonight watched Binghamton claw their way back from an 8-point deficit with just about two minutes left to get within one with 23 seconds left-- thanks to a couple of phantom calls by the refs and Binghamton's unflappable Troy Hailey, who drained 10 consecutive free throws with under 4 minutes remaining.
Luckily we had Johnny Iati, who countered by connecting on 8 straight free throws of his own. First of all, nice job by Iati tonight. Johnny was the odd man out tonight as Brian took over tonight at point guard, cutting into Johnny's PT. However, Johnny really came through at the end with his free throw shooting, also adding a nice layup near the end. Iati also connected on a three earlier in the game. Not bad for nine minutes of PT. Good work, Johnny.
We did a nice job of getting the ball to Johnny down the stretch. I also liked Iati's comments in the Times Union. Despite the cut in Johnny's PT, he spoke up and told Coach Brown he'd hit free throws down the stretch. Instead of sitting back and sulking, Johnny stepped up, showed confidence and leadership, and promptly delivered.
We're gonna' need that type of attitude from all of our players if we're going to win anything this season. There's a glut at shooting guard and players are going to have to accept their roles, which will probably change a lot over the season. We have already seen this happen a few times with Johnny, Brian and Lucious just nine games into the season.
I digress...
It was important to see the team hang in and persevere as Jamar "fouled" out with just under 3 minutes to play, as did Brent, with just under one minute in regulation. They were our two high scorers, and despite a few turnovers by Jamar, both played pretty solid basketball tonight.
Of course, the big story tonight was Brian Lillis. Inserted into the starting lineup and playing point guard tonight, Brian had only 2 points (off of free throws) and 2 assists. His big contibution was coming up with 11 rebounds. Brian wasn't always crashing the boards and banging underneath. He was just always in the right place at the right time, in perfect position to come up with a loose ball. This probably has something to do with what Coach Brown calls his high "basketball IQ."
Brian had a big steal and rebound late in the first half, both which led to points and enabled the Danes to go into halftime with a 37-34 lead, the first time that happened at home all season.
Lucious had two big three pointers, one to cut Binghamton's lead from 15-6 to 15-9 early on. I think that shot helped the team and the crowd both relax a little bit. We definitely didn't want to let another team get out to an early 10-point lead on us, so that was huge. His other 3-pointer put us ahead, 28-26.
Transition defense, a pet peeve of mine, was bad early on-- Kirsten misses a little jumper, the team stands around, Binghamton gets down the court for a layup and goes up 10-4. However, we did a much better job getting back on defense in the second half.
I thought the only part of the game that was off tonight was our foul-shooting. Jamar misses the technical, Lucious misses two free throws down the stretch. All in all, 21-34, though Kirsten accounted for 5 of those misses (3-8.)
Personally, I thought Walker's strategy of putting us on the line was a little premature. Binghamton fouls Kirsten who hit one of two to put us up by 8 with just under 3 minutes remaining. It wasn't like we were shooting light out in the second half, anyway, and 3 minutes is a ton of time. Binghamton could've definitely have gone for the stop there instead of fouling.
Notes:
Shout out to the kids from Averill Park going nuts in the stand during the second half. Hilarious. I'm gonna' rent the short bus and caravan them to every game for the rest fot he season.
I never get on the refs. but something was up tonight.
Hope Binghamton's Mike Gordon is all right-- he took a shot from Zo (I think) and anyone near the Binghamton bench saw him wince in pain as the trainer attempted to touch his nose. Definitely broken.
Binghamton had a strong crowd behind them tonight. Hopefully we can counter with a comparable contingent to travel to the armpit of America on January 28th.
Finally, I was impressed with our crowd tonight, all things considered. Everyone at the end was nervous-- players, coaches and fans alike. Yet our fans did a nice job of staying involved and imploring the team with chants of "defense!" every trip down the court. I'd like to think this really helped the team tonight.
posted by L3K at 6:00 AM
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