Coca-Cola Spot During the F4-- link

(Nabbed this from the BPF board)
Click on the link and scroll down to Albany...

This is actually well done, as are all of these "superfan" spots. I almost wish I didn't know about the ad just so I could've been surprised by it on Saturday.

Illinois, Kansas, UConn, Memphis, UCLA, WVU, LSU, UAB, and...Albany?! We join some big-time programs here. Nice work, not only to Adam, but to all of our fans and everyone else working to build this program. Also, good to see the other UA "superfan" get some face time here, as well.

Although our season is over, it feels that the program is still riding the wave of momentum it generated heading into the tournament. Maybe living in Albany has something to do with that.

UCLA-Mason final. George Mason, attempting to defeat 4 previous National Champions en route to capturing their first championship, falls short. UC-LA wins. Then we can say that we lost to the National Champions by 8!

This is code for, "bet on an all-SEC final."

Sign of the apocalypse #19,987,786-- when The Replacements get mentioned on CNN.com. Rhino releases a "Best of" in June and a box set eventually. Track listing for "Do You Know Who I Think I Was":
01 Takin a Ride, 02 Shiftless When Idle, 03 Kids Don't Follow, 04 Color Me Impressed,
05 Within Your Reach, 06 I Will Dare, 07 Answering Machine, 08 Unsatisfied, 09 Here Comes a Regular, 10 Kiss Me on the Bus, 11 Bastards of Young, 12 Left of the Dial,
13 Alex Chilton, 14 Skyway, 15 Can't Hardly Wait, 16 Achin' to Be, 17 I'll Be You,
18 Merry Go Round, 19 Message to the Boys *, 20 Pool & Dive *

* new tracks

Gotta' say, Rhino did a pretty good job here. Go, Don't Ask Why, and Never Mind are the obvious omissions. Otherwise, pretty spot on, as far as comps. go.

Since iTunes has rendered "Best of"'s obsolete, the band gets together two record two new tracks. Fine with me. Even if I followed the band around when I transferred colleges, please, God, may there be a tour!

Congratulations, Coach Brown and Jamar

Congratulations, coach Brown, to you and your family.

I wouldn't say I was skeptical about a deal getting done, but I'm able to relax a bit now that this is out of the way. The alacrity with which the deal was completed makes me reconsider that maybe there was a deal in principal all along, as Dr. McElroy has previously stated. Thank you, Dr. McElroy. As someone else has suggested, I'll happily eat crow on this one.

Also, congratulations to Jamar for AP All-America Honorable Mention. You're in some pretty good company.

Honorable Mention:
Arron Afflalo, UCLA; Maurice Ager, Michigan State; LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas; Jose Juan Barea, Northeastern; J.P. Batista, Gonzaga; Jahsha Bluntt, Delaware State; Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas; Keydren Clark, Saint Peter's; Mardy Collins, Temple; Paul Davis, Michigan State; Terrance Dials, Ohio State; Quincy Douby, Rutgers; Jordan Farmar, UCLA; Mike Gansey, West Virginia; Daniel Gibson, Texas; Caleb Green, Oral Roberts; DeAndre Haynes, Kent State; Brandon Heath, San Diego State; Jeff Horner, Iowa; Ibrahim Jaaber, Pennsylvania; Jarrious Jackson, Texas Tech; Marco Killingsworth, Indiana; Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh; Jack Leasure, Coastal Carolina; Charles Lee, Bucknell; Chris Lofton, Tennessee; Christian Maraker, Pacific; Gerry McNamara, Syracuse; J. Robert Merritt, Samford; Paul Miller, Wichita State; Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech; Elton Nesbitt, Georgia Southern; Joakim Noah, Florida; Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia; Chris Quinn, Notre Dame; Brion Rush, Grambling State; Blake Schilb, Loyola of Chicago; Steven Smith, La Salle; Tim Smith, East Tennessee State; Ronald Steele, Alabama; Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington; Chad Timberlake, Fairleigh Dickinson; Darius Washington, Memphis; Marcus Williams, Connecticut; Jamar Wilson, Albany, N.Y.; Anthony Winchester, Western Kentucky; Ricky Woods, Southeastern Louisiana.

By my (hasty) count:
Big East-- 7 players
Big 10--6 players
SEC-- 4 players
Big 12-- 3 players
America East-- 1 player
ACC-- shutout (just having fun here-- of course ACC players represent 40% of the 1st and 3rd teams.)

TU Article-- Click Here for Link

Mr. Ettkin has it right. Too many "I think"s but he has the right idea. The school gambled and lost. Now its time for UA to ante up. I agree that there's a little more to this than dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

Also of note: coach Brown's name was mentioned in the Buffalo News as a possibility for the Canisius job if the two sides couldn't work out something by next week. Personally, I put zero credence in these types of reports. The point is, however, coach Brown's name is out there and he's a hot commodity right now .

The article reports that Canisius is looking to pay their new head coach in the ballpark of 130K, after paying Mike MacDonald 175k.

Personally, you'd have to pay me a lot more to move to Buffalo.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060325/1066951.asp

You may have to copy and paste the link into your browser.

Although I wouldn't mind seeing UConn win just to say we lost to the National Champs by 13, Larranaga is an Archbishop Molloy product-- Go GooMoos! Currently down by 6.
Let's Go 'Nova!

Great, Great Danes

Albany 59
UConn 72
March 17, 2005
1st Round Loss, NCAA Championships
Wachovia Center, Philadelphia
21-11

"Obviously, it hurts to lose. But I can't wait to get home and watch this game. We really did what we were supposed to do. Obviously, it wasn't enough. But I can go to sleep really proud and really happy."
--Jamar

I was walking in Manhattan yesterday yelling about Wichita State basketball-- I love the Shockers! Someone on the street overheard me and asked, "did you go to Wichita State?" Nope. "Are you from Kansas?" All I did was point to my Albany basketball sweatshirt. This guy looks at the sweatshirt and says, "Albany, nice." Prior to Friday, the guy would have looked at me like I had two heads. Later that evening, I was in a bar in Manhattan. A Siena fan who saw the shirt came up to me and started talking about the game and the team's effort, and had nothing but great things to say about the team and coach Brown.

I don't think I'm going to take this sweatshirt off for another week-- when I'm not at work. The first 32 minutes of Friday's game might constituted one of the most exciting sporting events I have ever attended. I've been to some good ones-- a World Series game 7 ('86), Robin Ventura's grand single, Super Saturday (tennis fans, anyone), an Army-Navy game, the St. John's-Duke game in 2003, countless Breeder's Cups, Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes, amongst others, and this was every bit as exciting as any of those.

I'm afraid the week-long college basketball hangover I suffer through at the end of every March is going to be a lot worse this year.

We arrived in Philly just in time for the Villanova game. As 'Nova Nation filed through the turnstiles, we went to talk to the ushers about finding a place to kill time before the Albany game. As we're talking to the ushers, two women, probably Wisconsin fans leaving in disgust, walk out and give us their passes. Score-- free tickets! To those very nice ladies, whomever you are, "thank you."

Prior to the game, a guy in a UConn shirt looked at me and asked, "how many points is Alabama getting-- 40?" I said to the guy, "I don't know how many points Alabama's getting, but Albany's getting 22." I bet he's got the name right now. During the game, a buddy of mine went to sit in the UConn section for a bit. According to him, the UConn crowd had their programs open to the Albany page, shaking their heads in disbelief.

As soon as the game began, people started yelling me to "sit down," so I moved. In no time, however, the section was SRO as pandemonium ensued.

UConn is so big; they just weighed on us and eventually wore us down. Shots we were making started falling short. After tying the game at 52, UConn closed the game with a 20-7 run. Jamar was great, slicing through UConn's double-teams, living up to his billing as "the best player you haven't heard of in the tournament," while Zo played the half of his life. In the first half, Zo had that improbable tip-in that may or may not have gone off a UConn player. Right then I thought, maybe the stars are indeed aligned tonight. And when Jason hit that 3-- the place was about to explode.

Points in the Paint: Great Danes 38, Huskies 28
Second Chance Points: Great Danes 12, Huskies 11

Against one of the three best frontcourts in America! Great job, team. If we were able to hit an open 3 or two and stretch the lead a bit more, maybe, just maybe, that would have been enough to break UConn. Make no mistake about it, they were scared. Coach Calhoun was pacing and their bench was standing, waving their towels around. It was a sight I hope to never forget. As scared as they might have been, however, UConn is even more talented.

Our double-teams down low on their big men proved to be an effective strategy. Our defense essentially shut down their front court, as Boone, Gay and Armstrong combined for a total of 24 points and 11 of UConn's 16 turnovers. It was those turnovers that resulted from those double-teams that gave us a chance to win this game. UConn led by a point at halftime, despite shooting 65% from the field. Uconn finished the game shooting 59%.

I also liked our offensive game plan in the second half. After shooting 2-10 from behind the arc in the first half, the team only took 5 treys in the second. Its kind of funny how all Calhoun seemed to know about our team is that we shoot the three-point shot well. Did UConn play exceptional perimeter defense to limit our 3-point shots? I don't think so-- we missed a number of wide open looks, especially early. I think we were just a little more patient in our offensive execution.

Every player on UConn is capable of a big performance, and it basically took Marcus Williams' best performance of the year to beat us-- along with a strong effort by Denham Brown, who was huge down the stretch and finished with 17 points.

Out of my allegiance to the Redmen (or Red Storm), I've been tough on Calhoun this year. However, the hug Calhoun gave coach Brown and his post-game remarks exuded class and sportsmanship and his comments mean something more coming from someone of coach Calhoun's stature.

To: Will Brown, Pat Filien, Chad O'Donnell, Eric Eaton, Jeremy Friel, David Bauman, Brian Connelly, Jimmie Covington, John Iati, Lucious Jordan, Jerrad Knotts, Levi Levine, Brian Lillis, Jason Siggers, Brent Wilson, Jamar Wilson, Kirsten Zoellner, Robert Totaro, Brian DePasquale, Charlie Voelker, Rodger Wyland, Greg Tobben, Marki Singleais and everyone affiliated with this team who helped make this season a great one, thank you. A few more "thank you"'s will be extended once we have re-signed our coach to a long-term deal.

I had no idea that the BPF or the AE message boards even existed before I started doing this blog. "Thanks" to those who maintain those sites and "thanks" to everyone who posts on those sites. After all, its through that sort of community that helps generate enthusiasm for this program. Also, "thanks" for having read this page. I wanted to use this blog as a means to try to provide some more team coverage from a slightly different perspective-- my warped one. Obviously, some entries have been more successful than others, but it isn't always easy to do this sort of thing. I'm not sure what the future holds and if I'll even be in Albany next year. Next season is one of two things keeping me here. Suffice it to say, if I am still in Albany, I'll be able to maintain this page. If not, then this has been a lot of fun.

Also, "thanks" to everyone I have met over this year and to my crew--woof.

The 1986 Mets, the 1986 Giants, the 1984-'85 Redmen, the 1993-'94 Knicks.
Add the 2005-'06 Great Danes to that list.

No Title

Will Brown & Co.
I'm so not prepared for this season to end. Thanks for a tremendous year, so far, and
PLEASE BEAT THE PISS OUT OF THE HUSKIES!!!!

Go Danes!!!!

UConn and Other Ramblings, Part I

First thing's first, and that is Brian's Etkin's joke of an article in today's Times Union. Go online and read it yourself, because I'm not linking it here.

My biggest problem with Etkin's article is the fact that his questions are nothing more than attempts to disparage the university and its students. Would he ask the same sort of questions to RPI or Union students if their hockey teams were in the NCAA's? Of course not.

Uh, Mr. Etkin, 5 teams are in the Final Four and Levi Levine, Sr. is Brian Lillis's dad. Those questions have absolutely nothing to do with the UA basketball team.

I know, he's ony trying to be funny.
Mr. Etkin, be a journalist and not a jerk.

I just filled out my bracket and boy, do I need a shower. I wanted to pick the Danes so badly, but I couldn't. If its any consolation, I think we'll cover. Actually, that's no consolation at all.

Speaking of which, I love that the line has come down on the game-- it opened at 23.5 and now sits at 22.5. America is doing their homework, for once.

For the record, my Final Four is UConn, Villanova, Marquette, Texas. Villanova meets Texas and Villanova wins. In case you can't tell, I have a pretty strong Big East bias. I also have Georgetown in my Elite 8 and WVU in my Sweet 16.

As a general rule, take Dogs in the first round and favorites in the second.

On to UConn and Huskie Nation...

I have heard from a pretty good source that Calhoun is using the "Albany doesn't think you're a big deal" motivation speech for this one. If he is, all I can say is "wow." Coach Calhoun pulling out all the stops for his first-round matchup v. Albany. Maybe Jimmy's just a little more worried than I thought...

UConn's frontcourt:
Hilton Armstrong 6'11"
Rebecca Lobo 6'10"
Rudy Gay 6'9"
Ed Nelson 6'8"
Denham Brown 6'6"

I believe UConn starts Boone, Armstrong, Gay and Brown, along with Williams.

Ours:
Zo 7'1"
Brent 6'8"
Connelly 6'8" (220)
Covinton 6'7"
Levi 6'6"

The question becomes, who do we start? Go small and try to force them into some turnovers. If we do so and start our normal 5, who covers Gay? Brian or Lucious, and either way, that is a problem.

After beating Louisville and Pitt back in January, the St. John's basketball team headed to Storrs to play UConn. St. John's was able to make a game of it, with UConn pulling away at the end and eventaully winning 66-50. Granted, I caught only the last 6 minutes of the game, as I had class that evening, but St. John's was within 5 at that point.

UConn had 16 blocks in that game, and they will probably put up similar numbers in this one. Despite their number of blocked shots, St. John's was able to test UConn physically, and that might be our only hope here. I've watched St. John's play a lot of basketball this year. Yes, the Big East is a physical conference, but St. John's roster isn't loaded with bruisers. I actually think this UAlbany team compares very favorably with this year's St. John's team. They may be a bit more athletic, but we definitely shoot much better from the perimeter.

Per some of Calhoun's comments below after the St. John's game, we're going to need to get some quality minutes out of Levi and Covington (especially) in this one. Actually, I think Covington may relish this type of game, as we might see some refs that will let him play. I also like how Jason had 7 rebounds in 16 minutes in the UVM game. Mr. Siggers' athleticism and ability to create will also be important to keep us in this one.

Despite our tendency to run, I don't think that necessarily behooves us here. As coach said on TV, UConn is going to try to throw a knockout punch in the first 8 minutes of the game. How will we weather that storm? I'm not sure, but slowing it down and knocking down some open shots on the perimeter will help make it a bit closer.

Below are some of Calhoun's quotes from after the St. John's game form which we might learn something about how to play against them:

"...They took us out of our offense early, played us very physical and did not allow us to get into a flow. Our kids had to make some decisions because we’re not a “go by” team – by that I mean we don’t necessarily beat you off the bounce. We basically try to beat you by setting screens, passing the basketball, etc. And St. John’s did a good job of doing that."

"In the second half….the game became much more physical than I would like to have seen. It reminded me of a Big East game, probably back in the early ‘90s."

"Our kids have got to be prepared for any type of basketball. If a team is going to put ball pressure on us, which St. John’s did a great job of, we have to do a better job. They did a great job with the flat screen, which gave them a great deal of penetration."

"The good news is that we had the kind of people that can block shots, so we blocked 16 shots when they came down the middle. That, obviously, was very positive."

"I think we as a team played OK. I think St. John’s disrupted us for most of the evening.."

Hopefully we can find a way to disrupt UConn as did St. John's and make it interesting, or maybe, just maybe, something more.

Message from President Hall

Thanks, President Hall. I'd like to add that this team has already made me proud.

I don't think I can bag work for this one...
MESSAGE ON BEHALF OF PRESIDENT KERMIT L. HALL

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff and Friends,

Let’s give coach Will Brown and the entire team the send-off they deserve
tomorrow, as they depart by bus from the east side of the RACC (toward
Western Ave. practice fields) at 11 a.m. to head to Philadelphia to
prepare for the NCAA tournament -- the first NCAA Division I basketball
game in UAlbany history.

They face a tough challenge against the University of Connecticut Huskies
as they try to become the first 16th seed to upset a No. 1 in the history
of the NCAA tournament.

Show your school colors tomorrow as we send off the team. We know our
Great Danes will make us proud.

Sincerely,

Kermit L. Hall
President and Professor of History

Philly-bound!

From 2000-2004, we'd go to Vegas for the first two rounds on the NCAA's. During my first trip, in all of my Vegas-induced idiocy, I said to a friend of mine, " the only way I won't go to Vegas for the tournament is if Albany ever gets in." Well, I'm Philly-bound, as I got a ticket through the school. Woohoo!

Tentative itinerary:
Wednesday night: train to NYC
Thursday: bag work and school and watch games at Scruffy's all day and all night.
Friday AM: hop the train to Philly, arriving in time for the early games.
Friday PM: watch the games somewhere in Philly and then head to Wachovia Center.
Saturday: Pogues in NYC at the Nokia Theatre!
Sunday: Back to Philly for the Albany-UAB matchup!

Now that's a weekend! I love graduate school!
This season has cost me a small fortune, and its been worth every penny!

Good story:
I'm on the uptown campus today, headed towards the library. I look behind me and recognize a kid who I met on Friday waiting for the student tickets. We start talking about the UVM game and about UConn. As soon as he says, "The last thing I wanted was UConn," I look up and Levi walks right by us. Levi and I talk for about a minute, I congratulate him and thank him for all he has done for the school (no, I didn't mention that I have a UAlbany basketball blog). Levi looks at me like "this guys is nuts," thanks me, and moves on. As soon as he walks away, a buddy of mine walks out of the library, sees me, raises his hands and yells, "I'm going to Philly!" We scream bloody murder for a few seconds before my phone rings. Its a friend of mine calling to tell me Will Brown was just on Mike and the Mad Dog. All of this in the span of two minutes. Wow-- Danes fever!

Per USA Today, Albany's odds of winning the Tournament are 1 sextillion:1. I'll put a 5-spot on that and put Vegas out of business. Only Oral Roberts has worse odds, at 5 sextillion:1. Think Northwestern in the Rose Bowl-- and Northwestern lost only because the fix was in!

Also in today's USA Today were the Academic Progress Rates (APR) scores for all basketball programs in this year's tournament. Compare Albany's very respectable score of 957 to UConn (889), BC (917), Cal (921), Florida (903), Iona (913), Marquette (918), OSU (911), GW (941) and UCLA (915), and the school looks very good. Good work, team. The average basketball team score is 927.

Gotta' start looking at my brackets, but I will say this-- as far as seedings and at-large berths are concerned, the selection committee did a ridiculously poor job.

Be on the look out for the Will Brown interview on ESPN News. Great, great interview. Coach gets about 5 minutes. Wow-- that's pretty darn good for a 16-seed!

A Few More Pictures...

Pictures and Thoughts from the Championship Game

March 11, 2006
UVM 67, Albany 80
21-10
America East Conference Champions and an automatic bid to The Dance!!! Though a day later, still feels pretty cathartic just to type that.

I've been going nuts the last week...Congratulations to the entire team and the fans. Just for kicks we decided to check out the line for the student tickets. Unbelievable turnout, but also an unbelievably bad job by the University. With those winds and that number of students, there was no reason why the school couldn't release those tickets much earlier. The last thing the school wants is 1000 drunk and overtired students either throwing a riot or about to fall asleep.

From my vantage point in the student section, the school should be ashamed of themselves. No riots. No throwing up in the aisles. A little name calling. And you call yourselves a party school? You have nothing on West Virginia students.

A fantastic atmosphere-- I wish I could storm courts for a living. Here are some pictures from the game. More pictures, thoughts about the game, and the UConn matchup in a bit. I have to try to do work. That's a joke.

The team really saved its best for last. The team put on a terrific all-around performance in a game that wasn't close. The team gets out to a fast start, bombing away and shooting 58% in the first half.

For now, enjoy some of these. More pictures to follow shortly-- I can only upload a few at a time:

UVM

I want to say, "Finally," but we still have 24 hours. However, this day is gonna' fly and noon tomorrow will be here before we know it.

Our last home game. We've watched the team play and we know what they have to do against Vermont, so this will be short. A few things:

Best of luck to the team.

WIN & DANCE!!!!

RIP, Kirby. One of my favorite non-Mets players of all-time. Its sad to think and what happened to him, post-baseball. As a player, though, he really was one of the best of his generation, and a lot of fun to watch. He saved his best games for the biggest ones, which is what you always want from your players.

I loved Boeheim's rant in defense of McNamara, as its great to see coaches come to the defense of their kids. Boeheim's right-- that team would not have won 10 games without him. McNamara takes a lot upon himself and has a few bad games as a result, but he does always plays hard, and its unfair to criticize him.

UVM
They are still the champs until someone beats 'em. Lonegran deserves a lot credit here. UVM's offense is an utter eyesore-- its like watching Hoosiers on quaaludes or something. However, it works and the team is playing very well, and UVM beat two very good teams up in Binghamton, so they will be ready for this one-- no matter how raucous the RACC.

Coach Brown and his staff's biggest job of the season now becomes making sure the team remains composed and relaxed throughout this game. Early in the season, the team played tight and struggled as a result. This is just like the last UNH game-- we're the more talented team and with a week to prepare, UA should be fine-- as long as the team stays focused and poised.

Of course the team turned a corner, but this is obviously unchartered territory for us, and as far as I'm concerned, UVM has an advantage in the intangibles department as a result. A quick start is key-- maybe a few plays and easy baskets to Zo down low should do the trick, along with some early defensive pressure. Combined with the noise, hopefully this pressure will rattle Trimboli, which is a big key here. We need to force Trimboli play a game like he did when he shot 4-12 against us, not 6-9 and 4-4 from 3-pt land. Let Mike get his 12, but make him have to earn each and every one of those points.

Last weekend in Binghamton, Trimboli dribbled though traffic during the entire Binghamton game, which, according to a UVM fan with whom I spoke, has been a problem for him all year. Hopefully, Lucious, Jamar and Brian will be able to put the clampdown on him and give Mike fits today.

In the first half of the Binghamton game, Vermont ran a number of plays where Trimboli would penetrate and then kick out. I'll credit Walker here-- Binghamton was ready for this was able get a couple of steals this way, which helped Binghamton get out to such a big early lead. I don't think guarding the kickout is a big key to the game, just something we might be able to capitalize on, as did Binghamton.

Obviously, a huge key here will be rebounding, as Lonegran will probably try to once again jam up the middle with his big men. Holm and Klimes are two of the better big men in the league, and that means Zo needs to stay out of foul trouble. Any minutes Connelly and Covington get are going to be that much more important, and we'll need 'em on the boards.

The last time these two teams played at the RACC was one of UAlbany's best performances of the year, and with a week off, there's no reason to think that we can't play as well, if not better.

Again, best of luck, team. Dance Contest Winners!!!

Christmas in March?

I ripped out my vocal chords in Binghamton and have two tests this week. Plus, there's work, which is almost impossible at this point. Right now, I feel like the guy on the Bud Light commercial trying to work to 5:02, ON A FRIDAY!

Shout-out of the week to UVM for beating Binghamton (my new Georgetown of the '80's), and not because we get to play them instead of Binghamton. Thanks to UVM's victory on saturday, no Binghamton fans stuck around to watch our game to root against us, making life a bit easier for the team. That being said, we weren't crazy about the fact that the Albany section made more noise for UVM than their actual fans.

Actually, it would've been sweeter beating Binghamton for a third time for a trip The Dance-- don't mind typing it now that it can't happen.

One last thing about Bingo-- what's up with all this "safety school" nonsense? That's all I heard from Binghamton fans over the weekend. BU is a great institution, but do you think I wanted to go to school in that POS town? Then there's all the crying about the officiating. Officiating was brutal all weekend, and Albany's Public Enemy #1 who has been killing us all year also officiated the UNH game, so I don't want to hear it.

The Bearcats were spotted a 15-point lead at home, primarily thanks to UVM's careless ballhandling and unconscious first-half shooting from Andre Heard. I will say this about Binghamton-- Heard is an awesome player, and Gordon plays tight D. However, BU blew a large lead and lost a close game against a team with no true ball handlers, so BU Zoo, you have no one to blame but the team-- and the fact that Hermenier was out.

After a great day of hoops on Saturday, we made it to Ruby Tuesday's in time to catch the tail-end of UNC's whuppin' up on Duke on Senior Day. Would've loved to see JJ and Admiral Akbar cry (no, not really), but I guess that'll have to wait until the Sweet 16.

Not sure if the AE does an All-AE tournament team or not, but as of right now, both Brent and Lucious have got to candidates. Lucious continued his fine play and ridiculous 3-point shooting on Saturday, dropping 22 on 8-14 shooting, 5-6 from the arc. On Saturday, Lucious only scored 7, but shot an efficient 3-5 from the field.

Brent had a very solid two games and probably one of the finest all-around weekends of any player in the tournament. In Friday's win, Brent shot 5 of 8 for 12 points, had 5 assists and 3 steals. On Saturday's game, Brent shot 7-8, good for 16 points. When I have time, I'd like to see how Brent performs after getting a prolonged rest, becuase he seems to always play well after a layoff. Hopefully a good omen for this weekend!

UA shot 58% v. UMBC! No one in our conference is gonna' beat us when we shoot like that. We simmered down v. UNH, shooting 49%, but it was still a higher percentage than in our previous two matchups against the Wildcats.

The most obvious difference in the team's play over the weekend was how well they passed the ball. The team always made the extra pass, without over-passing. This helped the team get a lot of good looks down low and open shots on the perimeter. Against UMBC and UNH, the team had 15 and 16 assists respectively, against 12 and 9 turnovers.

Some of the crew were nervous about another UNH matchup. All things being equal and based on our recent play, however, we were gonna' win that game by double digits. By Aall things being equal, I mean a neutral court (although we had the fans on our side thanks to Bingo's loss) and equal rest(actually a little more). I'd like to think the same about this saturday.

That isn't to take anything away from a good UNH team that is going to only get better under Herrion's guidance.

At one point in the second half of the UNH game, Siggers takes a 3 from the top of the key. A few people put up the field-goal signs in the air as usual, but I also noticed coach Brown doing a mini-field goal with fists clenchde from the sidelines before the three went down. That's having confidence in your players, and while that is a no-brainer at this point in the season, its good to see coach display little bit of that confidence during the game. Or, maybe the shot just looked good from his angle.

I apologize to anyone sick of seeing my name mentioned on the UA website or in the TU. I'm not proud of it. However, I have places to be, I take CDTA, and couldn't handle thinking that there could be 100 people waiting in line already. The funny thing is, the tickets I bought were mostly for my friends coming to town. We may have to do this all over again on Saturday, not that I mind one bit. I have a backup ticket just in case. No more media, this time, though. Give someone else a chance.

AE Tournament-- Some Initial Thoughts...

Just got back from Binghamton and I am way too tired to even start writing about the games. Just want to congratulate the staff and team for two terrific all-around performances. I'd also like to thank all of the fans who put up with our constant yelling and general lunacy for 6 games. We had a great time watching all four games yesterday, and by midpoint of the UNH-Hartford game, thanks to the help of some bacardi orange and coke, we were downright certifiable. It is true, "America East fans smoke the rock!"

Highlights were many, among them: listening to the UMBC and Boston University pep bands, the UMBC dance squad, and cheering the team and the coaching staff during the UNH-UH games. Much more later. Thanks again.

AE Tournament

To everyone traveling to Blinghamton-- drive safely and have a great time. Hope to see ya' there. We're in Section 101, with the rest of the Dog Pound!

If anyone has any good suggestions re: Bingo, feel free to pass 'em along. One of my best firends went to school in Binghamton, and when I asked him today about the good bars and restaurants, he told me bluntly, "there are none."

Was just about to compare Jamar's stats to Adeleke's, and then I read that Jamar got POY. Congratulations, Jamar! Adeleke had a great year, and it would not have been awful if Kenny won. I actually thought he would. However, its been a lot of fun watching Jamar turn it on and take his game to a different level when his team needed him the most. You start thinking to yourself, now its time, sorta' like watching a good horse run, whose just biding his time, waiting for a hole to open up to blast right through. OK, I'm getting a bit carried now. I'm pretty excited about the weekend, that's all.

I can live with Harrison as COY, though I am disappointed. After all, Harrison and Hartford looked done after starting the year 2-6 in conference play. Ostensibly, Harrison did a nice job turning the team's season around, and was obviously recognized for this. However, UH still finished 9-7 in conference play, good for fourth place. However, UH was right in the middle of the pack with a 4 other teams. Why not give the award to Lonegran with a depleted UVM squad or to Herrion, whose UNH team was picked to finish last.

They all did great jobs with their teams, its just that no one team or coach did anything to separate themselves from the pack. Even if the conference is down a bit and the Danes were picked to finish first, gooing 13-3 in conference is pretty darn good, and Brown should have been recognized for this accomplishment.

How's this for coaching-- get the ball down low to Adeleke.
Actually, now that I think about it, this pick is completely lame.

Its a joke that if all the top seeds hold serve, Binghamton will play the 12:00 game on Sunday. Half of the arena will have a 10-minute commute home while everyone else will have hours to travel. Binghamton should not be rewarded with prime time-slots because they are hosting the tournament. I would argue that is the exact reason why Binghamton should not have 2 twelve o'clock games. Yeah, I'm a bit chippy today.

As I've mentioned to a few others, doesn't Al Walker remind you of the bad coach from "The Karate Kid"? "Yes, Sensei!"

Friday/Saturday Games and Amateur Prognostications
Stony Brook v. UMBC
Stony Brook has lost 8 in a row and has basically fouled out of the America East for the year. Stony Brook has lost 8 in a row, with their last win coming over a month ago on the Island v. UMBC. UMBC has lost 4 in a row. In a game like this, I like the team with the most dominating player, and that player is here is Zito.

Maine v. Bingahmton
Part of my political platform will be to give the state of Maine its own athletic conference-- for their sake and the rest of the country's. Who in their right mind, not related to anyone on the Black Bears, is driving 600 miles for this bloodbath? Binghamton has beaten Maine twice by a combined 36 points. Now Binghamton has 3 wins over Maine by 54 points. At least. Go, Maine!

UVM v. BU
Actually have to think about this one. Fans will be able to see two future AE stars in Hassan and Trimboli go after each other. I have to admit, I like Hassan in this one. Trimboli is a nice player, but he's a little too careless with the ball, at least from what I have seen. Another good matchup will be Klimes v. Gardner. BU comes in winning 3 in a row, including an uncharacteristic 84-71 victory over Hartford last week-- it usually takes BU 5 halves to put up 84 points. Vermont gave Albany fits in our first game, and I expect Lonegran to employ a similar strategy and force BU to hit their shots. Vermont's fans travel and although BU has won both contests by a combined 7 points, I like UVM to pull a minor upset here. If i'm betting here, I'm taking the under and the points.

Albany v. Someone
Jamar dazzles and Albany cruises.

UNH v. HartfordTwo surprises in what should be a good one. Janev and Adeleke should be fun to watch. Despite UNH's 3-point shooting ability and success at the charity stripe, I don't think UNH will be able to stay with Hartford's guards, who are peaking at the right time.