Siena Preview

Saturday, 7pm
Knickerbocker Arena/Pepsi Arena/Times Union Center
Albany

My prediction, as part of the Times Union contest:
Albany 79, Siena 69
Jamar scores 26. Haddix scores 15.

Re: the idea of the two teams playing twice a year, as suggested in Friday's Times Union.
I don't like it. Personally, I would rather play another OOC school than play Siena twice. This year's OOC schedule is a very good one, and there's no reason to believe that UA cannot continue to schedule games against other quality opponents.

I do not mind the the game is always held at the Pepsi, either. Per Siena's website, however, the team averaged 6,500 a game in their heyday. In recent years, that attendance has slipped a bit. Albany is a program on the rise and the team's improvement has helped spark attendance figures for this game in recent years. The university should be justly compensated.

Thanks largely in part to Albany's recent success, more than 10,000 seats have already been sold for this highly anticipated matchup between Albany and Siena, as the two schools battle it out for the TIAA-CREF Albany Cup. I mean, of course there has to be a corporate sponsor. In football, Union and RPI play for the Dutchman Shoes Trophy. Siena and Albany play for the TIAA-CREF Albany Cup. If its any consolation, at least TIAA-CREF provides "financial services for the greater good."

As a point of reference, 8,641 fans attended last year's meeting between the two schools.

I have yet to see Siena play this year, but I still follow the team. A few things just from reading the paper and looking at the boxscores:

1. Siena has a tough time rebounding
Through 5 games:
v. Stanfraud, outrebounded 44-22
v. Holy Cross, outrebounded 43-22
outrebounded Dartmouth, 36-28
outrebounded New Jersey Institute of Technology, 39-33
outrebounded Hofstra 37-26

2. Siena does not shoot the "3" well. Same 5 games:
'Fraud: 5-14
HC: 3-8
Dartmouth: 3-12
NJIT: 3-18
Hofstra: 2-11

Hopefully these are weaknesses that UAlbany will be able to exploit. Michael Haddix is a fine player and has returned strongly from two bad injuries. However, listed at 6'6", Haddix is not particularly big. Maybe UA will collapse on him in the post and force Siena to try and hit a few shots from the perimeter. Siena will have to hit their perimeter shots to keep Albany honest on the defensive end. Despite Haddix's proven ability, Siena also gets significant contributions in the frontcourt from 6'7" freshman, Edwin Ubiles (G/F, 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds), 6'5" freshman, Alex Franklin, (11.2, 5.8), and 6'7" senior, David Ryan (8.4 points, 4.2 rebounds).

Siena also features a host of young guards, and a big key for Siena is seeing how will they respond to the atmosphere of a near-sellout this evening. Last year as a freshman, Kenny Hasbrouck had 14 points on 6-12 shooting in 39 minutes. However will the aforementioned Ubiles, Will Franklin and Ronald Moore, all freshmen and each averaging over 20 minutes of action a game, all remain as composed? Either way, I like our chances with Jamar, Siggers, Lillis-- and maybe some defensive help from Ross-- to disrupt their youngsters.

Siena does a good job of forcing turnovers and getting steals. Albany has allowed 53 points off of turnovers in their last two games. To win this game, Albany is going to have to do a much better job of protecting the basketball against Siena than they have done in their last two losses.

Albany 71, Sacred Heart 90

November 21, 2006
William H. Pitt Center
Fairfield, CT
Record: 2-1

If a tree falls and no one hears it does it make a sound? What if your basketball team gets smoked and no on sees it? Unfortunately, the same does not apply for our Danes tonight, as Sacred Heart rolled tonight in front of a whopping 516 spectators at the William Pitt Center on the Sacred Heart campus. Fans with 7 bucks and a compatible PC were able to watch the game through the SH website. I have a Mac, so I didn't even have the chance to plunk down the scratch to watch-- just listened to Tobben's call. Good call, as per usual, but man, did that place sound dead.

Even without Jason's scoring as he got into early foul trouble, we still put up 71 points. However, scoring was not the issue tonight-- defense and turnovers were. In the first half, Sacred Heart had 15 points off of 9 turnovers (I think), compared to 3 points off of 3 turnovers for UAlbany.

In the BPF chat room (plug), everyone, myself included, commented that Sacred Heart just couldn't keep shooting as well as they did in the first half. Oops. Its only three games into the season, but this is the first time this season UA did not put the defensive clampdown on an opponent in the second half. Sacred Heart shot 44.4% from 3-point land in the first half, 44.4% from 3-point land in the second half, and a whopping 67% from the floor in the second half, as well.

Though it seemed like SHU did most of their damage in the first half with the three-point shot, the Pioneers also had their way with us inside as well, outscoring the Danes 34-20 in the paint for the game, despite the fact that UA outrebounded Sacred Heart, 36-25.

No one on Sacred Heart had a monster game-- they just had a bunch of players with solid games and 6 guys who scored double-digts.

This is how it sounded on the radio-- anyone who saw the game might think otherwise.

Some positives:
Brent had his first big game of the year. He shot well, blocked a shot, took a charge or two, and finished the night with 29 points. It seems like when Brent gets in the mix early as he did tonight, he's gonna' have a big game.

Connelly continues to contribute nicely. Against SHU, Brian shot 3 of 4 from the floor for 6 points.

Jamar and Lillis both had nice games, scoring-wise, but together they combined for 9 turnovers-- almost twice as many as Sacred Heart's entire team.

In the TU, coach Brown referred to the Sacred Heart game as a bit of a trap, and he was right about that.

I'm going to take the glass is half-full approach here and chalk this one up to looking ahead to Pukon and being lulled to sleep by an empty gym-- not that this is any excuse.

Hopefully Brett Gifford, sick with the flu, will be ready for UConn. We're sure going to need him against Hasheem Thabeet and his 23 blocks on the year.

Delaware 67, Albany 87

November 17, 2006
SEFCU Arena
Albany, NY
Record: 2-0

Watching Big Board Sports on Thursday night, I saw a report that Jamar may still be suffering from the dehydration issues he experienced during the Bucknell game and may not be 100% for the Delaware game. Well, you sure as heck could have fooled me, as Jamar was scintillating tonight, leading all scorers with 33 points on 10-15 shooting, including 10-12 from the line. Jamar also had 6 assists to 1 turnover and had 3 steals in 38 minutes. With the exception of the 5 straight points by Brent Wilson to start the 1st half and a second-half scoring flurry by Jason Siggers to start the second, it seemed like all we heard tonight over the loudspeaker was, "Jamaaaar Wilson."

The first half was very entertaining to watch. Delaware's much publicized 3-point shooting woes v. Marist seemed a thing of the past as the FBH's hit 5-9 from beyond the arc in the first half. With just over 7 minutes left in the 1st half, Brent drained his second 3-pointer of the evening to snap a 20-20 tie. From that point, the Danes never rally looked back as they went on a 23-12 run to close out the half, extending their lead to 43-32 at the half.

Jason Siggers took over in the early stages of the second half of the game, singlehandedly going on a 9-0 run to in the first 2 minutes of the second half to extend Albany's lead to 50-32. In that span, Jason proved his versatility, draining a 3, hitting 2 jumpers, and getting a steal which he finished with a dunk.

Tonight we also saw solid contributions from many of our newcomers. Carl Ross lived up to his billing as a defensive demon, adding 3 steals in just 13 minutes of action. Michael Knight, a player I am starting to like a lot, drained a 3-pointer early to give the Danes a 15-11 lead midway through the first half.

Highly-touted freshman Brett Gifford also scored his first basket of the season, and it could not have come at a more important time. The last 8 minutes of the game were brutal and Delaware actually had a shot to climb back into this game, as they closed Albany's 18-point lead to 12 with just over 4 minutes to play. Instead of cutting that lead to 9 or 10 , Brett hit a nice little jumper at the stripe to put us back up 14. From that point, it was time to play the free throw game...

Personally, I was thrilled to read in the TU how after the game coach Brown spoke to his team about those closing 8 minutes where the team sort of went into a funk. 8 minutes is 20% of the game and if not for a few unfavorable bounces, we all might have been sweating this one a bit more heavily. Gotta' play the full 40.

Statistically-speaking, we probably could not have played a better game. Anytime we shoot 53% from the floor, 43 % from 3-point land and 73 % from the free throw-line, I'm going to like our chances. Just as much, I love seeing how this team continues to make the right defensive adjustments at halftime, as both Delaware's 3-point shooting % and overall field goal percentage both dropped considerably in the second half of play.

Also, before I forget, kudos to the student section. Last year, it took a while before both sections were full. Two games into this season, both sections have been loud and demonstrative, and are going to play a huge role in making the SEFCU Arena z decided home field advantage for the team.

Whaddya' think, AE POW 2 weeks in a row for Albany? Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that Vermont game against BC, so you have to consider Trimboli as well. Also, kudos to Stony Brook for their win over Penn State.

Up next, a Sacred Heart team that dropped 81 on Carolina the other night. Go, Danes!

Delaware Preview

Game: November 17th, 2006
7 PM
SEFCU Arena
University at Albany, Albany, New York

The men's basketball team goes for its second victory of the season tonight and will attempt to join the UA football team with a victory over its Delaware counterparts.

Delaware is 0-1 on the year, coming off of a 78-62 loss against a talented Marist team predicted to win the MAAC. A quick glance of the box score from that game tells you all you need to know. Delaware shot a dreadful 2-21 from 3-point land in that game, and 24-63 overall from the field. Ouch. However, if you take away all of of those 3-pointers, Delaware actually shot a very respectable 22-42 (52%) from the floor. If Delaware shoots around 30% (6 or 7 for 21) from behind the arc in the Marist game, which is not unreasonable, they could have been right there against Marist.

Junior forward, "Smokin'" Herb Courtney, led the way for Delaware in the Marist game, shooting 10-23 (1-8 from behind the arc), dropping 27 points and adding 4 blocks to his resume-- not too bad for someone listed at 6'7". Cortney will obviously be the focal point of Albany's defensive efforts. Though the TU says that Connelly and Wilson will handle the defensive repsonibilities here, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Covington in the mix, as well.

Other than Courtney, other Fightin' Blue Hens to watch are the Johnson freshman-- Brian and Darrell, both of whom start. Darrell Johnson (G/F) had 18 points on 8-14 shooting versus Marist in 35 minutes of action. Talk about a debut! Delaware's other freshman guard, Brian Johnson, led the team with 6 assists versus 2 turnovers, 5 rebounds and 4 steals in 39 minutes against Marist. Brian shot 3-12 in the game, including 0-6 from 3-point land.

Based on only one game, it appears that Delaware will rely heavily upon their freshman guards, which is hopefully an advantage the Danes will be able to exploit. Our experienced guards will neeed to pressure their freshman guards into hopefully making bad decisions, which might be easier said than done. Despite a short rotation where only 7 players played over 10 minutes, Delaware had more steals than Marist (9-3) and did a very nice job protecting the basketball, committing only 9 turnovers to Marist's 20.

Delaware will have to take another 15 to 20 3-pointers if the Fightin' Blue Hens hope to win. However, Albany cannot expect Delaware to shoot another 9% from 3-point land. A similar perimter defensive effort as we saw in the second half of the Bucknell game will be key. A couple of early threes on open looks early just might be all Delaware needs to erase a dreadful shooting performance just 3 days ago.

Physically, Albany appears to match up well against this Delaware team. Their tallest starter, Henry Olawoye, is listed at 6'8"; Courtney is listed at 6'7". Center Ralph Madera, listed at 6'10", saw 12 minutes of action against Marist and yanked down 4 rebounds in that time. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a little more action tonight as Delaware was outrebounded 40-31 against Marist. His presence might force us to stay honest on the defensive end.

Bucknell 49, Albany 55

SEFCU Arena
Albany, NY
November 11, 2006
Officials: Richard Giallella, William Laubenstein, Robert Patey
1-0

There's lots to write about...

Earlier in the week, I was simply hoping that we'd play a good game. Frankly, I thought we would lose to a Bucknell team considered to be one of the best mid-major teams in the country, and a team that has received Top 25 votes in pre-season polls.. However, throughout the day I started to feel really good about our chances. I told my friends that if the team was as excited as I, we'd beat Bucknell. I also told them that the team would rally in the second half from a 15-point deficit to win by 3. Pretty close, huh?

I know its a new year, a new team with a lot of new players, but what do you for an encore? Talk about a tale of two halves, and luckily our better half was the second one. Whatever coach Brown said at halftime sure as heck worked, as the Danes rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat an excellent Bucknell team, in front of a reported sellout crowd at the SEFCU arena-- though the place was not quite SRO. Bucknell was also very well represented tonight.

The big story from the game was Jamar's injury. Other than a few "can we redshirt him?" quips, the "'Cue" got real quiet, real quick, when Jamar went down for an extended time in the second half-- though it did appear that Jamar was limping around a little bit in the first half. At the time, I had a feeling Jamar was going to pull a "Willis Reed," which he did and it sorta' made me nervous. Reports state that it was only dehydration, so it appears as if there's no need to be overly concerned at this point.

The other big story was Jason Siggers, who was a man amongst boys tonight. Jason, after missing early on a few ugly 3-pointers, was all over the place and took control of the game, defensively and offensively. The box score credits Siggers with one steal, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. At least that feels wrong. Siggers also had two blocked shots, one from behind where he got some serious air, and a big, big dunk with 30-seconds left in the first half to cut Bucknell's lead to 12, going into halftime.

The game got off to an inauspicious start, as Lillis fouled John Griffin as he was taking a three-point shot. Little did we know this would be a harbinger of things to come, as the Danes really could not stop Griffin, who was nothing short of sensational tonight-- when not popping his shirt like a little punk. Griffin led all scorers with 19 points, but sat for a good stretch during the second half. Upon his return, Griffin immediately popped two three-pointers to bring Bucknell back from a 44-40 deficit to give the Bison a 46-44 lead with 4:30 left in the game.

Another big story tonight was Brian Lillis. Brian-- despite two brutal fouls on 3-point shots resulting in 5 points for Bucknell-- otherwise played an outstanding basketball game. Brian added 11 points on 4-7 shooting, including a jumper, a steal and a three-pointer, all around the 7:30 mark of the second half just after Jamar went down. Brian was also credited with 4 steals on the night.

This reminds me of a point one of my friends up NYC made about the game at halftime-- all of Bucknell's points tonight seemed to come off of free throws, three-pointers and layups. As a matter of fact, I don't think Bucknell made a little 8-12 foot jumpshot all night. Actually, half of Bucknell's field goals were in the form of three-point shots. The key to the game was limiting their 3-point opportunities and points in the paint in the second half, and that's exactly what the team did. Bucknell took three-point shots in the second half to 6, opposed to the 12 they took in the 1st half.

Sure its new team without Zoellner, but remember how we shut down UConn's much-heralded front court in the tournament last year? Yeah, I was afraid of McNaughton, too, but upon retrospect, I'm not so surprised we shut him down. Coach Brown and his coaching staff really teach excellent defense and had a great game plan tonight, using Covington, Connelly, Gifford and Brent to shut down Bucknell's big men-- who are outstanding, athletic, and really, really big.

I was a bit surprised to see Jamar handling the point guard responsibilities. However, this is Jamar's chance to show the country what he's got and he deserves the opportunity. Jamar had six turnovers last night and was out of control on a lot of shots and drives. I know Jamar wanted to make a statement in a big game against a quality Bucknell team, but Jamar has to know team's are going to key on him, and that means he's got to create opportunities for other players. Jamar was active early, scoring the Danes' first four points and early on, it appeared as if he was going to dominate. Jamar finished the night with 11 points on 4-14 shooting and six assists in 28 minutes of action, despite the dehydration issues.

I was sitting a few rows behind the team bench. It was pretty cool hearing coach Brown and the staff encouraging the team in the second half. At one point leading into a timeout, Brown turns to the team as they're sitting downs and yells, "now that's good basketball." Plus, how often does the jacket come off with the sleeves rolled up? The players know he means business when that happens.

One last note-- Gifford looked good once he relaxed and played solid defense. I was thrilled with Covington and Connelly, and Knight looked like he's going to fit in very nicely with this team. All in all, an outstanding all-around effort by the team and coaching staff, and a very auspicious start to what looks like will be another exciting season for the Danes.

The SEFCU center has a much better ring to it than does the SEFCU Arena, huh?
Where was the vendor by the locker rooms? Please put the stand back.

Most importantly-- no letdown against Delaware!