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.
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.
posted by L3K at 8:25 AM
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