Gooooooooooood evening AU Hoops fans! We won! We won! We got a win! We were victorious! Ah, savor it. Having something other than a zero in the win column. Marvelous. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TEAM!
Ah, effusive joy and happiness concluded, it's time to get back to reality-ville. We won, but it was against an 0-7 team. And it was a very close game, 59-53. There is a lot to talk about in the good column tonight, but there's also some in the bad and ugly. We've also got a piece of news that will come at the end of this entry, and I'll do a very, very quick Speculation Tuesday at the end that will leave you with some questions to think about.
Alright here we goooooo with what should be a pretty long entry!
THE GOOD
Simon McCormack - Simon made his first career start tonight (taking the place of Steve Luptak in the starting lineup). His first couple of minutes were very rough, and he drew the ire of Jeff Jones for mental mistakes and not hustling. After some ever so gentle (JJ is a very tender guy after all) exhortations, Simon got his head in the game and really made a huge difference tonight. He scored a career high 11 points, but more importantly he got 5 rebounds (3 of them offensive). Those 3 offensive rebounds were key because he scored off of each one. He showed a lot of hustle (per usual) and didn't give up on plays. One criticism I do have for Simon is that he can't just go into the lane, toss up some kind of messy reverse layup, and expect it to constantly go in. Minor criticism on what was otherwise a great game.
Nick Hendra - Another very solid night for Nick Hendra. Shooting from the field could've been a little bit better (just 3-9 from the field and 2-6 from 3) but the 12 points he chipped in, including the free throws that iced the game were very valuable. He also showed he can be a good leader on the floor, like when tonight at one point he waved off Danny Munoz, took the ball up the court himself, and then got it to Danny in the lane for a layup. The 6 rebounds Hendra pulled down were also solid.
Riley Grafft and Stephen Lumpkins - They both played well enough to probably deserve their own entries, but this one is already long and they're no strangers to the good column. Here's the combined line: 9-15 from the field, 7-11 from the line, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 25 points. Fantastic, per usual. Great game guys, you're a force inside and it's getting better every game.
Team free throw shooting - 21/27 from the line. Pretty good, especially when you make 8 straight in the last 90 seconds to ice the game.
Team rebounding - Outrebounding the Bison 30-19 was a big help. Shows good effort. A+
Team defense - Very much improved tonight. Great job keeping the opposing team in front of them. Great job not fouling (only 15 on the game).
Honorable Mentions: Daniel Munoz, Jeff Jones's tie (which was "dapper" according to two contributors)
THE BAD
Turnovers - 16 is still too many against a team like Howard.
Steals - We gave away 9 versus picking up only 4.
Blake Jolivette - I like Blake, I think he's aggressive and he pushes the ball well. I'm glad he's starting now. With that said, I've got some issues. He's not a consistent scorer; I can live with that. Tonight though, he didn't play well against the full court press, he picked up his dribble too early and immediately got surrounded by defenders, held onto the ball too long, and got yelled at by Jeff Jones quite a bit. Blake is improving (as is his counterpart Daniel Munoz) but games like tonight are rough. Both of them lose their handle on the ball way more than I'm comfortable with seeing.
Dishonorable mention: Mike Bersch (he didn't get enough minutes tonight to justify putting him here)
THE UGLY
The first half - What a miserable first half. It was so painful to watch. Poor shooting by both sides. Sloppy play. It was miserable.
Three point shooting - 2/10 from behind the line. Luckily, Howard was equally ugly, shooting only 3/14.
The last thing for the ugly column tonight is that we had to claw tooth and nail for a win against a team that, quite frankly, was pretty bad (and 0-7). I feel like we played down to the level of our competition tonight. If we have to struggle to beat a team like this, there's going to be a lot of games coming up (like Georgetown this Saturday) that are going to be ugly.
And nowwwww... SPECULATION TUESDAY!
Big news tonight in AUHoops land tonight folks. Multiple sources, including some close to the team, the fact that he has been removed from the roster, and the fact that he was in street clothes and not on he bench tonight, have indicated to us that Josh Snodgrass will transfer from AU and go to another school. This isn't particularly surprising; Josh hadn't played a single minute this season despite being arguably the highest touted recruit in this class, and he will probably go to a school where he will get a lot more play time. Still, this is, I think, a big loss for AU. It will be a big, big loss for AU if Josh goes to a different Patriot League school. I'll try to do some digging tomorrow to find out some more information on this story, but for now what we do know for sure is that Josh Snodgrass is out from the AU basketball team.
I have some other questions to think about for tonight:
- Where does Troy Brewer fit into this situation next year? He's a 3-star recruit with a reputation as a long-range sharpshooter, which the team doesn't have right now except for Bersch. Is it possible that he could be the starting 2 guard next year over Hendra? Have to try to see some video from him to see how his handle is.
- What's Jeff Jones's state of mind like with this team? We're seeing a much less active Jeff Jones over this homestand than we're used to. He's been sitting more than I've seen at all in the past two years. He looks frustrated and at a loss for words at times. This is only going to get tougher over the next 5-6 games. Better watch Annie or something, JJ, and put a smile on that face.
- This isn't really an AU basketball question, but it is a speculative question. Is it really necessary for Bender Arena to have so much security staff for this game? Attendance for tonight was a little over 1,000, but there were like 15 security guards. The fans in a mostly empty Bender aren't particularly rowdy and, while the security guards are friendly for the most part (at least to me), they don't do much for the atmosphere, especially the ones that, as a friend of mine says, "Look right through me or stare at me accusingly." This has been raised before, but I wanted to bring it up again.
- Finally, is it ever possible that we will have 1/10 of the traditions at Texas A&M? In the comments section of this entry, in addition to whatever you have to say about the rest of this entry, write what kind of traditions either 1) you wish AU had or 2) AU once had (when you were a student) that we don't have now
Great win tonight, guys. Congratulations. Keep fighting.
Thanks for reading!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Tradition we finally have: dedicated bloggers
ReplyDeleteTradition I wish we had: Winning, and not just of two years, something like Villanova or UConn or even the hated Georgetown, the ability to field a team year in and year out that makes the Tourney.
ReplyDeleteAlso: School spirit. I love Blue Crew and the Pep Band, but I want the whole campus camped out to get into Bender like Duke does or the whole campus waiting to watch the team practice for Midnight Madness like St. Joe's. Not everyone just wearing a Blue Crew shirt because they were free.
Also, the greeks should sit with the Blue Crew. No more of this letting them sit in their own section, they should be with the real fans and students in the Blue Crew section.
Tradition I wish we had:
ReplyDeleteBetter cheers. No more "You can't do that!" or, "Fun-da-mentals!" or the worst of them all, "They called a foul on you... they say you touch too much!"
Maybe we could replace the first two with a clear, concise, "You ate paint chips!" (When a player makes a blatant error/lapse in judgement, and just scrap the "touch too much" chant?
Traditions/Additions/Revision:
ReplyDelete1 - A Football team.
2 - a new fight song.
3 - the president v. president shoot-out should be chronicled and televised. :)
1) A better fight song. Every time I hear it I want to grab a bowler and a cane and sing mamie.
ReplyDelete2) We should play the alma mater whenever we win.
3) We should have lights around the eagle statue that when we win the Eagle is illuminated Red, White and Blue. (or something like that)
4) We should have AU spirit days, where everyone dress up for game day around campus. If you're seen wearing a blue crew shirt, you get some type of treat.
5) A game day flag that we can fly the day of the game with the blue crew logo.
6) Mascot Derby with the other teams mascot.
Also one more thing - We had this a few years back, but a DC tournament would be great. AU, Howard, GMU, Maryland, GW, Gtown. A class of the A-11 to borrow something from WAPO would be very cool.
ReplyDeleteThese are all good, or at least, most of them are. Football isn't happening, Vidulicious. Send your friends to the site and have them post their suggestions too. I know there's a lot of contempt and ire floating around out there about AU's lack of traditions, let people come here and voice what they want to see!
ReplyDelete1) A better hall of fame website for those in the Atheltic hall of fame. It seems simple, but our current one is beyond terrible, and you don't build tradition without history.
ReplyDelete2) Have campus wide competitions at games. North side wears blue, south side red, but we're all AU. That sort of thing. Maybe Republican vs. Democrat (I know how that would turn out too). If we get ranked as most political, we should embrace it. Sometimes it seems like the athletic dept doesn't know what school they work for.
3) A big ol rock to paint. Many schools have it, it's not original or clever, but it allows teams to paint it up when they have a big win, not only providing a symbolic victory for them, but lets people walking by know of the great things being done by AU athletes.
4) Not really a tradition thing, but I've never, ever, ever felt really welcome coming into Bender. The cheerleaders are good to have as welcomers, but they're good is combated by glut of surly security people and unattached athletics personnel. How are students to be excited when the people that work there aren't?
I guess I should kick in one of my own ideas since I'm asking everyone else for theirs. I really think we need a statue that student groups can decorate for particular occasions; i.e. Halloween, Thanksgiving, but also for particular events, like for Founders' Day dress it up in a nice suit for going to the Ball. On game days, dress it up in the uniform of the team that's playing. Entrust the statue to the senior class to maintain and supervise. I think this would be a great senior class gift. Oh, who would it be of? Any number of people. Hurst comes to mind, but I'll leave that discussion to Marc. Don't know why we don't have this now, I imagine cost is an issue. I also imagine the administration dragging their feet about approving it and its placement.
ReplyDeleteWe should start selling beer at games.
ReplyDeleteEvery time that vein near Jeff Jones' receeding hairline starts to throb, DRINK!
One of the traditions that The University At Albany had was a "torch" night. It started at our opening convocation when the President of the Senior Class took the torch of knowledge and gave it to Freshman class, the Freshman class was then presented with thier banner that they would rally around at games and events. And then at Torch night when that Freshman Class were now seniors they would take the light and share it with the junior class and pass their banner on to the Alumni President as they now joined the Alumni family.
ReplyDeleteAlbany sucks. Is it true that Snodgrass might go to either Colgate or North Florida?
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting on confirmation about potential schools. As of right now I can't confirm and don't want to potentially impede the transfer process for him. I'll let you know as soon as I can.
ReplyDeleteAlbany may suck, but at least it doesn't blow like Binghamton. If only there was a UA/AU basketball game to show who was better....
ReplyDeleteWhy not dress up the Moai?
Too remote. No one ever goes over there, except for illicit purposes. It should be something you HAVE to pass a lot, like right by MGC. Southsiders would never get over to the Moai.
ReplyDeleteA few things from AU's past may also be worth reviving:
ReplyDeleteWhen there was a large campus gathering someone would blow a trumpet from the steps of MGC and people would literally leave class to come and see what was going on. I doubt we'd get students to leave class, but maybe have all the students gather on the quad before heading into Phil Bender as a huge group.
They would also sound the trumpet to signal the start of a freshmen vs. sophomore football game. Certainly this isn't suggesting starting a full varsity team, but it would be nice to have something that engages entire classes like that. Especially near the start of the year, the freshmen class would certainly make a big showing.
Update on Garrison Carr:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ridiculousupside.com/2009/11/19/1165876/thunderbirds-waive-bullock-carr
Thunderbirds Waive Bullock, Carr, Kortovich
The Albuquerque Thunderbirds have waived Garrison Carr, J'Nathan Bullock and Brian Kortovich. Bullock spent some time away from basketball to try out for the NY Jets. Carr was the Patriot League player of the year a few years ago and made 45 percent of his threes as a senior.
"I doubt we'd get students to leave class, but maybe have all the students gather on the quad before heading into Phil Bender as a huge group."
ReplyDelete+1 to this idea. Let's not stop now, keep them coming folks. Athletics ideas, general ideas, everything.
I really like the trumpet & statue ideas. Also the beer idea, although its clearly unrealistic for our campus.
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned it, but I've always thought it was silly for Greeks to sit elsewhere and wear their letters. It not only looks disjointed, but further promotes the idea that the "Greek kids" are separate from the "other kids." They should wear blue (get blue letters!) & sit & cheer in the student section like everyone else.
Probably also impractical, but can we have a real bald eagle? Claude is cute & all, but I just don't think he (she?) has the same intimidating effect.
I'm pretty sure they are endagered and wouldn't survive on our campus.
ReplyDeleteI think Clawde nees a wife. Joe the Bruin has a wife. Or since this is AU Clawde needs a husband.
We also need cheer leaders who LEAD cheers
Actually, I thought bald eagles were endangered too, it turns out they're not. They're actually delisted and classified as "Least Concern."
ReplyDeleteWikipedia knows all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle
Joe the Bruin is still cooler.
ReplyDeleteTraditions are created by those who show up. They don't just happen when someone comes up with an idea and says "here's what we're doing." More often than not, it is organic, which makes it something the student body can be proud of and want to keep alive.
ReplyDeleteThe stands need to be full every game. At that point, who cares where greeks sit? If everything is full, then everyone's working together and traditions will inevitbly brew.
Marc, are you referring to the old hall of fame website (was there even one?), or the one on the new website that debuted earlier this semester? I agree though even the new one could be nicer, it looks a bit like an after thought and we do have a lot of basketball history that people just don't know about. For example, did you know that the boxer Ron Hearns (son of an even more famous boxer) played two seasons of basketball for AU?
ReplyDeleteAlso I completely agree that they need to make Bender a friendlier atmosphere, the security is WAY too much.
HUGE agreement that a new fight song would be nice, but you know what, if everyone actually learned and sang the current one, it wouldn't sound so bad. Some of the best and most well known ones are really corny when you think about them, but they're iconic. I just wish there were more forums for students to learn the fight song, I know athletics is making a push for it this year, which is great. I wish I was taught it at orientation, like they do at other schools. Also, great idea to play the alma mater when we win. The only thing less known than the fight song is the alma mater.
Also, Clawed needs to get out around campus more! No one ever sees him! I know the admin has an issue with him in places where classes are held (yes, this includes MGC), because he is a "distraction." This needs to change.
For what it's worth, I agree on the security.
ReplyDeleteI had an eaiser time getting into the game in purple, gold, a crazy hat on an AU ID then I do when I come in dressed in my Pep Band uniform on an AU ID.
What's wrong with that picture?
I think we're lucky to have Ben Kessler (SP?) as our mascot, he really gets engaged and really makes it fun. I for one would not mind if Clawde Ben stopped by my class.
Just so everyone knows, every single one of these ideas has been directly piped to the Blue Crew leadership and some of the more immediately feasible ones will be presented to the athletic department very shortly. Thank you!
ReplyDeletehave the cheer leaders do a push up for every point we win by?
ReplyDeletegood luck getting the amplified sound permit from student activities for the trumpet. just sayin'
ReplyDelete