Helloooooo Eagles fans! Time for a preview of tonight's matchup against the Scooby-Doos of UAlbany. The Just Okay, Not Great, Danes are fresh off a loss to the defending Ivy League Champ Cornell Big Red. The Danes led at halftime and lost by only 4, 65-61. Pretty surprising to go toe to toe with Cornell that way.
Last year, we lost 51-50 to Albany at home. This year, we'll have to hope to take it to them on their home court. Before their game against Cornell, I would've told you it would be easy to do so. Now, I'm not so sure.
I think that Stephen Lumpkins is the key to the game tonight. He'll be matched up against 6'10 240lb red shirt freshman John Puk. Lump is giving up height and size to Puk, but Lump is quicker and has more experience. If we can get an established inside game tonight, I think we can just hammer at them with Tony and Lump and bring a win home.
One thing that should be worrisome for us tonight is the talented guard play that Albany brings. It'll be up to Troy and Nick to really play some strong defense on the perimeter to keep their shots offbalanced and to hopefully force some turnovers. On our side, we need to make sure Danny/Steve have outlets bringing the ball up. With the guards Albany has, we could face some pressure getting it up the floor. Best to make sure Lump or Vlad is near the top of the key until we can get it over midcourt.
The most important thing tonight is the first two minutes of the game. We cannot afford to come out flat and not ready to play the way we did against St. Francis. We need to have our heads screwed on straight from the opening tip. It's one thing to come back against a team in front of your home crowd when you've got a great home court advantage. It's an entirely different thing to try to do the same in a hostile environment.
We'll be liveblogging tonight, per usual. Check in with us around 6:45! See you then!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
While it's somewhat surprising that UAlbany hung tough with Cornell, it's important to note that this is not the same Cornell team that's walked through the Ivies the last 3 years. Gone from the team are guys like sharpshooter Ryan Wittman, who pretty much carried that team to the Sweet 16 last year, as well as 7-footer Jeff Foote, and First Team All-Ivy selection Louis Dale. They also lost last night to Seton Hall, which is, at best, a middle to back of the pack Big East team. Cornell, while probably still one of the best in the Ivy, as a team in transition and can't really be used to gauge the talent level of UAlbany, who are in the process of replacing a few starters themselves. If AU can put together 40 minutes of basketball like we saw in the 2nd half vs. a much improved St. Francis (PA) team, they should be able to take this one in a much less dramatic fashion than Friday's home opener.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a tough game for both UA and AU. Will Brown is due for a good season. UA I think is ranked 4 or 5 in the American East Conference, while AU is ranked #1 in the Patriot League. Frankly, the Patriot League has much better basketball teams. (or at least isn't a conference that imploded like AE did last year over the SUNY Binghamton fiasco)
ReplyDeleteAlso, Since AU will not be streaming the video of the game, and without being able to listen to a good fight song takes away some of the spirit of the game feel free to click on this link each time UA scores:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.albany.edu/spirit/fight_song.shtml
Albany will be missing their top player, soph guard Mike Black, who is out a few weeks with a serious ankle injury.
ReplyDeleteI'll be surprised if AU doesn't win this game easily.
Yeah, I just finished reading about Black on the Times Union page. This is going to be a really hard game for Coach Brown.
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.timesunion.com/collegesports/black-wont-play-vs-american-or-anytime-soon/9036/
If anyone is interested The Albany Game will be carried live on Fox News Radio 980
http://www.foxsports980.com/main.html
AU has a lot of weight to carry for the entire Patriot League this evening. Almost every other PL team is 0-2* right now against Division 1 competition (making the entire League 1-9), so a win tonight would be great, especially as Navy just imploded for a 42-point loss to SUNY Buffalo.
ReplyDelete*Army is 1-1, although their (regular season) win came against Division 3 Vassar.
I'm so glad that the Albany Times-Union can get our nickname right:
ReplyDelete"American, the preseason pick to win the Patriot League, opened its season with a 62-52 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday. Vlad Moldoveanu, a 6-foot-9 senior, led the Patriots with 24 points."
Did they just google Vlad Moldoveanu and forget that he no longer plays for Mason? Seriously?
Also, it looks like Danes big man John Puk might have some trouble with an injured Achilles' tendon. However, I'm not sure if Coach Brown is handling it in the best way...
“He is not going to get better unless he gets rest and, right now, we can’t afford to rest him in games,” Brown said.
The Times Union is not known for being a great newspaper. I prefer the Daily Gazette, but they charge.
ReplyDelete