[reeder]

Will Walker be given a chance at Binghamton? Does he deserve to be given a chance?

I don't know his contract situation, but he loses his two best players for next year - so is next year a rebuilding year? Are Milne, Gordon and Hailey the building blocks for Binghamton to contend again in the AE? Are there incoming recruits that are going to contribute right away?

I just look around the league and see a lot of changes and I'm curious about Binghamton:
Albany - just gave Will Brown a 5 yr extension

UNH - Herrion did a great job last year, proved he was a very good tactical coach - will be successful if he can improve the talent level

Vermont - Lonergan made it to the finals after UVM lost all their starters.

Stony Brook - forget the coaches name but he just got an extension, makes a boatload of $ and has a great recruiting class. Clearly the AD has a lot of confidence in him

Maine - Woodward did a good job this year without Kevin Reed. Will have a very good team next year

BU - Wolf isn't going anywhere unless he wants to or unless they move to a bigger conference. They were competitive this year even though they only had 2 players that contributed offensively.

Hartford - Hiring a new coach

UMBC - Don't know what's going on with Monroe

Binghamton - 2nd place during the regular season, lose in semi finals. Best facility and fan support in the league. Loses 2 best players - not sure about incoming class.

Can Binghamton basketball keep up with the other sports - Volleyball went to the tourney, Lacrosse is ranked, WBB was pretty good this year.

Thoughts?

 

[dpinzow]

Will Walker be given a chance at Binghamton? Does he deserve to be given a chance?

I don't know his contract situation, but he loses his two best players for next year - so is next year a rebuilding year? Are Milne, Gordon and Hailey the building blocks for Binghamton to contend again in the AE? Are there incoming recruits that are going to contribute right away?

I just look around the league and see a lot of changes and I'm curious about Binghamton:
Albany - just gave Will Brown a 5 yr extension

UNH - Herrion did a great job last year, proved he was a very good tactical coach - will be successful if he can improve the talent level

Vermont - Lonergan made it to the finals after UVM lost all their starters.

Stony Brook - forget the coaches name but he just got an extension, makes a boatload of $ and has a great recruiting class. Clearly the AD has a lot of confidence in him

Maine - Woodward did a good job this year without Kevin Reed. Will have a very good team next year

BU - Wolf isn't going anywhere unless he wants to or unless they move to a bigger conference. They were competitive this year even though they only had 2 players that contributed offensively.

Hartford - Hiring a new coach

UMBC - Don't know what's going on with Monroe

Binghamton - 2nd place during the regular season, lose in semi finals. Best facility and fan support in the league. Loses 2 best players - not sure about incoming class.

Can Binghamton basketball keep up with the other sports - Volleyball went to the tourney, Lacrosse is ranked, WBB was pretty good this year.

Thoughts?

Next year will be very telling, but I'd guess Walker has the remainder of his contract to win a conference title. Our AD doesn't come off as the impatient type, so only time will tell on Al Walker's status.

I know Albany fans seem to be very impressed with Hailey (because he went off for two big games against UA) but Hailey had a terrible year shooting the basketball. A lot will hinge on whether he can return to his freshman and sophomore form.

Gordon looks to be the best we've got on the perimeter, and if he can improve as much in his junior year as he did in his sophomore year Bing will have a fine floor general.

Milne's got tremendous potential in this league, but needs to rebound and defend better. Once he can take care of business on the defensive side of the ball he'll be one of the best bigs in the league. I can see Milne becoming a terrific low-post scorer next season as long as he can learn good defense and avoid foul trouble which plagued him some as a freshman.

The one other player to watch for is Steve Proctor, as good a perimeter defender as anyone in the league. Part of the reason Jamar Wilson struggled against Binghamton in their second meeting was because of Heard and Proctor shadowing him all over the court.

Bing will suffer in their non-conference schedule but I see them maturing a lot later in the season. I can't see them finishing 2nd in '07 (if they do, Walker DEFINITELY gets COY). Third is as high as I can see them, and 5th-6th is more probable.

 

[reeder]

The one other player to watch for is Steve Proctor, as good a perimeter defender as anyone in the league.

Good point with Proctor, I thought he was pretty impressive as a shooter as well during the tournament.

I know Albany fans seem to be very impressed with Hailey (because he went off for two big games against UA) but Hailey had a terrible year shooting the basketball.

I was actually disappointed with Hailey during the tournament - I think it was the Vermont game where he put up 2 shots from about 23 feet when it wasn't necessary.

Milne seems to be more comfortable on the perimeter - I didn't see him as much as others so it may have just been the the games that I saw.

 

[Urban Barrister]

Speaking first about the team's chances next year, it seems like Binghamton is consistently underrated year in and year out. While it's true that they've lost two key players to graduation in Heard and Hermenier, players like Milne and Proctor definitely have the potential to step in and fill their shoes, and I think both Dwaynes (actually a Dwayne and a Duane) have the potential to contribute more next year.

As for Walker, though he takes plenty of abuse on this board, keep in mind a few things:

1. Overall, Bing has been more successful than any of the other four newest members, since joining the AE.

2. Is you assume the pre-season polls are reasonably accurate, then he's found a way to get his teams to overachieve just about every year in the league. (Last season, as an example, I believe Bing was pegged to finish 5th.)

3. A friend told me just last week that Walker's program has a 100% graduation rate since moving up to D-I. I'm sure the AD and administration are well aware of that, as academics are paramount at Bing.

4. He runs a very disciplined program. By and large, Walker recruits good kids who are willing to work hard, day in and day out. Nick Billings was the closest thing to an exception the program has had, in that he wasn't a very hard worker, but he was still a good kid and didn't get into any kind of trouble while at Bing. (Moreover, my guess is that if Nick wasn't a 7 footer, he never would've wound up at Bing in the first place -- when you're at our level, you tend to make exceptions to your general recruiting philosphy for 7 footers.)

For these reasons, unless and until there comes a year when Bing is the odds on favorite to win the league and its NCAA bid (as Albany was this season) and then fails to do so (miserably, not by losing to, say, the 2nd or 3rd place team, in the conference finals), I think Walker probably has a job at Bing for as long as he wants to stay - and I don't think that's a bad thing.

 

[dpinzow]

Speaking first about the team's chances next year, it seems like Binghamton is consistently underrated year in and year out. While it's true that they've lost two key players to graduation in Heard and Hermenier, players like Milne and Proctor definitely have the potential to step in and fill their shoes, and I think both Dwaynes (actually a Dwayne and a Duane) have the potential to contribute more next year.

As for Walker, though he takes plenty of abuse on this board, keep in mind a few things:

1. Overall, Bing has been more successful than any of the other four newest members, since joining the AE.

2. Is you assume the pre-season polls are reasonably accurate, then he's found a way to get his teams to overachieve just about every year in the league. (Last season, as an example, I believe Bing was pegged to finish 5th.)

3. A friend told me just last week that Walker's program has a 100% graduation rate since moving up to D-I. I'm sure the AD and administration are well aware of that, as academics are paramount at Bing.

4. He runs a very disciplined program. By and large, Walker recruits good kids who are willing to work hard, day in and day out. Nick Billings was the closest thing to an exception the program has had, in that he wasn't a very hard worker, but he was still a good kid and didn't get into any kind of trouble while at Bing. (Moreover, my guess is that if Nick wasn't a 7 footer, he never would've wound up at Bing in the first place -- when you're at our level, you tend to make exceptions to your general recruiting philosphy for 7 footers.)

For these reasons, unless and until there comes a year when Bing is the odds on favorite to win the league and its NCAA bid (as Albany was this season) and then fails to do so (miserably, not by losing to, say, the 2nd or 3rd place team, in the conference finals), I think Walker probably has a job at Bing for as long as he wants to stay - and I don't think that's a bad thing.

I totally forgot about Dwayne and Duane!!! :banghead: :banghead:

Duane James has the heart of a lion...no doubt. He needs to develop that mid-range perimeter jumper (15-18 ft) to really give opposing bigs headaches, as he's undersized against virtually any other AE post player.

Dwayne Jackson possesses tremendous talent and looks to be the x-factor next year. If he develops a better perimeter shot (3-pt range) he can actually start next year at the wing, move Proctor over to the off-guard and allow Walker to use Hailey off the bench for instant offense or to spell Gordon at the point (although I don't see Al playing it that way).

I'm very concerned about depth...this team is VERY thin at present.

About the overachieving part...I remember when I posted Brian Moritz's predictions from the Press and Sun Bulletin. He picked the Bearcats fourth, and most of the board was calling him a homer, overly optimistic, clueless, etc. If Moritz's prediction was the most favorable to Binghamton out of all the AE predictions published, then the Bearcats wildly overachieved this past season by finishing one game out of first and three full games ahead of third.

 

[Patch]

1. Overall, Bing has been more successful than any of the other four newest members, since joining the AE. - dpinzow

Lets be careful - Bing got out of the gate quicker, but UA has flown by them.

UA finished ahead of Bing in the AE standings each of the last 2 seasons.

UA has 1 Conference Championship, Bing 0

UA has 1 AE Tourney Championship, Bing 0

UA has 1 NCAA appearance Bing has????????

Bing is definitely ahead of the Brook

BU has hosted the Tourney (big time home court advantage, especially with the infamous disappearing ZOO) and couldn't even parlay that into an appearance in the finals.

 

[dpinzow]

Lets be careful - Bing got out of the gate quicker, but UA has flown by them.

UA finished ahead of Bing in the AE standings each of the last 2 seasons.

UA has 1 Conference Championship, Bing 0

UA has 1 AE Tourney Championship, Bing 0

UA has 1 NCAA appearance Bing has????????

Bing is definitely ahead of the Brook

BU has hosted the Tourney (big time home court advantage, especially with the infamous disappearing ZOO) and couldn't even parlay that into an appearance in the finals.

That wasn't me who originally said that (Bing being more successful than any of the other four new AE members)

 

[olddog71]

Urban Barrister,

I think you make many valid points, although Al Walker isn't the most popular coach in the AE.

 

[Urban Barrister]

Lets be careful - Bing got out of the gate quicker, but UA has flown by them.

UA finished ahead of Bing in the AE standings each of the last 2 seasons.

UA has 1 Conference Championship, Bing 0

UA has 1 AE Tourney Championship, Bing 0

UA has 1 NCAA appearance Bing has????????

Bing is definitely ahead of the Brook

BU has hosted the Tourney (big time home court advantage, especially with the infamous disappearing ZOO) and couldn't even parlay that into an appearance in the finals.

I stand by my statement. Up until last year, Bing was significantly better than Albany. Your program was terrible.

Last year, you guys finished a game ahead of us in the standings, and we beat you in the tourney. I'd say that makes the teams pretty even, so the season is a push.

This year, you were the better team (though not by as much as we were better than you in your first few years in the AE) and you won the conference title and tourney. Break that down into as many parts as you'd like, and it still adds up to being better than Bing for one season (and, again, not by all that much).

None of this is meant to take away from Albany's accomplishments this past year, which clearly were impressive. But one great season doesn't outweigh all the others. If Albany keeps winning for another couple of years (and does better than Bing in each), then it's a different story.

 

[Urban Barrister]

To be clear, though, I meant "successful" in the broader sense of the word. I understand how someone could interpret "successful" to mean the titles you've won, rather than the number of games you've won or a team's overall competitiveness. Obviously, if the only criteria is how many titles/conference tourneys you've won, Albany has been more successful.

Old Dog: I'm definitely not trying to claim that Walker's the most popular coach in the league. Clearly, he's not, though it's odd that he's as hated by so many as he is, given his performance.

 

[olddog71]

UB,

No offense taken. And I meant to say that Walker has overcome some obstacles despite his lack of popularity with the fan. It was actually meant as a compliment.

And your points about the relative strengths of our two programs during our short Division I history are accurate. In our first years of conference play, I used to dread playing against Binghamton. You can't imagine how happy I was when UAlbany finally beat Binghamton this year in Binghamton. It was like another monkey off our backs.

 

[Phyr]

Quite amazing that Albany is 2 seasons removed from Iati averaging 40 minutes a game.

 

[ginzo]

4. (Moreover, my guess is that if Nick wasn't a 7 footer, he never would've wound up at Bing in the first place -- when you're at our level, you tend to make exceptions to your general recruiting philosphy for 7 footers.)

Not to change the subject, but if Billings grew up anywhere in the continental US, he would have gone somewhere much higher than Bing (he was a 7 footer who could outleap basically everyone over 6'5" in the league).