[NU Hoop Fan]

Albany shot 56% for the game and was up 5 with about 5:30 to go, but NU came from behind with a four point play from Public Enemy #5 (a.k.a. Barea) to jump ahead by one and hold on for a 7 point win.

Iati vs. Barea - this is going to be fun to watch for the next three seasons. They were both in each other's faces all game. Neither lit the world on fire with their shooting (Iati 6-16, and Barea 4-12), but they both wound up with double figures. Barea was 9-9 from the line, most with under 2 minutes left in the game.

Albany can be a tough team to beat when they extend the floor (as they did against UNH and NU, and actually hit their shots - they shot 56% as I said above). They don't rebound all that well, but when their big men (and I use that term liberally) go 11-14, they'll keep games close. Wyatt and St. Hillaire are somewhat undersized, but they have a knack for the ball.

I've seen Albany play two games in a row, and there's some talent there. I thought Wyatt and St. Hillaire could be exploited after the UNH game, but they played a LOT better today against better inside competition.

Bennett Davis played well for NU with 16 points, starting in place of Corn Wright who has a leg injury, but will play against Hartford.

NU played excellent defense on in bounds plays for the second time in 3 games as Albany had at least 3 "5 second" calls on in bounds plays.

Next up for NU - Hartford visits on Wednesday night. Anyone from Hartford making the trip??

 

[Patch]

NU is extremely talented

I knew NU was good but seeing them first hand they are super athletic.

The only thing I don't understand is why Robinson and Davis get so few touches. Between them they got 18 shots but remeber they got 7 offensive rebounds.

Albany had no answer for them.

NU took 25 threes - the ball should have been thrown inside atleast that many times. Against UA many of those missed threes acted like entry passes but against Vt. and BU that may not be the case.

I was very surprised that Barea and Barnes had such a hard time staying in front of UA's 2 freshman guards one who is a walk-on.

If NU shoots the ball well from the perimeter no one in this conference will beat them.

 

[NU Hoop Fan]

Davis gets so few touches because he's been real inconsistent in the paint. This game he really burst into his own. This is the Bennett Davis the coaches thought they'd see most of the season.

As for Robinson?? That's the riddle of the Sphinx this year on Huntington Ave.

Cold enough in the gym for you today, Patches??

 

[Patch]

NU Hoop Fan

Damn straight it was cold enough for me in the gym.

It was so cold I went outside to warm up.

With all the talent you guys have you have to stoop to turning the heat off. I was wondering why you guys had gas heaters by your bench.

Great homecourt advantage.

:rbanana: :banana: :vbanana: :bbanana:

 

[NU Hoop Fan]

Gas heaters by the bench? I sat behind the bench, must have missed them.

I'm told a boiler blew and the University was running on limited heat for the weekend.

I went to practice on Saturday morning and I could see my breath in the gym, that's how cold it was.

 

[lsbal]

Re: Good one

Next up for NU - Hartford visits on Wednesday night. Anyone from Hartford making the trip??

Good One. I'm not sure that the Hartford players are even going to show up...nevermind any fans. All kidding aside if it was on a weekend I would have probably gone but during the week conflicts drastically with my schedule(ok ok actually my wife's schedule for me).

 

[the professor]

Davis got easy baskets today. He hit a 3 early and then got two dunks. His baskets were not off any great moves. Mostly height baskets.

He does have a chance to be good. He seems very soft!

 

[Will]

I saw Bennet Davis play last year and he looks much better this year. He looked like he has lost some fat and put on some muscle. He is still a little soft but a big improvement from when he was at Notre Dame Prep. He should have a good career. He is a legit 6'8, maybe 6'9.

 

[NU Hoop Fan]

Davis

He's been inconsistent, and as Will said, he's gotten bigger (muscle wise) since he played at Milford but he's soft right now.
You're talking about a kid who was a 17 year old playing on a Post Grad team, and then bounced around to a couple of schools after Milford closed.

He's got some talent, but needs to get tougher in order to be a real force in the league.

I didn't see his baskets as "easy" more as he actually was able to work a little to get into position. The dunk was, uncontested at the end of the game, but was quite fun.

He's a good shot blocker, but needs to learn positioning on Defense better.

 

[TCB]

A word on Albany's freshman walk-on guard Courtney Johnson- Johnson is not a walk-on in the true sense. This isn't just somebody they picked up from the local high school. He had a very solid career at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn, in the New York City Catholic League, the best in the country. He was a kid that had gotten some Division I feelers from programs like Towson, but opted for Albany. He was most certainly a scholarship player, and right on the cusp of being a D-I player.

So he is not your average walk-on. Given different circumstances, he might have been playing in the America East or elsewhere in D-I on a scholarship. I have to admit, it was a little bit of a coup for Albany to get Johnson as a walk-on. He's a tough kid who'll be able to contribute for four years. Good kid, too. Nice to see he's getting a chance to show what he can do.

 

[Patch]

TCB - Non Scholarship Player

Please tell me what you call a non scholarship player besides non scholarship player.

Courtney Johnson is a walk on albeit a damn good one, why would he come to Albany if he had scholarship offers to other places? Feelers are not offers they are just contacts.

Who else in the AE offered him?

The staff at UA worked hard to get him and he's a damn good walk on from a real tough HS League. Yes, he is better than some scholarship players in the AE, that tells you something about the UA coaching staff and their abilities. Wait and watch and you'll see a drastic change in the level of player at UA.

St. Hillaire is a pretty decent walk on/ nonscholarship player too.

 

[Long Island Hawk]

Bishop Loughlin produced a good little PG by the name of Mark Jackson.

 

[NU Hoop Fan]

With the 5/8 rules, the definition of a "walk on" is somewhat more vague than it used to be.

Now, the term (as widely quoted on this board and on TV) is anyone not on scholarship. In today's day and age, if a kid pays his own way for a semester, and then gets a scholarship after a semester, because he doesn't count towards the 5/8 until the NEXT year, he's a walk on.

Duke had 2 or 3 of them last year (Lee Melchionnie [I know I botched the spelling] was one of them).

Bobby Kelly at NU is a "Walk on" in the new sense that he came to NU and is paying his own way for a year when he could have gone elsewhere.

Jesse Dunn was a walk on at NU in the old sense that he tried out for the team, wasn't really recruited, and made the team.

 

[Will]

Isn't the "5/8 rule" now the "5/9" rule? I thought it had been switched and I also thought the NCAA was seriously considering repealing the whole thing?

 

[Patch]

NU Hoop Fan

As usual you are on top of things. Some walkons as you say pay their way for a period of time and are promised a scholarship down the road.

At UA Johnson and St. Hillaire have no such promises.

 

[Patch]

Will - 5/8 rule

5/8 or 5/9 (which ever it is) has said to be on its way out for a while but at this moment it's in place.

 

[NU Hoop Fan]

It's supposed to be voted upon this winter/spring by the NCAA. I think it's going to go away, or be modified. The reason certain schools have bench depth problems is that because of the rule, they can't offer a ton of scholarships.

Arizona has a thin bench because of the 5/8 rule, and I'd have to think that some of Albany and Hartford's problems are because they couldn't load up on scholarships at some point in time. NU will have a weird issue next year as they lose 6 seniors but only have 2 or 3 scholarships to give.

I heard somewhere that there over ONE HUNDRED scholarships that are technically "available" to be awarded to D-1 players this year , but due to 5/8 (or 5/9), they can't be awarded. I don't think this was the goal of the ruling.

Patch baby, you should have made a point of saying "hi" if you were at the game yesterday. I was there with the wife and kids. I'll probably be in Albany for the NU/Albany game in February.

 

[Will]

I believe Jermaine Anderson was one those "recruited" walk-ons who has been given a chance to earn a scholarship as a sophomore. Right now, it seems unlikely that will happen, as UNH has too many other holes they need to address.

It seems like a win-win situation for the coaches as long as no concrete promises are made.

 

[Will]

I actually think the 5/9 rule is fine. The 5/8 rule is a little too restrictive.

The good thing about the 5/8 or 5/9 from a low/mid-major perspective is that it pushes some talented kids down from the high majors into the lower conferences. If a Big East or other major school is allowed to fill all 13 spots every year they'll take chances on kids that they know will probably never get off the bench and would be better off going to a lower conference. The 5/8 rule helps spread the talent out a little better.

 

[Patch]

NU HoopFan - hi

I apologize, if I knew you were there I could have gone around introducing myself until I found you.

Cabot is such a small place it would have only taken 5-10 minutes. Actually Cabot (though tiny) is a nice place to watch a game.

Was it me - or did you realize there were two different games being officiated. It might have been my imagination but the first half there was a great deal of clutching and grabbing allowed and in the second half, I think 3 fouls were called against NU in one UA posession. Yet the type of play had not changed.

Its got to be tough as a player when the officiating changes completely at the half. In no way am I insinuating that the officiating had anything to do with the result, because it didn't. Clearly the more talented team won.

I try not to pay attention to the officiating but I did find it kind of humorous.