Albany Message Board

jackson_supersooner said:
Most seem pretty confident...hmmm
Click to expand...

Are you surprised ? Any mid major will feel confidant against us to be honest. They've also been there a couple years in a row and put up a good fight each time. Hopefully our guys are hungry enough and will fight like we've seen here at the end of the season because if so we win this one going away.
 
For our guys, I think this first one will be the toughest ... just because we've had the monkey on our backs so long. 6 years since our last NCAA tournament win. That's a long drought for a University like OU.

Winning this first game will have the added benefit of lifting that weight. And we don't have to play ISU in the second round.
 
I didn't see a lot of over-confidence on that board. Most of their fans seem to be realistic in saying that their team got a tough match up in the first round. I noticed that one of their fans posted a link to OUHoops.com. Maybe we'll get some visitors next week, so we can learn more about the team OU will be facing Friday night.
 
AdaSooner said:
I didn't see a lot of over-confidence on that board. Most of their fans seem to be realistic in saying that their team got a tough match up in the first round. I noticed that one of their fans posted a link to OUHoops.com. Maybe we'll get some visitors next week, so we can learn more about the team OU will be facing Friday night.
Click to expand...

Agree. They have a lot to be proud/confident about. This is their third year in a row in the Big Dance and they have what is universally thought of as the best story in the tournament. But they seem pretty reasonable/realistic at the same time. I'm especially impressed at how many are trying to figure out travel plans to Columbus.

I hope they do come over and discuss.
 
Well I just tried to register over there and it told me my gmail address was not accepted by the community. Anyone else tried to register over there?
 
I didnt think they were overconfident either. They were mostly concerned about going to the game.
 
Odd that some of them are worried about us liking to grind games out. We never want to do that if it can be helped. I hope we speed them up and win this one comfortably. I am sure they will give us a game though. I hate slow paced teams.
 
Friday will be a game where if OU can impose their will early, it won't be that difficult but if Albany plays well early, it'll be a dog fight.

Unfortunately, I am betting on the latter, OU hasn't made life easy on itself this season, despite its high seed.
 
OU needs to take them out early, if its a close game at the end, I do not like OU chances to win.
 
Last edited:
I guess I'm seeing different posts. Many of the talking of sweet 16 appearances...more then losses to OU. I guess I just think that's pretty confident to think anything besides the game at hand for a team getting 13 in Vegas
 
Hi All! Long time Albany fan here. This is a long post. I hope you read it all and enjoy it!

First I just want to say that I don't think any Albany fan is confident that we will win this game but do know that it CAN happen. Very small chance but you never know. The talk of sweet 16 came from a prediction from bleacherreport.com. Trust me, I don't think anyone on our board is confident that we are making the sweet 16. It's a pipe dream but WHY NOT US!! :) haha.

A little history. This program only went D1 in 1999-2000 season and by 05-06 season was in the tourney. In our four appearances in the tourney since 2006 we've played Uconn (#1 seed) very tough (up 12 half way through the second half), got killed by Virginia (#4 seed) in 2007, played Duke (#2 seed) close in 2013 and last year won the play in game vs Mt. St. Mary's before a quick turn around to play Florida (#1 seed) close until we ran out of gas.

I don't know much about the OU team this year other than a few games I've watched and stuff I've read the past day or so. What are the real strengths of the team this year? Up tempo? Rebounding? Seems like you got a couple good 3 point shooter. Is that a specialty? Anything would be great.

For Albany, we have 2 guys who made the 1st team all-conference (PG Singletary, F Sam Rowley), 1 second team (G- Peter Hooley - our leading scorer before leaving to attend to his ailing mother for a month), 1 third team (G - Ray Sanders - he was also on the all-defensive team). Those four are our best players. Richard Peters, who was an OU commit at one point, will start at center and play tough but not an option on the offensive end. Some people claim he is still not fully healthy from a terrible hip injury he had a couple years ago. Dallas Ennema (yes, that's his name) can shoot the three and a good long defender against guards. He will start over Hooley but Hooley will get the bulk of the minutes.

If you haven't seen the highlights from our game on Saturday, here is a link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLVnJATyYig

AMAZING moment for Peter Hooley, this program and the fanbase. I was at the game and it was one of the best I've ever attended. It's something like this that can either propel a team to a big upset (my hope :) ) or drain them from the emotions. Peter was voted America's Star on Sportscenter Sunday and will be in studio tonight on the 11pm Sportscenter for an interview as well as tomorrow morning. It's nuts for our program to get this type of exposure and his story truly is an amazing one.

Here is our coach on the Mike Francesa show today. He talks about our team, the champ game and having to face OU.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/mike-francesa/mike-francesa-with-will-brown/

As for the team, we grind, can shoot the three (can't tell that from our 1-10 performance in the champe game), rebounded well in conference and play tough defense. Biggest thing is we find a way to win games.

Early in the season we had some very bad losses. This team has NINE new players which made many think they would be 3rd or 4th or 5th in the conference this year while rebuilding. The first game of the season we almost beat Providence in their home opener and the confidence went up. After that game though they really struggled to gel and find their roles in the offense and started the season 2-6. Then things started clicking big time and won 22 out of the last 24 games including the first 13 conference games. One loss was to Niagara which was our worst loss during that run. Half the team had or was coming off having the flu and a couple players didn't make the trip, including Peter Hooley, our leading scorer at the time. The other loss was to Stony Brook (finished 3rd in conf, was preseason #1, has back to back conf POY) on our home court 2 games after Peter Hooley returned from his mother's passing. It was a tough game because Peter wasn't integrated back into the offense yet and our offense just looked disjointed but still had a 3 to tie it in the closing moments. We did go on to beat Stony Brook in the champ game though. :)

So, that's it for now. Let me know if you have any questions. I didn't join here to talk trash but just to have some fun and learn more about our opponent.
 
Welcome, AlbanyGreatDanesFan! First of all, there is no reason your fans should not be confident about winning. A #14 seed beating a #3 is not unheard of. I'm from that area. My brother graduated from SUNY Albany and my niece goes there. I remember back in 1989 when #14 seed Siena (I think you've heard of them) beat #3 seed Stanford. So, again, there is nothing wrong with dreaming about going to the Sweet 16. Your team was 15-1 in conference play. You also have been very competitive in past NCAA tournaments. I remember when you were a #16 and scared the heck out of #1 UConn. OU better be ready to play.

As for the Sooners, we're a very streaky shooting team. To be blunt, if we connect on anywhere close to 50% of our shots, you don't have a chance to win. However, in many of our games this year, we've shot under 40%. The other night against Iowa State, we were 7-28 from the 3-point line. The key for Albany is to rebound effectively, and I know that's not your greatest strength, but you'll need to do that well to have a chance to win.

We know you have good shooters, and they can definitely keep you in the game. Wil Brown can coach, and if he can keep your guys disciplined and make it a halfcourt game, your chances improve. Most of our fans are smart enough to know that OU has to play well in this game. We also know that the longer UAlbany hangs around, the worst it will be for us.

One thing you will need to be aware of. All of our starting 5 can score, so you can't just pay attention to Buddy Hield (Big XII Player of the Year). We have a pretty good inside game as well, though it's frustrating to our fan base in that it's sometimes under-utilized. Finally, you will want the refs to call things tightly. OU is not a deep team at all, and whistles are our enemy.

You came to the only GOOD OU hoops site, so encourage your buddies to stop over as well. We'll make you feel at home...though trash-talkers are not welcome.
 
Last edited:
OU likes to play up tempo but can certainly play at a slower pace. If Albany lets OU run, I don't see how they have any change. OU has five starters that can all score. Buddy Hield is the best player. He scores in a lot of different ways. Thomas is the best post player and at times is very good in the post. Thomas does not have great range and really needs to be 15 feet or closer. He will occasionally take longer shots but I doubt the coaches like it a whole lot. Spangler does all the hard work and is the best rebounder. Spangler can stretch the floor with his outside shooting but doesn't do it a lot. Cousins is a very good thee point shooter and has taken over games at times in his career. Woodard is a solid point guard that can get to the rim. He is the weakest three point shooter in the back court. He has a pretty good pull up jumper.

OU's weakness is its bench. Frank Booker can be good but probably isn't as consistent as OU fans might like. Lattin is a post player that rebounds, blocks shots and gives energy but really doesn't do much on offense yet. Bennett is a fourth post option. He is a lot like Lattin but probably not as good. Walker is the other bench player. He can probably score against Albany but struggled a bit in Big XII play to consistently score. He was actually fairly productive in the non-conference part of the schedule.

OU is pretty big compared to Albany and the guards rebound well. In Big XII play OU really didn't have much problem with the bigger teams like Kansas and Texas. Personally, I think your bigs are going to have a tough time but that is why they play the games.

OU has played a very tough schedule with non-conference games against Creighton (not that good this year), UCLA, Butler, Wisoncisn, Missouri (not good this year), Tulsa, Washington and George Mason. The worst names on the schedule this year were Southeastern Louisiana, Northwestern State (LA), Oral Roberts and Weber State. OU lost four or five games this season that most OU probably think they should have won (Creighton, Washington, KSU, and KSU). Some might also say ISU because OU was up 20 with 15 minutes to play and lost.

This is the best defensive team OU has had in a while. When they play well, they are excellent on the defensive end. Only six teams broke 70 points on OU this season and one of those games was OT. Four were the games against Kansas and Iowa State (two really good basketball teams). WVU beat OU badly in Morgantown. OU held 12 teams under 60 points and only gave up 36 to Texas Tech, 49 to Oklahoma State, 46 to Butler, 43 to George Mason and 49 to Texas.

When OU gets to the line they are good free throw shooting team.

OU has had more than a couple of games where they played poorly for a half, including Creighton, Washington, KSU, ISU, KU, and WVU.

I agree anything can happen. I have seen plenty of highly seeded teams lose opening round games, including OU.

Thank you for the information.
 
WaymanFan, Thanks for the detailed response and encouraging words. I know Coach Brown and the players will be confident and have already said they are going there to win, like they have every other year.

One thing Brown and staff have shown is they scout and build game plans very well that play to their strengths. Last year against Florida they switched defenses constantly throughout the game, which they never do, and that seemed to really fluster them and with 14 mins left the game was tied at 39. It was a tough situation for Albany last year having played a really tough game Sunday on Long Island for the conf championship, then played in the first four late Tuesday in Dayton, landed in Orlando at 4am Weds, had a walk through in a hotel ballroom with a taped down court and then played early Thursday. Coach thought the team was prepared but tired. That and Florida's athleticism showed in the last 10 mins of the game.

Also, I've read in a couple threads here we are not a good rebounding team but have only been outrebounded in 7 out of our 32 games. We were even with Providence who has some good big men. Our guards and bench do a great job contributing on the glass. We average 34 boards a game and our opponents averaged 28. I think we have a shot of holding our own on the glass. Not saying Albany will outrebound OU but hopefully it won't be bad.

We have had trouble defending the three though all season, which I think will play a major role in this game.

Sorry to say but I'm hoping for a really off shooting night after reading your post. haha.

We've played well and been close 3 out of 4 times. Hopefully one of these times it will happen!
 
Last edited:
DenverSooner, Thanks for the detailed information!

MercedeSooner said:
lol I still love Francesa.... especially when callers keep asking him when he's gonna fall asleep on the air again.
Click to expand...

That is the BEST. I actually don't listen to his show anymore but today I did. I actually called in today for the first time EVER to talk about the Albany v Stony Brook game. That was fun although he is a bit of an @ss.

jackson_supersooner said:
AlbanyGreatDanesFan great to have ya on and welcome!
Click to expand...

Thank you!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
SEC+/YouTube.tv Issue
Replies
11
Views
274
skyvue
skyvue
C
Pre-conference analysis
Replies
3
Views
105
BoulderSooner
BoulderSooner
Sooner Season
Friday night tickets
Replies
1
Views
566
BoulderSooner
BoulderSooner
M
SEC+/YouTube.TV Question
Replies
4
Views
166
MsProudSooner
M
OkieTC
Next years potential returnees?
2
Replies
33
Views
760
Skeeter1
S
Back
Top