Posts Tagged ‘Albany’

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The Will Brown experience: Albany head coach’s press conferences are worth the price of admission.

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

I’ll admit it: I’m a Will Brown guy.

I respect the hell out of what he’s accomplished on the court in his ten years at Albany; turning around the worst program in the country and taking the Danes to back to back NCAA’s. But it’s more than that: The guy is the best quote in the league.

Albany’s head coach since taking over on an interim basis during the 2001-2002 season, Brown currently stands as the longest tenured head coach in the America East, but still hardly looks – or sounds – the part of “elder statesmen.”

The road that took him the youngest head coaches in all of Division I basketball, to present has been a long and winding one to say the least.

Ten years ago, Brown was charged with simply bailing water to try and keep arguably the worst program in all of Division I afloat. During his first few seasons, the Great Danes were handicapped by the 5-and-8 rule (which limited schools to only bringing in 5 scholarship players in one recruiting class and a maximum of 8 over a 2 year span). (more…)

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Big Purple Brawl: First place Stony Brook knocks out Albany in phyisical battle.

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

(Albany, NY) — When push comes to shove, the Stony Brook Seawolves are going to come out on top.

“They’re going to win most street fights in this league,” said Albany head coach Will Brown of Stony Brook.

In an incredibly hard fought and physical game, the Seawolves relied on clutch shooting, a deep bench, and a lot of contact, to emerged with a 76-69 win on the road against Albany, remaining alone atop the America East standings.

“They’re the best defensive team in the league, the best rebounding team in the league and the toughest team in the league,” said Brown. “They imposed their will on us.”

David Coley scored 17 points on 8-9 shooting, Bryan Dougher added 14, Al Rapier had a 10 point 12 rebound double-double, and Anthony Jackson scored 11 points in 10 minutes off the bench.

“A lot of guys stepped up and made big plays on the road, which isn’t easy to do in front of a sell-out crowd,” said Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell.

Stony Brook shot 53.1 percent from the floor (26-49) and 56.3 percent from behind the arc (9-16), and out-rebounded the Great Danes 34-32, the 13th straight game that the Seawolves have out-rebounded their opponents. Stony Brook held the Great Danes – The league’s best offensive back court – to just 5-22 from behind the arc.

Nine different players scored for Stony Brook, as the Seawolves bench outscored Albany’s 23-4.

“I like my bench, I trust them; they can really shoot the ball. They give us a different dimension coming off the bench,” said Pikiell.

Albany’s three-headed back court monster of Gerardo Suero, Mike Black and Logan Aronhalt combined for 51 points, but had to work for every single one of them.

“They out-physicaled us,” said Black.

“It was definitely the most physical game we’ve played all year,” added Aronhalt.

Playing before a sellout home crowd of 4,538, the game (Albany’s “Big Purple Growl” for winter homecoming), had a post season feel. 60 minutes before tip-off, bass blared from the overhead speakers. Both teams rocked the rims with high-flying dunks during lay-up lines, and the floorboards shook beneath the fans. The noise was deafening. (more…)

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Stony Brook 76 Albany 69

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

(Albany, NY) — The first place Stony Brook Seawolves registered 76-69 road win over the Albany Great Danes to remain alone atop the America East conference standings.

“We’ve played every team in the league, and they are by far the team that I’m most impressed with,” said Albany head coach Will Brown.

Played before a raucous capacity crowd of 4,538, the game was an incredibly physical, hard fought battle.

“It’s always a war when we play them and tonight was not different,” said Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell. (more…)

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Busted Brackets: Sam Perkins sounds off on the hyped up nothing that is the BracketBusters, but he’s still jacked-up for one match-up

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

The match-ups for the ESPN BracketBusters (to be played the weekend of February 18th and 19th) were announced today, and the America East (other than the lovely spin/hype job released by the league office) let out a collective yawn that reverberated around the league.

ESPN first launched the BracketBusters tournament in 2003 with the goal of capitalizing on the buzz of promising mid-major programs that could “bust brackets” during the NCAA tournament by upsetting power-conference favorites.

In its first year, the ‘Buster featured a select field of only 18 teams – the “best and brightest” of the mid-majors – that were viewed as having the best chance at shaking up The Big Dance.

Two years later, the America East broke into the ‘Buster, as Vermont – pegged during the preseason by both ESPN the Magazine and Sports Illustrated as a Cinderella in the making, and followed during the season and featured on ESPN’s documentary series “The Season – squared off against Nevada.

2005 was a great year for the AE, as the UVM/Nevada tilt was viewed by many as THE game of the BracketBusters and was featured during a prime-time timeslot on ESPN. UVM eventually fell to a Nevada team featuring several potential/future NBA-ers, but Taylor Coppenrath, T.J. Sorrentine, and the rest of the Catamounts took the heavily-hyped Wolf Pack to the wire.

The Catamounts exposure garnered even more national interest in the program, as a new legion of fans followed the Catamounts through their “Upset City” victory over 4th seeded Syracuse in the NCAA tournament later that year (arguably the greatest win in America East history).

It was everything that the BracketBusters was supposed to be: A showcase of the best of the best of the mid-majors, generating publicity and hype for teams that would later shake up the NCAA tournament.

Then it all went terribly, terribly wrong: Big-time advertisers got involved, ESPN tried to cash in on every single last dime, nickel and penny, and the tournament got so morbidly obese, twisted, and corrupted that virtually every mid-major in the country is now involved. (more…)

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The Will to Win: Albany star Gerardo Suero doesn’t show up, BU star D.J. Irving does, powering Terriers to big conference win.

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

(Boston, MA)–Prior to tip-off Monday night, the question on the minds of many was: just how would the Boston University Terriers defend Albany and prolific scoring wing Gerardo Suero?

But no defense the Terriers could have drawn up would have been half as effective at stopping Suero as Suero himself: The junior college transfer played without the fire and effort to even compete, and virtually took himself out of the game.

“He just wasn’t there today, he just wasn’t in it,” said Albany head coach Will Brown of his offensive catalyst.

Point guard D.J. Irving powered the Terriers to their fourth straight win in conference play, as BU shot a season-high 51.1 percent from the floor and topped the Great Danes 70-57. The Terriers held the Great Danes, who entered the game second in the conference in scoring at nearly 75 points per game, to 18 points under their season average.

“This is the first game that we haven’t scored enough points to win, since our George Mason game,” said Brown.

The win re-established BU as one of the top contenders for the America East crown, only weeks after the Terriers looked dead in the water, losing seven straight.

“Our guys really did a great job in the game plan. I thought we played like a very good team for most of the game,” said BU head coach Joe Jones.

Irving posted team-highs of 17 points and 6 assists, tied a team-high with 3 steals, and caused general mayhem on both sides of the ball.

“D.J. Irving is their best player – he’s terrific,” said Brown. “They’re at their best when he [Irving]’s got the ball in his hands, and he’s getting guys shots.” (more…)

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In other news, Gerardo Suero likes shooting free throws

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

In case it’s not clear how absurd the rate at which Gerardo Suero draws fouls is, consider this:

Gerardo Suero has attempted 136 free throws in 14 games.

Let’s assume that he continues to draw fouls at the same rate (which, while regression may play a factor, is a reasonable assumption considering the general quality of AE defenses and the whistle-happy AE refs). Let’s also assume Suero stays healthy and his playing time remains the same. He would then play in at least 17 more games (15 AE regular-season games, the BracketBuster, and one AE tournament game).

Over a total of 31 games, that projects to 301 free throws. Let’s round down to 300 for a nice, even number. (more…)

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America East Recap, 11/15/11

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Gerardo Suero is the real deal; the Stony Brook Seawolves (at least for now) are not.

No. 5 Syracuse 98, Albany 74
Syracuse was too big, too strong, and too athletic for the Great Danes, but that didn’t diminish the game of Gerardo Suero. Only three games in, it’s become apparent that the first-year JuCo is the real deal. Albany fell to the fifth-ranked Orange in the second round of the NIT, but Suero once again lit it up against a nationally ranked team, scoring a game high 31 points, to go with six rebounds and four assists. Suero was 9-of-16 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line. The 6’5” wing continued to attack the hoop with reckless abandon, as the Orange could not keep him out of the paint. Through three games, two of which came against nationally ranked teams from the Big East, Suero is now averaging 25.7 points per game on an eye-popping 59 percent from the floor, while averaging 13 free throws a game. It begs the question: if Suero can do this against the Big East, how in the world is anyone in the America East going to stop him? Logan Aronhalt was solid with 20 points, and point guard Mike Black added 10.
(more…)

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Top Dunks: 81-90

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Sam’s countdown of the top 100 America East dunks of the past season continues, as Air Brenton Airlines takes flight, the America East throws down on the game’s biggest stage, a wide load rattles the backboard and a lay-up line superstar gets his moment to shine.
(more…)

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Filien out at Albany

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Multiple sources close to the situation have confirmed that the University of Albany has terminated the contract of assistant coach Pat Filien. Filien had served as an assistant to head coach Will Brown for six seasons and had previously been an assistant at Vermont for five. Although his name is still listed on Albany’s roster, Filien was reportedly relieved of his duties in March, shortly after the completion of the Great Danes season.

Few coaches in America East history have been a part of as many NCAA tournament teams as Filien, who went to five NCAA’s in a row – three with Vermont from 2003- 2005 and two with Albany in 2006 and 2007. However, after establishing themselves as one of the conference’s premier programs with back-to-back NCAA appearances, including a near-upset of No. 1 seeded UConn in 2006, the Danes returned to the middle of the America East pack, with recruiting taking much of the blame.

Filien is unanimously regarded as a “great guy” in basketball circles and no one at Albany will say a single negative thing about him as a person. However, Filien’s struggles as a recruiter and the lack of development of Albany’s big men have been cited by several sources as the reasons for his termination.

The ineffectiveness of recent Great Dane frontcourt players was particularly surprising considering that Filien held a much-deserved reputation as one of the best big men coaches in the league. At Vermont, Filien helped develop three-time America East Player of the Year winner Taylor Coppenrath as well as the late Trevor Gaines (a First-Team All-Conference selection as a senior), and seemed to do wonders in his first season at Albany, as 7’1” project Kirsten Zoellner transformed into an impact player. Both Coppenrath and Gaines credited Filien with their development. However, with the ineptitude of Albany’s low-post play for the past five seasons, as well as Filien’s struggles in recruiting (“He’s a great guy – we all love him – didn’t bring in one impact player in six years,” said one source), Filien was relieved of his duties.

Moving forward, Brown could look to bring in a new assistant from outside the program, or it is also possible that assistant coach (and former UNH Wildcat) Jeremy Friel and Director of Basketball Operations and former Great Dane Player Brent Wilson will each be bumped up; Brown would then search for a new “DOBO.”

As for Filien, there appears to be an opening at Brown, where Filien could re-unite with Bears head coach Jesse Agel, a former Vermont colleague. Wherever he winds up, OBW wishes him the best of luck, as he is a terrific guy and will be missed greatly.

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The show must go on: Chris Martin refuses to lose, powers Stony Brook past Albany, 67-61

Sunday, March 6th, 2011


Standing at center court, Chris Martin closed his eyes and reflected back on the past five seasons. Martin thought about the long hours he spent in study halls, the longer sessions he spent in the training room, and the longest car rides of his life. During the past five years, Stony Brook’s bruising guard has been through more personal growth, adversity and tragedy than most will ever experience in their entire lives.

Martin came to campus in the summer of 2006 with such a poor academic background that he was not allowed to practice with the team or even be listed on the official roster. He will graduate in May with a Masters degree. He set foot on the hardwood as a kid who Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell describes as a “talented kid from Christ the King High School who didn’t want to work hard, and I don’t know if he even liked basketball,” and has become a kid who you would have to kill to get off the court. Martin came back from two separate major knee injuries during his senior season to be on the court Saturday. (more…)

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