Thursday, February 7, 2008

UAlbany Reads & Reacts and BracketBusters

The Great Danes rallied around a quote from New Hampshire senior forward Mike Christensen and got a good game from pretty much everyone who played to get a solid 80-59 America East victory.

Christensen said something to the effect of the five players the Wildcats had on the floor during their Jan. 3 win, earlier this year in Durham, N.H., were better than the five Great Danes players.

The UAlbany players found the quote taped on their lockers before Wednesday's game and that combined with the fact they felt they owed New Hampshire some revenge from the previous game was all they needed.

"I think our guys had some motivation as well because after the game, our guys saw the quote from Mike Christensen saying (their) five are better than (our) five," UAlbany coach Will Brown said.

The Great Danes held Christensen, New Hampshire's second leading scorer, to zero points on 0-for-3 shooting.

"We really didn't need any more motivation that that," senior forward Brent Wilson said. "We felt like we owed them one."

Wilson was moved from his starters position to the bench and here was his reaction after he scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

"I can kind of sit back and get a feel for the game before I get into it," Wilson said. "That can be very beneficial, I think, personally. I can kind of see, in what areas, I can help the team and go from there."

UAlbany also got a good game from freshman guard Tim Ambrose. Here's what Coach Brown had to say about Ambrose, who added 14 points Wednesday night.

"He's trying his best to be a student of the game. Tim's always had all the natural ability in the world and he's come from a program (Our Savior New American - the same school that Jamar Wilson went too) that has tons of Division I players every year and a lot of times he's been able to go out and just play and not be held accountable defensively...He really wants to be a very good player at this level and there's no reason why he can't be. I think he hit a lull midway through the year, practice-wise. I think he was getting frustrated and he was practicing like our team was playing. He was working, but not really with a sense of urgency. In the past couple of weeks, he's been practicing like it's a game and I think that's helped him a lot too. He's getting more opportunities now, but he's getting more opportunities now because he's earned them."

Amrbose also helps out on the glass, getting six rebounds on a night when the Great Danes dominated their opponent in that category and while he's listed at 6-feet (Brown said his NYS license says 6-foot-2, but he think Ambrose is more like 5-11), his leaping ability allows him to get to loose balls off the glass.

UAlbany has been scheduled to take on Canisius (4-18) in the BracketBusters event on the road on Saturday, Feb. 23.

I'll try to save everyone reading this the long story and some of the confusion about how Coach Brown wasn't very happy with the draw on Tuesday, saying that the Golden Griffins weren't one of the five teams he submitted, when on Wednesday it was confirmed that indeed, Canisius was on the UAlbany list.

I was able to ask Canisius coach Tom Parrotta about the matchup, which will be the first meeting between the two schools, on the MAAC conference call Wednesday morning.

Here's what Parrotta said.

"I don't know much about them. I know Will from our assistant days. Let's face it, every team we play will be a challenge for us, but I do like the idea of playing them on our floor."

Parrotta may be on to something because his team is 0-11 on the road this season, while faring 4-7 at the Koessler Athletic Center.

Siena has handled Canisius twice this year and I think UAlbany should do the same, but then again, that's why they play the game.

UAlbany will look to end their three-game homestand with a third consecutive win on Saturday against Hartford.

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