I'll post this straight from the email I received from the University at Albany. 

"Anthony Raffa, a freshman on the University at Albany basketball team, was granted a permission to speak release today with regard to transferring to another institution and potentially participating in men's basketball. Raffa personally received the document from the compliance office at 1 p.m." 

If I can figure this out, it looks as if Raffa will be able to look elsewhere beginning today. 

The Wildwood (N.J.) Leader is reporting as fact that Anthony Raffa has been granted a release from his scholarship at the University at Albany. 

Anthony Raffa to leave Albany

That would be a big blow to the Great Danes because Raffa started 25 games as a freshman and averaged 9.7 points per game before a toe injury really slowed him down at the end of the year. 

An email from UAlbany Sports Information Director said that the report is speculation at this time. 

It's been an interesting year for UAlbany junior transfer Scotty McRae.

At 6-foot-8, McRae certainly brings a lot to the table in terms of size, athleticism and ability.

This season though has been a rollercoaster ride for the Rosedale, N.Y., native.

McRae has played in 21 games and is averaging 4.7 points per game.

His best game recently came Feb. 9 at Binghamton, where he scored 12 points and grabbed three rebounds off the bench in a 88-75 loss.

McRae was kicked out of practice on Tuesday and obviously things haven't gotten any better as Friday it was announced that he is suspended from the team indefinitely.

That means McRae will miss Sunday's game against Maine at the SEFCU Arena.

Freshman point guard Anthony Raffa (sprained left toe) and sophomore Louis Barraza (right Achilles strain) also will not play on Sunday.

This means that on Senior Day for Jerel Hastings, Brian Connelly and Jimmie Covington, the Great Danes will have just eight players.

ALBANY - Sophomore point guard Anthony Raffa obviously wasn't himself on Sunday, but he still played a significant role.

His 3-pointer after UMBC took a 57-56 lead, their only edge of the second half, was in my mind the biggest shot of the game.

Raffa scored eight points in 21 minutes, but he was in obvious pain with a groin injury on top of a sore ankle and an injured toe.

“I knew I was going to play,” Raffa said. “I guess I wasn’t all the way there because I was still trying to fight through the pain.”

Raffa practiced on Saturday, through what was a long practice and fought through what ended up being a critical win for the Great Danes.

Raffa also said that he felt defensively, UAlbany slowed all-conference player Jay Greene.

“I think me, Mike Johnson and Jerel (Hastings) did a pretty good job on Jay Greene,” Raffa said. “He’s basically their leader and he gets everybody involved and I think we did a good job of denying him the ball.”

While Saturday's practice was supposed to be rough, UAlbany coach Will Brown had this moment of reflection after the game.

“I’ve been part of the problem because I’ve gotten very inpatient with this basketball team,” Brown said. “I don’t like to use excuses, I don’t like to make excuses — if we get beat, we get beat, but I think this team can sense my impatience and sense when I get frustrated and I tried my best tonight, even when they cut it down to one, to relax.”

He then followed later on with this.

“The only thing I asked them since the Stony Brook game, heading into this game, I said ‘All I’m asking you guys give me, is great effort and I’ll work with you,’” Brown said.

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Brown also said he can't wait for Wednesday's game to be over because the team will have eight days off and he plans on making some personnel changes.

“I can’t wait until the Hartford game is over with, so I’ve got a week to slide Will Harris down to the power forward spot, so he can learn our sets,” Brown said. “So I can play him and (Brian)Connelly up front and really cause some problems for teams.”

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Brown also said something that caught my attention.

UAlbany is 9-0 when they score more than 65 points in a game. What's even more interesting is that they are 0-3 when they score 64.

The blog has been quiet over the last few days, but should be picking up as Friday's game between UAlbany and Stony Brook marks a six-game in seven days stretch for both the Great Danes and Siena. 

ALBANY - Freshman Anthony Raffa had one word to describe this week's practices. 

"Tough," the 6-foot University at Albany point guard said on Thursday.   

That was expected though after the Great Danes fell at then last place Maine. 

"I feel like we can't take any more days off," said Raffa, referring to last Saturday's game.

UAlbany (3-2, 11-7) again faces the last place team in Stony Brook (1-4, 9-9) on Friday at SEFCU Arena. 

"I don't look at Stony Brook as being in last place right now," UAlbany coach Will Brown said. "I look at them and what problems do they potentially cause our team and how we can counter that."

The Seawolves are led by two newcomers in junior college transfer Muhammad El-Amin and freshman Bryan Dougher. 

"They're a good team," Raffa said. 

UAlbany has been led since the conference season began by junior Will Harris. 

Harris is averaging 17.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in the five conference games this season. 

"Will Harris can't be the only individual on this team that has any sense of urgency consistently and that's what we've had since Christmas time," Brown said. "We've had other guys that have showed it in spurts, but we need a sense of urgency from 13 guys every minute of every day and that's when we'll become pretty good."

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Something that Brown said on Thursday caught my attention. 

"We've played better against the more talented teams in our league," Brown said. 

In fact, UAlbany has. 

Their three wins have come against opponents with a combined record of 13-6, while their two losses have come against teams with a 5-7 combined record.

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As the resident Philadelphia fan, Raffa was asked about the Eagles loss, on Thursday. 

"We should have got a few penalties at the end of the game," Raffa said. "(Roderick) Hood, who was an ex-Eagle took out (Kevin) Curtis' legs and it should have been a penalty, but it wasn't." 

Raffa said he wasn't blaming the officials, but he thought the call should have been made.  

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As if four overtimes weren't enough for Boston U. on Monday, they used two more on Thursday to defeat UMBC. 

With that said, here are the up to date America East standings.  

Binghamton 5-2, 12-7

Vermont 4-2, 13-6

Boston U. 4-2, 9-9

UAlbany 3-2, 11-7

Maine 3-3, 8-11

New Hampshire 2-3, 7-10

UMBC 2-4, 8-10

Hartford 2-4, 6-14

Stony Brook 1-4, 9-9

ALBANY - The Great Danes' trio of Will Harris, Anthony Raffa and Tim Ambrose combined for 59 of UAlbany's 72 points in Wednesday nights big victory over Binghamton.

At the end of the game this is what UAlbany coach Will Brown said.

"I joked around out there, the (New York) Giants have Earth, Wind and Fire, I guess we have to come up with something for Ambrose, Harris and Raffa," Brown said.

Brown went on to say that he couldn't let Raffa picked the name because he would come up with something like the "Three Paesans."

While the three have been big and I mean big in getting UAlbany out to a 3-1 conference record and 11-6 overall, the program's best start through 17 games, I think we should hold off on the nicknames just for a few more games.

Brown said he was prepared to play 40 minutes of zone basketball, even though he hates it because the Great Danes had to do it to win.

"I can't stand it, but we had to play it," Brown said.

The zone kept the Bearcats out of the lane a lot and forced them to pass the ball around the perimeter.

While Binghamton coach Kevin Broadus didn't necessarily think it was the zone's effectiveness that hurt his team, I think it did give them some issues.

"We were getting lay-ups, we just couldn't make them," Broadus said. "It wasn't the zone that gave us problems, we gave ourselves problems."

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While there was no pushing and shoving, there was some jabs thrown by the fans.

One fan had a sign that read "Broome Country Jail, SUNY Binghamton Annex," which most of the crowd didn't see because that fan was asked to now show it before the game (I believe).

That same fan had another sign that read "Broadus, don't push me too," or something to that affect.

As far as between the two schools, Coach Broadus and Brown exchanged a hand shake before the game and everything was pretty civil between the lines.

"That's a championship caliber team," said Broadus about UAlbany following the game. "Hopefully, it comes down to a third game."

It was a big Sunday in the MAAC and a big Sunday as well for the University at Albany. 

Currently I'm watching the Marist/Niagara game (you have to love DVR) to see how the Red Foxes, Siena's opponent Thursday night, handed the Purple Eagles their first league loss. 

Right now, it seems as Marist did their damage from downtown. 

In a day where all 10 MAAC teams played, four of the games were decided by a combined 10 points and then there was this game that I'm watching

It doesn't even seem as if the game was as close as the 18-point margin of victory suggests. It was 40-19 and the Red Foxes continue to poor it on.  

There were also what I would call two upsets, Marist winning and Saint Peter's sending Jimmy Patsos' Loyola team to 1-5 in the conference. 

Then you have Rider and Fairfield just barely winning games at home 

The Saints are off to what ties their best conference start in school history, 6-0, after fending off Manhattan 68-64. 

Siena continues to get big efforts from players who aren't usually called on to step. Erik Harris' five points in 14 minutes comes to mind kind of like Steven Priestley's effort against Saint Peter's and Clarence Jackson's against Saint Joseph's. 

Meanwhile, UAlbany won for the third time ever at Patrick Gymnasium, and three in a row since the 2007 America East championship game. 

Will Harris has been on a tear since the conference schedule has began. 

The junior transfer from Virginia is averaging 17 points and 9.7 rebounds per game in the Great Danes' three America East games. 

Anthony Raffa continues to impress - he led UAlbany with 22 points and the Great Danes held Marqus Blakely to just 11 points. 

Overall, it was a big day for Siena, who's in first by their lonesome and UAlbany who will play in a first place showdown against Binghamton on Wednesday at SEFCU Arena. 

Okay I know it's a day after Christmas, but The Blog has decided tonight (it's the sixth night of Chanukkah) to give out some gifts.

Siena senior Kenny Hasbrouck - a 2007-08 Siena highlight tape and a bottle of aspirin. Hasbrouck has struggled more than anybody thought he would so far this season. Maybe watching some clips from last year, when he completely dominated the opposition, including a 30-point performance in the big NCAA Tournament victory over Vanderbilt, will settle him back down. As for the aspirin, Hasbrouck has seen more double teams this season than LeBron James and been the focus of opposing team's defense. His health is certainly a concern as the season progresses.

UAlbany freshman guard Anthony Raffa - full body pads. The way Raffa has played the first 12 games of his college career, he'll be lucky to make it through four seasons. Although, the way Raffa plays is energizing and great for the Danes, he's already slammed into more scorers tables than I'm sure UAlbany coach Will Brown would like.

Speaking of Brown, The Blog would like to give Brown a pat on the back for taking his team which had plenty of talent, but little experience coming in and getting out to the best start in the program's Division I history at 8-4. The Great Danes only losses have come to Siena (6-4), Villanova (11-1), DePaul (7-5) and what ended up being a bad loss to a good team in Lehigh (7-3).

Siena junior Ronald Moore - some respect. Moore is part of the "Big Four" for the Saints, but failed to be named to the All-MAAC First, Second or Third teams. Moore just moved into sixth in program history in assists (394) and he's scored over 600 points (609), to average more than eight points per game over his career. He was also nominated for the Bob Cousy award, given to the country's best point guard.

UAlbany junior Will Harris - an NCAA waiver. Okay, Harris got this back in October, but it allowed him to jump right into action with the Great Danes. While he hasn't been as good as expected or hyped to be so far (10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds per game), he has given a youthful UAlbany team a solid starter and someone who has the potential to be one of the best players in the America East Conference.

Siena juinor Edwin Ubiles - an electric razor and scissors. Ubiles didn't start against UAlbany because he was getting a haircut and thought the morning shoot-around began 30 minutes later than it actually did. With a razor, Ubiles won't have to miss any more starts - although Ubiles did score a game-high 23 points off the bench in that game.

UAlbany sophomore Tim Ambrose - a giant poster on the side of SEFCU Arena with his picture on it. What? There's already one of those - okay well how about the ability to outrebound men twice his size. What? He's UAlbany's leading rebounder. Okay I give up.

Siena freshmen Kyle Downey and Owen Wignot - some playing time. Downey and Wignot have been excellent in games, but some times that can't hit even reach the floor. Downey is averaging 4.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.7 minutes, while Wignot is averaging 2.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 11 minutes per game. Both have made freshman mistakes at times, but both have performed like veterans at others. Downey scored 11 points against #3 Pitt, while Wignot scored eight in his collegiate debut against Boise State.

UAlbany Sports Information Director Brian DePasquale - a sweater. Since the state of New York has decided to try and save some money while the student are on break, DePasquale is suffering through a 55-degree office over the winter vacation. Could be worse though, The Blog's house (okay just the first floor) is set at 60 degrees to save money as well.

Siena coach Fran McCaffery - stress relievers. McCaffery's team was receiving Top 25 votes early in the season and even though sophomore Ryan Rossiter had turned it on and the freshmen have been great, the team has struggled in the big games. It only gets tougher for McCaffery as his team gets into league play because they are the unanimous pick to repeat as champions and with the team he's got, anything less will be looked at as a lost year.

Saint Rose men's basketball coach Brian Beaury - a fifth year of eligibility for Steve Dagostino. The Golden Knights are 3-6 this season and off to a slow start after the graduation of Dagostino, Will Monica and Shanty Robinson. Beaury is 493-195 (.717) in 24 seasons on Western Ave., but his team this year is being led by junior Jermaine Clark and Cambridge native Shea Bromirski. Still, Beaury would love to have back Dagostino, who is playing professionally in Hungary.

Hudson Valley Community College coach Andre Cook - some credit. Cook's teams are 47-3 over their last 50 games dating back to the 2006-07 season, including a 29-0 regular season in 2007-08 and the nation's top ranking so far in 2008-09. Cook's record is 99-36 (.733) in this, his fifth season at the helm.

Hope everyone got what they wanted.

Here's to a great start to 2009.

Overview: The Mountain Hawks have had some strange results so far this season, including beating Rutgers, losing by one point to Rider and then losing Friday night to Stony Brook by 19 after they had a nine-point lead with 14 minutes to go.

Junior point guard Marquis Hall is the team's leading scorer at 14.8 points per game, he's second in rebounding at 6.3 per game and tops in assists at 4.6 assists per game.

He scored 28 in the program's first victory over a Big East school since 1990 and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.

Hall was also nominated for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard. Siena's Ronald Moore was also a nominee.

Lehigh has a scorer coming off the bench in sophomore Prentice Small and a 7-footer in senior John Gourley.

UAlbany lost their first game against a team from outside of the Big East on Saturday night when they fell to crosstown rival Siena.

Sophomore Tim Ambrose has scored in double figures for six straight games for the Great Danes.

UAlbany coach Will Brown said this game wasn't originally scheduled for this date, but he tried to accommodate Lehigh, who said they were getting a guarantee game later in the month (I'm assuming Dec. 23 at Washington).

Records: UAlbany 5-3. Lehigh 5-3

The Series: The Great Danes lead the series 3-2, including a win last year at SEFCU Arena.

Player to Watch: Anthony Raffa, freshman UAlbany. On top of scoring and distributing, Raffa may also earn the task of guarding Marquis Hall, who is the same height as him. I was really impressed with Raffa's demeanor after the Siena game. He was already focused on getting over the rivalry loss and looking ahead to Lehigh. I've also been the most impressed with Raffa of any of UAlbany's new players. He's been fearless at the point, but also has been responsible with the ball.

X-factor: First Half Performance. In all three of UAlbany's losses, all on the road, they've gotten behind early. In Saturday's game, all of the Great Danes I spoke to said they lacked intensity early and that was the difference. UAlbany is actually +5 in their three losses in the second half. In the first half of those games, the Great Danes are -41.

Injury Report: Lehigh senior Phil Anderson has missed the last two games with an unspecified injury. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds through the first six games.

Prediction: UAlbany 68, Lehigh 61 (My record is 7-1)

ALBANY - University at Albany coach Will Brown was happy about his fifth team straight victory, but was quickly asked about the upcoming game with crosstown rival Siena (2-3).

"Too much is made of this game," Brown replied. "I've got seven guys who probably didn't even know who we played on Saturday."

Those guys Brown is referring to are the new players he has on his squad this season that haven't participated in the rivalry.

With that being said, I had to ask one of those new guys what he tought of Siena.

"They're a very good team," freshman point guard Anthony Raffa said of the Saints. "This is a big rivalry. I really don't know that much about them. Obviously, they made in the NCAA Tournament last year, that's about it."

Senior Brian Connelly said he didn't have to tell the younger guys much about the rivalry and that he'll let them experience it for themselves.

This is what college basketball is all about," Connelly said.

Brown said his team would take the day off Tuesday, but he and his assistants would start preparing for the Saints on Tuesday.

"We don't want to make too much out of it," Brown said. "We're not going to really discuss it too much...I guess Saturday can't come soon enough."

Brown said his team was the heavy underdog, which may be correct, but his team sure is gaining confidence.

"We realize that nobody thinks we have a shot and that's fine," Brown said. "I think we're a little bit better than people think, but how that translates to Saturday, only time will tell."

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While UAlbany went 2-0 against Bryant this season, Virginia transfer Will Harris will surely be glad not to play the Bulldogs any more.

Harris, who is averaging 8.9 points per game, didn't score on Monday in 23 minutes and was 0-for-6 from the field.

"The fact that Will Harris had the donut tonight is absolutely mind-boggling," Brown said. "That's twice. Bryant's got that padlock. They took the key and threw it out because he's done nothing against them."

Harris' stats in two games against Bryant....four points on 1-for-10 shooting, 10 rebounds and six turnovers in 43 minutes

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Junior Scotty McRae has seen more playing time lately and has been a presence inside.

Although he only scored three points on Monday, he grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, blocked a shot and had a steal.

"He's would play more if he understands he's not a 6-foot-8 jump-shooter," Brown said. "When he attacks the rim, and plays like an athlete, which he is, he can really help us. He's as talented as anybody we have."

The Great Danes keep winning and it was an impressive victory at that in their 73-63 defeat of Penn.

UAlbany coach Will Brown compared the Quakers to conference foe Hartford, but said they were bigger up front.

“If you don’t communicate on both ends of the floor against a team like Penn, you’re going to get beat,” Brown said.

If the Great Danes continue to mature and come together, they could be a dangerous team come America East play.

UAlbany put four in double figures tonight and Tim Ambrose scored 19 points, while freshman Anthony Raffa scored a career-high 22.

“I kind of let the game come to me,” said Raffa, who also said the Coach Brown told him to shoot it if he was open.

While the Great Danes have won four in a row, they have beaten Bryant and Columbia, two teams not thought very highly of.

“My whole concern is I want to see growth, I want to see maturity,” Brown said.

UAlbany gets Bryant again on Monday and playing at home, have a very good chance to improve their winning streak to five.

“With Bryant, we know they’re going to play all zone offense, so we’ll fine-tune some zone offense tomorrow,” Brown said. “Defensively, it’s another opportunity to play and get better and play at home. I thought we had a good crowd today.”

Brown said Sunday's practice will be more mental, with only one day between games.

“These guys know in short turnarounds, I take care of them,” Brown said. “I told them in the locker room that I need you mentally tomorrow.”

While UAlbany is very talented, I didn't think we reach the Siena/UAlbany game on Dec. 6 with the Great Danes having a better record than the Saints.

“I think this group collectively can do some really special things,” Brown said.

ALBANY - UAlbany senior Brian Connelly grew up watching Villanova basketball.

Growing up in southern New Jersey, it only makes sense.

On Friday, Connelly expects 50 or so of his friends and family to trade in their Wildcats white and blue for purple and gold.

“Villanova has always been one of my favorite teams," Connelly said. "I have a lot of friends that go to the school. I’ve visited the school a few times.”

Connelly said he had to get some of his friends tickets and so he's "making" them support UAlbany.

Freshman point guard Anthony Raffa is also a native of the Philadelphia area, coming from Wildwood, N.J., which is about 45 minutes away.

“Hopefully a lot of family will be there,” Raffa said. “I can’t worry about that though. I have to worry about winning the game, our team trying to win the game.”

Raffa is excited for the challenge of going up against a Big East team that is ranked in the Top 25 in his first collegiate game.

"It's great," Raffa said. "It gets us ready for the conference tournament (which is) up here and it's going to be exciting."

Fellow point guard Mike Johnson is also excited for the challenge of going up against Villanova point guard Scottie Reynolds.

“I never thought it would be, but I’m embracing it,” Johnson said. “I’m up for it and I can’t wait. I tell Coach (Brown) that every day that I’m so excited and I just hope he’ll be able to schedule games like this more often.”

Johnson, who transferred in from Blinn College in Texas is listed as one of five starters by Brown for tomorrow's game. The others are Connelly, senior Jimmie Covington, junior Brett Gifford and red-shirt freshman Billy Allen.

Don't be surprised though if Brown changes things routinely Friday night because eight of his players will be putting the UAlbany jersey on for the first time.

“I feel like for one day, my first game, I can feel like I’m a Big East point guard,” Johnson said.

The last time UAlbany played a Big East team, they were defeated by Connecticut 86-55 on Nov. 26, 2006, in what was a rematch of the NCAA Tournament first round game from March '06.

“Villanova, that says it all,” sophomore guard Tim Ambrose said. “It’s the Big East, a Top 20 team, so we just have to prepare ourselves every day in practice until Friday and then go out there, try to execute our defense and our offense and hope we come out on top.”

In fact, the Great Danes first two games are against Big East squads as they will take on DePaul on Monday, Nov. 17.

“We have a lot of talent and we have some skill, but the teams we are going up against our first two games, definitely have that to, so this will show how much heart we have and how much desire we really have to win,” Johnson said.

Connelly says he's seen the team make "incredible" improvement from their first scrimmage against Long Island to their second, which was at Bucknell.

“In my opinion, we’ve made leaps and bounds since the beginning of practice,” Connelly said.

We'll find out how good UAlbany and a little bit more about their makeup on Friday night.

Make sure to check back for my prediction on the game.

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And finally, as UAlbany's resident Philadelphia Phillies fan, Raffa reacted the Phillies winning the World Series.

“They finally did it,” Raffa said. “Now, everyone is trying to hate on the Eagles because they lost to the Giants. I just have to rub it in their faces because everyone (here is) a Mets fan and Yankees fan.”

The America East Media Day took place today at the Fort Orange Club in Albany.

It was a good way to get all of the coaches together and pretty useful (at least for me).

For the fans, here is the preseason poll...
Team (1st votes) Total
1. Boston U. (5) 59
2. Vermont (4) 55
3. Hartford 51
4. UMBC 45
5. Binghamton 37
6. UAlbany 30
7. New Hampshire 24
8. Maine 13
9. Stony Brook 10

Here is the preseason all-conference team....
*Corey Lowe, Jr., G, Boston U.
Joe Zeglinski, Jr. G, Hartford
Jay Greene, Sr. G, UMBC
*Marqus Blakely, Jr., F, Vermont
Mike Trimboli, Sr., G, Vermont
*unanimous selection

The votes were taken a month ago and therefor the recent decision that Virginia transfer Will Harris can play for the Great Danes this season did not weight on the coaches' decisions.

"I firmly believe that people base the preseason stuff on comfort," UAlbany coach Will Brown said. "I think coaches look at who is returning in the league, what All-Conference players are coming back and they are a little more comfortable talking about guys and kids that have proven themselves already in the America East. I would like to think we would have been higher, maybe we were picked too high to begin with now. I just think there's uncertanity and question marks becuase I don't think anyone can say they know what we have."

Also, of the first team All-Conference players from last year, four return (UAlbany's Brian Lillis graduated). Still, Corey Lowe and Mike Trimboli, who were second team All-Conference players replaced UMBC's Darryl Proctor on the First Team.

Brown said jokingly that he doesn't know why any league coach would want to upset Proctor, who averaged 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

Also of note, freshman guard Anthony Raffa sprained his ankle in Sunday's practice during a rebounding drill.

Here's what Coach Brown had to say about that.

"Four guys tackled him and landed on him and he was screaming and we carried him off and he was on crutches yesterday," Brown said. "It's a high ankle sprain, not of the severity that Jason Siggers had a couple of years ago, that was probably as bad an ankle sprain as you can get, but enough that we're not sure if he'll be able to scrimmage on Saturday."

There's no timetable for Raffa's return, but Brown said they're hoping he can do some light drill work Thursday or Friday.

"We're not going to rush him back," Brown added. "He's a competitor and played well in the Purple-Gold scrimmage after struggling a couple days in practice. I know he doesn't want to lose any time because he wants to be a integral part, right away, of what we're doing."

The final score was Gold (Black) 46, Purple (White) 37.

Here's the scorers...
Gold
Jimmie Covington 2
Brian Connelly 9
Will Harris 14
Anthony Raffa 14
Jerel Hastings 4
Scotty McRae 3

Purple
Brett Gifford 2
Michael Johnson 10
Tim Ambrose 8
Billy Allen 12
Louis Barraza 3
Jake Lindfors 2

Logan Aaronholt - DNP (Coach Brown thinks he should be back practicing by Nov. 13 after breaking a bone in his foot)

Here was Coach Will Brown's first reactions..

"Usually these things become glorified pick-up games and teams just try to outscore each other and make it like a NBA All-Star game, where there's no defense played, keep the fans happy," Brown said. "I thought for a Purple-Gold scrimmage, in front of these people for the first time, I thought they did a pretty good job of sharing the basketball, playing some defense and playing pretty hard."

Here's what I was thought.....

I was really impressed with Raffa's ability to run the point. His explosiveness is certainly something that will help this team and he had a ton of energy. He seemed fine after coming out of the game in the second half after he smacked his mouth on the floor when he got bumped on the way up for a lay-in.

I was doubly impressed with Harris' ability to score the ball from the perimeter. He made three 3-pointers and shot the ball very well. He didn't get inside like I thought he would, but this quote from Brown might explain why.

"He's a solid three-point shooter," Brown said. "Right now, he's probably at 50 percent, conditioning wise, so for him to get through the scrimmage was a good thing."

I think the way Allen stepped up will also be of great benefit to the team. He hit two 3-pointers and shot the ball well. After not playing at all last year, his presence could really be a boost.

"I think it helped Billy having a year under his belt, where he got to sit and watch," Brown said.

Coach Brown was also impressed with Covington, who only scored two, but was "active."

"I think a lot of that has to do with the mindset that (Al) Turley's not here and he's going to have an opportunity," Brown said.

"Last year, everybody rebounded," Covington said. "I want to be more active and get my hands on the ball."

Covington said he's excited for the team's second game, his return to the Chicago area, to take on DePaul (Nov.17). He mentioned that he will have plenty of friends and family there and has played AAU against some of the DePaul players.

Brown said they plan on using Harris like they used Brian Lillis last season, to give other teams matchup problems.

Here was how he summed things up.

"We have so many more guys that can put the ball in the basket from a year ago," Brown said. "Last year, we had to defend and rebound at a high level every night or we had no shot to win. This year, I think because we have a variety of guys who can put the ball in the basket, hopefully it makes life a little bit easier for us."

One other note, the Alumni game took place beforehand and it was good to see familar faces like Jon Iati and Brent Wilson return.

Iati is currently working with the Quinnipiac basketball team and from what I heard in the stands Wilson, who is a father now, is working in Westchester with Green Mountain Coffee.

The quote of the Alumni game came midway through the first half, when Wilson said...

"Got a media timeout coming?"

All of the Alumni played well and I had a chance to talk to Andre Duncan '98 for our news side and he was great to talk to and will be featured in our "5 Questions" segment on Page 2 sometime in the coming week.