UAlbany-Syracuse pregame thoughts
--AlbanyTimes
It?s hard to believe the college basketball season is about to start tonight with UAlbany facing Syracuse of the Big East at the Carrier Dome in the 2K Sports Classic.
In fact, this ties the earliest the Great Danes have started a season. The other was the last time UAlbany played in the 2K Sports Classic, when the Great Danes beat Oakland (Mich.) 90-73 on Nov. 9, 2005.
As everyone?s aware of by now, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is attempting to become the eighth Division I coach to win 800 games.
?I love it, especially with the significance of the game,? UAlbany senior forward Will Harris said during the preseason. ?That would be his 800th win, or we might be able to spoil it if we come in and play well. I don?t want to be the team that he gets it on. If we can spoil it, it would be good.?
While Harris hasn?t played at the Carrier Dome, he did face the Orange when he was a sophomore at the University of Virginia. Harris scored seven points as the Cavaliers lost 70-68 to the Orange in Charlottesville.
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UAlbany is expecting to see more of Syracuse?s signature 2-3 zone than the Orange showed in an 82-79 exhibition loss to Division II Le Moyne last Wednesday.
Boeheim said after that game that Syracuse played man-to-man against Le Moyne in order to experiment with it and get it on film.
?I?m anxious to see what Syracuse is going to do,? UAlbany coach Will Brown said. ?Are they going to come out and try to play man-to-man against us? They struggled with it against Le Moyne. Or are they going to come out and play 35 or 40 minutes of 2-3 zone??
?I?m hoping they mix and match because that?s going to force us to think and react,? Brown said. ?It gives us an opportunity to work against man-to-man and also work against zone. I?m not sure it?s a matter of what Syracuse does. I?m more concerned about what we do. Getting a shot every time down the floor and not allowing their length and athleticism to bother us.?
If Syracuse does play a lot of zone, it could provide a test of how much UAlbany?s perimeter shooting has actually improved. The Great Danes had the worst 3-point accuracy in the America East last season.
?I?m expecting them to play a little bit of man, not too much,? UAlbany junior guard Tim Ambrose said. ?I?m expecting them to play 2-3 because that?s all I?ve seen them play growing up. If they play the zone, it?ll be a really great test for all of us. We?ve been shooting well in practice. We?ve just got to let it carry over.?
Brown pointed out the cavernous Carrier Dome isn?t an easy place to shoot because of the depth perception. And the size of Syracuse?s defenders doesn?t help, either.
?What we need to realize is, a 2-3 zone we see against Syracuse is going to be a little different than a 2-3 zone we see against Hartford or New Hampshire because of the length and the size,? Brown said. ?Usually, in our league, we can get the ball inside against a zone and make teams pay. They?re so big inside, what I?m looking for is how crisp our ball movement is and if we get good shots against it. The big thing is we don?t turn the ball over because I think against this Syracuse team, we can?t give them any transition baskets. We can?t give them any odd-man baskets. We have to make them play 5-on-5 as much as possible.?
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Brown sounded very concerned about Syracuse?s frontcourt, including 6-9 power forward Rick Jackson and 6-9 center Arinze Onuaku.
While UAlbany has finished in the top 10 in Division I in rebound margin the past two seasons, they?re facing a different kind of athlete against the Orange.
?Can we keep those two big fellas off the glass?? Brown asked.
Onuaku is coming off a knee injury, however, and didn?t look like himself against Le Moyne with three points on 1-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes.
?If you watched films of him last year and watch film of him against Le Moyne, it?s two different players,? Brown said. ?He?s not 100 percent. He?s still good enough to have a major impact on our game. I think that they have as good of a frontcourt when healthy as any team in the Big East. They?re huge up front.?
?Pretty much, we?ve just got to be physical with them,? UAlbany senior center Brett Gifford said. ?When they get the ball in the post, you can?t back down. You can?t let them just bully us under the basket. We?ve especially got to block them out.?
