Blake Metcalf plays the Garbage Man as Albany rolls talented FDU squad

This game was a blowout -- Albany held the 20 point lead for most of the second half -- but it took a long time for Albany to feel secure. Partially due to the Navy near-collapse on Friday, but partially because FDU is talented. At the start of the game (remember Suero started on the bench), a strong argument could be made that FDU had more athleticism on every position of the floor. And the disparity wasn't even close inside. 6'9 George Goode, formerly of Louisville, was the most imposing figure on the floor and strong moves from Kinu Rochford and Mouhamed Lo (who actually was the most successful, getting to the line for 10 shots) and it seemed like this would be something for FDU to exploit. But they didn't -- and Albany controlled the glass.

Logan and the undersized rebounders

Yes, Blake Metcalf earned the headline (we'll get to that) but Albany won the battle of the boards 41-35 and they did it without much help from the tall guys (Metcalf, 2; Puk, 0). Logan Aronhalt was exceptionally on the offensive glass (5 of his eight rebounds) were he soared for a couple boards and controlled a number of them with a confident smack of his hands against the ball. A far cry from the six inch taller Puk who seemed to bat at but never control the ball. And Jayson Guerrier was impressive as well, 7 strong rebounds, mostly in the first half, when Albany was trying to establish control of the game. Throw in 5 rebounds by starter (?) Ralph Watts and you realize that almost all of Albany's boards game from guys standing under 6'5. I think the "flat" line-up of four tall guards (Suero, Watts, Guerrier and Logan) might have been the best all night.

Blake Metcalf, Garbage Man, no longer afraid of bunnies

Lamenting Metcalf's inability to make chip shots next to the basket was almost a weekly occurrence last year. It was brutal. At 6'10, he's usually the tallest and almost always biggest kid on the floor and he somehow couldn't connect with lay-ups. That era is over. Today, Metcalf was a perfect 7-7 from the field making an assortment of layups -- including a short little J that required some touch. Of course it wasn't all pretty -- one layup seemed to slip out of his hands and somehow it hit the top of the glass and dropped in -- but he got the job done. 

Jayson Guerrier's Shot -- What is it?

I was sitting directly behind Guerrier in warm ups... and he was clanging shots. He brought the ball all the way behind his head -- the ball was literally blocking half his head --  and he had some bizarre wrist action going on.

Then, in the game, it all went away. Well not all, it's got a funky hitch still, but he shortens it up to a more manageable stroke and he shoots better when there's game pressure to get his shot off. Strange. 

Does Mike Black have Suero envy?

Suero's head-down plowing towards the rim has drawn acclaim from the local papers and around the college hoops community -- and it looked a bit like Mike Black was imitating his style against FDU. This isn't completely serious (and I'm often a proponent of Black being more aggressive) but Black seemed to be driving wildly and with abandon towards the hoop almost all game (and he was taking some serious hits in the process -- he was knocked out of the game for about 10 minutes and went to the locker room after one foul). However, the speed wasn't controlled speed -- he looked fast, but out of control. Often he needed a foul to bail him out or else it would've been a sure turnover. And a number of those drives would've been much better served with a dish. After seeing his very high assist numbers of late, I was hoping to see some better decision making from Black. He's steamrolled poor teams -- is he going to be able to do it against stiffer competition?

The Best Offense... is when Albany doesn't run the offense

The UAlbany motion offense just isn't all the effective. Especially after watching the UVM game this weekend, there's so much movement and cutters -- the ball moving inside  off passes and drives then kicking to cutters or shooters -- why can't Albany do that?? Albany's motion is a number of ball screens on the wings while not much occurs down low. The best offense requires someone up top to break down his man instead -- which is why Suero is so valuable. The prettiest play of day was when Suero broke down his man, kicked to Watts who then dumped it back in to Luke Devlin who had a man on his hip and made an easy lay-in. Why does this need to be completely reliant on a breakdown? 

Teaching Moments

Will Brown is working Gerardo Suero hard.

Artist rendering of what Suero's hair will look like by March Madness

Apparently there was an ankle tweak that caused Will to sit Suero on the stationary bike behind the bench instead of in the line-up at the start of each half, but it sounds a lot more like a motivational tool. In the first half, while Suero was in man, Will was shouting instructions/critiques when he was by the sideline and Suero actually turned his head to respond to Will while it man jetted to the other side of the court. Another time, when Suero pulled up on a fast break in the second half and airballed a wide-open 3, Will yanked him and gave him an earful.

But when Suero came out for the final time, Will pulled him over and said something and Suero walked to his seat with a big smile -- all's well that ends well.