They do a good job pointing out that the Big Ten stands to lose a lot of talent this year. Though they got some bad news last night when Ohio State’s JD Sullinger announced he would return for his sophomore season.

Iowa was 4-11 in games decided by ten points or less. In 2005-06, Fran McCaffery’s first season at Siena, the Saints were 10-10 in those games– leading Siena to a 15-13 (10-8) record.

This season, Iowa finished 11-20 (4-14).

Let’s take a look back at some of the best moments of the Albany Cup…

Siena mascot ‘Bernie’ jams with a band before Siena-UAlbany in 2006

#1 Siena 76, Albany 75 (2OT) December 2 2006

Kenny Hasbrouck’s basket with 1:11 left in the second overtime gave the Saints the lead and helped them stave off a victory over Albany 76-75. Hasbrouck fought illness to play the game and Fran McCaffery got an unexpected boost from Hasbrouck’s performance.

“Kenny’s performance was very courageous,” McCaffery said. “We didn’t expect to have him a few hours before the game. He missed the walk-through and was nauseous all day.”

Freshman Edwin Ubiles delivered a key three pointer late along with a David Ryan free throw to tie the game in regulation and send it to overtime. Ubiles scored a then career-high 20 points. Ubiles played in 45 of the games’ 50 minutes.

Lack of Big Three: For all of you who were wondering how the big three (Ubiles-Moore-Franklin) did in their first Albany Cup game… Moore started, scored 8 points and dished out 4 assists along with 2 turnovers. Alex Franklin came off the bench to score 4 points and fouled out, playing just 19 minutes.

Memorable Moment: Lead changed 16 times in see-saw battle.

#2 Siena 82, Albany 74 (OT) December 3 2005

Fran McCaffery’s first win in the Albany Cup came in overtime, and it came in the (then named) Pepsi Arena. After squandering a lead that got as large as 18-points, Siena went on a 10-0 run to start overtime to take the Albany Cup back from the Great Danes. The Saints were led by Antoine Jordan’s 24 points, who posted his second straight double-double of the season. Kojo Mensah posted a triple-double, scoring 20 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and 11 assists which included the dishing out the game-tying three pointer by Tay Fisher. Mensah’s triple-double was the first triple-double since Marc Brown did it on November 25, 1990. Free throws weren’t a woe then for the Saints, they made 10 out of 11 freebies in overtime to seal up the cup. The win put the Saints over .500 for the first time since December 2003.

Memorable Moment: Kojo Mensah triple double first since Marc Brown in 1990 (20pts., 14rebs., 11assists)

#3 Siena 75, Albany 71 December 1 2007

The, then, second largest crowd home crowd for a Siena men’s regular season game watched Alex Franklin break out with 24 points and  10 rebounds (his fourth straight double-double) as the Saints beat Albany by four. McCaffery said Franklin looked like a pro against the Danes.

“He played like a pro,” McCaffery said. “He was the best player on the court tonight. By far.”

The Saints went up by as much as 18 in the first 12 minutes of the game and led by 10 at the half but watched as Albany put together a 16-0 run to cut the lead to four late. Franklin’s free throws with six seconds left sealed the Siena win.

Freshman Play: Clarence Jackson and Ryan Rossiter appeared in this game for the Saints, each playing three minutes and scoring 0 points, respectively. Rossiter picked up a defensive rebound and a steal in the game.

Big Three: Ubiles scored 10 points, picked up 4 steals and 5 rebounds. Moore scored 14 points and dished out 5 assists. Franklin scored a game-high 24 points.

Memorable Moment: 2nd Largest crowd in a regular season Siena home game.

The last time the Saints played a meaningful game on the floor of the Times Union Center, fans were rushing on the court as the Saints clinched their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance with an overtime win over Fairfield.

The Saints will be remade under new coach Mitch Buonaguro and will feature new lineups and rotations to replace Edwin Ubiles, Ronald Moore and MAAC Player of the Year Alex Franklin.

Among Buonaguro’s assets include Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Ryan Rossiter and senior Clarence Jackson. However, the Saints will be without Kyle Downey who hurt himself in practice last week. Downey, who started in the NCAA Tournament game against Purdue last year and scored 6 points on 2 of 10 shooting, was expected to see more playing time after leading the Western New York team to the gold medal of the Empire State Games this past summer.

Siena will have plenty of time to develop younger players this season including sophomore O.D. Anosike who scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Siena’s exhibition win over Adelphi on October 30th. The Saints will allow LaSalle transfer junior Kyle Griffin to run the point who has had a positive assist to turnover ratio in limited playing time at both schools thus far.

Meanwhile the Catamounts, under sixth year head coach Mike Lonergan, lose their top players Marqus Blakely, Maurice Joseph, Nick Vier and Garvey Young in a group that made the NCAA Tournament last year. That depleted experience led to Vermont being picked fifth in their preseason poll. The Catamounts return preseason all-conference senior Evan Fjeld who helped carry the offense late in the season to lead them to their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Fjeld is the only returning starter will be assisted by UMass transfer Matt Glass who scored 20 points in Vermont’s 69-60 win over Division II school St. Michael’s.

Not only has the roster received an adjustment, so has Siena’s home court. Fans will see new video boards and a brand new game presentation – which not only includes new video presentation but includes luxury courtside seats and different Siena student fan placement. Siena has extended its presence at the Times Union Center by two years and will play there until the 2015-16 season according to the Albany Business Review.

Fun Facts: The last time the Saints and Catamounts squared off was January 2, 2006 in Fran McCaffery’s first season. The Saints beat the Catamounts on the road 76-65 behind an 18 point performance by freshman Kenny Hasbrouck. Future Saint Josh Duell, who played for Vermont at the time before transferring to Siena, scored 11 points.

Siena is 18-5 all time against Vermont dating back to their first meeting during the 1946-47 season. The last time Siena lost its home opener was November 29, 2006 to Hofstra 84-80.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/20/1882708/miami-heat-waives-kenny-hasbrouck.html

Best of luck Kenny…

Hasbrouck’s preseason hit an early slide, scoring just 3 points on 1-14 shooting in the past two games in which he had a chance to show off his talent. Shooting 8 for 34 (23.7%) from the field effectively shot his way off of a chance of making the roster.

“On to the next stage of my life,” Hasbrouck wrote on Facebook.

Hasbrouck was on the Heat roster late in the 2009-10 season but did not appear in a game.

Teams in Europe have shown interest in Hasbrouck and he could still have interest from other NBA teams.

Hasbrouck scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting and recorded 4 assists in 20 minutes of play on Tuesday night against CSKA Moscow.

Hasbrouck impressed Heat fans on a night he was third in points and assists:

The 4th quarter was a time for bubble guys Pat Beverly and Kenny Hasbrouck to shine.  Beverly’s quickness gets him attention, but I was more impressed with what I saw from Hasbrouck.  His positioning was solid on both ends of the floor, and he moved the ball well on offense.  I’d expect them both to continue getting a lot of playing time so Erik Spoelstra can see as much as possible before making a decision on which one he’ll keep…assuming he doesn’t want to just hang on to injured guard Da’Sean Butler.

Hasbrouck seems in strong contention for one of the final spots on the Heat roster and is expected to continue to get playing time this preseason.

Kenny talks about being, as Sir Charles would say “a knucklehead”, and how his recent DUI almost cost him his career.

Take a lesson from your alum, college kids.

He’s come on strong in Vegas this summer, you can see his numbers here.

In a remarkably well documented case, (and might I add, a great job by Marist College), Marist officially won their case against JMU and Matt Brady. Brady breached his contract by entering negotiations and as Marist was able to convey, damaged the University in doing so. Read More »