Andy Stein is a junior on the NYU men's basketball team. He shared his thoughts in this space throughout the 2010-11 season.
Posted March 9
Some time has passed since my last entry, and now the season is over. In short summary of what took place these last few weeks, the weather in St. Louis was incredible, our flight was delayed in Chicago, we got our long awaited revenge on Brandeis, I scored 37 points on a team without a center, and Saturday night we played in a dome. Though not the report characteristic of myself previously, I would rather like to touch up on a few topics to wrap this season and put these blog entries to a close.
First, I would like to give a special shout out to fellow junior, guard Allen Tate. After two seasons of knee surgeries, rehab, and wearing snazzy vests to games, this season he remained intact throughout, and I finally got to see him dunk in the dome. I can honestly say he is the best pass-faker I’ve ever played with, though he never tricks me. I’m looking forward to another full season with Al, and my wager with him if he dunks on me in practice is still on the table.
Next, before talking about the seniors, I would like to give kudos to Richie Polan, for persevering through an untimely injury and still being a presence while injured and then again upon his return. I can’t say if I would be able to return after a tough injury midway through an adversity-filled season. But, he did it in a fashion that’s truly bold and admirable. His dedication to basketball is inspiring, and I can only hope to bring the same motivation in my final season.
Now for the seniors… When I came to the program my freshman year, I became aware quickly of the talented class in the year ahead of me. I did not have such an opportunity in high school to play with such skilled and playmaker guards, as well as a forward who not only shot better, but rebounded the ball much better than myself. Having three years with DJ, Derek and Rich has taught me a lot about being a team leader and an impact player, though there is still much work for me to do mentally before next season rolls around.
These were some of the most entertaining, yet challenging teammates I’ve had the opportunity to play with, and I mean challenging in the sense that I’ve been challenged to improve myself as a player and a person to a level comparable to the senior class. While I already mentioned the injury that Rich battled through this season, it isn’t forgotten the efforts DJ made last season to overcome an even tougher injury, which rendered him in the hospital. The amount of fight this senior class had was inspiring, one of many qualities any senior class should possess. It will be a dedication to them the fight I can bring along with my junior class next year.
Though our season has barely ended, I am motivated to begin work for next year. My basketball career has reached its final chapter, and I seek to walk away from the game with no regrets. No regrets mean a motivated off-season and a positive mindset at the beginning of the next.
When I look back on this season and the drama that encompassed it, all I can think is how hard we continued to work in spite of everything. The ’11-12 season holds for us plenty of revenge, more pride than before, and like I said in my first post, a season filled with opportunity. Next year I look forward to all of these things, and besides working on rebounding and footwork, I will return next year with a right hand.
Andy Stein is a junior on the NYU men's basketball team. He will share his thoughts in this space throughout the 2010-11 season.
Posted February 17
It’s tough when you find yourself in that no-pressure sort of season. Common thoughts such as “nothing to lose” or “just have fun”, while decent mindsets to have early in a season to relieve pressure, become the central theme of what gets you back to the gym as the game count runs low. You become aware that all the ambitions you sought in September find themselves unfulfilled, leaving you with would’ve/could’ve opinions. These aren’t easy ideals to come to terms with. But, for many teams every year, those challenges arrive. Now that these challenges have found themselves present in our season, it has become clear what alternative advantages we must become aware of in our final three UAA contests, as well as possible regional post-season play.
First, teams looking at us with a 3-8 UAA record may be convinced that they are in for an easy win. Surely the teams of our conference know that we’ve fought hard to the end of every game, requiring teams to beat us, not us losing it. Perhaps this was the mindset of both Case Western and Carnegie Mellon, although both these teams are now at the bottom of the UAA barrel with us. In the weeks to come, this cannot be considered by the likes of Wash U, who we lost to by only four, as well as Chicago (beat them at home by 15), and certainly not Brandeis, who relied upon a prayer at the buzzer to beat us.
Second, personnel-wise we find ourselves now back a teammate with Richie Polan having finally returned from an untimely injury. Though serving limited minutes in the Sunday win against Carnegie Mellon, he has been thoroughly present in practice, and is coming into this weekend with plenty of fire having not played against either Wash U or Chicago this season. Also, Derek Becker has provided for us a great spark defensively, as well as proving how he is our best finisher in the open floor. He also displayed his court IQ in Friday’s win against Case, where all other members on the court including myself did not pursue a 1-and-1 free-throw rebound, resulting in a wide open and slightly absurd layup for Derek which left the crowd in laughter.
Now, back to that idea of playing without anything to lose…it’s a cliché term, though to those not aware it can become quite powerful. Teams like Wash U will be battling on Friday for UAA ranking, which is enough pressure all in itself, as teams like Rochester and Emory have found much success throughout the UAA season. We approach the game as an exciting Friday night in St. Louis, in front of an expected large crowd, whom we hope to thrive in front of. There’s a lot we can all thrive from, and if I am to name something in the near future, it will be enjoying what will be our seniors’ last road trip to the Gateway and Windy Cities.
I personally have not forgiven the Blackhawks for beating the Flyers in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals.
Andy Stein is a junior on the NYU men's basketball team. He will share his thoughts in this space throughout the 2010-11 season.
Posted January 30
Well…can’t say the last two weekends have proven much in our favor, let alone some events prior to said weekends. To start the fun, the first blow was an injury to the foot of captain Richie Polan during practice a few days before the game against Wash U. When you lose a captain (and in Rich’s case a leading scorer), it’s tough on many fronts: first, you lose a consistent point and rebound producer, which can only be responded by the rest of us picking up the slack. Second, and speaking specifically to Rich, he’s a natural leader on and off the court, and knows the game much better than could be said for myself. Our most vocal of the captains, the team has grown to believe in the on-the-court direction Rich provides game after game. Again, picking up the slack is the only remedy.
Speaking to the games of last weekend, the game against Wash U was a tough effort on both ends. However, defensive breakdowns in the first half and miscues in the second resulted in another tough four-point loss. We knew, though, that we played far from our best and that another shot in St. Louis is all we can ask for. On Sunday (1/23), we finally found our rhythm and a steady defensive performance, especially from sophomore Max Wein in shutting down Chicago’s leading scorer. We brought great intensity to a Sunday game, which isn’t always the easiest feat. Also, I recorded my second righty hook shot of the weekend, as well as my first dunk in Coles. Firsts are a nice thing, and we could use them more and more as the season progresses.
This past weekend was regrettably our toughest, not by opponent (although Rochester & Emory both lead the UAA in record), but by the situations that took place. Friday night was an exciting Tear It Up! event, in which we hosted a tough Rochester team. The game was close throughout until we found ourselves down nine with seven minutes left. However, an exciting comeback had the building in an uproar. But, it was all for naught as a last-second shot by Kyle Stockmal banked just off the rim. Honestly, we couldn’t have asked for better last-minute attempts from Kyle, as well as fellow junior Ben Dorman, two of our most proficient three-point shooters.
Sunday’s game against Emory was frustrating to say the least. I was called for a foul/technical foul in the first minute, then upon re-entry into the game an immediate offensive foul, then on one of the first possessions of the second half another offensive foul. As you can tell, it wasn’t much fun for yours truly. We stayed within single digits for the first half, but in the second Emory found its rhythm while we continued to search for ours. Down by 20, we managed a few late-game surges. However, it’s a tough mountain to climb in UAA competition.
What’s left for us in conference play is simple: Go hard every game. Whether we’re out of UAA title contention or not, I can assure you I haven’t sustained enough bruises yet to call it a season. That will be our focus for the final four weeks.
On the brighter side of the news, and to give some insight as to what I spend my days at NYU doing besides eating at Hayden, below is a link to a music video that I made, inspired by the evolution of video game music throughout the last 30 years. For those parents who read my blog, perhaps you can relate to the first section, then after that you may want to ask your kids. I play all the instruments through my keyboard, as well as guitar parts. No, I’m not the voice of Freddie Mercury, but wouldn’t that be something?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mghJ4aE1MR0
Andy Stein is a junior on the NYU men's basketball team. He will share his thoughts in this space throughout the 2010-11 season.
Posted January 18
I had a blog post prepared for just before our first UAA-matchup with Brandeis, but due to certain circumstances it may have not been fitting. We are currently on the plane flying back from Pittsburgh to the Newark Airport, and things have not exactly been going according to plan.
After three hard-fought games, we find ourselves 0-3 in the UAA, with a combined loss amount of only 12 points. Maybe the open shots weren’t falling. Perhaps referees were unfavorable. But, that doesn’t change how we have gone about closing out tight games consistently. An emphasis on our defensive philosophy and efforts will be at the forefront of all future preparations.
At a glimpse we are at an advantage in the fact that our team is equipped with scoring threats from the frontcourt to the backcourt, and on the bench. However, when the other team has more points than you at the end of a game, whether it is on a prayer buzzer-beater or after a late game collapse, what happens on our own end of the floor is all that matters.
Amidst this rough start to conference play, we are still confident that we will find our rhythm and finish out games to follow the way we’d prefer them to go. As Coach Nesci pointed out after Sunday’s game, it’s easy to stick together after wins, though difficult after a loss, let alone three heartbreakers.
There are 11 games left in our UAA schedule, and this is far from a “throwing in the towel” sort of feeling. As we are faced this upcoming weekend with Washington University and the University of Chicago back in the city, now is never too late to get back on the track we were once on a few weeks ago.
On the brighter side of the news, the Flyers are currently first in the Eastern Conference and I won a pair of nunchucks in a white elephant gift exchange at a holiday party. Although my cousin indicated to me that nunchucks are in fact illegal in the state of New York (not in Pennsylvania), there is an empty wall space in my apartment that the nunchucks would fit quite well.
Upon landing here in Newark, the pilot has uplifted us with good news that our plane has landed a half hour early. Where there is good news, there is most certainly bad news, being that there is no gate currently available to drop us off. As stated before, we are confident in our future efforts on the court, and now we are confident that we make it to the gate before the plane stalls after being parked too long.
Andy Stein is a junior on the NYU men's basketball team. He will share his thoughts in this space throughout the 2010-11 season.
Posted December 9
Finals time…enough said. Not to mention it happens to be -15° every day, with gusting winds. I may seem crazy, but I believe that this is indeed a pre-meditated coordination between the University and the elements, a well-calculated creation of adversity. I am thankful that the heat in my apartment building is beyond my control, and that somebody forgot to turn it off, leaving the dial at “inferno”. While there are things to complain about (after getting to know me, you learn there always is), there is most certainly something to be excited about: we’re 6-0.
There has been a fair amount of non-conference activity in the past few weeks, so I’ll roll through previous bouts, giving more emphasis to some.
On November 28 we traveled out to Long Island to take on the Panthers of Old Westbury in their home opener. It seemed that magnets were placed in the basket as well as the ball, allowing for an impressive shooting display from both sides. I found myself in foul trouble a bit too early in the first half (I have a tendency to do this from time to time), but the team kept its presence strong against a squad projected to finish first in the Skyline Conference. The second half opened with a quick start from our team, granting us a 13-point lead eight minutes into the half. However, the Panthers proved fairly relentless, and the magnets were turned back on, and it slowly became a game again. Time was on our side, though, and we had a five-point lead with two seconds to go. A buzzer-beater three-pointer from one of their guards meant nothing, and we left Old Westbury with our first road win.
The second of these games brought us back to Long Island to take on the crew-cutted Mariners of the Merchant Marine Academy. While some may listen to hip-hop or even techno to pump themselves up, I chose The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack to keep me company amidst the traffic of the Long Island Expressway. I again found myself in early foul trouble, not to mention we seemed a tad behind in each play, physically and mentally. However, we still managed a 26-24 halftime lead (a real barn burner). Halftime required a deep breath and a new attitude, so we came out tough. But, so did the Mariners, a team full of blue-collar workers. I woke up in the second half and tallied 15 points in a familiar demonstration of lefty layups. However, I picked up my fifth personal foul and was gone with four minutes left.
Fortunately, what makes being a part of this team a treat is that anybody can pick up the slack when they need to, and with the help of two three-point shooting fouls for our most consistent free-throw shooter, Richie Polan, we stunned the Mariners 56-53.
During last Saturday’s game (12/4) against NYU-Polytechnic, we set a new team assist record at 31. Then, yesterday (12/8), The College Of New Jersey appeared pesky. But, midway through the second half we got it going and found ourselves up by 17 at the end. Interesting to note that Carl Yaffe was only two rebounds and three assists shy of a triple-double. He led up with 24 points.
This Saturday, we play at home against City Tech, a team struggling to find a win (currently 0-6). So, an emphasis on focus will be central to our team’s preparations.
And, speaking of focus, I will now return to my nine-page paper on the music of the Clash of the Titans (1981). So, for those reading, please wish me luck.
Andy Stein is a junior on the NYU men's basketball team. He will share his thoughts in this space throughout the 2010-11 season.
Posted November 22
If you were to ask any college student around this time “What’s going on?”, and they only had “nothing” as their answer, they are indeed a liar. Just a few blinks since moving into my apartment back in August, and Thanksgiving is already this week. The excitement around mid-term time has diminished, simultaneously paving the way for looming finals. If you haven’t seen the NYU community around finals, I can assure you certain adjectives to describe it such as frightening, absurd, and even mean will suffice. Bobst Library becomes the place to be, which can be confirmed by Jude Dworaczyk, who is currently en route to having the eighth floor named after him.
As I describe finals time, I am becoming much tenser towards the subject, so I -will switch topics to music. Recently, in my Audio for Video 1 class, I collaborated with a partner in scoring (writing the music to) a five-minute segment from the 1989 film “Dreamscape”. Specific cues within the segment that required music were 1) Falling into the dream, 2) Arrival of the villain, 3) Awaking on a train filled with zombies, 4) Changing trains, only to encounter the villain yielding nun chucks (required oriental music), and 5) Villain transforms into a snake-man, and a chase ensues.
Our presentation was received with applause, but several tweaks to a violin here and a French horn there are still in order. In my Scoring for Film & Multimedia class, I wrote a piece for a Tisch School video, which described life as a journey. Interestingly enough, my score for the video was responded to by my professor as “possibly too epic”. I don’t understand this, as the speaker system in the room did not blow up, though I’ve gotten close many times.
Now, to basketball…..
This weekend we had our Tip-Off Tournament, which in short summary went very well. We opened with Moravian College (from my hometown), and without much hesitation we asserted ourselves and imposed our will upon the Greyhounds from start to finish.
Following that victory, we had expected to play SUNY Cortland, as we were aware of their abilities as a seasoned and competitive team. We were correct, and our game against the Dragons opened very much so in their favor, leaving us down by 10 at the half. It also didn’t help our cause much that we had shot 27% from the field in the half, not to mention three airballs within the first five minutes (personally I felt mine caused the biggest draft in Coles).
However, after a long halftime due to unexpected power failures in the lighting system which inspired a much-needed speech from Richie Polan, we arrived in the second half as a team who would rise to a challenge. We did so, and after a tremendous effort at warding off the skilled shooters of Cortland and the many bruises I will be icing down until possibly Hanukkah, we prevailed as we knew we could.
I would like to personally wish everyone a very festive and nourishing Thanksgiving. I can hardly wait, as I will be dining with two wonderful families (my girlfriend Lauren’s family and a close family to ours) and of course, mine as well (they are wonderful too). Stuffing is by far my favorite portion of the meal.
Andy Stein is a junior on the NYU men's basketball team. He will share his thoughts in this space throughout the 2010-11 season.
Posted October 28
When posed back in August if I wanted to have a personal blog for the season, my first thought was “You couldn’t pick someone better?” But, I immediately said yes. What better supplement to my “Getting to know you” video from last year than season long entries, keeping my writing craft in top form. If you haven’t seen this video, I suggest you do. My parents found it quite humorous.
My task here is to provide a behind-the-scenes perspective on the season at hand; a season filled with plenty of opportunity, though my goal is not to fill these insights with clichés or any sort of expected catchphrases such as “there’s no I in team” or “I can’t make foul shots.” I am the product of a unique environment here at NYU, and any entity of it should be held in the same regard.
First off, I should explain a little about myself. I’m from the town of Bethlehem, PA, about an hour and a half’s drive west of New York City and north of Philadelphia. Though only a short drive away, New York City is a tourist destination (budget permitting). I am in awe that my path has led me to the center of it all: amidst diversity and an exciting gathering of talent that I can only improve from.
This all leads me to what it is that I study here. I am a music technology major at Steinhardt, though my focus has led me more towards sound design and film scoring. I recently served an internship working on a History Channel documentary on World War II, which comes out next month (November 10 at 9pm, to be specific). I helped with radio and explosion sound effects. This semester my studies are centered on film music, and I have studied its history in depth, granting me a new perspective on how I view the current cinema. I write music, investigate its physics, and at the same time play the center position.
We are about a week-and-a-half into regular season practices now, and there has been no easing-in process. We have started this year at the highest level, competing early in the morning and pushing each other athletically and literally, especially in my post workouts with Coach (Sean) Grant. A full team effort from Coach (Joe) Nesci to (freshman) Zeve Sanderson to articulate and promote goals and standards is but a supplement to a unified mission for the year. The years past have not proved directly in our favor, and this year it is a priority to “walk the walk” (unexpected catchphrase).
Behind our captains DJ (Glavan), Derek (Becker) and Richie (Polan), we are prepared to undergo what will be our strongest effort since my coming here two years ago, and perhaps since before any of my teammates arrived. I am especially excited for our first game on Nov. 20, as we play Moravian College, a school from my hometown. In the near future, two scrimmages are on deck with local rival Baruch College, and SUNY New Paltz. We also have an inter-squad scrimmage, which will be taking place this upcoming weekend.
Stay tuned, the season’s just begun.
