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Colin Nickerson of the Fairfield Stags just missed a three pointer to win the game Monday night and potentially send the Saints into the at-large conversation.
If Nickerson made that three pointer Monday night, would the Saints be able to stir tournament talk today or would they have been bound to the NIT?
Gathering around the world’s top bracketologists and their opinions reflected the industry’s agreement on the Saints chances had that shot fell through Monday night. Continue Reading »
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The most unheralded game in the MAAC is definitely the Mascot game. In the game, which ended up a 4-2 final, Siena Saints mascot Bernie nailed a two pointer on Shooter the Red Fox. Catch more Siena Saints Blog video at our video homepage.
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Fran McCaffery joined Bill King on Rivals radio as Fran continues to make the rounds after Siena’s MAAC Championship victory. Catch the interview here!
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The Siena Saints have made their third straight NCAA Tournament after beating Fairfield in overtime.
Now begins the waiting game, waiting for the NCAA to tell the Saints where they will travel and what seed they will be in this year’s field of 65.
While the Saints carry a thorough reputation into this year’s tournament, having won a game in each of the last two years, the committee does not use that in their equation to seed the Saints.
The experts who square off on projecting the brackets, known as bracketologists, have honed in the Saints on their seeding lines as Siena awaits where it will travel. Continue Reading »
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I’ve got one thing to say, put Siena in Providence or Buffalo. Last year, you gave this team an extremely tough task in traveling to Dayton to face Ohio State, heck even the president picked against us. The least you could do, after three consecutive years of exciting tournament appearances, is put Siena three or so hours away from their school.
We all know you’re looking for the story, the cinderella, well the shoe fits. Davidson was the talk of 2008– with one storied sophomore. This team has three seniors– one the nation’s assist leader, one the conference player of the year, and at least one who is heading for an exciting NBA draft day. Three great kids who are going to graduate, and three great kids who know how to put on a show. If you want a story, give this team an 11 or 12 seed and give them the shot to make a deep run. In 2006, George Mason made that run. It’s been four years, Siena wears green and gold, give these seniors the chance to make that memorable run your friends at CBS would like to see.
Selection Committee, you can help.
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How much will you work this week?
To be honest with you, not very much. We’ll lift and shoot. The guys have some nicks and bruises, so we’re going to try to get them healthy. That’s the beauty of winning on Monday and not having to play for almost two weeks…Rossiter tweaked his ankle two days before the Manhattan game and we didn’t say anything about it…O.D. wasn’t himself the final two games. He desperately wanted to play and I played him, but he just was not himself. He will be by tournament time.
What’s the highest seed you could make a case for Siena ending up in the brackets?
I have no idea. I never look at that…I just know we have a good team. I’ve been impresses with the committee’s sense of fairness over the years. I just know there was a time when we got in and just watched and praying we’re not the play-in game. Nobody wants to be in the play in game. It’s unfortunate. They shouldn’t have it. I’ve said a million times that if they have it they should put the two 8th place teams from whatever conference in it. Not teams that win their way in it. That’s my opinion. So I just know we’re not going to be in the play-in game.
Comments on Edwin Ubiles’ (360) dunk against Fairfield?
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“I looked down and I couldn’t believe they had uniformed cops at all the entry points. I just thought, ‘wow…they really don’t want us to storm the court.’ I mean cops? Is that really necessary?” Siena senior Kevin Risolo on the increased security for the MAAC championship game.
That was the general reaction from students the day after the debacle that immediately followed the Saints winning the MAAC tournament. Initially, the influx of security and police officers appeared to have the upper hand. With 30 seconds left in the game they quite literally lifted a female student off into a nearby tunnel while one member of security was poking Siena fans who were getting too close to the rail with the end of a large MAAC banner. Narrowing down the passage to the floor to basically two aisles was looking like a successful tactic in keeping the student sections from storming the court.
Until with approximately 11 seconds left when the bunched up sea of yellow began to chant in unison, “You can’t stop us!” Then everyone in the arena knew that 30 men really couldn’t stop 1,000 running students. They tried anyway, however, and with the tight spaces security created a jailbreak scenario ensued that actually increased the chance of injury to students.
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Fran McCaffery and the big three answer questions from the media about their third straight championship in Monday night’s overtime win over the Fairfield Stags (Monday March 8th).
Winning the MAAC Championship, traditionally played early on in championship week, gives teams, fans, and pundits a welcome luxury – a six day respite before selection Sunday and then another few before the tourney starts in earnest.
With the big three graduating after what hopes to be a fruitful NCAA tournament run, this is the perfect time not only to reflect on their impact on the Siena men’s basketball program, but to also try to place them in their proper slot in the pantheon of Saints/Indians teams in history.
While I’m a modest basketball historian I don’t really go back farther than 1985 in terms of Siena basketball knowledge, although I’m well aware of Billy Harrell and the Bill Kirsch and John Griffin teams that competed over the last 70 years.
The team that put the program on the map, though, was obviously the one that beat Stanford in the 1989 NCAA Tournament, and almost beat Minnesota in the second round, and they have often been praised as the benchmark squad. All discussions of best Siena teams ever must start here.
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Fran McCaffery talked to Jason Smith on All Night on ESPN Radio following Siena’s Monday night MAAC Championship victory over Fairfield. The interview can be found here.
Did you know Fran McCaffery has a 100% graduation rate for his recruits at Siena? That is among one of the many things they talk about in this interview.
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Siena fans rush the court as the Saints celebrate their third straight MAAC Championship Monday night.
The MAAC attempted to stop Siena fans from storming the court and instructed the security at the Times Union Center to do their best to stop them.
However the battle between students and security was a petty one compared to the one that raged after the game.
Times Union Center General Manager Bob Belber said MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor was adamant that students not reach the floor while Belber had doubts as to whether or not it would be successful.
“He wanted barricades to be placed across the concourses to prevent the students from filtering into other sections of the arena to gain access to the floor,” Belber said in a statement.
“I told [Ensor] a number of times that the kids just want the opportunity to celebrate,” Belber said. “[Ensor] was determined to try to keep the students off the court, which is why there were security guards trying to keep students from entering the court areas.”
Belber also said that the security guards were trained to let the students go if the pressure was too great. Eventually the students broke through and reached the floor late after Siena’s overtime victory over Fairfield.
A Siena spokesperson said there were no sustained injuries and the Albany police said there were no arrests related to the court storming last night.
MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor fired back at Belber this afternoon. Ensor said his only plan was to want to protect the integrity of the game.
“That was our plan,” Ensor said to keeping the students off the court. “How the arena trains its staff and implements the plan is their business.”
Meanwhile Ensor did not spare taking a shot at the Siena Saints student section either.
“The incidents that occurred where are students aren’t listening and starting interacting with security and started throwing punches is really a reflection on the students,” Ensor said.
“I think there’s a tradition that’s developed at Siena that they want to storm the court and be a part of the action,” Ensor said. “The first time you win a championship, maybe there’s a reason for the spontaneity. At this point, it’s gotten beyond that to a very systematic approach.”
Meanwhile Marist and Rider fans will hope to not be run into the security policy that Siena fans ran into Monday night when they win their first MAAC tournament championships.
Belber said that he hopes the incidents last night will not strain the relationship between the Times Union Center and the community.
“The staff of the Times Union Center worked very hard and put in tremendous hours to host this record-breaking tournament, and it is a shame that there are negative feelings toward them for trying to carry out the directive of the MAAC,” Belber said.
The MAAC broke the attendance record set last year in this year’s MAAC Tournament.