SienaSaintsBlog: What are the keys on offense against Manhattan?

Mitch Buonaguro/Siena Head Coach: “We tried to pass the ball a little more.  We did too much dribbling at manhattan, they create turnovers in traps. 20 to 22 turnovers will not win this game on Saturday, we need to be around 13, it’s all about our turnovers. When we make shots, we’re a lot better. Hymes made 5 threes [in their last meeting - Siena's 70-64 win over Manhattan].”

SienaSaintsBlog: How will you defend Jaspers Junior George Beamon?

Mitch Buonaguro/Siena Head Coach: ”You have to keep him out of the lane, he needs to not get to the foul line. If he gets to the line 10 times he’ll end up with 25 points, we cant have that.”

SienaSaintsBlog: How can Kyle Downey help break the Jaspers press?

Mitch Buonaguro/Siena Head Coach: “Kyle has developed into a good off guard ball handler.  He has run the point in 4 games this year, so if we’re without Hymes, he will be the guy.”

SienaSaintsBlog: The MAAC hosts events such as the Hall of Fame showcase in Springfield and the Old Spice Classic, how important is it for the conference to be a part of these November events?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: We do the multi-team exempt events under NCAA [rules].  We do those events with the Hall of Fame and with ESPN at the Old Spice Classic to both allow our teams the opportunity to play in the events, and in some cases host games, I believe Fairfield is in one this year, where they’re going to host teams at their home court. Beyond that, as Iona demonstrated when they went to Puerto Rico this year, and that’s not one we host but it’s a similar event, you get to play teams on a neutral court that you’d rarely have an opportunity to play in November and December.

So Iona was able to establish their bonafides early on by taking Purdue down to the last basket, that game they lost, but then they hammered Maryland, a strong ACC program one that’s played much better as the year’s gone on, and they also beat a good [Mid-American Conference] team from Western Michigan so they were able to establish themselves early on. And at the Old Spice Classic over the years, we’ve offered that opportunity to MAAC schools as well and the Hall of Fame so it gives us an opportunity to give our teams a chance at neutral site games and good non-conference opponents that hopefully give them some credibility when it comes to March, whether you’re looking for seeding in the NCAA Championship or even an at-large which the case could be made for Iona this year. Or if you’re talking about the NIT or the CIT or the CBI, those events all are looking for teams that have shown themselves to be able to play good non-conference opponents.

SienaSaintsBlog: With conference expansion in the news, most recently Temple moving from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East in our area, what is the state of the MAAC as it relates to expansion?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: We always look at membership issues relative to the MAAC and possible expansion. It’s a standard agenda item when we have our strategic planning meetings as well as our board meetings with the MAAC Council of Presidents. In this environment we’ve been dealing with the past couple of years, which has been largely driven by football, and even in the case of Temple that is the main issue there. They’re looking, these major BCS programs, to strengthen themselves with teams that give them added market share for TV purposes and as a result drive up their revenue from TV contracts.

We’ve kept our membership up to date on all those changes. We’ve gamed out certain scenarios of what opportunities might present themselves to the MAAC depending on how league formation would filter down to the mid-majors. We’ve seen some of that in the west coast; we’ve seen the West Coast Conference pick up BYU as part of all this shifting around. The Big Sky and the Southland [Conferences] have also been affected.

We want our members to know that this can filter its way down to the mid-major level as well and here are possible scenarios. How it plays out in the long term I don’t know, but we’re certainly well aware of it and have some strategies in place to talk about if certain opportunities present themselves.

SienaSaintsBlog: What are your thoughts on how Siena’s played when you’ve had the chance to see them this season?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: I think that Mitch [Buonaguro] has done a great job with a really small roster. They had injury issues and eligibility issues. I think he has responded by getting that team in a pretty good position for postseason. I think they’ve played with great enthusiasm and sometimes their legs give out, I was at [Siena's] game at Manhattan where it was a really good game for 30 minutes but just Manhattan kept the pace so high that he just at the end of the day were just short players. Steve Masiello was able to run players in and out against you and just wear you down.

So I think in response to that you’ve seen Mitch slow down the pace a lot, try and control that pace. When I was up there two weeks ago for the rematch of that Manhattan game, it was a different outcome by controlling that pace they were able to get the win so I think they’ve done a great job and I think the team’s really worked hard to get the position where they can have some impact in the championship and kudos to all of them.

We at SienaSaintsBlog thank Commissioner Rich Ensor for taking the time out to talk with us, follow him on twitter @MAACCommish.

SienaSaintsBlog: What are your thoughts on this exciting regular season we had this year?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: I think it’s always great for the fans when the seeds for the championship come down to the last weekend of play. It keeps interest high and it keeps the teams engaged in the process so I think its indicative of the type of year we’ve had while Iona certainly has been a team that’s driven a lot of interest, they haven’t been able to dominate to the extent where none of the other teams felt like they didn’t have a shot at the number one seed. It came right down to the last weekend and that’s what you want.

SienaSaintsBlog: How do you feel about the competitiveness in the league this season?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: I think it’s been very competitive. I thought back at the beginning of the year that we’d have a pretty good season and we got off to a little of a slow start frankly. Iona came out strong but we thought Fairfield and Rider in particular would get off to better non-conference starts but they had a few issues they were resolving so as we got into conference play I think you saw the teams start to gel and play better and typically when you get into our conference play teams know each other’s tendencies better than anyone else anyhow so it usually is a lot closer and that’s how it played out as teams have upset each other, they’ve won their away game but lost at home and vice-versa, so it’s been interesting and certainly has been hard to handicap.

SienaSaintsBlog: This tournament marks the sixth tournament in which the double-bye has been removed, what do you feel the impact has been with that in retrospect?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: When we went to the double-bye we were trying to protect the number one seed in particular, because you want the team that’s done well over the course of the year to  have some advantage as they get ready for postseason. We got rid of it because there were a lot of unintended consequences. First of all, it was almost too much of an advantage for the team that got to sit back and watch others play for a couple of days and then come in with much stronger legs and not having had to play games previously. So it was too much of an advantage and then we didn’t calculate that it would also impact the fan interest because if you were looking for games that were meaningful, you weren’t going to come in for the full tournament – you would just come in for the semifinals and finals because of the number one team wasn’t playing until the semis.

I’m glad that we went away from it, it was a good experiment but I think it’s a much fairer championship as it is currently constructed because you get to seed placement and theoretically a better opponent, if you’re the higher seed, based on your in season performance but you also have to be able to show that you could put three games, three or four if you’re in the out-bracket, together in a row to claim the automatic bid.

SienaSaintsBlog: What are your thoughts as the MAAC Basketball Championships head to Springfield this week?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: That’s going to be interesting to see how the neutral site works in terms of fan attendance. I know that the arena has done a great job locally in terms of developing interest and awareness of the Championships. So that was part of the deal when we went there, that they had a history of hosting neutral events with the NCAA Division II tournament, and we wanted to see some of that come over to the MAAC in terms of fans coming out to the event. So they’ve done a good job with that and now we have to see if our fans will travel to a neutral site. We haven’t done this since 1989 was the last time we ever had neutral site, when we played at the Meadowlands, and it was a much different MAAC in those days.

There was a sense in the league that the home court had become too much of an advantage, particularly when Siena had that three years in a row of championships. I often say that it wouldn’t have mattered where we played those games, those Siena teams were just that good. But I understood that the membership felt that playing on somebody’s home court was getting to be too much for both the fans and their teams.

So we’re off to Springfield, which has put a nice bid together with the Hall of Fame. We’ve enjoyed the relationship already with the Hall of Fame having our preseason awards show there and opening up the MAAC exhibit that will be in the building for the next three years. This week we’re going to have our postseason awards show there and then on Friday night we’re having a big honors dinner where we’re honoring two athletes, men’s and women’s, from each of the 10 schools for their past basketball accomplishments and then we’re going to enshrine them in our MAAC exhibit as part of our opportunity with the Hall of Fame. That part of it has worked out real well and now we want our fans to come up and experience both the Hall of Fame and the MAAC Championships at the MassMutual Center. It should be fun, they’ve done a lot of work and they’ve got a great FanFest developed for the youth of the area to be involved with and our fans coming in. The championship should be a lot of fun on a lot of different levels for different fans.

SienaSaintsBlog: What did you and your staff learn from December’s Hall of Fame Showcase which featured Siena and Fairfield amongst other teams?

Rich Ensor/ MAAC Commissioner: Operationally, there were a few things we noted. We worked on a lot of the details, how the Box Office works, how Will Call works and the locker room assignments – all the day-to-day sports management type of issues that we deal with. That was why we did it, as much as anything, was to get a sense of how the building works and how it fits into how we do our championships. It was a good useful learning experience for us and the arena.

In part two tomorrow, we’ll talk about the MAAC’s preparedness for conference expansion among other items…

Iona came in first in the MAAC Preseason rankings and Senior Mike Glover was named MAAC Preseason Player of the Year.

O.D. Anosike was named to the Men’s Third team All-MAAC preseason team, he’s the only Saint on the preseason All-MAAC teams.

MAAC Preseason Rankings
#1 Iona
#2 Fairfield
#3 Loyola
#4 Rider
#5 St. Peter’s
#6 Siena
#7 Niagara
#8 Manhattan
#9 Canisius
#10 Marist

Manhattan coach Barry Rhorssen could be coaching his last game when the Saints and Jaspers play on Friday night. The New York Daily News is reporting that Rhorssen will be let go after Manhattan exits the MAAC Basketball Championships. Sources told the Daily News that Manhattan will likely make a move at the end of the season and have been wrestling with the idea of letting him go despite the fact Rhorssen has one year left on his contract.

Rhorssen, in his fifth season as Jaspers coach, is 58-93 overall and has a 37-53 record in the MAAC.

Siena’s shooting woes have got to be frustrating for both the players and coaching staff.   The team was not taking a ton of low percentage shots, it is unexplainable how your post players (exluding Ryan Rossiter) shoot 1-11 from the field.   It does not matter how great of a gameplan you put together, if you do not put the ball in the hoop, more often than not you are going to wind up on the losing end.

As a team how do you go about correcting the obvious shooting woes? A very difficult question to answer besides staying positive, telling the guys to trust in their shot, not to dwell on the misses, most importantly continue to hustle, and eventually the shots will fall.

This team has shown that it has the talent to win tough ball games and the desire to compete even without Rossiter’s co-senior, Clarence Jackson.  Evident once again on Monday night as they rallied from a dismal 1st half performance with a 16-0 run early in the 2nd half to take a 36-35 lead.   The question remains is will they be able to establish a model of consistency in the 2nd half of conference play?

Room for Improvement:

Going to refrain from stating the obvious. If you did not see the game last night, 21-71 from the field (29.6%).

Keys to Success:

Midway MAAC POY. Ryan Rossiter’s continued ability to put this team on his back and will the team to compete has been a huge bright spot in a season marred by injury and inconsistency.   Anyone who does not feel he has earned MAAC POY honors please speak up now or forever hold your peace.

Team Defense. The Saints delivered another superb performance on the defensive end as they held the MAAC’s leader in 3’s to a meager 31.8%, well below their season average.   Siena forced 14 turnovers and held Rider to 68 points (7 below their season average).

Five Facts:

1.  Ryan Rossiter was 2-2 from 3 point range, and now has 5 for his career.

2.  Rider outscored Siena 11-0 in fast break points.

3.  Siena attempted 14 more shots than Rider (71-57).

4.  Rider made 3 more shots than Siena (24-21).

5.  The Saints have had 5 multiple game losing streaks this season.

Five Questions:

1.  When was the last time a Siena team was limited to 18 points in a half?

2.  Where does this team go from here?

3.  Will Siena finish higher than their mid season standing of 6th?

4.  Any thoughts on a midterm grade for the Saints?

5.  Will this team play a game all year at full strength?

Five Words:

A team that doesn’t quit.

The Peacocks boast a BCS win over Alabama earlier in the season, but they find themselves in the middle of the conference and tied with Siena in fifth place, two games back of Fairfield and Iona who are tied for first.

St. Peter’s is led by their star shooting guard Wesley Jenkins, who is leading the team in scoring with 14 points and averaging about 5 rebounds per game.  There is also plenty of other senior leadership on the team as well.   5’11″ point guard Nick Leon is averaging about 10 points a game, 6’7″ forward Ryan Bacon is an excellent presence inside scoring 8 points a game and grabbing 6 rebounds per game, and 6’6″ forward Jeron Belin is third on the team in scoring with 9 points a game.  The Peacocks will be at a little bit of a size disadvantage to the Saints, though, and for a team that averages only 34 rebounds they will need to find a way to keep up with the Saints on the glass or else the game could get away from them.

The Peacocks are only averaging about 56 points a game, but they are an excellent defensive team, only giving up about 60 points a game.  For a team like Siena, who has had some issues shooting the ball as of late, there will be a need for a concerted effort to get high percentage shots and shoot the ball effectively.

That issue may be resolved more easily now that the Saints have welcomed back Clarence Jackson from injury.  The senior guard helped the Saints to wins over Marist and Canisius the last two games out, scoring 19 and 15 points in each respective contest.  Rahkeem Brookins continues to excel running the point, averaging an assist to turnover ratio of 4:1 over his last six games.  And OD Anosike appears to making the sophomore leap as he has averaged almost 13 points and 10 rebounds over the last four games.

Things are getting better for the Saints, but Owen Wignot’s thumb injury on his shooting hand continues to bother him, and Davis Martens may still be recovering from a sprained ankle.  The Saints will still need to continue to nurse injuries and continue to get the best out of the players and rotations they put on the floor to try and get back in to the MAAC conference race.  Iona and Fairfield are probably not coming back to the pack, so the Saints will need every win that they can get, and a difficult road win at St. Peter’s on Friday night would do a lot to build confidence for the Saints.

Siena will play four of their next five games at home, beginning on Monday night January 24th against the Rider Broncs at the Times Union Center.

There was a significant difference in this game vs. the game out in Buffalo, and not stating the obvious here that Clarence Jackson was back in the lineup, it was the Saints ability to convert turnovers into points.  The tail of the tape:

@ Canisius – 14 forced turnovers, 12 points (-2 differential)
vs. Canisus – 11 forced turnovers, 19 points (+8 differential)

A 10 point swing, and a difference maker in the game.   I do not want to see the Golden Griffs in a first round matchup come March.  They clearly match up well against Siena, and with their experience, are going to be a tough out for anyone that crosses their path.

Siena now boasts a 4-3 record in the league and is in position to make a statement to the rest of the MAAC in a nationally televised game on ESPNU Friday night against an experienced St. Peter’s team who also stands at 4-3.

Room for Improvement:
Extending the Lead. Siena jumped out to lead by as many as 15 and then went into cruise control before grasping to a 7 point lead at the end of the 1st half.  Canisius closed the half on a 9-2 run.  In the 2nd half Siena went up 8 twice with opportunities to extend the lead to double digits, failing to do so each time.

Keys to Success:
Coaching. This team came out of the gates and went right to their strength which is finding a way to get the ball inside.   This opened things up, allowed the team to establish themselves and settle into some very good offensive sets.   Mitch has really started to trust his basketball instincts, making some great moves that have paid off.   The one that stands out the most is having Clarence come off the bench, it allows him to get a sense for the game, so he can adjust and provide an instant spark off the bench.   The Saints played more man to man Monday night and that paid huge dividends as it confused Canisius and limited their production from 3.

The Fab Frosh. I continue to praise “Rahk” Brookins, mainly because he continues to impress night in and night out.  In the 2nd half as play started to move at a frenetic pace and the Saints were making some poor decisions, he steals the ball.  He could have raced to the basket challenging two Canisius defenders, but instead he slows down, lets the team set up in the half court, then finds O.D. Anosike on a great look, who attacks the rim and gets fouled. His stat line yet again was near flawless, 10 pts., 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover.

Five Facts:

1.  Siena is now 6-0 when making more free throws than their opponent attempts.

2.  The Saints are 2-0 since Clarence Jackson returned to the lineup.

3.  Siena made only 3 substitutions in the 2nd half.

4.  Ryan Rossiter has scored 25 or more points 7 times this season.

5.  Saints are now .500 at home, winners of 4 straight.

Five Questions:

1. Who will be the next team to put up more than 70 against the Saints (6 straight games while holding an opponent under 70 pts.)

2.  Why has “Rahk” Brookins not been recognized yet as a MAAC Rookie of the Week?

3.  What will the Saints league record be at the midway point of the MAAC slate?

4.  Will Ryan Rossiter go down as the best post player in Siena history?

5.  When was the last time Siena led the MAAC in scoring defense (currently 3rd)?

Five Words:

Points off turnovers win games.

The coaching move of the evening was Mitch having Clarence Jackson come off the bench as the proverbial sixth man.  It paid off in a huge way as Jackson was hot from the outside hitting 5-7 from three and leading the Saints with a game high 19 points.  

I actually discussed the likelihood of this move with a fellow fan prior to tip, and we thought it would be a great move as CJ has always relished that role, but both shrugged it off like it would never happen.   After the final whistle we were both thinking what a great move in a game that clearly needed some kind of spark.

We can only hope that leaving Clarence Jackson as the sixth man and first off the bench is the anecdote for success for this group of Saints.   It has been clear that something has to start clicking in this roller coaster of a season.   The team has a great chance to re-establish themselves in the MAAC with a revenge win against Canisius on Monday.

Room for Improvement:
Consistency. This team continues to ride different waves of highs and lows.   One night they are able to shoot 94% from the charity stripe and the next they are shooting 54.5%.   One night they are turning the ball over 14 times and 7 the next.  One night they are on fire from beyond the arc and the next night they are shooting bricks.

Keys to Success:
Defense. The proverbial experts always say that defense breeds champions and if that is the case then this team has hope.  They have really come into their own with the 2-3 zone. In their 6 wins they are holding opponents to just 63 points per game.
Guard play. The combination of Brookins and Breeden has been a fun development to watch.  They both continue to provide positive highlights and continue to limit their amount of mistakes each and every game.   In tight games having the luxury for both to be on the floor is something that will reduce the blood pressure of Coach Buonaguro.

Five Facts:
1.  O.D. Anosike made more free throws and at a higher percentage than Ryan Rossiter.
2.  Siena made half as many 3’s as they did free throws (6 and 12).
3.  Saints are now off the snide against teams with an RPI over 200 (1-3).
4. Siena has limited opponents to 63 points per game in their 6 wins and have allowed 74 points in their 10 losses.
5.  Clarence Jackson tied a season high with 5 baskets beyond the arc.

Five Questions:
1.  Will Davis Martens and/or Kyle Griffin be available for Monday?
2.  Will Clarence Jackson remain as the sixth man this year?
3.  When was the last time Ryan Rossiter shot 20% from the free throw line in a game?
4.  How many MAAC wins will Siena have this year?
5.  Will Siena get back to .500 at home on Monday (currently 3-4 @ home, 3 game win streak)?

Five Words:
Welcome back to Clarence Jackson.

The Jekyl and Hyde show continues for this group as they dropped their 3rd game to a team with an RPI over 200 this season.  This team has been so unpredictable, right when they start looking like they are gelling and coming into their own, all of a sudden the wheels start to fall off the wagon.

I have been harping on ‘play down the stretch’ as being an achilles heal all season and stats do not lie:

• Siena has a -14 assist to turnover ratio in the last five minutes of games.
• Have been outscored 189-168 in the last five minutes.
• Made 7-25 (20%) from 3.

Fortunately they are only 5 games into the 18 game MAAC slate and there is plenty of time to right the ship. Hopefully this experience out in Buffalo is the proverbial wake-up call, because if not there will be plenty of time for napping come March.

Room for Improvement:

Back to Basics. The Saints lost their identity out in Buffalo.   They have won all five games this year with hustle, effort, and resiliency.   Key on making free throws, taking care of the ball, and rebounding.
Balanced Offense. It is clear that the Saints strength this year is their size and post play down low, but if you go to the well time and again it will run dry.   It happened this weekend, and if the Saints don’t find another consistent offensive threat, “well” it’s going to be a long winter.

Keys to Success:

The “Other” Post Man. O.D. Anosike came out of his shell and really stepped up this weekend. Showing what he can do if he stays out of foul trouble.   He posted his 2nd straight and 2nd career double-double with a career high 15pts. and 10 rebounds to boot.   If he is able to build off these back to back great efforts, it will be a sured bonus as the season unfolds.
Defense. The defense continues to shine.   Forcing 19 turnovers with 11 steals while holding yet another opponent to below 40% shooting.

Five Facts:

1.  After winning 52 straight when holding opponents under 70, the Saints are 1-2, make that 1-3.

2.  Siena has not won a game this season (0-9) when they ink a lesser free throw percentage, make that (0-10).

3.  Niagara’s RPI is 272.

4.  Siena’s record in Western New York is 9-11 since 2001-2002 season.

5.  The Saints are 0-3 against teams with an RPI over 200.

Five Questions:

1. What is going on with the rash of injuries this team has suffered?

2.  Did this team lose its legs from too many minutes Friday night or is it just me?

3.  What happened to the foul shooting this weekend?

4.  Will Siena win 15 games this year? (the magic number for a .500 win %)

5.  What happened out in Buffalo?

Five Words:

Say Goodbye to MAAC Title.