The Gaels are led by sophomore G Scott Machado, who is averaging 11.8ppg and 4.2 apg.  He is followed by junior F Alejo Rodriguez and freshman G Kyle Smith, who both average 8.8ppg.  Coach Kevin Willard has developed a young team by preaching defense, and the Gaels have responded – they hold opponents to just under 62ppg on less that 40% shooting.  What the team lacks in size inside they make up for by hot shooting from the outside – Iona shooters are making almost 38% of their shots from 3-point land.  Excitement has returned to New Rochelle, and this team is gunning for the first place Saints.

Meanwhile, the status quo has remained unchanged in Loudonville.  The Saints had all week to prepare for the Gaels after learning that they will face Butler in the Bracketbuster on Saturday, February 20.   The coach and players would have told you what they’ve been telling you all year, though – they truly are taking one game at a time, and all they care about at this moment is beating Iona.  Edwin Ubiles should be back in the starting lineup as he’s been seen practicing with the team all week.  Kyle Downey is still nursing his broken foot and should not be expected back until at least the MAAC Tournament.  What looked like a team who was losing players to injury has seemed to gain experience on the bench.

In what will be the third sell-out of the year, the Times Union Center will be rocking out for the “Gold Rush,” with fans being urged to all wear gold shirts or attire.  Since there are only single tickets left, and few of them at that, the powers that be have decided to  televise the game on Time Warner Cable 1.  Game time is 7:00pm.

First place is not on the line Friday night, but the Gaels want the win – an upset Friday night would go to prove that Siena can be beaten on their home-court, which is what every team is going to need to do if they want to win the MAAC tourney come March.  The Saints want to keep streaking – an at-large bid is still unlikely and would not be likely unless they ran the table, but an unbeaten conference season gets closer with each win.

Friday night may be the big match up of MAAC foes this year where the immovable object meets the unstoppable force – as Iona and Siena renew their conference rivalry fans should be in for a heck of a game.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• A HEALTHY EDWIN IS A HAPPY EDWIN: Eddie scored 15 points off the bench at Marist on Saturday, and looked good doing it.  He was active and energetic, and even though he admits that the shoulder (non-shooting) is sore he knows he can play through it.  While Alex Franklin and Ryan Rossiter have been bearing the brunt of the work (literally) the Saints are going to need as much of Eddie being Eddie as they can get the rest of the season.  He is the X-Factor that each team needs to scheme for, and he’s going to relied on every game the rest of the way.
• HOW DEEP DOES THE BENCH GO?: Right now, it seems to be getting deeper.  During Edwin’s absence Owen Wignot got the starting nod each time – and while he still has yet to build on his athleticism and get in the scoring column more often he has looked terrific on defense and has played very productive minutes.  Right behind him is freshman OD Anosike, who continues to mature with each game.   His rebounding ability is outstanding, as are some of the post moves he’s starting to display.  While coach has seven strong to start, he is getting Kyle Griffen, Jonathan Breeden, and Davis Martens in more – each minute a bench player takes gives the starters that much more of a rest, which is invaluable this time of year.  Unfortunately, don’t expect to see TOO much of the bench Friday night, because…
• ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?: This is the time of the year when Coach McCaffery and his Saints don’t lose.  The team’s record in February and March is stellar, much for one reason – Coach has no problem riding his starters.  Expect all five to log big minutes Friday night – the conditioning of the team is excellent, and this is nothing new to them.  They’ve been doing it for four years now.

Last season Siena lost their 13th conference game at Rider to break their undefeated streak.

The Siena Saints (12-4, 5-0) host the Canisius Golden Griffins (8-8, 3-2) at the Times Union Center, 7pm Monday night.  The game will be broadcast on Time Warner Cable channel 3.  The Saints are tied for the third longest home court winning streak in the country at 29 with Dayton and Pittsburgh, behind Kansas (51) and Missouri (30), and will also try to extend their unbeaten streak against Canisius to nine in a row.   This isn’t quite the same Griffs team the Saints have faced in recent memory, though.

Canisius was picked to finish seventh in the MAAC conference by the coaches in the preseason men’s basketball poll, but the team has responded well early in the season.  Their non-conference wins may not be flashy, but a win at home against an improving Iona team served notice to other conference foes that the Griffs are here to compete this year– tied for third in the MAAC.

The Griffs are led by versitile 5′10″ senior guard Frank Turner.  A true stat stuffer, Turner leads the league in scoring with 17 points per game, averages 5.1 assists per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, and 2.3 steals per game.  Turner is the cornerstone of the team, and while names like Ubiles, Franklin, Thompson, Lewis, Harvey, and Benn may be thrown in to the hat for Player of the Year consideration, Frank Turner has to be at or near the top of the list.  He is a consistent and dynamic performer, and a huge reason why the Golden Griffins are working their way up the conference ladder for the first time in a long time.

Turner is followed in scoring by 6′4″ junior guard Julius Coles, who is averaging 15.1 points per game, and 6′7″ junior forward Greg Loggins who is averaging 10.9 points per game.  One of the key things to watch in this matchup though is going to be the battle of the boards – while Siena outrebounds it’s opponents 39-35.6 each game the Griffs also have a positive advantage in team rebounding, edging their opponents 37.8-35.6 per game.  The X-Factor for the Saints in this game may be the balanced scoring of its team, and if the Griffs can’t fully scheme for it and keep them off the glass then it may be a difficult night for them.

Siena’s scoring race has been as fun to watch as a Saratoga race card – Edwin Ubiles and Alex Franklin are now tied for the lead with 15.3 per game.  While Clarence Jackson is as explosive as anyone on the team, he is sometimes an anomaly – he has led or tied for the lead in scoring in six games this year, but also threw in a few head scratchers.  As impressive as his defense has been at times this year, his defensive intensity and rare carelessness with decision making on the court has found him in coach McCaffery’s dog house on a couple of occasions.  Meanwhile, junior Ryan Rossiter is the stalwart down low, averaging almost a double-double with 12.6ppg and 9.8rpg.  No one man is called upon to shoulder the load night in and night out.  What is most likely going to be the linchpin for this team down the stretch is the now evident emergence of its bench players.

Sophomore guard Kyle Downey seems to have completely returned from a back injury during the offseason and looks like a completely different player – while he is not shooting prolifically from three-point range he is hitting crucial field goals, and his defense and rebounding has stepped up in the minutes he gets to spell the starters.  Freshman forward OD Anosike had the best game of his early career on Saturday against Niagara, scoring 6 points, and grabbing 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in 22 minutes of play.  If Coach McCaffery can continue to get production from these two and set a solid 7-man rotation, then any other quality minutes he can get from reserves Kyle Griffin, Davis Martens, and Jonathan Breeden will be icing on the cake.  It looks like the depth issue that hindered the Saint’s chances to get an ‘up’ non-conference win early in the season may be behind them as the squad looks to make a strong run through the MAAC schedule.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Let’s Get Physical?: The Saints continue to rank high in the nation in fewest fouls committed, 5th currently with 14.4 per game – that stat is going to be tested by the strong and physical Golden Griffins.  If the Saints can absorb the contact and not get in to foul trouble while maintaining an edge in rebounding then they should have a great shot at getting the win.
• How Much Can You Bench?: The Saints almost got themselves in to uncharacteristic foul trouble against Niagara, but the reserves did a fine job logging minutes and producing quality play.  Downey and Anosike will continue to be the first two off the bench, but in this game the play of sophomore forward Owen Wignot and freshman forward Davis Martens could prove to be even more valuable if coach McCaffery finds a way to extend the bench even more.  The size and athleticism of Wignot and Martens could give different looks for the Saints against the physicality and post prowess of the Griffs.
• More Cowbell?  How About More Free Throws?: The Saints still average a paltry free throw shooting percentage of 65.4% halfway through the season, but they have averaged better than 70% in their last few games.  For a team that gets to the line as much as they do, and as much as they should on Monday night, the improved free throw shooting is a welcome sight.

NOTES

• The Saints are outscoring their opponents 79.2-61.8 in the friendly confines of the Times Union Center.  Who doesn’t long for someone to put up some big bucks and re-name it the Knickerbocker Arena again?
• Siena has a +17 scoring advantage in MAAC games, winning each MAAC contest by double digits, and the team leads the league in scoring, margin of victory, field goal percentage, rebounding, assists, and steals.
• While the Saints went 16-2 in conference last year, and are certainly trying to at least reach that mark again this year, the record for consecutive victories belongs to the 1988-99 squad who won 14 in a row.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s official blogger, Steve Amedio combines his years of experience covering the MAAC with insightful opinions on his site: Keepin’ Track of the MAAC. Recently he outlined all ten teams and how they’ve fared so far, finishing with Marist. In our first part, we get his evaluations on the Saints so far this season. We’ll have more conversation on the MAAC with Steve Amedio as Siena breaks after visiting Northern Iowa…

Ryan/Siena Saints Blog: I think Siena has been very good at beating the teams they’re supposed to beat: going undefeated at home so far but dropping games to the likes of Temple, St. John’s and Georgia Tech. I think Saturday’s game at Northern Iowa is a real test and if Siena can pull off the win, it would be the statement win of this third of the season (Siena will be off 12 days after that game) What’s your evaluation of Siena so far?

Steve Amedio/Keepin’ Track of the MAAC: Pretty much as expected. The three losses have come against very good teams, and all on the road. Siena clearly wore down against both Temple and St. John’s late in the games. I didn’t think they’d beat Georgia Tech. I keep in contact with Paul Hewitt, and I knew they were going to be real good this season. They’ve got two or three future NBA players on that roster.

Siena needs to find some depth so it can be fresh at the end of close games.

Kyle Downey had back problems over the summer and didn’t work out at all until September. He wasn’t 100 percent when the season started. Owen Wignot didn’t give them much in the first few games, although he’s started to play better. Kyle Griffin, the transfer 6-3 guard from La Salle, becomes eligible for the Dec. 23 game, and he should help. I’ve been told he’s been looking great in practices, a real coach on the floor type with great range who can also play some time at the point. Davis Martens, who is from Germany, is eligible as of Dec. 31. He’s a 6-9 forward with good “skills.” He can shoot.

Otherwise, Siena has looked terrific of late. Its win over UAlbany was the best it has played all year, particularly on the defensive end. It had a nice win at Iona, which is a pretty solid team. Moore makes the team go. I’ve  covered the team since 1985. He is the best “pure” point guard I have seen here. He’s not as good a player as, say, Marc Brown or Doremus Bennerman, both of which played the same position. But, as far as running a

team [and] being a distributor, Moore is the best I’ve seen. The fact that he leads the country in assists attests to that.

As for Northern Iowa, I guess you could call it the chance at a “statement” win. Northern Iowa is very good, 6-1 so far and has beaten Boston College, Iowa and Iowa State, three quality victories.

That said, Siena hammered Northern Iowa here last year. Northern Iowa plays a very deliberate style. If Siena can force the tempo, like it did last year, it has a decent chance of winning. Last year, Northern Iowa’s “bigs” were pretty much non factors; they couldn’t contend with the quickness of Ryan Rossiter [and] Alex Franklin.

Still, they’ve pretty much got everyone back from last year so they’re better. That’s a long trip for a single game and it’s a tough place to play. It would be a very nice win if Siena can get it, but it won’t be anywhere as easy to do that as it was last year.

You can take a look at my season ending essay to get a feel of what I was thinking going into this essay. I’ve been working on other writing projects, and working in general like we all do, but my time between the final buzzer against Louisville until now has been far from idle.

I have studied and reveled in all the polls. Yes, all the polls in which the Siena Saints have been ranked in the Top 25. The Men’s Basketball team has been projected by numerous sporting publications to start the season as one of the best 25 teams in the country. Many have begun to believe, others still think the ranking is too high. It’s difficult to absorb the ramifications. As I promised to do in my season-ending essay I will not look to the future with rose-colored glasses, those days are over. In examining the goings-on of the men in green and gold I’ll take a look with close scrutiny while still maintaining the game to game enjoyment and growth of the program.

We live in a reality as Saints fans that is more clear-cut than ever before. But as a fan who has endured much, I write as a semi-impartial journalist who is here to make even clearer the realities that truly exist in the world of Siena men’s basketball fandom.

The Saints enter the season as the favorites once again, voted to finish first in the MAAC almost unanimously for the second consecutive season, with the sole dissenting vote coming from Tommy Dempsey, the head coach at Rider. A lot of Siena fans bashed the vote, but if you look at it objectively, it makes sense. I picked Rider to finish second – they return possible player of the year Ryan Thompson with experienced scorers and possess one of the best starting five players in the conference. Niagara should be a tough out once again, and the conference looks to be as difficult to win from top to bottom as it has ever been.

Anything can happen in March, before the big dance. Anything. Dempsey knows this, Joe Mihalich knows this, and everyone has to accept it. It’s the price of being a fan.

Am I trying to hedge my bets that Siena won’t win the MAAC tourney and get to the big dance? Hardly. I just know that as a lifelong Saints fan, and as a sports fan, and as someone who understands the complexities of competition it is difficult for any team to repeat, much less do it three times in a row.

If the Saints are fortunate enough to win the MAAC tourney for the third consecutive time it will be the first time in 20 years that a team not named La Salle has accomplished the feat. Siena has the personnel, it’s been well documented. Coach Fran McCaffery has said that this year’s team belongs to the senior PG Ronald Moore. He is the floor general, he has sneakers made of pure speed, and his basketball IQ and instincts are exemplary. He will make the team go, but add returning seniors Edwin Ubiles, Alex Franklin, junior Ryan Rossiter prowling in the post, and junior Clarence Jackson to the mix, you have a blend of players who know the McCaffery system and are going to spend forty minutes a night running and gunning until their opponent is gasping for air. The leadership, experience, and ability to create within the coach’s system should provide for fireworks and offense that will enthrall anyone watching a Saints game this year.

Now is the time to enjoy what’s going on, but to also understand that the future is bright in Loudonville, while also uncertain and possibly maddening. The pipeline seems to be working as coach continues to recruit well and to add players who are not only skilled but fit well in his system. This is the first time in the history of the Siena Saints when continuity seems to be working, and the coach is not only reloading each year, but truly building a program. The 2009-2010 season has one minimum goal – yes, one main goal – to return to the NCAA tournament and try to win at least one game in the big dance. Why just this one goal? Because if it doesn’t happen then everything the program has worked for will take a step back due to the amazing pre-season hype and rewards extolled on the players and coaches. If the Saints make it to the dance and lose, then at least they had the shot. Gonzaga, in making the progression they’ve made to get where they are today, lost a number of first round games in a row, but the fact that they continued to make it year after year is what got them to their perch. It’s what enabled them to be able to play BCS schools on a regular basis. It is the one goal that Siena needs to continue to set and attempt to make – returning to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament year after year.

Professional golfers repeat the cliché when playing in tournaments that the event can not be won on the first day, but it can be lost. The same can be said for mid-major basketball programs. Close is nice, but without getting over the hump continually then programs can not evolve in to perennial threats.

This is where Siena is trying to get to, and the last two years were huge hurdles that were leapt. The mountain is large, though, and the summit is still far away. If the Saints are fortunate enough to make the sweet sixteen this year then they’ve come pretty close to reaching their goal, I’d go as far to say as they made it. Then, next year, the journey begins anew, albeit starting closer than they’d ever started before.

This is not a primer on how to be a Saints fan – you all know how to do that already. It is just one voice saying things that need to be said. It’s cautious optimism, hiding a passion that knows that every non-conference win is a step closer to that holiest of college basketball grails – the at-large bid. The schedule isn’t as strong as last year, but with a pocketful of non-conference wins Siena will continue to garner attention based on all the looks that were given to them in the preseason.

I can’t wait to see the development of Kyle Downey and Owen Wignot, who should develop to be a huge addition off the bench as possibly the sixth man. He will be challenged by OD Anosike as the other player off the bench who could have a growing impact in the frontcourt, even as a freshman. There is a depth to this team that has possibly never been seen before– freshman guards Denzel Yard and Jonathon Breeden adding their versatility to the backcourt, La Salle transfer Kyle Griffen, and big man Davis Martens coming in midseason to give the Saints more options.

Capital District residents have been waiting for this era of Saints basketball to arrive since the 1989 win over Stanford in the NCAA tournament, and it is finally here. On Friday, the Saints will open the season on the road against Tennessee State. Road wins are always tough to come by, and the opening game result will go a long way to setting the tone for the season. The non-conference schedule doesn’t let up, with the home opener against CAA powerhouse Northeastern coming the following Tuesday. Temple, St. John’s, Georgia Tech, St. Joseph’s, Mount St. Mary’s – each win is step closer to what every Siena fan wants – a 25 win season and a chance to win the MAAC championship.

Get nervous before every game, listen to the General and Tommy Heurter, watch Sportscenter if we get ranked in the top 25 for highlights, read up on the next game and prepare if we don’t. It’s a long season, but the offseason has been more than rewarding. Let’s hope there are plenty of prizes on the way as the men of the Green and Gold pursue their third straight MAAC championship and postseason NCAA berth.

Get ready to march, and if the Saints are playing in March, get ready to scream. I’ll be right there next to you, ready. Have fun, Saints fans!

• European Prospects on Davis Martens
• Fox & NBC Sports preseason rankings – #22
• Ubiles First of Mid-major All Americans
• NBC 19’s Take
• Dempsey gives Rider a vote of confidence
• Is Rider’s Thompson preseason Player of the Year?

Fran McCaffery underwent minor surgery friday and has handed the coaching reigns to Mitch Buonaguro for the next couple of days. Read more about his intense practice style at Pete Iorizzo’s blog »

Kyle Downy and Owen Wignot appear to be the front runners for coming off the bench for the shooting guard/small forward positions. Stephen Priestly and freshman O.D. Anosike are competing for available minutes in the frontcourt.

One thing that’s evident is the confidence placed onto Ronald Moore. Despite the hard work of incoming freshmen Jonathan Breeden and Denzel Yard, this is Moore’s team to run. Expect to see Moore play basically all forty minutes as he captains the Saints’ fast-paced offense.

One player to watch out for is German recruit Davis Martens. Although he must sit out the first 12 games due to NCAA regulations, Martens has the potential to be a serious contributor to this team in the second half of the season.

First is a nice write up on the newest Saint, Davis Martens, as well as a round up of the rest of the roster. He takes a deeper look into freshman PG Jonathan Breeden’s work ethic, McCaffery’s impressions of O.D., and La Salle transfer Kyle Griffin’s first time getting on the court since his knee injury.

Pete also highlights how the Saints measure up / weigh in this season; Rossiter, Ubiles, and Wignot being the big weight gainers of the offseason. Read Pete’s blog »

The 6′9″ Power Forward will celebrate his 20th birthday this Sunday.

Photo from doubleteam.es