Basketball Prospectus’ Ken Pomeroy, whose thorough database of stats at Kenpom.com now has individual player stats dating back to the 2005-06 season, used his ‘similarity score’ to figure out how Rahkeem Brookins compares to players all across the nation.

Similarity score is a comparison based on a certain amount of stats used to make the comparison. Pomeroy’s tool finds the players with the stats most similar to the player – in this case Brookins. In his similarity score post in September, Pomeroy said he used the following 13 stats:

Team Rating (4x)
%Poss (4x)
Off Rating (3x)
OR% (3x)
DR% (3x)
FTRate (3x)
%Min (2x)
eFG% (2x)
Assist rate (2x)
TO rate (2x)
Block % (2x)
Steal % (1x)
Shot % (1x)
For more check resources here and here

The team rating allows the comparison to account for the chance that a small conference player doesn’t get compared to a Big Ten player. The unique part about the similarity score comparison is that a player like Brookins, in this case, his season is only compared against other freshmen. A score of 1000 is the highest similarity score you can get, which constitutes an identical match, but that is an extremely rare case.

A good reason to select Brookins to use as a test case to against other players is because Brookins is the returning Saint who played the most minutes last season (884). Brookins started 25 of the Siena’s 28 games and scored a career-high 18 points, including four three pointers, in the Saints loss at St. Bonaventure.

However, for Saints fans, we asked Pomeroy to a much more in-depth statistical query on Brookins 2010-11 numbers. We asked him to break it down against Siena players from the past six seasons and against MAAC freshmen and players from then as well.

Rahkeem Brookins comparisons using Similarity Score

Despite the fact Breeden left the program at the end of the season, it’s interesting that Breeden’s and Brookins seasons from 2011 were listed highly on the similarity score chart. However these comparisons are not the strongest that Brookins compares to.

“900 is pretty strong.” Pomeroy said of the best similarity scores to use when comparing players. “850 isn’t bad. Once you get around 800, the comparisons are shaky.”

Comparisons between Brookins and Moore appear to be somewhat strong, reaching the threshold of 850 or less, but in a search for stronger comparisons, instead of using Siena players, try and open it up to all the MAAC players in the last six seasons.

While Moore is still in the comparison, he is not the best comparison of MAAC freshmen when you compare him against other players. The large amount of shots Brookins took in 2011 were an important indicator towards his future development.

“The biggest thing Brookins has going for him is that he took a few shots last season,” Pomeroy said. “Now he just has to make more of them. But too many freshman are unable to do either, so at least Brookins has shown he is ahead of the curve in one skill.”

When comparing Brookins to other freshmen, John Templon who writes at Big Apple Buckets, @nybuckets on twitter, said Brookins compares interestingly to Marist’s R.J. Hall.

“One name that pops up is R.J. Hall of Marist in 2009,” Templon said. “Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to get his turnover problems under control and has ended up playing fewer minutes for the Red Foxes as the years go by.”

Hall (85.3) and Brookins (86.6) were close in personal offensive rating their freshman seasons according to Ken Pomeroy’s stats. Templon said to expect a different type of development for Brookins than what has happened to Hall in his sophomore and junior seasons.

“That’s not to say he’ll end up with such a fate, but it’s a possibility,” Templon said. “Hall didn’t quite have the steal rate of Brookins as a freshman, so there’s an indication that some latent athleticism is going to come out as Brookins develops.”

Hall’s development has been hindered by academic issues. Hall was ruled academically ineligible for the spring of 2011. Hall is a senior at Marist this year.

The strongest comparison appears to be Canisius sophomore Gaby Belardo from last season. Belardo transferred from South Florida where he played a limited role to play for the Griffs in 2011. Templon agreed on the strong comparison between Brookins and Belardo with his own set of numbers.

“They both had high steal, turnover and assist rates, while not being quite that effective on offense,” Templon said. “Of course one was a redshirt sophomore and the other a freshman.”

Pomeroy said it’s a strong comparison and the tool has done a good job comparing players who might not look exactly the same.

“Obviously, the tool isn’t perfect, and it’s going to miss on a few comparisons, and it may occasionally compare guys who don’t look much alike,” Pomeroy said. “Although, the last part is not really something that concerns me.”

Saints fans might be waiting for Brookins to make progressive improvements this season. Brookins hurt a disc in his back in practice and has not shown improvement since injuring it which could put him in doubt to start the regular season in the starting lineup.

However, if Brookins returns healthy this season Saints fans should expect a solid season. How much improvement might depend on a variety of factors. Pomeroy said Brookins’ free throw shooting is a positive indicator of future success.

“The main thing is that he should get to the free throw line more. That’s something that almost anyone with his low free throw rate as a freshman will improve upon,” Pomeroy said. “Given that he’s apparently a good free throw shooter, that’s encouraging. Whether he can control his turnover issues is another matter. Historically, that could go either way.”

Along those same lines, Templon said Brookins ability to get in the lane and draw contact will be important in year two.

“Brookins doesn’t need to make a high percentage of his two-point attempts, and chances are he never will,” Templon said. “but he needs the threat of going into the lane to keep defenders honest and to open up passing lanes to the wings.”

While also concerned about the tunrovers, Templon said Brookins has the ability to cut down on turnovers and improve as a core player.

“In terms of turnovers, that should come with time and another year of strength development,” Templon said. “If he can cut it down to around 2.5 or 2 per game and maintain his assist rate he’ll be one of the top point guards in the MAAC and give Siena a strong building block for the next few seasons.”

A big thank you to Ken Pomeroy at Basketball Prospectus for running these numbers for us. Pomeroy’s rating system is sure to surprise some pessimistic Siena fans with his rank of the Saints in the MAAC this year – of course to see that you’ll have to buy a subscription to his site kenpom.com (starting Nov. 7th) which is going to the subscription model this year. Also a thank you to John Templon of NYCBuckets.com for helping contribute to this story by running his own numbers and his opinions on Brookins’ game.

Fans and media are trying to label Rakeem Brookins as Ronald Moore. But why? They’re not the same player. One just finished a distinguished Siena career and is playing overseas and the other is just beginning a college basketball career. So to change the argument to skills and ability for Brookins, take the first seven games of last year (Moore) and compare them to the first seven games of Brookins career. They must be more different than the same right?

Last year Moore was established as a pass-first true point guard and managed the Saints through a 4-3 start to 2009-10. Considering that Moore shot 15.8% from behind the arc to start the year and Brookins shot 28.6% from three, Moore still managed a higher field goal percentage overall against Brookins.

Brookins profiles as a good scorer and already has a better career free throw rate, just over 77% (14 of 18), thus far to Moore’s career rate of 65.2%. Brookins scoring touch will come, anyone who saw Brookins take over in Minnesota saw a player that is willing to take the ball and score on his own.

Taking a look at some of the other stats, there’s not much of a thorough difference between the stat lines.

Brookins turnover rate is the outlier at 1:1 through seven games. Fans will hope that the assists will come and know that this Siena team has been constantly prone to turnovers more than any other team in recent memory. Brookins has provided some of the same defensive presence, grabbing just as many steals as Moore had through the first seven games of the year.

Where Moore’s veteran presence kills Brookins stat line is on the boards. Moore learned to pick up rebounds, grabbing 24 rebounds over seven games compared to Brookins’ 7 boards. Guards tend to learn to grab a few rebounds over their careers, Saints fans might remember Marist’s Jared Jordan whose rebounding rates progressively jumped each year culminating in a triple-double over the Saints on his Senior Day.

Brookins game right now is scoring and creating and right now the skills are there to develop. While his production has been as efficient, fans see part of Moore’s game in him but they are (will and going to be) very different players once Brookins develops over the next few years.

Moore’s assist rate as a freshman was 26.8% which ranked 161st in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy’s stats on kenpom.com. Currently Brookins’ 24.3% rate ranks 299th, which ranks 8th among MAAC players.

This all being said, from us and others, this is a lesson in sample size. Is it even fair to compare freshman or senior years from a player who became a great Siena point guard and a player who has played seven games? Absolutely not. Seven games does not establish a player or a career. Maybe after two years into Brookins’ Siena career it will be more apparent what type of player he will definitely be. Brookins could develop into a different player and probably will, making it unfair to compare him to one of the best true point guards on one of the best Siena eras of all-time.

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.

Fans will have to invest in a Eurotrip if they want to see Alex Franklin and Ronald Moore playing basketball this season. It might be a trip worth taking. The reigning MAAC Player of the Year and MAAC Tournament MVP is heading to Tarragona, Spain, and Siena’s all-time assist leader will take his talents to Nitra, Slovokia.

Both players are set to begin their professional basketball careers in the coming weeks.

“I leave Sunday and I can’t wait,” Alex Franklin said. “I had a couple offers, but my agent and I thought this was the best opportunity.”

The opportunity is a roster spot for Sevindustria (CP) Tarragona, a team located in the city of Tarragona, 60 miles south of Barcelona on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Servindustria plays in Adecco Gold, the second level in the Spanish League. Their preseason begins tomorrow and the regular-season starts October 1 according to Antoni Ramos, who covers the team for Diari Més, a newspaper in Tarragona.

“I know it’s a very good league and I’m excited to get over there and play for them and help them win games,” Franklin said.

Franklin spent the summer training and improving his strength at Impact – one of the top NBA training facilities for professional basketball players located in Las Vegas.

Moore has signed a contract with BK Casta SPU Nitra, located in Nitra in the western part of Slovokia at the foot of Zobor Mountain. Nitra has a population of roughly 85,000, checking in as the fifth largest city in Slovokia. It’s described as a culture rich city and it has played a key role in the country’s evolution since its settlement in the fifth century.

“I know it’s a historic city, a small city,” Moore said. “Everything is within walking distance. Temperature was one thing I was worried about, but it doesn’t get too cold or too hot there. I talked to some people who played there and they really liked it.”

Moore said he plans to leave for Nitra at some point next week and the team is in the process of trying to sign another American player.

Both players promised to inform us of their progress overseas, sending updates and photos when they have the time. We will pass along that information here at SienaSaints.com.

The Siena men’s basketball program honored the most successful senior class in its 70-year history and dished out annual awards at the First Niagara Year-End Celebration Monday night at the Hilton garden Inn in Troy.

With YNN Sports Director Joe Calderone serving as master of ceremonies, Former head Coach Fran McCaffery and current Head Coach Mitch Buonaguro both spoke to an excited audience, and all enjoyed highlight videos and heard from each of the program’s five senior student-athletes.

Coaches and administrators, including Siena vice presidents Linda Richardson and Ned Jones as well as Albany county executive Michael Breslin were in attendance to pay tribute to the senior class and celebrate the Saints’ tremendous season.

Athletic Director John D’Argenio presented former Head Coach Fran McCaffery with the Howard T. Tucker Award for his contributions to Siena Basketball.

Director of Basketball Operations David Matturro began the player awards by presenting the Dan Cunha Defensive Player Award to Edwin Ubiles. He then presented the Billy Harrell Top Rebounder Award to Ryan Rossiter.

Ubiles was a NABC First Team All-District, Second Team All-MAAC and MAAC All-Tournament team selection. He was also one of 21 seniors invited to participate in the Reese’s All-Star Game and one of the top-64 players invited to the Portsmouth Invitation Tournament. Ubiles told the Times Union prior to Tuesday’s event that he expects to be selected in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Rossiter was named to the All-MAAC First Team. He ranked seventh nationally and set a Siena Division I Record with 379 rebounds. Rossiter also led the MAAC in field goal percentage and set a Siena program-record with 22 double-doubles which ranked third nationally

Assistant Coach Adam Chaskin presented the Jim Sullivan Most Improved Player Award to Kyle Downey and the Siena Newcomer Award to OD Anosike.

Downey appeared in 24 games, averaging five points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He played a key role despite missing the entire off-season with a fracture in his back, and battled back from a broken ankle suffered in mid-January to emerge as the team’s sixth man down the stretch. Downey started Siena’s NCAA Tournament game against Purdue when Clarence Jackson could not play because of an ankle injury.

Anosike played in all 34 games, providing great depth and production in the post. He averaged 2.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Anosike shot 51% from the field and played just over 12 minutes per game.

Buonaguro presented the Hustle Award to junior guard Clarence Jackson and the Fr. Benjamin Kuhn Student-Athlete Award to sophomore transfer Kyle Griffin.

Jackson was a Third Team All-MAAC selection and finished second in the conference with 71 3-pointers. He averaged 13.6 points and shot 43% from the field, starting Siena’s first 33 games of the season.

Griffin, a sophomore marketing and management major holds a 3.5 GPA. After sitting out the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules, Griffin emerged as a key contributor, appearing in 18 games and averaging 2.2 points per game while shooting 37% from 3-point range.

McCaffery closed the awards portion of the evening by honoring Ronald Moore, Alex Franklin and Ubiles with the Doc Marcelle Most Valuable Player Awards.

Franklin was named MAAC Player of the Year, MAAC Tournament MVP and was a NABC All-District Selection. He led the Saints with 16.1 points and was the only player in the conference to rank in the top-5 in scoring, rebounding (8.1) and field goal percentage (55.5%).

Following the awards presentation the five senior student-athletes spoke at length about their time at Siena and expressed their gratitude to those who helped make their Siena experience a positive one.

The Siena men’s basketball class of 2010 will go down as the greatest in the 70-year history of the program. Their 97 victories are the most in Siena history, and they won three MAAC Championships and two NCAA games. Moreover, the seniors posted 20 wins while reaching the MAAC Championship game in each of their four years.

The nearly four-hour celebration concluded with McCaffery introducing Buonaguro who closed the program by commenting on the state of the program.

This is a reminder that absolutely nothing good can come out of driving a car while under any influence whatsoever. Kids– just pay the $3 for a cab.

2006-2007 Season

Siena beats UAlbany in double overtime 76-75. Ubiles scores 20 points after hitting 4 from beyond the 3-point arc.

In a normal February game against Manhattan, Ronald Moore has his first double digit asst game with 10 dimes. This would be the first of many. Recap »

After losing two very close games to Marist earlier in the year, the Saints beat the #1 ranked Red Foxes in a semifinal classic and head to the title game for the first time since 2004. Recap »

Alex Franklin ends his freshman year with a bang by scoring 27 points on 10 out of 12 shooting in Siena’s 83-79 MAAC championship loss to Niagara. Recap »

2007-2008 Season

Siena defeats 20th ranked Stanford 79-67 at the Times Union Center. Franklin scores 14 points and Ubiles adds 11. Students and fans stormed the court after the win. Recap »

Josh Duell came up big on the road in Lawrenceville, NJ, hitting a three with 1.3 seconds remaining and capping an 11-2 run in the final 1:58 against the fiesty Broncs. Recap »

In the BracketBuster game the Saints went to Boise State to play the 20-win Broncos and crushed them 93-70. Franklin had a monster game with 30 points and 18 rebounds. Ubiles had 22 points and Moore had 9 assists. Recap »

Siena trounces Rider in the MAAC championship game 74-53. In a game known primarily for Tay Fisher’s six 3’s off the bench, Ubiles added 15 points and Franklin with 10 points. Recap »

For the program’s first NCCA tournament win since 1989, Siena upsets #4 seeded Vanderbilt 83-62. Ubiles scores 11, Franklin 10, and Moore has 6 assists for Siena. Recap »

2008-2009 Season

Siena plays their toughest schedule in school history. #12 Tennessee, Oklahoma State, #3 Pitt, and a Kansas team one year removed from a national title.

After going through the season not being able to beat any significant non conference teams, Siena defeats Northern Iowa 81-75 in their BracketBuster match up. In a balanced scoring game Ubiles scores 10 points, Franklin 9 points, and Moore 8 points. Even a kid made a $25,000 shot. Recap »

Siena gets revenge on Niagara from two years before by beating them in the MAAC championship game 77-70. Franklin puts up 16 points, Ubiles contributes 9 points, while Moore has 7 assists. Recap »

After getting bumped up to a #9 seed, the Saints beat Ohio State 74-72 in double overtime. Ubiles has 20 points and Franklin has a double-double performance with 10 points 13 rebounds. Moore has 11 points with his 7 assists, along with two of the most well-known shots in Siena history that extends the game into the 2nd OT where he then won it. The greatest game in Siena history Recap »

Siena took Rick Pitino and the #1 seeded Louisville to the brink, but lose a close game 79-72. All three players played well with Ubiles scoring 24 points, Franklin 19 points, and Moore with 10 assists. Recap »

2009-2010 Season

After opening up the season with a win against Tennessee State, Siena gets another victory over a solid Northeastern team 59-53. Ubiles scores nearly half the team’s points with 26. Franklin finishes with 9 points and Moore adds 5 assists in this low scoring game. Recap »

The Big Three end their career vs UAlbany with a nearly 30 point victory, 83-54. Ubiles doesn’t play much due to injuries but Franklin has 14 points while Moore puts up a double-double with 13 points 11 assists. Recap »

The seniors’ last victory together made them MAAC champions in a 72-65 defeat of Fairfield. Ubiles leads all scorers with 27 points. Franklin adds a double-double of 22 points and 12 boards. Moore contributes 9 points and 6 assists. Recap »

An end of an era came in the team’s opening round 72-64 loss to Purdue. Franklin scores 10 points and grabs 14 rebounds. Ubiles leads the team with 18 points, and Moore scores 14 points. Recap »

This will be the first meeting between the two schools, and this will be the first time the Saints travel to the west coast since their 2008 BracketBuster 93-70 win at Boise State. The tip is at 2:30 EST, broadcast on CBS and CBS HD.

The Saints will bring their high octane offense against their second straight Big Ten NCAA tournament opponent.  Last year the Saints needed double-overtime to overcome the #8 Ohio State Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament, before losing to #1 Louisville after holding the lead with five minutes left to play.

The Boilermakers will be without Junior All-Big Ten Forward Robbie Hummel, who tore his ACL late in the year and will miss the rest of the season.  Hummel was averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a game.  Since Hummel’s exit, the Boilermakers have struggled, going 3-2 and culminating in a 27-point loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament. Purdue scored 11 points going into halftime, their lowest total since 1950 and the lowest ever in a Big Ten tournament game.

Purdue was ranked in the top 5 for most of the year, and were on their way to a possible #1 seed in the tournament before the loss of Hummel.  They went undefeated in non-conference play with wins over Tennessee, Wake Forest, Alabama, and West Virginia and tied for first in the Big Ten during the regular season with Ohio State.  While the loss of Hummel is significant, this is still a Big Ten team with major conference athletes and experience.

Hummel’s exit won’t mean that they will be without effective scorers.  6’10 Junior C JaJuan Johnson averages 15 points a game while grabbing 7 rebounds per contest, and 6’4 Junior G E’Twaun Moore averages 17 points a game.  It will come down to these two players finding a way to get to their averages, and having others step up, to keep up with the Saints in the scoring column.

While Purdue should still be able to get their points against the Saints, Coach McCaffery has been preaching to his players all week that this Purdue team is most likely the best defensive team they will face all year, if not the best overall team they have met.  The Boilermakers hold their opponents to an average of 60 points per game.  Purdue will play a traditional, slow-it-down/ugly-it-up Big 10 style game, even though they average over 70 points a game.  The biggest difference in both teams, and the one area that may be the deciding factor on Friday, is rebounding margin.

Purdue averages less rebounds per game than their opponents (33), while Siena averages more than 4 boards per game against theirs (38).  It’s going to be on Siena to hold the rebounding edge, and then to get out on the break and create quick scoring opportunities.  If Siena can produce off those breaks, it will allow them to set up their 1-2-2 press, which has been effective across the board at getting teams sideways all year.

Siena will be paced by Ronald Moore at the point, who leads the nation in assists.  The Siena frontcourt is led by MAAC conference player of the year, 6’5 F Alex Franklin who averages 16 points and 8 rebounds per game.  He is joined by Junior C, 6’9 235lb. Ryan Rossiter, who averages 14 points per game and 11 rebounds per game, getting double-doubles in 21 games this year.  While JaJuan Johnson may be the superior athlete, Rossiter has developed in to a player that many experts have said could play in the Big East.  Rossiter’s craftiness and basketball IQ, paired with the athleticism of Franklin in the frontcourt, will go a long way in determining the outcome of the game.  The Saints’ wingman is 6’6 Edwin Ubiles, who is averaging 15 ppg.  Ubiles has battled injury all year, but finished with more than 20 points in the last two regular season contests and a clutch performance in the conference tournament finals scoring 27 against Fairfield.

In last year’s NCAA tournament, Rossiter went for 16 and 15 against Ohio St. while Edwin scored 20, and Edwin led the Saints against the Cardinals with 24 points and 8 rebounds in the losing effort.

One mitigating factor for the Saints on Friday is the possible loss of two guard Clarence Jackson who was averaging 14 points per game, but rolled his ankle in practice over the weekend.  Clarence left Loudonville without crutches, and did practice today, but McCaffery still said that his playing time will be determined on whether or not he can be as explosive defensively and scoring wise as he is capable of being, and not just game ready.  He is the Saints main three point threat, so others like Ubiles, reserve guard Kyle Griffin, and probably starter in Jackson’s place Sophomore Kyle Downey will need to step up.

Neither team is much of a threat from three, though, as they both average 5 or less made per game at a clip of 32% made per team.  Spectators can expect to see a clean, hotly contested game as neither team to turns it over much, each averaging less than 12 turnovers per contest, and fouls should be kept to a minimum – Purdue fouls an average of 19 times a game, but Siena leads the nations in fouls committed with 14 per game.  If outside shooting is not the deciding factor the better rebounding team will be able to impart it’s pace on the other, and in NCAA tournament games, the team that can dictate the pace is the team that usually finds the way to win.

Unfortunately, the NCAA Selection Committee didn’t hear him.
By car it would take a Siena student from campus 2,600 miles according to Google Maps, a drive of 1 day, 18 hours to reach Spokane. Moore was right, there probably won’t be a large Saints presence for their opening round game. Team manager Tim McElvoy estimates how many fans will be in the crowd this Friday for Siena’s match up with Purdue:

“Family members will obviously be there, and then the usual die-hard fans that come to all the games,” McElvoy said. “It will definitely be an older crowd; not too many students. I’m guessing there will be around 200 Siena people there.”

The past two years Siena College has offered its students a raffle to determine who would receive the school’s limited tickets to the opening round games. The tickets this year are expected to be around $60, but there’s a good chance the tickets won’t be sold out because travel costs would be too much for most students.

While those students hoping for a Buffalo or Providence playing location are disappointed, there is still a tremendous energy on campus surrounding the basketball team. While Purdue is in the Big Ten Conference and had an excellent season, they are by no means a basketball powerhouse. Robbie Hummel is quickly becoming the most talked about name amongst the student body, along with Purdue’s offensive struggles since losing him (scoring in the 40’s twice and scoring above 70 just once).

If there is one good thing to come out of the Saints playing in Spokane it will be that the site will be truly neutral. As any Siena student who traveled to Dayton last year can tell you, it was a virtual away game for the team as Ohio St. fans greatly outnumbered those who made the trip from Loudonville.

So students are slightly bummed about the location of the game, and are seriously worried about Clarence Jackson’s sprained ankle that he suffered during practice last week. However, just because the team will be in another time zone, it won’t prevent campus from basically shutting down and Albany bars from being packed as students and fans will be glued to their televisions to watch their Saints.