• Anosike goes overtime to improve his free-throw shooting
  

  LOUDONVILLE – Earlier this week Siena freshman O.D. Anosike spent about half an hour shooting free throws before practice, which isn’t an uncommon sight.
  Anosike is shooting just 38.7 percent from the free-throw line, a number he is well aware needs to improve given the volume of fouls he draws.
  “It’s something I have to get better [...]

• A closer look at Niagara
  

  Here’s the six-pack of thoughts on Niagara, the team Siena faces Saturday at Times Union Center:
  1. Niagara, under 12th-year coach Joe Mihalich, entered the season expecting to be Siena’s primary challenger in the MAAC. The Purple Eagles returned four starters from last year’s team, which lost to the Saints in the title game. The only…

• More than 6,300 tickets sold for Saturday
  

  Siena could sell all of its alloted tickets for the first time this season Saturday against Niagara.
  As of Thursday afternoon, Siena had sold 6,316 tickets. As usual, capacity will be capped at 8,065.

• Mihalich: Moore is Player of the Year
  

  Niagara coach Joe Mihalich, whose team faces Siena this coming Saturday at Times Union Center, said Saints point guard Ronald Moore should be the MAAC’s Player of the Year.
  “Who else would it be?” Mihalich said Thursday.
  “Who makes their team win? That’s what I’m talking about. Not the leading scorer, the leading rebounder…

• Yard not yet close to returning for Siena
  

  LOUDONVILLE – Siena freshman guard Denzel Yard, who is suspended indefinitely for academic reasons, will be out “a while,” Siena coach Fran McCaffery said Wednesday.
  Yard is finishing an incomplete course between semesters. He then needs to show academic progress next semester before he can begin playing again, McCaffery said.
  “He has to completely refocus his concentration [...]

Update by Matt 3:50pm:

It didn’t seem like he’d be 100% for a while, so if I had to guess– I doubt he plays tomorrow.  At this point in the season, in a non conference game (even though Fran said that doesn’t matter), it’s just simply not worth the risk of aggravating that knee further.

We’re trying to stay focused and stay ready to start off strong. The first scrimmages we did OK. We corrected it, and now we’re definitely ready for the first game. – Edwin Ubiles

Senior point guard, Ronald Moore feels that over the last two weeks of practices the team has built up chemistry and has been getting into the necessary flow they need heading into the season. Moore also discussed his role as a team leader with the departure of Kenny Hasbrouck:

I’m definitely more vocal. Kenny was named our captain. Everybody listened to him, and he always motivated us when we were down in games. Now I’m being more vocal.

Moore and Ubiles look to start off the upcoming season with an out of conference victory this Friday, 8 p.m. tip-off time.

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.

This is clearly the most talented group we’ve ever had at Siena…We want to establish the fact that we can be a top 25 program…This team is capable of doing that.

Then the players were made available for one-on-one interviews with the writers and local television crews. Players discussed such topics as meeting high expectations, the role of an athletic group of underclassmen, and even how the team is looking to cope with the absence of graduated leader Kenny Hasbrouck:

He was so important. Such a clutch shooter, but we have a lot of guys who can score and a lot of guys who have come through in the clutch.
- Edwin Ubiles

Overall, “Media Day” was a small, imformal meet-and-greet as the team and the media got reaquainted as the basketball season gets underway.

It was good for us, because we need to keep working on our motion game… It’s good for us.”
– Kenny Hasbrouck

Cory Magee still has yet to see his concussion symptoms surmise. He sat out of practice and will not play against Buffalo on Tuesday.