Amedio's Thoughts

[Deleted]

NON-CONTENDERS

The bottom three picks are Siena, Niagara and Monmouth, but all will be competitive.

Siena has four solid recruits, all of which should get into the playing group plus gets the benefits of new head coach Jim Patsos, an enthusiastic program builder who won't need any time to get acquainted with the league.

Niagara, despite the loss of 15-year head coach Joe Mihalich and five key players since his departure, still has a nice core group of perimeter players coming back.

And Monmouth has a couple of standouts, although it unexpectedly lost two players who still had eligibility remaining.




Even though I see through green and gold glasses this prediction seem out of line.

[Tony]

Amedio always picks Siena on the low side—and it’s no big deal- I think most pundits will pick Siena toward bottom of MAAC- after all we were one of worst teams in D1 last year and have lost OD( by far our best player) . So the pick is understandable. Now personally I think we will finish higher- with current roster a 500 finish is possible. But don’t kid yourself we have massive holes ( no 2 guard) and the 4 spot will be manned by freshmen. Not a good recipe for success.

Program is headed in right direction- but Jimmy has to dig us out of a massive hole the PW put us in

[Tony]

Question marks on 2013/14 team

Can Silas stay out of foul trouble and stay on the floor
No proven 4- will be manned by freshmen JO and probably Long( and don’t kid yourself Bisping too slow to play much 4)
Our PG was one of worst in D1 last year in turnover to assist ratio
Only two proven D1 scorers in Hymes and Poole – where will scoring come from?
No natural 2 guard – yeah Jimmy can put band aid on 2 and play Wright and Poole some at 2- but neither is a real good option
At least 4 freshmen in playing group – all seemed talented- but they are still freshmen

I am fully aware some of this questions marks will be answered positively- but highly unlikely all of them get a positive answer

Now if Cole and or Buie is eligible next year – changes the whole dynamic of team – gives us a proven 3rd scorer and fills a massive hole at the 2..but without one of those two ( or preferably both) hard to pick Siena very high

[greenblood]

Call me crazy, but I don't get why Freshmen get handled with 'kid gloves' in this league and on the board by some. With few exceptions (Silas being one because he started playing so much later)these Freshmen are seasoned competitors in active AAU leagues and come with enough swag to sink or swim right away at this level IMHO.

[indian82]

Jul 9, 2013 6:50:54 GMT -5 greenblood said:

Call me crazy, but I don't get why Freshmen get handled with 'kid gloves' in this league and on the board by some. With few exceptions (Silas being one because he started playing so much later)these Freshmen are seasoned competitors in active AAU leagues and come with enough swag to sink or swim right away at this level IMHO.

GB - I don't necessarily disagree with that assessment. These guys will get the chance to sink or swim this year. And there's no reason talented frosh cannot play right away, but the fact remains they still are 2-3 years behind (in all respects - psychologically, experience-wise & physically in most cases) many others in the league. So they will have more ups & downs now than when they are upper-classmen. That said, they will be getting valuable experience and will get tested by fire (not a bad thing).

[SaintsFan]

not to mention that many of the AAU programs as well as High School programs lack development of fundamentals. It is a severe issue at the AAU level. Physically, most high schoolers and even prep schoolers dont see anything close to the workout regimen they see in college. The first year or two are often spent getting rid of old bad habbits and major physical development. Many of these kids were stars on their respective teams and now need to carve out a new role which can often be that of a supporting cast and that can take time to adjust.

[mrsiena]

Beside his affinity to foul a lot Silas also got called frequently for traveling. Hope he has worked on that problem.

[DelmartianEd]

The weight room is the big difference. It takes about a year of training with compound movements under heavy free weights to add 15 pounds of muscle. Teenagers are usually told not to do those kind of strength programs while they're still growing in height.

[MTS]

If Buie and/or Cole are able to play then I think Siena can and will finish in the top 4 in the league. If neither can play we can still have a top 6 finish and winning record but it becomes much tougher. Also we'll need the frosh especially Lavon and Marquis to play really well right off the bat. I fully expect to have a really good team in Jimmy's second year. We don't lose any key players off this year's team and you know he'll add more talented players ('ships will open up they having a way of doing so)...with Siena hosting the tournament in 2015 I expect we'll be a real threat to go to the NCAA's in 2014-2015.

[bigfan]

I realize he hasn't shown us a lot yet, but I still think that Audu will be serviceable at the 2 and may even shine at times. I have not given up on him.

[Sienafan]

I can understand why people are bearish on Siena this coming season. But I look at this roster and see a more talented and deeper team than Fran McCaffery had his first season. I predict one of the freshman will have a Hymes-like debut where he comes out of nowhere to be a star. I also think a platoon of Poole, Oliver, and Audu is a viable solution at the 2. I'm hoping Hymes's numbers were a result of the system he was forced to play - if not, Wright is waiting in the wings to take over. The team has size, depth, athleticism, and shooters. This is going to be one of those fun seasons where no one expects much and the team pleasantly surprises - just as that first McCaffery team did. I like that Amedio picked Siena where he did - it exponentially increases the chances that it doesn't actually happen that way. This is a dude who while making his prediction, previously showed that he barely knows what the players correct names are and confuses their individual stories.

[SaintMisbehavin]

Jul 9, 2013 6:50:54 GMT -5 greenblood said:

Call me crazy, but I don't get why Freshmen get handled with 'kid gloves' in this league and on the board by some. With few exceptions (Silas being one because he started playing so much later)these Freshmen are seasoned competitors in active AAU leagues and come with enough swag to sink or swim right away at this level IMHO.

MAAC rookies of the year.xlsx (13 KB)

I put together a list of the last 7 years' MAAC All-Rookies team to get an idea of what type of productivity the league's top Freshman have given recently. A few takeaways:

- 2012-'13 was one of the least impactful Freshman classes in the MAAC's history. This may have been due to the glut of upperclassmen/transfer talent in the league this year.
- 2011-'12 was one of the most impactful Freshman class seasons.
- At least one player that has made the MAAC Freshman team each of the last four years have transferred.
- Jimmy Patsos coached Freshman that made the MAAC Freshman team for four consecutive seasons, more than any other school during this stretch.

My prediction
- I think in the MAAC overall we will see a more impactful Freshman class this upcoming year. With the loss of league talent due to graduation/transfer/realignment, I expect the incoming Freshman to be able to find minutes up for grabs.
- Despite Patsos' penchant for bringing in transfers, he clearly can foster young talent when he has it. Siena has gobs of minutes up for grab, and if these Freshman are ready to play, there will certainly be no hesitation to put them in positions to succeed.

[MTS]

Jul 9, 2013 11:55:27 GMT -5 Sienafan said:

I can understand why people are bearish on Siena this coming season. But I look at this roster and see a more talented and deeper team than Fran McCaffery had his first season. I predict one of the freshman will have a Hymes-like debut where he comes out of nowhere to be a star. I also think a platoon of Poole, Oliver, and Audu is a viable solution at the 2. I'm hoping Hymes's numbers were a result of the system he was forced to play - if not, Wright is waiting in the wings to take over. The team has size, depth, athleticism, and shooters. This is going to be one of those fun seasons where no one expects much and the team pleasantly surprises - just as that first McCaffery team did. I like that Amedio picked Siena where he did - it exponentially increases the chances that it doesn't actually happen that way. This is a dude who while making his prediction, previously showed that he barely knows what the players correct names are and confuses their individual stories.

Paul Hewitt took over a 9 win team and won 17 +8 turnaround

Fran McCaffery took over a 6 win team and won 15 +9 turnaround


We won 8 games last year are were pretty lucky to even win that many with a weak schedule. The schedule is much tougher this year at least in the non-conference (3 at Old Spice, Purdue, LaSalle, UMass). We did graduate our most talented player in OD and lost two troubled but talented players in Brookins and Burdine. But we do have some decent parts returning with Hymes, Poole and Silas. This is without a doubt the best incoming class since the Fran days and maybe the Big 3 class. I'm not saying they're on that level but this group is the most talented since.

If Jimmy follows the McCaffery and Hewitt turnaround model Siena should win in the 15-17 game range next season. The question is the talent level ... add Buie and Cole to the mix and it's right on par with the 1997-98 and 2005-06 teams or maybe even greater. Hewitt's first team had one star (Faison) and a bunch of solid players who thrived in his uptempo system. Fran's first team had a star (Scoop) coming off a bad Junior year, a talented Sophomore (Kojo) off an injuried plagued freshman year and a newcomer who would prove to be a star in Kenny Hasbrouck. But Fran had no depth at all. This team will have some depth. I'll say it again the season we'll have (besides the status of Buie/Cole) will be how quickly the freshman adjust to D1 basketball.

[Deleted]

It will come down to team defense and turnover margin, like with most teams. Jimmy has to put some kind of effective D together and we have to take care of the ball. We have the shooters. Hymes, Poole, Oliver, and Bisping alone could shoot 40% ish from deep in any given year.

The rest, outside of Silas, are capable of probably 33% at most.

[playerparentcoach]

Love the low expectations....I believe these guys will prove the doubters wrong...we have 3 players at the 2 without Buie or Cole and Bisping can play the 4 and 5 from what I have seen...his shooting will open things up..Lavon and JO have College ready bodies with the frame to add more muscle and body fat to loose....Wolfe will continue to add weight and can get minutes along the way

I like to play with numbers
Siena was 8-24 last year ...Oakland Mills only won 8 games the year before Lavon transfered in his senior year....OM won 24 games before their
only lost i. the regional final....the expectations were very low when Lavon came in.....OM had a 25-30 pt scorer on that 8 win team....so it was said that Lavon will come in and average 30 because no one can stop him in the weak league they are in but OM will lose because the same players were there minus the leading scorer.....they did not know the type of player Lavon is.....instead of jacking up shots and playing selfish Lavon played the game the right way like he always does ....he lead the team in every category and the wins kept coming he averaged 15pts per game with 3 asst and that led to balanced scoring and it prevented teams from locking in on him because he always found the open man...as a result those same players from the year before got better...3 averaged 8 pts and one average 10 with 8 boards....OM won the christmas tournament and in the final Lavon won MVP and he only scored 7 pts...the only game he did not have double figures...they put a box and 1 on him and he filled the stat sheet with asst, Blocks, rebounds and steals close to double figures in several of the 5 categories .....so although I dont expect Lavon to dominate like he did in HS right away....he and the other freshman will do better than most Believe they will be

this team will play D and play together....I expect balanced scoring and fun to watch..