50 days from today..

[MTS]

The Patsos era begins. And game one is for the Siena cup (TM, Ronald Moore).



I don't know what I expect from the first game of the season with a bunch of freshmen but somehow I think the Saints start off beating the Danes. After the last three years going 1-2 against them we certainly owe them. Can Clickclack give us a sneak preview on what to expect from UAlbany?

Go Saints!!!!!

[Deleted]

UAlbany is much bigger and more physical than Siena. They return over 30ppg, their top 2 rebounders , and top assist man,and have a great recruiting class with 4 transfers and an outstanding freshman(Dallas Ennema was named Rookie of the Year by USA Today). This will be a tough one for Siena to steal.

[th24]

Note to the players:

This team WILL beat Albany!
This team WILL contend for the MAAC!
BELIEVE IT!

[Sienafan]

Brown shifted his starting lineup around a lot so it's hard to pin down who's a returning starter, but they lost the entire backcourt they consistently started, which was their two best players in Iati and Black. When you lose 2 senior starting guards who were your top 2, you're gonna feel that. Among returning players that started is Puk, who has nice size at 6'10, 235 or so, but he's hardly dominant inside. I expect Gary Johnson and Sam Rowley (both 6'6) to get the start at the 3 and 4 - and neither of them is going to overpower whoever starts at those spots for Siena. Levan Shengelia is a big boy at 6'9, 250, but he's a new transfer so we don't know what to expect from him. He didn't really do much at URI after coming back from blowing out his knee. Other than him and Puk, Albany has no one bigger than any Siena players. As for physicality, we'll see. Silas needs to bring it this season, because JO is breathing down his neck. I expect Bisping to not be as soft now that he's up over 230 lbs. I think Rowley and Johnson will be in over their heads against Lavon Long and Poole - I look forward to that matchup.

In the backcout matchup, it's overselling Albany to state their top assist man returns. That distinction belongs to Pete Hooley, who averged a staggering 3.0 assists per game. I'm pretty confident Wright will come close to doubling that number his first year. I'm assuming DJ Evans will get the start next to Hooley. I expect Hymes will light them up, but Hooley's size will be problematic. If so, then White comes in off the bench to defend him. Siena is built for speed, not for bulk - but Siena is hardly small. Albany will probably win the battle of the boards, but I'm hoping Siena wins the battle of the scoreboard. Four things have to happen differently from last season for Siena to win:

1. They can't have the 18 TOs the gave up to Albany last season (Hymes being off the ball will help immensely, as will the absence of the OD offensive black hole - they combined for 10 of the 18 TOs).

2. They have to shoot better than 25% from 3 (Poole seemingly finding his stroke again, Bisping in the starting lineup, and the return of Oliver help immensely).

3. The absurd free throw disparity can't happen again (Albany went 21-24 vs. Siena's 5-7).

4. They must no longer struggle to reach 60 points per game (the absence of Mitch-ball helps immensely).

[Deleted]

It's apparent you looked at last years stats and not much else. Even then you overlooked Luke Devlin, who's also bigger than anyone at Siena and has averaged 5.4ppg and 4.4rpg in 98 career games, so he's definitely a contributor. If you assume D.J. Evans will start, you haven't followed the team at all. Albany will start 6'1" Anders Haas, 6'4" Peter Hooley(102A/70TO), 6'4" Anthony Odunsi(former Colorado player) or 6'7" Dallas Ennema at the 3, 6'6" Sam Rowley, and 6'10" Jon Puk. Three guys 6'8" or more come off the bench (Michael Rowley, Luke Devlin, Levan Shengalia), plus Gary Johnson the 6'6" combo forward, and D.J. Evans and Stephan Jiggetts as backup guards. The team is definitely bigger than Siena. Oh, and Sam Rowley averaged 9 points and 6.2 rebounds last year. To say he "won't overpower anyone" , you are the one overstating things.

[playerparentcoach]

Sounds like a tough game. I hope the place is packed. Our young men wont disapoint

[MTS]

Sept 19, 2013 12:42:49 GMT -5 @magic said:

It's apparent you looked at last years stats and not much else. Even then you overlooked Luke Devlin, who's also bigger than anyone at Siena and has averaged 5.4ppg and 4.4rpg in 98 career games, so he's definitely a contributor. If you assume D.J. Evans will start, you haven't followed the team at all. Albany will start 6'1" Anders Haas, 6'4" Peter Hooley(102A/70TO), 6'4" Anthony Odunsi(former Colorado player) or 6'7" Dallas Ennema at the 3, 6'6" Sam Rowley, and 6'10" Jon Puk. Three guys 6'8" or more come off the bench (Michael Rowley, Luke Devlin, Levan Shengalia), plus Gary Johnson the 6'6" combo forward, and D.J. Evans and Stephan Jiggetts as backup guards. The team is definitely bigger than Siena. Oh, and Sam Rowley averaged 9 points and 6.2 rebounds last year. To say he "won't overpower anyone" , you are the one overstating things.

Seems like UAlbany is just like Siena counting on young players or newcomers to be a huge part of their team in 2013-2014. I'd say this game is a toss-up on paper. Siena should be much more athletic (and quick) but UAlbany has the size and more experience (outside of Poole and Hymes). Home crowd will favor Siena - of course but Albany will have a few thousand of their fans on hand. I expect a very competitive and close game. UAlbany will no longer enjoy the edge they had in the coaching chair the last three seasons either.

UAlbany returns 30 of the 69 (43.5%) points they scored against Siena. Siena returns 38 of the 56 (67.9%) points they scored against UAlbany.

With a brutal schedule to start the season (and with a lot of games away from the TUC) it's important Siena gets this win to start the season.

[Deleted]

MTS, I agree with most of what you said, except Siena being "much more athletic". UAlbany has 4 guys who played higher level just because they are more athletic. Their skills weren't quite Pac-12, MVC, or A-10 level, but they are athletic.

[Tony]

Sept 19, 2013 13:29:45 GMT -5 @magic said:

MTS, I agree with most of what you said, except Siena being "much more athletic". UAlbany has 4 guys who played higher level just because they are more athletic. Their skills weren't quite Pac-12, MVC, or A-10 level, but they are athletic.

Siena is faster and more athletic at every position on the floor. UA lost its two best players and primary ball handlers. If UA struggles with Siena's press( a very good possibility ) it will be a long night for Will Brown and the Danes. Danes will also have to rebound the ball well-- Siena's big's are much faster than UA's.. If Siena is getting out on the break-- again not good news for Danes. Albany will have to slow game down and make it ugly to win

This is a game I expect Siena to win They should be beating low D1 programs-- and dont give me NCAA.. crap- they played in a weak league with senior guards. UA will struggle to be a 500 team in that conference

[glen]

On paper this is probably a toss-up. That said, I haven't been (generally) impressed by the BCS transfers into the low- mid-majors. Iona got lucky the last few years but Siena has had a few BE/A10 guys that never did anything but looked great on paper. UA may luck out but I wouldn't count my chickens if I were them.

I've also never been impressed by Will Brown. He's not Mitch by any stretch but he's not Fran either. College hoops is a coach's game and my money is on Patsos in this match-up. I'll be really disappointed if Jimmy doesn't win this one.

[Sienafan]

Sept 19, 2013 12:42:49 GMT -5 @magic said:

It's apparent you looked at last years stats and not much else. Even then you overlooked Luke Devlin, who's also bigger than anyone at Siena and has averaged 5.4ppg and 4.4rpg in 98 career games, so he's definitely a contributor. If you assume D.J. Evans will start, you haven't followed the team at all. Albany will start 6'1" Anders Haas, 6'4" Peter Hooley(102A/70TO), 6'4" Anthony Odunsi(former Colorado player) or 6'7" Dallas Ennema at the 3, 6'6" Sam Rowley, and 6'10" Jon Puk. Three guys 6'8" or more come off the bench (Michael Rowley, Luke Devlin, Levan Shengalia), plus Gary Johnson the 6'6" combo forward, and D.J. Evans and Stephan Jiggetts as backup guards. The team is definitely bigger than Siena. Oh, and Sam Rowley averaged 9 points and 6.2 rebounds last year. To say he "won't overpower anyone" , you are the one overstating things.

Luke Devlin is listed at 6'8, 235 - that's the same size as JO and Bisping, so I fail to see by what metric you determined he's bigger than anyone on Siena's roster. Evans is an experienced senior and him and Hooley were the first two guards off the bench for the Danes last season, so that's the basis for my assumption they might start together. Johnson was a starter last season, so I'll be surprised to see him go to the bench in favor of newcomers. So far you have listed pretty much the entire Albany roster as either starting or getting minutes off the bench. But the reality is Will Brown played a rotation of 8-9 players in most games last season. So several of the players you are mentioning will not play often - likely the big men that are stiffs. You'll note I made no mention of one of Siena's biggest guys in Hopper - there was a reason why he's not in the discussion. Just about every team in America will be bigger than Siena's starting backcourt, no surprises there. But that's by design, not necessity. Siena can certainly go bigger there if the need arises. Up front you've got Albany starting at 6'6, 6'6, and 6'10 compared to Siena at 6'8, 6'8, 6'5. I'm not seeing an overwhelming size difference there. If you want to argue Albany has more big guys on the bench than Siena, fine. No disagreement there. But we both know most of them won't be playing much unless you expect Brown to have a 10-12 man rotation. Siena can go 6'0, 6'3/6'4 in the backcourt once Hymes comes out. So again, I see no overwhelming size difference with what Siena can put on the floor. As for Sam Rowley, he's a good player no doubt, but I'm pretty confident he won't physically overpower Lavon Long.

This game will likely be won based on who protects the ball better and gets to the line more. I don't think who has more inches and pounds will be the decisive factor - especially if Siena dictates tempo and makes Albany try to run with them. But that's just my opinion. Albany won by 13 despite shooting less than 40% overall after taking 17 more free throws than Siena (which somehow managed to get to the line only 7 times) and scoring 16 more points from them than Siena - it was a deciding factor. Siena is going to look so fundamentally different in terms of personnel and the way they execute their offense that I honestly don't know what to expect - but I anticipate a huge improvement offensively and in protecting the ball.

[diamonddog]

If Jimmy runs and guns like Fran did, we will win.

[Tony]

Sept 19, 2013 16:34:21 GMT -5 diamonddog said:

If Jimmy runs and guns like Fran did, we will win.

Agreed.. I have major doubts that UA can handle Siena pressure. and sheer team speed. Magic makes UA sound like the Miami heat- truth is Black and Iati made that team go..forget UA's size for the most part they are slooooooooow typical AE big men .. I respect UA but this is a game Siena should win

[Sienafan]

Sept 19, 2013 13:29:45 GMT -5 @magic said:

MTS, I agree with most of what you said, except Siena being "much more athletic". UAlbany has 4 guys who played higher level just because they are more athletic. Their skills weren't quite Pac-12, MVC, or A-10 level, but they are athletic.

One of those players you reference will be dragging around 250 lbs. on a blown out knee. Another was so athletic he had to redshirt as a freshman at Wichita St. Still another was run off at Utah - but at least he earned himself a spot on SportsCenter by bouncing the ball off of his teammate's head as the shot clock expired. I don't even know who the 4th person you're refering to could be. Suffice it to say, I am underwhelmed by all this higher level athleticism you cite.

[Tony]

Sept 19, 2013 16:30:39 GMT -5 Sienafan said:

As for Sam Rowley, he's a good player no doubt, but I'm pretty confident he won't physically overpower Lavon Long.

Sam Rowely is not quick enough to guard Lavon Long