SB Nation - Chris Gadley

BtB 2009-10 Metro Atlantic Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:00:30 -0000

With four starters back from a team that won an NCAA game for the second straight season, the Siena Saints are again the prohibitive favorites in the Metro Atlantic. But the conference's two other postseason qualifiers, NIT entrant Niagara and CollegeInsider qualifier Rider, are primed to challenge the Saints again in 2009-10.

The race should stay interesting as most of the league's stars are back. Eleven of the 15 players who made the 2008-09 all-MAAC teams are back, with the Purple Eagles and Saints each losing players on the list. While Siena will miss Kenny Hasbrouck and Niagara has a big hole in the middle now that Benson Egemonye is gone, both still have plenty of pieces in place to be competitive nationally. Rider brings back its lone selection, Ryan Thompson, a player who could very well join his brother Jason in the NBA next season.

So while Siena has a great chance to build its national reputation, their conference rivals are ready, and well-positioned, to make some noise of their own. More on the Saints and the nine teams trying to chase them down after the jump.

Here's a recap of last season's MAAC standings.

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Standings

(updated 3.22.2009 at 7:49 PM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Siena Saints	16	2	27	8
Niagara Purple Eagles	14	4	26	9
Rider Broncs	12	6	19	13
Fairfield Stags	9	9	17	15
Manhattan Jaspers	9	9	16	14
St. Peter's Peacocks	8	10	11	19
Iona Gaels	7	11	12	19
Loyola, Md. Greyhounds	7	11	12	20
Canisius Golden Griffins	4	14	11	20
Marist Red Foxes	4	14	10	23

Now here are my picks for the 2009-10 season, presented in reverse order.

Marist (last NCAA: 1987) Former John Calipari assistant Chuck Martin will have an even more difficult time leading the Red Foxes this season, as three starters are gone off a 10-win team, including the team's top two scorers, F Ryan Schneider (15.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and G David Devezin (10.3 ppg). If the returnees, led by 6-2 G Dejuan Goodwin (6.7 ppg), 5-10 R.J. Hall (6.9 ppg, 1.7 apg), and 6-9 Korey Bauer (4.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg) are more comfortable with the dribble-drive offense, the Foxes should improve, but that may not show up in the standings. The Red Foxes play their first six away from Poughkeepsie, starting with a game at Rutgers on November 14.

Iona (last NCAA: 2006) The Gaels will fill the MAAC's host slot at the Old Spice Classic at Disney World, where they open with 2009 NCAA participant Florida State, facing either Alabama or Baylor on day 2. It could be a rough four days for them, as they may not have the firepower to compete. Leading scorer Gary Springer graduated, and he was the only Gael to average in double figures last year (11.8 ppg, 7 rpg). Kevin Willard will need his returnees, led by Scott Machado (9.3 ppg), last year's conference Newcomer of the Year, and his backcourt-mate Milan Prodanovic (6.9 ppg), to get their offense to the level of Iona's often impressive defense.

Manhattan (last NCAA: 2004) Barry Rohrssen has three starters back from a team that did well to finish at .500 in the league last season. The two losses are significant; however, as Chris Smith (13.4 ppg) transferred and forward Devon Austin (10.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) graduated. That means the Jaspers will be even more guard-oriented this season. 6-4 Darryl Crawford, the team's leading scorer (14.4 ppg), leads the returnees, while 6-4 JC transfer Rico Pickett will see immediate minutes in an effort to recover the production of Smith and Austin. The highlight of the Jaspers' non-conference schedule this season is a trip to Nashville to face Vanderbilt.

Canisius (last NCAA: 1996) The Golden Griffins could be ready to fly up the standings, as all five starters are back from last year's 11 win outfit. Senior PG Frank Turner (15.6 ppg, 4 apg) has several options when running the offense, including 6-4 junior SG Julius Coles (12.1 ppg), 6-7 junior Greg Logins (11.3, 7 ppg, 7 rpg) and 6-9, 320 lb. C Chris Gadley (7.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg off the bench). The highlight of a relatively local schedule is a trip to a holiday tournament at Southern Miss, which also features New Orleans and North Florida.

Loyola (MD) (last NCAA: 1994) Jimmy Patsos has all five starters back, so the Greyhounds should improve on the 12 wins they claimed a season ago. Loyola's strength will be a backcourt featuring the conference's leading scorer and nation's top free throw shooter, Jamal Barney (18.1 ppg), Brett Harvey (12.4 ppg), and Brian Rudolph (8 ppg), but the frontcourt should be much better this time around thanks to the addition of 6-10 Maryland transfer Shane Walker. Patsos' schedule is heavily local, with a game at West Virginia a main highlight.

St. Peter's (last NCAA: 1995) The Peacocks should improve on their 8 league wins this season, but this year could just be a stepping stone to next year, when John Dunne's three returning junior starters are ready for their swan song. St. Peter's backcourt is formidable, as PG Nick Leon (2.3 apg) and off guard Wesley Jenkins (4.3 rpg) both averaged more than 15 points per contest last year. 6-7 F Ryan Bacon is a force inside, as he averaged almost 12 points and nearly 8 boards a game in '08-09. For the Peacocks to make real strides in this league, Dunne will need more out of his bench, particularly 6-6 swingman Jordan Costner (3.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and 6-8 F Jack Hill (1.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg). St. Peter's opens at Seton Hall and will face Monmouth in a 6 a.m. game during ESPN's November 17 hoops marathon.

Fairfield (last NCAA: 1997) Ed Cooley welcomes four starters back, led by 6-7 senior F Greg Nero (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg), but point guard is a major issue for the Stags. Herbie Allen (9.6 ppg, 2.8 apg) graduated and last season's original starter, Jonathan Han (12.5 ppg, 5.3 apg), left the program after Cooley suspended him. Expect the Stags to be more frontcourt-oriented thanks to the presence of Nero, 6-5 junior Warren Edney (9.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg), 6-6 junior Yorel Hawkins (8.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg), and 6-9 senior Mike Evanovich (7.5 ppg, 3 rpg). The Stags will spend most of the Thanskgiving season in the DC area, where they'll face Maryland, American, and Howard.

Rider (last NCAA: 1994) Besides Thompson (18 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.2 apg), Tommy Dempsey has three other players back who averaged in double figures last year: 6-7 F Mike Ringgold (11.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg), 6-7 swingman Novar Gadson (10.8 ppg, 6 rpg), and 6-2 G Justin Robinson (10.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg). Rider's major loss is 6-3 G Harris Mansell, who averaged almost 12 points a contest last year, but his brother Patrick (2.7 ppg) could potentially replace him. The Broncs should continue to score in bunches, but they'll need to tighten things up on the defensive end to reach the next level. Rider will participate in the low/mid-major bracket of the Cancun Challenge, where they'll face Florida A&M, followed by either Oral Roberts or Sam Houston State. They'll visit Kentucky and Virginia earlier in the event. They'll also visit Mississippi State, hoping to pull an upset in Starkville, like San Diego did last season.

Niagara (last NCAA: 2007) Joe Michalich has a hole to fill down low with Egemonye's graduation (12.7 ppg, 7.1 ppg), but the return of four high-performing starters--including three seniors--means the Purple Eagles will be right in the thick of things again this season. The backcourt, featuring 5-11 Tyrone Lewis (16.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg), 6-2 Rob Garrison (10.9 ppg), and 6-1 junior Anthony Nelson (8.1 ppg), will continue to be a strength, while 6-5 swingman Bilal Benn (13.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg) does considerable amounts of everything. Look for 6-6 senior Demetrius Williamson, who averaged 7.7 points and 3 boards a game, and 6-8 freshman Scooter Gillette to attempt to fill Egemonye's shoes and production. The Purple Eagles face a challenging schedule including a trip to Auburn as part of the Glenn Wilkes Classic. They'll face Akron, UCF, and Howard in that same event in Daytona Beach. They also travel to Illinois State for a BracketBuster rematch and host Drexel in a game that starts at 8 a.m. on November 17.

Siena (last NCAA: 2009) Hasbrouck (14.6 ppg, 3.6 ppg) is the only significant loss for Fran McCaffrey, so the Saints will again be a threat to make it to the Tournament and win a game (or even two). The frontcourt is still athletic and full of talented offensive players with 6-6 Edwin Ubiles (15 ppg, 7.9 rpg), 6-9 Ryan Rossiter (10 ppg, 7.9 rpg), and 6-5 Alex Franklin (13.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg) leading the way. Ronald Moore, a pass-first PG (8.7 ppg, 6.4 apg), runs an efficient offensive unit, while 6-3 senior Clarence Jackson (8.3 ppg) and 6-2 sophomore Kyle Downey (3.5 ppg) will get the opportunity to produce in Hasbrouck's place. The Saints also welcome veteran and JC transfer Just-in' Love Smith to their roster this season. The schedule won't quite be the gauntlet of last season's, but there are plenty of intriguing contests. Siena will feature in the November 17 marathon, facing Northeastern. They also travel to Northern Iowa for a BracketBuster rematch and to Atlanta to face former coach Paul Hewitt's Georgia Tech squad. The Saints will also participate in the Philly Hoop Group Classic, where they'll visit Temple, host Delaware, and face St. John's and Brown at the Palestra.

The Saints are my pick to be kings of the MAAC again, so they'll appear in my Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. If the Saints can put together a great regular season, but slip up in the MAAC Tournament, there may be a chance for the Metro Atlantic to be a multi-bid league.

Now, to close this preview, here is my preseason All-MAAC team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-MAAC Team

Player of the Year: Ryan Thompson, 6-6 G, Sr. (Rider)

Remainder of the Team
Jamal Barney, 6-3 G, Jr. (Loyola)
Bilal Benn, 6-5 G/F, Sr. (Niagara)
Alex Franklin, 6-5 F, Sr. (Siena)
Edwin Ubiles, 6-6 G/F, Sr. (Siena)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the MAAC this season?

Canisius

1 votes

Fairfield

2 votes

Iona

0 votes

Loyola (MD)

1 votes

Manhattan

0 votes

Marist

1 votes

Niagara

0 votes

Rider

1 votes

St. Peter's

0 votes

Siena

3 votes

9 votes | Poll has closed

Sorry In Advance, Griffs

Sean Keeley — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:54:53 -0000

Dear Golden Griffins,

I just wanted to say, in advance, I'm sorry. All the Syracuse fans are sorry. We're just sick over it. But...SOMEBODY'S got to play us after the Cleveland State loss. I'm just sorry it had to be you.

You're having a tough enough year as it is. 3-6 and 0-2 already in your conference...that's no fun. Losing by 28 to Albany? Yikesaroo. The good news is that you're already half-way to last season's win total, so that's something. Chin up, Griffs.

But yeah...it's not gonna be pretty tonight when you come to the Dome to play the Orange. It's just not. And I wish there was something I could do about it but it's out of my hands. I'm sure you've heard, SU basketball has had a bit of a week. There's this Devo nonsense. Then Coach Boeheim started catching flak for the way he's handling it. Then his microphone turned on him. Then we lost to some team from the state of Cleveland.

There was a sign in my elementary school gym that said "seven days without exercise makes one weak." I think I finally understand what that novelty placard was trying to tell me. Although in this case, seven days with tons of negative press couple with your first loss of the season on a depseration buzzer-beater to a team from the Horizon League makes one very very angry and looking for a lesser opponent to take your frustrations out on.

I'm sorry to say that lesser opponent is you. It's unfortunate, but as a wise man once said...what is, is.

What's that you say? You have Chris Gadley and he makes Arinze Onuaku look like Andy Rautins? That's intriguing but remember we have Arinze AND Kristof! flying around. He might be able to knock up down a couple times but can he contain The Flying Waffle? Oh and need I remind you that Onuaku is 22-for-26 from the field in his last four games?

Your guard, Frank Turner, leads the team with 13.3 points per game? That's nice. Have you met Jonny Flynn? He leads the nation is kickassery and is tied for first in "most times spotted at the scene of a misconduct incident" with Rick Jackson. Beat that!

Really, we appreciate you coming by tonight. It will be fun. For one of us. And I think you know which one that will be...

Sincerely,

~~Syracuse Fans~~ Orange Empire

P.S. - I meant that WE will be the ones having fun and you won't be. If that wasn't clear...

Canisius falls into the gap

Grady. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:41:00 -0000

Statsby StatSheet.com

On the postgame radio show with Bud Nameck, Tony Bennett talked about motivating his players to "get a gap".

What's a gap? Three defensive stops in a row. Throwing the opponent's offense out of rhythm, and giving WSU the opportunity to score unanswered on the other end.

Tonight, Canisius (prounounced Can-EE-shus) didn't just fall into the gap - they fell into a chasm.

The Cougars used a 24-0 run - with plenty of gaps in between - to set up a blowout of the Golden Griffins, 67-41.

It's the Cougars fourth win of the season, all decided by 21 points or more.

Canisius came out of the gate a worthy adversary for the Cougs. For the first five minutes, the Griffs played more like a football team than a basketball team. The physical presence of Chris Gadley and the Canisius starting five caused the Cougs problems en route to a 9-7 deficit.

That's when the Cougars turned on the gas defensively. Chris Gadley was as advertised - a huge, athletic center who just happens to be a stifling 320 pounds. But the Cougars limited him by doubling him in the post and allowing him to shoot the occasional perimeter shot. Gadley was 5 of 14 from the field, but 2 of 4 from distance. Meaning he was only 3 of 10 from inside the arc. The rest of Canisius fell cold in the process, finishing with only a 30.8% mark from the field, and 33.3% from three-point range. WSU forced 18 turnovers.

As impressive as the first half was defensively for WSU, the second half was littered with unusual defensive lapses and turnovers. Consider this: Taylor Rochestie finished the game with four turnovers. Four tunrovers equalling his season total prior to the game. His assist to turnover ration was 3:4. The three games before tonight he went 6:0, 7:3, and 10:1, respectively. Rochestie is a victim of his own success. He's so incredibly efficient at running the point that when he has an off night with turnovers it stands out like sore thumb.

Don't read much into it. Taylor is still our CougCenter Player of the Game, for a 17 point offensive effort (7 for 12, 3 steals, 3 assists and 2 rebounds), and good on-ball defense throughout. He's still Taylor Rochestie.

Back to the strange second half. The Cougars only "won" the half 28-26, versus the 39-15 differential in the first. Canisius played better, yes, but it was more a case of the Cougars frustrating themselves. DeAngelo Casto has developed a bad habit of leaving his man after a screen (in other words, not switching back to his original man when he should) - something that led to a couple of easy, open jumpers for the Griffins. Three point shooting was a struggle as well. The Cougs as a team were 6 for 23 (26.1%). Thompson was 2 for 7, Rochestie 2 for 6, Koprivica 0 for 3 (regression to the mean).

Abe Lodwick, my annointed three-point shooter of the future, went 0 for 4. I have no idea why he's struggling so much, especially after the 3/3 performance against LCSC. His threes are open - they just aren't dropping (he's 1 for 12 (!) this season). I still think he'll come around, and chalk these early numbers up to nothing more than small sample size. He's actually been better inside the arc, going 4 for 7 so far.

Another encouraging sign: rebounding. The Cougs blew up the Griffs on the boards, by a final tally of 41 to 23. They dominated the offensive glass 17 to 5. Casto, Baynes, Forrest, Lodwick, Thompson - everyone got into the act. There was one possession where the Cougars scored on their fourth opportunity. Sure, the shooting struggles made it happen, but it was a backbreaker for Canisius. Playing hard in the second half couldn't save the Griffs in this one.

CougCenter Play of the Game: Klay Thompson drives for a pretty layup over a Canisius defender, earning a bucket and a trip to the foul line.

In other news:

Harthun suspended: Mike Harthun sat out the game tonight, and will not be making the trip to New Jersey this weekend. It is part of a temporary suspension for a "violation of team rules" that Tony will not elaborate on.

I'm not sure what to make of this, although certainly it's disheartening to see any player draw a suspension. Still, hearing the news after the game reminded me of a play near the end of the first half when Canisius' Greg Logins viciously fouled DeAngelo Casto, the only technical foul of the evening. I cannot even remember the last time a Cougar player did something that far out of line. Nor can I remember a WSU player showboating or taunting an opponent, save for a couple glares from Aron Baynes. Discipline is the reason for that, and Tony has to make sure he runs a tight ship so players can be successful in the classroom and on the basketball court. Let's hope Harthun puts this behind him, and that it doesn't happen again. Whatever it was.

Attendance survives the Thanksgiving break: A healthy crowd of 6,091 tonight, due in part to the opening of the student section as general admission to the public. Still, it wasn't hard to get premium seating if you came early enough. That will change when Baylor and Gonzaga come to town.

Around the Pac-10: UW fell short in a two-point loss to Florida, Oregon was blown out by #1 North Carolina, and Arizona escaped with a win at home neutral-site win against Santa Clara.

Quick notes on tonight's game vs. Canisius

Nuss — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:11:12 -0000

Some interesting stuff I ran across while perusing the WSU and Canisius game releases on tonight's contest:

WSU

Against Sacramento State, the Cougars hit 15 3-pointers for the first time under Tony Bennett. It was the first time since tying the school record with 18 3-pointers against Gonzaga, Dec. 7, 2002.
The Cougars have won 19-straight regular season nonconference games dating back to the last four nonconference regular season games of the 2006-07 season.
The 19-game streak ties the second-longest in school history as the Cougars won 19-straight regular season nonconference games during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. WSU's record streak stands at 23 games set during the 1931-32, 1932-33 and 1933-34 seasons. (It's going to be tough to get to 23 with Mississippi State and Pitt looming on the horizon ...)
WSU is 33-0 all-time in the month of November at Friel Court and has won 30-straight November games in Pullman and is 34-1 (the loss came before the Cougars moved into Beasley Coliseum). Of course, this speaks much more to the quality of opponents WSU can attract to Pullman in November than to the quality of the Cougs, but I digress.
The upperclassmen have outscored the freshmen 136-66 this season, with 111 of those points scored by seniors.
Klay Thompson leads all Pac-10 freshmen in 3-point field goals made (fifth overall). Take that, Jrue Holliday and Demar DeRozan!

Canisius

Six-foot-9, 320-pound Chris Gadley has recorded double figures in the scoring column in each of his first three games as a Griff and became the first Canisius player in the last 15 years to start the schedule with back-to-back double-doubles to open the season.
The last time Canisius played a game in the state of Washington was Dec. 19, 1994, when former head coach John Beilein -- now coaching Michigan -- brought his Griffs to play Gonzaga, a game the Blue and Gold lost 74-63.
Tonight’s contest marks the first time Canisius has traveled outside the state of New York to play Washington State. Three of the four previous meetings, including the 1995 NIT match up, took place in Buffalo.
The last Canisius win over a member of the PAC-10 came against Washington State in the 1995 NIT Tournament quarterfinal round. Prior to that, the last Griff win over a PAC-10 member was Dec. 29, 1951, when the Blue and Gold downed Arizona 89-78 in The Aud in Buffalo.

Special thanks to the WSU and Canisius sports information departments for the game notes.