How about a new blog feature ... or at least, a new name for a semi-regular compilation of interesting notes from conference basketball happenings.
Call it "ATM."
No, it's not your handy automatic teller machine that dispenses money.
It's better this ATM dispenses information. It's an acronym for "Around The MAAC."
So, around the MAAC of late ...
- The last women's team to win the conference's post-season tournament and a trip to the NCAA's before Marist's recent run of five straight trips to the national tournament?
It was Canisius in the 2004-05 season.
The next team to get there other than Marist? It might be Canisius again.
Almost assuredly not this season, but the Golden Griffins aren't that far away. Your blogger was on hand to see the Canisius women end Siena's six-game winning streak Sunday in Buffalo and got a look at what is one of the better freshmen groups that has come into the league in some time.
All four of the Canisius freshmen ... 6-foot-4 forwards Jamie Ruttle and Jen Lennox, 6-1 forward Courtney VandeBovenkamp and 5-9 guard Jen Morabito ... have won a MAAC Rookie of the Week award so far this season. In all, the Griff freshmen have claimed that honor seven times thus far.
VandeBovenkamp won the award for the second time this past week, bolstered by an 8-point, 14-rebound, 4-assist performance Sunday against Siena. Morabito averages just under 10 points per game and is the highest-scoring freshman in the conference thus far. Ruttle averages 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds and Lennox averages 5.0 points and 4.2 rebounds.
"Their statistics are better than other freshmen because we've had to use them," admitted Canisius coach Terry Zeh. "But they're getting valuable experience with all the playing time. The experience is enabling them to learn things I couldn't teach them otherwise."
The Griffs have only one senior in their playing group ... solid, heady guard Micayla Drysdale. But two other key backcourt performers, point guard Ashley Durham and off-guard Steph McDonald, are both in starting roles.
It means six of the team's top seven players will be together not only for this season, but the next two after this one. It should be enjoyable to watch the Griffs grow in maturity and develop as a team over that time.
And, it's not hard to envision Canisius developing enough to challenge the Marist league superiority in the very near future. In the meantime the Griffs are likely to cause opponents problems on any given day much like they did Sunday in their upset victory over Siena.
- Tough weekend for the Niagara women this past Friday and Sunday, having to play the last two MAAC teams without a league loss to that point. First Siena won by 40 points (77-37) on Friday against the Purple Eagles. Then Marist came to Lewiston on Sunday and delivered a more-lopsided decision 95-48.
The 95 points by Marist was the most by a MAAC team this season, and the most by a MAAC team in any game since the Red Foxes scored 98 on Jan. 9, 2009, also against Niagara.
On Sunday 12 of Marist's 14 players scored and no Red Fox was on the court for more than 20 minutes. Erica Allenspach led the way with 14 points in 20 minutes, while Corielle Yard had 13 points in 16 minutes.
It was the 11th straight victory overall for Marist, now 6-0 in conference play and the last remaining MAAC unbeaten team.
However, it's easy to see that a very young Niagara team also has a bright future, much like Canisius, in the not-so-distant future. For now the Purple Eagles' struggles are coming as sophomore point guard Kayla Stroman last season's Rookie of the Year in the MAAC has missed nine straight games recovering from a knee injury.
- The Iona men were alone in first place entering tonight's games (Monday night) with a 6-1 record although preseason favorite Fairfield could move into a first-place tie with a victory at Rider.
Iona got league victory no. 6, a 79-41 decision over Marist despite getting just six points from the MAAC's leading scorer, forward Mike Glover; and six points from its No. 2 scorer point guard Scott Machado who chipped in with eight assists.
The Gaels though appear to have found another offensive option. Freshman guard Sean Armand had 22 points against Marist in 20 minutes, including hitting 6-of-8 from three-point territory. Armand also had 17 points in 15 minutes in the Gaels' previous contest, a 100-95 overtime victory over Rider.
- Saint Peter's senior guard and preseason first-team all-conference selection Wesley Jenkins came back in a big way after missing time when he tweaked a knee injury he has been dealing with this season.
Jenkins had a career-high 31 points including 21 on seven 3-pointers in his team's 77-57 victory over Niagara on Saturday. He not only went 7-for-9 from beyond the stripe but was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. Jenkins was the MAAC's Player of the Week for this past week.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Axford of Canisius Now Brewers' Closer
This has nothing to do with MAAC basketball except that it comes from good friend Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, that publication's standout baseball writer who previously covered Western New York college basketball including conference members Niagara and Canisius.
In his Sunday "Inside Baseball" column, Harrington reminds us that all-time saves' leader Trevor Hoffman's recent retirment means that John Axford heads to spring training as the unquestioned closer for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Axford played college baseball at Canisius. He emerged last season when Hoffman struggled and finished 8-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 24 saves in 27 chances. Axford voluntarily stepped aside for a late-season save opportunity so that Hoffman could step in and get career save No. 600.
"He's a fantastic teammate, a great person and in all honesty the things I'll remember (about Hoffman) most are the things that happen off the field," Axford told MLB.com recently.
"He treats you fantastically. He took the bullpen out to dinner when we were on the road, and he invited us over to his home when we were in Milwaukee. He treated you like a friend, and respected you like a friend ... I just sat there and tried to soak up his 18 years of wisdom."
Axford spent three college seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to Canisius. He pitched for the Golden Griffins in 2006 and had 76 strikeouts in 70 innings there. He was originally signed as a free agent by the New York Yankees after he went undrafted in 2006, released by the Yanks after the 2007 season and, then, signed by the Brewers early in spring training of the 2008 season.
In his Sunday "Inside Baseball" column, Harrington reminds us that all-time saves' leader Trevor Hoffman's recent retirment means that John Axford heads to spring training as the unquestioned closer for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Axford played college baseball at Canisius. He emerged last season when Hoffman struggled and finished 8-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 24 saves in 27 chances. Axford voluntarily stepped aside for a late-season save opportunity so that Hoffman could step in and get career save No. 600.
"He's a fantastic teammate, a great person and in all honesty the things I'll remember (about Hoffman) most are the things that happen off the field," Axford told MLB.com recently.
"He treats you fantastically. He took the bullpen out to dinner when we were on the road, and he invited us over to his home when we were in Milwaukee. He treated you like a friend, and respected you like a friend ... I just sat there and tried to soak up his 18 years of wisdom."
Axford spent three college seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to Canisius. He pitched for the Golden Griffins in 2006 and had 76 strikeouts in 70 innings there. He was originally signed as a free agent by the New York Yankees after he went undrafted in 2006, released by the Yanks after the 2007 season and, then, signed by the Brewers early in spring training of the 2008 season.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Iona's Machado Chases Nat'l Assist Title
The nation’s Division I level assist leader might come out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference … again.
A year ago it was Siena’s spectacular passing point guard Ronald Moore who led the all players from more than 340 Division I schools in assists with 7.7 per game.
This season Iona’s junior point guard Scott Machado is in contention for that individual statistical title.
Machado, through Friday’s victory at Rider, is No. 2 on the national assist list averaging 8.41 per contest. He trails only Aaron Johnson of UAB, who checks in at 8.57 per outing.
Clearly the 6-1 Iona junior has emerged as one of the most-effective practitioners of his position nationally, making a significant step forward from a year ago when he averaged 3.8 assists per contest.
Of course Iona’s new up-tempo style also helps. The Gaels are averaging more than 80 points per game this season after scoring at a 66-point per game rate a year ago. Still, the dramatic playing style change accounts about a 20-percent increase in possessions for Iona and, in theory, a similar rise in assists for Machado, but definitely not a nearly 120-percent jump in his assist totals.
“I’m just seeing openings better, inowing when guys are going to make their move, knowing when to get them the ball better,” said Machado, in a recent phone interview. “Plus I’m taking care of the ball better, I value possessions more.”
It also doesn’t hurt that Machado, the Gaels’ leading scorer a year ago, now has 6-foot-7 forward Mike Glover, an almost automatic assist converter, on the other end of his passes, many of them of the alley-oop variety. Glover is the MAAC’s leading scorer, averaging 21.4 points per game with an incredible .665 shooting accuracy from the field, the fourth-best percentage nationally.
“We’ve developed great chemistry,” said Machado, about his work with Glover. “We’re kind of like Raymond Felton and Amar'e Stoudamire of the Knicks.”
"They've been great in different ways," Iona coach Tim Cluess said recently to the Rockland Journal News. "I think they make each other better, too. They both make the team go."
The two knew each during their high school days, playing summer-league ball in New York City.
"We kind of had that chemistry way back when," Glover told the Journal News. "So I pretty much give him that look and he pretty much knows what to do with the basketball. I trust Scott. He's one of the reasons why I chose to come to Iona. He probably doesn't know that."
The results of all that are clear. After averaging a barely acceptable assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.37-to-1 over his first two years, Machado has 143 assists to 63 turnovers, a 2.27-to-1 ratio this season.
He is already just Iona’s second player in the program’s history to record 100 assists in each of his three seasons (Marvin McCullough was the first), and his assist average this season is almost certain to set a new Gael standard, breaking the 6.5 assist-per-game average of Glenn Grant set in the 1988-89 season..
Machado’s 415 career assists is currently No. 7 on the school’s all-time list and he is almost certain to surpass the program’s leaders, No. 1 Rory Grimes (558) and Tony Hargraves (539), either late this season or early next season.
It all has come despite a coaching change to Tim Cluess, but Machado even had a little bit of advantage in that regard.
“I played for coach Cluess my freshman year in high school (At St. Mary's of Manhasset),” said Machado. “He’s similar to what he was back then. He’s still hard-nosed and expects a lot out of you, and he does everything he can to help you fulfill your potential. Plus, he runs a similar style than what he ran back then, so it was an easy adjustment for me.”
An easy adjustment to a new coach, a new teammate adept at converting passes to basket, an uptempo playing style and the national maturation of a player ... it all adds up to Machado having a chance to be the second straight MAAC player to lead the nation in assists.
A year ago it was Siena’s spectacular passing point guard Ronald Moore who led the all players from more than 340 Division I schools in assists with 7.7 per game.
This season Iona’s junior point guard Scott Machado is in contention for that individual statistical title.
Machado, through Friday’s victory at Rider, is No. 2 on the national assist list averaging 8.41 per contest. He trails only Aaron Johnson of UAB, who checks in at 8.57 per outing.
Clearly the 6-1 Iona junior has emerged as one of the most-effective practitioners of his position nationally, making a significant step forward from a year ago when he averaged 3.8 assists per contest.
Of course Iona’s new up-tempo style also helps. The Gaels are averaging more than 80 points per game this season after scoring at a 66-point per game rate a year ago. Still, the dramatic playing style change accounts about a 20-percent increase in possessions for Iona and, in theory, a similar rise in assists for Machado, but definitely not a nearly 120-percent jump in his assist totals.
“I’m just seeing openings better, inowing when guys are going to make their move, knowing when to get them the ball better,” said Machado, in a recent phone interview. “Plus I’m taking care of the ball better, I value possessions more.”
It also doesn’t hurt that Machado, the Gaels’ leading scorer a year ago, now has 6-foot-7 forward Mike Glover, an almost automatic assist converter, on the other end of his passes, many of them of the alley-oop variety. Glover is the MAAC’s leading scorer, averaging 21.4 points per game with an incredible .665 shooting accuracy from the field, the fourth-best percentage nationally.
“We’ve developed great chemistry,” said Machado, about his work with Glover. “We’re kind of like Raymond Felton and Amar'e Stoudamire of the Knicks.”
"They've been great in different ways," Iona coach Tim Cluess said recently to the Rockland Journal News. "I think they make each other better, too. They both make the team go."
The two knew each during their high school days, playing summer-league ball in New York City.
"We kind of had that chemistry way back when," Glover told the Journal News. "So I pretty much give him that look and he pretty much knows what to do with the basketball. I trust Scott. He's one of the reasons why I chose to come to Iona. He probably doesn't know that."
The results of all that are clear. After averaging a barely acceptable assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.37-to-1 over his first two years, Machado has 143 assists to 63 turnovers, a 2.27-to-1 ratio this season.
He is already just Iona’s second player in the program’s history to record 100 assists in each of his three seasons (Marvin McCullough was the first), and his assist average this season is almost certain to set a new Gael standard, breaking the 6.5 assist-per-game average of Glenn Grant set in the 1988-89 season..
Machado’s 415 career assists is currently No. 7 on the school’s all-time list and he is almost certain to surpass the program’s leaders, No. 1 Rory Grimes (558) and Tony Hargraves (539), either late this season or early next season.
It all has come despite a coaching change to Tim Cluess, but Machado even had a little bit of advantage in that regard.
“I played for coach Cluess my freshman year in high school (At St. Mary's of Manhasset),” said Machado. “He’s similar to what he was back then. He’s still hard-nosed and expects a lot out of you, and he does everything he can to help you fulfill your potential. Plus, he runs a similar style than what he ran back then, so it was an easy adjustment for me.”
An easy adjustment to a new coach, a new teammate adept at converting passes to basket, an uptempo playing style and the national maturation of a player ... it all adds up to Machado having a chance to be the second straight MAAC player to lead the nation in assists.
Siena Women Have Impressive Reversal
What a difference a little more than a month has made for the Siena women’s basketball team.
Back on Dec. 12 the Saints fell behind, 42-7, early in the second half against solid mid-major level Sacred Heart of the Northeast Conference on the way to a 72-33 defeat.
That might have been rock bottom, but it wasn’t necessarily the end of Siena’s early season woes. The Saints lost two more games after that to fall to 1-8 overall.
And, since then, the rise of the team picked to finish eighth in MAAC play in the preseason poll of coaches, has been as dramatic as it has been unexpected.
Entering Sunday’s 2 p.m. game at Canisius the Siena women have won six straight games, including a 5-0 start to conference play that has them tied with perennial powerhouse Marist for first place in the MAAC.
And, an apex of sorts, or at least a noticeable bookend to that 39-point loss at Sacred Heart, was Siena’s 77-37 victory at Niagara on Friday, its most-recent game.
In a 33-day span, then, the Saints lost a game by 39 and, then, won one by 40. Has there ever been such a dramatic in-season swing by a conference team ever?
Most likely not, and the Saints aren’t concerned about that. They’re just concerned, as any team should be, about their next game.
But, by now, Siena has established itself as one of the MAAC’s better teams this season and not only in contention to finish near the top of the conference’s final standings but to produce its first winning record in conference play since 2003-04.
It has been a long dry spell for a program that was once as dominant back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s as Marist is now.
From the 1997-98 season through 2003-04 Siena finished atop the MAAC six times in seven seasons compiling a 101-25 record against league opponents.
Even since that stretch ended Siena has never truly struggled. Its worst record over the previous six seasons was 7-11. But annual mediocrity had never been associated with the program prior to the past six seasons.
The stretch of solid-at-best seasons appears over, ready to be replaced the type of strong play and above .500 records followers of the Siena women’s team had once expected annually.
Veteran head coach Gina Castelli points to the first victory in the current six-game winning streak, a 49-47 victory at Fordham, as the true turnaround for her team.
“I think the win against Fordham really was the turning point,” said Castelli. “I think the fact that we won on the road against an Atlantic 10 team gave our team a lot of confidence. We won in a good way. We played hard, we played well together, and I think it really changed the attitudes of a lot of the players.”
Attitudes haven’t been all that has changed for Siena. The Saints had considerable transition since last year which necessitated some players step up to embrace bigger roles this season.
During the early season it was obvious that the team was a work in progress, but the progress came quickly once players got comfortable to new roles.
The most noticeable improvements have come from a pair of juniors, swingperson Maja Gerlyng and guard Christina Centeno.
Gerlying, who rarely played last season due to a variety of leg muscle pulls, is averaging 11.5 points per game and has scored 20 or more points in three of the team’s five MAAC contests.
Centeno, who opened the season as the starting point guard, has flourished since moving back to the two-position. She averages 9.9 points per game, including 11.6 ppg. since her move off the point. moving back to shooting guard.
Centeno’s best work has come from three-point territory where she is 28-of-544 thus far, a league best percentage of .537. That percentage is second-best nationally, trailing only the .545 long-range percentage of Dayton's Kristin Daugherty.
It has helped open things up inside for 6-2 senior center Serena Moore, a first-team preseason all-star selection, who has moved into contention for Player of the Year honors. Moore leads the MAAC in scoring (14.5 ppg.),is second in rebounding (8.4) and third in blocked shots (1.5).
The team’s other two starters are solid senior role players Cathy Cockrum (5.4 points, 4.9 rebounds) and point guard Missy Ramsey (21 assists, 16 turnovers in her last eight games), who has provided steady play at both ends of the court.
The Saints have also gotten strong play from bench players and legitimately use nine or 10 players in every game, which makes its pressure defense more effective.
It has all resulted in the current 5-0 MAAC record, the program’s best start since opening the 2001-02 season at 14-0.
The Saints might not yet be ready to return to those glory days, but the current stretch of strong play is a sizable step in that direction.
The future?
“We’ve always taken it day-to-day,” added Castelli. “I’m not sure we’re there yet, but I definitely think our players are learning what it takes to be a No. 1 team. I think they understand that you have to play at a certain level in order to be that top team. Again, we’re going day-to-day; we’ve had some good wins, but there’s a lot of the season left.”
Back on Dec. 12 the Saints fell behind, 42-7, early in the second half against solid mid-major level Sacred Heart of the Northeast Conference on the way to a 72-33 defeat.
That might have been rock bottom, but it wasn’t necessarily the end of Siena’s early season woes. The Saints lost two more games after that to fall to 1-8 overall.
And, since then, the rise of the team picked to finish eighth in MAAC play in the preseason poll of coaches, has been as dramatic as it has been unexpected.
Entering Sunday’s 2 p.m. game at Canisius the Siena women have won six straight games, including a 5-0 start to conference play that has them tied with perennial powerhouse Marist for first place in the MAAC.
And, an apex of sorts, or at least a noticeable bookend to that 39-point loss at Sacred Heart, was Siena’s 77-37 victory at Niagara on Friday, its most-recent game.
In a 33-day span, then, the Saints lost a game by 39 and, then, won one by 40. Has there ever been such a dramatic in-season swing by a conference team ever?
Most likely not, and the Saints aren’t concerned about that. They’re just concerned, as any team should be, about their next game.
But, by now, Siena has established itself as one of the MAAC’s better teams this season and not only in contention to finish near the top of the conference’s final standings but to produce its first winning record in conference play since 2003-04.
It has been a long dry spell for a program that was once as dominant back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s as Marist is now.
From the 1997-98 season through 2003-04 Siena finished atop the MAAC six times in seven seasons compiling a 101-25 record against league opponents.
Even since that stretch ended Siena has never truly struggled. Its worst record over the previous six seasons was 7-11. But annual mediocrity had never been associated with the program prior to the past six seasons.
The stretch of solid-at-best seasons appears over, ready to be replaced the type of strong play and above .500 records followers of the Siena women’s team had once expected annually.
Veteran head coach Gina Castelli points to the first victory in the current six-game winning streak, a 49-47 victory at Fordham, as the true turnaround for her team.
“I think the win against Fordham really was the turning point,” said Castelli. “I think the fact that we won on the road against an Atlantic 10 team gave our team a lot of confidence. We won in a good way. We played hard, we played well together, and I think it really changed the attitudes of a lot of the players.”
Attitudes haven’t been all that has changed for Siena. The Saints had considerable transition since last year which necessitated some players step up to embrace bigger roles this season.
During the early season it was obvious that the team was a work in progress, but the progress came quickly once players got comfortable to new roles.
The most noticeable improvements have come from a pair of juniors, swingperson Maja Gerlyng and guard Christina Centeno.
Gerlying, who rarely played last season due to a variety of leg muscle pulls, is averaging 11.5 points per game and has scored 20 or more points in three of the team’s five MAAC contests.
Centeno, who opened the season as the starting point guard, has flourished since moving back to the two-position. She averages 9.9 points per game, including 11.6 ppg. since her move off the point. moving back to shooting guard.
Centeno’s best work has come from three-point territory where she is 28-of-544 thus far, a league best percentage of .537. That percentage is second-best nationally, trailing only the .545 long-range percentage of Dayton's Kristin Daugherty.
It has helped open things up inside for 6-2 senior center Serena Moore, a first-team preseason all-star selection, who has moved into contention for Player of the Year honors. Moore leads the MAAC in scoring (14.5 ppg.),is second in rebounding (8.4) and third in blocked shots (1.5).
The team’s other two starters are solid senior role players Cathy Cockrum (5.4 points, 4.9 rebounds) and point guard Missy Ramsey (21 assists, 16 turnovers in her last eight games), who has provided steady play at both ends of the court.
The Saints have also gotten strong play from bench players and legitimately use nine or 10 players in every game, which makes its pressure defense more effective.
It has all resulted in the current 5-0 MAAC record, the program’s best start since opening the 2001-02 season at 14-0.
The Saints might not yet be ready to return to those glory days, but the current stretch of strong play is a sizable step in that direction.
The future?
“We’ve always taken it day-to-day,” added Castelli. “I’m not sure we’re there yet, but I definitely think our players are learning what it takes to be a No. 1 team. I think they understand that you have to play at a certain level in order to be that top team. Again, we’re going day-to-day; we’ve had some good wins, but there’s a lot of the season left.”
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Early Season Men's News & Notes
What has the early portion of conference play show us? Mostly that there's a clear deliniation this season between the better MAAC teams and the lesser ones.
Through three games of league play the biggest "upsets" to date have been a pair of Marist victories, both on the Red Foxes' home court and coming against Canisius and Niagara,, teams that have both started 0-3 in league games.
Everything else so far has pretty much gone, as they say, according to Hoyle.
Some early impressions:
- Fairfield has an impressive victory at Siena in its 3-0 start and clearly appears ready to live up to the preseason prediction by conference coaches that it will win the regular-season title.
The Stags are 10-3 overall with a 9-game winning streak since losing early season games in succession to Rutgers, Penn State and St. Joseph's. Fairfield legitimately goes eight deep (although that does not include senior forward Greg Nero, who has missed the last five games), has height, athleticism and one of the league's top players in sophomore guard Derek Needham.
In short, everything is in place for the Stags to roll on.
- Saint Peter's continues to win without standout senior guard Wesley Jenkins, who reinjured his knee. No return date on him, or if he will return at all this season. Still, the Peacocks are the other team besides Fairfield off to a 3-0 start, albeit against teams with a 1-8 conference record thus far.
- Siena served notice that it could contend for a fourth straight conference title when it knocked off Iona on Monday, rallying from a 14-point deficit in the process.. The game was a meeting of teams each with 999 total victories over the existence of the programs, so the race to No. 1,000 was won by the Saints.
Siena's senior center Ryan Rossiter also made a significant statement about his candidacy for the conference's Player of the Year honors with a 26-point, 15-rebound effort against the Gaels in what has already become all but a two-man race for the top individual award.
The other strong contender is Iona's junior forward Mike Glover, who had 18 points and 8 rebounds against the Saints.
- If I had to guess the order of finish in league play, or at least which teams will finish in the top six to avoid the post-season tournament's play-in games, your blogger would say the final standings would look pretty much like they do now.
Fairfield, Saint Peter's, Rider, Iona and Siena all look likely to finish in the top six. My hunch is that Loyola, currently 1-2, will break into the top six, vaulting over Marist, which has a 2-1 MAAC record thus far.
That would leave Marist, Canisius, Niagara and Manhattan as the bottom four, although it wouldn't be much of a surprise if Canisius gets going and gets into the top six.
Through three games of league play the biggest "upsets" to date have been a pair of Marist victories, both on the Red Foxes' home court and coming against Canisius and Niagara,, teams that have both started 0-3 in league games.
Everything else so far has pretty much gone, as they say, according to Hoyle.
Some early impressions:
- Fairfield has an impressive victory at Siena in its 3-0 start and clearly appears ready to live up to the preseason prediction by conference coaches that it will win the regular-season title.
The Stags are 10-3 overall with a 9-game winning streak since losing early season games in succession to Rutgers, Penn State and St. Joseph's. Fairfield legitimately goes eight deep (although that does not include senior forward Greg Nero, who has missed the last five games), has height, athleticism and one of the league's top players in sophomore guard Derek Needham.
In short, everything is in place for the Stags to roll on.
- Saint Peter's continues to win without standout senior guard Wesley Jenkins, who reinjured his knee. No return date on him, or if he will return at all this season. Still, the Peacocks are the other team besides Fairfield off to a 3-0 start, albeit against teams with a 1-8 conference record thus far.
- Siena served notice that it could contend for a fourth straight conference title when it knocked off Iona on Monday, rallying from a 14-point deficit in the process.. The game was a meeting of teams each with 999 total victories over the existence of the programs, so the race to No. 1,000 was won by the Saints.
Siena's senior center Ryan Rossiter also made a significant statement about his candidacy for the conference's Player of the Year honors with a 26-point, 15-rebound effort against the Gaels in what has already become all but a two-man race for the top individual award.
The other strong contender is Iona's junior forward Mike Glover, who had 18 points and 8 rebounds against the Saints.
- If I had to guess the order of finish in league play, or at least which teams will finish in the top six to avoid the post-season tournament's play-in games, your blogger would say the final standings would look pretty much like they do now.
Fairfield, Saint Peter's, Rider, Iona and Siena all look likely to finish in the top six. My hunch is that Loyola, currently 1-2, will break into the top six, vaulting over Marist, which has a 2-1 MAAC record thus far.
That would leave Marist, Canisius, Niagara and Manhattan as the bottom four, although it wouldn't be much of a surprise if Canisius gets going and gets into the top six.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Early Season Women's News & Notes
Some early impressions on women's play around the conference. And, even while each team has only played two league games thus far, some definite trends are emerging.
For instance ...
- Marist is, once again, the class of the MAAC. Any surprise there? If the Red Foxes don't win the conference crown yet again this season, we all might also be looking for the sun to rise in the west.
How good is Marist? 10-2 so far and losses only to St. John's, currently No. 19 in the USA Today-ESPN Top 25 Coaches' poll, and a better-than average St. Bonaventure (10-5) squad. Victories include one over Nebraska, which was rated No. 21 nationally at the time of the game and still check in at No. 40 in the coaches' poll.
And on Tuesday Marist showed the distance between its team and everyone else with a 73-43 victory over Iona, the unanimous No. 2 pick in the conference coaches' preseason poll. Marist was ahead 24-1 as Iona went without a field goal for the first 12:29 of the contest. Iona isn't exactly a bottom feeder. In the past five seasons it has a 60-30 record against league opponents ... 0-10 vs. Marist and 60-20 against everyone else. Marist's victory yesterday was its 23rd in a row over the Gaels.
- The importance of point guards. At the next level, teams are often athletic enough and possess enough individual talent to survive without a true point guard. But not at the mid-major level where success is almost always predicated on good, team-oriented play that begins with a good on-court director.
Iona, right now, is playing without its senior standout Suzi Fregosi, who suffered a hip injury recently. Her 1.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio through the eight games she did play this season leads the MAAC. With her in the lineup Iona was 3-5 against a difficult non-league schedule. Without her the Gaels are 1-4. With Fregosi Iona had averaged 64 points per game. Without her the Gaels score just 51.4 ppg.
Niagara is also playing without its standout sophomore point guard Kayla Stroman, who was averaging 12 points and 4.4 rebounds per game before suffering a knee injury after the Purple Eagles' eighth game this year. She is expected back soon, but has not played since the injury. With her Niagara averaged 58.4 points per game. Without her the per-game scoring average is 44.0.
- Here's how MAAC teams, overall records in parentheses, are rated by Real Time RPI, through Tuesday's games:
Marist is No. 71 of 343 Division I programs nationally; Fairfield (8-3), 170; Iona (4-9), 298; Canisius (4-8), 209; Siena (4-8), 245; Loyola (4-8), 246; Saint Peter's (1-11), 273; Manhattan (8-5), 274; Rider (0-12), 305; Niagara (1-11). 332.
- Through the first two games of MAAC play, four teams recorded 2-0 records: Marist, Loyola, Fairfield and Siena. The Saints are the proverbial gate-crashers in the bunch, picked in the preseason poll to finish eighth. But, they went on the road for wins at Iona on Sunday and at Manhattan on Tuesday, teams picked to finish second and fourth in the preseason poll, to get wins and establish themselves as, potentially, candidates in the race to finish second to Marist this season.
- Congratulations to Canisius coach Terry Zeh, who became his program's all-time leader in victories with 109 when his Golden Griffins defeated Saint Peter's, 60-56, on Tuesday. Zeh moved ahead of Sister Maria Pares and her 108 career victories at the school in the 1980s.
For instance ...
- Marist is, once again, the class of the MAAC. Any surprise there? If the Red Foxes don't win the conference crown yet again this season, we all might also be looking for the sun to rise in the west.
How good is Marist? 10-2 so far and losses only to St. John's, currently No. 19 in the USA Today-ESPN Top 25 Coaches' poll, and a better-than average St. Bonaventure (10-5) squad. Victories include one over Nebraska, which was rated No. 21 nationally at the time of the game and still check in at No. 40 in the coaches' poll.
And on Tuesday Marist showed the distance between its team and everyone else with a 73-43 victory over Iona, the unanimous No. 2 pick in the conference coaches' preseason poll. Marist was ahead 24-1 as Iona went without a field goal for the first 12:29 of the contest. Iona isn't exactly a bottom feeder. In the past five seasons it has a 60-30 record against league opponents ... 0-10 vs. Marist and 60-20 against everyone else. Marist's victory yesterday was its 23rd in a row over the Gaels.
- The importance of point guards. At the next level, teams are often athletic enough and possess enough individual talent to survive without a true point guard. But not at the mid-major level where success is almost always predicated on good, team-oriented play that begins with a good on-court director.
Iona, right now, is playing without its senior standout Suzi Fregosi, who suffered a hip injury recently. Her 1.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio through the eight games she did play this season leads the MAAC. With her in the lineup Iona was 3-5 against a difficult non-league schedule. Without her the Gaels are 1-4. With Fregosi Iona had averaged 64 points per game. Without her the Gaels score just 51.4 ppg.
Niagara is also playing without its standout sophomore point guard Kayla Stroman, who was averaging 12 points and 4.4 rebounds per game before suffering a knee injury after the Purple Eagles' eighth game this year. She is expected back soon, but has not played since the injury. With her Niagara averaged 58.4 points per game. Without her the per-game scoring average is 44.0.
- Here's how MAAC teams, overall records in parentheses, are rated by Real Time RPI, through Tuesday's games:
Marist is No. 71 of 343 Division I programs nationally; Fairfield (8-3), 170; Iona (4-9), 298; Canisius (4-8), 209; Siena (4-8), 245; Loyola (4-8), 246; Saint Peter's (1-11), 273; Manhattan (8-5), 274; Rider (0-12), 305; Niagara (1-11). 332.
- Through the first two games of MAAC play, four teams recorded 2-0 records: Marist, Loyola, Fairfield and Siena. The Saints are the proverbial gate-crashers in the bunch, picked in the preseason poll to finish eighth. But, they went on the road for wins at Iona on Sunday and at Manhattan on Tuesday, teams picked to finish second and fourth in the preseason poll, to get wins and establish themselves as, potentially, candidates in the race to finish second to Marist this season.
- Congratulations to Canisius coach Terry Zeh, who became his program's all-time leader in victories with 109 when his Golden Griffins defeated Saint Peter's, 60-56, on Tuesday. Zeh moved ahead of Sister Maria Pares and her 108 career victories at the school in the 1980s.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Canisius Women Get 3 Early Recruits
Here's another in the series looking at recruits who commited to conference schools during the early signing period.
Up now ...
CANISIUS WOMEN
- Ashney Gomez, 5-8 guard, Brooklyn, a 5-foot-8 guard at Murry Bergraum High School, which was ranked No. 23 in the USA Today preseason Top 25 and has won 12 straight Public Schools Athletic League titles.
Gomez averaged 8.0 points per game last season. "She comes from a storied high school program in Murry Buergraum," said Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "She has a tremendous feel for the game and brings the ability to play multiple guard positions."
- Kayla Hoohuli, 5-7 guard, St. Mary's H.S. (Pa.)
Hoohuli has played four years at St. Mary's, averaging 30.3 points per game as a junior when led the state of Pennsylvania in scoring and became the school's all-time leading scorer. The 5-foot-7 guard, who entered her senior season with 1,951 points, is a two-time Player of the Year in District 9 and was and was a First-Team Class AAA All-State selection as well a junior.
"Kayla is a prolific scorer as we saw with her scoring 52 points in a playoff game," Zeh said. "She has the ability to shoot it from deep, score the basketball and is a great athlete who fits in well to our system."Wilkes is in her second season
- Ashley Wilkes, 5-11 forward, Windsor, Ont., Miami Dade College.
Wilkes is in her second season at Miami Dade Junior College where she averaged 18 points and 10.8 rebounds in her first season. The 5-foot-11 forward earned All-State honors in 2009-10 and was selected to play in the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association All-Star Game.
"A powerful athletic forward, Ashley's ability to rebound the basketball in traffic and score will really help us," Zeh said.
Up now ...
CANISIUS WOMEN
- Ashney Gomez, 5-8 guard, Brooklyn, a 5-foot-8 guard at Murry Bergraum High School, which was ranked No. 23 in the USA Today preseason Top 25 and has won 12 straight Public Schools Athletic League titles.
Gomez averaged 8.0 points per game last season. "She comes from a storied high school program in Murry Buergraum," said Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "She has a tremendous feel for the game and brings the ability to play multiple guard positions."
- Kayla Hoohuli, 5-7 guard, St. Mary's H.S. (Pa.)
Hoohuli has played four years at St. Mary's, averaging 30.3 points per game as a junior when led the state of Pennsylvania in scoring and became the school's all-time leading scorer. The 5-foot-7 guard, who entered her senior season with 1,951 points, is a two-time Player of the Year in District 9 and was and was a First-Team Class AAA All-State selection as well a junior.
"Kayla is a prolific scorer as we saw with her scoring 52 points in a playoff game," Zeh said. "She has the ability to shoot it from deep, score the basketball and is a great athlete who fits in well to our system."Wilkes is in her second season
- Ashley Wilkes, 5-11 forward, Windsor, Ont., Miami Dade College.
Wilkes is in her second season at Miami Dade Junior College where she averaged 18 points and 10.8 rebounds in her first season. The 5-foot-11 forward earned All-State honors in 2009-10 and was selected to play in the 2010 National Junior College Athletic Association All-Star Game.
"A powerful athletic forward, Ashley's ability to rebound the basketball in traffic and score will really help us," Zeh said.
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