Here's a trivia question about MAAC women's basketball ...
What three coaches have won the most games while coaching a conference team?
And, the answer is ...
1) Mike Granelli, the former had coach at Saint Peter's.
Granelli recorded 483 victories while the Peahens were a MAAC member, from the league's inaugural women's season in 1981-82 through the 2003-04 season. Granelli retired after his last season at the Jersey City, N.J., school.
Overall, he had 607 career victories. All of those came at Saint Peter's, including nine seasons before the formation of the MAAC.
2) Dianne Nolan, the former head coach at Fairfield.
Nolan recorded 434 victories while Fairfield was a MAAC member, from 1981-82 through the 2006-07 seasons.
Overall, she had 517 career coaching victories over 33 seasons including five at St. Francis of N.Y. and two at Fairfield before it moved to the Division I level and joined the MAAC. She is currently an assistant coach with the Yale women's program.
3) Gina Castelli, the current head coach at Siena.
Castelli has 299 career victories. She is one game into her 20th season with the Saints. Victory No. 300 could come tonight (Friday) when Siena hosts Eastern Michigan.
Castelli has never been a head coach at any other school. She was an assistant for a season at Siena (1989-90) before moving into the top spot for the 1990-91 season. At the time she was the youngest Division I coach in the country.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
SI: Siena Ranked 20th; Blogger: Too High
Sports Illustrated hit my mailbox today, and there it is: Siena rated the No. 20 team nationally by the magazine in its College Basketball Preview issue.
It is believed to be the highest preseason rating ever accorded a MAAC team by SI. I'm not sure how long the publication has been picking a preseason Top 20, but it was not doing so back in the late 1980s, when La Salle surely would have cracked that group.
But, clearly, this year's Siena team has become the most-hyped since those days when the Exlorers reigned in the conference.
So, what does it mean? A few posts back this blogger had some unkind words for another publication that picked Siena as No. 15 nationally.
The thoughts for SI are similar. Sports Illustrated is considered to be one of the finest publications, if not the best, of its kind. But rating Siena No. 20 nationally ... its credibility takes a hit here.
(Side note ... the SI writer who produced the page-long Siena preview, Pablo S. Torre, did also make a positive reference to Margaret McCaffery's famous deserts, most notably French apple cobbler with caramel sauce. By all accounts, that particular dish served by head coach Fran McCaffery's wife, is second to none).
Here's one telling point about Siena. It has just one starter taller than 6-foot-7. Of the 19 teams rated higher, all but one have at least two starters taller than 6-7. The only other program that doesn't is Michigan, which has two likely future NBA players on its roster as well as one of the top freshmen nationally.
Among teams rated behind Siena is Georgia Tech, at No. 21. We'll see about how those two teams stack up when Siena plays at Georgia Tech on Dec. 2. If the Saints pull off the upset that night, then we'll revisit the debate about how how Siena should be ranked.
But, consider this: SI rates Georgia Tech the third-best Atlantic Coast Conference schoo, behind only North Carolina (No. 7) and Duke (No. 12).
Does anyone believe that Siena is better than all but two ACC programs?
Of course, it is all great publicity for the small Loudonville, N.Y.-based school as well as for the conference. Included in the preview is a nice picture of the Saints' senior point guard Ronald Moore.
How many MAAC players ever appear in pictures featured in a national magazine?
And, this might well be the best MAAC team since those La Salle glory days.
Best MAAC team ever? Definitely not. The 1989-90 La Salle team had one future NBA all-star (Lionel Simmons), another NBA first-round draft choice (Randy Woods) and a second-rounder (Doug Overton).
All the preseason hype and, now, great visibility in Sports Illustrated is the stuff that should be treasured by the Siena program and its players for a lifetime.
But your humble blogger just wonders is the Saints are being ranked about 10-to-15 places too high.
It is believed to be the highest preseason rating ever accorded a MAAC team by SI. I'm not sure how long the publication has been picking a preseason Top 20, but it was not doing so back in the late 1980s, when La Salle surely would have cracked that group.
But, clearly, this year's Siena team has become the most-hyped since those days when the Exlorers reigned in the conference.
So, what does it mean? A few posts back this blogger had some unkind words for another publication that picked Siena as No. 15 nationally.
The thoughts for SI are similar. Sports Illustrated is considered to be one of the finest publications, if not the best, of its kind. But rating Siena No. 20 nationally ... its credibility takes a hit here.
(Side note ... the SI writer who produced the page-long Siena preview, Pablo S. Torre, did also make a positive reference to Margaret McCaffery's famous deserts, most notably French apple cobbler with caramel sauce. By all accounts, that particular dish served by head coach Fran McCaffery's wife, is second to none).
Here's one telling point about Siena. It has just one starter taller than 6-foot-7. Of the 19 teams rated higher, all but one have at least two starters taller than 6-7. The only other program that doesn't is Michigan, which has two likely future NBA players on its roster as well as one of the top freshmen nationally.
Among teams rated behind Siena is Georgia Tech, at No. 21. We'll see about how those two teams stack up when Siena plays at Georgia Tech on Dec. 2. If the Saints pull off the upset that night, then we'll revisit the debate about how how Siena should be ranked.
But, consider this: SI rates Georgia Tech the third-best Atlantic Coast Conference schoo, behind only North Carolina (No. 7) and Duke (No. 12).
Does anyone believe that Siena is better than all but two ACC programs?
Of course, it is all great publicity for the small Loudonville, N.Y.-based school as well as for the conference. Included in the preview is a nice picture of the Saints' senior point guard Ronald Moore.
How many MAAC players ever appear in pictures featured in a national magazine?
And, this might well be the best MAAC team since those La Salle glory days.
Best MAAC team ever? Definitely not. The 1989-90 La Salle team had one future NBA all-star (Lionel Simmons), another NBA first-round draft choice (Randy Woods) and a second-rounder (Doug Overton).
All the preseason hype and, now, great visibility in Sports Illustrated is the stuff that should be treasured by the Siena program and its players for a lifetime.
But your humble blogger just wonders is the Saints are being ranked about 10-to-15 places too high.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
MAAC Teams, Ubiles Show Early Form
A 6 a.m. tip-off? If his team would always play as well as its 58-34 victory over Monmouth Tuesday morning, Saint Peter's coach John Dunne would likely welcome many more early morning games.
Even if there was one complaint.
"I had every alarm clock in the house set for 3 a.m.," said Dunne. "My wife wasn't too happy."
Most others were, though. Dunne was surely happy with his team's effort, and Saint Peter's officials had to be overjoyed about the national exposure received from being in the first live college game ever televised by ESPN in the 6 a.m. time slot. A nice and enthusiastic turnout of 1,246 at the Yanitelli Center wasn't bad either.
It was a very good morning for the Peacocks, but what else would you expect from a team that includes a Bacon as one of its top players.
That would be Ryan Bacon, the 6-7 junior forward who had seven points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the game. Junior guard Wesley Jenkins had 10 points and eight rebounds, and freshmen Darius Conley and Steven Samuels added nine points each.
Saint Peter's defense held Monmouth to 10-of-47 shooting from the floor (21 percent). It looked someone on the Monmouth side forgot to bring the coffee.
These tired eyes did watch a good portion of the telecast, and the Peacocks did indeed look very good.
Saint Peter's already had a strong nucleus of juniors Bacon, Jenkins and guard Nick Leon. The addition of new starters Conley, a powerful inside presence; and junior college transfer 6-6 Jeron Belin, a slashing forward, make the team even better.
Considering Monday's work, as well as a two-point loss to Seton Hall on a buzzer-beating 30-footer in its opener, your blogger firmly believes Saint Peter's is one of the four best teams in the league, and, if all goes well, could be even better than that.
Niagara also seemed to like the taste of orange juice as a pre-game beverage of choice. The Purple Eagles, in the 8 a.m. contest of ESPN's college hoops' 24-hour marathon coverage Tuesday, earned a 76-69 victory over Drexel.
Senior forward Bilal Benn had 19 points and 14 rebounds and junior guard Rob Garrison chipped in with 20 points and six rebounds for the winners.
Senior standout guard Tyrone Lewis, who is recovering from an ankle injury, did not play in the contest.
In Albany, N.Y., Siena had the latest game of three involving conference teams on the ESPN marathon event, a noon start. But, it looked like the Saints were the last team to get the day's wake-up call.
After scoring the game's first basket, Siena fell behind 20-6 with 8:19 left in the first half and didn't get another lead until Alex Franklin's layup at 15:39 of the second half.
The Saints never trailed again, had a 10-point, 55-45, lead with 44 seconds remaining and, then, cruised in.
Northeastern, with four of its five starters back from last season's 19-13 team, were content to play a deliberate style nad sprint back on defense to slow Siena's fast break.
If nothing else, it was a national showcase for the Saints' 6-foot-6 forward Edwin Ubiles who made his first statement about his candidacy for the conference's Player of the Year award.
Ubiles had 26 points (11-of-19 shooting), eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.
"I felt he was the guy we could go to today," said Saints' coach Fran McCaffery. "There was one point where we gave (point guard) Ronald Moore a rest, and we let Edwin move to the point.
"So, he got just about all our points, he guarded their best player (Northeastern guard Matt Janning, who scored 14 points) and, then, we asked him to bring the ball down court. And, Edwin was like `So what?' "
The three early day victories pushed the MAAC's record in non-conference play at that point to 11-4 thus far this season.
Even if there was one complaint.
"I had every alarm clock in the house set for 3 a.m.," said Dunne. "My wife wasn't too happy."
Most others were, though. Dunne was surely happy with his team's effort, and Saint Peter's officials had to be overjoyed about the national exposure received from being in the first live college game ever televised by ESPN in the 6 a.m. time slot. A nice and enthusiastic turnout of 1,246 at the Yanitelli Center wasn't bad either.
It was a very good morning for the Peacocks, but what else would you expect from a team that includes a Bacon as one of its top players.
That would be Ryan Bacon, the 6-7 junior forward who had seven points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the game. Junior guard Wesley Jenkins had 10 points and eight rebounds, and freshmen Darius Conley and Steven Samuels added nine points each.
Saint Peter's defense held Monmouth to 10-of-47 shooting from the floor (21 percent). It looked someone on the Monmouth side forgot to bring the coffee.
These tired eyes did watch a good portion of the telecast, and the Peacocks did indeed look very good.
Saint Peter's already had a strong nucleus of juniors Bacon, Jenkins and guard Nick Leon. The addition of new starters Conley, a powerful inside presence; and junior college transfer 6-6 Jeron Belin, a slashing forward, make the team even better.
Considering Monday's work, as well as a two-point loss to Seton Hall on a buzzer-beating 30-footer in its opener, your blogger firmly believes Saint Peter's is one of the four best teams in the league, and, if all goes well, could be even better than that.
Niagara also seemed to like the taste of orange juice as a pre-game beverage of choice. The Purple Eagles, in the 8 a.m. contest of ESPN's college hoops' 24-hour marathon coverage Tuesday, earned a 76-69 victory over Drexel.
Senior forward Bilal Benn had 19 points and 14 rebounds and junior guard Rob Garrison chipped in with 20 points and six rebounds for the winners.
Senior standout guard Tyrone Lewis, who is recovering from an ankle injury, did not play in the contest.
In Albany, N.Y., Siena had the latest game of three involving conference teams on the ESPN marathon event, a noon start. But, it looked like the Saints were the last team to get the day's wake-up call.
After scoring the game's first basket, Siena fell behind 20-6 with 8:19 left in the first half and didn't get another lead until Alex Franklin's layup at 15:39 of the second half.
The Saints never trailed again, had a 10-point, 55-45, lead with 44 seconds remaining and, then, cruised in.
Northeastern, with four of its five starters back from last season's 19-13 team, were content to play a deliberate style nad sprint back on defense to slow Siena's fast break.
If nothing else, it was a national showcase for the Saints' 6-foot-6 forward Edwin Ubiles who made his first statement about his candidacy for the conference's Player of the Year award.
Ubiles had 26 points (11-of-19 shooting), eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.
"I felt he was the guy we could go to today," said Saints' coach Fran McCaffery. "There was one point where we gave (point guard) Ronald Moore a rest, and we let Edwin move to the point.
"So, he got just about all our points, he guarded their best player (Northeastern guard Matt Janning, who scored 14 points) and, then, we asked him to bring the ball down court. And, Edwin was like `So what?' "
The three early day victories pushed the MAAC's record in non-conference play at that point to 11-4 thus far this season.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wake-up Call: Prepping for a.m. Games
How to prepare for the coffee-time basketball game, a 6 a.m. start Tuesday?
That’s the situation Saint Peter’s faces, hosting Monmouth at the Yanitelli Center for a national viewing audience, courtesy of its role in ESPN’s 24-hour basketball marathon coverage that day.
Two other MAAC teams are hosting games: Niagara, in an 8 a.m. start against Drexel; and, Siena, in a noon start against Northeastern.
The noon game shouldn't be too tough on Siena in terms of following a relatively normal pre-game routine. While the working-stiff fans might have to call in sick, it still looks there will be a strong turnout. Early accounts are that there were already close to 5,500 tickets sold for the game as of Sunday.
Niagara, though, faces an eye-opener at 8 a.m., but no one has ever likely faced a 6 a.m. starting time before.
ESPN has confirmed that the 6 a.m. Saint Peter’s game with Monmouth marks the first time the all-encompassing sports network has televised a live college game in that time slot.
So, how do the Peacocks handle it?
“There will be a lot of extra coffee around for the coaches that morning,” said John Dunne, who has to be sharp a little extra early to speak at a school pep rally at 4:30 that morning. “Otherwise, we just won’t do a whole lot in terms of getting them up too early."
Dunne scheduled an 8:30 a.m. practice on Sunday “just for them to see what it's like to get up and moving early in the morning."
Monday’s day-before practice will be extremely light. Dunne said players won't even tape ankles prior to going on the court for that day's workout.
“On Tuesday morning, we’ll let the players get here as late as we possibly can do it, about 4:45 a.m.,” added Dunne. “We’ll have juices, Gatorade and fruit available in the lockerroom. We’ll let them drink and eat lightly when they’re getting tapped.
“But this won’t be any sort of normal pregame situation. We won’t go on the court until 20 minutes before the game. In that respect, it’s like playing the second game of a doubleheader. Then, we’ll just grind it out. It’s `Get out there and let’s go.’
“It is exciting for our players for our school and for our fans. There’s a definite buzz around. It’s exciting for our alums to see the school’s name in the newspapers for this. We’re trying to do some things to get the Saint Peter’s brand out there. I give a lot of credit to the administration for allowing us to participate. It should be a lot of fun.”
Once everyone wakes up, of course.
And, the best thing,” said Dunne. “Is that the game will be over in time for our players to attend classes that day.”
Mihalich’s Niagara players might miss morning classes, but they’ll be in time for afternoon ones.
“We’re not going to do a lot special in terms of day-of-game prep,” said Mihalich. “We’re not going to get up at 4 a.m. and have a full pre-game meal, or anything like that. We’ve had morning practices before. We’ve even had some good morning practices before, so we’ll have that type of routine for this.
We’ll probably start preparing two days prior in terms of making sure everyone’s eating well in the days before and sleeping well, getting to sleep early, at least two days before. We’ll handle it.
"This isn’t something you can do unless you have a team full of guys who love to play. Our guys don’t care what time they’re on the court, whether it’s midnight or 7 a.m. We’ve got a bunch of guys who just love to be out there playing.”
Mihalich said his team had a recent 7:15 a.m. practice, and handled it well.
“When we go early, we’re not eating bacon and eggs before we go out there,” added Mihalich.
As for the coach?
“Shouldn’t bother me … what coach sleeps during basketball season?” he joked. “Honestly, I’m always in the office early. Maybe this time I’ll get there about 5:30, which is a little earlier than usual.”
But conference coaches involved aren't complaining. The national publicity and exposure associated with the novelty of early morning, nationally televised games makes getting up and playing a little earlier than usual more than worthwhile for those involved.
That’s the situation Saint Peter’s faces, hosting Monmouth at the Yanitelli Center for a national viewing audience, courtesy of its role in ESPN’s 24-hour basketball marathon coverage that day.
Two other MAAC teams are hosting games: Niagara, in an 8 a.m. start against Drexel; and, Siena, in a noon start against Northeastern.
The noon game shouldn't be too tough on Siena in terms of following a relatively normal pre-game routine. While the working-stiff fans might have to call in sick, it still looks there will be a strong turnout. Early accounts are that there were already close to 5,500 tickets sold for the game as of Sunday.
Niagara, though, faces an eye-opener at 8 a.m., but no one has ever likely faced a 6 a.m. starting time before.
ESPN has confirmed that the 6 a.m. Saint Peter’s game with Monmouth marks the first time the all-encompassing sports network has televised a live college game in that time slot.
So, how do the Peacocks handle it?
“There will be a lot of extra coffee around for the coaches that morning,” said John Dunne, who has to be sharp a little extra early to speak at a school pep rally at 4:30 that morning. “Otherwise, we just won’t do a whole lot in terms of getting them up too early."
Dunne scheduled an 8:30 a.m. practice on Sunday “just for them to see what it's like to get up and moving early in the morning."
Monday’s day-before practice will be extremely light. Dunne said players won't even tape ankles prior to going on the court for that day's workout.
“On Tuesday morning, we’ll let the players get here as late as we possibly can do it, about 4:45 a.m.,” added Dunne. “We’ll have juices, Gatorade and fruit available in the lockerroom. We’ll let them drink and eat lightly when they’re getting tapped.
“But this won’t be any sort of normal pregame situation. We won’t go on the court until 20 minutes before the game. In that respect, it’s like playing the second game of a doubleheader. Then, we’ll just grind it out. It’s `Get out there and let’s go.’
“It is exciting for our players for our school and for our fans. There’s a definite buzz around. It’s exciting for our alums to see the school’s name in the newspapers for this. We’re trying to do some things to get the Saint Peter’s brand out there. I give a lot of credit to the administration for allowing us to participate. It should be a lot of fun.”
Once everyone wakes up, of course.
And, the best thing,” said Dunne. “Is that the game will be over in time for our players to attend classes that day.”
Mihalich’s Niagara players might miss morning classes, but they’ll be in time for afternoon ones.
“We’re not going to do a lot special in terms of day-of-game prep,” said Mihalich. “We’re not going to get up at 4 a.m. and have a full pre-game meal, or anything like that. We’ve had morning practices before. We’ve even had some good morning practices before, so we’ll have that type of routine for this.
We’ll probably start preparing two days prior in terms of making sure everyone’s eating well in the days before and sleeping well, getting to sleep early, at least two days before. We’ll handle it.
"This isn’t something you can do unless you have a team full of guys who love to play. Our guys don’t care what time they’re on the court, whether it’s midnight or 7 a.m. We’ve got a bunch of guys who just love to be out there playing.”
Mihalich said his team had a recent 7:15 a.m. practice, and handled it well.
“When we go early, we’re not eating bacon and eggs before we go out there,” added Mihalich.
As for the coach?
“Shouldn’t bother me … what coach sleeps during basketball season?” he joked. “Honestly, I’m always in the office early. Maybe this time I’ll get there about 5:30, which is a little earlier than usual.”
But conference coaches involved aren't complaining. The national publicity and exposure associated with the novelty of early morning, nationally televised games makes getting up and playing a little earlier than usual more than worthwhile for those involved.
Powerful Illini Too Much for Siena Women
The least-enjoyable part of the Siena women's trip to Champaign, Ill., this weekend?
Surely its game against the University of Illinois.
As coaches like to say ... "bigger, stronger, faster, better."
Those were the advantages Illinois had over the Saints Sunday afternoon, taking an 85-53 victory.
If these eyes are any indication, Illinois was by far the best non-conference opponent a MAAC women's team is likely to play this season.
The Illini are loaded at every position, return every starter from a year ago and added the No. 3 recruiting class in the country. On top of that, they had a game under their belt (an overtime loss at Temple on Friday), so that setback probably provided a little extra motivation for the host team.
Illinois is picked to finish in the upper half of the Big Ten this season, and it's easy to see why. To beat it, opponents will have to handle its speed and athleticism, and Siena struggled with that, committing 31 turnovers in the contest.
Eight turnovers in the game's first seven minutes enabled the Fighting Illini to run out to a 22-8 lead. Siena got to within eight, 42-34, late in the first half and seemed to have somewhat solved the winners' athleticism edge.
And, then, Illinois scored twice at the end of the half on put-backs after the Saints failed to adequately block out, and had a 50-36 lead at the intermission.
Illinois forced more turnovers at the start of the second half and converted most of those opportunities to grab a 72-39 lead before Siena could get anything going again offensively.
The Saints made the trip so that its senior guard, Allie Lindemann, could play a game in her home area.
"It was good to come home," said Lindemann, afterwards. "I've always wanted to play a game on this floor. It meant a lot to me."
Surely its game against the University of Illinois.
As coaches like to say ... "bigger, stronger, faster, better."
Those were the advantages Illinois had over the Saints Sunday afternoon, taking an 85-53 victory.
If these eyes are any indication, Illinois was by far the best non-conference opponent a MAAC women's team is likely to play this season.
The Illini are loaded at every position, return every starter from a year ago and added the No. 3 recruiting class in the country. On top of that, they had a game under their belt (an overtime loss at Temple on Friday), so that setback probably provided a little extra motivation for the host team.
Illinois is picked to finish in the upper half of the Big Ten this season, and it's easy to see why. To beat it, opponents will have to handle its speed and athleticism, and Siena struggled with that, committing 31 turnovers in the contest.
Eight turnovers in the game's first seven minutes enabled the Fighting Illini to run out to a 22-8 lead. Siena got to within eight, 42-34, late in the first half and seemed to have somewhat solved the winners' athleticism edge.
And, then, Illinois scored twice at the end of the half on put-backs after the Saints failed to adequately block out, and had a 50-36 lead at the intermission.
Illinois forced more turnovers at the start of the second half and converted most of those opportunities to grab a 72-39 lead before Siena could get anything going again offensively.
The Saints made the trip so that its senior guard, Allie Lindemann, could play a game in her home area.
"It was good to come home," said Lindemann, afterwards. "I've always wanted to play a game on this floor. It meant a lot to me."
Trip Home for Siena women's Lindemann
How do you get 50 people into a mid-sized split-ranch home in Champaign, Ill.?
Offer a great meal of lasagna, a creamed chicken-pasta dish and world-class brownies for desert.
That's what the Siena women's basketball team, along with family members and friends, feasted on Saturday night at the Champaign home of the Lindemann family whose daughter, Allie, is a Saints' senior.
Siena is is here to take on Illinois in a 4 p.m. contest later today (Sunday). Your blogger is along, primarily in hopes of witnessing Siena coach Gina Castelli's 300th career victory at the school. Castelli is entering her 20th season as the program's head coach, but prefers much more just to get a victory today without worrying about her career victory total.
The contest and its surroundings is typical of of any road trip taken by a college team and your blogger's intent, by writing about it, is to highlight a little what transpires on trips of this kind.
Saturday night's get-together at the Lindemann home was one of the things programs do for away-from-home players. Teams traditionally try to get a non-conference home game in the home area of its players, and this weekend's is Allie Lindemann's trip.
That was clearly evident by the wide smile on the face of the Saints' guard for most of the trip, and the hugs and warm words she shared with family members and some local friends at Saturday night's dinner ... even when the slender Lindemann was teased about a large, framed photo on her family home's wall that showed her in a muscles-flexing pose.
Lindemann, a local newspaper's girls' Player of the Year for her senior season at Champaign Central High School, grew up watching the Illinois women's team play in the 16,000-seat Assembly Hall. Surprisingly, though, Siena's full practice Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning walk-through were the first times Lindemann ever played on that court.
She said that she often came to the Illinois campus for pick-up games, but those were always held at the school's facility that hosts full and separate practice courts for both the men's and women's teams.
It's a sign of the difference between Siena's mid-major level and Illinois' high-major status.
So, too, is Illinois' mode of transportation. The Illini played a game Friday evening at Temple, about 46 hours prior to today's tip-off with the Saints. But, rather than have to deal with the travel difficulties getting into the small Champaign airport via commercial airlines, Illinois got in via a charter flight, something it has for all its travel.
Siena, as do all MAAC programs, travels exclusively commercially. On this trip, the Saints flew Friday night into Chicago and, then, had a two-hour bus ride after that to get here.
Lindemann was featured in the game preview published in Sunday's edition of the Champaign News-Gazette, which included a picture of her from her high school days, a posed shot holding a basketball with her dad, Mike, looking on.
And, of course, the photo caption had her school's name spelled incorrectly ... "Sienna," rather than Siena.
That will become a portion of Castelli's pre-game talk to her team. So, too, will be the newspaper's prediction that "Illinois will steadily pull away for a fairly comfortable win," and the paper's assessment that "(Siena) isn't the most daunting task on the schedule."
A little disrespect always provides a little extra motivation.
So, too, should be a Siena fan section that might rival Illinois.
Lindemann's dad, Mike, is currently an assistant coach at Parkland College, a junior college located in Champaign. Prior to that he was the head coach of the Champaign Central girls' team for several years.
Lindemann said many of his former high school players, current players at Parkland and youngsters from a youth program in which he is involved, are expected to attend today's game.
Combine that with several dozen Lindemann family members and friends as well as several other of the team's parents who have traveled here and it should make for some strong crowd support for the Saints today.
Offer a great meal of lasagna, a creamed chicken-pasta dish and world-class brownies for desert.
That's what the Siena women's basketball team, along with family members and friends, feasted on Saturday night at the Champaign home of the Lindemann family whose daughter, Allie, is a Saints' senior.
Siena is is here to take on Illinois in a 4 p.m. contest later today (Sunday). Your blogger is along, primarily in hopes of witnessing Siena coach Gina Castelli's 300th career victory at the school. Castelli is entering her 20th season as the program's head coach, but prefers much more just to get a victory today without worrying about her career victory total.
The contest and its surroundings is typical of of any road trip taken by a college team and your blogger's intent, by writing about it, is to highlight a little what transpires on trips of this kind.
Saturday night's get-together at the Lindemann home was one of the things programs do for away-from-home players. Teams traditionally try to get a non-conference home game in the home area of its players, and this weekend's is Allie Lindemann's trip.
That was clearly evident by the wide smile on the face of the Saints' guard for most of the trip, and the hugs and warm words she shared with family members and some local friends at Saturday night's dinner ... even when the slender Lindemann was teased about a large, framed photo on her family home's wall that showed her in a muscles-flexing pose.
Lindemann, a local newspaper's girls' Player of the Year for her senior season at Champaign Central High School, grew up watching the Illinois women's team play in the 16,000-seat Assembly Hall. Surprisingly, though, Siena's full practice Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning walk-through were the first times Lindemann ever played on that court.
She said that she often came to the Illinois campus for pick-up games, but those were always held at the school's facility that hosts full and separate practice courts for both the men's and women's teams.
It's a sign of the difference between Siena's mid-major level and Illinois' high-major status.
So, too, is Illinois' mode of transportation. The Illini played a game Friday evening at Temple, about 46 hours prior to today's tip-off with the Saints. But, rather than have to deal with the travel difficulties getting into the small Champaign airport via commercial airlines, Illinois got in via a charter flight, something it has for all its travel.
Siena, as do all MAAC programs, travels exclusively commercially. On this trip, the Saints flew Friday night into Chicago and, then, had a two-hour bus ride after that to get here.
Lindemann was featured in the game preview published in Sunday's edition of the Champaign News-Gazette, which included a picture of her from her high school days, a posed shot holding a basketball with her dad, Mike, looking on.
And, of course, the photo caption had her school's name spelled incorrectly ... "Sienna," rather than Siena.
That will become a portion of Castelli's pre-game talk to her team. So, too, will be the newspaper's prediction that "Illinois will steadily pull away for a fairly comfortable win," and the paper's assessment that "(Siena) isn't the most daunting task on the schedule."
A little disrespect always provides a little extra motivation.
So, too, should be a Siena fan section that might rival Illinois.
Lindemann's dad, Mike, is currently an assistant coach at Parkland College, a junior college located in Champaign. Prior to that he was the head coach of the Champaign Central girls' team for several years.
Lindemann said many of his former high school players, current players at Parkland and youngsters from a youth program in which he is involved, are expected to attend today's game.
Combine that with several dozen Lindemann family members and friends as well as several other of the team's parents who have traveled here and it should make for some strong crowd support for the Saints today.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
No Surprise, Marist Women Look Strong
The Marist women got off to a nice start to their non-league season, knocking off North Carolina A&T, 80-64, in the first round of the preseason WNIT played in Poughkeepsie.
Shocked? Hardly. The Red Foxes are gunning for their sixth straight regular-season MAAC crown. And, senior forward Rachel Fitz is chasing her third straight conference Player of the Year award.
Nothing indicated those two happenings won't occur. Marist got its typical strong play, and Fitz scored 30 points with 9 rebounds. Guard Erica Allenspach chipped in with 20 and 7.
The day's biggest surprise, though, had to be Fairfield's 74-48 demolition of Rhode Island behind freshman forward Katelyn Linney's 18 points. Guard Desiree Pina added 14 and forward Stephanie Geehan had 10. The Stags shot 10-of-18 from three-point territory.
Over the first weekend of MAAC play, conference women's teams finished 5-4.
Shocked? Hardly. The Red Foxes are gunning for their sixth straight regular-season MAAC crown. And, senior forward Rachel Fitz is chasing her third straight conference Player of the Year award.
Nothing indicated those two happenings won't occur. Marist got its typical strong play, and Fitz scored 30 points with 9 rebounds. Guard Erica Allenspach chipped in with 20 and 7.
The day's biggest surprise, though, had to be Fairfield's 74-48 demolition of Rhode Island behind freshman forward Katelyn Linney's 18 points. Guard Desiree Pina added 14 and forward Stephanie Geehan had 10. The Stags shot 10-of-18 from three-point territory.
Over the first weekend of MAAC play, conference women's teams finished 5-4.
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