October is approaching, which means that college basketball is right around the corner.
I will be covering the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference this season, with weekly reports on the league. I know the season is still a month and a half away, but I figured I would get my season preview over and out.
The preview will go in order of last year’s conference standings.
Enjoy:
Siena College Saints (23-11, 13-5)
The Saints are the defending MAAC champs, and go into this season as the favorite to finish atop the standings.
Coach Fran McCaffery returns his entire starting lineup from the team that upset Vanderbilt in the first round of last year’s tournament. Freshmen Owen Wignot and Kyle Downey will be welcomed aboard, replacing sharp-shooting guard Tay Fisher.
Of the returning players around the MAAC, Edwin Ubiles, Kenny Hasbrouck, and Alex Franklin hold three of the four top spots in scoring. The Saints, who as a team scored the second-most points per game last year, will probably be the most offensively productive team in the MAAC this year.
Ronald Moore who was second in assists last season, averaging 5.3 dimes per contest, will be distributing the ball to Ubiles, Hasbrouck, and Franklin.
The Saints also have a strong defense, as four of the five starters averaged more than one steal per game last year. Hasbrouck led the MAAC with 2.3 steals per contest.
Siena’s only weakness is their bench. The talent on the bench is undefined because of lack of playing time. Ryan Rossiter and Corey Magee were the only bench players to log double-digits in minutes. Neither were spectacular on the rare occasion that they were involved in a play, but Magee shot 44 percent from three-point range. Both managed to pick up fouls quickly, something that McCaffery will have to work on with his bench.
Part of the reason that the Saints were so successful last season was because they managed to avoid fouling. That is how the starting lineup logged so many minutes. Staying out of foul trouble again will be crucial to the success of the Saints.
Despite having a very harsh non-conference schedule, consisting of games against Tennessee, Pittsburgh, St. Joseph’s, and Kansas, the Saints will build up their confidence against the powerhouses and come into league play with a record a little over .500, ready to dominate the conference.
Rider University Broncs (23-11, 13-5)
Jason Thompson, the 2007-08 MAAC player of the year, was selected 12th overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2008 NBA draft. Thompson led Rider in points, rebounds, blocks, and minutes played. The Broncs revolved around their 6’11” center, and will need to find a new offensive method for the 2008-09 season.
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