College Basketball Preview - Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

OUTLOOK: After such a successful 2008-09 season, Siena thinks it is about time to make an even bigger statement on a bigger stage and that's what the Saints are aiming for in 2009-10. Siena was just one of three programs in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last season to finish better than .500 in league play and there's not much of a chance that that will change this time around.

Right behind the Saints, as was the case last season, Niagara and Rider are also poised to make a run at the top of the conference standings at the expense of the rest of the member schools which will be sacrificial lambs for these three squads. With a total of 26 wins a year ago, the Purple Eagles found themselves stuck in the postseason NIT, more an insult than anything else, which may be why the team didn't show that much after the regular season concluded. Before losing to Siena in the conference tournament Niagara had won 12 of 13 outings, the lone loss coming against a strong Rider program by a mere three points. The Broncs were another team that had potential last season, but after a double-overtime loss to Niagara in the MAAC Tournament they too lost their punch, something they hope to regain this season since they too can be in the mix for the NCAA Tournament should all the pieces fall the right way.

But after those three teams, the rest of the field is a mix-and-match of squads that could have an upset win here or there against the 'Big Three', but in all likelihood they will somehow fall in line behind the Saints, Purple Eagles and Broncs in one manner or another.

CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Siena

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Siena; 2. Niagara; 3. Rider; 4. Fairfield; 5. Saint Peter's; 6. Loyola-Maryland; 7. Manhattan; 8. Canisius; 9. Iona; 10. Marist

TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:

SIENA: The eighth-winningest coach in MAAC history in terms of percentage, Fran McCaffery has yet to record a losing season while with the Saints, and isn't about to start now. The fifth-year coach might have more talent than he knows what to do with this year, considering seniors Alex Franklin, Ronald Moore and Edwin Ubiles are thought of as some of the best players in the league once again. All three are potential All-MAAC performers and they have already proven themselves to be leaders by example. Ubiles, who has been named to the Naismith Watch List heading into this campaign, led Siena in scoring a year ago at 15.0 ppg, shooting close to 50 percent from the field, while Franklin (13.6 ppg) is the second-best rebounder for the squad after clearing seven and a half boards per outing in 2008-09. Playing so close to the rim, Franklin is well aware of his role and doesn't deviate from it, refraining from even attempting a single three-point shot last year. Moore was responsible for a modest 8.7 ppg a year ago when he shot just 36.7 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent behind the three-point line, but he's another one of McCaffrey's players who is keenly aware that he is the one responsible for getting the rest of the offense in gear after handing out an astounding 224 assists as one of the nation's leaders in that department. Moore would be smart to work on his shooting though, because smart defenses will play him to pass first and shoot second, and with this being the most promising season for the Saints, they need the guard to become a dual-threat as much as possible. As if all that were not enough Ryan Rossiter, who shot a stellar 62.4 percent from the floor a season ago, is another of the all-conference performers the Saints are bringing back after he posted 10.0 ppg and led the program with his 7.9 rpg and 64 blocked shots. While losing Kenny Hasbrouck is certainly a blow, keeping so many core players for another year is almost unfair to the rest of the league.

NIAGARA: Last season, the Purple Eagles finished with a record of 26-9, the team's best finish under head coach Joe Mihalich in his 11 seasons at the helm, yet the program was still relegated to the NIT. Part of the problem was that the MACC simply doesn't get enough respect in order to command an at- large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but maybe Niagara will play well enough this season to keep that from being an issue. Fortunately, the squad is moving into this season with Tyrone Lewis as the leader once again after he was the top scorer from a year ago with 16.2 ppg. Even though Lewis generated an impressive portion of the team's scoring output, his 33.7 percent shooting from the field still left much to be desired. A lot of that had to do with the fact that almost 60 percent of his field goal attempts originated from three- point range where he was 33.1 percent accurate. Nevertheless, as someone who spent so much time on the perimeter, the guard still found a way to collect 4.6 rpg. Now a senior guard himself Bilal Benn, who joins Lewis on the Preseason All-MAAC First Team, has shown the ability to move effortlessly between the backcourt and the frontcourt, leading the team with his 9.3 rpg and also his 93 assists while putting up 13.8 ppg. One of four players to have started all 35 games a season ago, Rob Garrison is also the third double-digit scorer returning to the group after putting up 10.9 ppg. Garrison was another player who had some trouble with his field goal shooting, knocking down only 41.4 percent of his chances, and yet the Purple Eagles were still one of the top scoring teams in the nation with 76.1 ppg. Obviously Niagara is willing to take some wild shots here and there, but that's only if the defense plays well enough again to limit opponents to just 40.8 percent shooting from the floor as it did in 2008-09.

RIDER: The Broncs have had some high expectations the last few years, just as a few other MAAC programs have, but in their case they've never quite gotten over the hump. Granted, head coach Tommy Dempsey has 58 wins in his first three years as the official head coach of the program, the most for any Rider coach during a three-year stretch, but there are still some new heights to be reached by this group and it all begins and end with the efforts of senior guard Ryan Thompson, one of the most dominant players the last few years in the Metro Atlantic. Last season Thompson, who was named this year's MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, flexed his muscles and showed his prowess by becoming the sort of triple-threat that opponents fear to matchup against. The younger brother of NBA first-round pick and former Rider standout Jason Thompson, Ryan was second in the league last season with his 18.0 ppg, captured six and a half rebounds per contest and also handed out better than three assists per game. Actively involved at the defensive end of the floor where he posted 56 steals, Thompson converted better than 50 percent of his field goal attempts, not to mention 42.2 percent behind the three-point line. But having just one star athlete is not going to get Rider to the next level, they'll need some other players to give Thompson a hand, and that's where Mike Ringgold and Novar Gadson come into the picture. A starter in all 32 games a year ago, Ringgold shot 51.8 percent from the floor en route to 11.4 ppg and led the team with his 6.8 rpg. However, the knock against Ringgold was that he had one of the poorest shots from the free-throw line (.331) and if that doesn't get better he might not be on the floor in crucial situations. Gadson (10.8 ppg) is another strong interior player, but for some reason he fancies himself a perimeter threat where he was a mere 25.4 percent accurate last year. Getting players to stay within their range of their ability will be the biggest obstacle for coach Dempsey this year.

FAIRFIELD: The second tier of the MAAC begins with the Stags of Fairfield, a program that is under the direction of third-year head coach Ed Cooley. Last season, the Stags managed to sport a 17-15 record, breaking even in conference action at 9-9. This year the roster is dominated by upper classmen, yet that doesn't mean this is a program that is ready to challenge for the top spot in the league standings anytime soon. The squad had just two double-digit scorers a year ago and one of those (Jonathan Han) is no longer around, which means the responsibility of getting the group on track to start falls to Greg Nero. A preseason all-conference selection, Nero hit for 12.4 ppg a year ago as he shot 53.9 percent from the floor and was one of the top rebounders for the group with his 6.4 boards per outing. For someone who handled the ball as much as he did, especially in the paint where the action can get a little rough, a knock on Nero was that he shot just 61.1 percent at the free-throw line and was the one who visited the stripe the most for the Stags. Junior forward Warren Edney was having a very strong start to his sophomore campaign, starting 12 games, before injuries forced him to the sidelines. Edney is certainly someone who can contribute at the offensive end of the floor after putting up better than nine points per contest, but it remains to be seen how he will come back. Now a senior, forward Anthony Johnson is another player who did not play all of last season, making it through just 21 contests while putting up 9.2 ppg and a team-best 7.4 rpg. The leader for the Stags with 43 blocked shots Johnson, who was forced to the sidelines with a blood clot in his lungs, has to work on his ball-handling skills if he is going to contribute more to the team game. Another player to watch for the Stags is junior forward Yorel Hawkins, someone who showed promise in the paint with his 8.4 ppg and 5.7 rpg and, despite coming off the bench in 12 of his 32 appearances, still had the second-most free throws made (81) for the program in 2008-09.

SAINT PETER'S: A team that has been limping along for the last several years, the Peacocks might actually have something to look forward to in 2009-10. While the program still isn't primed to go to the postseason, perhaps closing in on a .500 record is not that much of a pipe dream anymore. Under head coach John Dunne, now in his fourth campaign with the program and has shown progress each year since taking over in 2006-07. That year the team won a mere five games, moved up to six victories the following season, and then last year reached double-digit triumphs with a record of 11-19. More importantly, Saint Peter's was not easily pushed around in the MAAC as it finished sixth in the standings with an 8-10 mark. Leaning heavily on sophomores and juniors who have already experienced the rigors of a full season of college basketball, combined with some measure of success, the Peacocks could surprise some people behind the leadership of junior guard Wesley Jenkins. A Preseason All-MAAC Second Team choice, Jenkins has been the leading scorer for the program the last two seasons and is poised to assume that role yet again. A member of the All-MAAC Third Team a year ago and recognized as one of the top newcomers to the league two seasons ago when he was named to the All-Rookie Team, Jenkins averaged 15.7 ppg and also paced the team with his 57 steals. Clearly he will have to do better than his 35.4 percent shooting from the field and his mere 29 assists in almost as many games, but he and the Peacocks are still a work in progress. Junior guard Nick Leon (15.1 ppg) is no stranger to scoring either, but he too has to improve his accuracy from the floor (.380) and cannot get away with having so many more turnovers (101) than assists (66) again in 2009-10. The third returning starter who was responsible for double- digit scoring last season, Ryan Bacon (11.5 ppg) will again handle the inside play where he was good for nearly eight rebounds per contest and accounted for 73 of the team's 124 blocked shots. Shooting a mere 39.6 percent from the field and 66.3 percent at the free-throw line is not good enough these days for the Peacocks, because coming up with just 59.3 ppg as they did a year ago is a reason why non-conference opponents ran all over them.

LOYOLA-MARYLAND: Entering its 100th season of college basketball, Loyola is trying to change its image and get away from being just another team in the MAAC that the rest of the league beats up on year after year. Head coach Jimmy Patsos, now in his sixth season, raised more than a few eyebrows last year when the team took part in the NIT Season Tip-Off against Davidson and proceeded to double and triple-team standout guard Stephen Curry, holding the superstar to just three field goal attempts and zero points, the only time in his career that Curry had gone scoreless. It was a moral victory for the Greyhounds, but Patsos took a lot of heat for an approach that still left the team with a 78-48 loss on the road in late November. This year Patsos hopes it will be the opposition who will have to come up with creative game plans in order to stop his players. Except for walk-on Garrett Kelly, every player on this year's roster has at least one start to his credit, but it will be junior guards Brian Rudolph and Jamal Barney who will be garnering most of the attention after they started a combined 54 games a season ago. In Barney the Greyhounds have a local who was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team after leading the league in scoring last season with his 18.1 ppg. Barney boosted his stats by feasting on both Canisius and NJIT with a combined 81 points, making him the first player in school history to post a pair of 40- point games in his career. There is talk of moving Barney to a more traditional shooting guard role, but after he made a mere 27 percent of his three-point tries a season ago that might not be the best move for him at the moment. Rudolph, the traditional point guard for the group, was responsible for 8.0 ppg a year ago and handed out a team-best 145 assists in 32 games, bettering his mark of 143 dishes a year earlier when he was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year. Senior guard Brett Harvey will be another crucial piece to the puzzle for coach Patsos, the New York native playing both point and shooting guard in order to satisfy the needs of the team. Last season, Harvey recorded a career-best 12.4 ppg, even though he shot just 35 percent from the floor. Harvey feasted at the free-throw line though (142-of-156), helping the squad convert 77.6 percent at the stripe for the entire campaign.

MANHATTAN: It was just a few years ago that the Jaspers were the team to beat in the MAAC, but now they've evolved into just another program in New York and they figure to finish in the second-half of the standings because of it. Entering his fourth season at Manhattan, head coach Barry Rohrssen posted a respectable 16-14 record a season ago, but against the rest of the conference the team was split at 9-9 and that left them in a tie for fourth place. The squad had a trio of double-digit scorers in the most recent campaign who helped the Jaspers generate a modest 64.4 ppg, which was just fractions of a point above the 64.2 ppg allowed by the group. Unfortunately, two of those players (Chris Smith and Devon Austin) are no longer on the roster and that means the team will have to find a suitable replacement(s) for their combined 24.5 ppg. Senior guard Darryl Crawford will have to shoulder much of that burden, if for no other reason than he was the top scorer overall for the Jaspers in 2008-09 with his 14.4 ppg. One look at his stat line tells you that Crawford can do a little bit of everything when the need arises, having collected 4.4 rpg, handed out 65 assists and made a team-best 43 steals last season. Even though he didn't do much in the way of scoring, junior forward Andrew Gabriel will have to elevate his efforts as one of the stronger inside players for the Jaspers this season, standing as the top returning rebounder for the program with 5.1 rpg a season ago. However, his mere 37.4 percent accuracy from the field was bad and his awful 32-of-80 effort (.400) at the free-throw line was even worse in 2008-09. Considered one of the top returning players for the Jaspers, Antoine Pearson will likely share the spotlight and it is not yet clear whether or not he can handle that sort of pressure. Last year he put up 7.5 ppg and was first with 70 assists, but that still doesn't excuse his mere 55 percent effort at the free-throw line.

CANISIUS: Against non-conference teams last season, the Golden Griffins fared rather well with seven wins in 13 opportunities, but really, it is the MAAC schedule that is most concerning for this group. Canisius managed only four victories in 18 chances and didn't do much to give hope to the Griffs' fans for this year. Granted, head coach Tom Parrotta does have both Frank Turner and Greg Logins returning to campus for another season, but even that pairing doesn't assure Canisius of a better outcome in 2009-10. Turner, a senior from Atlantic City, was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team on the strength of his team-best 15.6 ppg a season ago. Turner always seems to be involved and his team-best 124 assists go a long way in proving that notion. Turner also collected close to four and a half rebounds per game a year ago as he shot 42.2 percent from the floor, but his mere 28.1 percent accuracy behind the three-point line and 64.6 percent effort at the free-throw line meant he left far too many points unrealized. Logins, another Preseason All-MAAC Third Team pick, was responsible for 11.3 ppg and led the team with his seven rebounds per game but, as someone who clearly had an advantage in the paint, for some unknown reason Logins also insisted on taking opportunities beyond the arc far too much, resulting in just 28.9 percent accuracy. As a team, the Griffs were one of the worst in the nation beyond the arc at just 28.7 percent, but at least the team kept things interesting by limiting opponents to only 30.5 percent out on the perimeter. More than anything, what really hurt Canisius was a miserable 61.6 percent effort at the free-throw line, a lackluster performance that ranked the program 322nd out of the 330 Division I teams tracked by the NCAA last season. Junior guard Elton Frazier is another player who will have to take advantage of opportunities presented to him as he tries to help this program move in a positive direction. Frazier (6.0 ppg) started 24 of 31 games a year ago, but he too was miserable behind the three-point line at just 21.7 percent. But it didn't stop there because Frazier made good on a mere 51.1 percent at the free-throw line as well.

IONA: The Gaels might not be one of the better teams in the MAAC in terms of their performance on the hardwood, but no one can say that they aren't at least up with the times. Head coach Kevin Willard, now entering his third season, makes it known that you can follow him and the travails of the Iona basketball team on Twitter, but hopefully there will be at least a handful of encouraging tweets that are released by the Pittsburgh alum. Coach Willard had one of the weakest scoring offenses in the nation (281st) last season as his team tallied just 62.3 ppg and the bad news there is that the squad's lone double-digit scorer from a year ago is no longer with the team. Gary Springer, who led the team in both scoring (11.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg) was both a plus and a negative on the floor all at the same time. The forward shot an impressive 58.2 percent from the field, but made good on just 60.1 percent at the free-throw line and issued only four assists against 58 turnovers. The team as a whole had 108 more miscues than dishes and Springer was obviously a huge part of that failure. Now a sophomore, guard Scott Machado could be the guy who gets the most mentions on Willard tweets, seeing as how Machado is the top returning scorer with his 9.3 ppg and was also responsible for 150 assists over the course of his 31 appearances. A leader with 40 steals as well, Machado has shown that he can do a bit of everything after reeling in close to three and a half rebounds per game. Now the question is whether or not he can improve upon his mere 27.8 percent accuracy behind the three-point line. Seniors Milan Prodanovic and Jonathan Huffman will both be asked to carry more of the load on the offensive end of the floor this season after they each approached seven points per game as juniors. Huffman towers over the rest of the roster at seven feet, but unless he learns how to use his slight frame (235 pounds) it may not make much of a difference in the long run.

MARIST: In his first year at Marist, head coach Chuck Martin was thrown to the wolves, winning just once in 14 attempts on the road and a total of 10 games overall. With that amount of limited success, Martin is probably looking forward to an even more bleak season in 2009-10 given the returning talent. The team had just a pair of double-digit scorers in 2008-09 and both have left, leaving players like Dejuan Goodwin and Korey Bauer as the guys that coach Martin will put on the front line and try to pick up wins with on a regular basis. Goodwin, a starter in all but two of the 33 games for the Red Foxes a season ago, averaged a modest 6.7 ppg as he shot 38.5 percent from three-point range. However, it didn't help that this regular was a mere 36.2 percent accurate from the floor overall and somehow found a way to shoot just 48.7 percent at the charity stripe. Honestly, a player almost has to practice missing shots at the line in order to come up that poorly. Then again, the team as a whole should really be putting in extra time at the free-throw line these days because they shot a collective 63.3 percent at the stripe over the course of 33 games. That lack of accuracy ranked the team 304th in the nation and was a major reason why the Red Foxes were 286th in the country in scoring margin with a minus-5.4 ppg. Just as disturbing as the lackluster effort at the stripe is the fact that someone like Goodwin, who is considered a primary guard on the squad, could finish up with almost twice as many turnovers (60) as he had assists (35) in 33 games. But again, turnover margin was an issue across the board for Marist as it ranked 302nd in the country with minus-2.8 miscues per outing. With so much youth on the roster, a total of six freshmen, it will be imperative for someone like Bauer (4.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg) to show up and provide the group with some semblance of a presence in the paint, but that is still wishful thinking on the part of coach Martin and the rest of the Red Foxes.

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