Siena considering lineup changes at Canisius

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Siena freshman forward Willem Brandwijk has gone scoreless the past four games. Senior guard Evan Hymes is the team?s hottest offensive player.

However, Brandwijk could be inserted into the starting lineup, with Hymes headed back to a bench role, in moves head coach Jimmy Patsos is pondering to shake up the Saints heading into Friday night?s game at Canisius.

?Willem has a chance to be a really good player and I want to see if he can do it,? Patsos said. ?I?m going to give him his chance ? There?s a very good chance I think he starts tomorrow night, regardless of who?s playing. I really think this is an important seven or eight weeks for Willem to assert where he wants to be this year and his future.?

The 6-foot-8 Brandwijk would be paired in the frontcourt with 6-8 sophomore forward Javion Ogunyemi, the team?s only reliable big man right now.

?If we?re going to make a run, we need somebody besides Javion down there,? Patsos said. ?Willem has good size and he?s athletic. I?m really excited to see what he can do.?

Patsos said Brandwijk practiced very well on Wednesday and was disappointed in his own play in Sunday?s home loss to Fairfield.

?He was upset at himself for dropping the ball out of bounds,? Patsos said. ?He was upset those guys scored on him like that. He was like, `I?m better than that. I should have scored back on them.??

Meanwhile, Hymes has averaged a team-high 19.5 points on 15-of-18 shooting over the past two games. But Brandwijk entering the starting five would cause a chain reaction that bumps the 5-foot-9 Hymes back to the bench.

The probable starting lineup is Brandwijk at center, Ogunyemi at power forward, 6-7 Lavon Long at small forward, 6-6 Rob Poole at shooting guard and 6-foot Marquis Wright at point guard.

Patsos indicated he thinks the energetic Hymes is even more effective in a reserve role and would still play significant minutes. Siena, which is struggling defensively, would also start a bigger lineup.

?I like where we?re headed,? Patsos said. ?I think it?s going to be a fun eight weeks to find out where guys are.?

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Patsos said Poole and Long both missed Wednesday?s practice but are expected to play against Canisius. Poole suffered a sprained ankle against Fairfield. Long, back from a high ankle sprain, is also dealing with a sprained big toe.

 

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Canisius better than expected without Baron



When MAAC Player of the Year Billy Baron packed his bags for a professional career in Lithuania, it was largely assumed he was taking Canisius? hopes of being a league contender with him.

Following the graduation of Baron and three other starters, Canisius was chosen to finish ninth in the MAAC preseason coaches? poll.

And yet the Golden Griffins are sitting at a respectable 8-7 overall, 3-3 in the conference entering tonight?s game against Siena in Buffalo. Even head coach Jim Baron, Billy?s father, admits he didn?t see this coming.

?Very surprised, to be honest,? Jim Baron said. ?I mean, we lost four starters. We?ve got probably one of the youngest teams in the country. We have nine players that haven?t played Division I basketball last year, if you count (current senior guard) Jeremiah Williams, who failed out. But so, yeah, we?ve got a lot of young guys and any time you lose four starters and they started for two years, most of those guys, it?s very challenging to kind of rebuild.?

Canisius is coming off a 79-76 loss at MAAC favorite Iona last Saturday in which freshman Jermaine Crumpton missed a game-tying three in the final seconds.

?I thought we did a good job because we outrebounded them, we outshot them and with a young team, I think you?re going to have ups and downs,? Baron said. ?And it just shows our guys the potential that we do have. But the biggest thing is consistency as you do take over a young and inexperienced team. You?ve got to build consistency. The league is tough. You?ve seen St. Peter?s turn around and beat Monmouth (Wednesday) night. I mean, in my opinion, you just have to worry about yourself and try to work to improve and work to try to build consistency.?

The Golden Griffins are led in scoring by sophomore guard Zach Lewis, a MAAC All-Rookie selection a year ago, who?s averaging 14.3 points per game. But Baron spoke instead about the improvement of 6-9 senior forward Josiah Heath, who?s averaging 7.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, up from 2.0 and 2.2 a year ago.

?The last two games, he really played very solid,? Baron said. ?The Marist game, he had a double-double and he?s a senior, so it?s good to have some of these upperclassmen, you know, Jeremiah Williams, he?s an upperclassmen, so he had a good game against Marist. You just don?t now. You?ve got so many different parts, so much inexperience and newcomers that you hope kids step up.?

One of the new players is guard Jamal Reynolds, a junior-college transfer who?s leading the Golden Griffins with seven rebounds per game despite being only 6-4 and 175 pounds.

?He?s high-energy and he just loves to attack the basket, whether it?s on offense or whether it?s on defense,? Baron said. ?He gets up and down the floor. He?s a hyper type of player.?

Canisius has 10 players average at least 10 minutes of playing time, which Baron chalked up to necessity more than depth.

The Golden Griffins don?t have the luxury of relying on one player to bail them out like they did with Billy Baron, who averaged 24 points per game last season. Instead, Canisius spreads the ball among players such as Lewis, Heath and 6-7 sophomore forward Phil Valenti, whom Siena coach Jimmy Patsos compared to his own Brett Bisping.

?It?s done by committee,? Jim Baron said. ?We?ve got a number of guys that can step up.?