Siena tries to refocus on Marist

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Coming off the improbable win over Iona, Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro said he talked to his players about respecting their next opponent, Marist, on Friday at Times Union Center.

?I?ve addressed it,? Buonaguro said before Thursday?s practice. ?One of the issues when you have a win like this is coming back down to reality. Marist is a team that is better than last year. They have seven wins. They started off well in the conference. They are young, but by no means are we taking them lightly.?

The Red Foxes (7-12 overall, 2-6 MAAC) enter on a five-game losing streak. They start one junior, three sophomores and a freshman.

They?re in ninth place in the MAAC and are 24-91 since Chuck Martin took over as head coach in 2008-09.

Siena?s beaten Marist nine times in a row.

However, Siena junior forward O.D. Anosike said the Saints should be able to leave the Iona upset behind and concentrate on Marist.

?I think we can,? he said. ?I think the big thing right now and Coach B has been stressing it, is really guarding against complacency. It?s very easy to get complacent after a big win like we had the other night. We beat the best team in the league and now you go against bottom of the league and they?re going to play hard so we?ve really got to guard against complacency and focus for Marist.?

 

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Poole giving Siena a boost off the bench



Siena men's basketball coach Mitch Buonaguro described Rob Poole as a "free spirit" this week, which puzzled the freshman guard at first when the comment was relayed to him.

"What does that mean?" Poole said Thursday. "I don't know. I guess (it means) I don't care that much. I think that's probably it. I mean, I care about basketball and stuff like that. I guess I laugh a lot. I've got a good personality. Maybe that's what he's saying, I'm not really sure."

Buonaguro meant the phrase as a compliment, that Poole doesn't get easily rattled, which serves him well on the court.

It certainly did on Monday, when he had a career-high 14 points and six assists in the come-from-behind 65-62 upset of Iona at Times Union Center.

He's become a valuable sixth man for the Saints (9-10 overall, 4-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), who play host to Marist on Friday at 7 p.m.

"He doesn't let a lot of things bother him," Buonaguro said. "He keeps coming back."

After thinking a bit, Poole understood what Buonaguro meant by "free spirit."

"Whatever happens, happens on the court," Poole explained. "I think you need that one person to show everybody that you're relaxed and maybe it gets them relaxed on the court, you know what I mean?"

When the Saints fell behind 20-2 and were in deep foul trouble, Poole came off the bench to give them an immediate lift. He had a hand in 11 of Siena's next 15 points with a 3-pointer, a layup and three assists as the Saints cut the deficit to 26-17.

Late in the game, Poole drove and passed to Kyle Downey for a crucial 3-pointer with 4:22 left. Then Poole shot 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 2:28 to preserve the victory.

"It was Rob Poole's best game," Buonaguro said. "Poole played phenomenal. He played like the kind of recruit I thought he would be."

While Poole was brought from Haddonfield, N.J. with the reputation of a shooter, he's shown he's more than that. Buonaguro called him "an old-school player."

"I think I'm a pretty good passer," Poole said. "I don't look to force my shot that much. I like to find the open guy."

On a team that uses mainly six players, the 6-foot-5 Poole is logging 27 minutes per game as the sixth man. He often subs in for 6-8 forward Brandon Walters, which allows Siena to use a lineup with 6-8 forward O.D. Anosike and four perimeter players.

It grants Anosike more room to operate inside with less double-teaming.

"When we come in with Robbie, I think offensively we become a more dynamic team," Anosike said.

Anosike described Poole as a funny, upbeat teammate who's not afraid to speak his mind.

Poole did suffer from a crisis of confidence early in the season, unwilling to take the open shot. But he took 12 shots in the win over Iona and seems to be more self-assured.

"It gives me a lot more confidence," Poole said. "I'd have a couple of good games and struggle for a couple of games. Hopefully this game just keeps it going with a more consistent regular season."

 

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Marist men look to stop skid



Chuck Martin has seen this before.

In each of his first three seasons, the head coach saw his Marist College men?s basketball team string together season-high losing streaks of eight, 18 and 11 games in each season. Since the preseason, though, Martin has said the 2011-12 Red Foxes are different than those squads.

Heading into tonight?s game at Siena, the Red Foxes have lost five straight, leaving some around the program wondering if the young team can stop the skid before it approaches those previous-season totals.

?I would hope so. I would think so, but you?ll see. We?ll find out in the next week or so,? Martin said after last Friday?s 61-44 loss to visiting Manhattan, in which Marist (7-12) converted just 13 field goals. ?You would like to think so.?

Marist won its second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game of the season against visiting Saint Peter?s on Jan. 2 to improve to 2-1 in league play, but hasn?t won since, losing by an average of 16.6 points.

Siena snapped a two-game losing skid with Monday?s 65-62 win against Iona, improving to 15-5 and 7-2 in the MAAC, to tie Iona and Loyola (Md.) for the league lead.

Junior forward OD Anosike (14.9 points per game, 12.7 rebounds per game), freshman guard Evan Hymes (14.1 ppg) and senior guard Kyle Downey (13.2 ppg) pace the Saints? offense.

It?s been a tough stretch for Marist. Earlier this month, junior guard Devin Price (team-high 13.5 ppg) called the Red Foxes? two-game Western New York trip a ?do-or-die? weekend for Marist, which went on to lose to Canisius by 10 points and to Niagara by 19.

Martin said the current losing streak has taken a mental toll on the Red Foxes (2-6 MAAC) and will test them not only on the court, but off it as well.

?When you lose a bunch of games, it?s brutal on the psyche. It?s brutal,? Martin said. ?If you?re not a tough individual, you can very easily cave in.?



Red Fox tales

Tonight?s game is the Red Foxes? first since an off-campus fire claimed the lives of two Marist students and another man last Saturday. Marist postponed its men?s game against visiting Fairfield, and will make that up in the final week of February; the exact date has not yet been announced. ? Siena holds a 45-22 edge in the all-time series against Marist. The Saints have won the last nine meetings with the Red Foxes.