Siena 2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule

Siena Saints - Metro Atlantic (22-10, 13-5)

Seed: #13 - Midwest Region

RPI: 67

Big Wins: 11/17 Stanford (79-67), 2/8 at Marist (97-88), 2/23 at Boise State (93-70)

Bad Losses: 11/9 at James Madison (88-100), 2/16 Loyola Maryland (76-83), 2/18 at Manhattan (72-73)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2002, First Round loss to Maryland

Coach: Fran McCaffery (0-2 in 2 NCAA appearances)

Probable Siena Starters:

• Ronald Moore, Sophomore, Guard, 8.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, 4.1 rpg
• Kenny Hasbrouck, Junior, Guard, 15.6 ppg, 2.2 apg, 2.3 spg
• Edwin Ubiles, Sophomore, Guard, 17.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg
• Josh Duell, Junior, Forward, 5.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg
• Alex Franklin, Sophomore, Forward, 15.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg

Key Siena Roleplayers:

• Tay Fisher, Senior, Guard, 7.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg
• Clarence Jackson, Freshman, Guard, 3.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg
• Chris De La Rosa, Freshman, Guard, 2.5 ppg, 1.5 apg
• Ryan Rossiter, Freshman, Forward, 2.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg
• Corey Magee, Sophomore, Forward, 1.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg

Why The Saints Can Surprise:
A few teams will hit more three-pointers than Siena, but not many will knock them down with more consistency. Tay Fisher is a sharpshooter off the bench, but he leads the team with two long balls per contest. Edwin Ubiles is the team’s leading scorer and he hits 44.2 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. Ubiles does not do most of his damage from behind the arc and has a nice mid-range game and can get to the basket with ease. His main scoring mate in the backcourt is Kenny Hasbrouck. Hasbrouck hits almost 40 percent of his shots from long range, but he is by no means a one-dimensional scorer.

The backcourt, led by point guard Ronald Moore, also creates a ton of turnovers. The team will almost garner ten steals per game and that is a very impressive number. That leads to a ton of easy buckets for the guards on the other end of the floor. Even better than creating turnovers is not giving them up and the Saints only commit about 11 turnovers per game.

Why The Saints Can Disappoint:
Unfortunately Siena gives up a lot of their possessions with missed rebounding opportunities. Alex Franklin is a solid rebounder, but he does not get much help from fellow forwards Josh Duell, Ryan Rossiter or Cory Magee in that department. The lack of rebounding is one reason why the Saints defense is not so heavenly. The team gives up over 71 points per game and allows the opposition to shoot over 45 percent from the floor.

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Who To Watch:
Moore is more than just a point guard. Although it is his leadership that keeps the turnovers down, he will do a little bit of everything that his team needs. He can hit the mid-range jumper and occasionally the three-pointer, but usually he will get a bulk of his 8.7 points per game around the basket. Moore is also a decent rebounder for his size and will spearhead the defensive effort.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 76.8 (38th in nation, 2nd in conference)

Scoring Defense: 71.1 (221, 6)

Field-Goal Percentage: 45.1 (125, 2)

Field-Goal Defense: 45.1 (245, 9)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.0 (133, 6)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.3 (45, 3)

Free-Throw Percentage: 68.3 (185, 5)

Rebound Margin: -4.5 (299, 10)

Assists Per Game: 14.5 (98, 2)

Turnovers Per Game: 11.1 (7, 1)

Joel’s Bracket Says: First Round loss to Vanderbilt

By Joel Welser
CollegeSports-fans.com Guest Writer

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