#8 tOSU 72, #9 Siena 74 (Final, 2OT)

[soup]

Siena fan here

Congrats on the tournament. Here is a little synopsis from Siena land:

Return all 5 starters from last year. Won the MAAC title last year, blasted 4th seeded Vanderbilt in last year's tournament, 83-62. Dropped the 2nd round game to Villanova by 12. Siena also beat a ranked Stanford last year. Huge expectations this year returning everyone from a Round of 32 team. Played the #3 ranked out of conference schedule this year. Went to Orlando and got beat by Tennessee (by 14), Wichita State (by 2) and Oklahoma State (by 9). Did not play well - first time these guys were on the radar for the up teams and did not play well in Orlando. 24-4 since that time with a good effort at Pitt (losing by 13) and had Kansas on the ropes late at Allen Fieldhouse before losing by 7. Lost on a last second shot on the road in conference at Rider and got beat on the road in conference by a really good Niagara team by 15.

Hasbrouck is Siena's senior leader - 6'3 guard. Conference Player of Year. Great mid range game, can knock down the 3, but his mid range is excellent. Had 32 against Vandy last year in the tournament. Started the year slow, finished strong.

Ronald Moore is Siena's PG. A junior. 2nd team all-league. Been running the show since he got to Siena. 6'0, 155 pounds. Lightening quick. Doesn't turn the ball over. Pushes pace off misses and makes - looking to get Siena's frontcourt players beating their men down the floor. Streaky from the floor. His job is to dictate pace and pressures the ball all game.

Edwin Ubiles is another junior. Is a long 6'6 wing - Siena's most athletic player and, in my opinion, Siena's best on the ball defender. Shut down Shan Foster of Vandy last year in the tournament. First team all-league. Again, mid range game, like Hasbrouck, is stellar given his size - creates matchup problems in the backcourt. Often leads the press and halfcourt traps out front.

Alex Franklin - another junior. 2nd team all-league. Typical mid-major power forward - only 6'5, but is crafty and is very athletic. Has an excellent handle and can create off the dribble.

Ryan Rossiter - a sophomore. Siena's most improved player and finally closed the hole Siena had in the middle. Looks like McLovin from Superbad - but he has a game. Brother plays for Davidson. 6'8, 230. Outworks/outhustles his opponent. Has a nice 15 foot jumper, solid back to the basket game.

Clarence Jackson - 6'3 sophomore. Conference 6th man of the year. Instant offense. Can shoot the 3, but is a slasher. Had 28 at St. Joe's this year off the bench. Had a big game at Kansas and Pitt. Averages about 9 points per game in less than 15 minutes per game. Good length and is very athletic. As of late, been a menace on full court press and half court traps.

Josh Duell - a 6'7, 270 pound forward that can shoot the 3. Bad knees, bad achilles. Survives on savvy and drawing charges, and dragging bigs to the perimeter to honor his 3 ball which opens the mid range for Hasbrouck, Ubiles and inside for Rossiter and Franklin. Played at Vermont initially and was a key guy off the bench for the Vermont team that beat Syracuse in the tournament a few years ago. Injured all of this year, but can give 10-12 minutes. A fan favorite. A winner. His stats don't show it this year, but he can shoot the 3.

Owen Wignot - 6'7 swing, freshman. Can shoot it and is very athletic. Gets 10-12 minutes.

Kyle Downey - 6'2 guard, freshman. Hard nosed kid, has had some moments and can shoot.

That's the rotation. A lot of experience. Fun team to watch.

Siena will want to play at a quick pace, they'll press fullcourt and fall into halfcourt matchup zone with traps. Moore is good on the ball pressure - and Siena's length creates issues on the press and in the halfcourt.

Not a great half court team. They do not rely on the 3. They look to the midrange game, and getting mismatches with Franklin and Ubiles. Decent high-low game, as well.

Siena is bothered by physically big backcourts - such as Villanova from last year. Siena seems to take advantage of teams based on bigger post players, the exception being Pitt.

Here are some of the Siena/MAAC sites:

SienaHoops
MAAC Hoops - Login

 

[stxbuck]

Congrats on the tournament. Here is a little synopsis from Siena land:

Return all 5 starters from last year. Won the MAAC title last year, blasted 4th seeded Vanderbilt in last year's tournament, 83-62. Dropped the 2nd round game to Villanova by 12. Siena also beat a ranked Stanford last year. Huge expectations this year returning everyone from a Round of 32 team. Played the #3 ranked out of conference schedule this year. Went to Orlando and got beat by Tennessee (by 14), Wichita State (by 2) and Oklahoma State (by 9). Did not play well - first time these guys were on the radar for the up teams and did not play well in Orlando. 24-4 since that time with a good effort at Pitt (losing by 13) and had Kansas on the ropes late at Allen Fieldhouse before losing by 7. Lost on a last second shot on the road in conference at Rider and got beat on the road in conference by a really good Niagara team by 15.

Hasbrouck is Siena's senior leader - 6'3 guard. Conference Player of Year. Great mid range game, can knock down the 3, but his mid range is excellent. Had 32 against Vandy last year in the tournament. Started the year slow, finished strong.

Ronald Moore is Siena's PG. A junior. 2nd team all-league. Been running the show since he got to Siena. 6'0, 155 pounds. Lightening quick. Doesn't turn the ball over. Pushes pace off misses and makes - looking to get Siena's frontcourt players beating their men down the floor. Streaky from the floor. His job is to dictate pace and pressures the ball all game.

Edwin Ubiles is another junior. Is a long 6'6 wing - Siena's most athletic player and, in my opinion, Siena's best on the ball defender. Shut down Shan Foster of Vandy last year in the tournament. First team all-league. Again, mid range game, like Hasbrouck, is stellar given his size - creates matchup problems in the backcourt. Often leads the press and halfcourt traps out front.

Alex Franklin - another junior. 2nd team all-league. Typical mid-major power forward - only 6'5, but is crafty and is very athletic. Has an excellent handle and can create off the dribble.

Ryan Rossiter - a sophomore. Siena's most improved player and finally closed the hole Siena had in the middle. Looks like McLovin from Superbad - but he has a game. Brother plays for Davidson. 6'8, 230. Outworks/outhustles his opponent. Has a nice 15 foot jumper, solid back to the basket game.

Clarence Jackson - 6'3 sophomore. Conference 6th man of the year. Instant offense. Can shoot the 3, but is a slasher. Had 28 at St. Joe's this year off the bench. Had a big game at Kansas and Pitt. Averages about 9 points per game in less than 15 minutes per game. Good length and is very athletic. As of late, been a menace on full court press and half court traps.

Josh Duell - a 6'7, 270 pound forward that can shoot the 3. Bad knees, bad achilles. Survives on savvy and drawing charges, and dragging bigs to the perimeter to honor his 3 ball which opens the mid range for Hasbrouck, Ubiles and inside for Rossiter and Franklin. Played at Vermont initially and was a key guy off the bench for the Vermont team that beat Syracuse in the tournament a few years ago. Injured all of this year, but can give 10-12 minutes. A fan favorite. A winner. His stats don't show it this year, but he can shoot the 3.

Owen Wignot - 6'7 swing, freshman. Can shoot it and is very athletic. Gets 10-12 minutes.

Kyle Downey - 6'2 guard, freshman. Hard nosed kid, has had some moments and can shoot.

That's the rotation. A lot of experience. Fun team to watch.

Siena will want to play at a quick pace, they'll press fullcourt and fall into halfcourt matchup zone with traps. Moore is good on the ball pressure - and Siena's length creates issues on the press and in the halfcourt.

Not a great half court team. They do not rely on the 3. They look to the midrange game, and getting mismatches with Franklin and Ubiles. Decent high-low game, as well.

Siena is bothered by physically big backcourts - such as Villanova from last year. Siena seems to take advantage of teams based on bigger post players, the exception being Pitt.

Here are some of the Siena/MAAC sites:

SienaHoops
MAAC Hoops - Login

Siena-meet Evan Turner and John Diebler.........

Seriously, thanks for the great info. BTW, where exactly is Siena located?

 

[osugrad21]

Excellent post. Welcome to BP.

 

[Jake]

Siena is in New York, just north of Albany.

Good post, soup. Thanks for the info. I suspect some of our fans aren't taking your team seriously but I know Thad will...just ask Vanderbilt.

Glad to have you coming to our backyard in Dayton.

 

[soup]

They were a 13 seed last year and kicked the [censored] out of 4th seeded Vanderbilt, 83-62.

The played Northern Iowa last month and beat them, 77-71. UNI is a 12 seed playing Purdue.

And the UNI game wasn't that close - it was 40-19 at the half.

This should be a great game. Siena is going to try and run anyone they face off the court - which always leads to entertaining games.

Matta brought a Top 20 Xavier team into Siena's home arena a few years back - Chalmers, Sato, David West - and Xavier barely got out of the game alive. Siena will have 110% of Matta's attention - he needs to make sure his kids buy into it.

The day before the Vandy game last year - Shan Foster was asked about Siena and he really had no idea how Siena plays or who their players were, which was mindboggling less than 24 hours before tip. Vandy promptly got spanked. I don't expect that to be the case with Matta - he'll make sure your team is prepared.

 

[Deety]

Nice info. Let's turn this guy Buckeye and recruit him for the Preview team after the game. :p

 

[Best Buckeye]

Make sure we give him the $49.95 discount too.

 

[soup]

Siena is in New York, just north of Albany.

Good post, soup. Thanks for the info. I suspect some of our fans aren't taking your team seriously but I know Thad will...just ask Vanderbilt.

Glad to have you coming to our backyard in Dayton.

Thad brought a Top 20 Xavier team to Albany a few years ago to play Siena - Chalmers, Sato, David West - and barely escaped with a win. Siena will have 110% of Matta's attention - guaranteed, he needs to make sure his team buys into it or they'll get run.

As long as you guys have a PG that takes care of the ball and another couple of guys capable of handling the ball, you have no worries.

 

[soup]

Let me clarify the "physically big backcourts" bothering Siena - I'm talking about PG's that are 6'2 and 200 pounds that can match Moore's speed - that gives Siena a bit of trouble. You can run 6'4 and 6'5 guys out at Siena's perimeter players, but they better be quick.

Turner/Ubiles matchup should be great.

None of us Siena followers think Siena gets better recruits or would beat tOSU 8 out of 10 times. We're looking at the matchup from the aspect that Vandy was probably a better team last year than you guys are this year - and possibly play a similar style (Vandy was weak at PG, they turned the ball over a lot, had a 6'6 shooter on the perimeter (Diebler/Shan Foster) and had talented size on the inside (Ogilvy is probably better than your big). So we're comfortable in thinking Siena will be in position to win the game with 5 minutes to go.

 

[Jake]

Thad brought a Top 20 Xavier team to Albany a few years ago to play Siena - Chalmers, Sato, David West - and barely escaped with a win. Siena will have 110% of Matta's attention - guaranteed, he needs to make sure his team buys into it or they'll get run.

As long as you guys have a PG that takes care of the ball and another couple of guys capable of handling the ball, you have no worries.

That is where we could get into trouble. Our assist/turnover ratio is subpar. We get great effort from our PGs, but they turn the ball over too often.

I think Siena's biggest problem will be matching up with Evan Turner and BJ Mullens. If I'm Siena I press us to death - a halfcourt game will play in our favor.

 

[3074326]

Let me clarify the "physically big backcourts" bothering Siena - I'm talking about PG's that are 6'2 and 200 pounds that can match Moore's speed - that gives Siena a bit of trouble. You can run 6'4 and 6'5 guys out at Siena's perimeter players, but they better be quick.

Turner/Ubiles matchup should be great.

None of us Siena followers think Siena gets better recruits or would beat tOSU 8 out of 10 times. We're looking at the matchup from the aspect that Vandy was probably a better team last year than you guys are this year - and possibly play a similar style (Vandy was weak at PG, they turned the ball over a lot, had a 6'6 shooter on the perimeter (Diebler/Shan Foster) and had talented size on the inside (Ogilvy is probably better than your big). So we're comfortable in thinking Siena will be in position to win the game with 5 minutes to go.

We play very good defense. Not sure about Vandy last year. We also have some guys (Buford, specifically) who can catch fire and be tough to stop. Buford has a beauty of a shot.

 

[soup]

Turner is 6'7, 205; Ubiles is 6'6, 200. It will be a great matchup. Ubiles is a high-flier and, in my opinion, Siena's best on the ball defender as he is quick and really long.

Vandy sat in a zone early last year and Siena drilled a bunch of 3s, then Vandy went man and Siena put the game out of reach by driving the ball. Siena is streaky from deep this year - but Siena rarely starts "chucking and ducking" against zones. You'll see Ubiles and Rossiter work the high-post to feed baseline cutters against the zone. And Moore is pretty good and getting into seems and hitting 14 footers if the front court doesn't step up, and if they do, he'll look for cutters.

This has all the makings of a classic game. And if tOSU wins, I'll be the first one on here to congratulate you and root for you against Pitino.

 

[billmac91]

I think the question is the other way around- Siena's guards are quicker than Ohio State's ..If this game was any other place but Ohio- I'd bet the house Siena wins. Ive seen Ohio State a few times this year- you guys have a good team- but a team that is prone to turning the ball over , you're not especially big or quick. The Saints will have to handle the crowd and shoot a decent pct or it will be a long night for the Saints. Ohio State's state guards will have to handle Siena's pressure without turning the ball over. I expect a good game- lets face it the 8/9 games are normally close

Opening line is Ohio State favored by 3.5

Truthfully, I'm going based off the championship game, in which I saw a lot of half-court pressure, but little full court pressure. It doesn't take much to be quicker than Ohio States guards, so I agree with your assement there.

I didn't see much in terms of a press, which would be beneficial to the Bucks. I like Ohio States chances because the game is an hour and half away from Columbus. I also like facing teams that haven't seen our zone. It is a unique zone that takes a while to become accustomed too.

I admit it is probabaly a bad idea to take too much from 1 game in which they were pretty comfortable midway through the scond half.

 

[Buckeye_Fan_BCS]

What time is game, what session??

Anyone know what time this game will be or for which of the Sessions? There are 2 sessions on Friday, session 1 and session 2. Session 1 starts with the noon game and Session 2 starts with the 7pm game...

I'm looking to buy tickets but have not found this info anywhere as to which session I will need to buy.

Thanks!

 

[MaxBuck]

... you're not especially big or quick...

You're kidding, right? According to Pomeroy, Buckeyes are the 20th tallest team in the nation.

Quickness is another matter, I will grant you, though Evan Turner is about as quick a 6-8 man as you are likely to see. (And if you look at him standing next to other players listed at 6-8, you'll see that is how he measures from a "NCAA standard" perspective )