After a worthwhile trip to NYC today for the MAAC Media Day event, myself and the other two sports editors, Keith Connors and Chris Simmons realized we had the task of putting out a newspaper still ahead of us. Thus, our blog plans were foiled. But nonetheless, here are some quick hits from the exciting day in New York. For more detail head over to the MAAC’s Web site.
- Women’s Basketball Selected 6th in Coach’s Poll, Geehan All-MAAC Second Team: The selection of Fairfield to finish sixth by the women’s basketball coaches was somewhat surprising, but in the end makes sense. The Stags have lost two of their best players in recent history over the past two seasons in Baendu Lowenthal ’09 and Sabra Wrice ’08 and outside of Geehan and a few other players, have not seen seen anyone rise to the challenge of filling that void. The Stags also lost three other seniors (guard Megan Caskin, forwards Shyrell Moore and Lauren Groom) to graduation. Geehan is dominating defensively and in the paint on offense, but lacks the scoring touch that Lowenthal provided as a skilled forward. But, sophomore guard Desiree Pina could be on her way to stepping into Wrice’s shoes. Pina scored 271 points in her first season at Fairfield, more than Wrice’s 221 in her rookie year and the seventh most all-time for a Fairfield freshman. Meanwhile the Stags have to look to senior Tara Flaherty, sophomore Taryn Johnson and newcomers Lauren Vetra (6-2) and Brittany MacFarlane (6-1) to fill the hole left by Lowenthal. In the end, the MAAC is all about Marist and everyone else, so the pre-season rankings don’t mean much.
- Men picked fourth, Nero All-MAAC Second Team: Anyone who closely follows Stags basketball knows injuries have plagued the men’s team the past two years. Nothing speaks louder to that fact than the selection of senior Greg Nero as an All-MAAC Second Team member, despite the fact he may not see the court this season as he recovers from an illness. Meanwhile, Ed Cooley said that the Stags will need to depend on Warren Edney and Anthony Johnson to recover from their injuries that occurred last season. Cooley compared Johnson to Jevon Kearse, saying he had slimmed down and was ready to return as a force inside. Cooley also gave praise to sophomore Ryan Olander, who attended the event along with Johnson, saying he had bulked up and grown over the summer. Later he joked to the Connecticut Post’s Bill Paxton that he should get a psychology degree for all the work he has done the past year and a half. More importantly he told Paxton that on the Nero front, he is recovering from a sinus injury and a “week and a half away from being able to come outside…” He added that Nero could play this season, despite rumors of the contrary.
- A Mitch Bounagouro Sighting: Although he coached before my time at Fairfield, and before my time on this Earth, Bounagouro is a well-known name in the Fairfield basketball world after leading the Stags to two MAAC titles in the 80s. Now an assistant at Siena, he filled in for Fran McCaffery, who is recovering from minor surgery. He talked about the changes in the MAAC since his time at Fairfield, saying that first of all he had a lot less hair back then and second of all he remembers coaching Canisius coach Tom Perrotta while he was at Fordham. He compared Siena to the LaSalle teams of the late 80s and 90s and praised commissioner Rich Ensor for bringing more exposure to the MAAC, including ESPN games.
- Marist unanimous number one, Siena not: While the four-time defending MAAC champion Marist women’s squad received all 10 first place votes, two-time champions Siena were not as lucky. That was because Rider’s Tommy Dempsey voted for his own team to finish first. Dempsey told The Trentonian’s (and former Fairfield Mirror EIC) Ben Doody “My obligation is in my own locker room. I can’t worry about anyone else’s program. I’ve talked to the guys about believing. You gotta believe that we’re the best team.” He added that he meant no disrespect to any other team. It is an interesting tactic to try and motivate his team, but it will also give Siena bulletin board material when the Saints face the Broncs for the first time, even if Dempsey meant no disrespect. I’m sure Fran will have something different to say to his players.
- Fitz, Thompson Players of the Year: First and foremost I was terrified of the fact that both Fitz and Thompson are seniors and that I am also a senior. There is no way it has been four years of covering MAAC/Fairfield basketball. Anyway the two are very deserving of the award. Fitz is clearly the best player in the conference and has been for four years. Thompson is the true MVP of the league. While Siena has multiple players to turn to and Tyrone Lewis has a cohort in Bilal Benn, Thompson has to do almost everything himself. But there is a lot of talent at the top of the MAAC and if Siena wins going away again, it would be tough to take the award away from Ronald Moore, Edwin Ubiles or Alex Franklin, depending on who has the best year.
More to come soon as we try and keep this updated daily. In the meantime, check out a couple other articles about MAAC Media Day:
The Trentonian’s Ben Doody writes about Rider men and women, focusing on the women’s rise and Dempsey’s first place vote.
Pete Iorizzo of the Albany Times-Union talks to Fran McCaffery who says practices have been “OK” so far, despite the No. 1 ranking.
Fellow Times Union writer Mark McGuire says “gimmes” are gone for teams in the MAAC.
Sean McCann writes in the Poughkeepsie Journal that the “Marist men are out to prove critics wrong.”
Ed Cooley talks candidly with the Connecticut Post’s Bill Paxton about injuries and the stress of the past year and a half. I will say it here that The Mirror Sports GLOG (Game Log) was the first to refer to Cooley’s suits as dapper. Not that there is anything wrong with Bill using it, I love having the dapperness of Cooley spread around more. But stay tuned for the first Dapper Cooley Watch of the Year, right here in the GLOG when the Stags play UBridgeport on Nov. 5 at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
That’s all for now, but stay tuned for a lot more.
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