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2008-9 Niagara University Basketball Thread


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Tough loss, they didn't play remotely close to their best, very unfortunate. Must be nice to play on your home floor every year in the MAAC tourney...

I am a Siena grad and attended tonight. It has been a while since I've been to a game (young kids). My first impression is that the MAAC as a whole has improved a lot since my last visit. Both teams got some bad bounces, especially in the first half, but there were usually 10 good players on the floor. I don't think either team played their best. I know Ronald Moore is better than that.

 

I think Siena in the NCAA and Niagara in the NIT will give their matchups all they can handle. If they let Rider in the NIT, they'll be tough too.

 

And my guess is that 50,000 people attending the tournament over 4-5 days has a lot to do with it being in Albany often (not every year). How many people did it draw when it was at HSBC? Niagara had a decent sized section tonight. The crowd was just under 10k.

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I am a Siena grad and attended tonight. It has been a while since I've been to a game (young kids). My first impression is that the MAAC as a whole has improved a lot since my last visit. Both teams got some bad bounces, especially in the first half, but there were usually 10 good players on the floor. I don't think either team played their best. I know Ronald Moore is better than that.

 

I think Siena in the NCAA and Niagara in the NIT will give their matchups all they can handle. If they let Rider in the NIT, they'll be tough too.

 

And my guess is that 50,000 people attending the tournament over 4-5 days has a lot to do with it being in Albany often (not every year). How many people did it draw when it was at HSBC? Niagara had a decent sized section tonight. The crowd was just under 10k.

Siena grad here as well. I traveled home for the quarters and semi but couldnt get the day off work for the final, must have been great being there.

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I am a Siena grad and attended tonight. It has been a while since I've been to a game (young kids). My first impression is that the MAAC as a whole has improved a lot since my last visit. Both teams got some bad bounces, especially in the first half, but there were usually 10 good players on the floor. I don't think either team played their best. I know Ronald Moore is better than that.

 

I think Siena in the NCAA and Niagara in the NIT will give their matchups all they can handle. If they let Rider in the NIT, they'll be tough too.

 

And my guess is that 50,000 people attending the tournament over 4-5 days has a lot to do with it being in Albany often (not every year). How many people did it draw when it was at HSBC? Niagara had a decent sized section tonight. The crowd was just under 10k.

 

 

That is exactly why they have it in Albany most years. I think the complaint having it at the Arena is it is not centrally located to all schools & if Canisius or Niagara do not advance the tournament does not draw d*ck. Although, one could also argue if Siena does not advance the attendance would most certainly suffer also. It helped too this year that Siena is a legit top 25 school. My guess is they will be an 11 seed & are going to give whoever they play all they could handle & I would not be surprised if they even make it out of the first weekend.

 

As for Niagara, they really should be mentioned among the teams on the bubble now, but they will most likely be left out. They had 26 wins this year & 6 wins I believe in the top 100 RPI. The only difference really between their profile & Siena's is Siena was able to schedule 4 or 5 high profile high RPI games. They did not win any of them but it helped push their RPI into the twenties. That is the one problem I have with the tournamnet. I would much rather see a team like Niagara in there then the 6th place team from the Big 10. Put Niagara & Penn St/Wisconsin/Minnesota on neutral floor & I bet Niagara wins that game 6 out of 10 times.

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As for Niagara, they really should be mentioned among the teams on the bubble now, but they will most likely be left out. They had 26 wins this year & 6 wins I believe in the top 100 RPI. The only difference really between their profile & Siena's is Siena was able to schedule 4 or 5 high profile high RPI games. They did not win any of them but it helped push their RPI into the twenties. That is the one problem I have with the tournamnet. I would much rather see a team like Niagara in there then the 6th place team from the Big 10. Put Niagara & Penn St/Wisconsin/Minnesota on neutral floor & I bet Niagara wins that game 6 out of 10 times.

 

Agreed!

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That is exactly why they have it in Albany most years. I think the complaint having it at the Arena is it is not centrally located to all schools & if Canisius or Niagara do not advance the tournament does not draw d*ck. Although, one could also argue if Siena does not advance the attendance would most certainly suffer also. It helped too this year that Siena is a legit top 25 school. My guess is they will be an 11 seed & are going to give whoever they play all they could handle & I would not be surprised if they even make it out of the first weekend.

 

As for Niagara, they really should be mentioned among the teams on the bubble now, but they will most likely be left out. They had 26 wins this year & 6 wins I believe in the top 100 RPI. The only difference really between their profile & Siena's is Siena was able to schedule 4 or 5 high profile high RPI games. They did not win any of them but it helped push their RPI into the twenties. That is the one problem I have with the tournamnet. I would much rather see a team like Niagara in there then the 6th place team from the Big 10. Put Niagara & Penn St/Wisconsin/Minnesota on neutral floor & I bet Niagara wins that game 6 out of 10 times.

I agree with that. Although it was neither team's best game last night, it was pretty clear that there was a lot of talent on the floor. Siena would have been a legitimate bubble team if they had had just one win against one of their big opponents (Tenn, Kansas, Pitt, others) but all of those games were losses where they were pretty competitive. They deserve some credit for the schedule they played. I read somewhere that they had the #2 non-conference schedule in the country. They also beat a pretty good Northern Iowa team handily in their bracket buster.

 

I don't think Niagara/Siena and the others will ever get an at large bid unless they have a crazy record and lose in the final. Even Siena would not have made it if they lost last night. I think they will always take the #6 team from the bigger conference even if I don't agree.

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Great game last night- Niagara just had too many sloppy turnovers. The more exciting game was the Rider-Niagara semifinal Sunday night. Siena is going to need to rebound better and get more putbacks to drop if they are going to win in the tournament. I hope they can get a favorable matchup and make it to the Sweet 16 this year.

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I am a Siena grad and attended tonight. It has been a while since I've been to a game (young kids). My first impression is that the MAAC as a whole has improved a lot since my last visit. Both teams got some bad bounces, especially in the first half, but there were usually 10 good players on the floor. I don't think either team played their best. I know Ronald Moore is better than that.

 

I think Siena in the NCAA and Niagara in the NIT will give their matchups all they can handle. If they let Rider in the NIT, they'll be tough too.

 

And my guess is that 50,000 people attending the tournament over 4-5 days has a lot to do with it being in Albany often (not every year). How many people did it draw when it was at HSBC? Niagara had a decent sized section tonight. The crowd was just under 10k.

I think Niagara will host an NIT game and do well. Siena will probably be a 12 seed and could pull off an upset. And I understand that it's all about money, all I said is it must be nice. And it certainly is, they fed off the crowd and had the momentum towards the end of the game. I remember attending the games at the HSBC, seems like many years ago, and there were close to 10,000 for the Niagara final. But I am not sure what the overall attendance was...

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