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Trip to Montreal good for Siena and first year head coach Jimmy Patsos

Jimmy Patsos

timesunion.com

There aren’t many mid-major schools in the country that have such a rabid following like Siena. How many 8-24 mid-majors out there -- actually, how many 8-24 teams, period -- can say they averaged over 6,000 fans per home game last season? Siena outdrew Miami (FL) by more than 400 fans per home game, and the Hurricanes had their best season in program history. The folks up in Albany like their basketball and come out in droves to the Times Union Center.

When Fran McCaffery left Siena to take the job at Iowa, he left some pretty big shoes to fill after leading the Saints to three straight NCAA Tournaments and two upset wins over Vanderbilt and Ohio State. Siena hired Mitch Buonaguro, who was an assistant under McCaffery, but he greatly struggled in his three seasons posting a record of 35-59 and was fired after last season.

Enter: Jimmy Patsos.

Patsos is one of the most animated and likable coaches in the game, and seems like a good fit for Siena. He is charismatic and should connect with the Siena fan-base well. Furthermore, Patsos is no stranger to turning programs around. When he first took the job at Loyola (Maryland), they were coming off a 1-27 under Scott Hicks. In his second year, Patsos had Loyola at 15-13 and in the middle of the MAAC.

The trip north of the border will be as much of a learning experience for Patsos to become more familiar with his players as it will a time to practice and get better as a team.

Patsos told the The Daily Gazette: "...I’m learning some good and some bad about guys. This is another learning opportunity.”

Rising junior Rob Poole is one of Siena’s top returning players, and he sees the trip to Montreal in a similar light: “After the season we had last year, it was a big disappointment, but this year, I know we’re not picked to be a favorite to do well, but this Montreal trip is real big because it’ll bring us together. We’ll get to see what we have to work with and start early.”

Fortunately for Siena, Patsos is familiar with the MAAC having coached Loyola in the conference for nine seasons. While he is still learning of the personnel at Siena, he is familiar with the players having coached against them. Coaching against a player is just a bit different than coaching a player, though:

I know we have three or four from returning. And I know a couple young guys can play just by virtue of what I’m seeing because of summer school, but I’m trying to figure out who the eight or nine guys are who can play this year, because we’re going to press and run this year. We can’t play six guys the way we’re going to play.

Even though Patsos is still going through the learning process figuring out how his player’s tick, he seems to have figured out his starting five already: “Marquis is the one, Hymes at the two, Poole at the three, Brett [Bisping] at the four, [Imoh] Silas at the five,” Patsos said.

It may take a year or two for the Siena program to get back on its feet where Fran McCaffery had them just a few years ago, but don’t be surprised if Jimmy Patsos has the Saints as a true mid-major power in the coming years. Siena fans will expect nothing less.

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