Siena men’s hoops: 30-days until tip-off
Each Siena player sit in a chair lining up from oldest to youngest before Media Day started on Friday afternoon. At the very top was Nico Clareth, now the captain, a season after it looked like his bombastic attitude might let him finish his career with the Saints.
But with Siena’s five seniors all graduating last season, Clareth is the elder statesman of the Saints. The leader of a team that is cautiously optimistic about its ability to win this season. But what was the MAAC’s most experienced team last season might be the most heavily reliant on its freshman in 2017-18.
“I can’t play anymore, so they have to play,” Patsos said, referring to his freshmen. “They’re going to play a lot of minutes, and that’s OK.”
Here’s some pre-season tidbits from Siena’s Media Day, just one month before the season opener on Nov. 10 at College at Charleston.
Sammy Friday completely changes his diet
Patsos spoke in the early summer about the ability of Friday to play a really good three-tofour good minutes of basketball at a time. But that was all
he could do. Though Patsos was hesitant to say why, it was clear. Friday wasn’t in great physical shape.
“Before, three or four minutes was my max, and I’d be gassed,” Friday said. “But now I can get up and down a little bit more.”
Since that time, Friday has slimmed from 252 pounds to 235 pounds, making a concerted effort to shift his diet and exercise regimen.
The sophomore said he stopped getting two or three burgers at the cafeteria, and started eating turkey burgers instead. He drank water instead of juices and sodas. He cut out midnight snacks and fast food.
He texted assistant coach Abe Woldeslassie to work out and kept in touch with
dietitians to help give him advice.
He even said Patsos made him eat a salad for lunch every day this summer.
It might also be especially important as the other center, Evan Fisher, deals with an Achilles injury that has the potential to sideline him for an unknown period of time.
“It feels way better,” Friday said. “I can move quicker, jump higher. Do things I couldn’t do before because of my weight, which is good.”
Thomas Huerter Jr. becoming the glue guy
Huerter Jr., a Shenendehow a graduate, didn’t play much as a freshman. But he viewed the Montreal trip in August as a chance to prove himself. And he did just that.
“I think our team is good because we have a bunch of guys who are very good at certain things, whether it’s scoring or rebounding,” Heurter said. “I think I’m maybe not very good at one thing, but I’m good at a bunch of different things. That was definitely one thing that I tried to show at Montreal.”
Huerter is dealing with an MCL injury and is dayto-day, though the injury doesn’t seem to be very serious.
Throughout last season, Patsos would compliment Huerter’s ability in practice,
but he was too deep in the depth chart to play meaningful minutes. He’ll definitely be more prominent in 2017.
“Definitely my consistency has gotten better,” Huerter said. “Last year there would be days where I would show that in practice. But it wouldn’t be an across the board type-thing. I would have days where I would show that and I would have days where I wouldn’t show that.”
Patsos reacts to CBB scandal
A scandal rocked the college basketball world when four assistant coaches were arrested by the FBI. They were charged with paying athletes through the Adidas shoe company, with the understanding that the athlete would sign with Adidas once they reached the NBA.
Patsos, who has been an assistant coach at a National Championship program in Maryland, addressed the scandal.
“It’s not something I woke up and was proud to say I was a college coach that day,” Patsos said. “You walk down the street and you’re like, ‘I’m a college coach,’ and then last week you walk down the street and said ‘I’m a college basketball coach,’ and a couple people would — in other words, it was a stain on us. That’s not good for the sport. I don’t think it’s good for the sport that it happened.
“Maybe it’s necessary to stop it. Because I don’t know...that’s not the world that I ever lived in. However, if it’s out there, it’s out there. And maybe it’s time for it to all stop. I don’t know, I heard the FBI, that’ll make you stop. I would think it would make some people stop.”