J.S. Carras - The Record

LOUDONVILLE - Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro believes in his team.

There's nothing wrong with that. But the Saints, who have lost nine straight games, have been struggling and there's no question about that.

Still, on Wednesday Buonaguro said he believes his team is better than its 2-11 record. 

"The record's very misleading," he said. "Five or six of the games were very winnable."

Siena may have been able to a win a few, but the old adage is you are what your record says you are. The Saints are just one more loss from matching the worst start in program history, matching the 1970-71 team that started 2-12.  

"When you add everything up, I think the record is a little misleading," Buonaguro said. "I think we're a little better than the record."

Buonaguro is talking about adding up his team's youth and some of the things they've done wrong so far like turning the ball over and poor free-throw shooting.

"There's five or six things, when you analyze it, will add up to 2-11," he said. "But if two of those things change, we're 6-7. I can think of five games, where if we just shot free throws average, in the 60s, we probably would have won."

Both of Siena's wins have come in close games, but the team hasn't won since before Thanksgiving, when they topped Northern Kentucky, 56-52 (Nov. 17). The Saints are 2-6 in games decided by six points or less, including two 1-point losses at home (Vermont, UMass).

Siena has had trouble lately, losing their last three games by an average of 18 points per game and allowed an average of 78.7 points over those three games, all losses.

The biggest loss came in the most recent game, losing 80-52 to La Salle, on Saturday. Buonaguro said Wednesday he didn't even think that game, which was a 34-point deficit at times, was that bad. 

"When I did look at the tape, it really wasn't as bad as I thought," he said.

The Saints are struggling, but Buonaguro still believes his team should have more wins if things had gone their way.

"This is a team that could very easily be 6-7 if things bounced the right way," he said. 

Siena takes on Iona on Friday evening. Since 2000, the Saints are 11-1 against Iona in Albany, including last year's 65-62 victory.