Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro talks about the team's season at the year-end banquet on Thursday.



Siena senior Kyle Downey talks at the year-end banquet.

Mike McMahon/The Record

Kyle Downey just wrapped up his collegiate career at Siena College, but he will soon embark on a pro basketball career.

Downey tweeted early Friday that he will start his pro career.

"Going to get paid to play basketball.... A Dream come true"

Downey later confirmed that he will play for the Albany Legends, which open the 2012 season on March 30. 

Siena senior guard Kyle Downey talks about the team's trip out to Western New York.

The Saints leave town after practice on Wednesday. (in the video, I say it's a two-game losing streak, but Siena has lost three in a row).

c

J.S. Carras/The Record

ALBANY – The Siena men's basketball team has been anything but super on the road this season.

The Saints have lost their last four games away from the homecourt and are winless in all five league games, outside the city of Albany.

Yet, after dropping a tough 63-58 game to Saint Peter's on Friday, Siena starts a three-game road trip this afternoon, when they take on Fairfield, at 3:30 p.m.

The game can be seen on SNY in the Capital District, for fans who want an appetizer, before Super Bowl XLVI, between the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

The Stags (7-4, 12-10) are coming off of an eight-point victory over Niagara, where junior guard Derek Needham scored a career-high 32 points. Fairfield, which was the No. 2 pick in the preseaon poll, has been inconsistent this season, but the Stags seem to have righted the ship, winning four of their past five games.

The Saints (5-7, 10-12) won the first meeting, 73-60, in Albany, but they know this game will be much more difficult.

“Fairfield's a team that's very good,” said junior forward OD Anosike. “They're definitely in the upper echelon of the league. We got them here, when we played them at home, but it's going to be a much different atmosphere.”

In Friday's loss, Siena really struggled offensively, down the stretch, scoring just 12 points in the game's final 11 minutes and finishing the game 3-for-14 from the field.

“We did take some questionable shots,” said freshman Evan Hymes. “We probably should have got the ball into OD.”

Anosike had his streak of 17 straight double-doubles snapped, finishing with just nine points, his lowest total since Nov. 21, when he scored just four points, against St. Bonaventure.

The Saints are 2-8 away from Albany this season and they must bounce back from a tough home loss to have a solid performance tonight.

“We have a tough game,” said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro. “We have to move on.”

The players think it could be beneficial to have such a quick turnaround from Friday's disappointment.

“I think it's going to be good to get it out of our system and forget about it,” said senior guard Kyle Downey.

J.S. Carras/The Record

LOUDONVILLE - Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro has gone on the defensive about senior guard Kyle Downey twice in the past 24 hours.

Downey hit two go-ahead shots in last night's 65-62 upset victory over Iona.

"I know last year, he came under a lot of unfair criticism," Buonaguro said at Monday's meeting witht he media. "He even said it to me."

Downey is averaging 13.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, but has still been looked at by some fans as a role player.

Last season, Downey even got booed at home on a couple of different instances.

"I can't accept that," Buonaguro said. "No one should boo Kyle Downey for what he reprsents. I don't care how bad he plays."

Buonaguro said he was passionate about defending Downey because of all the hard work he's put in.

"I come to his defense because whatever he does, good or bad, he represents was a student-athlete should represent in college," Buonaguro said. "He's a great student. He worked extremely hard in the offseason, harder than any player on the team. He backs me up for everything I do. He's a great leader. He's a great guy for me to have in the locker room. I'm going to defend him to the hill."

Downey has proven this season that he is an impact player and he has been a significant part of the Saints playing so well.

J.S. Carras/The Record

ALBANY - Mitch Buonaguro has repeatedly stated that he likes a long time to prepare for a game.

On Thursday evening, the Saints showed that they were fully prepared to take down Princeton, winning 63-59.

Buonaguro is terrific with his game prep and the Saints knew everything the Tigers were doing.

“We were able to scout this team well, with the break that we had,” said junior O.D. Anosike,

Senior Kyle Downey said the team knew everything Princeton was going to run, like the back of their hands. 

“You shouldn't really score," Downey said. "He has every play called."

Usually a team doesn't have more than a day or two to prepare between games, but the Saints had nine days off due to final exams and Buonaguro took full advantage. 

J.S. Carras/The Record

LOUDONVILLE - Senior Kyle Downey has played 74 minutes over the past two games.

Siena's senior captain has been the leading scorer in both games, combining for 45 points.

The back-to-back solid performances have his scoring average up to 12.7 points per game.

"I thought he looked fresh in the two games, when other players looked tired," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro, at Tuesday's meeting with the media.

Buonaguro knew he would get a solid senior campaign from Downey and the Fairport native is showing what he's capable of.

"I think it's a byproduct of his conditioning, his work ethic and how he came into the season," Buonaguro said. "I thought the other night, against UMass, he played terrific and he followed it up with a really good effort last night. We're going to need that moving forward against Princeton."

BURDINE UPDATE: If you've been at the Siena game recently, you've noticed that sophomore Trenity Burdine is warming up with the team.

Coach Buonaguro said that is a positive step, but he still hasn't seen Burdine do much cutting.

The talk on Tuesday was that Burdine could be back with the team, but Buonaguro really wants him back for the Iona game (Jan. 3). 

"We don't want to push him into something where he's going to regress."

WIGNOT NOT HIMSELF: Senior Owen Wignot was held scoreless on Tuesday, in 23 minutes against Fordham.

It certainly seemed like a step backwards, following an 8-point performance against UMass, on Friday.

"He's certainly not playing with the same level of confidence," Buonaguro said. "I think you can see that. We need him to produce."

Buonaguro just finished by saying that Owen isn't playing like he's shown he's capable of, in the past.

TIME OFF: The Saints have one of their longest layoffs of the year now, due to finals and Buonaguro said he'll take the time to work on things he thinks the team needs improvement in.

He also said that it will be important to get the young players some rest, heading into the next portion of the schedule.

"Maybe these freshmen have hit a wall," Buonaguro said. "They've been through a lot and we need to get them refocused, reenergized and be positive with them in these nine days."

Having lost seven of their last eight games, Buonaguro said it's vital that he keeps the younger player's confidence up.

"I think freshmen have to be resilient, but you have to keep reminding them to move on," he said.

MITCHELL JOINS UBILES WITH WARRIORS: The Golden State Warriors have signed another former Siena player, in Tommy Mitchell ('05).

He joins Edwin Ubiles ('10) in training camp with the Warriors, as both players will try to make the squad for opening day.

Here is the postgame reaction from Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro, O.D. Anosike and Kyle Downey

ALBANY - Kyle Downey didn't do much sitting around, during Monday night's game, so while I talked to him in the locker room, I figured I'd give him a break and let him sit, rather than standing.

Downey didn't come out of the 64-58 loss to St. Bonaventure, playing all 40 minutes.

"I don't think it's going to be like that for the rest of the year," he said, seated in front of his locker.

It was the third straight game Downey has played more than 30 minutes and has to at least bring up the question that the Saints may eventually get worn down.

With the injuries to Owen Wignot (head) and Trenity Burdine (foot), Siena is only suiting up seven scholarship players and all of them are playing a ton of minutes.

Downey (37.3 min/gm) and Brandon Walters (38.0 min/gm) are both nearly playing entire games.

"I've always said tired is just a mindset," Downey said. "You're only going to be tired, if you allow yourself to be tired. If you're mentally strong, you'll be fine."

By comparison, last season Ryan Rossiter averaged 37.4 minutes per game, less than Walters is playing now.

The season before no player averaged more than Ronald Moore's 36.0 minutes per game, including Edwin Ubiles (30.9), Alex Franklin (32.9) and Rossiter (32.9).

Those teams certainly had more players, so I decided to look at Fran McCaffery's first season, when the team was very short on depth.

During the 2005-06 season, Antoine Jordan (36.4) and Kojo Mensah (35.1) averaged the most minutes.

While Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro doesn't have many other options than to play the guys that are healthy, I'm just beginning to wonder if these players will get worn down before the season is over.

ALBANY - Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro knew his team could ill afford another injury.

Bad news came on Wednesday, when the school announced that sophomore point guard Rakeem Brookins will miss the entire season because of a back injury.

Brookins has a bulging disc and a herniated disc in his back and will take a medical redshirt for the 2011-12 season.

"I feel bad for him," Buonaguro said, before Wednesday's practice. "Rahk is a warrior. He had a really good freshman year and was our leader in the backcourt."

Brookins will spend the semester back in Philadelphia, recovering and rehabbing.

Brookins averaged 9.0 points and 4.3 assists per game last season.

"He's very dissapointed that he can't be out on the floor with us," said senior Kyle Downey.

Buonaguro indicated that freshman Evan Hymes will start at point guard, next week against Navy.

Hymes will play alongside seniors Downey, Owen Wignot and Brandon Walters and junior OD Anosike.

When the Siena men's basketball team struggled last season, many fans wondered where was Kyle Downey?

He was wondering that same thing.

Slowed by a right knee issue, Downey never really felt like himself last season, as the Saints struggled to a 13-18 finish.

“Last year was frustrating because it wasn’t me as a player out there,” Downey said Friday, at the team's media day event. “I feel like I could have contributed a lot more, but it was my limitation with my knee and my shot wasn’t there.”

Downey averaged just 6.2 points per game and played in just 23 games, last season, as a junior.

Downey said throughout the season, he could feel his knee shift on him, even with the brace on and when it finally came off, the knee was still sore.

“It all caught up to me and I couldn’t get back to where I wanted to be,” he said.

This season, he's feeling "phenomenal" and hopes to really contribute once again.

“I struggled last year and it was really frustrating,” Downey said. “Hopefully, this year I can show people what I can actually do.”

Downey begins practice 10 pounds lighter than last year because as the injury lingered, he couldn't do as much conditioning as he would normally.

“I needed the summer just to get my body back,” he said.

Now healthy, coach Mitch Buonaguro is expecting a lot from the senior.

“There’s not a guy in the program that has worked harder than him — first on his body, on his game and his overall attitude to leading this team back to a championship,” Buonaguro said.

Downey says he had his teammates have worked too hard, not to make this season as successful as possible.

“We put in a lot more work this summer, probably more than the last four or five years because last year didn’t sit well with us," he said.

LOUDONVILLE - There has been a lot of criticism from fans and people in the area about the struggles that the Siena men's basketball team has had so far this season.

It seems like people are wondering if Mitch Buonaguro was the right man for the job, when Fran McCaffery left for Iowa, and questioning if Buonaguro can consistently win.

In my opinion, it's way too early to judge Buonaguro. The team has played just nine MAAC games (half of the league schedule) and sure they've struggled.

They've also been without their second leading scorer, Clarence Jackson, for seven games.

The Saints have also posted some good, solid victories over teams like Georgia Tech, Florida Atlantic and Iona.

While the Siena players don't really get into what people are saying about the program, junior Kyle Downey defended his coach before Thursday's practice.

“We’re not winning games,” Downey said. “That’s on us. That’s not really on him. He’s doing everything in his power. He’s watching 10 hours of film a day. He knows what he’s doing. It really comes down to us making shots. He’s not shooting the ball for us.”

The Saints (4-5, 7-12) say that they are still feeling confident in the team that they have, as they prepare for Friday night's matchup at Loyola (Md.).

“Everyone’s still upbeat and feeling pretty good about themselves,” said sophomore O.D. Anosike. “We have to go down on the road and get a good win against a good team and try to get back on the right track.”

One player who should be feeling confident is senior Ryan Rossiter, who is averaging 19.5 points and 13.1 rebounds per game.

On Tuesday, Buonaguro said that Rossiter, who was selected as the MAAC's preseason Player of the Year, has lived up to that expected vote.

"He's the best player in the league, hands down," Buonguro said. "...I can say that emphatically."

While Rossiter has great numbers, he's still focusing on team goals.

“You have to win if you want the personal accolades,” Rossiter said. “That’s how I’ve always felt. My first goal is going to be a MAAC championship and anything else just comes with the success this team has.”

ALBANY - It's simply coincidence that Clarence Jackson has missed two of the last three games Siena has played against BCS schools.

Jackson missed the Saints' first round NCAA Tournament game against Purdue last season because of a right ankle sprain.

Jackson hurt his ankle during Monday's practice and told Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro that he couldn't go.

"I was honest with myself and with the coaching staff," Jackson said. "I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize myself and jeopardize the team. Obviously, I wanted to be out there. It's a big game and we showed tremendous fight."

To be fair, the one time he did play, he lit up Minnesota for a career-high 29 points.

Jackson went through the walk through and actually felt all right.

"I thought I would be able to go today," he said.

After warmups the ankle was sore and swelled up a little and even pain mediciene couldn't relieve the pain.

The Saints still were able to defeat Georgia Tech, 62-57. Kyle Downey, who started for Jackson, finished with 12 points, six rebounds and one steal.

"We need more bench play and more guys to step up and we're going to be a very good team," Jackson said.

Jackson is still just eight points shy of 1,000 for his career and with five days before the next game, at St. Bonaventure, he should be back in the fold by then.

LOUDONVILLE - Siena shoud have stopped one play early during Monday's practice at the ARC.

In the last play, junior Kyle Downey landed on Clarence Jackson's right ankle.

"I hope he's all right," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro. "I don't know what his status is. I did talk to him this morning and he said there's some swelling. He's getting treatment."

Buonaguro went on to say that Jackson is "up in the air" to play on Wednesday against Georgia Tech and former Siena coach Paul Hewitt.

Jackson wasn't the only one injured on Monday.

Freshman Trenity Burdine was poked in the eye. While he continued to practice, he experienced double vision and later went to the hospital.

"He had double vision for about seven or eight hours after he got poked in the eye," Buonaguro said. "He was taking to the hospital. The last time I talked to (trainer) Greg Dashnaw, he thought it would be gone today."

Buonaguro said he expects Burdine to be ready to go today, but he hadn't seen him yet.

Coach B also said that Owen Wignot (head) is back

Siena practices at 5:30 p.m. tonight, later than usual because it's the final day of examinations.

The Saints have had a week off since their last game, plenty of time to work on some things.

Buonaguro said the team has focused on three main things over the long layoff - defensive fundamentals, a motion offense and late-game situations.

LOUDONVILLE - It's good thing that the Siena Saints have a few days before their next game because they are starting to look like the walking wounded.

Owen Wignot left the hospital seemingly without a concussion, something that the Siena trainers are still unsure of though because the junior forward has some of the symptoms.

Wignot had a CAT scan and an MRI taken at the hospital.

"He might be out, I'm not sure, it's hard to say," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro.

After issues like those of former Siena player Cory Magee and the increased awareness about the problems with concussions, Buonaguro will take it slow with Wignot.

"I think it's a very serious thing, when you have a player who gets hit like that," Buonaguro said. "You have to cover all the bases with it and I'm not going to play him until he's feeling better. There's no way."

Wignot will not practice on Monday and neither will junior guard Kyle Griffin.

Griffin injured his shoulder last Thursday in practice when a teammate ran into him.

Another player who's coming back from an injury is junior Kyle Downey, who played his first nine minutes of the season against UAlbany on Saturday.

Downey was 0-for-4 from the field and had one turnover against the Great Danes.

"I'm a little worried about Kyle," Buonaguro said. "He didn't look right to me."

Buonaguro said he was unsure of if to play Downey, but that the junior guard wanted to get on the floor.

"I don't know if he's ready physically yet," Buonaguro said. "I think he's still a little hurt."

Senior Clarence Jackson has struggles with his shot over the past two games, going 8-for-36 from the field.

Jackson is now shooting just 40 percent from the field, despite averaging 16.9 points per game.

Buonaguro said Monday that Jackson may still be affected by the foot injury he sustained before the start of the season, which is causing him to wear orthotics in his shoes.

"He's not the same," Buonaguro said.

LOUDONVILLE - Before Wednesday's practice at the ARC, I asked Kyle Downey if he thought he would suit up for the first time this season on Saturday against the University at Albany.

"I think you're asking the wrong guy," Downey said. "You have to ask our trainers. It if were up to me, I'd be playing a couple weeks ago."

That doesn't mean Downey's healthy and ready to go.

He still is suffering from an injury where he strained the MCL in his right knee.

While there isn't any pain the knee isn't stable.

Downey injured himself a week before the season opener and has missed the Saints first six games.

He hasn't practiced, but has been able to participate in some drills and his conditioning hasn't suffered as much because he's been able to run in a straight line.

He also hasn't had to deal with the knee "popping out", something he said had been occurring when he would get out of bed or cutting around a corner quickly on the way to class.

"I feel more stable," Downey said.

Sitting out has been frustrating for Downey, but especially when the team has lost some close games, where he knows his veteran experience could have helped them.

"In our losses, they've all been freshmen mistakes and us just not being in control," Downey said. "I think I could help the team out because I'm usually I'm a pretty relaxed player who's not overhyped or overwhelmed."

LOUDONVILLE - It's been three weeks since Siena junior Kyle Downey injured his MCL.

Downey's presence would certainly help the Saints late in the game.

"I think it's been a problem for us, not having him late game," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro. "He certainly adds an experienced player who's been through the wars. He'd be on the floor late and certainly I like him late."

Downey hasn't played this season, but could make his debut Saturday against the University at Albany.

"He's really made great progress," Buonaguro said.

I should have posted this Thursday when I saw Siena junior Kyle Downey before practice.

Downey landed on Davis Martens during practice last week and in his explanation, did a cartwheel trying to avoid landing on Martens, then didn't know where he was and when his foot planted, his knee bent to hit the floor.

"It wasn't even like a real injury," Downey said. "There was nothing I could do to prevent it."

It's a a partial tear of the MCL in his knee, which is expected to sideline him for three weeks.

"Hopefully I can cut it down," Downey said.

Downey said what's frustrating is he can run and jog with no pain, but he has to be cautious because it could tear if the MCL is stretched again.

"It sucks because I feel like I could be other there right now," Downey said. "My knee is just not stable."

It's another weird injury for Downey, who broke his foot in the middle of his sophomore season and deal with a back injury the summer after his freshman year.

"I don't think of myself as being injury prone," he said. "It's just a string of bad luck."

LOUDONVILLE - The Siena men’s basketball team has already had to deal with more injuries than coach Mitch Buonaguro would like.

Before Saturday’s season opener against Vermont, there is another one to overcome.

Junior guard Kyle Downey strained a ligament in his knee and will be out for at least three weeks, according to Buonaguro.

Downey fell over sophomore forward Davis Martens, while diving for the ball last week in practice.

"That hurts a lot because he’s our sixth man and has the ability to score in double figures," said Buonaguro.

Downey averaged 5.0 points per game in 15.0 minutes last season, as a sophomore.

It’s just another injury for Downey, who has been hampered by injuries throughout his career.

In 2008, he missed most of the offseason with a back injury.

This past January, Downey broke his right foot and missed most of the rest of the regular season, returning to play in the season finale against Marist and into the postseason.

The injury to Downey is just another for the already walking wounded Saints.

Seniors Ryan Rossiter (Achilles) and Clarence Jackson (ankle) have already missed practice time, as has freshman Trenity Burdine (foot).

The injury bug has also bit sophomore Jonathan Breeden.

Breeden, who averaged 8.0 points per game in the team’s two scrimmages, has had some swelling in his foot and ankle.

While it doesn’t seem to be seri¬ous, Buonaguro is still concerned.

"I think Breeden will go (on Saturday)," he said. "I just hope his foot and ankle injury doesn’t persist."

Breeden played in just 16 games as a freshman and averaged just 3.4 minutes per game, but his good start to this season, had him likely seeing more game action.

"I plan on playing him in the Vermont game right away," Buonaguro said.

The injuries leave Siena a little shorthanded, with the season opener just three days away.

NOTE: The Trentonian's Ben Doody and I will be co-hosting a MAAC chat at 11 a.m. tomorrow. We're hoping to make this a weekly thing. Please stop by the blog.

Just an FYI, our paper edition will have our Siena preview in it tomorrow, so you'll want to stop and pick that up.

I stopped by Siena practice Thursday and was able to talk to some of the players for the preview and Coach Buonaguro.

Even though the team is dealing with some injuries right now, most notably Clarence Jackson's shoe saga and Ryan Rossiter's Achilles, everyone seems pretty excited for the start of the season, which is one week from today, when the Saints open up against Vermont in downtown Albany.

I spoke with Kyle Griffin, who has battled his way back from a major knee injury, and finds himself in the starting lineup for the first game.

Griffin says he's feeling great (he said 100 percent) and is ready to compete and show the Siena fans what he's capable of.

Griffin said he had already asked assistant coach Adam Chaskin for game film of Vermont, the 2010 America East championship game against Boston University, so he can study up for the first game.

“I try to get as much of an advantage as I can,” Griffin said. “College basketball is all about winning and any edge you can get is important.”

Griffin said that last year, when he was playing, was even more frustrating than when he couldn't, for reasons you'll have to see in tomorrow's paper.

While he hasn't been able to play up to what he thinks is his best, he has been encouraged by the Siena fans and faithful.

“A lot of the alumni and the fans have been supportive of me,” Griffin said. “It’s just been motivation to get back.”

The Saints scrimmage Rutgers today at the ARC, in a closed-door exhibition of sorts.