Early MAAC Observations

[iona05]

Almost a month into the season here's my updated take on how the MAAC shakes out top to bottom:

Iona: clearly the most talented and explosive team. When they bring decent defense and high intensity should be the clear favorite against any conference opponent.
Manhattan: still should be considered one of the favorites but so far from what I've seen not living up to the hype in the least bit.
Quinnipiac: going to be a tough out for anyone in the conference, especially with their size and homecourt advantage.
Rider: off to a bit of a slow start but can see them heating up a bit come conference time.
Canisius: really surprised to see some of the bad L's on their record so far, not to mention nailbiter wins against far inferior teams.
Siena: Patsos seems to be doing some positive things as of late, and would imagine that the Saints will only get better as conference play heats up.
St. Peter's: sound defense will keep them relevant in conference play all season long.
Fairfield: in any other year they'd be a bottom dweller in the conference. The fact that they're not shows you how poor the conference is this year.
Monmouth: saw them play against Penn at home, and wouldn't be expecting much out of them this year if I was a Monmouth fan.
Niagara: probably the easiest team in the conference to game plan against -- don't let Mason get an open shot and it's a guaranteed win.
Marist: perhaps the worst MAAC team we've seen since the pre-Patsos Loyola days. They're that bad.

[hawaii bill]

Good "early" take I think as there is a long way to go. This was the first time I saw the Jaspers. We know what Beamon, Brown, Alvarado, and Emmy can do. Was surprised how much of a non factor Pankey was. I'm thiking he's still rusty. Didn't appear to give much of an effort. They didn't shoot the ball well tonight. Hard to get a feel for a team from one game, but I was encouraged by what I saw. I think they're going to be better than this. Richards even struggled it seemed.

[nick]

The MAAC has been awful so far ranking 28th out of 33 conferences. Still 5 weeks to turn it around, but this could be the worst conference ranking in sometime.

[hawaii bill]

This was a bad night. Bad losses for Manhattan and Canisius who are supposed to be two of the better teams. Quinny looks solid so far.

[ic59]

Quinny looks like our biggest worry, but Manhattan will bounce back, provided that Brown can stay out of foul trouble. Brown and Laurey are Iona's and Manhattan's MIP's. Don't know much about Quinny (including how to spell Quinnipiac?), but they seem to be playing very well. They killed Maine, but I don't know if Maine is any good. The rest is up for grabs, and I can't believe that Marist is playing so poorly. That Chuckie guy must be some coach.

[observer2]

I don't think the MAAC is going to turn it around. Many of the losses have embarrassing.