Manhattan Basketball

The Jaspers took a tumble downhill as soon as Bobby Gonzalez bounced for a better coaching job at Seton Hall. Gonzalez left big shoes for Barry Rohrssen to fill, but the former Pitt assistant coach was expected to be successful in bringing in top recruits from New York City. 

Seven roster spots to fill left Rohrssen with a lot of work to do in his first offseason in Riverdale, but he was able to complete his squad by the start of the 2006-07 season. 

A handful of his recruits showed potential in their freshman seasons. 

Rohrssen brought in an even better three-man class for 2007-08. However, he was unable to maintain Rashad Green, who transferred to the University of San Francisco. 

Of the nine players that Rohrssen brought in on scholarship, Darryl Crawford is the only one who has noticeably improved. Other than Crawford, the other Jaspers have either stayed steady or declined. 

Devon Austin, who is the only Jasper left from the Gonzalez era, was a sophomore in Rohrssen's first season. Austin was hyped up, and Manhattan fans thought that Gonzalez got a steal in Austin. The small-forward from White Plains showed tremendous ability and potential as a freshman on the Jasper team that upset Maryland in the 2006 NIT.

Under Rohrssen, Austin has not enhanced his game. 

Antoine Pearson, part of Rohrssen's first Jasper recruiting class, was impressive as a freshman and led the team in scoring as a sophomore. The only part of his game that improved was his three-point shooting.

Pearson has a special talent of being able to drive to the basket—almost at will against the competition that Manhattan faces—but Rohrssen has not allowed his point guard to play his style.

At the beginning of this season, Rohrssen neglected to start Pearson. 

Patrick Bouli has declined, so has Jamel Ferguson. Andrew Gabriel and Brandon Adams have come through in the clutch occasionally, but they have not improved under Rohrssen. 

No one knows what he was thinking when he brought in Herve Banogle. The center from Cameroon is not a Division I player. He can put in a layup from underneath the basket and grab rebounds—only because of his size—but he would foul a mannequin if it set foot on the court.

Rohrssen got lucky that Chris Smith was ineligible at Seton Hall, but he has not been able to handle the younger brother of J.R. 

Smith is a talent. He may be the best scorer on the team, but Rohrssen does not run the proper offense for Smith—or any other Jasper, for that matter.

Rohrssen thinks that standing around and passing the ball works. Somehow, he doesn't realize that the Jaspers play worse in that offensive set than when they run.

He built a team that was meant to run, yet he refuses to let them loose. 

Pearson is one of the quickest guards in the MAAC. Crawford is one of the most athletic guards in the MAAC. Smith would flourish on transition threes and mid-range pullups. Austin would see much better shot opportunities in a running offense. 

Although they appear lazy and sluggish, Gabriel and Laurence Jolicoeur have played well in running stretches. 

Brandon Adams and Jamel Ferguson would give their legs for the success of the team. They hustle more than any player on the team—with good coaching, they could have developed into solid MAAC players. 

Nick Walsh is the purest shooter on the Jaspers, but he is too small to prosper in a stand-still offense. If Manhattan runs, Walsh will be able to contribute with transition threes—he shot 51 percent from deep last season. 

The point is Rohrssen needs to incorporate a running game. Even starting by setting picks—yes, they only set about three screens a game—the offense will see more options. 

It doesn't make sense that a coach could be so blind.

The offense is not the only problem. The hustle defense has improved, but the Jaspers still struggle to defend the perimeter. Every season under Rohrssen, the team has given up open look after open look from deep. Rohrssen has done nothing to mitigate the weakness on the perimeter. 

Obviously, Rohrssen has done something right. The team is 7-4 and three of their losses were by two, three, and four points—don't forget that they were 6-3 in the non-conference last season. With a better coach, this team would have won those three close games. 

The only double-digit loss of the season was against American. Rohrssen showed no control over his players and responded to sluggish play by emptying his bench. Manhattan came back, but Rohrssen left his bench in for too long and let the Eagles regain a double-digit lead before he brought back his starters. 

There is no doubt that Rohrssen is a good recruiter. After seeing the players he has brought to Manhattan, I know he can sign good players. However, he has trouble coaching them and running a team. 

He is a nice guy and a good recruiter, but he is not ready for a head coaching job.

I don't know what Manhattan will do if they fire Rohrssen. I don't even know if they can fire him. Some say they have to let him see his first recruits graduate, and if the team has not improved by then, he will be gone. 

The future does not look too bright for the Jaspers...

The majority of mid major conferences usually send only one team to the Big Dance each March, and the key to getting there is consistency.  The former bread and butter of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Manhattan Jaspers, have been incredibly inconsistent over the past few seasons to fall back to mediocrity. 

This season has been no different as Barry Rohrssen's Jaspers have solid victories over Canisus and Fordham coupled with ugly losses to Hofstra and Saint Francis.  Manhattan, tabbed to finish sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll, has shown flashes of brilliance but also clouds of doubt with their inconsistent play.

A lot of blame has to fall on the players, but I believe it is time for Barry Rohrssen to take responsibility for his fair share of the criticism.  I have heard many people exclaim that Devon Austin has not lived up to the hype that he created throughout his outstanding freshman season.  Arturo Dubois transferred so the Jaspers lost their best low post scoring option.  As well as many other excuses for why Manhattan has not played well.

While these things may be true and they have contributed to the lack of success, the majority of the blame should land squarely on Rohrssen's shoulders.  As a Manhattan College student I pretty much get a free ticket and a front row seat to every single game in Draddy Gymnasium.  The way Rohrssen handles his bench is ludicrous. 

While the majority of the starting lineup has gone unchanged thus far this season, star guard and Preseason All-MAAC Second Team selection, Antioine Pearson has only started two games. 

Rumors have been swirling around on campus that there is tension between player and coach, but perhaps that is the reason three players have transferred since Rohrssen's arrival in Riverdale three years ago?  Dubois, Rashad Green, and Christian Jackson have all left Manhattan in the past few years and all have had issues with Rohrssen.

Rohrssen also substitutes players on a whim for simple miscues and mistakes.  In the home opener against Morgan State Pearson stepped out of bounds on one play and was immediately taken out of the game in favor of reserve guard Patrick Bouli.  Forward Brandon Adams missed a rebound and was also quickly substituted for.  The way Rohrssen handles his bench, he is putting extreme pressure on his players to execute flawless basketball.

Also, Rohrssen gives minutes to guys who should be riding the bench instead of taking up room in the rotation.  Patrick Bouli has been given a significant amount of Pearson's minutes early this season. 

I understand Pearson is not superhuman and needs rest but he not Bouli should be in the game during crucial stretches of the second half.  Sixth man Darryl Crawford and forward Andrew Gabriel should be receiving more than twenty minutes each game.  At least Rohrssen has learned this season that Jamel Ferguson and Laurence Jolicoeur should play less minutes.

Rohrssen has hid behind his team's moniker of the "Baby Jaspers" the past two seasons as the young team has struggled.  But now as the majority of the team are juniors there are no excuses for poor play. 

I give Rohrssen until after next season when the current junior class graduates.  If there has not been improvement and success by that time, a new era in Manhattan Jaspers basketball needs to begin.  One that does not include Barry Rohrssen.

The Manhattan-Hofstra games over the last two seasons came down to the wire and this year's match was not different.

After blowing an early second half nine point lead, the Jaspers trailed Hofstra 61-54 with 2:30 remaining.

Chris Smith, who led Manhattan's scoring charge with 15 points, knocked down a 30-foot three-point shot, and Antoine Pearson followed with a three of his own after aHofstra turnover.

Draddy Gymnasium sensed that the Jaspers were going to finish off the Pride as Darryl Crawford was fouled with just over a minute left. Crawford hit the first foul shot but missed the next, giving the game its third tie.

Charles Jenkins, who entered tonight 11th on the leading scorer's list with 23.8 points per game, scored to give the Pride a 63-61 lead.

Manhattan had three opportunities to tie the game on the next possession, but Smith, Crawford, and Devon Austin all missed from point-blank range.

Down 63-61 with the shot clock off, Darryl Crawford dribbled off his foot with 10 seconds remaining. Jenkins only hit one of the foul shots after he was fouled, but stole the ball back from Manhattan and sealed the game with another foul shot.

Final score: Hofstra (4-1) 65, Manhattan (3-2) 61

Barry Rohrssen stormed after the officiating crew after the final buzzer because of a few crucial calls that the referees blew in favor of Hofstra.

Jaspers' radio announcer Ed Cohen claimed he had never seen Rohrssen so livid with the referees after a game.

Manhattan did an excellent job containing Jenkins in the first half, and he only scored two points as a result. However, Cornelius Vines picked up the slack with four three-pointers and Hofstra trailed Manhattan 33-27 at the intermission.

Jenkins found some openings early in the second half en route to a 21-point half. Without the 6'3" sophomore, Manhattan would have won easily.

The Jaspers need to shoot better from the field. In the two consecutive losses, they have converted 43 of their 118 shots for a percentage of 36.4 percent.

Smith and Austin will have to find the touch that they displayed in Manhattan's three wins. Over the last two games, Smith is 7-31 and Austin is 6-20. Austin has played with this inconsistency from the field his entire career, and Smith has also been inconsistent at times.

Smith has fallen in love with the three-point shot, but the strongest aspect of his game is driving to the basket. He continues to settle for long three-pointers, but only hits 23 percent of them. Six of his 12 misses tonight were from behind the arc.

If a senior has not developed a part of his game over the three plus years in a program, chances are he will never improve in that aspect. However, Austin needs to finish more of his shots from close range under contention.

He has a great nose for the ball off the glass and has a chance for a tip in on multiple occasions each night. Sometimes he is able to gently tap the ball into the hoop, but more often he can't find the right touch.

Tonight he missed a tip early in the game and then could not connect to tie the game at 63.

On a brighter note for Austin, the senior became the 29th Jasper to reach 1,000 points in a career. Congratulations to Devon.

Brandon Adams came up big for Manhattan with the Jaspers' first double-double of the season. The junior's 10 points and 12 rebounds, nine of which were offensive, kept Manhattan in the game.

Herve Banogle would foul a mannequin if he had to guard one. The senior from Cameroon had four fouls and just as many points.

Pearson and Crawford struggled to score after putting up double-digits against St. Francis. Crawford also dribbled the ball off his foot with 10 seconds left and his team trailing by two points.

Ironically, the Jaspers have turned the ball over less in their losses than in their wins. However, their field goal percentage has been horrendous.

Manhattan continues to let opponents have their way beyond the arc. Opponents are shooting 44.4 percent from three.

Even though Manhattan is eight points away from being 5-0, Barry Rohrssen needs to remind his players that these two losses are tough but they don't mean too much in the grand scheme of the season. Manhattan will not receive an at-large bid with the schedule that Rohrssen created, so these losses only affect potential tournament seeding.

Canisius travels to Riverdale to play Manhattan this Friday night in the MAAC opener for both teams. The Golden Griffins were picked to finish near the bottom of the conference, so the Jaspers need to prove that these two losses were just a fluke and beat Canisius.

Recap

Manhattan College and Fordham square off in the Battle of the Bronx nearly every season. Heading into last night's game, the Jaspers held a 51-49 record against the Rams. 

Alternating the site every year, Fordham played host for the 101st edition of the Battle. 

About 200 Manhattan students and fans made the five mile drive to give a Jasper presence at Rose Hill Gym. 

The fans were not disappointed.

Chris Smith's steal and dunk to put the Jaspers on the board first riled up Manhattan's fans, and the Jaspers kept the momentum to open the game on top, 6-0. 

The Jaspers let Fordham's big man, Chris Bethel, have his way inside, and the Rams took their first and only lead at 10-8 six minutes into the game.

Smith and Devon Austin led Manhattan to a 13 point lead, but the Rams followed with a 13-1 run. 

Darryl Crawford and Andrew Gabriel combined to score the next nine points for the Jaspers, and Manhattan had a chance to push their lead past 10 points going into the half. 

With three seconds left, Crawford bounced a pass into Herve Banogle, but the Rams came away with the ball and Trey Blue nailed a buzzer-beating three to leave Fordham trailing 41-34 at the break.

Manhattan increased the lead to 13 with 11 minutes left in the game, but coach Barry Rohrssen decided to switch into a 2-3 zone on defense. Fordham hit two three-pointers, forcing Rohrssen to switch back to man defense. 

With six minutes left, Fordham only trailed Manhattan by eight points and appeared to have the momentum heading down the stretch. However, Crawford came up with two big plays for the Jaspers.

After finishing a layup, Crawford stole the ball back and took it in for another score to put Manhattan up 12. 

From there, Manhattan coasted on to an 81-67 win, and started 3-0 for the first time since 2004-05. 

Game analysis

Fordham stands no chance of being competitive in the Atlantic-10.

Freshmen Jio Fontan and Trey Blue are talented, but each need to work on certain parts of their game in order for the Rams to be competitive. 

Fontan is one of the quickest guards in the Metropolitan area, and was able to beat his man into the lane almost at will. However, he had trouble finishing, and only shot 3-15 from the field. If he works on executing his layups and develops an outside shot, Fordham will benefit greatly.

Blue is an excellent three-point shooter. He has already converted on 10 of his 19 attempts. However, he needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end. Blue struggled to make shots for himself and relied on his teammates to create space for him to shoot.

Senior forward Chris Bethel was very impressive last night. He only averaged 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds per game last season, but had 24 points and 10 rebounds against the Jaspers. 

Manhattan's big men were incapable of stopping Bethel all over the floor. He established his inside game early, but stepped out for a mid-range jumper and then a trey later in the game. 

Bethel shot 10-14 from the floor, but will not be able to be as dominant against the bigs of the A10. 

Brenton Butler, who averaged 11 points per game and shot 34 percent from beyond the arc last season, did not start and only saw 23 minutes of action. He still managed to score nine points on 3-4 shooting from three. 

For Manhattan, there are three blatant problems that Rohrssen continues to ignore. 

First, Antoine Pearson needs to start at point guard instead of Patrick Bouli.

Bouli is a talented guard who does everything well. He rebounds, passes, and plays outstanding defense. However, he does not look for his shot and is too slow coming up the court when pressure is applied to him.

Pearson was an All-MAAC Second Team member in the preseason, yet Rohrssen continues to start Bouli. 

Pearson is the best ball-handler on Manhattan and has a great ability to penetrate and pass or take it in himself. When Pearson is in the game, the Jaspers play their best basketball because he gives them the ability to move fast on offense. 

As the Jaspers' returning leading scorer, fans expected to see him in the starting lineup.

Secondly, Manhattan is strongest in a man-to-man defense. 

Every time they switch to a 2-3 zone, their opponent nails open three-pointers. It doesn't make sense for Rohrssen to switch to a shooter's zone when the Jaspers play shooting teams like Fordham and Morgan State. He faced the ramifications in both games. 

The third problem is hard for Rohrssen to fix this season.

Manhattan does not have any good big men. Gabriel is their best, but he is only 6'5". He brought in 6'9" Herve Banogle last season, but all the Cameroon native can do is foul and rebound on occasion. 

6'9" sophomore Laurence Jolicoeur has not played yet this season, but is better on the perimeter than the inside.

The worst sign for Manhattan is that Rohrssen's sole recruit from the class of 2008 has not played one minute this season. Djibril Coulibaly is a 6'9" center from Africa, and Rohrssen claimed that he has the potential to be a top-post player in the MAAC. If that is true, why hasn't he played?

When Manhattan plays teams like Niagara, Iona, or any other team with good big men, the Jaspers will need to hope that luck is on their side. 

Manhattan played very well as a team. They shot 49 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from three, 74.2 percent from the line, had 14 assists, and only 11 turnovers. 

Chris Smith, Devon Austin, Darryl Crawford, and Andrew Gabriel all scored in double-figures.

Smith led the Jaspers with 21 points. The sophomore has a proclivity to look down at the ground before he pulls the trigger from beyond the arc. Whenever he does this, he misses the shot; however, he sinks most of his attempts when he looks ahead before shooting. 

Crawford was awarded the Mike Cohen Award for being the best all-around player in the 101st edition of the Battle of the Bronx.

The junior from Harlem had 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks, two steals, and shot 9-10 from the charity stripe. He also had those two big plays that helped the Jaspers regain the momentum late in the game. 

Note to Barry Rohrssen: Your team played best when the lineup was Pearson, Smith, Crawford, Austin, and Gabriel. It's a small lineup, but when you don't play teams with multiple big men, it works well. 

Manhattan travels to Brooklyn on Wednesday to play Rohrssen's alma mater, Saint Francis. 

The Jaspers defeated the Terriers at home last season, but lost in overtime in 2006-07. 

The Manhattan College Jaspers defeated the MEAC favorite Morgan State Bears at Draddy Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

Devon Austin scored the first five points of the game for the Jaspers, but Morgan State followed with a 13-0 run.

Manhattan came back and the two opponents went on small runs to finish the half with Morgan State on top, 30-26.

The Jaspers started the half on a 9-2 run but allowed the Bears to take a 51-45 lead with near eight minutes remaining after Reggie Holmes knocked down two three-pointers from the left corner.

After Holmes' second three, Jaspers fans threw their hands in the air in unison, worrying that this was the beginning of Manhattan's downfall. However, the crowd refused to give up on the game, began to get loud, and helped Manhattan on their 13-0 run to take a 58-51 lead with just under three minutes left.

On the run, junior guard Darryl Crawford hit a three-pointer, a pair of free throws, and a layup, and sophomore guard Chris Smith anticipated a few passes on defense and converted the turnovers into points on the other end.

After a Morgan State timeout, the Manhattan defense went on hiatus, and the Bears jumped out to a 60-58 lead with under a minute remaining. Manhattan's worst foul shooter, Andrew Gabriel, was fouled with 20 seconds left, and hit one out of two attempts.

The Jaspers fouled Holmes, who missed the front end of a one-and-one. Austin rebounded, gave an outlet pass to Crawford, who rushed the ball up court and found a cutting Antoine Pearson. With 5.7 seconds left, Pearson spun a reverse up and under layup off the glass to give Manhattan a 61-60 lead.

Draddy erupted.

Pearson has been clutch for Manhattan in tight games. Two other notable moments were his game-tying three in an upset win of Jared Jordan's Marist Red Foxes and a game-winning trey that beat Saint Peter's last season.

Holmes sped up the court and launched an NBA range three-pointer with about two seconds left on the game clock. Crawford got a piece of the ball, which hung in the air until the final buzzer sounded.

With the win, the Jaspers improve to 2-0 on the season. The win is not only impressive for Manhattan, but it is good for the MAAC because Morgan State was picked to best the MEAC.

Smith had 14 points, five rebounds, and four steals, but only shot 3-12 from the field.

Crawford scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds, but also shot poorly at 4-12.

Both Crawford and Smith seemed a bit selfish, taking two-on-one breaks by themselves instead of dishing to an open teammate with a better chance of scoring.

Austin had 11 points, six rebounds, and two monstrous blocks. The senior from White Plains has been forcing threes and some layups lately. While it is good that he is looking to score, something Jaspers fans expect from him, he needs to be smart about his shot selection.

As a team, the Jaspers shot a mediocre 41.7 percent from the floor and only hit two of their 13 attempts from beyond the extended three-point line. Above-par foul shooting essentially won the game for the Jaspers, as they shot 19-26 from the charity stripe.

Coach Barry Rohrssen prefers a slow-paced passing offense around the perimeter. However, the Jaspers are definitely at their best when they run the floor. Other than Herve Banogle, every Jasper has the ability to run up and down well, and the guards perform best when they are able to run.

Manhattan conforms too much to the tendencies of their opponent. When they play a team like Morgan State with two big men, Marquise Kately and Kevin Thompson, who cannot run the floor, Manhattan opts to play a half-court game.

However, when Siena comes into Draddy, the Jaspers run—they beat the Saints 72-71 in an upbeat game.

It is surprising that Rohrssen has not noticed that his team produces more points in a running game.

On defense, the Jaspers' press was successful a few times and forced some turnovers. The referees missed a 10-second violation, which always gives a huge boost to a defense.

Manhattan spent most of the game in a man defense, and when they switched to a 2-3 midway through the second half, Morgan State hit multiple open treys.

In recent seasons, the Jaspers have been very weak defenders of the perimeter, so Rohrssen is better off in a man-to-man set.

Morgan State looked good, but their three best players got into early foul trouble.  Thompson fouled out, Marquise Kately had four fouls, and Holmes had three early in the game.

Holmes and Thompson each had 12 points for the Bears. Jermaine Boulden dished out a game-high eight assists.

Manhattan travels to Fordham Saturday night for the 101st "Battle of the Bronx."

Fordham defeated Manhattan at Draddy last season, but the Rams are weaker this year. They lost by three to Columbia at home and by 39 at Villanova.

Just a couple notes through the two exhibition games and the first game of the year. 

Considering the opponents have been a Division III team, a Division II team, and the worst Division I team last year, there has not been enough to judge them on, so I will just make a couple observations heading into the opening home game. 

When Morgan State comes into Draddy Gym the Jaspers will face their first true test. Morgan State is the preseason favorite in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They received 15 first place votes in the coaches' poll.  So take everything with a grain of salt up until this point. Now onto the observations:

There is a big difference between when Chris Smith is on the floor and when he is not.

Smith was the best player on the court in the first exhibition game against Baruch, sat out the second exhibition game against Pace because of a wrist injury, and was the leading scorer the first regular season game against New Jersey Institute of Technology. 

Notice that I said he was the leading scorer against NJIT, not the best player on the court.  After playing within the offense against Baruch and shooting extremely well the first half against NJIT he seemed to be looking for his shot too much.  He did not shoot well from behind the arc (1-5). 

All things considered he still finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.  So far he has been the biggest playmaker and when he is not out there at times the offense lacks an aggressive scorer.  If Smith continues to be that playmaker and plays within the offense expect him to be playing 30+ minutes a game for the rest of the year.

Patrick Bouli will play a big part of the team at the point guard position this year. 

Bouli so far has this year has been the best ball handler on the team.  In the preseason games he had eight assists and only one turnover.  His assist-to-turnover ratio last year was the best on the team, but he looks even better controlling the ball this year. 

He is moving the ball up the court and making smart decisions.  Bouli may not be a scoring point guard, but he plays the position effectively.

In the game against NJIT he had only one turnover while playing 28 minutes.  Bouli also had seven rebounds in the game. He has started all three games so far. It will be hard to keep him off the court if he keeps his play up.  Bringing me to my next observation.

Antoine Pearson and Coach Rohrssen have to work out their issues for this team to be successful.

Coach Rohrssen is obviously trying to make a point to Pearson so far. Pearson didn't dress the Pace game, and has not started either of the next two. He only logged seven minutes against NJIT. 

This is the returning leading scorer for the Jaspers and a preseason All-MAAC second team pick.  He is one of the best players on the team and they may have been able to win against weaker competition, but to be successful this year they do need him to play a bigger role on the team.

The team seems to have made a commitment to play defense. Coach Rohrssen said here that was a big step the team needed to take this year.

The Jaspers only allowed 100 points in the first two games combined. Baruch shot 21%, Pace 30%, and NJIT 23%.  The Jaspers held NJIT to only 32 points total.  They are playing better perimeter defense and are forcing turnovers. 

There will need to be an improvement in the defense in the post once they start playing teams with bigger and more athletic guys, but up until this point there are no complaints. 

They will not have a serious shot blocking presence, but we already knew that.  The only problem so far with the Jaspers defense has been the transition defense which at times, especially against Pace was bad.  They need to pick up the men better in transition and get back quicker. 

Banogle will be a presence on the boards this year.

Banogle has been the leading rebounder in two of the three games so far.  He finished with 10 rebounds against NJIT. 

The Jaspers as a team has out-rebounded their opponents by a whopping margin of 67.  As previously mentioned though, once the Jaspers start playing the bigger teams we will truly see what they are made of underneath.  So far Banogle has been a pleasant surprise.

The three-point shooting is at best inconsistent.

Not including the second half against Baruch when they shot 9-10 from behind the arc, they have shot 17-58 for 29%, from three-point range this year. Devon Austin has been having an especially tough time shooting 5-20.  The whole team needs to improve in this to give them a shot at opening up the floor.

Hopefully the team can make the improvements they need for Wednesday against Morgan State. Tip-off is at 7 pm.

Barry Rohrssen's Manhattan College Jaspers traveled to Newark, New Jersey earlier today to open their 2008-09 season against the N.J.I.T Highlanders.

The Highlanders, who were winless with an 0-29 record last season, have a couple of new faces on their team.

Jim Engles, who spent a number of seasons as an assistant coach at Wagner, Rider, and Columbia, is now the Highlanders head coach. N.J.I.T athletic director Lenny Kaplan recognized Engles for being a part of the rebuilding processes of the teams that he was an assistant for, and thought that Engles would fit in well at N.J.I.T.

After sitting out last season, as required of all Division I transfers, Gary Garris started in his first game as a Highlander.

Garris, a junior transfer from American University, joined his younger brother, Justin, at N.J.I.T.

Despite the two new prominent figures, N.J.I.T picked up right where they left off a season ago.

Both teams struggled early on, and the scoreboard read 0-0 until Manhattan's Chris Smith nailed a foul shot with 17:34 left in the first half.

The Jaspers turned the ball over multiple times—amounting to 17 throughout the game—but were able to jump out to a 13-0 lead after 11 minutes of play. Over the course of the first 11 minutes, the Highlanders missed each of their eight shot attempts, and it looked like N.J.I.T would go scoreless in the first half.

However, Gary Garris finally connected on a three-pointer with just over eight minutes left, and the Highlanders pulled within five of Manhattan before the Jaspers went on a 11-0 run to end the half.

Manhattan expected to have a larger lead than 26-10 at halftime—after routing the Highlanders 70-28 in last season's opener—but did not make many adjustments at the break.

The second half was nearly as substandard as the first, but Manhattan prevailed to win 56-32.

N.J.I.T has not won since February 19, 2007, and is now 5-54 since joining Division I basketball.

The Garris brothers combined to score 28 of N.J.I.T's 32 points.

Smith, who had been bothered by his right wrist and left the game early with a head injury, led the Jaspers with 16 points, and also had six boards and three assists. The sophomore from St. Benedict's Prep was the only Jasper who shot well from the floor, as the Jaspers were 19-51 as a team.

Manhattan shot an atrocious 3-15 from behind the extended three-point line after connecting on 23 of their 53 attempts in two exhibition games. The Jaspers are full of players who can shoot the three-ball well, but sometimes they go cold.

Opposing a much smaller N.J.I.T squad, the Jaspers got the job done on the boards. Led by Herve Banogle's 10 rebounds, the Jaspers outdid the Highlanders on the glass, 40-23.

Coach Rohrssen was satisfied with Banogle's performance, and told radio announcer Ed Cohen, "Herve served as an energizer for this team. He came up with some big boards, and also had a few hustle plays."

Patrick Bouli started at the point, which was surprising because last year's point-guard, Antoine Pearson, was honored by the MAAC coaches as a preseason All-MAAC Second Team member.

Pearson entered the game in the middle of the first half, but only saw seven minutes of action, and didn't even attempt a field-goal.

Rohrssen and the Jaspers are happy to walk away with a victory, but they definitely need to work on controlling the ball before Wednesday's home-opener against Morgan State.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Manhattan College basketball coach Barry Rohrssen. We talked about the upcoming season and what to expect. Hope you enjoy. You can also find my Manhattan College basketball preview here. 

Q: Could you tell us a little bit about Operation Hardwood and what you saw over there? How did it influence you?

 

Coach Rohrssen: Well, it was a privilege and an honor to be asked to be a part of something that has such an impact on a lot of lives both abroad and here.

One of the things that we found (the coaches who went over there) was what joy and relief it brought to the daily grind of the servicemen’s life. To be able to give them another outlet, whether it was a basketball game or even just a conversation in the tent or the mess hall, was great. Just to be able to share stories with them.

The interaction from having people from their country over there to come and visit them relieved them. Then as it narrowed down to people, in my particular case, from the East Coast, then from New York, finally even New York City even.

You just come across and in contact with so many people over there, it was one of the more incredible things to have ever happened to me. It was certainly eye-opening.

When asked before if it was a once in a lifetime experience, I have used maybe, because it will be more than that if they ever ask me to go again. It left such an impression, so certainly if the opportunity presents itself again I would do it again.

Q: There are a couple new faces on the coaching staff in C.J. Council and Guy Ngarndi. How will they add to your staff?

 

Coach Rohrssen: Well, both of the new members of the staff have higher education degrees. C.J. Council is an undergraduate and master’s degree graduate from St. John's, and Guy is a Manhattan College double major graduate. A double major graduate is someone who deserves cartwheels for what they did.

Guy, the year that we had been together here as coach and player, he was our hardest worker.  Not just during the 40 minutes on game day, but also in each and every practice we had.

When you look at both these young men, what you are seeing is two people that have an idea about what higher education is, C.J. having both a bachelor's and master's degree and Guy having a double major.

One of my main points is that our players don’t ever lose sight of the value of education. I stress the student part of student-athlete. It is of paramount importance to me that they don’t go through their college years and leave without acquiring their degree.

Guy is personal proof from being on this campus that those things are obtainable and are achieved through hard work. Some of these guys may be able to relate to Guy in particular because they were teammates of his and know what his work ethic is like.

Both of these guys can be an example and someone that you can look towards when it comes to being a good student and good person.

Q: You and Coach De La Rosa go way back, right? You used to play at Saint Francis?

 

Coach Rohrssen: He was the captain of our team in college.

Q: How important is it to have someone there that you have known for so long?

 

Coach Rohrssen: Well, even though we played in college, we go even further back to high school together. We grew up in the same neighborhood and played at competing rival high schools. Edgar, even in high school, was a very good player.

Throughout his career he has been an overachiever. He has excellent leadership qualities, and he is an outstanding gentleman.  So when you are putting a staff together there are certain things you look for, and first and foremost is a quality person and individual that also demonstrates good leadership abilities.

Having that good background and familiarity with Edgar throughout our lifetime together has really made him a nice addition to our staff.

Q: How are you going to be able to replace Rashad Green (transferred to University of San Francisco), one of the best rebounding guards in the league in my opinion, and statistically the best rebounder on the Jaspers last year?

 

Coach Rohrssen: Well, on every team for different reasons things have to be replaced, whether by graduation or whether by transfers. In this particular case it will be more rebounding by committee.

We don’t want to just look to one individual person and go out and say, hey you, grab eight rebounds. We actually as a team need to do a better job in rebounding.

Statistically he was our leading rebounder. There is always a value in that someone who can rebound the basketball. That is one of the areas we highly emphasize in practice and in games, so they hear it a lot, but individually and as a group they have to execute it.

Q: Opposing teams shot 47.5 percent from the field against you last year. Have there been any changes from the defensive strategy, or is it still the same scheme and you just need to get the players to work harder at it?

 

Coach Rohrssen: Well, defense is an aspect of the game that if you commit to it and you do it properly, you should always be in the game. There are going to be nights when your shot isn’t falling, as an individual, as a team, but if you can defend and guard people and stop people, you more than likely have a chance to be in the game.

For you, being a Boston guy, for all that was said about the Big Three, let’s not ever lose sight that Kevin Garnett was the defensive player of the year last year. All that seems to go under the radar screen, but having a good defense and playing a good defense keeps you in games.

Teams that are good defensively and take pride in it are winning teams, and teams that master it and excel at it become championship teams.

Q: You have two new players on the team, Djibril Coulibaly and Marty Higgins. What does each of them bring to the team?

Coach Rohrssen: Djibril provides us with another body at the center position, which is a very important position on the court. He also brings a different look in the position for us. He has an ability to run up and down the court and appears to have a knack of being able to block some shots. He will be a big help to us if he stays healthy and progresses.

Marty Higgins is a walk-on who has appeared to be a very hard worker, a diligent worker, and a good student. He seems to have a good understanding of the game and how it's played and should be somebody that can help us in practice and be a good member and part of our team.

Q: Siena is obviously the heavy favorite this year, but after that I feel the two through seven spots are sort of up for grabs, as there are no other teams that are significantly better than the others. Where do you anticipate Manhattan falling?

Coach Rohrssen: Well, I’m not much of a predictor. We are both sitting here and don’t have a crystal ball in front of us. Instead of where we need to fall, it is where we need to rise. Where someone finishes is more up to them, through hard work and attitude, than where someone else sees them finishing.

There is a lot of work in front of us.  There is a lot of wood to chop. This team, like a lot, is most definitely a work in progress. We need to take things day by day, week by week, and month by month and try to build that into a productive and successful season

We need to take pride in coming out each day and working hard. We need to take pride in getting better individually, because when you get better individually, you get better collectively. We need to make greater efforts on the defensive side of the ball, rebounding the ball, offensively making better decisions with the basketball, and overall need to have a real sense of leadership in our team.

The pendulum needs to start swinging now from youth and inexperience to maturity and experience. A lot of young guys, because of how the situation was here, got playing time for us early. You don’t always get that in other programs, so we cannot let them fall into a false sense of work ethic or entitlement. To get time on the court you have to earn that, and that’s through hard work.

Q: You are playing Iona at the Garden again this year. Will that become a tradition? It was a huge hit last year for the students, getting to go to the Garden and watch the Jaspers. In future years, 2010, 2011, is it a possibility?

 

Coach Rohrssen: Well, we love to play in the Garden anytime we have that opportunity. It is always something we will look at and try to do. The Garden is synonymous with New York basketball. It is dubbed the world’s most famous arena, so it’s a tremendous experience for our players to be participants on that hardwood floor.

It is also great for our students, alumni, and fans to walk in there. They walk through those turnstiles and have their green and white on and are proud of that venue they are playing in. It makes sense doing it with a recognizable school like Iona. We are locked in for this year obviously, but it is something that we hope continues.

Personally, I am very thankful to the MAAC conference for helping us arrange that game and also very thankful to St. John’s for letting us be part of the doubleheader. In both years we have and will be playing on a night that they already had the building. We are sharing and piggybacking in the game in the Garden. They have been very hospitable in having us as another game on the card.

Q: Any chance we will get to see a UCLA or a Pitt on the schedule in the future?

 

Coach Rohrssen:(laughing) You know what, that would be nice to happen, but I’m not sure if Ben Howland or Jamie Dixon are going to bring their teams into Draddy Gym.

Q: With Jason Thompson playing so well in his rookie year so far, who is the next NBA prospect in the MAAC, if anyone?

 

Coach Rohrssen: We will have to see how the players develop. Being in the league for two years now, it has been nice to see and good for our conference to have two players drafted—Jared Jordan from Marist two years ago and Jason Thompson last year in the first round as a lottery pick. It brings attention to our conference and is great for the league.

In the third year of the Barry Rohrssen era, we know we can expect three things from Manhattan. They are, in no particular order, senior Devon Austin, junior Antoine Pearson, and sophomore Chris Smith.  These three players are who Rohrssen has built his Jasper squad around, and their success will play a big part in dictating the team’s success.

Manhattan finished 12-19 and 5-13 in the conference last year.  They can build on a late season win at home against Siena.  The win is even more notable since Siena proved its ability in the NCAA tournament with a win over Vanderbilt.

Manhattan returns 88 percent of its points, 86 percent of its assists, and 84 percent of its rebounds.  To make it simple, Manhattan returns a lot.  They only lost seldom-used Frank Traore to graduation and freshman guard Rashad Green.

Green started 27 of 31 games for Manhattan last year and was the team’s best rebounder.  He will be tough to replace, but the team overall needs to improve on rebounding this year.

In the starting lineup, expect Green to be replaced by a strong forward type like Andrew Gabriel, Brandon Adams, or Herve Banogle. The other option would be to use another wing player, Darryl Crawford.

I vote for Gabriel because it will get them stronger and tougher inside where they need help.  It can also open up the floor for Pearson, Smith, and Austin on the outside.  Gabriel has improved his offensive game from last year and can play with his back or front to the hoop.

There is one incoming freshman, Djibril Coulibaly.  He is a larger body that can man the post and add depth to the center position.  Coulibaly has the defensive presence down low to block shots and should help the team with rebounding.

The three returning leading scorers will carry much of the load offensively again.  Pearson (12.2 ppg), Austin (11.6 ppg), and Smith (9.9 ppg) together scored almost half the points for the Jaspers last year.  They shot 57 percent of the team’s three balls but only shot a combined 35 percent from behind the arc.

If they can improve on their three-point percentage, they can open up the floor more for each other and for the post men.

The Jaspers also need to make a commitment to playing defense. Opponents last year shot an astounding 47.5 percent from the field against the Jaspers.  This is an aspect that Coach Rohrssen stresses to his players, so expect to see an improvement in the team's defense this year.

Although Siena is the heavy favorite yet again, Manhattan should be able to improve on its five conference wins last year and could finish in the middle of the pack with a MAAC record of anywhere from 8-10 to 12-6.

The key to Manhattan’s success is its ability to play well on the road against conference teams.  They went an abysmal 1-8 away from Draddy Gym last year against MAAC opponents.

The Jaspers’ out of conference schedule this year has no teams on it that are from BCS conferences. They are only playing two teams from the top 10 conferences, La Salle and Fordham, both out of the A-10.

This does not mean they can overlook any teams.  This is a Manhattan team still maturing that has not proved itself and will be questioned game by game.

You can also find my interview with Manhattan College Coach Barry Rohrssen here.

After working out, Luis Flores has the option of relaxing on the beach or finding a pleasant cafe to hang out in with some teammates. Tel Aviv is certainly a busy city, but Flores can find a peaceful way to pass the time that he does not spend on the basketball court.

Despite being located in a beautiful area of Israel, Tel Aviv is about 6,000 miles from Flores' coveted home. 

When Flores was a young boy, his family left the Dominican Republic for New York City's Washington Heights. The Heights are the home of many outdoor basketball courts, and Flores began his basketball journey on one of them. 

He developed as a player, and performed well enough at Norman Thomas High School to be recruited and signed by Rutgers University. 

Flores only saw 10.5 minutes per game in his freshman season, 1999-00, and decided to transfer away from the loaded Big East. Bobby Gonzalez, who coached for Manhattan College at the time, jumped at his opportunity to receive a transfer of Flores' caliber.

After sitting out for a season, as required of a transfer by the NCAA, the 6'1" shooting guard donned his No. 3 Jasper jersey on November 12, 2001. 

Joining sophomore forward Dave Holmes on the floor, Flores made an immediate impact on the Jaspers as a sophomore. His 19.4 points per game and three point percentage of 41.1 percent were enough to earn him All-MAAC First Team honors, and improved the Jaspers record from 14-15 to 17-7. The improved record was worthy of a bid in the NIT. Despite Flores' 33 point effort, the Jaspers were ousted in the first round by Villanova.

Jaspers fans knew that the duo of Flores and Holmes would be back for two more seasons, so they could only think about the future after the NIT loss. 

The fans who came to home games clad in Jasper green were not let down in the 2002-03 season. 

Despite starting the season 4-3, Flores put the Jaspers on his back and led them on a fifteen game winning streak. With their 19-3 record, people outside of Riverdale, New York were beginning to talk about the Manhattan College basketball team.

Flores played all fifty minutes of Manhattan's 82-81 conference semifinal victory against Niagara, and led all scorers with 30 points. 

Manhattan easily handled Fairfield in the conference championship, and earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Jim Boeheim's Syracuse team, which consisted of Carmelo Anthony, Hakim Warrick, and Gerry McNamara, was too good for Manhattan and each of their next five opponents. Gonzalez and every Jaspers fan could not complain about losing 76-65 to the tournament's champion. 

No. 3 averaged 24.6 points per game, and was named MAAC Player of the Year as a junior.

2003-04 was the last season that Flores and Holmes arrived at Draddy Gymnasium to play their home games, but the senior tandem did not leave their fans empty-handed. 

Again, the Jaspers started slow, but Flores averaged 24 points per game, and shot 37.4 percent from beyond the arc, leading the Jaspers to 17 wins in their final 19 games. Flores was named MAAC Player of the Year again, as the Jaspers finished atop the MAAC with a 16-2 league record. 

David Lee, Matt Walsh, Anthony Roberson, and the No. 5 seeded Florida Gators were incapable of halting Flores, Holmes, and UMBC-transfer Peter Mulligan, as the No. 12 seeded Jaspers topped the Gators 75-60. 

Flores nearly led the Jaspers past Chris Paul and the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons in round two, but fell four points shy.

The trey that Flores nailed with 4:16 remaining on the clock was his final three pointer in Jasper green.

The jumper that bounced off the rim with four seconds remaining was his last miss.

The loss was the concluding game of his extraordinary career as a Jasper, whom the shooting guard averaged 22.7 points per game for over the course of his three year tenure.

By the loss to Wake Forest, most of the college basketball world had heard Flores' name. Scouts saw a tremendous shooter in Flores, but were tentative towards putting him on their draft boards because of his height.

Standing at 6'1," Flores was certainly undersized for an NBA shooting guard, but he could shoot the lights out of a gym. Most Jaspers fans thought Flores could play at the next level, and many are still unwilling to renounce their claims. 

The Houston Rockets were willing to choose Flores with the 55th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, but quickly traded his draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban and Don Nelson did not see what they wanted in the shooting guard, and sent him packing for Oakland's Golden State Warriors towards the end of the summer. 

A groove began to form in Flores' seat on the bench, as the rookie only appeared in fifteen games with the Warriors. The two-time MAAC Player of the Year only averaged 2.1 points in 4.9 minutes per game. 

For the third time in his young NBA career, Flores was shipped off, this time, in February to Denver. He only appeared in one game for the Nuggets, and hit the only three pointer he attempted in four minutes. The undersized shooting guard waited out the final two months of his rookie season on the bench, and was finally waived at the end of August of 2005. 

Not wanting to give up his dream of making it into the NBA, Flores went overseas to Italy for the 2005-06 season. No one knows exactly how Flores fared with Italy's BT Roseto because the European basketball league charges a fee for fans to view anything other than a team's roster.

The former Scarlet-Knight, Jasper, Rocket, Maverick, Warrior, Nugget, and Roseto Shark came back to America for the NBA's training camp. He made the New Orleans Hornets' preseason roster, but only appeared in three preseason games before the Hornets gave up on him. 

Again, Flores went overseas to Italy, signing with the Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia. A year later, Flores decided to give the Greek League a shot, and spent the 2007-08 season with the Olympiada Patras.

Now known as a journeyman, Flores attended a Manhattan College game in 2008. By the end of the game, rumors that the former Jasper was in the MVP race in Greece had fully circulated Draddy Gymnasium. 

Another rumor, which was being spread around a Jaspers basketball fan blog, claimed that Flores participated in the Minnesota Timberwolves training camp earlier this month. Given that he is not on the preseason roster, but is instead on Hapoel Holon's roster, implies that Flores did not make Minnesota's preseason team. 

Hapoel Holon is just another Israeli basketball team that will succumb to Macabi Tel Aviv about nine times out of ten, but Flores sees this as an opportunity to stay in shape and possibly try out in America next year. 

Flores, now 27 years old still has the hope that someday, preferably in the near future, an NBA team will find a way to use him as a 6'1" shooting guard. Until then, the former Scarlet Knight, Jasper, Rocket, Maverick, Warrior, Nugget, Roseto Shark, Emilia, and Olympian can soak up the sun at the beach in nearby Tel Aviv, eat falafel, and play basketball.