MAAC Tournament Preview 2021
3MW’s All Conference Team:
Player of the Year: Deion Hammond, Sr., Monmouth
Coach of the Year: John Dunne, Marist
Newcomer of the Year: Dwight Murray, Jr., Rider
Freshman of the Year: Ricardo Wright, Fr., Marist
Season Storylines:
COVID ravaged the MAAC this season leading to some of the most lopsided conference scheduling in the college basketball world. Iona played just nine conference games while six other MAAC squads played a full 18. The MAAC then made this situation worse by conjuring up the dumbest solution to seed teams for the conference tournament: total wins. That’s right — despite the Gaels winning two-thirds of their MAAC games this season, Iona was awarded the 9-seed in the MAAC tourney, right behind 7-11 Fairfield. Preposterous.
Siena was the best team all season in the MAAC but still was somehow disappointing. The Saints appeared disinterested in games, especially star guard Jalen Pickett who had by far his least productive season of his three-year career. Perhaps Siena will wake up in the conference tourney.
As punishment for their nonchalant approach, the Saints were forced to “split” the MAAC regular season championship with Monmouth, a team they swept during the regular season and had a better winning percentage than. Monmouth was by far the most enjoyable team to watch in the MAAC this year due to its actual ability to shoot and its up-tempo style of play.
Most MAAC games were painful to watch this season. The conference ranked 30th out of 31 conferences in efficiency thanks to anemic offenses like Saint Peter’s (341st in adjusted offensive efficiency), Marist (323rd), Quinnipiac (336th), Fairfield (299th), and Manhattan (344th). Getting a root canal is far more enjoyable than watching any of these teams play offense.
Major credit is due to John Dunne, head coach of Marist. He somehow led the Red Foxes to 10 conference wins despite losing his best player to injury and playing three freshmen major minutes. He deserves every bit of the Coach of the Year award.
As far the tourney goes, I cannot fathom any team outside of Siena, Monmouth, or Iona cutting down the nets. Saint Peter’s is by far the best defensive squad in the league, but the Peacocks are also by far the worst offensive team. Niagara has some real offensive talent, but the Purple Eagles also play little-to-no defense and have the tendency to make stupid plays.
Iona never got to play Siena, but it did sweep Monmouth, proving its ability to compete with the big dogs. Pitino has a ton of talent in New Rochelle, and the Gaels have won the auto-bid the past four seasons (prior year excluded). I’d love to see Monmouth win, but the Hawks are 0-4 against Siena and Iona. Canisius is a cute dark horse. The Golden Griffins were also ravaged by COVID and as a result are under-seeded like Iona. Reggie Witherspoon has two All-League players at his disposal and a ton of experience. Canisius swept Saint Peter’s this season and split with Siena, but lost by an average of 23 points per game in two contests against Monmouth.
Tournament Preview
Tournament Predictions
(9) Iona over (8) Quinnipiac
(7) Fairfield over (10) Manhattan
(6) Canisius over (11) Rider
(1) Siena (9) Iona
(5) Niagara over (4) Marist
(2) Monmouth over (7) Fairfield
(6) Canisius over (3) Saint Peter’s
(1) Siena over (5) Niagara
(2) Monmouth over (6) Canisius
(2) Monmouth over (1) Siena