For an in-depth look at the Griffs' backcourt, click here.
For an in-depth look at the Griffs' frontcourt, click here.

The Overview

It has been said that experience can be a better teacher than any lecture, as long as you trust people to learn from it.

That theory pretty much sums up the 2008-09 Canisius College men’s basketball season.

The Golden Griffins return five starters and eight letterwinners from a team that went 6-25 overall and 2-16 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play a season ago. The Blue and Gold finished the 2007-08 campaign as the sixth youngest team in Division I basketball and closed out the year by becoming the first No. 10 seed in MAAC history to win a league tournament game before taking No. 2 seed Rider to the limit in the quarterfinal round.

The Griffs’ end-of-the-year push showed fans and the rest of the MAAC that Canisius looks as if it has turned the corner.

“I think we are a year older, a year wiser and a year stronger,” head coach Tom Parrotta said. “There are no shortcuts when you are building a winning program. Looking back at last year, I think we all needed to experience those tough times because it taught our guys how to stick to it and come to work every single day, no matter what. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was something we needed to do and I think we’re in a better position because of it.”

In August, the Griffs took a foreign tour to Italy, which was not only important because it allowed the team’s student-athletes a chance to go overseas and enjoy what another country has to offer, but it also offered the Blue and Gold 10 additional practice dates before the trip started. Those 10 practice days allowed Parrotta and his staff the chance to implement this year’s offensive and defensive schemes, while building off the excitement and momentum gained by the team’s late-season push.

“We are much further ahead this fall because of our trip to Italy,” Parrotta said. “I’ve found that we’re not stopping and teaching in practice as much. Now we’re able to focus on the key things that we know will help us be in games and win games once the season starts.”

According to Parrotta, some of the keys to this season will be the Griffs’ focus on attention to detail. The third-year head coach wants his team to turn the ball over less, control the glass at both ends of the floor and earn more trips to the free-throw line. Last season, Canisius turned the ball over an average of 1.8 times more than any other team in the MAAC and attempted 482 free throws, an average of 15 trips to the line per game. The rebounding numbers started to turn toward the Blue and Gold as the season rolled along, as Canisius was the only team in the conference to boast three freshmen with 100-plus boards for the year, led by forward Greg Logins and his 5.5 rebounds per-game average.

“I’ll be the first to admit we started slow last year,” Parrotta said. “Our goal was to finish strong, and I think we were headed that way. You win in this league with battle-tested veterans and we didn’t have many of those last year. Now, we have a roster with a number of guys who have played in games and know what it takes to be successful every time we step on the court.”

The Schedule

The Griffs will open the 106th season of college basketball Nov. 15, at Akron before hosting cross-town rival Buffalo Nov. 18, in the 2008-09 home opener. Among the team’s first five games, three will be played at home, including Nov. 22, against Long Island and Nov. 29, against St. Bonaventure. The game against the Bonnies will be Canisius’ 157th all-time meeting with St. Bonaventure and will be played in the HSBC Arena.

The month of December features six road games, starting Dec. 1, at Howard. The Blue and Gold will open MAAC play Dec. 5 and 7, at Manhattan and Saint Peter’s before making a trip down the New York State Thruway to meet Albany in a return of last year’s ESPNU BracketBuster series.

“I’m pleased with the way the schedule fell into place,” Parrotta said. “We get the chance to play at home in November and we’d like to be able to take advantage of those home games in an effort to build off the confidence we started to gain last year in February and March.”

Canisius will also make early-season trips to Washington State (Nov. 25) and Syracuse (Dec. 17). The Cougars went 26-9 last season and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, while the Orange return three players that started all 35 games a season ago, including Paul Harris and Jonny Flynn from nearby Niagara Falls, N.Y.

“I like the idea playing national exposure type games,” Parrotta said. “The guys like playing those games as well. When we are in the recruiting process, we tell recruits we are going to play games against top-flight programs and Washington State and Syracuse definitely qualify for that distinction.”

The Griffs will start the 2009 calendar year at home with a pair of league games against Loyola and Manhattan. In all, the Blue and Gold is scheduled to play seven of its first nine league games on the road, with the game at Marist Jan. 23, being broadcast live on ESPNU. The Griffs will renew their long-time rivalry with Niagara Jan. 26, in the Gallagher Center and then enjoy playing five of their final six MAAC regular season games at home. One of the home dates will be Niagara’s return visit to the Koessler Athletic Center, where the Blue and Gold ended their nine-game losing streak in the series Jan. 18, with a 70-62 win in front of a live national audience on ESPNU.

Included in Canisius’ final home stretch is the Feb. 6, meeting with Fairfield, that will be broadcast live on ESPNU. The Feb. 8, Hall of Fame Day contest against Saint Peter’s set to be shown live on MSG as part of the league’s TV package and will start at 11:30 a.m., the program’s earliest start time for a regular season in the last 15 years.

“The chance to play a number of games on live television is another sign of how this program is moving in the right direction,” Parrotta said. “Anytime we can go into a recruit’s house and explain that we play on national and regional television, that’s an eye opener for the student-athlete and his parents. It’s also a great point of pride for our alumni as well.”

The 2009 MAAC Tournament will be held in the Times Union Arena in Albany, N.Y., March 6-9.

“I think we’ve proven to people that we can compete in this league. Our goal is to be considered in the upper-echelon of the MAAC, and to do that, we need to get a consistent effort every time we play,” Parrotta said. “I truly believe the tough times are behind us. I wouldn’t trade what we went through last year for anything. Guys can’t learn on the bench, they learn on the floor playing games. We did a lot of learning last year. Now it’s time to start moving forward with those lessons.”