By Joe Budzelek (@stf_ncaa)
Prior to the start of the season, raise your hand if you expected Manhattan to enter Friday's tilt against UConn with a 3-1 record.
[pause to scan the room]
[waits a few more seconds...still no hands up]
In the preseason coaches' poll, Manhattan was projected to finish last in the MAAC. None of the Jaspers were picked amongst the sixteen All-MAAC team selections.
Senior guard Briggs McClain, Hartford's leading scorer last season, has played sparingly as he is working his way back from injury. DeJuan Clayton, a grad transfer guard from Cal who player for Coach Gallagher during their time together at Hartford, has yet to receive a waiver to play this year.
Coach Gal's offenses are typically known for their perimeter prowess -- however, the team is shooting just 29.8% from three and roughly just a third of their attempts have been from three.
Even with the cards stacked against their favor, Gallagher has adjusted on the fly with his new roster and are vastly exceeding expectations, mostly thanks to the play of Manhattan's underclassmen: "We're 3-1 because our freshmen are playing like juniors," says Gallagher during a phone call with Stretching the Floor on Tuesday, "Everyone is excited to be here. Everyone is eager to keep learning."
According to KenPom.com, as of Wednesday, the Jaspers rank amongst the bottom dozen teams nationally in minutes continuity (3.7%) and D-1 Experience (0.63 years on average). Almost all of the roster was built from an offseason blitzkrieg where Gallagher and his staff worked sixteen hours days for five straight months.
That hard work has paid off for Gallagher, who now leads a group that is mostly raw, but blessed with sponge-like basketball brains. When sharing the progress the team has made this week learning new wrinkles of the offense, Gallagher says "I went through all the different looks [...] we're far along because they've been willing learners and they can handle it. That's a credit to the players, not me, so that's exciting."
As McClain, a future impact starting guard, works his way back to a starting role, the offense will continue to grow in sophistication. But for now, the backcourt has been led by freshman point guard Jaden Winston and redshirt sophomore Brett Rumpel, a transfer from St. Bonaventure.
Speaking on the backcourt pair, Gallagher says: "They're just so much fun. We're a north/south, get the ball to the paint type team now."
An undersized, but fearless guard, Winston is able to penetrate and attack the basket thanks to his combination of vision, quickness, toughness and creativity. A strong on-ball defender, Winston has yet to see any of his three-point attempts convert, but Gallagher is "not even blinking. [His three point shot] is coming. He's got a great way about him. He's getting better every day."
Back from his high school days, Rumpel has been long lauded for his length, assertiveness and creativity at the combo guard position, but it is his impact on defense that has most impressed Gallagher: "In four games -- Reynolds from St. Joe's goes 4-for-15, Gross-Bullock from Bryant goes 4-for-18 and Amos from Central Connecticut was 4-for-15. He basically single-handedly has been a defensive force behind our success and that's where I think he doesn't get enough credit."
Even as McClain gets healthy and takes over a starting role, it is hard to fathom Winston or Rumpel ceding from their impact roles.
In the frontcourt, double-double machine Seydou Traore has been a revelation. Clearly, the most impressive freshman of the bunch, the NYC-bred power forward, who played high school ball at Our Savior Lutheran, plays much bigger than his 6'7 215 frame.
Traore's got a fearless motor and has overpowered all of Manhattan's opponents. Unfazed against Kansas, Traore scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting while grabbing 8 rebounds.
Another incredible aspect of his play has been his discipline on defense. Despite his aggressiveness and physicality, Traore averages just one foul per game. Praised for his coachability and passion to grow his game, when all is said and done, expect Traore to get All-MAAC honors as soon as this year.
Sharing the center position is Weber State transfer Daniel Rouzan and freshman Xinyi Li. Rouzan, a 6’8 235 sophomore, plays a classic, back-to-the-basket game, highlighted by his physicality generating offensive boards. Li, is a raw, but talented big who is still learning the intricacies of the game. Unlike Rouzan, Li is much more comfortable working on the perimeter, which allows Gallagher to eventually toy more with five-out sets.
Off the bench, Lithuanian freshman Rokas Jocys has mostly been a floor spacer, but he has shown glimpses of what is to come of his offensive versatility. "He's got to play," says Gallagher, "Rokas hit a big three in the Central [Connecticut State] game. We have to play him. He's a great passer and we haven't seen it yet [during game play]. Has unbelievable feel for the game."
With this young group, Gallagher carefully curated a non-conference schedule that features mostly local mid-majors, but is also highlighted with opponents with championship pedigree: Kansas and now UConn.
"We get to play Kansas and UConn. You came here to play in games in March against teams like this," says Gallagher, "Two out of first five games are against the last two national champions. I wanted [the players] to feel what it is like to face the last two National Champions [...] we chose the last two national champions on purpose."
Manhattan made the Sweet Sixteen in 1958. The Bobby Gonzalez-led Jaspers beat Florida back in 2004. With this group, Gallagher wants to lead the Jaspers back to their winning tradition in short order. Even with their lowly preseason prognostication, the MAAC is shaping up to be one of the least predictable conferences in the nation and honestly, it feels like eight or nine teams have a shot to win the conference tournament.
Even if this doesn't become the Jaspers' year, their half-dozen underclassmen now featured in the rotation have quickly brightened Manhattan's not-too-distant prospects.
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