Bucknell 80, Manhattan 67: 5 Observations

A handful of observations from Manhattan's home opener, an 80-67 setback at the hands of Bucknell, which dropped the Jaspers to 0-2 on the season:

• Even with the returns of two players, lack of depth remains a huge factor.
  Manhattan welcomed RaShawn Stores back into the fold Saturday night and saw AK Ojo make his debut, but were without the services of Samson Akilo down low, limiting the Jaspers to eight scholarship players. "It's a tough time with this team," Steve Masiello conceded. "RaShawn reaggravated his hamstring tonight, (and) Ojo's not 100 percent. We can barely even practice because we don't have bodies. You take away Jermaine Lawrence from the team, you take away Calvin Crawford from the team, and you take away Samson Usilo from the team, so now you're down three bodies of guys that would probably be your top seven, who are now out. It makes it very difficult to see where this team is."
• Bucknell took advantage of Manhattan's most glaring weaknesses.
  The Bison posted a plus-15 rebounding margin, dominating the Jaspers to the tune of 48-33 on the glass, and were able to use Manhattan's physicality to their benefit at the free throw line, parading to the charity stripe 42 times and making 31 of them. "You've got to rebound the basketball, and we didn't do that tonight," Masiello assessed. "We got outworked on the glass tonight, and when you look at the correlation of not having Calvin, not having Jermaine and then Ojo not being able to practice, your front line is thin. That got exposed a little bit tonight."
• Thomas Capuano showed what he can eventually become.
  The freshman point guard played 20 minutes against Saint Mary's Monday night and was held scoreless, but Saturday evening was a stark contrast from his debut, as he posted 10 points in 19 minutes before fouling out with 6:46 to play, and making numerous hustle plays that the box score will mask. Even though his most recent showing is a confidence booster, the rookie is insistent that there is much to improve upon. "I've had a lack of discipline on a lot of plays," Capuano conceded. "I've just got to watch the film and cut down on the mistakes I've been making, but we can build on it."
• Don't expect a drastic change in Manhattan's style just yet.
  With the numerous injuries that have befallen the Jaspers, one may infer that the tenor of the team's on-court product may undergo a makeover of sorts, but Masiello still believes it is too early in the year to consider that at the moment. "It's two games in, so I'm not ready to make that decision yet," the coach confessed. "There might be a time where I'd say, 'you know what, we can only play eight because of the injuries and health and lack of personnel we have.' We're not at that place yet. I'm trying to figure out this team from a big picture, not necessarily for Wednesday. In the end, I'm more worried about where we'll be in 100 days than where we will in three."
• On that note...
  The start to this season bears a somewhat similar parallel to last year's 2-7 start, where Stores and Lawrence were banged up through portions of the first two months of the year, as well as Shane Richards playing through a hand injury. Regardless, Masiello knows the terrain his team is traveling on, and is confident in the ability of he and his players to conquer it. "I know how the book ends," he stated. "Sometimes the first eight chapters are hard to read. I don't worry about going down this road. I put my seat belt on, drive a four-wheel vehicle, and I put a bunch of guys in the back seat with me. We'll be fine."