Steve Masiello and Manhattan are 4-1 in MAAC and tied for conference lead as Jaspers continue to improve. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
NEW YORK — Steve Masiello has been down this road before.
He, better than most others in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, has traversed the block continuously to know how to guide his teams to the promised land.
Seven weeks of basketball remain to be contested in the regular season, but among the many unexpected storylines through the first two weeks of MAAC play is that of Manhattan — a team that, although as experienced as perhaps any Masiello has ever shepherded in his nine years, did not have a player average more than nine points per game in an 11-21 campaign one year ago — having navigated the first quarter of its conference slate with wins in four of its five league games, the only blemish coming by eight points against Fairfield six days ago.
“I told them in the locker room, I said, ‘it’s great we’re winning,’” Masiello shared after his Jaspers scored a 69-57 victory at the expense of Quinnipiac, a win that gave Manhattan a head-to-head tiebreaker for first place in the MAAC over a Bobcat squad that entered Thursday night unbeaten in league play. “The thing I’m most proud of — I said it Sunday, and I’m going to say it again — is our process, how they’re approaching every day, how they’re approaching walkthroughs, shootarounds, films, practices.”
“I think the thing that stands out to me is you have a rough year like last year, they stayed together. I didn’t stay together. I wasn’t going anywhere, but in today’s day, to have young men who really like each other stay when no one averaged double figures and you win 11 games, it’s such a credit to their character, and that is what they’re seeing the rewards of right now. We’re very happy for them, because they deserve it.”
Masiello places such an exorbitant amount of trust in the process that even Sam Hinkie might question his motives, but Manhattan's greatest successes have come in the pair of MAAC championship teams that sacrificed individual goals and devoted themselves to the greater collective end that justified the means. This year’s iteration of the Jaspers — at 8-6 overall with another opportunity to bolster its standing when Monmouth comes into Riverdale Saturday night — may not resemble the 25-win outfit of 2013-14 that came within a whisker of upsetting Louisville in the NCAA Tournament on paper or in the win and loss columns, but the upside and potential is equal to the group that made its coach a household name on a national level. In fact, it may even exceed it.
“My vision for them is a special one,” Masiello passionately revealed. “They know that. I share it with them every day and that stays in the locker room, so they know how I feel about them and what I think of them, and I want them to go out and achieve that vision. I don’t want my vision to be bigger than what they see, and my job is to make them see that vision and know what it sounds like, tastes like, smells like. That’s my job, and when they get that, that’s going to increase their work ethic.”
As always, it is bigger than basketball around the Manhattan program, but the nerve center from which it emanates has played a significant role in the latest resurgence. Draddy Gymnasium has long been one of the MAAC’s premier big-game venues, offering a unique atmosphere usually unmatched by any of its counterparts. The crowds this season have not been capacity galleries, but the energy and vocal support have risen to the levels that accompanied the Jaspers in the earlier parts of the past decade that could seem like halcyon days for some of the more weathered factions in the kelly green-bleeding fan base.
“Draddy’s a special place,” Masiello declared. “The fans know good basketball. I was really proud of the atmosphere on Sunday, and I thought tonight we had a good crowd. Our students make a huge difference for us. I think the Sixth Borough is the best student base in the league, so obviously when you put a good product out, it’s something that our alumni and everyone could be proud of, and you just want to make them proud.”
“They put the work in. Work cures fear. If you work, you’re ready for that moment because you’ve done it so many times every day, and these guys put the work in. That’s what they understand now. If they put their time in, good things will happen.”
This team is dangerous.
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