A Daly Dose Of Hoops: October 2022

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Rutgers, Fairfield both show strong foundations in exhibition opener

Rutgers and Fairfield tip off exhibition game Sunday benefitting Eric LeGrand and Reeve Foundation. (Photo by Rutgers University Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Usually, preseason exhibitions are one-sided affairs where not much can truly be gleaned from the final numbers, and any observations are better taken with the proverbial grain of salt given that the visiting team is normally a lesser outfit merely looking for seasoning against the more established Division I program.

Such a disparity in class was not the case Sunday between Rutgers and Fairfield, who locked horns at Jersey Mike's Arena in a hardwood fundraiser for former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand — paralyzed in an on-field collision that prematurely halted his collegiate career — and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, established when the one-time Superman suffered paralysis of his own after falling off a horse.

For the entire first half, and early stages of the second stanza, the clash between a Rutgers team hoping to reach its third straight NCAA Tournament and an up-and-coming Fairfield squad projected to be a rising contender in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was almost evenly matched before the Scarlet Knights found another gear as the game wound down, ultimately handling business in a 78-65 decision that served as the final tuneup for both sides prior to next Monday's season openers, with Rutgers hosting Columbia while Fairfield heads to Wake Forest.

“It was good to play,” Steve Pikiell said of the contest as Rutgers played without Caleb McConnell, still sidelined by a knee injury the head coach said McConnell reaggravated earlier this month. “I wanted to play in front of the lights, and this gave us an opportunity to do that. I think the young guys got some valuable minutes, and I trust all my guys on the roster. Their days will all come. There are a lot more things we have to work on, I think we have a lot more to show, but we weren’t going to do that today.”

In McConnell’s absence, Aundre Hyatt and Mawot Mag saw extended looks alongside Cliff Omoruyi, and all three fed off one another, combining for 47 points with Omoruyi’s 19 leading the way as guards Cam Spencer and freshman Derek Simpson each tallied double-digit point totals, with Paul Mulcahy serving as the lead facilitator with 10 of Rutgers’ 20 assists on his watch.

“I don’t want to give Paul a big head, but he just comes in and does what he wants,” Fairfield head coach Jay Young said of Mulcahy, who he had a hand in recruiting for Pikiell at Rutgers prior to replacing Sydney Johnson in 2019. “He gets 10 assists and he’s the tail that wags the dog, he makes everything work. It’s been fun to watch him so far.”

As for McConnell, there is no timetable on a return for the reigning Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year, although Pikiell insisted Rutgers’ medical staff and head trainer Rich Campbell were working on rehabbing him as quickly as possible.

“If you saw him yesterday, I’d say he looked as good as anybody,” Pikiell said of McConnell. “It’s actually given us a chance to play some other guys and do some other good things. We’ll get through it, we hit (obstacles) often, but we fight through them.”

“The doctors are going to let us know. He’s doing great, he’s practicing a little bit on the side, and he’s getting better and better. When the doctors say he’s ready to go, we’ll be ready to roll with him. When they clear him, he’ll be back on the court. We need him.”

On the other sideline, Fairfield has just as much to be encouraged about, with the Stags’ depth revealing itself early and often Sunday. Ten of the 11 players to see the floor checked in within the first five minutes of action, with preseason first team all-MAAC forward Supreme Cook seeing 20 minutes in his first competition since undergoing minor knee surgery in the offseason. Cook recorded nine points and seven rebounds, with redshirt freshman Makai Willis complementing him to the tune of 12 points and six rebounds, as well as a pair of 3-pointers.

“They could easily be our first unit,” Young said of his reserves, which also included TJ Long and Jalen Leach in the backcourt alongside Jake Wojcik and Caleb Fields, who poured in 13 points of his own. “It’s great to see (Leach) back and playing, but we go about ten guys who have played significant minutes for us. I think our depth is really our strength this year and different guys can contribute. They did a good job, we’ve got a ton of work to do, but we’ve got more answers than we’ve ever had, for sure.”

“We’ve got to get Supreme going. This was his first time out, so he hasn’t done much in the preseason. That second unit was good for us today, but a lot of those guys have played starters’ minutes since they’ve been here.”

The Stags, picked fifth in the MAAC preseason poll, are now being viewed as a potential top-three unit in the conference after the balance of power shifted seismically in the wake of Manhattan suddenly parting ways with head coach Steve Masiello last week. Young was pragmatic in his assessment of Sunday’s proceedings, but his mentor was far more effusive in his praise for the Stags and their progress.

“It was great for us, it really was,” Young opined. “We’ll be on a plane trip to Wake Forest next Sunday at this time, and for us, it was a great dress rehearsal. That’s what that game will be like next week, really physical.”

“He’s building a program,” Pikiell countered. “They just built a brand new facility there at Fairfield, he’s doing an awesome job, and you could tell his team is just getting better and better. He’s going to do unbelievable things, and they’ll be cutting the nets down soon at Fairfield.”

Sunday, October 23, 2022

As Perez and Masiello look to bring Manhattan back, their bond has already eclipsed the game and brought out the best in each other

Jose Perez and Steve Masiello share postgame embrace after Manhattan defeated Iona in regular season finale last March. Both player and coach return this season with renewed outlook and bond that, like most parts of Jasper program, is bigger than basketball. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

He appeared on a Monday morning for a routine practice, but you didn’t have to look closely at Jose Perez to see something had changed since Manhattan’s budding superstar was last seen seven months prior.

His ever-present smile and engaging personality? That hasn’t left, rather, it has only grown wider and stronger. The innate, almost naturally God-given talent that has kept him afloat on his long and winding road in basketball? Still there.

Wait, who’s that wearing number zero?

“You see this?” Perez joked before practice started, as he switched numbers in the offseason, sacrificing his No. 15 from last season to newcomer Omar Silverio, perhaps a friendly condition in the latter’s transfer into the Jasper program.

“Just trying to be a good teammate,” he quipped.

The levity in Perez’s game has always been refreshing, reminding us all that no matter how serious the task at hand is, you can still have some fun with it and make it enjoyable in the process. But what has really changed for Perez, about to enter his fifth year in college basketball — his last before making it to the professional ranks — with a Manhattan team intent on returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, has been the approach with which he has opened the coda to this section of his career, grounded in the moment and devoted to turn his passion into a livelihood.

March 3, 2022.

Manhattan had just upended Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference favorite Iona, 74-72, with Perez scoring the game-winning basket in the final seconds to send the Gaels off the Draddy Gymnasium floor equal parts stunned and disconsolate, as Iona head coach Rick Pitino fielded just one question in his postgame press conference before walking out less than two minutes later. Immediately in the aftermath of the team’s highest point of the year, Perez disputed the rumor that he had just played his last home game.

“It was not my senior night,” he declared. “I’m coming back next year.”

Perez retained that mindset, but seven months later, revealed that the decision was actually not as easy as it had seemed in the glow of victory on that March night.

“Honestly speaking, I didn’t think I was going to come back just because I reached a peak individually,” he said. “But that’s not what I was thinking about. It’s not about that, it’s about the people around you. We’re family, and everybody decided to come back. I know we’re one of the oldest teams in college basketball, but honestly, college basketball’s just old in general. Everybody has 22, 23, 24-year-olds right now, it’s not like it’s one-and-done kids. I watched the Houston coach (Kelvin Sampson). You have to be experienced to win games in college basketball. Right now, I know we have our backs against the wall and I know what it’s going to take to win this year. That’s one of the main reasons why I came back.”

“He had pro offers, and he could have gone,” head coach Steve Masiello added. “We had a long talk this offseason, and I said, ‘if you’re not going to change, the best thing for you to do is leave. You’re really talented, and I’m saying this because I love you. If you want to win and be a pro, and do it the right way, come back. If not, you can go make some short-term money.’ He took some time, he made a decision, and he was all in. And he’s been all in. So I’m really proud of his maturity, I’m proud of his growth.”

A common refrain from Perez’s and Manhattan’s critics and detractors last season was that the Bronx native was too selfish, a ball hog who made sure every possession was all about him. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, as Perez was also the MAAC leader in assists for the majority of last season on top of pacing the conference in scoring, showcasing his teammates and helping the Jaspers to their best record in seven years. But one area in which the charismatic and enigmatic star has grown most has been channeling the unbridled emotion with which he plays, a credit to Masiello reaching him where very few have been able to, be it at Gardner-Webb, Marquette, or anywhere else along Perez’s journey.

“We had a lot of talks about everything under the sun, from being a teammate, technical fouls, leading the conference in scoring and assists, being player of the year,” Masiello shared. “We spoke about everything, and I think what’s so special about him is he’s getting in three workouts a day, religiously. So he’s as good as I’ve coached. There’s no doubt in my mind he can play in the NBA, and I think that opportunity will come for him. I’m really excited about his year.”

Now in his 12th year as head coach at Manhattan, Masiello has always prided himself on, and been lauded for, the bonds he has been able to build with all of his former players. But with no disrespect to anyone else in the Jasper program, the relationship he has with Perez is just transcendent, and he even concurred.

“I think the most special thing I have in 12 years of doing this — and I’ve said this with Rhamel (Brown)’s wedding, Emmy (Andujar)’s son, RaShawn (Stores) having a child, Tyler (Wilson) working for me, Rich Williams — I’ve had some really special relationships,” Masiello recalled. “Every one is different, but Jose and I have a special bond. When my daughter sees him, he’s an uncle. So we have a special, special bond.”

“I spent some time with someone this summer up in Rhode Island who is a 93-year-old, very successful man, and he gave me five tips. One of them was, ‘don’t be critical,’ another one was, ‘be patient.’ It’s helped me a lot, especially with Jose, and it’s not that Jose needed me not to be critical. Jose needed to be understood.”

Last season, there were several instances during games where Perez and Masiello engaged in intense conversations that were far from arguments. Rather, it was the two-way communication that was on full display, with player and coach imparting words of wisdom to one another, a dynamic Masiello described as “two crazies love crazy.”

“I think it actually allows me to coach him really hard,” Masiello said of his relationship with Perez. And he’s had success. I think Tim Craft did a great job with him, I think (Steve Wojciechowski) did a great job with him, but I don’t think he’s probably been coached this hard. It’s only because we have a relationship and trust. I trust him and he trusts me, so everything I say to him, I know he knows it’s for the betterment of him. And everything he says to me, even though it might not always be said the right way, I know it’s for the betterment of us, and that’s big for me.”

For Perez, Masiello has been a godsend just as much off the court as he is on it. With his father having not been around and his two brothers in the military, Masiello has filled the role of the male role model that gives young men much-needed direction and purpose in life, and came to him at a time where he was honestly unsure where to turn.

“He’s changed my life, honestly,” Perez said, unwrapping a wide grin in the process. “It’s a different type of bond we have. I feel like he has my back no matter what, we joke around, we can talk about everything. I never really had a father in my life for real, so he’s taken over that part. At one moment, I was really alone in life, and he was one of the only people I could really talk to.”

The feeling is somewhat mutual for his coach, an only child who views his star player as something he never had growing up, but now gets to show the way to while teaming up in the process with the newly crowned MAAC Preseason Player of the Year.

“That kid’s like a little brother to me,” Masiello gushed. “I love him dearly. The growth he’s made behind the scenes, off the court, is what I’m most proud of. His GPA is the highest it’s ever been, he’s going to graduate this year, he’s down 18 pounds, he’s living right. It’s the reason he came back.”

“When you get to know Jose and you get to know what his intentions are behind things, all he needed was some guidance on how to communicate those things, because his intentions are pure. He wants to do the right thing, and he’s as loyal as a kid as I’ve ever coached. There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for him.”