Manhattan’s growth on defense helping bridge gap with short rotation as Jaspers navigate MAAC

John Gallagher has overseen significant progress as Manhattan sits in top half of MAAC standings halfway through conference season. Jaspers have league’s best offense, and are finding their way defensively at an opportune time. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — Ever the optimist, John Gallagher expected a significant leap from his Manhattan team after a foundational year where the Jaspers made the most of a short rotation and a roster beset by injuries.

The ebullient Gallagher’s depth in year two has not manifested the way he had hoped, but the competitive nature of his group has developed according to plan. With the uptick has come an offense that leads the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in efficiency, and at 5-5 halfway through the conference season, the other side of the basketball is beginning to take root amid experienced veterans and precocious newcomers.

“They’re understanding that even though we missed a ton of threes, it’s our defense that won the game for us,” Gallagher declared Friday after the Jaspers routed Iona, ending a three-game Gael win streak. “We’re really starting to string together stops, and that’s the difference. I think we can do some things in this league and make some headway if we can continue to focus on the defensive side of the ball. We can really play without scripting offense, so if we can just get them to defend, we can really make some headway in the next 10 conference games.”

Gallagher was fortunate to return two starters this season in sophomore point guard Jaden Winston and junior guard Shaq Bender, with a third—forward Wesley Robinson—elevated into the starting lineup after coming off the bench last season. That trio has made life easier for freshman Will Sydnor—the likely MAAC Rookie of the Year—and sophomore transfer Masiah (Swish) Gilyard as they find their way at the Division I level, helping one of the younger teams in the nation last season bridge the gap in this campaign despite not usually playing more than eight men on any given night.

“That’s a great question,” Gallagher said of Manhattan’s continuity. “The DNA was established through Jaden, through Shaq—he’s not even making shots, but he’s been such a great defender and team leader—and Wes, has been unbelievable. I think you can feel it becoming a program, and that’s the thing I think has been most evident to me.”

Winston, the heady DeMatha Catholic product whose clutch gene and will to win belies his tender age most nights, left yet another indelible mark on his opposition Friday even if he did not dominate the stat sheet.

“I think Jaden Winston is a really good point guard,” Iona head coach Tobin Anderson willingly conceded. “I don’t know stat-wise and numbers-wise where he stands, but we played him three times last year and one time this year. I left the court more impressed each time I see him play. I just think he’s a winner, he’s a tough kid. He makes things happen. He’s very unselfish and shares the ball.”

Winston is not the only Jasper who is making things happen, as Sydnor and George Mason transfer Devin Dinkins are the top two scorers on a team with five players averaging 10 or more points per game. Gilyard is another in that quintet, also leading the team with over seven rebounds per contest for a unit whose pieces have combined to ease the pressure among one another, a glaring omission in Riverdale last season. 

“If you look at our roster, what Will brings to the table is a guy (who) early on, we’ll run things for him and he’s gonna get a basket,” Gallagher said, using Sydnor—the Jaspers’ leading scorer at 15.5 points per game—to highlight his example. “In college basketball, I don’t care what level, if you can say, ‘we’re gonna give him the ball, he’s gonna get a basket,’ having Will, he kind of takes the pressure off. We didn’t have that last year, to be honest with you. We didn’t have Dinkins either, and both of them are hard out. Dinkins is coming off the bench, he’s gotta be the sixth man of the year by the numbers. It takes a lot of pressure off our team.”

Playing looser and with more of a synergy on both sides, Manhattan begins the second half of MAAC play Sunday at Sacred Heart, an outfit with an offense whose potency can match the Jaspers for 40 minutes. Gallagher again doubled down on the commitment to defending, expressing concern for the Pioneers’ duo of Tanner Thomas and Amiri Stewart. In his team’s last two outings against Mount St. Mary’s and Iona, Manhattan has improved on that side of the ball, with more effort to come. And if the first two returns are any indication, the payoff will be tangible in more ways than one.

“What I’ve been harping on, and we’re taking the John Chaney approach, is just focus on defense,” Gallagher reiterated. “That’s all we’re doing right now. Matchups and defense, every day. Take it personal, and that’s gotta start with me to them. After that Fairfield game (January 23), we came in and we had a hard talking-to. You score 84, you have to win at home.”

“We had to plant seeds and really put the sunlight and the water, and the belief, every single day. And now, I feel like the next six weeks, I believe in the team. Last year, we were coming to work and we were putting concrete down. It was hard, but you had to get excited about it because you had to put the DNA in them. Now, you could feel it. You could feel everybody.”