Moving on from Siena

There's no doubt that last night's 91-85 loss to dreaded rival Siena will live in Marist history for some time. There's no way around it. When a team relinquishes a 14-point lead in the final 3:25 of game-time, there will be doubts. While watching the Marist bench in the waning moments, the expressions ranged from frustration to disbelief.
Chuck Martin, however, had a smile on his face. That smile will undoubtedly prevent any hangover from the loss to Siena. In the post game press conference, Martin said that he told his players to have fun and hope the game keeps going. Martin said he wanted to coach all night, it was that type of game.
Ultimately, this loss will not affect anything that happens in the MAAC tournament, it's one game. Marist proved plenty to Siena and the other eight conference teams on the floor last night, regardless of the result. Marist proved its talent is just as good as any other team in the MAAC. Unfortunately, its depleted talent. Two Marist starters played over 40 minutes last night, including 44 from senior captain Ryan Schneider. Following Marist's win over Bucknell, guard Dejaun Goodwin, who finished the game with ice on both his knees, said he was tired with a laugh. The one lingering effect of this game is the realization that Marist's short bench places a strong burden on the shoulders of a select few.
Aside from a short bench, this loss is far from catostrophic. When looking at the largest comeback of all time, Rick Pitino's Kentucky Wild Cats overcame a 31-point deficit with only 15:30 remaining in the game. The reality is that there have been far worse losses. Kentucky overcame that gigantic deficit to win, 99-95, against LSU in reulation back in 1994. Rick Pitino said he just wanted to widdle away at the lead and get it back to a manageable number. Before long, 31 turned into 14 which turned into winning.
That was not Pitino's only miracle win. The current Louisville coach has been a part of the following comebacks:

New York Knicks: Overcame 27-point deficit to beat Portland
Kentucky: six point down with 38 seconds left; beat Arkansas
Kentucky: trailed Tennessee by 10 with one minute remaining; won
Louisville: trailed West Virginia by 20 in 2005; won and reached Final Four

Pitino's plan is not much different than any other coach's when facing a desperate situation. Score quickly and foul the suspect free-throw shooters. Unfortunately for Marist, almost every player on the floor wound up miss at least one free-throw down the stretch, there was not one culprit. At the same time, give credit to Siena because just because Marist opened the door for them, they had to make the clutch shots to get through that door.
The important thing to take away from the game is Chuck Martin's attitude. Rick Pitino said that all comebacks share something in common. Although Marist lost the game, the comeback from that game starts Sunday at Loyola. When Rick Remsnyder asked Martin how he and the Red Foxes recover from a loss like that, Martin said "we embrace it." It's obvious Martin knows what buttons to push. Pitino said that all comebacks involve several things:

"Here is the important common denominator in all those comebacks: They began with positive energy on the floor, on the bench, and in the team huddles. They began with a belief that things would get better if we persevered through adversity, trusted each other and worked together... The most important thing I did in the course of those comebacks was to build my players' self- esteem. Don't tear them down for the mistakes that got the team in those holes to begin with; build them up to the point where they felt capable of making the plays that would result in victory. When people feel extraordinary, you get extraordinary results. When people feel ordinary, you get ordinary results. I'm not talking about false patronage; don't tell little Johnny he's going to be president when he's not doing well in the classroom. They have to deserve it - and when they do deserve it, you have to reinforce it in stressful times."

Martin understands the positive energy that needs to be infused in an inexperienced team playing in a new system in front of raucous crowds. Martin smiled following the game because he knew what he needed to reinforce in his players. The coach needed to take the positives out of the loss. Siena head coach Fran McCaffery said all that needed to be said following the game: "I said months ago that I thought this league was as tough as it’s ever been since I’ve been in it. I said if Ryan Schneider and David Devezin are on a 10th-place team then we have a great league. That’s not 10th-place team. I can tell you that. They’ve proven that. They gave us everything we could handle." Martin should be excited because Siena will not be looking forward to a rematch in March.