'We believe we are the best': Siena men's basketball aims for title repeat

Nevada Smith makes his official debut as Siena's head coach on Monday night at Bryant. (Jim Franco/Times Union) LOUDONVILLE - Siena men's basketball coach Nevada Smith has gone out of his way to publicly set high expectations for the program since the day he was hired to lead the defending Metro Conference champions.On Monday, Smith will coach his first regular-season game for the Saints, who debut against Bryant in Smithfield, R.I. He'll get to see how his players live up to his words when the games count."I think I shoot pretty straight when I believe in something," Smith said Thursday. "I believe in this group. I think we have what it takes to do some special things. I think we've shown glimpses of that so far. I think we have to do it for longer. I think we're training our bodies and minds to be ready to make a run in March."At his introductory news conference in April, Smith talked about reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The same day, he did an in-house interview in which he called Siena "the Gonzaga of the East, if we can make it that." He told fans at the program's ice cream social in July that the Saints could "have a really special year and do some things that might never have been done here before" if the Saints play defense well enough. Siena has never reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.During the Metro Conference tip-off breakfast in Atlantic City in September, Smith said the Saints "expect" to be near the top of the league and to play in the Metro championship game in March. He said it's a subject his team will discuss often.None are the words of a man trying to tamp down expectations in his first season as a Division I head coach. He spent the past six seasons serving on Shaka Smart's staff at Marquette and Texas. Before that, Smith was a head coach in the NBA G League and at Division III programs Keystone and SUNY Canton.Smith succeeds former Siena coach Gerry McNamara, who rebuilt the Saints in two seasons before departing last March to become head coach at Syracuse.For his first Siena team, Smith has recruited players as confident as he is to join the four returning scholarship players. Transfer guard Pace Prosser led Gannon to the Division II national championship last season."We know where we want to be, and we know how good we are," Prosser said. "It's just that everyday belief that we are the best team when we step into a gym. Doesn't matter who we're playing. Just reiterating it is good and builds confidence with each other as a team."Prosser said he tries to share with his teammates the winning culture he learned at Gannon. He said he "absolutely" expected to win a title at Gannon with the same type of conviction he now feels at Siena."We believe we are the best and we believe that we're going to win every game when we step out on the floor," Prosser said.That belief will be tested early when Siena plays at Dayton on Nov. 10, at 13th-ranked St. John's on Nov. 18 and at Seton Hall on Nov. 28.The Saints showed encouraging signs in an 81-76 loss to Syracuse in an Oct. 18 exhibition game. Freshmen Tim Ibukunoluwa (23 points, 14 rebounds) and Trent Egbiremolen (19 points) were particularly impressive."I feel like the guys are just very confident individuals, especially the coaches," said Ibukunoluwa, who is Australian. "They're confident in us taking shots. Some people might think they're not good shots, but to the coaches and to us, they're good shots."Siena showed off Smith's fast-paced style of play and might have beaten the Orange if not for shooting 6-for-31 from 3-point range. Smith said he wants to lead the nation in 3-point attempts this season."We're picking up (the offense) pretty well," Prosser said. "When we get things rolling, we're really tough to guard."Siena also had preseason closed scrimmages against Loyola (Md.) in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and at Holy Cross.The only returning starter is graduate student Brendan Coyle, a Niskayuna native who missed the Syracuse game with an upper-body injury, but is expected to play against Bryant. Smith said junior guard Reid Ducharme, who missed last season because of shoulder surgery, is capable of leading the Metro in scoring.Siena hasn't won back-to-back Metro titles since 2009-10. Smith said Thursday that he thinks the Saints are "pretty good," an understatement for him, but continued to set the bar high."We want to get to the NCAA Tournament," Smith said. "We want to win the league. Our processes continue to get better every day. We believe in our process. The results should take care of themselves."SubscribeThere’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at 'We believe we are the best': Siena men's basketball aims for title repeat.