SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs varsity basketball team has had four different head coaches in as many years.
With Matt Usher, a 2000 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, in charge, the Blue Streaks are 2-0 this season. After strong opening non-league outings against the Foothills Council’s Glens Falls (62-52) and Queensbury (58-47), Usher and the Blue Streaks have started the path to re-establish themselves.
“We want to set the tone for what’s hopefully going to be the way we’re going to play for years to come,” Usher said.
One of those tone setters for the 2013-14 Blue Streaks will be senior Noah Arciero, who is averaging 23 points per game in the first two matchups. A First Team All-Suburban Council player last season, who averaged 15.7 points per game, Arciero will be called upon to play multiple positions and carry the scoring load.
“[Arciero] can basically play all five positions on the floor for us,” Usher said. “He’s our tallest player and he’s a threat to score in the post whenever he touches the ball around the hoop. He’s going to be someone who we look to offensively on a nightly basis. If he is not having a great night, we’re hoping he can contribute on the glass and on the defensive end—be a steady, consistent leader for us as a senior.”
In addition to Arciero, junior and three-year varsity player, Christopher Byno will run the offense at point.
“[Byno] does a great job taking charge,” Usher said. “He came up as a freshman. He’s savvy out there. He knows how to handle the flow of the game. Whenever we’re feeling good and are on a run, or struggling over the past couple possessions, he can settle us down and get us into what we need to run. So it’s nice to have a guy like that out on the court you can look to as a coach and as a teammate with the ball in his hands.”
As Usher looks to improve upon last season’s 8-11 campaign that ended with a sectional loss to eventual Class AA champion Troy (who dropped down to Class A this season), he finds himself thinking of longtime Blue Streaks head coach Mitch Snyder, who coached him when he played at Saratoga Springs.
After Snyder left in 2010–11, the team was led by Frank Mahoney in 2011-12 before Jack Brock took over and coached in 2012-13.
“I try to think back on and remember a lot of the things coach Snyder emphasized when I played for him,” Usher said. “He comes back to things that are important like playing hard, playing the right way, thinking of the team before yourself. Obviously you want to win the game, but those intangibles are going to be what really take you places in the long run.”
One player Usher thinks brings those intangibles is senior Jesse Alexander, who will be asked to be a presence down low.
“We don’t have a whole lot of size, but Jesse works hard inside and constantly goes up against guys who might be a few inches taller than him,” Usher said. “His motor and his heart inside makes up for what he gives up in the height department.”
The Blue Streaks go into tonight’s Suburban Council opener at home against Niskayuna before the following three-game span on the road (Shaker, Shenendehowa, Averill Park).
Stressing a consistent effort from the first quarter to the fourth, Usher is familiar with the grind of the Suburban Council, expecting no less from the tonight’s game.
“[Niskayuna] has some size and length,” Usher said. “I’m sure it will be the first of many suburban battles. I don’t think we’re going to have a night off the rest of the way. It’s going to be night in and night out we’re going to be challenged in the Suburban.”
Although they started off with two wins, the Blue Streaks are looking to shoot better from the field as a team these next couple games, starting tonight at 7 p.m.
“I’ve been thrilled with the work ethic and their attitudes,” said Usher of his team. “I know they’ve had a few coaches in the past three or four years, but they’ve been able to listen and buy in to different concepts and philosophies over the past few seasons and I’ve been extremely impressed so far with the work ethic and patience. We’re looking forward to starting league play. We know it’s going to be challenging and Nisky is going to be tough, but we’re excited to see what we can do and see what we need to work on."
