Fordham hung tough with St. John’s in the first game of the MSG Holiday Festival, but eventually the Red Storm’s talent and athleticism won out in a 58-47 victory. Continue reading “Five Thoughts as Fordham’s Toughness Not Enough”
Category: Atlantic 10
5 Thoughts on the Battle of the Bronx
The 105th Battle of the Bronx was played last night at Rose Hill and Manhattan gutted out a 65-58 victory over Fordham. Michael Alvarado was named the MVP of the game after scoring 19 points.
Preview: The Battle of the Bronx
The Battle of the Bronx is tomorrow night and it should be a good game between Manhattan and Fordham. The Rams are going to be without Chris Gaston after knee surgery, but there always seems to be a little bit of magic at Rose Hill. Jaden Daly is back to answer questions about Fordham prior to the match up. I also some for him about Manhattan.
Fordham Primer with Jaden Daly
Fordham has played two games already this season and are 0-2 after losing at Pittsburgh and Texas State. The Rams get a break tonight, sort of, in that they are playing at what is technically a neutral site. Of course Robert Morris is only 30 minutes from the Peterson Events Center. Here’s an early season look at the Rams from Jaden Daly of A Daly Dose of Hoops. Continue reading “Fordham Primer with Jaden Daly”
10,000 sims: Atlantic 10
The Atlantic 10 is going to be wild and crazy this season. The 16-team league is playing 16 conference games and schedules can be wildly unbalanced. It could have a big impact on the standings too. Saint Joseph’s might be the third best team in the A-10 according to the preseason projections, but you’ll see that the Hawks’ schedule could actually make them the favorite this season. If you’re looking for something crazy, guessing that a tie will happen at the top of the A-10 standings by season’s end is a pretty good one. In both simulations almost 30% of the seasons ended with at least two teams tied for first place. (In one there was an eight-team tie!)
Judging the computer
I did a Q&A with Dan Hanner to discuss his mid-major rankings, here I’m going to go back to the typical formula and discuss where I think the computer rankings are under or overrating teams. Here’s one each per conference with my note as to what the computers are missing.
NYC Team Capsules: Fordham
Last season: 10-19, (3-13 Atlantic 10)
State of Program: Trying to rebuild in difficult and expanding A-10
Key Players Lost: Kervin Bristol, Marvin Dominique (St. Peter’s), Alberto Estwick, Lamount Samuell
Incoming Players: Travion Leonard (F), Nihad Musovic (G), Jermaine Myers (G), Ryan Rhoomes (F), Mandell Thomas (G)
Projected Starting Lineup:
G: Devon McMillan
G: Branden Frazier
G: Bryan Smith
F: Ryan Canty
F: Chris Gaston
Key Reserves: Jeffrey Short (G), Ryan Rhoomes (F – if eligible), Travion Leonard (F), Mandell Thomas (G), Jermaine Myers (G)
Biggest Storylines:
1) Will Fordham escape the Atlantic 10 cellar? Make the conference tournament?
2) Can Chris Gaston be a First Team A-10 Player?
3) Will the offense improve? (It almost has to.)
Analysis: Fordham enters the 2012-13 season with some questions to answer, including if forward Ryan Rhoomes is eligible. If he is then Rhoomes could start in place of Ryan Canty and the Rams will have enough front court depth to get through the season. If not though then Travion Leonard will be pressed into service and Fordham might be overmatched against some of the A-10 front courts, even if Gaston does play like an all-conference player. The backcourt has more depth. Devon McMillan is a placeholder right now. If he struggles on offense as much as he did during his freshman campaign he’ll be replaced by Jermaine Myers or Jeffrey Short in the lineup. Short flashed some potential during his freshman season, but it was ended early by injury. Myers is a highly-rated recruit from Canada and Blair Academy. The offense though will go through Gaston and Branden Frazier the majority of the time. How they handle it will determine just how efficient the Rams are.
Final Prediction: Tom Pecora keeps bringing talent to Fordham, but the Rams still have a long way to go. Last season in the 14-team A-10 they had the worst offense and defense in conference. The offense has to improve this season and it should as players mature. There a few a programs that might slide beneath Fordham and thus the Rams have a chance to make it to the A-10 Tournament in Brooklyn. That would be a sign of a step forward.
Fordham picked 14th in A-10 preseason poll
The Atlantic 10 preseason poll is out and Fordham was picked 14th in the 16-team league in front of Rhode Island (Dan Hurley’s new team) and Duquesne (Jim Ferry’s new team). Obviously both NEC coaches have some work to do moving up in competition. Fordham is going to need to get past two other teams in order to make the A-10 tournament and the likely candidates are Charlotte and George Washington – which were picked 12th and 13th respectively. Also, Chris Gaston was named to the Preseason First Team All-Conference. Great to see him getting recognition.
Examining Fordham’s non-conference schedule
Fordham released its non-conference schedule, or at least as much as the Rams know, last Monday. It is an odd one to be sure, but it appears that there are a variety of factors driving what will be a long time on the road for Tom Pecora’s squad in the first few months of the season.
Continue reading “Examining Fordham’s non-conference schedule”
BU’s move gets everyone thinking… again
Boston University is leaving America East for the Patriot League in July of 2013. That’s almost exactly a year from now and it’s going to make for one interesting final season. The biggest problem though is that it’s dragged America East right back into the conference realignment conversation. Is Stony Brook going to jump to the CAA now that BU is leaving? I don’t know, but my guess is that this move doesn’t actually change much. What it should do though is make America East very nervous.
NYC Buckets Archive 