Can Year Two of New Era At Fordham Continue Improvement?

It’s Year 2 of the Jeff Neubauer Era at Fordham, and it seems to feature a lot of the same things that made the inaugural season successful: a hyper-aggressive defense that loves to create havoc in the half-court and wear teams down mentally to go with an offense that is much more patient, but likes to work inside out and shoot three-pointers when available.

The Rams rode those things to a 17-14 record, their first winning mark since 2006-07 and only the second in a quarter-century, dating back to when they were playing in the Patriot League (Fordham also made a postseason appearance since 1992, albeit in the CBI). They finished 8-10 in the Atlantic-10 after winning no more than four games in any of the previous five seasons.

Continue reading “Can Year Two of New Era At Fordham Continue Improvement?”

About Last Night: Nov. 11, 2016

Going to be reviving this semi-regular feature to recap what happened around college basketball on big nights of the week. Considering there were 163 games on opening night, it seems like a great time to recap all the action. Continue reading “About Last Night: Nov. 11, 2016”

Atlantic 10 Quarterfinal Live Blog

BROOKLYN – Conferences that play their tournaments at home sites have their charm, and for smaller leagues like America East and the NEC, it makes some economic sense.

But there’s nothing like getting everyone together in one place. Alas, the Atlantic 10’s gathering is the last in Brooklyn, at least for three years. The ACC is coming to Brooklyn next season, so the A-10 will head to Pittsburgh in 2017, then to Washington, D.C. in 2018. Presumably when they come back to Brooklyn in 2019, it will be a week earlier, which for us is a shame because it will likely conflict with the MAAC and other local mid-major tournaments that are played that weekend.

So, as perhaps the final Friday quadruple Atlantic 10 quarterfinal we’ll see for a while, here’s a running diary of sorts of what transpired.

Per tradition, I did my semi-annual walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but with soaring March temperatures, the trip was slower than usual and I was filled with sweat upon arrival at the Barclays Center. But the warm weather helped the Dayton painted crew I first met a couple of years ago. Actually, they were different guys, the tradition has been going on for more than a decade with different students.

So without further ado, here’s what I thought of the day in real time. We laughed, we cried, we thought, we ate. And we watched VCU’s band and Red Panda Acrobat in the same game:

 

Shavar Newkirk Helping Drive St. Joe’s Turnaround

This is a guest post by Ronak Patel. The humbling of a New York native is a big reason for the turnaround St. Joseph’s is experiencing this season. The play of sophomore point guard Shavar Newkirk has helped the Hawks — who won 13 games last season —  to a 23-5 overall mark, tied for first in the Atlantic 10. Continue reading “Shavar Newkirk Helping Drive St. Joe’s Turnaround”