Fairfield’s struggles this season, a 3-13 start under third-year head coach Sydney Johnson, can be attributed to the team’s influx of youth in the lineup. Continue reading “Fairfield Looking for Healthy Contributions from Jenkins, Sidibe” →

Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson said he had seen enough after a 49-point effort in 61 possessions at home against Holy Cross.

“We needed to play better I wasn’t just going to sit back and let us not play as well and not do things,” Johnson said. “Sometimes that’s reflected in the lineup, sometimes that’s reflected in stuff we do in practice. We’re shooting a lot more free throws, we’re shooting a lot more jump shots, certain things that just have to happen, because we weren’t performing.”

“I think I like the lineup where it is now, but if we can’t reach our potential as a team, we’ve got to look at some other guys getting some looks, but right now we’ll probably stick with this group for now.”

Johnson changed his starting lineup when his team reached Mohegan Sun for two games and has stuck behind a lineup with K.J. Rose, Doug Chappell, Marcus Gilbert, Coleman Johnson and captain Amadou Sidibe. Despite losing three games since – two to the likes of Louisville and Providence, Johnson said he has seen the offensive improve over the last three games. The Stags put together their best offensive performance last Friday at Providence scoring 0.97 points per possession in a 78-69 loss to the Friars.

“I like how fluid we were, how much we share the ball and it was our point of emphasis going into that game,” Johnson said of the offense’s improvement against Providence. “We were just more stagnant than I wanted us to be and I take the blame for that. I wasn’t stressing that enough and that made us predictable.”

With the new lineup the Stags bring senior captain Mo Barrow off the bench, a role that has led to two of his three double-digit scoring games so far and allows Johnson to have a reliable presence that can have an impact.

“I think we know what we’re going to get out of Mo, he’s so reliable,” Johnson said. “It allows some of the younger guys to start the game, and if they start well we can roll with it, if they don’t start as well Mo is the kind of guy who can rescue us. I think that’s going to hold all year long.”

The rotation has started to come into shape and Johnson said that the group that has played the last three games will continue to see action in the same way as long as they are healthy.

One player Johnson said he wants to see improve on the floor is sophomore captain Sidibe, who has averaged just six points and less than six rebounds per game, who he said needs to focus on his game as well as being a leader.

“His issue is as a captain you have to be responsible for so many other guys, but you also can’t forget your own play,” Johnson said of Sidibe. “I’ve spent some time just reminding him his worth and what he brings to the table and making sure he’s keyed in on those things then also lead us as a captain. I expect him to play better.”

“I would say he hasn’t played as well as he did as a freshman to this point, but six or seven games into last year we didn’t know how good of a player we had on our hands. I think Amadou is going to be a program guy, there’s no doubt about it. It’s just returning to simplifying it a little bit more and he’ll get back to producing the way we hope.”

One of the most consistent players on the roster has been Sidibe’s classmate Marcus Gilbert who has averaged 13 points per game and scored a career-high 26 points against Holy Cross.

“He’s maturing right before our eyes,” Johnson said. “He’s a guy that we could rely on to make a jump shot last year and gave us a little bit of defense, now he could he’s on track to be our leading scorer.”

“He may be the guy that leads us in points and he’s starting to be more vocal. He’s just more confident and a confident Marcus Gilbert is probably likely to be an all-conference player maybe this year, definitely as an upperclassmen.”

Meanwhile his older brother Malcolm, who will play three seasons of eligibility with the Stags, has had an impact on the game defensively while still working through his offensive game. Marcus registered eight blocks in his first game with the Stags and has shown the ability to grab rebounds after playing very limited minutes the last three years.

“I’d probably give him somewhere in the B range,” Johnson said of grading Malcolm’s performance through seven games. “We’re throwing so much stuff at him. He hasn’t played in almost three years, it’s crazy for him to have an eight block game and have some good dunks and effect the game so well defensively. I think he’s ahead of things offensively, I told people all along he’s a work in progress, but he is making that progress. I just think we have a really good player on our hands moving forward and he needs time to get some of that rust off.”

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and America East conference for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.