Rider opened up their home schedule with an 11-0 run to start and would not surrender the lead in a 15 point win over Lehigh. Rider shot 48.4% for the game which included an absurd 16 of 29 from three point range (55.2%). Novar Gadson led the Broncs with 20 points, Ryan Thompson (7/13, 5/9 from three point range) added 19. Andy Katz posted on Monday that Rider hopes the Mississippi State win comes in handy for March:

The Broncs aren’t done, either. If they don’t slip where they’re not supposed to (like, say, against Lehigh on Monday night) and possibly steal a road game Thursday at Virginia, even if they lose Saturday at Kentucky, they already will have done a lot to keep them in the at-large discussion come March. All this might sound a bit premature in November, but it’s not that far fetched, especially if the MAAC continues to be as strong as it is showing so far.

Rider has got votes into the AP poll for the first time in school history. This is Rider’s second 2-0 start since 1974-75.

Tuesday

St. Peter’s opened the morning for ESPN’s marathon at 6am and put a hurting on Monmouth. St. Peter’s had a lead as large as 26 in their 58-34 win. Wesley Jenkins led the Peacocks with 10 points and  8 rebounds. This was a great win for the Peacocks after losing a heart breaker at Seton Hall. They are my sleeper team this year and could be a tough team in the conference schedule. I don’t care what you say about it, the 24 hours of basketball was a well executed idea that led to a lot of excitement on campuses you might not normally see.

Niagara did not make things easy in a 76-69 victory over Drexel. Niagara held a lead as large as 15 but Drexel used a six minute run to cut that to two possessions. In a game that was tight, without Tyrone Lewis, the Purple Eagles were able to survive. Reports were good that Lewis would be back for the Drexel game on Saturday. Rob Garrison led the Purple Eagles with 20 points, 10 of which came from the free throw line. Niagara did not shoot well (40.5% effective FG%) but was helped by going 25 for 31 (80.6%) from the free throw line.

However, the main story is that Lewis was ruled out of the game and watched with street clothes in a protective boot. Things did not appear to be any clearer after the game as the Niagara Gazette reported:

“I don’t know exactly what the injury is,” [Joe] Mihalich said. “It’s a long word.”

When asked about when he’d return from reporters, Lewis said he’d be ready for the next game.

Iona went down to Hampton and won 68-63 propelled by a great first half. Iona shot 48.3 eFG% in the first half with 22 points coming from off the bench. Iona took a lead as large as 14 with 14:38 to play and were barely holding on as Hampton used a 13-1 run to cut the lead to 1 with 5:33 to go.  Junior center Alejo Rodriguez is making his run as being the Gaels go to guy, scoring 17 points in 23 minutes, going 7 for 8 from the field and adding three free throws. Add that  with a good win over Boston University and the new-look Gaels are looking pretty good.

Loyola of Chicago took a lead close to the middle of the first half and never gave it up in a 20 point win over Canisius. Elton Frazier was the only starter for the Golden Griffins to not have 4 or more turnovers. Canisius’ 22 turnovers will be a problem but being down forced them to jack up three’s which they only shot 6 of 21 from behind the arc (28.6%). Julius Coles led the Griffs with 18 points, Frank Turner scored 17 and Greg Logins scored 11 in the loss. The defense was another problem as Loyola shot a 64.5% effective FG% including an 11 of 18 mark from three point land. Canisius has not won a season opener since 2003.

The good news is Fairfield had a 12-7 lead with 12:10 to go in the first half. The bad news? Maryland would open the game up after that and take a lead as large as 29 in their 71-42 win over the Stags. Freshman Derek Needham was the Stags only double digit scorer with 15. Needham led the Stags on Sunday in a win over Fordham with 19 points.  Fairfield was only down 8 at halftime but Maryland turned up the heat to give the Stags their first loss:

“Inexperience showed all over the place,” Fairfield coach Ed Cooley said. “I thought we had good spurts but didn’t have the experience to sustain it.”

There are some rumors that Greg Nero might not return this season due to his sinus surgery. Nero, Yorel Hawkins and Warren Edney have not appeared yet for the Stags. This will give the younger players a chance to play early and see if the Stags can build some much needed depth for the MAAC regular season.

Wednesday

Wednesday did not appear to be a great day for the MAAC. Princeton went on a 16-2 run to cut a 7 point Manhattan lead and beat the Jaspers 61-54. Princeton was able to outscore Manhattan by 10 in the second half despite shooting a 33.3% effective FG% and only making 6 shots from the field. Princeton made up their scoring at the line, making 16 of 20 (80%) from the line.

One noteworthy achievement in this game, Darryl Crawford scored his 1,000th point with 9:11 to go in the game. Crawford and Rico Pickett led the Jaspers with 14 points each. Crawford notched a double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Loyola grabbed a great local road win in a 69-66 victory over UMBC. Jamal Barney scored 14 of his team-leading 21 in the second half which included the game deciding layup with 11.7 seconds left. Former Siena Saint Chris De La Rosa scored 6 and dished out 8 assists for UMBC.

It took Marist about 25 minutes to score 38 points against Rutgers on Saturday in their seven point loss to the Scarlet Knights, but it took them a lot longer to get to that number in West Hartford on Wednesday in an embarrassing 75-38 loss. This appears to be the least amount of points scored in a loss Marist Men’s Basketball Division I history. (*In quickly scanning the Marist Media Guide, the least amount of points in a loss in Marist history appears to be 41 in a 43-41 loss in February of 1984) Marist 2nd year Head Coach Chuck Martin did not sugarcoat this one either:

“Arguably the worst game I’ve ever been affiliated with in my 12 years” [Martin] told the [Marist] broadcast team after the game. “The score is really hard to swallow,” said Martin, adding the Red Foxes’ “selfish play” was “something as a staff, we’re not going to tolerate.”

Marist shot a 30.5% effective FG% and went 7 of 27 from three point range. Marist had one double digit scorer in Candon Rusin and freshman have led the Red Foxes in scoring in both of their games. Friend of mine (and so, the site) Greg Hrinya posted his quick take on his site. The good news? They get a long time to practice before their next game at New Hampshire.

Darryl Crawford almost doubled his production in scoring the basketball, improving from 8.5 PPG to 14.4 PPG between his sophomore and junior seasons. Manhattan will no doubt rely on the senior from Harlem, NY to lead the squad. Head coach Barry Rohrssen will return to Manhattan for his 4th season at the helm. He brings in 6’10″ Kevin Laue, the one handed basketball phenom, JUCO transfer Rico Pickett, and George Beamon from nearby Roslyn High School on Long Island. Manhattan will need Crawford’s production to increase again as their success will depend highly on the impact of their incoming players.

Fairfield Stags
2009: 5th Place. 17-15 (9-9)
2010: 4th

According to head coach Ed Cooley, Greg Nero is home taking online classes this semester as he tries to deal with a sinus issue that just won’t go away. Last we heard, he is in serious jeopardy to miss all of the 2009-10 season. When Johnathon Han left the team last season, Nero was the focal point of the offense. Junior forwards Yorel Hawkins and Warren Edney were both impressive in the MAAC tournament last year and will both need to step up for the Stags. When healthy, the Stags feature one of the best front courts in the MAAC. They will need better and more consistent guard play to compete for a top spot in the MAAC this season.

Loyola Greyhounds
2009: 8th Place. 12-20 (7-11)
2010: 7th

Brett Harvey has been the team’s most versatile player. He brings 3 years of experience and two summer foreign tours with him. Harvey can fill it up and is not a guy you want to foul. Junior PG Brian Rudolph is a very fast paced player, more than capable of distributing the rock efficiently. Loyola is a team who can shoot lights out from 3, or lose by 30. They’re the typical play ‘no-defense’ team from the MAAC. We think it will be tough for them to finish above .500 in the MAAC this season.

From the Connecticut Post:

The fourth-year guard was expected to be an integral part of the 2008-09 season for the Stags, who were picked to finish second in the preseason All-MAAC coaches poll behind Siena. Han, who was originally recruited by former Fairfield coach Tim O’Toole but has played for Cooley since his sophomore year, was a first-team All-MAAC preseason selection and considered the best player on the Stags going into the season.

I was able to watch Fairfield in the first game after Han’s extended absence– a 68-63 win over Marist. Fairfield did look lost on offense at times and were trailing by 24-7 at a point in the first half.  Marist was up eight at halftime but Fairfield was able to grind back the lead by the middle of the second half.

I think this puts Fairfield in a huge hole. Couple that with injuries to the starters, Greg Nero’s bad back and Herbie Allen’s bad wrist and you have to figure the chances we see Fairfield playing on Monday night in Albany are under 20%. Oh, and I didn’t even mention that sophomore Warren Edney and junior Anthony Johnson are done for the year.

SSB: One of the teams I still think has been a real good dark horse these last 2 years has been Fairfield…
Pomeroy: I think that’s a reasonable goal for them, not that I would expect it of course. To challenge Siena they would have to significantly improve their defense. Their offense is going to cause a ton of problems for MAAC opponents.
One on One: Ken Pomeroy

Fairfield has the chance to be one of the most intriguing teams in the MAAC this season. Their offense has progressed to better numbers in the Ed Cooley era, however their defense has fallen to the bottom third of the NCAA in advanced categories. If you use the Kenpom ratings for Fairfield, these are the prespectives you get from the past two years:

2007: This is a team that can score, takes a fair amount of threes, turns the ball over 22% of the time but also grabs a lot of offensive boards. They might get you to turn it over but you will be able to score on them almost at will. 4 win improvement.

2008: This is a team that can really shoot it. They are a good offense that excels in rebounding on the offensive end and making threes. You can beat them inside the three point line and you should be able to control the ball against them. 1 win improvement.

In 19 of Fairfield’s 30 games last year, the opponent shot 50% eFG% or better. Teams posted efficiency scores over 118 in 9 out of those 30 games. In other words, the Fairfield defense made the opponent look like the 2008 Duke Blue Devils when they were on the court.

Fairfield’s major knock is that they are inconsistently consistent. The easy word for it might be streaky.

Last Season

Fairfield in 08: Lose 2, Win 2, Lose 6, Win 1, Lose 1, Win 2, Lose 3, Win 2, Lose 2, Win 7, Lose 2.

When Fairfield lost 6 in a row, they turned the ball over 3 times against Georgetown when the game before the team turned the ball over 19 times against Saint Francis (NY). Yet this is the same team that did something the New England Patriots couldn’t do: go undefeated in February. When you look at all the Pomeroy stats here is the comparison of that early Fairfield streak to the 7 game win month. Let’s see if we can find anything:

The offense went from being one of the lower 3rd Offenses in the NCAA to one of the best in the country. The defense went from being one of the worst 20 defenses in the country, to one in the 270 range. That type of improvement which included better free throw rates on both ends precipitated a team that could win 7 games by an average of 7.5 points.

However let’s try to take out these 13 games and see if we can find any difference in Fairfield in the overall categories. And compare them against Fairfield’s overall season numbers.

The two teams look relatively the same. Except that the team that didn’t streak got to the free throw line more often. The team endured a six game losing streak and a seven game win streak while playing most of their games outside of those streaks like the team they were all season. In other words, they are who we thought they were. This is a team with a good offense but a bottom of the barrel defense which will need some help from the three freshmen big men who are coming onto the program.

One of the huge keys to this season will be Junior F Anthony Johnson who led the team on the boards should see an increase in minutes and effectiveness. A rebound in F Greg Nero‘s numbers would help as well:

Mystery Fairfield Player

Player A is Nero in ’07 and Player B is Nero in ’08. You wouldn’t tell by his on the court play since he regressed in scoring, Nero went from 9.4 ppg in 07 to 8.4 ppg in 08. The Junior improved modestly in advanced offensive categories and by about a rebound per game, but that was on a team where he did not lead them in rebounding. Nero’s freshman year he had Marty O’Sullivan picking up a freakishly high 5.6 rpg and Mike Van Schaick picking up 126 rebounds. Nero’s big year might show up this year, for Fairfield’s sake they will need it to become the true offensive force they can be. Cooley thinks that we could see that step taken by Nero this year:

“He’s had some health issues with his nasal blockage, but he’s better. Greg’s had a lot of experience. He’s been in a lot of situations, had a lot of minutes. It’s now time for him to put it together.”
- Ed Cooley on Greg Nero.
Fairfield Blue Ribbon Preview

If Nero cannot step up, expect for some of his playing time to be given to Freshman Forward Brandon Davis, the Greenville, SC product was ranked 44th out of the top 50 centers in the country by ESPN.

Fun Fact

Cooley, the Providence, Rhode Island native, won two Rhode Island High School Player of the Year awards for Basketball before attending Stonehill College.

Schedule

They will be challenged and have never backed down from playing tough non-conference games. They will open at Memphis and then come back home to play nearby rival Sacred Heart before heading to Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Tip Off will feature at least two matchups that include the opener against Virginia Tech and a game against either Missouri or Xavier. Other non-conference matchups will include Patriot League foes American, Army and Holy Cross; a trip to UConn and playing against Drexel and at Fordham.

Siena will ring in the new year with a home matchup against Fairfield and 16 days after the Saints will be welcomed into the Arena at Harbor Yard.

I think we are looking at a very good Fairfield team here: good enough to be third in the MAAC. If this was the team that could get home court advantage for the MAAC tournament they would be a real threat to win the conference title. Last year, Fairfield shot eFG% of 54.1 at home but only went 7-6. The main reason? their opponents shot eFG% of 51.7%. If they can stop someone this season, they will be a real threat. When they defend, they should be able to beat up on the lower half of the conference. They have shown they can beat Siena as a team, both teams combined for five turnovers in the final minute. I think optimism and Cooley’s first season over .500 overall and third straight over .500 MAAC record should be a mild expectation. With a little more luck, this team could see postseason play: hopefully for Siena fans they hope that means the College Basketball Invitational.

[* - See what these ratings mean.]