It’s been another uphill battle for the men’s basketball program at Fordham.
While Rhode Island (7-0 conference, 15-3 overall) has been running roughshod this season over teams in the Atlantic 10, Fordham finds themselves back in familiar territory at the bottom of the standings.
Timing hasn’t been the best for Fordham, they’re 1-6 in the conference (6-13 overall) and have Rhode Island next on the schedule.
Third-year head coach Jeff Neubauer has found it tough to duplicate the success he had in his first season on campus at historic Rose Hill Gym. Here are a couple reasons why:
The Defense
In Neubauer’s first two seasons, Fordham ranked among the nation’s best in steals, turnovers forced, and turnover margins.
The Rams still are amongst the nation’s best in steals. Junior guard Joseph Chartouny leads the nation with 3.4 steals per game. They average 9.74 steals per game, this leads the Atlantic 10.
Strong team defense is a Neubauer trademark, but there’s been slippage this season. Fordham ranks last in the conference in rebounding with an average of 29.2 per game. They’re not creating enough opportunities for the offense to get points.
The Offense Isn’t Much Better
Speaking of the offense, another Neubauer trademark is three-point shooting. Fordham, with a .282 shooting percentage, ranks last in the conference from long-range. This is well off from their postings of .345 and .334 in Neubauer’s first two seasons respectively.
Lack of rebounding and the inability to knock down the outside shot has contributed to Fordham’s anemic offense, also ranked last in the conference.
Talent, or lack thereof, is a big reason for Fordham’s struggles. There’s just not enough offense on this team.
Not to knock the current roster, but the Rams have not been able to replace the departures of graduate transfers Christian Sengfelder and Antwoine Anderson.
To take matters a step further, the case can be made they’ve never fully recovered from Eric Paschall leaving the school and transferring to Villanova.
Paschall was only there for the 2014-15 season, and won Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. But Fordham only won 10 games, Tom Pecora was removed from head coach, and Paschall found the door for greener pastures.
What’s Ahead
Neubauer did a great job bringing energy and vision to a team built mostly of Pecora’s recruits. But now in his third season on campus, he’s faced with the challenge of rebuilding a program while keeping his players focused despite the hard times.
Give Fordham credit because they’re playing hard for Neubauer. They hung tough with St. Josephs for the first 20 minutes of their game in Philadelphia before the Hawks blew them out the building in the second half.
Rhode Island leads the conference in points averaged per game with 77.4, Fordham will have their hands full trying to avoid another blowout.
It’s been another long season in the Bronx for Fordham fans. Four of their next six games are at home which has to help, but to avoid a total collapse they’ll need to take advantage.