Personally I think it's been dead for a few.... years.
While there’s a Nor’easter in full effect in the Mid Atlantic there’s a different kind of warning being posted for Niners fans:
MONSTRA ALERT! MONSTRA ALERT!
Niners scheduled to play horrific, craptastic team in the next 24 hours. Expect periods of ineptitude approaching record highs. 100% chance of substantial RPI drop will occur as a wave of ugly basketball crosses the Rose Hill Gym court. Secure your possessions and seek shelter in a concrete fallout shelther no less than 1000 feet below surface should Niners face 2nd half deficit.
In a game that’s probably more likely to resemble a trip to the Bronx Zoo than a Division I basketball program, the Niners take on the Fordham Rams Saturday afternoon at 2 PM in a contest televised on MASN. The zoo analogy is pretty fitting for Fordham considering the season the Rams have been having, dating back to the spring letter the university’s administration sent to boosters claiming support for it’s coaches and basketball programs. Considering the financial meltdown it was kind of fitting in its timing considering many a bank that failed tried a similar strategy to placate investors.
The situation did not improve despite the announcement that Jio Fontan would return to the team and the arrival of heralded frosh post man Chris Gaston. Just five games and one win against lowly Sacred Heart later, Jio Fontan announced his transfer again, this time for good. One day later, out goes Dereck Whittenburg and Jared Grasso takes over the train wreck.
Things haven’t gotten much better -just 1 win and 14 more losses.
There are a couple of bright spots though, one being the aforementioned Gaston. Gaston has been nothing short of spectacular on a team where opponents know he’s going to be one of the two focal points of the offense. To average 17.8 ppg. and nearly 10.7 rpg. on an abysmal team is very impressive and Gaston will warrant serious consideration for A10 FOY (go Braswell). Extra impressive when you consider he’s listed at “just” 6’7″. Gaston does have areas to improve on though, such as shooting from outside (in other words, don’t) and turnovers (averaging over 4 tpg.). Part of the problem might be the fact he’s got so little around him and forces his shots and drives. Oh, and he’s on the market. LOL.
Gaston does have a pretty solid Sr. wingmate in Brenton Butler. The 6’3″ guard is scoring at a nice clip (15.7 ppg.) but it does come at the expense of a lot of shots (33% from the field and 31% from behind the arc). Again, it’s likely because he’s one of only realistic options on offense for the Rams.
After that the cupboard is pretty bare. Alberto Estwick (So.) and Lance Brown (Fr.) are a pair of nice young guards, but they’re not ready to carry the team or take significant weight off Gaston or Butler. Perhaps in a year or two, the Gaston/Estwick/Brown could form a nice nucleus, but it’s hard to envision that given the lack of support from Fordham.
As a team Fordham does _______________ well. Fill in the blank cause I can’t find anything. I guess you could say they play good perimeter defense since they limit teams to under 25% from behind the arc, but who cares? They’re 2-18.
The game itself really is a must-win for the Niners. Fordham is awful and to lose to them on the road would be devastating to the Niners’ at-large hopes. The good news is we’ve got some serious swagger and Phil Jones’ game is on an upswing ever since he circled the wagons emotionally after going through a rough patch in his life. GTG admires Big Phil for his resiliency.
What we the writers would like to see is a balanced attack on offense and respect for Fordham on defense. They’re awful, but we’re not in any position to take any team for granted. The stakes are way too high at this point of the season. Charles Dewhurst has been spectacular on the defensive glass of late and we will need him to keep that up in order to counter Chris Gaston. This will be particularly important since Chris Braswell will likely have his hands full trying to defend Gaston. With Braswell getting in early trouble with fouls against GW, his focus will be critical and Javarris Barnett and KJ Sherrill will have to be ready if called on to play key minutes.
All that being said, it’s reasonable to expect the Niners to win this game, and frankly, to demand it. They’ve shown mental toughness that’s been lacking for years over the last few games and as long as they stay focused and playing the way they’ve been, this should be an easy W. Let’s just not have an epidemic of turnovers in the first half this time, mkay?
Go Niners!