Rams Start Hitting Their Stride
by Ray Floriani
BRONX, N.Y. – When Dereck Whittenburg took over the Fordham program two years ago, one of his initial priorities was defense. Under Whittenburg you defend or you sit, which explains why the Ram mentor began his post game press conference Wednesday evening chanting, “Defense, defense, defense.” The Rams put on a defensive clinic, smothering Richmond to earn a 63-45 Atlantic 10 Conference victory at Rose Hill. The Spiders entered the game winning four of their last five and running the patented Princeton offense that can frustrate many an opponent. On this evening, everything Richmond ran, Fordham had an answer.
“I learned from facing Monmouth in the Northeast Conference (during his Wagner tenure) that the best way to face the Princeton offense is not play on your heels,” Whittenburg said. “We wanted to be the aggressor. We decided to attack (the offense).” That is exactly what the Rams did to near perfection.
“Fordham was aggressive and had a great game plan,” praised Richmond coach Chris Mooney. “They played very well and got us out of our rhythm.”
In these days of three and four guard sets, Richmond runs the Princeton offense with one guard, Oumar Sylla. Swingman Jermaine Bucknor can help out at the two guard spot, but basically plays the three. With the one guard set, Richmond was vunerable to pressure and trapping. As Mooney said, the Spiders were visibly disrupted. The stat sheet listed the Spiders guilty of 14 turnovers, but does not account for the numerous times they rushed their offense and wound up taking shots in haste.
On the offensive end, the home crowd saw several good performances by the Rams. Marcus Stout was inserted as a starter at guard “just on a hunch”, per Whittenburg, and responded with 17 points. Jermaine Anderson added 15 while Kevin Anderson chipped in with 10. Bucknor led all scorers with 20 points, but the only other support he received was 10 points from teammate Peter Thomas.
Of greater significance is stellar frontcourt performer Bryant Dunston was in foul trouble and limited to 6 points 6 rebounds. On a night when Dunston was quiet, the Rams had other weapons to speak volumes.
“Our chemistry is good,” Whittenburg said. “We are getting better and starting to understand our roles more.”
Fordham led 30-21 at the half and was never seriously threatened over the final twenty minutes. In fact, the only drama centered around Jermaine Anderson as he neared 1,000 career points. The senior guard hit a field goal with about 10 minutes remaining and an announcement was made that the senior guard needed 4 more to hit the milestone.
“I didn’t realize I was that close (to 1,000),” he said. “When I heard the announcement I got nervous because I wanted to get the 1,000 in front of the home fans, they’re just great.”
Anderson reached the distinguished pinnacle with a free throw in the waning moments. “I didn’t realize what was going on late in the game,” Whittenburg said. “Guys were passing up easy shots to feed him (Anderson) . If I knew he was that close I would have called some plays for him because he deserved to get the 1,000 here.”
The win puts Fordham at 4-3 in conference play, while Richmond fell to the same record. Mooney, in his first year at Richmond following a successful run at Air Force, is getting his first look up close at A-10 action.
“From what I’ve seen it’s a good conference,” he said. “Every team is deep, the competition is good and there is some physical play each night. Like any conference the home team, with the exception of George Washington is winning at home more and finding it tough on the road. It’s just a very, very deep and competitive conference.”
Mooney’s club has wins over the likes of Dayton, St.Louis and Charlotte whom many feel is the class of the league. Still, he came away especially impressed with Fordham whom he labeled, “the most impressive team in the Atlantic 10 we’ve played to date.”
The Rams are in a comfort zone and tough in their friendly confines of Rose Hill. Now they go on the road to Duquesne and St.Bonaventure. On paper these are two very good opportunities to secure valuable road wins, but Whittenburg refuses to take anyone lightly.
“Our conference is like others throughout the nation,” the Fordham mentor said. “You have to take care of business at home and ‘steal’ a few on the road. Our problem on the road is we play in stretches. We play well for twenty minutes. We have to get to the point that we play that forty-minute game. You need that effort to win on the road no matter who you are playing.”
On a night when their marquee player was marginally effective, the Rams showed they have other options and talent ready to step up. They may very well be ready to start putting those complete game efforts together on enemy soil and be a tough opponent regardless of the game location.
