How Fordham may have discovered its secret weapon this season
By Joe Manganiello
Lehigh point guard senior Mackey McKnight had his way in the first half of Saturday’s game against Fordham, scoring 22 points on 70 percent shooting, and going 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.
“We had no answer for Mackey,” Fordham head coach Tom Pecora said. “I’m not happy with that. Our defense on ball wasn’t great.”
McKnight was making the point guard position look easy, but the game is simple when the opposing team’s perimeter defense so strongly resembles a revolving door. The Mountain Hawks shot 51.7 percent in the first half, drew thirteen Rams fouls, and cleaned up at the foul line, making 13 of their 15 free throw attempts.
Rose Hill Gymnasium was filled with frustration, as the Rams pulled ahead early in the period, 18-11, only to surrender a 33-23 run over the final 8:28.
What happened?
In short, the Rams had a “small” problem.
The Rams lone starting forward sophomore Ryan Rhoomes was limited to ten minutes in the opening period due to foul trouble, and reserve forward sophomore Travion Leonard left the game with an eye injury after playing just five minutes. That left junior Ryan Canty as the team’s lone interior option for a healthy portion of the first half.
Lehigh recognized Fordham’s weaknesses – sloppy on-ball defense and little rim protection – and correctly exploited it. McKnight kept attacking the basket, daring the Rams to stop him, and with Rhoomes in serious foul trouble, and without Leonard or Canty – Pecora said Canty became “very sick” at half-time – in the second half, the Rams fate seemed fixed.
Fans in the front row, however, offered a one word solution: zone.
A group of long-time friends and Fordham basketball regulars, they began clamoring for a change in defensive scheme. And as the stands emptied for bathroom breaks and soda refills, the question amongst these fans was not if the Rams should switch to a 2-3 zone, rather whether or not Pecora would make the change.
Well, Pecora did come out in the 2-3 zone, and elements of the game gradually began to turn the Rams way. Fordham forced more turnovers in the second half (seven compared to five), Rhoomes avoided picking up another foul, playing the entire second half, and McKnight scored just nine more points.
Moreover, the Rams surrendered just five foul shot attempts in the second half, and the Mountain Hawks shot 19 percentage points worse than in the opening period (32.4 percent).
Suddenly, Fordham’s lack of size was a non-factor. They were the more athletic team – this was particularly evident on the glass, where the Rams had three different players in double-figures, and won the rebounding edge, 52-35 – and used the 2-3 zone to start fast breaks going the other way.
A player like sophomore Mandell Thomas, who is only 6-foot-2 but is lengthy and moves well, was unleashed as a baseline defender in the zone and as a benefactor of several fast breaks. Thomas finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds (his first career double-double) and also collected six assists and four steals.
“I need to get Mandell playing hard for 40 minutes,” Pecora said. “He’s so graceful. He can lock up other players.”
Pecora continues. “We rebound to run. You want to run (in the zone), and you better defend your tail off and rebound the basketball (in the zone).”
The Rams were flat in the first half, struggling to create high percentage shots, and were a miserable 0-10 from behind the arc. While the percentages were far from perfect in the second half, Fordham controlled the tempo of the game, which might be more important, and made it very difficult for Lehigh to get the shots they wanted on the inside of their defense.
It’s certainly very early in the year to make dramatic or sudden changes to the long-term game plan. Severe and Frazier are going to learn how to better share the basketball and spread out the shots on offense. The Rams might not miss their first ten attempts from behind the arc again this season, and of course they won’t always be down to a single post-player for an entire half of basketball.
It’s probably safe to assume that when the Rams host on Sacred Heart University on Saturday, they’ll start out playing man-to-man, and see what the situations the game throws at them. And that’s how it should be.
It was very noticeable, though, how much more confident the Rams were rebounding and running in the second half. The 2-3 zone allows the team to play Thomas at forward for the full game without worrying about giving up too much size down low. It will also afford Pecora the opportunity to play Frazier, Severe and junior Bryan Smith (who might be the team’s best shooter) all at the same time for long stretches without getting dominated by bigger teams. It’ll be interesting to see what type of game is played at Rose Hill Gymnasium on Saturday, and whether or not Pecora calls upon the 2-3 zone again.
Joe Manganiello (@joemags32) is a staff writer for pickinsplinters.com. He was published in the 2013-14 USA Today Sports College Basketball Preview. He studied journalism and cinema at Oswego State University – Peace, love, recycle and ball.
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