Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Bryant at FDU

by Ray Floriani

TEANECK, NJ - The Thanksgiving left overs are finally gone and the Northeast Conference is in league play. Actually, the NEC is one of a few conferences, which features two league games early December then takes a break (from Conference play) before resuming after the new year. FDU got out to a good start defeating Bryant 78-68 at Rothman Center.

Pregame Shootaround
Entering the game Bryant and FDU were extremely close in pace. The visiting Bulldogs averaged 70 possessions while FDU checked in at 69.

	Efficiency
	Off.	Def.
Bryant	93	113
FDU	92	105

Last year Bryant finished 1-29. Their efficiency margin (offensive minus defensive efficiency) was a horrid -27. The Bulldogs posted an OE of 80 and DE of 117. Currently they have a slightly better margin at -20. You take improvements as they come. And at 1-5 they have matched last year's win total. That one being a noteworthy victory over Iona in November's World Vision Classic.

The efficiency:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Bryant	67	102
FDU	68	115

The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	ORb%	TOv%
Bryant	52	14	28	19
FDU	56	44	41	22

Observations:
If you are a perfectionist you can rant about FDU not caring for the ball. But that was about it. The Knight inside game was dominant as FDU enjoyed an incredible 46-18 points in the paint edge. The Knights were 25 of 42, good for 61% on two point shooting. Granted not every two point field goal attempt is in the paint. But tonight virtually everyone for the Knights was.

Bryant relies a great deal on the three pointer. Coming into the game 38% of their offense came from beyond the arc. Tonight over half, 53%, was produced by the three. It's a double edge sword. If you are hitting as they were 12 of 27, you can get back in the game. Twice the Bulldogs whittled double digit deficits to a two possession game. The flip side is, an icy percentage from three will just bury you deeper. Senior forward Cecil Gresham had "a breakout game," per coach Tim O'Shea scoring a game high 28 points that included 6 treys.

Another positive was a low TO rate for Bryant. On the season the Bulldogs have a 23% rate so the showing at FDU was a nice improvement in that category.

A lot of the damage inside was inflicted by 6-8 FDU junior Kamil Svrdlik. Last year the native of he Czech Republic was more perimeter oriented. To date, Svrdlik has provided the low post game coach Greg Vetrone needed. He scored a career high 24 points while adding 5 rebounds. Svrdlik runs the floor very well, finishing a few breaks with dunks , and has something virtually extinct today, an effective hook shot inside.

Game action at Rothman Center
Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck

Long time PA announcer Bert Shoobs (over 700 consecutive FDU men's and women's games and counting) pointed out something interesting at the half. Bryant had 11 field goals, 8 assisted while FDU scored 15 with 11 assisted. For the game Bryant had 24 field goals (18 assisted) while FDU handed out 18 assists on their 27 field goals. Something to look at closer as the season progresses.

Wrap Up.
Bryant fell to 1-6 while FDU improves to 2-3 and has won two straight. Despite the record Bryant is much improved and took Army and Harvard to the wire before losing. "We are going to beat some teams in conference," O'Shea predicted. Bryant's leading scorer coming into the game was Frank Dobbs (15.3) PPG. The 6-3 sophomore guard netted 14 for the Bulldogs. If the name rings a bell among Villanova devotees, yes you are right. Frankie is the son of former Wildcat 'Happy' Dobbs

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: At FDU vs Bryant

by Ray Floriani

TEANECK, NJ - Undefeated for the decade. FDU overcame an early 10-1 deficit to post their second consecutive victory of the new year. The Knights defeated Bryant 66-50 at the Rothman Center on Thursday evening.

In a 71 possession game, the Efficiency and Factors:

	Off		FTA
	Eff	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Bryant	70	39	22	25	28
FDU	93	51	41	31	29

Bryant, in its second year of Division I, is now 0-15. Tim O’Shea’s club is not eligible for NEC championship play but as a member does have a full conference slate. The Bulldogs had a murderous pre-conference card with the likes of Boston College, St.John’s, Providence, Indiana and an improved Army club. They did play two Ivy schools. No break here as the two were Harvard and Cornell.

Entering the game Bryant was playing at a 66 possession pace while FDU checked in at 70. The 71 possession tempo saw the advantage go to FDU in that category.

Tough luck. Things weren’t bad enough for Bryant. Recently they lost their leading scorer with a season ending injury.

Cecil Gresham, a senior guard, averaged 14.5 PPG before his season, and career ended in late December. The leading active scorer is freshman guard Raphael Jordan (7.1 PPG) who was scoreless in fifteen minutes of action.

The pre-game efficiency margins were considerably less than outstanding:

	Efficiency		Margin
	Off.	Def.	(Off-Def)
Bryant	78	109	-31
FDU	84	110	-26

You can’t measure this or compute it with a tidy formula on a calculator. But a big reason behind the FDU win was confidence. Down 22 to Sacred Heart with 12 minutes to play on Saturday, the Knights rallied to win. Bryant took an early 10-1 lead and the Knights still kept their composure and remained upbeat.

Getting 6-8 Alvin Mofunanya back in the lineup was a key factor for FDU. The senior forward/center had missed several games with an injury and returned for the Sacred Heart game. Mofunanya was one of four FDU players in double figures with 11 points. He did have eight turnovers but interim coach Greg Vetrone was not too concerned. “He (Mofunanya gets doubled or tripled teams then walks,” Vetrone said. “We have to work on him passing out of the double team.”

FDU shot 19 of 30 from the line. Credit the inside game and junior guard Mike Scott’s penetrations as largely responsible for getting the Knights to the line so frequently.

Sean Baptiste had another strong outing leading FDU with 18 points. John Galvin had a big effort off the bench as the 6-8 junior added 11 point 5 rebounds. Scott, the point guard has been on fire. He had 16 points but the last two games has a combined total of 18 assists zero turnovers in 70 minutes. FDU had seven second half field goals. Six by either Scott or Baptiste. Vlad Kondratyev, a freshman forward, led Bryant with 16 points.

FDU is now 3-12 but 2-1 in the NEC with another home game with Central Connecticut on Saturday.

“We weren’t ready for some of our early opponents. We have a new coach, new system and new point guard. It takes time but it’s (momentum) definitely coming.” - FDU interim coach Greg Vetrone

Rothman Center, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Coaching Carousal: And Then There Were None...For Now

The list of D1 job openings remained at one for all of 10 days, more or less, but after bumping back up to 2 with the resignation of Ohio University head coach Tim O'Shea (to bring Bryant University's D2 program up to D1), it looked as if the job market was opening up again. The Bobcats wasted little time though, and just days after Mississippi Valley State closed out the 3^rd longest search this offseason, Ohio U. named John Groce, an Ohio State assistant coach, as their new head coach...

Homecoming...
Ohio University head coach Tim O'Shea has made no secret about his desire to coach at a northeastern college. A native of Rhode Island, O'Shea broke into the coaching ranks even as his collegiate career (at Boston College) ended. Holding 5 jobs at 4 different New England colleges over the 16 years after his graduation in 1986, O'Shea took the Ohio job in 2001. After winning the MAC championship in 2004-05 and taking the Bobcats to the NCAA (first round loss to Florida), O'Shea bagan to agressively pursue openings at Providence, Seton Hall, Bucknell, among others, over the past three offseasons. O'Shea accepted Bryant University's offer to lead their program up from D2 to D1 status. With a contract whose length should be enough to see him through the first few years, Bryant is slated to join the NEC after a "probation" period. It will be interesting to see if O'Shea can replicate the success of his Ohio Bobcat teams at Bryant.

Delta Devils Catch a Wildcat...
Mississippi Valley State ended it's 64 day search for a head coach to replace recently departed James Green (bound for Jacksonville State) by appointing former Kentucky basketball player Sean Woods as their new head coach. Woods started as an assistant at TAMU Corpus Christi and then moved over to Texas Christian, moving up from positions in Basketball Operations to an assistant coaching position.

The Bobcats pounced...
And grabbed Ohio State assistant John Groce as their new head coach. Given Tim O'Shea's very public pursuit of open coaching positions throughout the Northeast the past 3 off seasons, it comes as no surprise that Ohio University AD Jim Schaus had a short list ready. Groce, like his predecessor, had a long career as an assistant with stops at a number of top calibre programs.

By the Numbers...
Ohio University marked the 43^rd vacancy this off season. Closing out in just under a week has to be a plus for keeping the Bobcats on track this off season. If the last cycle of the coaching carousal is a good guide, there will be another 6 openings over the next 6-7 weeks. After pauses in June, July and August of 2007, vacancies opened, about half arising from exigent circumstances, the balance due to malice (employer or employee originating...). Two coaches left to pursue NBA jobs, Skip Prosser passed away unexpectedly and a fourth coach was terminated after a judicial process. I suspect however, that number may be a bit high. The most active period for openings was again during the 5-6 weeks between the end of the regular season and the Championship Game. In each of the past 2 seasons 60% of the jobs came onto the market during that period.