Hoops and Hardballs

This week’s edition of Sit Down with Sydney might have a few audio issues, but I’ve posted it below. Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson was heading out of town for recruiting (no, he didn’t say where) and I’m home sick, so we tried to do this by phone.

Among the topics we chatted about were the improved play of Ryan Olander against Saint Peter’s, the tragedy at Marist College, the upcoming game with Iona, Jamel Fields’ ankle (probably for Friday) and the MAAC about halfway through the regular season.

The Providence Friars gave away 2,000 Ed Cooley boobleheads on Saturday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center before the team’s game against Marquette. Like most bobbleheads, this one did not quite look like Cooley.

In fact, it seems to resemble to one of the former Fairfield coach’s old players – junior guard Colin Nickerson.

The Fairfield Stags’ game at Marist College that was scheduled for Sunday will not be made up this week.
Sydney Johnson said in a text message Sunday afternoon that no rescheduled date for the game has been decided. Sunday afternoon’s MAAC contest in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. was postponed after two female Marist students were killed in an off-campus fire early Saturday monring along with another man.
“Our student-athletes and coaches were distraught in hearing about the tragic events in Poughkeepsie last night,” Johnson said in a statement released late Saturday night. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of all those who have been affected. We pray for God’s will in helping the entire Marist College community to find strength in this very difficult time.”
The Stags are scheduled to host first-place Iona at 7 p.m. Friday at the Webster Bank Arena.
- WILLIAM S. PAXTON

The Fairfield men’s basketball team’s game against Marist Sunday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. has been postponed.
Marist College announced the decision after two students were killed in an off-campus fire early Saturday morning.

“Out of respect for the students affected by this tragedy, the College is postponing the men’s basketball game on Sunday and the women’s basketball game on Monday night,” said Deborah DiCaprio, Marist’s Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs in a prepared statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this terrible tragedy.”

Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said Saturday night he was awaiting word on when the game would be rescheduled. The Stags (10-9, 5-3 MAAC) do not play against until Friday when they host first-place Iona at the Webster Bank Arena.

Fairfield Director of Athletics Gene Doris added: “I am saddened by the news of this tragedy. As a former member of the Marist athletic staff, I share in the sorrow that the entire campus feels at this time of grief.

NOTE: Jamel Fields (ankle) rested on Saturday, and was expected to be a game time decision for Sunday before the contest was postponed.

After the Fairfield Stags ended a three-game losing skid with a 61-52 win over Rider on Monday night, coach Sydney Johnson was cautiously optimistic about his ball club.

In addition to discussing that, we also chatted this week about Vince Van Nes’ future, the hard-working Keith Matthews, Ryan Olander’s foul woes of late and the use of a smaller, quicker guard-heavy lineup.

Sorry for the late posting this morning but a two-plus hour commute home last night and shovel for my wife this morning hindered my postgame coverage for the Post.

UPDATE: Freshman Vince Van Nes is fully healthy, according to Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson, but the Stags are awaiting word on his eligibility from the NCAA.
Johnson said there’s some question as to whether Van Nes has three years of eligibility or a full four due to an international rule. More info when I get it.

BIG SHOT: A team struggling to close out its previous two opponents in the final minutes got a big lift from Derek Needham against Rider. The junior guard sank a fade-away 3-pointer right before the shot clock expired to give the Stags a 56-47 lead with 2:21 remaining.
“I dribbled to the corner and (the Rider defender) did a good jump cutting off the baseline,” said Needham, who had a team-high 15 points. “When I turned our entire bench said ‘shoot’ so I just threw it up.”
The Stags outscored Rider 8-5 in the final two minutes to finish a game they lead from the start.
“Obviously that was a huge shot and you got to score,” Johnson said. “We are not trying to milk the game or anything like that, we are just trying to get good shots. We weren’t able to convert them, but obviously that was a big shot.”

LITTLE GUYS SHINE: With Ryan Olander in foul trouble much of the night, the Stags relied on a smaller lineup to frustrate the Broncs, who had 19 turnovers.
During the opening 3:40 of the second half, the Broncs turned the ball over on five of six possessions.
“It’s fine with me because we don’t have to worry about a big on a little,” said Fairfield guard Colin Nickerson, about the Stags going with a three- or even a four-guard lineup. “We just come out and play ball. We don’t have to worry about mismatches or nothing. It makes it easier for me.
Fairfield had 12 steals, with Rakim Sanders leading with three. Needham, Nickerson and Keith Matthews each added two.

PLAYERS ONLY: Before the Manhattan game the Stags held a team meeting. It might not have resulted in immediate wins on the floor, but Needham said it’s benefited the team.
“We had a players meeting right before the Manhattan game,” he said. “It was a great conversation in the locker room. Sean Crawford actually had the most to say. For the first time everyone was looking at each other and listening to each other. We finally got it. Play from your heart and play for your teammates and everything else will take care of itself.”

In addition to the players’ meeting, Needham also credits Johnson and his staff for helping the Stags grow after a heartbreaking loss to Loyola on Friday.

“Coach told us you can play as hard as you want but if you are making the same mistakes you will get the same results,” he said. “We tried to learn from those mistakes in the Loyola. I kept saying in the huddle ‘learn, learn – we’ve been in this situation before and can’t make the same mistakes.’”

Here’s some leftover quotes from Rider coach Tom Dempsey:

Overall comment on the loss to the Stags:
“They did more than we did and we are in a tough stretch right now. We looked really tired, tired legs. This was our eighth of nine games on the road. We’ve been on the road for a long stretch and I thought we looked a little weary.

On playing a struggling Fairfield team:
“At this point in the season we are still trying to focus on us. I wasn’t really focus where Fairfield was at. I just think, if you follow college basketball there are so many ups and downs and it’s about peaking at the right time. You seem teams who were hot early now that aren’t playing as well and teams that struggled earlier that are playing better. Our focus now is we are not in a position where we are winning the regular-season MAAC championship. We’re just not good enough to do that right now, but we are talented enough to become a good team by the end of the year and compete come tournament time.”

On trying to take center Ryan Olander out of the game early on:
“We did. We always try to attack him because he’s a center in a league without a lot of centers. I think one of the things if you can expose Ryan is forcing him to guard your funny sized inside guys. We always try to drag him away from the basket with ball screens or attack him when he’s in because we know offensive he’s a handful for us because he’s four or five inches taller than anyone else that we put out there.
“I have a lot of respect for him and I think when he’s out of the game, it’s better for us.”

On Rakim Sanders:
“He had that big dunk (in the second half) and gave them some energy. Their frustration is probably he plays in spurts, but when he gets engaged he can be a handful at this level.”

Sit Down with Sydney chat coming tonight