Conference play begins for the black and gold today and the Rams will start their Atlantic 10 journey in the same city they'll end it: New York, NY. VCU travels to Fordham to take on another Rams team with an identical record of 9-4, the Fordham Rams however taking a much different path to their nine wins. Let's get into it...
<h4>VCU (9-4)
FORDHAM (9-4)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT FORDHAM</h4>
Picked to finish dead last in this year's A-10 preseason poll, Fordham is looking to put last season's 4-14 last place conference debacle behind them and so far look in terms of record looks like they could surprise. (::grabs pencil, points it at camera...Lee Corso style) NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS!
Of Fordham's nine wins, five have come against either DII opponents or kenpom sub-300 teams, with three other wins coming against sub-200 opponents. The one outlier on Fordham's schedule was a surprising defeat of KP No.109 Rutgers, a 78-70 home win.
All of Fordham's losses would be considered bad losses, their "best loss" coming in the form of a 3-point home L to No. 173 New Jersey Institute of Technology. Fordham has three sub-250 losses including most recently in the Bronx to No.256 LIU Brooklyn.
In fact, out of 353 Division I college basketball teams, Fordham has played the No.1 easiest schedule in all of college hoops.
VCU will greatly ramp up the degree of difficulty today, becoming the first top-100 team on Fordham's schedule this season. The Rams from the Bronx went 0-7 against top-100 teams last season, losing by an average margin of 19.4 points per game and that doesn't include VCU defeating last season's Fordham Rams 83-58 at Rose Hill gym this past March.
That win came against a more experienced Fordham team led by former Ram and current Marquette Golden Eagle, Joseph Chartouny. This year's Fordham Rams are one of the least experienced teams in the country (No.315) and will get their first big test against VCU today.
Defensively Fordham has been solid all season, checking in at No.134 in adjusted defensive efficiency on the season. They've needed every bit of that however as their offense ranks No.285 thanks to their struggles in scoring efficiency down low.
The Rams are led by a freshman, 5'10 guard, Nick Honor.
Honor leads the team at 17 points per contest in his 34 minutes of action each night. He's joined in the Rams' double-digit scoring club by 6'4 forward, Antwon Portley (12.3 ppg). The duo and another freshman, 6' guard, Jalen Cobb, take the vast majority of Fordham's shots, getting up a good chunk of those shots from beyond the three-point arc.
The Rams take a very high amount of their shots from deep, 45.3% of their attempts coming behind the three-point line to just 27% coming at the rim. That'll be tested today against a VCU team that ranks fifth nationally in 3-point percentage defense.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
Winners of their last two, VCU will hope to build on their win streak in an important road game today that offers little reward, but major banana peel potential. The black and gold are one of about two Atlantic 10 teams that put together a respectable non-conference showing, meaning much of this year's A-10 journey will simply be an attempt to avoid bad losses.
The Rams have gotten this far with a lockdown D that has been among the best we've ever seen at VCU. Mike Rhoades' second season team ranks ninth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and sixth in effective field goal percentage defense, doing so against a very good schedule thus far.
VCU is showing flashes of offense as well as of late. The black and gold dropped a season-high 90 on Rider this past week, connecting on 48.3% of the Rams' threes despite ranking 322nd nationally in the season with just a 29% season-long rate. VCU finished 57.6% of their shots inside the arc in that one just a game after posting a blistering 74.2% 2-point percentage against Wichita State.
The Rams ability to continue to improve on offense -- something I suspect they will do against a weakening schedule and with a roster full of players that quite frankly have shot well below their career averages -- while maintaining the level of D we've seen, gives VCU a great shot at being a dominant Atlantic 10 team this season.
VCU is one of just four A-10 teams to rank within kenpom's top-100 this season at No.68, one of just two teams inside the top-80.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
<h4>VCU (9-4)
FORDHAM (9-4)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT FORDHAM</h4>
Picked to finish dead last in this year's A-10 preseason poll, Fordham is looking to put last season's 4-14 last place conference debacle behind them and so far look in terms of record looks like they could surprise. (::grabs pencil, points it at camera...Lee Corso style) NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS!
Of Fordham's nine wins, five have come against either DII opponents or kenpom sub-300 teams, with three other wins coming against sub-200 opponents. The one outlier on Fordham's schedule was a surprising defeat of KP No.109 Rutgers, a 78-70 home win.
All of Fordham's losses would be considered bad losses, their "best loss" coming in the form of a 3-point home L to No. 173 New Jersey Institute of Technology. Fordham has three sub-250 losses including most recently in the Bronx to No.256 LIU Brooklyn.
In fact, out of 353 Division I college basketball teams, Fordham has played the No.1 easiest schedule in all of college hoops.
VCU will greatly ramp up the degree of difficulty today, becoming the first top-100 team on Fordham's schedule this season. The Rams from the Bronx went 0-7 against top-100 teams last season, losing by an average margin of 19.4 points per game and that doesn't include VCU defeating last season's Fordham Rams 83-58 at Rose Hill gym this past March.
That win came against a more experienced Fordham team led by former Ram and current Marquette Golden Eagle, Joseph Chartouny. This year's Fordham Rams are one of the least experienced teams in the country (No.315) and will get their first big test against VCU today.
Defensively Fordham has been solid all season, checking in at No.134 in adjusted defensive efficiency on the season. They've needed every bit of that however as their offense ranks No.285 thanks to their struggles in scoring efficiency down low.
The Rams are led by a freshman, 5'10 guard, Nick Honor.
Honor leads the team at 17 points per contest in his 34 minutes of action each night. He's joined in the Rams' double-digit scoring club by 6'4 forward, Antwon Portley (12.3 ppg). The duo and another freshman, 6' guard, Jalen Cobb, take the vast majority of Fordham's shots, getting up a good chunk of those shots from beyond the three-point arc.
The Rams take a very high amount of their shots from deep, 45.3% of their attempts coming behind the three-point line to just 27% coming at the rim. That'll be tested today against a VCU team that ranks fifth nationally in 3-point percentage defense.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
Winners of their last two, VCU will hope to build on their win streak in an important road game today that offers little reward, but major banana peel potential. The black and gold are one of about two Atlantic 10 teams that put together a respectable non-conference showing, meaning much of this year's A-10 journey will simply be an attempt to avoid bad losses.
The Rams have gotten this far with a lockdown D that has been among the best we've ever seen at VCU. Mike Rhoades' second season team ranks ninth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and sixth in effective field goal percentage defense, doing so against a very good schedule thus far.
VCU is showing flashes of offense as well as of late. The black and gold dropped a season-high 90 on Rider this past week, connecting on 48.3% of the Rams' threes despite ranking 322nd nationally in the season with just a 29% season-long rate. VCU finished 57.6% of their shots inside the arc in that one just a game after posting a blistering 74.2% 2-point percentage against Wichita State.
The Rams ability to continue to improve on offense -- something I suspect they will do against a weakening schedule and with a roster full of players that quite frankly have shot well below their career averages -- while maintaining the level of D we've seen, gives VCU a great shot at being a dominant Atlantic 10 team this season.
VCU is one of just four A-10 teams to rank within kenpom's top-100 this season at No.68, one of just two teams inside the top-80.
