"Why are the Stags struggling? Count the ways"

[FU73]

Chris Elsberry in his CT POST blog "My Two Cents, Talking Connecticut Sports"" on what is wrong with the Stags and why:

Unless the Stags can win at least three of their last nine games, they will set a record for futility unequalled by any previous Fairfield team in Division I history. Fairfield needs three wins to reach seven, which would tie Mitch Buonaguro’s 1988-89 team that went 7-21 as the squad with the fewest wins ever as a Division I program. If they don’t win three games, Sydney Johnson’s 2013-14 Stags will go down in history as the worst Fairfield team since the move to Division I back in 1964-65......

And Malcolm Gilbert. This kid is 7-foot and in his very first game in a Stags uniform, he blocked eight shots against Sacred Heart, grabbed 11 rebounds and scored five points in 24 minutes. Since then, Johnson has barely played the kid. Why?
Several times this season Johnson has said that playing time is based on work in practice but does that mean that Malcolm Gilbert is dogging it in practice every day? I wonder.....

And Justin Jenkins. He didn’t even play in nine of Fairfield first 14 games and in those five games he did play, Jenkins got just 16 minutes. Suddenly, over the last nine games, he’s averaging 7.8 points a game and playing almost 21 minutes a game. For two-plus months he didn’t work hard and just like that, the light bulb pops on over his head and he starts busting his hump? Again, I wonder.

And now, Steve Johnston, a walk-on, is getting quality minutes at the two-guard over scholarship players Doug Chappell and Lincoln Davis. Apparently, four months into the season, Chappell and Davis have decided they don’t want to work hard anymore in practice. Yet again, I wonder....

Now to the schedule. Can they win any of these games?

Thursday is Monmouth at the WBA. Fairfield lost to Monmouth 63-60 on Jan. 23, getting outscored 7-1 over the final three-plus minutes. (MAYBE)

Feb. 10 – at Siena. Fairfield lost to the Saints 64-56 on Jan. 26. Siena used a game-ending 24-14 run over the last eight minutes to win. (MAYBE)

Feb. 13 — Quinnipiac at the WBA. Bobcats defeated Fairfield 83-79 on Dec. 6. Mistakes killed Fairfield down the stretch. (DOUBTFUL)

Feb. 15 — Rider at the WBA. The Broncs defeated Fairfield 73-65 on Feb. 3. (MAYBE)

Feb. 20 – at Niagara. The Purple Eagles defeated Fairfield 67-63 on Jan. 16. The Stags missed their last five shots. Niagara makes a basket with 29 seconds left to break a tie game. (MAYBE)

Feb. 22 – at Canisius. The Golden Griffins defeated Fairfield 84-58 on Feb. 1. The Stags were blown off the floor. Enough said. (NO)

Feb. 25 – at St. Peter’s. The Peacocks defeated Fairfield 56-55 on Jan. 8. Desi Washington hits a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it. (MAYBE)

Feb. 28 – Marist at the WBA. Marist defeated Fairfield 75-56 on Jan. 2. The Red Foxes outscored the Stags 32-11 at the free throw line. (DOUBTFUL)

blog.ctnews.com/elsberry/2014/02/04/why-are-the-stags-struggling-let-us-count-the-ways/

[stag79]

Great Chris...How about some reporting now...a weekly sit down with SJ would be a nice start.

[tmaac71]

Feb 5, 2014 8:22:46 GMT -5 stag79 said:

Great Chris...How about some reporting now...a weekly sit down with SJ would be a nice start.

Can't handle the truth? Finally, someone asking the tough questions in the public eye. All valid points. For all of you that wouldn't want to start over with a new coach, it would be no different than what Sydney is doing to his current roster...

[stag79]

Uh, a reporter is supposed to ask tough questions of somebody, as in an interview.

Obviously, we're making roster moves at guard. Rather see SJ doing that than someone else.

[sonofdoc]

Considering everything this year, I thought Chris is being a bit kinder than he could be.

By the way, Chris says the next game is Thursday vs Monmouth, but the schedule says Friday. Who is correct?

[tmaac71]

Uh, the communication from this regime is non-existent. Sydney is not forthcoming in interviews. Hope he doesn't get any more chances because he is our worst option for the future...

[nashvillestag]

Feb 5, 2014 10:30:30 GMT -5 sonofdoc said:

Considering everything this year, I thought Chris is being a bit kinder than he could be.

By the way, Chris says the next game is Thursday vs Monmouth, but the schedule says Friday. Who is correct?

Friday is correct. As far as Chris and his comments, I do think once and awhile he goes overboard on criticism on some players (mostly concerning UConn), but concerning coaches I think everyone is fair game. And in this case he is not really picking on any one player, but rather questioning some of the thought process of Sydney in how he is handling the various problems the team is having. And quite frankly I think a majority of fans of the program have many of these same thoughts regarding use of personnel. Doesn't mean he is totally wrong or totally right, but the musings are more than fair IMO.

[stag76]

Nothing sums up the attitude of diehard Stag fans better than the fact that no one seems outraged that Elsberry lists a victory over QU as doubtful instead of a maybe during this puzzling, mindboggling season of ours.

Feb. 13 — Quinnipiac at the WBA. Bobcats defeated Fairfield 83-79 on Dec. 6. Mistakes killed Fairfield down the stretch. (DOUBTFUL)

We lost by 4 at their gym in our MAAC opener with the 26th youngest team in Division 1, and now 2 months later it is basically conceded that it's DOUBTFUL that we'll be able to beat our instate MAAC rivals.

The Stags and their fanbase have become as docile as a fearful lamb.

[HawkStag]

In this blog, Elsberry's sounding more like one of us (the frustrated posters on this board) and less like the beat reporter for the team. Why does he have to "wonder" about the playing time of Malcolm Gilbert and Justin Jenkins? Maybe because he finds it very peculiar and doesn't really know the answer, just like the rest of us. That means either he hasn't asked the coach the questions, or he has but hasn't gotten a satisfactory answer, i.e. coachspeak. Either way, it doesn't sound like Elsberry and SJ have a good relationship.

[Stagophile]

Be forewarned SJ, fair or not, a bad relationship with the local media was the downfall of TOT!!!

[stag76]

Here's another section from Elsberry's blog quantifying what Stag fans are all too familiar with:

In fact, since that ’96-’97 season, Fairfield has won no less than seven MAAC games and 11 times, finished at .500 or better.
Why is this season so bad? Let us count the ways.
Go to the NCAA website and pull up the stats from previous seasons. Fairfield is shooting 38.9 percent from the field through its first 23 games. Since 1999, no Fairfield team has shot worse than 41.0 percent but this Stags team seemingly can’t hit the board side of a barn.
Free throws: Fairfield is shooting just 67.9 percent from the line, missing 134 out of 418 attempts. In 2011-12, the Stags shot 65.1 percent and in 2010-11 they shot 65.4 percent. But then you have to go all the way back to 1999 (59.6) to find a team that shot worse from the charity stripe.
Fouls: Fairfield has committed 525 fouls – that’s an average of 22.8 fouls a game. Are you kidding?? That’s just dumb. Period. And 19 times a Fairfield player has fouled out. Going back to the 2005-06 season (the NCAA numbers are kind of piecemeal after that) the most Stag players to foul out in a season were 14. And there are still nine games left, who know how much higher those foul numbers will go.
Turnovers: Fairfield has turned the ball over 361 times in 23 games, an average of 15.7 a game. Opponents have just 253 turnovers, meaning the Stags have committed 108 MORE TURNOVERS than their opponents. Ugly. Awful. Terrible are the words that come to mind.
Opponents also have 190 steals to the Stags 90. You can do the match. Again, Ugly. Awful. Terrible.
Marcus Gilbert (36-69), Maurice Barrow (29-36), Coleman Johnson (18-33), Justin Jenkins (18-24), Amadou Sidibe (21-28), Sean Grennan (29-32), Doug Chapell (12-18), Steve Smith (5-11) and Malcolm Gilbert (5-12) all have more turnovers than assists.

[ctghostman]

Elsberry's coverage was the only local coverage we got last week. I just went to see if the Mirror had anything-no articles or schedules.