Roster Reset

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

4Y (2016)

Ifeyani Onyekaba (5)
Earl Watson (5)
Four McGlynn (1/2)

3Y (2017)

EC Matthews (2/3)
Hassan Martin (4)
Kuran Iverson (3/4)

2Y (2018)

Jared Terrell (2/3)
Jarvis Garrett (1)
Andre Berry (4/5)
Stanford Robinson*

1Y (2019)

Christion Thompson (1/2)
Leroy Butts (3/4)
Nicola Akele (3/4)

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Some pretty nice balance to the classes right there.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

Pure speculation, but the 2015-16 depth chart of today:

1

Jarvis Garrett
Four McGlynn
Christion Thompson

2

Jared Terrell
EC Matthews
Four McGlynn
Christion Thompson

3

EC Matthews
Kuran Iverson
Jared Terrell
Nicola Akele
Leroy Butts

4

Hassan Martin
Kuran Iverson
Andre Berry
Leroy Butts
Nicola Akele

5

Earl Watson
Ifeyani Onyekaba
Andre Berry

I think Hassan is a pure 4, but I do think you could see him playing some "5" with a swing man at the "4" if they want to go small on occasion. I think of that as more of a niche lineup, though.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

Although Robinson plans to graduate in 2017.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

Billyboy78 wrote:Although Robinson plans to graduate in 2017.

Right, I'm just talking about eligibility. His eligibility runs through the 2018 season.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Earl, Stan, and Leroy sounds like the team of old guys that play basketball at my gym.

(It's Kuran.)

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

Eh I had it that way, then wasn't sure so I googled it and saw it as Kuron so I changed it. What can you trust these days if you can't trust google? Actually it looks like have it both ways lol. I'll fix it later when I get back to a computer.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 9 years ago

I guess we can start talking about the fifth starter, presuming EC, Jared, Jarvis and Hassan are the holdover starters. My guess it's Earl, especially early in the season. Sixth man is Iverson because of his height and versatility.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 9 years ago

I think Hass plays more 5 than 4. I also think Thompson is going to be better than expected.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Hassan's off-season improvement plan is to become more of a stretch four on offense. He has some work to do- his handle and jumper have to continue to develop- but that's his goal.

This looks to be the first time in the Hurley era at URI where we don't hypothesize on when the freshmen are going to crack the starting line-up.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Martin is the de facto 5. End of story.
We've heard about his working on his handle and
his mid range jumper, before, and it's always Hassan
under the basket in the end.
Does anyone thinks Berry or Watson is a full time center,
seriously?
Hassan will be the 5, Iverson the 4.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 9 years ago

That's the pity of it; Hassan's future is as a 3/4 but he'll be playing out of position. The kid works so hard, he deserves a shot at developing his game away from the basket.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

He will have to play some 5 to get Iverson on the floor more, but I expect he will play more 4 than 5 and far less 5 than he did last year.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Not happening. Iverson is more talented by far,
than Berry or Watson.
Not to mention how much they'd lose on defense.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Hassan has not shown the ability to put the ball on the floor or consistently make outside shots. His best skills are around the basket (dunking, rebounding, blocking shots, baby hook) not saying it cant or wont come in time, but I doubt Dan is telling him not to improve in those areas. When he shows the skills of a stretch 4 we can bemoan the fact he plays the 5. Right now he has the game of a 5, in a 4's body.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

I don't see him playing away from the basket, but I also don't think he is big enough to play as the lone big with four guards for long stretches. We will see. I still think Watson is good. Probably not a more skilled player than Iverson, but Iverson will get some of his minutes on the wing.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

I think Hassan's perimeter game lives with Gil's. I have seen Gil knock down tons of 3s in Mackal, then in games over what 2 years he hit maybe 10?? I'm not going to look it up.

Also for all the times they run that high post and sometimes Gil would try to drive it.... Hassan tried that like zero times.

I would prefer Hassan get better at what he does and add the ability to play the free throw line spot against the zone.

Also make free throws. That would be good.

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 9 years ago

Billyboy78 wrote:Although Robinson plans to graduate in 2017.

I'd expect the starting 5 to end up Garrett-Terrell-EC-Hassan-Iverson. With 4 being the 6th man

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

I think just about everybody knows the starting 5.

Who's the 6th man will depend on practice. If Thompson is the steal a lot of people think he is, I think he's the first guard off the bench.

Butts, Berry, and Akele are projects. Going to be a lot of substitutions especially early on next season.

If the bench turns out to be a big upgrade over what left, Dan will have his 10 man rotation, with plenty of depth to play more uptempo offense.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Why do you think Akele is a project?
Everything I've seen of him, he looks like he's
very polished and an all around player.

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 9 years ago

Seawrightspostgame wrote:I think Hassan's perimeter game lives with Gil's. I have seen Gil knock down tons of 3s in Mackal, then in games over what 2 years he hit maybe 10?? I'm not going to look it up.

On an old NBA stats message board I used to frequent, one guy calculated shooting percentage during warm-ups - you'd be surprised by some of the figures. Like even guys like Mateen Cleaves (26.7 percent from 3-point) shot around 55, 60 percent in warm-ups. When you get to the higher levels of basketball, the effect the defense has on players is huge. Some of the slow motion replays you'll see on ESPN do a good job of highlighting the incredibly narrow range a player has between "open" and not.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Rod, maybe I shouldn't have lumped Akele in with the other 2, he's closer to a finished product than they are.

All freshmen are projects to a point. Some much more than others, of course.

RAM67 · Unread post by **RAM67** » 9 years ago

Not a lot has been said about Butts, ( at least not our basketball player). Does anyone have anything new on him?

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Agree TP, have to take it with a grain of salt when someone says "Gil can bury 3s in pregame" or Hassan shoots at a high percentage in practice from deep. That doesnt matter, when the game comes you see what you see -- Hassan never showed any confidence in his ability to put the ball on the floor, nor did he show a ton of confidence in his outside shooting. Once he does we can start bemoaning the fact that he lives under the hoop, but right now he is put in the spot that maximizes the things he is very good at (dunking, blocking, rebounding).

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 9 years ago

I think Hass shot a good percentage from the mid range this year when he shot it. Which wasn't often. If he could have that consistently a threat and then be able to drive past tall awkward guys he'd dominate big time. we don't need him makin three's.
I'm Uber excited for next year!

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

I still have high hopes for Watson this year. If he can stay on the floor I think he'll surprise some people. There were flashes last year, just never all came together for various reasons.

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

PeterRamTime wrote:I think Hass shot a good percentage from the mid range this year when he shot it. Which wasn't often. If he could have that consistently a threat and then be able to drive past tall awkward guys he'd dominate big time. we don't need him makin three's.
I'm Uber excited for next year!

Dear Pete,

No offense, but Hassan Martin took maybe 15 real mid-range shots all season. And he looked most uncomfortable doing it, squaring up his semi-set shot. He did not develop a jump shot, he couldn't create a shooting situation for himself off of the dribble, and he was exclusively left-handed.
Before anyone accuses me of bashing Hassan Martin, URI would have been nothing without him last year. Nothing.
It's an indictment of the lack of individual big-man skills instruction, the lack of simple nuance that Hassan Martin could have utilized if he had been given those tools, i.e., head fakes, ball fakes, and yes, a simple old-fashioned hook shot, etc.,
Ironically, if Hassan Martin had been taught what Andre Berry had been taught (or copied/learned on his own) about footwork and positioning, his offensive game would be at least 1.5X ahead of where it is today.
Look at the game tape of Berry and imagine Hassan Martin utilizing some of those moves around the basket. Then imagine Hassan Martin being able to get the ball in a faster-paced offense on the wing and being to do the things G. Biruta reported about during practice.
One last thing: How many times did Martin call for the ball when he did have position in the post and never get it, slide to the other side of the lane, time and time again, and basically fade away as an offensive factor game after game???? 90% of his offense was self-made. Not a good deal for him.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

We all expect those things to change with ARD on board.

Agreed, the big man development skills of the staff up to this point has been minimal.

CTRamfan · Unread post by **CTRamfan** » 9 years ago

I can only remember a few years since the mid-80's where I have been this optimistic about an upcoming season......It has a strong possibility of an NCAA berth.
.....Coach has shown me he can recruit. That was my only concern three years ago. I cannot remember ever having this many 3* and 4* players on any one team here. Add to that, four returning starter, and the future looks bright. He will now have the flexibility of showing many different looks, with much fresher legs than last year.
.....It will be fun to see how he integrates Thompson, Iverson, Akele, and McGlynn into the rotation.

Ramsey · Unread post by **Ramsey** » 9 years ago

I think everyone here is sleeping on Leroy more then they should be. I watched Berry today for a couple minutes and ill go out on a limb (not really) and say that he most likely will not give us much of anything this year.

Leroy on the other hand, spent his whole senior year specifically working on his inside game only per Hurleys request. he is going to be a 4/5 and not a 3. has way more athleticism then Berry and a much higher ceiling.

I cant speak on akele because ive never seen him play but I would imagine that Butts has the early lead. We have to keep in mind that Butts visit came at the same time as Chris Silva visited and I was told by multiple people that it was a toss up between the 2 even though Silva holds the much higher ranking.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Butts committed in June, the same week that his gf did. Silva visited Rhode Island and committed (to South Carolina) in September.

BFC · Unread post by **BFC** » 9 years ago

In the Leroy Butts recruiting thread, there's an Alex Kline tweet that Aflakpui and Enoch were on campus when Butts visited. Also, this is from Koch's article when Butts committed:

Butts is rated a three-star recruit by most scouting services, a long power forward who excels on the offensive glass and has a reliable post game. URI sold Butts on the opportunity to transition to the small forward spot by improving his ball handling skills and jump shot.

“They told me they want to use me as a stretch four,” Butts said. “If I get that down hopefully by my sophomore year or junior year I’ll be a combo forward or maybe (play some) guard.”

http://www.independentri.com/independen ... d5983.html

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

Summer session 1 started on Monday. So, we know that Berry and 4 are here. Are any of the frosh here yet? I would guess not, since they probably haven't graduated yet.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

I'm excited about all our players.

Everyone feels different about each guy but really for the guys that haven't played here there isn't anything dispositive.

I feel that some of it is reading the tea leaves. For the transfers it comes down to them focusing and working hard. They all have nothing in common with our original transfers. Maybe Gil because he had the All Big East freshmen award but the rest didn' sniff the resumes of Iverson and Robinson.

Robinson can't shoot 3's? niether does Dwayne Wade. Jimmy Baron Junior will probably be the best 3point shooter we ever have and he didn't dance. It doesn't preclude success.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

The word from one of the staff on Butts is, "serviceable".
At 6'7", he'll play the 4, not the 5.
"URI sold Butts on the opportunity to transition to the small forward spot by improving his ball handling skills and jump shot."
Ironically, the exact same thing Hassan was told.
Just as EC was supposed to play PG eventually.
Guys wind up playing where their talents and the team's positional
needs lead them.
SPG, Jimmy could have gone to the NCAAs. If he had a different coach.
To indict players who didn't play in the NCAAs, takes in 16 years of URI players
of all types. Some pretty good ones, too.
Wade can't make threes, but he shoots 49% for his career. He has a great mid
range game, which few have.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

Yea Wade's mid range shot is deadly. When he was at Marquette he thrashed my NCAA bracket.

Yea I'm a big fan of the '05-10 teams because I started school in '05, which is why I talk about them.

I'm just really excited for all of our new players every year until they show who they are. Then I pick favorites and develop pet peeves for others.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

I think we all do.
Who thought we'd fall in love with TJ Buchanan?
Some guys you like from the first time you see them
like ADR, or Lamar.
Others grow on you, like TJ, and Preston.
Some develop after a so-so start, like Will Daniels,
and Cat Mobley,and become favorites.
One thing different now, as opposed to pre-internet.
There are few mysteries. We had to wait until the games began,
to figure out who could do what. Most of the time, the
first game was the very first time we even knew what a player looked like!

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

I hope Butts gets pissed about being referred to as "serviceable" and becomes much more than that.

Might have something to prove. I know I would be insulted by that comment, especially from a staff member?

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

I think the context of comments like that has changed.

With Iverson and the core 4 now in the fold I think serviceable isn't like what a serviceable guy was 5 years ago on this board.

At least thats what I hope.

luke · Unread post by **luke** » 9 years ago

Like Rod, I would think that once again, Hassan will be at the 5 more often than not if Iverson is as talented as Hurley says.
and I am hoping he is. The only thing that sticks in the back of my mind is that Hurley had very high praise for
Onyekaba when he first practiced with the team. I hope Hhurley was just trying to promote the program then, but
is serious about Iverson. It is difficult to judge him based on such sparse playing time at Memphis. His highlight films
look good to me though.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

Does anybody know what number Butts is?

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Red 5

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Who the hell is #2, dude can play!

RoadyJay · Unread post by **RoadyJay** » 9 years ago

#2 is Kobie Eubanks... Likely to commit to Alabama

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

#4 can really shoot it, too.

#5 was almost invisible. I think he made a layup in that video.

Not much to go by, unfortunately.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Elev8 basketball has five teams- black, white, red, silver, and grey, so there are multiple players with the same number and a lot of teams covered in that short clip from December.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

Butts is an unknown right now (to us), I think. It's unusual to be able to find so little written and so little tape on a 3* player. And yes, I know rankings aren't everything!

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Bos8 spoke highly of Butts at the time we signed him. I am taking that as a positive.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

Billyboy78 wrote:Butts is an unknown right now (to us), I think. It's unusual to be able to find so little written and so little tape on a 3* player. And yes, I know rankings aren't everything!

That might be because he signed with us so early in the process. If he even waited until the fall instead of committing last summer we'd have probably seen a good amount more on him being reported.

Bos8 · Unread post by **Bos8** » 9 years ago

RhowdyRam02 wrote:
Billyboy78 wrote:Butts is an unknown right now (to us), I think. It's unusual to be able to find so little written and so little tape on a 3* player. And yes, I know rankings aren't everything!
That might be because he signed with us so early in the process. If he even waited until the fall instead of committing last summer we'd have probably seen a good amount more on him being reported.

100% accurate. Take a look at the other schools recruiting him- Cincinatti, Depaul, Rutgers. Has to put on some weight, but look at how much stronger Hassan has gotten.

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