Is this a “rebuilding” year for our URI Rams?

[Dre3000]

Crazy to me people are actually saying Cox should get the axe at the end of this, his first season as a head coach. Most of the same people were the ones saying Dayton made the wrong hire and won't be the same. Dayton returned more than we did last season and hired an experienced coach, who still struggled his first year finishing 3 games under .500. They lost people during this offseason and now have things rolling. Does Cox need to improve? Absolutely. But let's relax with the "he needs to be fired" talk. That's certainly premature.

Dayton doesn't have things rolling...they have a great freshmen in Toppin, but are 16-9 with a zero percent chance at an at-large. As a team that fills a 12,000+ person arena they expect better results and the way Grant has managed end game situations has some of the fan base continuing to question whether Grant was the right guy for the job.

Are they back to where they were when they had 5 seniors playing big minutes? No, but 2 games out of first place with 6 games to go is a great place to be. Fans will always question coaches, or have we forgot the Baron 2.0 thread. When you consider Dayton has exactly 1 senior this season, I think it's safe to say they are doing well and have a great shot at winning 20+ games this year. The point is, this is a highly experienced coach and he still struggled his first year under similar circumstances as we have this year. To think we should fire a guy in year one is absurd IMO.

[RhowdyRam02]

Two games out of first and a great shot at 20 wins but no hope of an at large? That's only good for Baron people

[Rhody73]

Hello all. First time posting, long time fan, and season ticket holder. Seen many great times, good times and some bad times, this is a time we could remember to have some perspective. Coach Hurley did a great job rebuilding our program, he did it by bringing in talent and we got better as the players aged and learned their roles. He also greatly raised everyone's expectations. The last 2 years were great but those teams were loaded with talented juniors and seniors. Does anyone think that if Dan stayed he would have had a walk in the park with this years group? I don't think that freshman and sophomore players develop noticeably from game to game, but year to year is much different. I remember that Jack Kraft when asked the question when kids in your experience arrive as players in college basketball, he said generally by their junior year. I have seen this myself. So I advise that we have patience and trust that in time things will turn out fine.

[Blue Man]

Crazy to me people are actually saying Cox should get the axe at the end of this, his first season as a head coach. Most of the same people were the ones saying Dayton made the wrong hire and won't be the same. Dayton returned more than we did last season and hired an experienced coach, who still struggled his first year finishing 3 games under .500. They lost people during this offseason and now have things rolling. Does Cox need to improve? Absolutely. But let's relax with the "he needs to be fired" talk. That's certainly premature.

Dayton doesn't have things rolling...they have a great freshmen in Toppin, but are 16-9 with a zero percent chance at an at-large. As a team that fills a 12,000+ person arena they expect better results and the way Grant has managed end game situations has some of the fan base continuing to question whether Grant was the right guy for the job.

Are they back to where they were when they had 5 seniors playing big minutes? No, but 2 games out of first place with 6 games to go is a great place to be. Fans will always question coaches, or have we forgot the Baron 2.0 thread. When you consider Dayton has exactly 1 senior this season, I think it's safe to say they are doing well and have a great shot at winning 20+ games this year. The point is, this is a highly experienced coach and he still struggled his first year under similar circumstances as we have this year. To think we should fire a guy in year one is absurd IMO.

I admit that it seems like piling on, and I'm certainly stoking the fires here. A lot of this is blowing off steam because that's what a message board is for.

To compare this situation to the Baron 2.0 is false.

The Baron 2.0's argument was based on incomplete results. A close road loss to a very good PC team in December set a few people off, while we were clearly still in the at-large discussion, after the biggest regular season win in 20 years, was stupid.

The argument by myself and the rational few was that the "eye test" was being passed, the team was playing hard, and it was bad bounces that just hadn't broke our way.

This year is something else entirely.

You're lying to yourself if you think differently. I can think of 2 times in six years that Hurley's teams flat out didn't even show up - and Hurley benched his starters, brought in walk-ons, and taught lessons. I can think of 2 times in the last week that our team looked like an embarrassment. I can think of half a dozen times in 24 games that we've looked like a D2 team playing a buy game.

Every year under Hurley presented a clear, linear improvement week to week and month to month. Even if Dan wasn't the best X's and O's guy - his teams at least had a calling card. They played hard. If they didn't there was immediate reprimand and coaching. Plus, Dan certainly looked like he cared. Cox has looked emotionless 90% of the time he's out there. He's looked lost. He's looked over his head. Whether he is or isn't - perception is huge and his teams for sure have looked lost, disinterested, and over their head multiple times this year. His team's haven't even come out of the locker room for 4 home games now. After halftime? The team limps out of the locker room with enthusiasm of going to get a prostate exam.

I'm certainly not as close to this program as I was to Hurley's, but I can't see where a lot of this optimism comes from. I mean in an objective vacuum - sophomores make a huge jump. Bigs develop late. Seniors are better than juniors. Teams that stay together for 2 years are much better. - all of that theoretically makes sense.

But based on what is being shown here in reality - there's really nothing to give us hope.

If a coach has lost the team, and that same team is coming back - what says this will magically heal itself with time? If everyone on this team has regressed this year, what hope do we have that they'll turn it around with the same coaching staff?

Obviously you can't fire your coach after year 1. That's a terrible precedent to set and will black list you from any big name candidate you'd want.

However, if this team - who returns the same starting line up, the entire bench rotation, and the #50 recruiting class as sophomores - doesn't make the tournament? It's not ludicrous to consider making a change.

IF - and it's a HUGE if (I hope) we don't make it in Jeff Dowtin's senior year - what faith do you have the year following that with the way Fatts has regressed? Then who's your PG?

Obviously I'm getting way too far ahead of myself.

[TruePoint]

I'm certainly not as close to this program as I was to Hurley's, but I can't see where a lot of this optimism comes from. I mean in an objective vacuum - sophomores make a huge jump. Bigs develop late. Seniors are better than juniors. Teams that stay together for 2 years are much better. - all of that theoretically makes sense.

But based on what is being shown here in reality - there's really nothing to give us hope.

These are the two competing ideas that I am stuck between. I wouldn’t call it optimism, really, but I can see vaguely make out a path to a bounce back 2019-20. I totally agree that based on what we’ve seen this year, it would take blind optimism to feel good about next year.

On the other hand, I could see the following scenario playing out: get to the off season and hit reset; everyone collectively is disgusted at what this year turned into, and the veterans on the team and coach cox resolve to never let it happen again; they talk about what it was like to win the league and go to the tournament and win a game there - what it felt to be a part of that team, the attitude, the approach, the collective effort and buy-in; the coach goes to school figuring out what went wrong for him this year, and grows personally and professionally; the staff is upgraded with potentially younger, more energetic people who can relate better to these players (remember, unlike many assistants, Sutton and Carroll did not recruit these players and don’t have pre-existing relationships with them like Cox did on Dan’s staff and other assistants usually do - you won’t be able to hire a staff that did recruit these guys, obviously, but maybe you can find guys that the players will be able to connect with more) and who are more at the cutting edge of modern basketball philosophy and strategy; the players, led by the upperclassmen who have won here, attack the offseason with intensity and humility, together, to improve individually and collectively; the coaching staff spends its time with the players putting them in positions to make strides in their game and building trust, and their time away from their players working on a style of play that incorporates the strengths of their players and creates an identity for this team on both ends of the floor; the ramp up to the season in the fall, with full buy-in from the staff and players, imparts confidence and focus; and they get off to a hot start - they see the ball go thru the hoop, the sophomore class is more comfortable and steps into the roles they were envisioned to fill and they roll thru a few tune up games before taking on one of the good OOC opponents on the schedule and knock them off. All of a sudden, the kind of momentum that has alluded this team propels them, and the bad mojo from this year that has spiraled to the point that fans have called to eat millions of dollars to blow it up is replaced by good mojo that we saw last year a team can really ride.

I recognize this is probably fantasy, and it isn’t a prediction. But the chances that something like this happens is not zero - whether the odds are 10% or 20% or whatever, if you did blow it up (whether that is even possible is another question) your chances are definitely zero. Giving it another year and taking that chance won’t put you in any worse shape to start over after next year. Either way, you’ll probably start at zero - and giving this freshman class another year might even increase the odds that all or most of it sticks thru a coaching change.

I don’t know, I guess I’m still with the people that are disgusted by what we’ve seen the last few weeks, and every bit as angry. But I’m just not sure that the knee jerk impulse to want to blow it up immediately (“cut bait” as someone keeps cleverly suggesting) is the smart thing to do. I believed that Cox was the right guy when they hired him. Despite him not having done much to justify that belief so far, if you think someone is a competent person, you have to give them a chance to figure it out and fix it. Smart people screw things up sometimes. You can fight your way back. I hope that Cox can do that, and I hope he gets all the help and support he needs to do it.

[reef]

I was happy when we hired Cox and thought we would be much better than we are playing

He definitely deserves a shot at next year

If we struggle again next year based on what we got coming back then u seriously need to consider making a change

[URI'21]

PC made the wrong hire in Keno Davis, made a quick change and found the right guy in Cooley.

You can’t allow this to go on.

It took Hurley 6 years to build this program. We had near sellouts this season and it took woeful efforts and performances to bring us back down in a matter of weeks.

My optimism for the future is flat gone.

Dumbass post! Lol. Nobody cares about how optimistic you are for the future.

We lost 6 contributing seniors last year 4 of whom started. The expectation to be at the same level as we left off last season is ignorant. Firing Cox after one year is just ridiculous especially considering the youth of the team

[adam914]

Has anyone really said we should be at the same level as we left off last season though? As has been said a few times already, it's really not the wins and losses that have been the problem, its how they have looked in the process. But of course, you don't fire a guy after year one without there being some major scandal or something, so that's not even worth talking about yet.

But there is zero excuse for not making the tournament next year, and if they don't, then everything is on the table and its time to decide if maybe the coach and team just isn't very good and where you go from there.

To me next season will come down to Tyrese Martin and Jermaine Harris. We need both of them to become go to offensive weapons. If there is anything that is going to save this offense its going to be those two guys. There is no other help coming. If those two guys can become 10+ ppg scorers it changes everything. Dowtin can go back to being the guy he was with guys like Terrell, EC & Hassan around him, which just makes everyone better. Then you still have Cyril who continues to dominate every night (FT shooting aside) and is a walking double double.

Now its up to Cox and the rest of the staff to figure out how to make it happen this offseason. The frustrating and concerning part of it is that I think a lot of us came into this season very confident that the above is exactly how next season would go and this season would just be the growing pains required to get there. What we have seen so far from this coaching staff just makes what is required to be good next year seem more unlikely than it did coming into the season. It doesn't make it impossible, but it makes it seem like there is a greater chance of it not coming together then many of us anticipated.

[Running Ram]

I agree with adam here. It's way too soon to be calling for jobs, but we are beginning to see a picture form. DC doesn't have his guys 'all in,' effort is lacking. While the talent is young, reasonable fans will be patient, but what we are seeing now is about coaching. Young team; Inconsistency is tolerable, disinterest is not. From an outsider's perspective this team seems to have unity issues. I've been happy that we took a chance on DC, I believe what he brought to the program as DH's assistant was invaluable, and I didn't expect DC to light CBB on fire in his first season, but I do expect better, much, much better. And as adam points out, next year is all about this year. If DC can get the players moving in the right direction by season's end then there is a shot we get back to the tournament next year, if not....
To be clear, I'm not bailing on DC, I'm ever hopeful he succeeds and gets this team all on the same page.

[ace]

People are frustrated, but I think there are only a handful of posters who actually think Cox should be fired. They just say it a lot, repeatedly, so it seems like more.

[RamStock]

Has anyone really said we should be at the same level as we left off last season though? As has been said a few times already, it's really not the wins and losses that have been the problem, its how they have looked in the process. But of course, you don't fire a guy after year one without there being some major scandal or something, so that's not even worth talking about yet.

But there is zero excuse for not making the tournament next year, and if they don't, then everything is on the table and its time to decide if maybe the coach and team just isn't very good and where you go from there.

To me next season will come down to Tyrese Martin and Jermaine Harris. We need both of them to become go to offensive weapons. If there is anything that is going to save this offense its going to be those two guys. There is no other help coming. If those two guys can become 10+ ppg scorers it changes everything. Dowtin can go back to being the guy he was with guys like Terrell, EC & Hassan around him, which just makes everyone better. Then you still have Cyril who continues to dominate every night (FT shooting aside) and is a walking double double.

Now its up to Cox and the rest of the staff to figure out how to make it happen this offseason. The frustrating and concerning part of it is that I think a lot of us came into this season very confident that the above is exactly how next season would go and this season would just be the growing pains required to get there. What we have seen so far from this coaching staff just makes what is required to be good next year seem more unlikely than it did coming into the season. It doesn't make it impossible, but it makes it seem like there is a greater chance of it not coming together then many of us anticipated.

Agree with everything. Good summary of what most people expect

[Rhody73]

In regard to True Points observation that maybe our current assistant coaches might be too old to relate to our young players. What the heck is the point of having TJ Buchanon anyway? In my opinion he is the model of what we all want our players aspire to.

[Blue Man]

PC made the wrong hire in Keno Davis, made a quick change and found the right guy in Cooley.

You can’t allow this to go on.

It took Hurley 6 years to build this program. We had near sellouts this season and it took woeful efforts and performances to bring us back down in a matter of weeks.

My optimism for the future is flat gone.

Dumbass post! Lol. Nobody cares about how optimistic you are for the future.

We lost 6 contributing seniors last year 4 of whom started. The expectation to be at the same level as we left off last season is ignorant. Firing Cox after one year is just ridiculous especially considering the youth of the team

Lol. Speaking of dumbass posts - please find where I (or anyone) said that we had the expectations to be where we were last year? To double-down on your dumb ass posting dumbass posts, here's what I said in the same post you quoted:

"Obviously you can't fire your coach after year 1. That's a terrible precedent to set and will black list you from any big name candidate you'd want.

However, if this team - who returns the same starting line up, the entire bench rotation, and the #50 recruiting class as sophomores - doesn't make the tournament? It's not ludicrous to consider making a change."

That doesn't sound super unreasonable.

As for this notion where people are comparing Hurley's start to Cox's; Dan had an empty cupboard full of players who had never known winning and were used to being on teams who lost. Hurley always talked about implementing a "culture of winning" which is why it took years to accomplish. Hurley's first year was played in probably the toughest A10 conference in memory.

Cox was given a cupboard where half the roster (walk-ons included) had been indoctrinated in that culture. Two juniors who had only been on A10 champion and NCAA teams. A red-shirt junior who had the same. A (now malcontent) senior who had seen it done for a year. Walk-ons who've seen the progression to becoming a winning team. On top of that, a top 50 recruiting class, an easy OOC schedule and the softest A10 conference in my lifetime.

You cannot compare the two coaches and their respective starts. What Cox was given is miles and years ahead of what Hurley was given, which is why there's a lack of patience to see results - and by "results" no one means NCAA tournaments. The most common 'results' that were expected were to be competitive, see growth, compete for an NIT birth, have an OUTSIDE chance at an NCAA birth via the A10 tournament, AND NOT LOSE TO FORDHAM AT HOME on top of numerous other embarrassments that shouldn't befall this program no matter the cycle.

Yes this team is young, yes Cox will be here next year, no you can't fire a head coach after year one. But just to repeat myself since your dumb ass can't read a full post:

"However, if this team - who returns the same starting line up, the entire bench rotation, and the #50 recruiting class as sophomores - doesn't make the tournament [next year]? It's not ludicrous to consider making a change."

[TruePoint]

In regard to True Points observation that maybe our current assistant coaches might be too old to relate to our young players. What the heck is the point of having TJ Buchanon anyway? In my opinion he is the model of what we all want our players aspire to.

I don’t want to say they’re too old. I don’t even really like scape-goating them because I don’t know that they’re doing anything wrong. But whatever they are doing, the staff as a whole is not getting the job done and you can see that plain as day on the floor. One easy area to make a change is to go in a different direction with the assistants and see if you can get a hungry guy on his way up that has a different way of thinking about the game, that can bring new energy and maybe relate to the players in a way that is less parental.

[Seawrightspostgame]

It's not fun to want to ask a guy to leave so soon. I hope for all our sake he can turn it around.

The losing takes the fun out of everything really. I felt like Dowtin was as good a scorer as URI has had since Dawan Robinson and Langevine is just an extraordinary rebounder. Like neck and neck with ARD. But who cares if they cant beat the bottom of the conference.


They dont play full speed ever. They hop skip and jog around the court. Obviously doesnt work for a team like them. If it works for any team.

[Gonebarongone]

People are frustrated, but I think there are only a handful of posters who actually think Cox should be fired. They just say it a lot, repeatedly, so it seems like more.

I don't think I have ever called for his job. But I do think, in a corporate type setting, Cox would be gone at year's end. Sometimes you just know and this hire never felt right and it looks bad right now. I get that it will never happen because that's the way college hoops works but, with what he was handed and the way they look? Whatever the buyout is isn't more than what URI loses every year this goes on.

[URI'21]

Thanks for writing me a novel Blue man. That's one way to cover up your tracks after you post one of your signature emotionally driven takes online.

You announced that "You can't let this go on" and that if we don't make the tournament next year we should consider firing Cox.

Yeah, that's stupid. We don't know how our Freshmen will develop and we don't know how Cox's coaching will adjust going forward.
I mean obviously if Cox starts being a blatantly horrible coach then yeah we should fire him but the fact that you're saying that if we simply miss the tournament next year then we should consider making a change is just short sighted.

The whole reason I called you a dumbass is because you also announced that "My optimism for the future is flat gone".
That's just a lame comment. College basketball teams struggle sometimes. Especially with a first year HC and four rotating freshmen and no seniors. Talk about clueless! We're having a shitty season obviously but the fact that you're dismissing the future because of it is irrational. We have young and talented guys.

[Billyboy78]

Thanks for writing me a novel Blue man. That's one way to cover up your tracks after you post one of your signature emotionally driven takes online.

You announced that "You can't let this go on" and that if we don't make the tournament next year we should consider firing Cox.

Yeah, that's stupid. We don't know how our Freshmen will develop and we don't know how Cox's coaching will adjust going forward.
I mean obviously if Cox starts being a blatantly horrible coach then yeah we should fire him but the fact that you're saying that if we simply miss the tournament next year then we should consider making a change is just short sighted.

The whole reason I called you a dumbass is because you also announced that "My optimism for the future is flat gone".
That's just a lame comment. College basketball teams struggle sometimes. Especially with a first year HC and four rotating freshmen and no seniors. Talk about clueless! We're having a shitty season obviously but the fact that you're dismissing the future because of it is irrational. We have young and talented guys.

...who are not developing.

[Rhody72]

The comments in support of Cox are so similar to those in support of Jerry D in year one. You know you have a winner in year one when you see improvement and effort. Next year you will see a schedule of oaters to build up a W-L record. The problem this year is the 3 players who are playing far below expectations. They will be here next year as well. Cox should have demanded and pushed all three rather than handing them starting roles. Cox didn't recognize the problem until it was too late. The only improvement has come from two players who started on the bench and worked hard for more playing time.

[sevegny7]

Damn. Some of you guys need some serious medications haha. Next year will be a very telling and pivotal year for the bunch. With a whole summer to improve individually and allow the team to mature and develop (hopefully) along with roster changes. An improve has to be seen especially with a real difficult schedule slated next year. Even though cox has not managed year 1 of the uri tenure. I do reserve him the opportunity to prove the adjustments he can make over a full off season.

[TheGhostOfDH]

People are frustrated, but I think there are only a handful of posters who actually think Cox should be fired. They just say it a lot, repeatedly, so it seems like more.

I don't think I have ever called for his job. But I do think, in a corporate type setting, Cox would be gone at year's end. Sometimes you just know and this hire never felt right and it looks bad right now. I get that it will never happen because that's the way college hoops works but, with what he was handed and the way they look? Whatever the buyout is isn't more than what URI loses every year this goes on.

As someone who regularly advises Fortune 500 companies on governance and regulatory issues, this is a bad take. The company is performing as the “coverage analysts” predicted with our new CEO. However, there will always be investors looking for a quick hit and big score. Usually, these investors aren’t heavily invested in the stock and sometimes are there just to short it out.

This CEO deserves an opportunity with his new management team. I would like to see the long shareholders back him as he deserves to be backed.

[Gonebarongone]

People are frustrated, but I think there are only a handful of posters who actually think Cox should be fired. They just say it a lot, repeatedly, so it seems like more.

I don't think I have ever called for his job. But I do think, in a corporate type setting, Cox would be gone at year's end. Sometimes you just know and this hire never felt right and it looks bad right now. I get that it will never happen because that's the way college hoops works but, with what he was handed and the way they look? Whatever the buyout is isn't more than what URI loses every year this goes on.

As someone who regularly advises Fortune 500 companies on governance and regulatory issues, this is a bad take. The company is performing as the “coverage analysts” predicted with our new CEO. However, there will always be investors looking for a quick hit and big score. Usually, these investors aren’t heavily invested in the stock and sometimes are there just to short it out.

This CEO deserves an opportunity with his new management team. I would like to see the long shareholders back him as he deserves to be backed.

What analysts had this through 25 games?

[TheGhostOfDH]

We were projected to finish between 7th and 9th... it’s out there... I had much higher hopes. Peace.

[hrstrat57]

Well heard Coach Cox just say on ch10

“This is part of life, this is part of this process right here of rebuilding a championship caliber team....”

So now it is a rebuilding year....

[ramster]

We were projected to finish between 7th and 9th... it’s out there... I had much higher hopes. Peace.

Out where? Links please.

What did the A10 Head Coaches predict?

[rambone 78]

Cox just seems to think oh this is expected.....no worries, it will get better....what a load of...…

As to where we finish or our ending W-L record...I could give a rat's ass...I want to see improvement, any improvement, and develop some consistency please.

I didn't expect us to be world beaters this season, but this is so far below what I did expect it's ridiculous.

[Billyboy78]

"PART OF THE PROCESS!!!!!".....noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

[ramfan85]

Well heard Coach Cox just say on ch10

“This is part of life, this is part of this process right here of rebuilding a championship caliber team....”

So now it is a rebuilding year....

DOes he hand out flowers at the airport, too?

[rambone 78]

I guess we have to suck REALLY bad before we can be good again, no?

That's how that comes across.

Seriously, this guy has no answers....pure coach speak, no substance to it.

[Rhodymob05]

Sounds like an assistant coach.

[ace]

We were projected to finish between 7th and 9th... it’s out there... I had much higher hopes. Peace.

Blue Ribbon- which I respect way more than ones like Athlon or the Sporting News- had URI 5th.

I’ve heard people comment on Cox’s demeanor. I haven’t seen him lead a practice; but, I know that as an assistant, he was really intense and animated in practice. I think he’s still trying to find his in-game style.

[theblueram]

Sounds like Baron

[rambone 78]

Head scratching for sure. Well if he isn't pissed, than that explains why his players don't seem to care either.

[hrstrat57]

I wonder what our returning veteran players will think when they learn of this rebuild? Our 3 and 4 star recruits?
Walker?

Thorr? Dooley?

7500 seat on campus building packed most of the season and defending regular season champs with 2 straight round of 32’s.

Rebuild?

Really?

Well if that’s what everybody wants wooo hooo

Let’s go!

[Rhody72]

Losing by 34 to a team you recently beat at home and you had no injured players points to much deeper problems. Your team wasn't prepared to play the game and that is a coaching issue. Will the team show up for Davidson on the deuce? Many fans will not show up for this game.

[ramster]

We were projected to finish between 7th and 9th... it’s out there... I had much higher hopes. Peace.

Out where? Links please.

What did the A10 Head Coaches predict?

Ghost,
I’m looking at all the Preseason publications and struggling to find projected finishes of 7 to 9. You sure about that?

[Blue Man]

We were projected to finish between 7th and 9th... it’s out there... I had much higher hopes. Peace.

Out where? Links please.

What did the A10 Head Coaches predict?

Ghost,
I’m looking at all the Preston publications and struggling to find projected finishes of 7 to 9. You sure about that?

We were picked 5th in the A10 preseason poll.

[reef]

Part of the process was mentioned

We heard that before !!!

[RhodyRams12]

[section(105)]

......looks like an average rebuild.......

[rambone 78]

Rebuild means we're building something....

Right now we're in the "process" of tearing it down......

[rjsuperfly66]

Out where? Links please.

What did the A10 Head Coaches predict?

Ghost,
I’m looking at all the Preston publications and struggling to find projected finishes of 7 to 9. You sure about that?

We were picked 5th in the A10 preseason poll.

To me, pure standing does not really matter.
If a team was supposed to finish 5th, that is anywhere from 9-11 wins.
Last year, VCU finished 9-9.
But more importantly, A10 has an unbalanced schedule.
This season, URI had 7 games against the top 4 in the conference (4 home, 3 away), plus 2 more against the #5 team in the conference.
In 2016, GW finished with 11 wins, but had just 5 games against the top 4 (2 home, 3 away), and 2 more against #6.
In 2017, St. Bonaventure finished with 11 wins, but had just 5 games against the top 4 (2 home, 3 away), and 1 more (away) at #6.
This year, the difference between 5th (likely 10 wins) and 9th (likely 8 wins) is not necessarily significant.
It's not like URI was projected to finish 5th (let's say 10-8), and finished 6-12 or 5-13.
Then you are starting to talk about monumental disappointment.
I think the problem is that despite the SOS, the average fan thought 11 wins would be the minimum.
Look at the preseason predictions:
8 wins - 2 out of 96 (2.1%)
9 wins - 10 out of 96 (10.4%)
10 wins - 21 out of 96 (21.9%)
11 wins - 32 out of 96 (33.3%)
12 wins - 19 out of 96 (19.8%)
13 wins - 5 out of 96 (5.2%)
14 wins - 4 out of 96 (4.2%)
15 wins - 3 out of 96 (3.1%)
Here are a couple of different ways to look at that:
I know it's fanspeak, but more fans thought 15 wins was possible than 8 wins, despite the fact it would have been such a huge jump from their projections.
65.6% of fans thought the team would win at least 11 games, while only 12.5% thought the team would lose more than 8 games.
And all of those numbers are counter intuitive to pretty much every projection and prognostication out there.
So while the team has probably underachieved a touch, I don't think it's nearly as egregious as the mob would indicate, regardless of which direction the needle has trended the last few weeks.

[RhodyKyle]

Rebuild means we're building something....

Right now we're in the "process" of tearing it down......

I wanted to wait to confirm but I think it's safe to welcome doombone back to the KB forum! Welcome back, doom!

[ramster]

Ghost,
I’m looking at all the Preston publications and struggling to find projected finishes of 7 to 9. You sure about that?

We were picked 5th in the A10 preseason poll.

To me, pure standing does not really matter.
If a team was supposed to finish 5th, that is anywhere from 9-11 wins.
Last year, VCU finished 9-9.
But more importantly, A10 has an unbalanced schedule.
This season, URI had 7 games against the top 4 in the conference (4 home, 3 away), plus 2 more against the #5 team in the conference.
In 2016, GW finished with 11 wins, but had just 5 games against the top 4 (2 home, 3 away), and 2 more against #6.
In 2017, St. Bonaventure finished with 11 wins, but had just 5 games against the top 4 (2 home, 3 away), and 1 more (away) at #6.
This year, the difference between 5th (likely 10 wins) and 9th (likely 8 wins) is not necessarily significant.
It's not like URI was projected to finish 5th (let's say 10-8), and finished 6-12 or 5-13.
Then you are starting to talk about monumental disappointment.
I think the problem is that despite the SOS, the average fan thought 11 wins would be the minimum.
Look at the preseason predictions:
8 wins - 2 out of 96 (2.1%)
9 wins - 10 out of 96 (10.4%)
10 wins - 21 out of 96 (21.9%)
11 wins - 32 out of 96 (33.3%)
12 wins - 19 out of 96 (19.8%)
13 wins - 5 out of 96 (5.2%)
14 wins - 4 out of 96 (4.2%)
15 wins - 3 out of 96 (3.1%)
Here are a couple of different ways to look at that:
I know it's fanspeak, but more fans thought 15 wins was possible than 8 wins, despite the fact it would have been such a huge jump from their projections.
65.6% of fans thought the team would win at least 11 games, while only 12.5% thought the team would lose more than 8 games.
And all of those numbers are counter intuitive to pretty much every projection and prognostication out there.
So while the team has probably underachieved a touch, I don't think it's nearly as egregious as the mob would indicate, regardless of which direction the needle has trended the last few weeks.

“Team has underachieved a touch”?

- Picked by A10 Head Coaches to finish 5th
- Played a weaker than expected OCC schedule
- played a weaker than expected A10 conference - likely 1-2 bids
- Dead last in 3FG Percentage of 353 D1 Teams
- has lost 6 of last 7
- Zero Freshmen of the week in the A10 having had unanimously the best Freshman Class in the A10
- Underachieved with a minimum number of injuries
- Had far greater crowd turn out than anyone expected with this record
- often played lethargically
- have easily the biggest joke of a weave in all of college basketball
- morale issues

“Don’t worry captain, it’s just a small iceberg”

But here’s where you are way off RJ when you say the team is only underachieving a touch and people are exaggerating things. My guess is we have not seen the bottom. This team might not win another game. Would that change your “touch underachieving”? And some other surprises are in store.......

[rambone 78]

ramster used to be one of the most optimistic posters on this board for a long time....now look....

for him to be this negative tells all of us just how bad things are going....and I believe he's right when he says things could get even worse.

These players, maybe not all of them, but at least some of them, have tuned Cox and staff out. For any number of reasons.

And this is what you get when this happens.

[hrstrat57]

Clearly on ch10 news bit tonight the players were sans team provided gear. Interesting discipline confirmed. Wasn’t discussed in the spot tho

The “process, rebuilding “ comment I posted elsewhere was replayed as well.

As I get increasingly picky here practice was underway during the bit and the camera scanned and I didn’t notice any “throwback” fixtures. Does URI not utilize what has been basic equipment for over 25 years in shooting drills?

I believe they were first used by UNC in the 80’s....adapted from baseball/ softball pitch back rigs. Enables individual practice of passing and shooting skills at the same time 24/7. Hopefully just packed away?



Cox closes practice to the public 100% I believe.

[ramster]

ramster used to be one of the most optimistic posters on this board for a long time....now look....

for him to be this negative tells all of us just how bad things are going....and I believe he's right when he says things could get even worse.

These players, maybe not all of them, but at least some of them, have tuned Cox and staff out. For any number of reasons.

And this is what you get when this happens.

Rambone,
Go to Jim Baron 2.0 and you will see me and Blue Man saying let the season play out, that this team can still make it - this when most all had thrown in the towel and were tough on DH BUT you could see we were playing tough defense, losing close games. You could see the team had the potential to turn the corner.......and it did.


I was very optimistic this season but was wrong.
I could see this coming 6 weeks ago, maybe more than 6 weeks, hate to say it.
- Way, way too long to put Martin in as a starter. Should have been from day 1.
- Harris leads the team in FT Shooting, has high potential, but does not get the playing time he should - don’t know why
- Dowtin should be PG, Fatts 6th man.
- This is not a good passing team
- We don’t drive to the hoop well or feed our big men who could do some damage inside but only Dowtin gets them the ball


I don’t think we win another game. Right now we are the worst team in the league. Hope I’m wrong and we run the A10 table.

[rambone 78]

ramster, we have no chance to run anything. We can't shoot....miss too many wide open shots all the time every time.

15 offensive boards to Davidson's 1.....what good did it do?

We would have a chance to win a couple games if Cox finally realizes that Dowtin should play the point for 30 minutes a game....not half that.

But his golden boy Fatts has to be in there for 30+ minutes and he can't play the 2 so there you go....and Thompson should have his minutes cut in half but will that ever happen?

[ramster]

Well is it?

Do we dare guess what Thorr thinks?

What do you think Rhody fans?

No, it is not.

[Blue Man]

Well considering we lost our elite PG at some point this year because our coach incorrectly decided the team was better with him off the ball, it probably is.

Shouldn’t have been. But losing a PG is tough to come back on. Would’ve been nice to know we’d be losing the best player on our team by a coaches choice going into the year so we could’ve tempered our expectations.

To be honest, this year is about what you could expect from an immature first year PG.