11/5 | Long Island University | 7:00PM (ESPN+)

[bigappleram]

Fatts, Cyril, Jeff and Tyrese all as advertised. Great games for Fatts and Cyril, very solid for Jeff and Tyrese. Good from Dana. Very happy with Toppin. Everyone else will have chances to get on the good list. Concerns for me are Harris's continued issues with fouls and inability to identify their shooters and chase them off the line...too many open threes for my taste and what I've become used to around here.

Great games for Jeff and Cyril? They shot 12 for 31. Not worried about them at all, though that is about as bad as either of them can play IMO.

Yeah man, I don’t agree with that at all. First of all, they were 13-29 from the floor which is not all-world but it’s better than 12-31. Not sure where that came from. But either way, the shooting percentages will level out. More interested in Cyril’s activity and controlling the paint on both ends with 16/15, and Fatts leading the team in scoring AND getting 7 assists without a turnover. Mature shot selection and floor game. I thought they were great, granted it’s never going to be perfect. Your mileage may vary, I guess.

According to the box score I am seeing on ESPN:

Cyril 7-17
Jeff 5-14

Agree 100% on Fatts. Just thought in terms of Jeff and Cyril it wasn't a great showing, which is a good thing bc they are the least of my concerns. They both missed a bunch of shots they normally make and will make down the line.

[luke]

More Toppin , please . can't wait to see him start to hit his jumper too. He looks like he can shoot. Martin looked the best from three .
Toppin is always around the ball, should get a lot of clean up points , probably the most athletic guy on the floor , so much like his brother.

[TruePoint]

Great games for Jeff and Cyril? They shot 12 for 31. Not worried about them at all, though that is about as bad as either of them can play IMO.

Yeah man, I don’t agree with that at all. First of all, they were 13-29 from the floor which is not all-world but it’s better than 12-31. Not sure where that came from. But either way, the shooting percentages will level out. More interested in Cyril’s activity and controlling the paint on both ends with 16/15, and Fatts leading the team in scoring AND getting 7 assists without a turnover. Mature shot selection and floor game. I thought they were great, granted it’s never going to be perfect. Your mileage may vary, I guess.

According to the box score I am seeing on ESPN:

Cyril 7-17
Jeff 5-14

Agree 100% on Fatts. Just thought in terms of Jeff and Cyril it wasn't a great showing, which is a good thing bc they are the least of my concerns. They both missed a bunch of shots they normally make and will make down the line.

Ok well perhaps part of the confusion here is that I said Cyril and Fatts has great games and didn’t notice that you swapped out Fatts for Jeff. I thought Jeff was fine. Probably won’t go into the Jeff Dowtin time capsule but it wasn’t bad. Agree that it’s certainly not a concern.

[TruePoint]

More Toppin , please . can't wait to see him start to hit his jumper too. He looks like he can shoot. Martin looked the best from three .
Toppin is always around the ball, should get a lot of clean up points , probably the most athletic guy on the floor , so much like his brother.

I don’t think you’ll have to worry about seeing more Toppin. He’s likely to get minutes all year. I will say, though, that he may not fare quite as well when he isn’t clearly the most athletic guy on the floor. I wouldn’t expect double digit scoring every night. But overall, I’m sold. I’m going to love this guy. I love that he tried to jump over their big guy’s head for a dunk on a break - glad he didn’t get hurt crashing to the floor and I appreciate the effort.

[DanInAZ]

Fatts: 7 Assists, 3 Steals, 0 turnovers. Leading scorer (18) and dare I say quietly? If this game is any indication the maturity DC mentioned was evident.

[Rhody83]

I thought Fatts had a great game. Tyrese and Toppin had good games. Jeff and Cyril played below their level from last year. Not worried about that though. Offensively Cyril looked like his Soph year on his shots around the rim off rebounds. I believe Tyrese had 10 points at half and only 3 in the second half. Other than Toppin the subs shot pathetic (1-10, 3P 1-7). Long and Hammond looked like Fr playing their first game - poor shots, fouls etc. Dana played solid D and Reb but they need more from him on offense. Harris hurts. Contributed nothing and only played 14 minutes. Truly exposes the depth.

Against LIU (who was missing their leading scorer) Rhody’s core four logged 36 (Jeff), 35 (Fatts), 32 (Tyrese) & 31 (Cyril). Fatts was cramping and they didn’t take him out. Tyrese asked to come out at one point and so did Cyril. With under 5:00 to go coming out after a timeout Cyril was still on the bench resting. Harris needs to contribute 25 minutes. Even if he can contribute for 25 minutes there are 20 minutes each for Tate and Toppin.

It seems Rhody has a 7 man regular rotation until Walker gets back.

[PeterRamTime]

I bet Cyril struggled because hes been playing on that sprained ankle.


Anytime he misses those bunnies its because he cant jump as comfortably as he normally can.

[reef]

I was most impressed with Fatts floor game well under control

Cyril put up 16 and 15 and could have been more missed couple layups

Harris definitely a concern

Toppin has great potential

Bring on the Terps !!

[reef]

Attendance of 4200+ for the opener is a disgrace

[Rhody72]

I'm going to make an outlandish comparison. Jacob Toppin reminds me of the first time I saw this Long Island kid Julius Erving play in a freshman basketball game in the Cage. It is his physical appearance, the way he plays without the ball and above the rim and the grace with which he unassumingly floats about the court and appears out of nowhere. I'm not anointing Jacob yet as the second coming of Dr. J - that will wait until I see him take over games in the second half after appearing as a role player for the start of the game. Time will tell if he has the head and determination to achieve stardom.

[Rhody15]

I'm going to make an outlandish comparison. Jacob Toppin reminds me of the first time I saw this Long Island kid Julius Erving play in a freshman basketball game in the Cage. It is his physical appearance, the way he plays without the ball and above the rim and the grace with which he unassumingly floats about the court and appears out of nowhere. I'm not anointing Jacob yet as the second coming of Dr. J - that will wait until I see him take over games in the second half after appearing as a role player for the start of the game. Time will tell if he has the head and determination to achieve stardom.

If he takes over every game in the second half this year he still has no business being compared to Dr. J....

I mean come on now...

[section(105)]

......ya know, I had the same thought(Dr J)for a second, and thought of posting it at the time......but I said to self,’no don’t do it’.......there are those players that just seem to ooze the “it factor” and for me, Jacob has it.......going to great fun to watch this develop, I am sure there will be a few bone head plays ahead, but overall he needs to start in place of Harris......maybe Jermaine can find his way coming off the bench......I am advocate of freshmen learn best from playing time.....

[DC_Rams]

I'm going to make an outlandish comparison. Jacob Toppin reminds me of the first time I saw this Long Island kid Julius Erving play in a freshman basketball game in the Cage. It is his physical appearance, the way he plays without the ball and above the rim and the grace with which he unassumingly floats about the court and appears out of nowhere. I'm not anointing Jacob yet as the second coming of Dr. J - that will wait until I see him take over games in the second half after appearing as a role player for the start of the game. Time will tell if he has the head and determination to achieve stardom.

If he takes over every game in the second half this year he still has no business being compared to Dr. J....

I mean come on now...

He said it reminds HIM of. He’s entitled to that.

If he doesn’t or won’t for you, that’s fine as well.

[spookydog]

Everyone is talking about Toppin, Fatts, & Cyril. I think there is one thing that everyone is glossing over from last night's game...

#4 on the gray team during half time kids game. That kid put on the show of the night. Great handle, deep range, sweet no look passes, & a step back 3. Give that kid an offer. Class of 2030!?

[Rhodymob05]

Agreed with Section 105, Harris was getting beat all over the place, rebounding, defense ect. Toppin should get more of his minutes.

[KevanBoyles]

4,258 attendance

Last year’s opening night with Bryant had over 5000 in attendance. How bad was the weather?

[rambone 78]

Obi Toppin came out of nowhere to be a huge steal for Dayton, after sitting out a year due to academics.

Gave him a chance to practice and develop BB wise and physically also.

Now here is his brother, who is a true freshmen [and also hasn't played BB many years], who is looking like the same deal for us.

And he hasn't had the benefit yet of a year's worth of D1 level experience [at least at practice] and body development like Obi did.

I can only imagine how good he'll be in another year or so....he might be a better shooter than his brother, and do everything else just as well?

Walker's absence can only help accelerate his development, giving him more opportunity to play, along with Harris not getting it done.

So there's a silver lining here imo.

[ElmCityRhody]

wake up JH wake up - my goodness.. i could do better

[Billyboy78]

Toppin is very athletic. I agree with that. But, isn't he a little thin to play the 4 against teams with big, strong athletic bigs? I guess we'll find out Saturday. I do love his future when he adds some muscle and he can be a good player here right now, but I'm not sure it's by replacing Harris at the 4, as some suggest.

[rambone 78]

Yeah what sucks is that this was LIU...not exactly Maryland.....you would think JH would have done something...anything.....

He certainly looks like he's playing himself out of PT...thank goodness for Toppin.

I've been one that has been tolerant of JH's struggles...but no more.

Billyboy, even an inexperienced Toppin looks like a better option than Harris. He's giving us nothing.

He'll still play, but the way he fouls it won't be much.

Toppin with 15-20 added pounds of muscle next year...whoa.

[PeterRamTime]

Maybe they can try to get Harris to just be less aggressive maybe?

Even if it looks shitty of him to look like hes not trying.

Just so he doesnt foul!

I wonder if, when he fouls early, he gets in his head really bad.

For the sake of his development maybe he should just relax a little so he can stay on the court and get a flow.

We really need him to be something before Walker becomes eligible.

[ramsman75]

......ya know, I had the same thought(Dr J)for a second, and thought of posting it at the time......but I said to self,’no don’t do it’.......there are those players that just seem to ooze the “it factor” and for me, Jacob has it.......going to great fun to watch this develop, I am sure there will be a few bone head plays ahead, but overall he needs to start in place of Harris......maybe Jermaine can find his way coming off the bench......I am advocate of freshmen learn best from playing time.....

I'm all for taking the early game pressure off of Jermaine, not as a punitive measure but as a learning opportunity. I would not be in a hurry to elevate Toppin...Tate gives us a serviceable option to start in Harris' place and leaves a dynamic bench presence intact. We may even find that we have two dynamic presences coming off the bench. My only concern is whether Harris' psyche will handle it. I noticed several times in the game that Harris remained on the bench while other players were high-fiving players who came out of the game.

[RF1]

Attendance of 4200+ for the opener is a disgrace

I have been tracking the game by game attendance for the previous last five seasons. Yesterday's game was nearly the lowest for any opener barely surpassing D2 Pace back in 2014. My expectation is however that home game #2 attendance may well be the best in all those seasons. We have not had the likes of an opponent such as Alabama in that slot for the previous five years.

SEASON-OPPONENT | GAMES
2019 LIU | 4,258
2018 Bryant | 5,010
2017 UNC-Asheville | 6,367
2016 Dartmouth | 6,052
2015 American | 5,089
2014 Pace | 4,210

[bigappleram]

Maybe they can try to get Harris to just be less aggressive maybe?

Even if it looks shitty of him to look like hes not trying.

Just so he doesnt foul!

I wonder if, when he fouls early, he gets in his head really bad.

For the sake of his development maybe he should just relax a little so he can stay on the court and get a flow.

We really need him to be something before Walker becomes eligible.

Try less? His motor is one of his biggest issues. Just compare the way he plays with Cyril in terms of motor and intensity, its night and day.
That is why he fouls so much, he lacks the know how or strength to use his body effectively. Once he is in bad position he has no idea how to get back in a neutral one without fouling. It's not quite 'break glass in case of emergency' time yet with him, but it's getting very close. I would like to see us try to get him some early offense to see if that awakens the giant within in the other facets of the game, but if nothing changes Toppin, Tate and then Walker are going to eat up a lot of minutes at the 4 eventually. Out of necessity.

[section(105)]

......ya know, I had the same thought(Dr J)for a second, and thought of posting it at the time......but I said to self,’no don’t do it’.......there are those players that just seem to ooze the “it factor” and for me, Jacob has it.......going to great fun to watch this develop, I am sure there will be a few bone head plays ahead, but overall he needs to start in place of Harris......maybe Jermaine can find his way coming off the bench......I am advocate of freshmen learn best from playing time.....

I'm all for taking the early game pressure off of Jermaine, not as a punitive measure but as a learning opportunity. I would not be in a hurry to elevate Toppin...Tate gives us a serviceable option to start in Harris' place and leaves a dynamic bench presence intact. We may even find that we have two dynamic presences coming off the bench. My only concern is whether Harris' psyche will handle it. I noticed several times in the game that Harris remained on the bench while other players were high-fiving players who came out of the game.

........I would hate to think his psyche is that fragile.......if it is......oh well.....

[PeteRI]

Everyone is talking about Toppin, Fatts, & Cyril. I think there is one thing that everyone is glossing over from last night's game...

#4 on the gray team during half time kids game. That kid put on the show of the night. Great handle, deep range, sweet no look passes, & a step back 3. Give that kid an offer. Class of 2030!?

HELL YEAH! He was so much fun to watch - a tiny Caucasian version of Fatts!

[rambone 78]

Harris fouled a lot in high school.

Nothing has changed.

You would think the staff could have taught him how to avoid fouling. I'm sure they've tried.

If it hasn't helped by now, you wonder if it ever will.

I would say that if things don't improve, soon after Walker returns his minutes will be cut.

[section(105)]

......want to be fair here, it is no secret that I have underwhelmed by the JH production even going back to last season; some thought he was being played out of his natural position, and some offer being hobbled, dragging a leg around, which may have contributed.......his rapid fouling results in bench time so therefore we get nothing from him there......and while in the game gives us little.......so tell me, what does he give us.......that deserves to continue to start? Are we and the staff waiting for to suddenly emerge?......to me......

[ramster]

The answer seems to be obvious: increase the bandwidth. That’s just a pure infrastructure problem and requires a pure infrastructure solution. Unfortunately those cost money. Hopefully the Ryan Center has prioritized it enough to make some improvements.

I can’t think of any Arena, professional or college, in which WI-FI doesn’t work. Maybe 3-5 years ago but not anymore.
Even when the crowd is small an hour before the game the WIFI struggles
We just built and opened a $175 million Engineering complex.

It just needs to be fixed

Light show last night failed.

Who’s in charge?

[ramster]

I downloaded the app, but my phone never works in the RC. Not sure how this will turn out.

It's so bad. I'll leave the RC, get to my car, sit at the light, and get to the 108/138 intersection and then I'll get text messages from 2-3 hours before. One thing to point out is that I have been in the RC at times where there hasn't been during an event and my phone works just fine. WiFi aside, I think the issue is partially when there's thousands of people in a small area competing for an LTE signal from their carriers is why our phones don't work. Another example I can think of is at the Blessing of the Fleet after the road race I've never been able to send a text, etc. because there are so many people there. I am by no means a phone expert but it's the only thing that makes sense.

Now I need to download this light app.

What happened with the light show?

[rambone 78]

105, that's why we need Walker and REALLY need Ogundele next season.

We will be really hurting inside without them. Well we will have Walker but he's not a 5.

Toppin will become a very good 4 in time...but again he needs help, and with a solid 5 we will have that inside ability we need to play the big boys.

[rhodylaw]

105, that's why we need Walker and REALLY need Ogundele next season.

We will be really hurting inside without them. Well we will have Walker but he's not a 5.

Toppin will become a very good 4 in time...but again he needs help, and with a solid 5 we will have that inside ability we need to play the big boys.

Yes we need help upfront when Cyril graduates, but Cyril is not a true 5 either. He is more like an old-school PF that I think Walker will emulate to a certain degree.

I expect a better game from JH at Maryland.

[Obadiah]

I have the feeling that Harris transfers to another program next year.

[4Diffs]

I have the feeling that Harris transfers to another program next year.

I hope this is not the case as it might be a bad look for David Cox in the DC area. A lot of the frustration that fans are feeling are based on what they thought he was going to be. That is not Jermaine's fault that expectations were higher than they probably should have been. I hope he improves and becomes a solid player for a good team. I certainly hope that he does not leave the team as I think he can become a useful player if used in a different way.

[TruePoint]

I’m not going to try to argue that contrary to what your own eyes are telling you Harris has actually been great so far. He has not been great. I really think his problems are a bit overstated here, though. He may not have had a top-100 impact yet, and he may never have a top-100 impact during his career, but he is not inept. The biggest issue I have is the perpetual foul trouble, but if this team had proper big man depth he would not be playing the volume of minutes where that even matters. It’s a trope to say that bigs usually take a little longer to develop and I don’t want to go overboard making excuses, but I do think a little patience are in order. He’s 25% of the way into his college career; that he was highly ranked in HS and came into a situation that necessitated him being on the floor a lot from his first game shouldn’t obscure that fact.

[FDshoes]

Lets see a nice double digit victory with atleast one of the freshman showing they belong on the court. Ease a little bit of the depth nervousness.

Won by 11 but the game really wasnt that close. Yes a lot of you are saying it was closer than it should have been. But that wasnt a "bad" team we played. Held them under 33% on FGs out rebounded them by a big number. It was the 1st game of the season and we had to adjust our rotation significantly over the past week.

A few positive take aways, 3pt FG% just under 35% and FTs at 76.5%. Toppin looked like he can handle 20ish minutes a game and have an impact and Long did not look lost on either side of the ball and can be counted on handling increased minutes. Granted he didnt hit any of his shots but he didnt look bad on the court.

One negative our overall FG% was putrid but LIU obviously played there D to entice us into outside shots with the zone they were playing.

Jeff & Cyril will be just fine Martin is a star in the making and Fatts played a much smarter and controlled game then he showed at the beginning of last season.

The perpetual ? mark is Harris.

Overall the team hit my check marks

[RamStock]

I’m not going to try to argue that contrary to what your own eyes are telling you Harris has actually been great so far. He has not been great. I really think his problems are a bit overstated here, though. He may not have had a top-100 impact yet, and he may never have a top-100 impact during his career, but he is not inept. The biggest issue I have is the perpetual foul trouble, but if this team had proper big man depth he would not be playing the volume of minutes where that even matters. It’s a trope to say that bigs usually take a little longer to develop and I don’t want to go overboard making excuses, but I do think a little patience are in order. He’s 25% of the way into his college career; that he was highly ranked in HS and came into a situation that necessitated him being on the floor a lot from his first game shouldn’t obscure that fact.

If Toppin and eventually Walker cut into his playing time than hopefully we can get Harris to go full force for 16 minutes a game and not worry so much about the foul trouble that has followed him. He needs to get an opportunity to do something positive on the offensive end to get his confidence going. On the first score of the game he backed off the LIU player that drove to the rim. It was the right call, but you can tell the confidence isn’t there. If he can just get off to a start with 1-2 baskets or some type of positive plays maybe it will help rather than two quick fouls and a defensive miss on a screen or getting caught out of position. He just seems like such an offensive talent to give up on. Let’s hope he be a solid contributor at least. Long way from the talk of Kansas, West Virginia and Xavier, but something at least.

[section(105)]

........I rest my case on JH, I read all the posts regarding the situation we find ourselves. Hopefully he stays and the coaching staff can find a way to place him in a position to be a positive contributor........

[Rhodymob05]

I have the feeling that Harris transfers to another program next year.

I feel the same way. Its evident that he doesnt care much about playing here, but thats just my opinion.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I have the feeling that Harris transfers to another program next year.

I feel the same way. Its evident that he doesnt care much about playing here, but thats just my opinion.

"Evident"? How so? Did he tell you that?

[phipsiGD'11]

I have the feeling that Harris transfers to another program next year.

I feel the same way. Its evident that he doesnt care much about playing here, but thats just my opinion.

Yeah, that might be the most ridiculous take I have read on this blog (and that's saying something).
Remember you're talking about a 19 year old KID. If you dont think this KID is busting his ass day in and day out then you are out of your mind.
Just because scouts had this kid as a top 100 doesn't mean he is going to pan out as a top 100 player, but to say it is "EVIDENT that he doesn't care about playing here" is completely asinine.
Could he be playing better? Absolutely. And you know what, I'm sure he'd be the first one to admit that.
I personally believe that we probably have been trying to fit him into a position/role that doesnt fit his style of play, and probably have expected too much based on his rank and our needs. But like 99% of people on this board I have less of a basketball IQ than a middle school coach.

[Rhodyram]

I have the feeling that Harris transfers to another program next year.

Careless to say this after 1 game. If he wanted to leave he would have. His play is frustrating for the fans and I’m sure he’s frustrated also. He’s in a great situation in which he has started for a top A-10 team in his freshman/sophomore seasons and has a need for size in the upcoming seasons. I also believe he has a close connection with the staff. It hasn’t come yet but I still believe he will make positive contributions this year and beyond.

[Roz]

Last year he was hurt and he has only played one game guys. Talk to me ten games in.

[Rhodymob05]

Maybe he's just not an emotional kid, but every other player looks like they're passionate to be a Ram. I don't see it in Harris. Just my observation. This is after 1 game plus all of last season. I hope I'm wrong because I like the kid and want him and this team to succeed.

[theblueram]

Well, he only played 14 minutes. And last year he averaged 17. But his point production needs to improve most rickety tick or he should come off the bench.

[Rhody72]

I'm going to make an outlandish comparison. Jacob Toppin reminds me of the first time I saw this Long Island kid Julius Erving play in a freshman basketball game in the Cage. It is his physical appearance, the way he plays without the ball and above the rim and the grace with which he unassumingly floats about the court and appears out of nowhere. I'm not anointing Jacob yet as the second coming of Dr. J - that will wait until I see him take over games in the second half after appearing as a role player for the start of the game. Time will tell if he has the head and determination to achieve stardom.

If he takes over every game in the second half this year he still has no business being compared to Dr. J....

I mean come on now...

He said it reminds HIM of. He’s entitled to that.

If he doesn’t or won’t for you, that’s fine as well.

I also said Dr J as a freshman in college. - that was the comparison - not Dr J as a pro; at least not yet.

[ElmCityRhody]

105 - your ........ makes me yearning for more LOL