1/8 | Davidson | 7:00PM (CBSSN)

[NYGFan_Section208]

Good win, they played good enough. Much much better than last two games. Toppin needs his minutes period. Fatts needs to play too did he even sit again after the first four minutes? Long had some good moments after a few games off. Martin struggled a little bit but I don’t blame him for those late turnovers. Harris was ok but that last three was very ill-advised. Overall we won, hopefully the worst is behind us and let’s go kick ass at VCU!

Fatts played 36 minutes. More than anyone on the team. I still love the Toppin start. LOVE. IT.

[The Dude]

General observations:

Harris - Still doesn't seem to know where to position himself defensively and when it's appropriate to take a 3 point shot.
Martin - Some people are even keeled or mellow and that is ok, but I've seen Tyrese play with a fire within when playing against PC, so he can definitely turn it up a notch. Wish he would. Passes are still sloppy.
Walker - Still not sure what to make of him.
Cox - I liked having Fatts come off the bench and having Toppin starting in this game. Felt it was a great tactical move even before the game began. It seemed to work from an offensive standpoint for Fatts. He definitely emerged from his slump and so did Dowtin.

Davidson could've easily won the game. The stats are super misleading in my opinion. They had multiple open looks from outside the arc. In my opinion, a big reason why Rhody got the win is because Davidson couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from 3pt land. It was great to see Fatts & Dowtin somewhat back to their typical selves. Defensively this team struggled mightily to guard Davidson. If they play against VCU like they played today against Davidson, in my opinion, it's going to be over for Rhody by halftime.

They have to get back to the fundamentals. What baffles me is that I saw a defensive series where Harris moved like a Gazelle with quick feet, with purpose, and without hesitation. I WAS STUNNED! It was only one time, but he seemed to find a little extra intensity. Wish I could see that more often.
I feel like all of these guys have the ability to shut the opposition down and light the rim on fire, but for whatever reason I see "some" of them consistently underperform...and by underperform I mean based on what they themselves, in a past game, have shown they were capable of doing (and it wasn't related to playing a poor team).

I feel like this team needs some fire within, some intensity, & some swagger. They need a Jared Terrell. Unfortunately, in the words of Pitino, "he's not walking through that door."

THIS IS THE KIND OF ATTITUDE THEY NEED TO HAVE EVERY GAME:

[Rhody74]

Cyril= 3 bad plays in a row down the court... yanked.

all of a sudden the team comes to life.

does that mean keep Cyril out permanently? No. But sometimes you need to push the reset button. Good move by Cox

Defensively Cyril was in normal beast mode. Offensively he looked he was a raw freshman. Not a good night for the man. But I know he’ll have better games.

[cRAM4finals]

Can someone please tell me what happened with Walker?

Limited body of work for him tonight. Early foul aka Aris (or Jermaine a year ago). Then a bullet pass from the top right three point line through traffic to Martin who wasn’t paying attention for the first of seven times tonight - risky pass but it was there - that probably got him benched for a bit and then the speedier matchups for us seemed to be clicking. Walker will get his minutes in other games going forward I think, but Toppin and Long’s quIckness got them more time tonight against this Davidson team.

[Rhody74]

It’s so odd that Davidson is struggling. I’m sure their fans are mystified.

Man they did look bad, I hadn't seen much of their games this season, it was surprising.

They are missing two of their five starters. But Grady seems to have regressed from his freshman year.

[bigappleram]

I'm usually the optimist but that was an ugly, ugly win IMO. Davidson without Frampton and Pritchett is not good. Like bottom tier of A10 bad without those guys. They have 2 guys who can beat you, and then a bunch of guys who look like they are allergic to the weight room. Athletically they are inferior to us by a large margin.

The only bright spots to me were:
-Fatts showing great leadership out there, picking guys up, making plays, and being a vocal on court presence
-Toppin is going to be awesome to watch
-For some periods of that game we played effective defense specifically in defending the 3pt shot. But Davidson also missed a good amount of open threes.

On the negative side:
-Besides Fatts and Toppin everyone else seemed to be sulking on the court tonight
-Tyrese had 3-4 really bad plays including inexplicably going weakly under screens on TWO straight possessions in the last minute when the whole arena knows they need to take a 3.
-Jermaine needs to see the ball more when he establishes position, especially early in the clock. No one gets him the ball. He is open a bunch and has established good position but does not sniff the ball. I think that is what leads him to take too many ill advised threes, I agree with the sentiment of if its in the flow of offense and he is open that he can shoot it but there is zero need for him to force a 3 and that has happened few times.
-Jeff is really a concern right now. The dude has been a rock for 3 years, and one of the most consistent players throughout that time. Not sure what's going on there.

Biggest concern, body language and the little things don't look good. After averaging over 75 points in OOC we are back to grinding for every point like last year. Defensive intensity and discipline is inconsistent. Too many times tonight I saw guys hit the floor with no one there to help them up, guys make a nice play with no one there to dap em up or pat em on the back. Something seems off right now. Nothing like the Siegel Center and a raucous crowd to hopefully awaken the giant within.

[TruePoint]

Someone will have to explain to me the brilliance of beginning the game with a player on the bench, putting him into the game before the first media timeout and then having him play the entire rest of the game. Obviously this is a very giant brain move and I am just not smart enough to understand it. Fortunately for me, no other coach in the history of basketball has ever elevated to this level of genius either so I’m in good company at least.

[RF1]

Happy with the win but Davidson is not that good this season. Played much better D. Cyril did not play that well on offense tonight. Several easy fg misses, a few missed fts, and the customary charge. Martin made at least four errors in a short span with about four minutes left which gave Davidson new life. Lazy pass on the perimeter which led to an easy hoop, two inexcusable fouls that stopped the clock and put DC at the line, and a to driving to the basket when he let the shot clock nearly expire.

I took Fatts not starting as more of a reward to Toppin than a punishment to Russell. Fatts ended up with most minutes played.

More inspired play tonight than the last two games and the losing streak is ended. At VCU will be very tough. Guess I should try to get to every game as they are a perfect 5- 0 in games I have attended.

[josephski]

Someone will have to explain to me the brilliance of beginning the game with a player on the bench, putting him into the game before the first media timeout and then having him play the entire rest of the game. Obviously this is a very giant brain move and I am just not smart enough to understand it. Fortunately for me, no other coach in the history of basketball has ever elevated to this level of genius either so I’m in good company at least.

Pretty sure Dion Waiters never started a game for Syracuse and went to the NBA after his sophomore season. Not as unheard of as you make it sound.

[RhodyRams916]

I'm usually the optimist but that was an ugly, ugly win IMO. Davidson without Frampton and Pritchett is not good. Like bottom tier of A10 bad without those guys. They have 2 guys who can beat you, and then a bunch of guys who look like they are allergic to the weight room. Athletically they are inferior to us by a large margin.

The only bright spots to me were:
-Fatts showing great leadership out there, picking guys up, making plays, and being a vocal on court presence
-Toppin is going to be awesome to watch
-For some periods of that game we played effective defense specifically in defending the 3pt shot. But Davidson also missed a good amount of open threes.

On the negative side:
-Besides Fatts and Toppin everyone else seemed to be sulking on the court tonight
-Tyrese had 3-4 really bad plays including inexplicably going weakly under screens on TWO straight possessions in the last minute when the whole arena knows they need to take a 3.
-Jermaine needs to see the ball more when he establishes position, especially early in the clock. No one gets him the ball. He is open a bunch and has established good position but does not sniff the ball. I think that is what leads him to take too many ill advised threes, I agree with the sentiment of if its in the flow of offense and he is open that he can shoot it but there is zero need for him to force a 3 and that has happened few times.
-Jeff is really a concern right now. The dude has been a rock for 3 years, and one of the most consistent players throughout that time. Not sure what's going on there.

Biggest concern, body language and the little things don't look good. After averaging over 75 points in OOC we are back to grinding for every point like last year. Defensive intensity and discipline is inconsistent. Too many times tonight I saw guys hit the floor with no one there to help them up, guys make a nice play with no one there to dap em up or pat em on the back. Something seems off right now. Nothing like the Siegel Center and a raucous crowd to hopefully awaken the giant within.

For Harris I think he should focus on perfecting that "hook shot". I don't see him as a 3 pt shooter.

[RIFan]

A win is a win. As has been said, if they hit 3s at a reasonable rate we lose. The last 2 games the 3 Pt shots went in for the opposition and tonight they didn’t. I have a hard time discerning if we are defending the 3 well or not, since almost every game the opposition hits some contested shots and misses wide open ones.

Martins passing is probably the weakest part of his game. I said to my friend tonight that Martin was a horrible passer and my friends response was he would be good if the goal was to pass to the other team.

[PeterRamTime]

I'm usually the optimist but that was an ugly, ugly win IMO. Davidson without Frampton and Pritchett is not good. Like bottom tier of A10 bad without those guys. They have 2 guys who can beat you, and then a bunch of guys who look like they are allergic to the weight room. Athletically they are inferior to us by a large margin.

The only bright spots to me were:
-Fatts showing great leadership out there, picking guys up, making plays, and being a vocal on court presence
-Toppin is going to be awesome to watch
-For some periods of that game we played effective defense specifically in defending the 3pt shot. But Davidson also missed a good amount of open threes.

On the negative side:
-Besides Fatts and Toppin everyone else seemed to be sulking on the court tonight
-Tyrese had 3-4 really bad plays including inexplicably going weakly under screens on TWO straight possessions in the last minute when the whole arena knows they need to take a 3.
-Jermaine needs to see the ball more when he establishes position, especially early in the clock. No one gets him the ball. He is open a bunch and has established good position but does not sniff the ball. I think that is what leads him to take too many ill advised threes, I agree with the sentiment of if its in the flow of offense and he is open that he can shoot it but there is zero need for him to force a 3 and that has happened few times.
-Jeff is really a concern right now. The dude has been a rock for 3 years, and one of the most consistent players throughout that time. Not sure what's going on there.

Biggest concern, body language and the little things don't look good. After averaging over 75 points in OOC we are back to grinding for every point like last year. Defensive intensity and discipline is inconsistent. Too many times tonight I saw guys hit the floor with no one there to help them up, guys make a nice play with no one there to dap em up or pat em on the back. Something seems off right now. Nothing like the Siegel Center and a raucous crowd to hopefully awaken the giant within.

Before our skid we were getting Jermaine the ball like crazy!

[RhodyRam86]

Defense showed up.

It’s so odd that Davidson is struggling. I’m sure their fans are mystified.

No Mystery. They are missing two quality starters (Pritchett and Frampton). It's with them they were expected to contend.

[CTRamfan]

BAR agree 100%

Listening to Cox's postgame on the way home, we were saying, was he talking about the game we just watched????
So many bad passes that did not show in the "turn overs".

Harris's defense continues to improve, but that 3 he took in the 2nd half was almost responsible for a stroke by Cox.
Toppin's positioning looks like a player who is a junior not a freshman.
Martin's rebounding was great.

[Billyboy78]

Some people have a problem with Fatts taking that 3 at the end of the game. But it was HUGE!! Walking back to my car, a bunch of guys were talking about it. They were thrilled!! We had 66 points when he took the shot. He hit the 3 at the buzzer to give us 69 points. 10% OFF AT THE MEWS!!!

[adam914]

Someone will have to explain to me the brilliance of beginning the game with a player on the bench, putting him into the game before the first media timeout and then having him play the entire rest of the game. Obviously this is a very giant brain move and I am just not smart enough to understand it. Fortunately for me, no other coach in the history of basketball has ever elevated to this level of genius either so I’m in good company at least.

And now it "worked" because we won. Ignore the fact that the worst we played was those first 4 minutes that Fatts was on the bench.

[RamStock]

It’s so odd that Davidson is struggling. I’m sure their fans are mystified.

Man they did look bad, I hadn't seen much of their games this season, it was surprising.

As mentioned by everyone on the board missing two starters is tough to overcome for a team in the A-10, but it is more of the fact that they might be the least athletic team we face all year. Even when they are on top they are usually a deadly shooting team that passes the ball incredibly and creates more easy baskets odd screens and picks than anyone we play. There shots didn't fall and they have nothing else to back it up with. He is a great teacher and coach on how to play basketball, but he needs to recruit some athletes.

[adam914]

Someone will have to explain to me the brilliance of beginning the game with a player on the bench, putting him into the game before the first media timeout and then having him play the entire rest of the game. Obviously this is a very giant brain move and I am just not smart enough to understand it. Fortunately for me, no other coach in the history of basketball has ever elevated to this level of genius either so I’m in good company at least.

Pretty sure Dion Waiters never started a game for Syracuse and went to the NBA after his sophomore season. Not as unheard of as you make it sound.

Pretty sure that Syracuse team had like 5 or 6 guys that played in the NBA to though.

[RhodyRam86]

Well, know we know what Fatts meant by the cryptic instagram message "new chapter in my life" etc.

He didn't know he wasn't starting until the pregame huddle. Had nothing to do with any instagram post.

[SandorClegane]

Few quick observations:
- I’m surprised Davidson didn’t foul with 40 seconds remaining in the game after watching us miss so many free throws. They looked gassed. Surprised at the fall for that team.
- we played sloppy but we won. Good team effort.
- Fatts 3 at the end was a non-event. It was a 35 foot 3, and if he doesn’t shoot, it goes on the books as a turnover on him or JD. Don’t need that.
- I liked how Cox subbed this game. Would have liked to have seen more Walker, but he seemed to move guys in and out quickly.
- Toppin is going to be a stud.

[josephski]

Someone will have to explain to me the brilliance of beginning the game with a player on the bench, putting him into the game before the first media timeout and then having him play the entire rest of the game. Obviously this is a very giant brain move and I am just not smart enough to understand it. Fortunately for me, no other coach in the history of basketball has ever elevated to this level of genius either so I’m in good company at least.

Pretty sure Dion Waiters never started a game for Syracuse and went to the NBA after his sophomore season. Not as unheard of as you make it sound.

Pretty sure that Syracuse team had like 5 or 6 guys that played in the NBA to though.

They didn’t. I’m not going to bother looking back at who actually got drafted but I’m pretty sure Waiters was also the leading scorer his sophomore year.

[SandorClegane]

Check that. We actually hit 75% which I’ll take any day. Seemed like we missed more FT.

[cRAM4finals]

I'm usually the optimist but that was an ugly, ugly win IMO. Davidson without Frampton and Pritchett is not good. Like bottom tier of A10 bad without those guys. They have 2 guys who can beat you, and then a bunch of guys who look like they are allergic to the weight room. Athletically they are inferior to us by a large margin.

The only bright spots to me were:
-Fatts showing great leadership out there, picking guys up, making plays, and being a vocal on court presence
-Toppin is going to be awesome to watch
-For some periods of that game we played effective defense specifically in defending the 3pt shot. But Davidson also missed a good amount of open threes.

On the negative side:
-Besides Fatts and Toppin everyone else seemed to be sulking on the court tonight
-Tyrese had 3-4 really bad plays including inexplicably going weakly under screens on TWO straight possessions in the last minute when the whole arena knows they need to take a 3.
-Jermaine needs to see the ball more when he establishes position, especially early in the clock. No one gets him the ball. He is open a bunch and has established good position but does not sniff the ball. I think that is what leads him to take too many ill advised threes, I agree with the sentiment of if its in the flow of offense and he is open that he can shoot it but there is zero need for him to force a 3 and that has happened few times.
-Jeff is really a concern right now. The dude has been a rock for 3 years, and one of the most consistent players throughout that time. Not sure what's going on there.

Biggest concern, body language and the little things don't look good. After averaging over 75 points in OOC we are back to grinding for every point like last year. Defensive intensity and discipline is inconsistent. Too many times tonight I saw guys hit the floor with no one there to help them up, guys make a nice play with no one there to dap em up or pat em on the back. Something seems off right now. Nothing like the Siegel Center and a raucous crowd to hopefully awaken the giant within.

Agreed on Martin. Last year I thought, this kid is a cool dude, and pressure doesn’t get to him. He just executes. But this year I see him differently. Almost disengaged. Lifeless. Not fighting through screens. Late to switch. Slow afoot so he gives up too much spacing on D. Bad shot selection many times tonight. His high number of rebounds tonight were by happenstance in my view. I thought he earned 5 based on his play/effort. Hope Coach thinks about keeping him out of the starting 5 this weekend. Might light a fire there.

Love Toppin. Has such great spacing instincts. Looks for lanes late to cut to the basket for a pass, a rebound, a block, whatever. Special sense of timing with this kid. Doesn’t hurt that he has superb ups. Anyone watch his halftime warmup knee ritual with trainers tonight? I’m usually having a couple at halftime but not tonight. He had a left knee wrapped by trainers then did squats and lunges. Then they put some goop on that knee after taking the wrap off. Same approach on other knee. Then wrapped the left again with 3 inch wrap that he rolled under his knee into a rubber band size. What’s up with this? Do we need to worry or is this just a sign he’s getting ready to grow another 4 inches.

[McRam]

Can someone explain to me what Jeff is doing? He’s got the ball in his hands 30 feet from the basket with just over a minute left nursing a six point lead. It’s a super important possession.

He waves Martin up to come get the ball and then runs to the other side of the court. Yo, Jeff. This is exactly the situation where we need you with the ball in your hand initiating the offense. And you ask out of the play by asking Martin to take it from you? Martin, the guy we are not even sure should be on the floor in this situation? Predictably, Martin went out of control to the baseline and turned it over.

Wake up Jeff.

I'm guessing it was probably at Cox's direction.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Few quick observations:

- Toppin is going to be a stud.

Fixed that for ya, no charge

[Rhodymob05]

Jeff and Cyril are due for a big game. It’ll click at some point.

[rhodylaw]

Was awesome to see Toppin starting...just bummed that I didn't bring my Toppin Time sign. I didn't look at it as Fatts being benched, I looked at it as Cox just shaking things up. Worked great. I hope they stay with it. Fatts is going has to play a LOT. So, why not bring him off the bench? It actually gives them something they haven't had all year...someone that didn't start, that you can bring off the bench that can score... And Fatts with 20+ off the bench - exactly what the doctor ordered.

Great time tonight. And...the season ticket holder gift pint glasses were decent as well...you knew they'd probably have a sponsor on them, but at least the logo was subtle.

Completely agree on Fatts coming off the bench - not having a guard or instant offense guy on the bench is not good if we get off to a slow start. Also, Fatts is ball dominant and starting on the bench gives other guys a chance to get in the flow early. Absolutely no disrespect to Fatts not starting in my opinion, we would be using our best offensive threat in a way that best helps the team.

[luke]

Have to totally disagree with comments that the Rams did not play well and Davidson stinks . Davidson has the reigning player of the year
( JON Axel Gudmundsson ) two preseason first team A 10 picks ( Gudmundsson and Grady) URI played excellent defense against them
resulting in poor shooting nights . These players didn't just have off nights for no reason. Davidson is without two starters and are struggling .
They don;t stink even without them . If URI had exhibited the same eff0rt against Richmond URI would be 2-0 in A 10 play. URI moved the ball
effectively on offense which did not happen the past two games . And there were no more circus shots from Fatts and Tyrese , therefore the
shooting percentages improved dramatically. A similar effort will IMO give them a chance to beat VCU Saturday minus a few silly passes and a
better game from Cyril.

[DC_Rams]

piggy backing this rhodymob5
Long - is going to be our glue guy (TJ)
Jeff - needs to control offense like tonight
Martin - had a frustrating shooting/TO night causing fouls. Hopefully, he can learn over time short term memory/confidence no matter the night he's having
Harris - I'm ok with 1 or 2 3pt att. But, in the right situation. He takes them at the wrong times. If those don't start going down then cox needs to step in.

Jermaine hit 2, 3PTs last game, right?

He’s starting to feel it

He is now 3-27 in his career from 3PT.
One vs Richmond, Brown and WKU.

I said that tongue in cheek.

[RamStock]

Have to totally disagree with comments that the Rams did not play well and Davidson stinks . Davidson has the reigning player of the year
( JON Axel Gudmundsson ) two preseason first team A 10 picks ( Gudmundsson and Grady) URI played excellent defense against them
resulting in poor shooting nights . These players didn't just have off nights for no reason. Davidson is without two starters and are struggling .
They don;t stink even without them . If URI had exhibited the same eff0rt against Richmond URI would be 2-0 in A 10 play. URI moved the ball
effectively on offense which did not happen the past two games . And there were no more circus shots from Fatts and Tyrese , therefore the
shooting percentages improved dramatically. A similar effort will IMO give them a chance to beat VCU Saturday minus a few silly passes and a
better game from Cyril.

Davidson has eight loses already and I’m not sure from watching them how you thought they were any good. They are very slow and lack athleticism. This kind of performance against VCU will have us losing by double digits for sure. We have to play up to a level of what we did in the second half against WVU to hang in this one.

[adam914]

Pretty sure Dion Waiters never started a game for Syracuse and went to the NBA after his sophomore season. Not as unheard of as you make it sound.

Pretty sure that Syracuse team had like 5 or 6 guys that played in the NBA to though.

They didn’t. I’m not going to bother looking back at who actually got drafted but I’m pretty sure Waiters was also the leading scorer his sophomore year.

Second leading scorer behind Kris Joseph. Joseph, Waiters, Southerland, Fab Melo, Christmas and Carter-Williams all played in the NBA from that team. Christmas, Melo and Michael Carter-Williams were the only others drafted though I think.

[josephski]

Pretty sure that Syracuse team had like 5 or 6 guys that played in the NBA to though.

They didn’t. I’m not going to bother looking back at who actually got drafted but I’m pretty sure Waiters was also the leading scorer his sophomore year.

Second leading scorer behind Kris Joseph. Joseph, Waiters, Southerland, Fab Melo, Christmas and Carter-Williams all played in the NBA from that team. Christmas, Melo and Michael Carter-Williams were the only others drafted though I think.

Does it matter? Waiters went 4th overall in the draft, he was definitely good enough that most people would have assumed he was a starter.

Also MCW was a freshman and didn’t start any games either. Triche was the guy who Waiters could have started over but he got more minutes than Triche anyways.

[adam914]

They didn’t. I’m not going to bother looking back at who actually got drafted but I’m pretty sure Waiters was also the leading scorer his sophomore year.

Second leading scorer behind Kris Joseph. Joseph, Waiters, Southerland, Fab Melo, Christmas and Carter-Williams all played in the NBA from that team. Christmas, Melo and Michael Carter-Williams were the only others drafted though I think.

Does it matter? Waiters went 4th overall in the draft, he was definitely good enough that most people would have assumed he was a starter.

Also MCW was a freshman and didn’t start any games either. Triche was the guy who Waiters could have started over but he got more minutes than Triche anyways.

We agree that it doesn't matter. The situations aren't comparable in my opinion.

[PeterRamTime]

Davidson is worse than usual, but they really aren't that bad.

Every game I've seen them in has looked like that.

They almost beat Marquette while not making a single three.

They have rarely been blown out all year if you look at their game results. They show enough flashes to keep it respectable.

Improvement from our Rams. Played hard on D.

I actually thought we showed perfectly good effort in the Richmond game too, just could not get out of a dunk offensively and we played dumb.

Kinda started similarly tonight, but got over it and played more team ball.

Of course it was easier, but Davidson is still a better team than Brown.

[ramster]

Have to totally disagree with comments that the Rams did not play well and Davidson stinks . Davidson has the reigning player of the year
( JON Axel Gudmundsson ) two preseason first team A 10 picks ( Gudmundsson and Grady) URI played excellent defense against them
resulting in poor shooting nights . These players didn't just have off nights for no reason. Davidson is without two starters and are struggling .
They don;t stink even without them . If URI had exhibited the same eff0rt against Richmond URI would be 2-0 in A 10 play. URI moved the ball
effectively on offense which did not happen the past two games . And there were no more circus shots from Fatts and Tyrese , therefore the
shooting percentages improved dramatically. A similar effort will IMO give them a chance to beat VCU Saturday minus a few silly passes and a
better game from Cyril.

Agree with you Luke. David Cox said we played good defense against Richmond and I believe tonight’s defense was several notches higher than Richmond. Jermaine Harris, Langevine and Toppin formed a formidable defensive powerhouse against Davidson tonight. Toppin was once again strong on the boards and Intimidated Davidson shooters. Good efforts often make opposing teams look worse than what they really are.

[DeanDome88]

Half of the fan base takes everything that our players excel at for granted and focus on the negative. It gets a little old.

[Running Ram]

Sorry Doombone, I take it all back. Screw it bench Fatts, what do I know? I guess you and Cox are on the same page.

I just really want to know which lesson we learned tonight? Give Fatts his four minutes of rest early instead of late? Bench the only guy on the team who never takes a play off and beat bad teams at home?

[Running Ram]

Why can't we get grad transfers like Christian Thompson? Averaging 13+ pts/game leads his team in rebounding and assists. oh wait

[rhodyfan3000]

I don't know the exact reason why Fatts did not start, but I have a couple of theories, all of which revolve around:

1. Fatts being established as THE leader of the team going forward, and "if it's good enough for Fatts, then it's good enough for you too." (not starting, that is)

and

2. You remove the ball hog (there is no way to say this delicately, so I'm just going to say it brutally) from the line up for the first 4 mins, so that the team can establish a rhythm where they are looking to pass the ball to the open man, consistently, before you go ahead and introduce the ball hog back into the line up who is less likely to do precisely what you are trying to teach the rest of the team to do.

You might ask, well if that is the reason, why is Fatts exempt from passing the ball?

Well: 1. he's not, he's still expected to pass the ball, but 2. he's the A-10 leading scorer, so the last pass is going to come to Fatts more often then anyone else on the team, because he's the logical option to attempt to score more often than anyone else.

[rhodyfan3000]

I'm sorry if that is confusing, but it's clear to me, I'm just having difficulty describing it.

[reef]

I am hoping Toppin starts again vs VCU with Tyrese coming off the bench

If you can take your best player Fatts and send a message of coming off the bench you can try it with Tyrese and see how he responds. Too many errors Tyrese makes and not starting can get that fire back

Also agree with those who say Davidson is not good. If we don’t play our best on Saturday we will get beat pretty easily by VCU

[RhodyKyle]

Someone will have to explain to me the brilliance of beginning the game with a player on the bench, putting him into the game before the first media timeout and then having him play the entire rest of the game. Obviously this is a very giant brain move and I am just not smart enough to understand it. Fortunately for me, no other coach in the history of basketball has ever elevated to this level of genius either so I’m in good company at least.

And now it "worked" because we won. Ignore the fact that the worst we played was those first 4 minutes that Fatts was on the bench.

And the best they looked against Richmond was when Fatts sat with foul trouble. My only point is that correlation does not equal causation. Let's see what the lineup looks like Saturday before we kill Cox for this one.

[TruePoint]

One thing I will say about Davidson and whether they are good or not good - if they shoot 4-23 from 3, they aren’t going to win many games especially on the road. How much we played a part in that dismal performance is really tough to say. It didn’t seem like they had too many just absolute prayers that they threw up, but then again it wasn’t like they were completely uncontested shots that they just couldn’t make. Our perimeter defense has been an issue so it will be interesting to see if we can carry this over and hold other teams down from 3 or this was just a one off (which would indicate to me Davidson just had a bad night and we got lucky).

[rhodyblue12]

Tyrese had a bad last four minutes - no doubt - but for 36 min I thought he played really good D against Gudmundsson.
He had gotten burned going over in the second half and we had given up a few buckets to Brajkovic on the roll to the basket.
However, you have to know time and score - you can't give up a three late in the close games.
You'd rather have let them pick and roll and get a two there. Lesson learned when they watch the tape, I'm sure.

But don't forget the first 36 min where Martin did well with a very tough assignment.
This also allowed Dowtin to not get as worn down having to cover Gudmundsson during the game.
Grady did not enjoy a 6'8" player on him, and Harris clogged the lane and forced Davidson into countless runners.
Grady-Gudmundsson combined 9-30.
Overall, a good defensive strategy last night. Good job on the scout, the plan and the execution.

OBTW, Fatts is the perfect 6th man. Our own Vinny Johnson. Loved it. If you look, he never came back out and led the team in minutes.
Much ado about nothing.

[rhodyblue12]

One more thing:
The entire crowd groaning as Harris took his three did not help (kind of funny, but it certainly did not help).
He was pulled right after it, but don't read that action wrong - Cox was mad at WHEN he took it not THAT he took it.
It was early in the clock and not in rhythm during a mini-run by Davidson. Wrong time to shoot that.
I actually do not have an issue with it 1-2 times a game. He must take and make them in practice.

[JimSidd]

I haven’t caught up on posts yet, so I apologize if this has already been stated. My takeaway from last night is Jeff’s defense, mostly against Grady, but some against Gudmundsson. I watched off the ball a lot, and he stuck with his man all night and didn’t allow him to get free. I know Davidson is down this year with injuries and lack of quality depth, but I was glad to see that a Jeff didn’t allow Grady to get going.
I’ll stay optimistic and say that Cyril continues to play good defense and is a warrior, but he needs to start finishing at the rim like he did last year. If he did, that game would have been over with five minutes to go.
Coach, time to practice the press offense today. I can’t think of two A10 styles and different from Davidson and VCU, Jeff and Fatts need to be prepared to play 35+ minutes, and Tyrese will need to be ready to help with the press as well.

[rhodysurf]

One thing I will say about Davidson and whether they are good or not good - if they shoot 4-23 from 3, they aren’t going to win many games especially on the road. How much we played a part in that dismal performance is really tough to say. It didn’t seem like they had too many just absolute prayers that they threw up, but then again it wasn’t like they were completely uncontested shots that they just couldn’t make. Our perimeter defense has been an issue so it will be interesting to see if we can carry this over and hold other teams down from 3 or this was just a one off (which would indicate to me Davidson just had a bad night and we got lucky).

To be fair, VCU is not an elite shooting team, so it might not hurt just yet

[rhodysurf]

Why can't we get grad transfers like Christian Thompson? Averaging 13+ pts/game leads his team in rebounding and assists. oh wait

Tulane sucks worse than rhody does and he’s being asked to produce wayyyyy more than he ever would have gotten the chance to here. Very different situation

[ramster]

Disagree. We were up eight, and the shot clock would have expired with less than one second to play. Even a Jerry Duh team couldn’t give up eight points in one second.

Ok, true that he didn’t have to shoot it but he couldn’t have ended the game by not shooting it. There’s time on the clock then you play, in my opinion. If the shot clock was off I say hold it but otherwise play it out.

Respectfully disagree. Other team has called it off, game over. Disrespectful.

Game was over. Davidson and URI players were headed off the court. You don’t shoot that shot even if the shot clock is going to expire with 1 second to go. Let the shot clock expire. But he did shoot it and he got 3 points added to his point total. Wonder what Cox would say? Russell released the shot from right in front of David Cox and in front of Steve and Don wonder what Don’s reaction was and if given on the post game show? I wonder about the opinions of Bill Koch, Frank Carpano and others on Press Row were on the timing of the shot? Was if ok or not ok to take it?

I did not see adverse reaction from Davidson players or Davison Coaches after the shot or while going through the handshake line - I was specifically looking to see if it had any impact and if any words or bad looks were exchanged.


Going to the Davidson Message Board there were some upset posters but not all. Example:

Post by BDF » Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:08 pm
BDF wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:07 pm
Someone needs to knock Fatts on his ass at Belk for that ?.
I made it 4976 posts before finding out the board has a profanity filter.
This is a post by BDF, not BDL. Unless you are offended or find the observations contained above to be stupid or ignorant, then it it BDL's.

wahoocat
Posts: 266
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2016 8:50 am
Location: Baltimore
Re: In Game – At Rhode Island
Post by wahoocat » Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:08 pm

MrMac wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:06 pm
Dang. 3 pointer to turn the dagger. Could cause us some future thoughts of payback...?
Yeah, really bush league play.

[ramster]

This and that from the game:

• Young girl who sang the National Anthem was phenomenal. Well deserved cheering and applause brought the house down when she finished

• Most feeble attempt yet at CUE - slow death in progress

• Better crowd than expected considering how cold it was, intermittent snow squalls, game not part of 5 game package, school is out

• Luther Clay at the game. The transfer to URI from Purdue was a Top 20 National Player coming out of HS/Prep. Had a double-double in the huge upset of Kansas 22 years ago. Nice applause for him and his family members.

• Matt DeWolf and Brandon Anderson from Brown took in the game behind the URI Bench

• NYG QB Daniel Jones behind the Davidson Bench as his brother plays for the Wildcats

• Nice halftime show by URI Cheer Team

• Good crowd vocal support tonight considering student turnout low and no band to provide music

• Nice feature on teachers on the Big Screen as tonight was Teacher Appreciation night. Jacob Toppin was on the big screen recognizing his mom who has 20 years experience Teaching. As usual, Jacobs mother was at the game and clearly excited about her son getting his first start. Jacob was the first starter announced for URI during player introductions. Jacob played great offensively and defensively. Truly exciting to have a player of Jacobs caliber and potential at URI. Can’t wait for Toppin vs Toppin