2/26 | Fordham | 7:00PM (ESPN+)

[Dino611]

Was it me or was the arena announcer the same guy that does it in MSG?

[Billyboy78]

It seems like we're limping to the finish line. Cyril hurt. Jeff hurt. Fatts looks worn out. The training staff will be very busy in the next few days leading up to Sunday. If we're not at least somewhat healthy, St. Louis is going to be very hard to beat, never mind Dayton.

[ramster]

Toppin has started two games (I think?), once for Fatts, once for Cyril...versatility

Actually 208, he is even more versatile than that.........

• Toppin started his 1st game against Davidson. He started for Russell who was benched following the Richmond loss

• Toppin started his 2nd game against St Joseph's. He started for Dowtin who had to sit out due to having played in a charity event in the summer

• Toppin started his 3rd game tonight vs Fordham. He started for Langevine who had to sit out due to injury.

[luke]

Had to wait an hour and a half before posting so my nerves could calm down enough that my hands would stop shaking. Tonight was gut- wrenching .Two of these in a row . Can't take a third one. Will be there on Sunday hoping for a better game and at least the same result . St. Louis usually is like most
of the teams in the league , much tougher at home. They have to have Langevine play against that football team The Billikens put on the floor. French
and Goodwin both average a double double and Goodwin is only 6-3 " . They are by far the most physical team in the league. If Langevine can play up
to his normal level Rhody can win but it is by no means a sure thing .The Billikens have usually struggled at The Ryan Center . Hope they do Sunday.
Rhody must be focused and shoot with confidence and avoid silly turnovers .

[steviep123]

Perkins will be a problem.

[McRam]

P.S. I would take Soriano in a heart beat. Did we even look at him?

This is what Rivals had in their rankings. See the schools that offered him? He went to high school in White Plains, Ny. Archbishop Stepinak, a high profile Catholic high school. Did post grad year at Thomas More- pretty sure we looked at him.

Guessing, this was someone who wanted to stay local and attend a religious school.

[Rhodymob05]

Going back to just after our last and only home loss to Richmond, URI has won 12 of their last 14 games.

[ramster]

Had to wait an hour and a half before posting so my nerves could calm down enough that my hands would stop shaking. Tonight was gut- wrenching .Two of these in a row . Can't take a third one. Will be there on Sunday hoping for a better game and at least the same result . St. Louis usually is like most
of the teams in the league , much tougher at home. They have to have Langevine play against that football team The Billikens put on the floor. French
and Goodwin both average a double double and Goodwin is only 6-3 " . They are by far the most physical team in the league. If Langevine can play up
to his normal level Rhody can win but it is by no means a sure thing .The Billikens have usually struggled at The Ryan Center . Hope they do Sunday.
Rhody must be focused and shoot with confidence and avoid silly turnovers .

French and Goodwin are the only two players on the same team averaging a double double in rebounds and points - amazing

Goodwin leads the entire D1 in rebounding for players 6’3” and under. It’s amazing he averages more than 10 rebounds per game as a guard and with French also getting 10+

[PeterRamTime]

Had to wait an hour and a half before posting so my nerves could calm down enough that my hands would stop shaking. Tonight was gut- wrenching .Two of these in a row . Can't take a third one. Will be there on Sunday hoping for a better game and at least the same result . St. Louis usually is like most
of the teams in the league , much tougher at home. They have to have Langevine play against that football team The Billikens put on the floor. French
and Goodwin both average a double double and Goodwin is only 6-3 " . They are by far the most physical team in the league. If Langevine can play up
to his normal level Rhody can win but it is by no means a sure thing .The Billikens have usually struggled at The Ryan Center . Hope they do Sunday.
Rhody must be focused and shoot with confidence and avoid silly turnovers .

French and Goodwin are the only two players on the same team averaging a double double in rebounds and points - amazing

Goodwin leads the entire D1 in rebounding for players 6’3” and under. It’s amazing he averages more than 10 rebounds per game as a guard and with French also getting 10+

They just force the ball into the paint and get a lot of Cyril rebounds.

It is going to be a fight Sunday.

Please god I hope we are healthy enough to handle it.

[Obadiah]

Fordham 3-point shooting (12-27, 44.4%) was the best performance of any A-10 opponent this year and it was not even close. It was also better than most of our OOC opponents with one exception - Brown (13-28, 46.4%). The only other opponent to hit double-digit treys was LIU in the opener, but they took 44 shots to get 13, (29.5%).

From the Fordham side, it was their best three point shooting game. They showed a higher % versus GW (9-20, 45%). They also hit well against Dayton (10-23, 43.5%). Their other notable trey shooting displays were the (11-27, 40.7 against Duquesne and 12-33, 36.4 versus the Bonnies. In most of their games they average about 6 hits and show shooting % in the 20's and low 30's.

All round this was a bad defensive effort by URI.

[LoveThoseRams]

Don Kaull said Dowtin had a bruised right foot......Harris played 17 minutes and really didn't contribute anything.I'm think this team is exhausted.....just like the St Bunnies game last year's a 10 tournament.It's s starting to look like a Jim baron esque late season swoon.....but hey....it's four days to stl.

a bruised right foot would not be good. doesn't sound like something you can treat. sounds more like something that will nag the rest of the way. hope that's not the real problem

I sat behind our bench and saw Jeff wincing a lot during the shoot around. The staff had to wrap and rewrap his ankle a few times before the game.

[ramster]

Soriano chose Fordham over offers from Illinois, South Carolina, Western Kentucky, Iona, Manhattan, Stony Brook, Old Dominion, La Salle and Florida International.

"Joel's signing is a huge catalyst for our basketball program," said Neubauer. "His height, length, athleticism and strength make him a terrific prospect. Joel has proven to be an outstanding teammate on every team that we have watched him compete. "Joel is going to be an integral part of Fordham Basketball's future."

https://fordhamsports.com/news/2018/11/ ... riano.aspx

Has he announced yet who he will be transferring to??

Looking at Soriano’s Freshman year to date, he has really spurted since getting into the starting line up in the Dayton Game. Since Dayton:
@ Dayton : 32 minutes, 2-6 FG, 10 rebounds, 4 points
Richmond: 26 minutes, 2-4 FG, 9 rebounds, 6 points
@ Davidson: 22 minutes, 4-5 FG, 9 rebounds, 9 points
Duquesne: 36 minutes, 3-6 FG, 9 rebounds, 8 points
@ LaSalle: 36 minutes, 4-5 FG, 8 rebounds, 9 points
UMASS: 34 minutes, 6-11 FG, 16 rebounds, 14 points

So in last 6 games:
21-37 FG for 57%
61 rebounds = 10.2 rpg
50 points = 8.3 ppg

Not bad for a freshman who could make the A10 Freshman Team at the rate he is now producing

We don’t want him matching or exceeding his career high performance in points and rebounds from the UMASS game this past Saturday

This could be an interesting guy to watch even more now with Cyril out.

@ Dayton : 32 minutes, 2-6 FG, 10 rebounds, 4 points
Richmond: 26 minutes, 2-4 FG, 9 rebounds, 6 points
@ Davidson: 22 minutes, 4-5 FG, 9 rebounds, 9 points
Duquesne: 36 minutes, 3-6 FG, 9 rebounds, 8 points
@ LaSalle: 36 minutes, 4-5 FG, 8 rebounds, 9 points
UMASS: 34 minutes, 6-11 FG, 16 rebounds, 14 points
URI: 32 minutes, 6-11 FG, 2-2 FT, 13 rebounds, 14 points, 2 blocks

pretty impressive last 7 games since becoming a starter for the 6'11" Freshman

[ramster]

This game would have been a loss for any non Hass/EC/Jared-led team over the past 20 years with the built-in excuses the team had going in (Cyril injury) plus during the game (Fatts foul trouble, Jeff's 2nd half injury, yadda yadda). Add in how much pressure was on the team coming off the Davidson loss and being squarely on the bubble. So I see this as an important win for this team.

agree.
Team could have folded at the end
Martin was the ironman tonight putting the team on his back
Toppin was solid in only his 3rd starting role.
Long stepped up

[ramster]

All things considered, I'd rather have Walker shooting it there than recognizing no defender is in front of him and putting the ball on the floor to drive. At least there was an offensive rebound available rather than leading to a turnover.

I agree with you rhodyruckus. Russell tried to drive and was tightly covered. He passed to a wide open Walker as he (Russell) was in danger of having the ball stripped, committing an offensive foul or getting a possible shot blocked - it was a good option for Russell to find Walker open. Walker missed the shot - but it wasn't a bad shot. We are not collectively a very good shooting team. If Walker were to drive or pass to someone else there could have been a turnover. I have seen so many games end where the team does not even get a shot off - at least we got the shot off with enough time to get a rebound.

Many comments about Toppin hitting the 2 pressure packed Its. Deservedly so.

But in addition, got to give Toppin a ton of credit for getting himself in effective rebounding position for the miss of Walkers shot. He followed the ball, got his hands up high and grabbed the ball with all his strength out rebounding the Fordham players including the 6'11' Soriano who already had 13 rebounds.
In addition, Toppin had the where-with-all to try to force up a shot as he was fouled. What a heads up play to try to get off a shot to draw the 2 shot foul with just seconds remaining. Great heads up for a Freshman or any level player.

Toppin played 32 minutes tonight getting the last minute start and he was the only URI Player to have Zero Turnovers. Solid night for him.
3-7 FG
3-4 FT
6 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal
1 block
0 turnovers
3 fouls
9 points

[Taylor Swift]

Don Kaull said Dowtin had a bruised right foot......Harris played 17 minutes and really didn't contribute anything.I'm think this team is exhausted.....just like the St Bunnies game last year's a 10 tournament.It's s starting to look like a Jim baron esque late season swoon.....but hey....it's four days to stl.

a bruised right foot would not be good. doesn't sound like something you can treat. sounds more like something that will nag the rest of the way. hope that's not the real problem

I sat behind our bench and saw Jeff wincing a lot during the shoot around. The staff had to wrap and rewrap his ankle a few times before the game.

Ugh! Poor kid. Hopefully he got some rest on the bus ride back to Kingston.

Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation.

[KMar970]

I was across from Rhody bench in my Odom jersey almost got tossed early after a shit call on Fatts hope dowtin n Langevine can heal i hate playing Fordham bring Iona to a10 tyrese Martin played the game of his life

[mstyles22]

Went to get ashes when we were up 10 in the 2nd half. Came out and saw the 3-pointer and foul. Couldn’t believe it.

I thought Rhody played pretty well the first 7 or 8 minutes of the 2nd half and figured we’d be up by 15 or 20. Nope.

But rewatched the 2nd half on ESPN+ and boy did we miss Cyril. That combined with Fordham going off from 3, this game had the recipe for a disaster.

Like many of you, I was resigned to defeat at one point. And subsequently mad at myself for being scared of this game and being right.

Well somehow, some way, Toppin made two HUGE FT’s and Rhody got their 20th win.

I don’t think Fatts has been right since the Dayton game. He needs to stop going to the ground on every other take and just start balling like we all know he can. Be selfish Fatts, we need you, especially with Jeff banged up.

Martin was a beast tonight and they stopped looking for him in the last 10 minutes. Didn’t get that.

Beat SLU. I actually feel good about that game.

[ramster]

Fordham Game Report

https://fordhamsports.com/news/2020/2/2 ... sland.aspx

[KMar970]

Vcu lost to umass they’re killing us smh

[KMar970]

Hopefully if we do r job the committee sees when we beat them smh n not how they’re playing now thank god bama n pc r winning

[ramster]

The last 9 seconds were great!!

• Ok so Walker missed, but it was a good open shot attempt with still time for a rebound

• And rebound we did by our ever promising Freshman Jacob Toppin who watched the flight of the ball, got excellent position, clamped that ball in his vice-like hands and had the presence of mind to try to get a shot off to warrant 2 FTs

• Then Toppin calmly makes the game tying and the go-ahead Free Throws - no easy task for any player

• Can Toppin Beat That?

• YES. He blocks the attempted game winning layup by Josh Colon

• And Antwan Walker did not sulk after missing his 3P attempt, he played good defense and rebounded the Jacob Toppin Block to end the game

• I’m sure our injured warrior Cyril Langevine was proud of their efforts those last 9 seconds

0:09 Antwan Walker missed Three Point Jumper. 74 - 75
0:06 Jacob Toppin Offensive Rebound. 74 - 75
0:06 Foul on Chris Austin. 74 - 75
0:06 Jacob Toppin made Free Throw. 75 - 75
0:06 Jacob Toppin made Free Throw. 76 - 75
0:06 Rhode Island Timeout 76 - 75
0:01 Josh Colon missed Layup. 76 - 75
0:01 Jacob Toppin Block. 76 - 75
0:01 Antwan Walker Defensive Rebound. 76 - 75
0:00 End of 2nd half 76 - 75
0:00 End of Game 76 - 75

[reef]

Wow just read all the posts very entertaining

Thank god our season is still alive and we pulled it out

We are not playing well and banged up so hopefully the few days off get CL and JD ready to go

Fatts need to shed this mini slump

[Rhody72]

Missed the game. Was Harris injured? If not where are his apologists?

[rhodylaw]

.......start Toppin over Jermaine.....

I have to agree on this now. I actually just said the same thing to someone I was texting with. I do worry about just losing Harris completely, and I do really feel bad for Jermaine because he is a good kid and I think a lot of the shots people have taken at him are unseemly. But at this point Toppin is just much more productive and for the good of the team you need you best players on the floor as much as possible. We don’t have the luxury of giving courtesy minutes at this point.

Completely disagree - you guys want JH to be the guy who comes off the bench? He has a role but it is not the 6th man. Keep starting him with the limited minutes and keep you more versatile players on the bench.

[BlackDogRants]

This was the ninth game of season that Harris scored 2 or less points.

I’ll refrain from comment.

Honestly asking... Can we put a thread together where we discuss the future of our front court? Is there one that I just dont know about? Cyril is gone next season and I assume Harris is his replacement? Now... Ive learned my lesson and have gotten scolded quite a bit for talking poorly about a college student athlete - I now completely agree. Its not right nor fair - but I mean at some point we have to be allowed to say SOMETHING.

You people are watching the same games I am. You are seeing Harris start every game. You are seeing his performance and numbers every game. You must have opinions!

I can use my feeling words... I FEEEEL that Harris has not been playing to the best of his abilities. I FEEEL that maybe there are other players that could maybe fill his role more efficiently - do we look for a transfer?

[RhodyRam86]

Yes...our “ole” defense was terrible. What Could we expect given the circumstances of easily our top three defenders? Cyril out. Jeff injured. Fatts in foul trouble.

My hunch is that Cyril is back on Sunday, but I’d be very concerned about Jeff if the injury description is accurate.

[section(105)]

.......Jacob, at this point gives us more offense, boards, hustle plays, etc right from the jump, quick start to the offense getting going, decent defense, his output deserves starting minutes.......first off the bench for me is becoming Long......

[TruePoint]

.......start Toppin over Jermaine.....

I have to agree on this now. I actually just said the same thing to someone I was texting with. I do worry about just losing Harris completely, and I do really feel bad for Jermaine because he is a good kid and I think a lot of the shots people have taken at him are unseemly. But at this point Toppin is just much more productive and for the good of the team you need you best players on the floor as much as possible. We don’t have the luxury of giving courtesy minutes at this point.

Completely disagree - you guys want JH to be the guy who comes off the bench? He has a role but it is not the 6th man. Keep starting him with the limited minutes and keep you more versatile players on the bench.

Hide a guy in your starting lineup. A new and revolutionary basketball concept!

I want my best 5 guys starting and playing all the minutes they can handle, and I my reserves will get their minutes when my starters need a break. At this point, Toppin is indisputably among our best 5 players and it’s time for his role/minutes to reflect that. Riding the lineup that we’ve used to this point made sense up until recently but the last 4 games have made clear that we are not in “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” mode anymore.

[section(105)]

This was the ninth game of season that Harris scored 2 or less points.

I’ll refrain from comment.

Honestly asking... Can we put a thread together where we discuss the future of our front court? Is there one that I just dont know about? Cyril is gone next season and I assume Harris is his replacement? Now... Ive learned my lesson and have gotten scolded quite a bit for talking poorly about a college student athlete - I now completely agree. Its not right nor fair - but I mean at some point we have to be allowed to say SOMETHING.

You people are watching the same games I am. You are seeing Harris start every game. You are seeing his performance and numbers every game. You must have opinions!

I can use my feeling words... I FEEEEL that Harris has not been playing to the best of his abilities. I FEEEL that maybe there are other players that could maybe fill his role more efficiently - do we look for a transfer?

......with a quick scan of the viewscape of the current A-10 big men, we are gonna need some beef, next year in the front court......no?

[ramster]

.......start Toppin over Jermaine.....

I have to agree on this now. I actually just said the same thing to someone I was texting with. I do worry about just losing Harris completely, and I do really feel bad for Jermaine because he is a good kid and I think a lot of the shots people have taken at him are unseemly. But at this point Toppin is just much more productive and for the good of the team you need you best players on the floor as much as possible. We don’t have the luxury of giving courtesy minutes at this point.

How many minutes would you give to Harris Section105 and TP?

He is averaging 18 mpg and vs Fordham he played 16 minutes. 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 TOs, 3 fouls. Harris won the tip. I have only seen him lose the opening tip once all year. He played 16 minutes despite Langevine not being able to start.

Toppin played a career high 32 minutes. His previous high was 27 on 2 occasions. His minutes have been 14,11,15,18,10,16,17 in his last 7 games.

Many of Toppin minutes helped fill the void from Langevine and also from Russell and Dowtin playing fewer minutes than normal. Walker played 28 and Long played a Career high 25.

Personally I would continue to start Harris. I would give Toppin more minutes as I suggested in this thread BEFORE the game was played, and certainly he has earned more minutes.

Harris only played 16 minutes, about his norm. He made two nice assists, one to Long for a nice layup. Harris has had injury issues this season, could be behind his limit of 16 minutes.

I'd let Cox and the Staff determine Harris' minutes and whether he starts or not. But at this point in the season it makes sense to "dance with the one that brung ya". We are 20-7 (12-3) and 2nd in the A10. Huge games upcoming with SLU, Dayton and UMASS. All 3 have formidable front lines. We need Harris' strength and 16 minutes or so he provides. Whether that 16 minutes comes from starting both the 1st and 2nd half or not is irrelevant at this point and the Head Coach's call imho.

[Taylor Swift]

1. Am I the only one who trashed him tonight?

2. Am I wrong?

Your constant and blatant disrespect for these players is something else. I see the posts other people here make, but you take it to a whole new level. Calling someone a “stiff”. Really? I hope you don’t have children of your own since you seem to love to talk about other people’s kids like they’re some kind of disappointment to you.

Hahaha like I’m the only one who talks about this team like their a disappointment when they play bad. Yup you’re right, after all these years I’m the only one.

Blue Man called him a pile of trash (which I agreed with).

Is he, or is he not, a stiff on the basketball court?

Btw, I am sure you see the blood sweat and tears Blueman puts into this team as he’s one of the biggest fans I know. You, on the other hand, constantly rip individual players to shreds. Big difference.

[section(105)]

.......for me, it is not so much as a number of Harris minutes, rather the greater need to expand the minutes and starting for upward trending Jacob......if Jermaine is injured to some degree, then more minutes for Jacob......seems to me the jumping ability for Jacob can get us the tap......

[Brian Forster]

other than that travel,I really like Soriano,Fordham also had a backup big guy that looked tall and athletic.
Davidson also has one or two from Iceland/Denmark? UMASS has that frosh-Mitchell?
When is the last time Rhody had really good bigs over 6'10".
Say 2 on same team?

[Rhody22]

other than that travel,I really like Soriano,Fordham also had a backup big guy that looked tall and athletic.
Davidson also has one or two from Iceland/Denmark? UMASS has that frosh-Mitchell?
When is the last time Rhody had really good bigs over 6'10".
Say 2 on same team?

The twin ivory towers: David Bialski and Michael Anderson

[TruePoint]

.......start Toppin over Jermaine.....

I have to agree on this now. I actually just said the same thing to someone I was texting with. I do worry about just losing Harris completely, and I do really feel bad for Jermaine because he is a good kid and I think a lot of the shots people have taken at him are unseemly. But at this point Toppin is just much more productive and for the good of the team you need you best players on the floor as much as possible. We don’t have the luxury of giving courtesy minutes at this point.

How many minutes would you give to Harris Section105 and TP?

He is averaging 18 mpg and vs Fordham he played 16 minutes. 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 TOs, 3 fouls. Harris won the tip. I have only seen him lose the opening tip once all year. He played 16 minutes despite Langevine not being able to start.

Toppin played a career high 32 minutes. His previous high was 27 on 2 occasions. His minutes have been 14,11,15,18,10,16,17 in his last 7 games.

Many of Toppin minutes helped fill the void from Langevine and also from Russell and Dowtin playing fewer minutes than normal. Walker played 28 and Long played a Career high 25.

Personally I would continue to start Harris. I would give Toppin more minutes as I suggested in this thread BEFORE the game was played, and certainly he has earned more minutes.

Harris only played 16 minutes, about his norm. He made two nice assists, one to Long for a nice layup. Harris has had injury issues this season, could be behind his limit of 16 minutes.

I'd let Cox and the Staff determine Harris' minutes and whether he starts or not. But at this point in the season it makes sense to "dance with the one that brung ya". We are 20-7 (12-3) and 2nd in the A10. Huge games upcoming with SLU, Dayton and UMASS. All 3 have formidable front lines. We need Harris' strength and 16 minutes or so he provides. Whether that 16 minutes comes from starting both the 1st and 2nd half or not is irrelevant at this point and the Head Coach's call imho.

ramster - I feel like I’ve covered a lot of these points in my posts on this topic previously in this thread and elsewhere, but I’ll try to synthesize them here. For months, I have been making the argument that (a) Harris is not as bad as some portray here and just his size and strength alone has some value, (b) this team had played really well and won a lot of games with Harris starting so why would you make any changes now and (c) the total minutes played are more important than who starts the game and you’re going to need Harris for some amount of minutes whether he starts or not. So up to now I’ve shared the point of view you expressed in your post.

But for me a couple of things have changed over the last couple of weeks:

- Harris’s play seems to have deteriorated even from the level people were complaining about a few weeks ago. Last night he was vitally needed with Cyril out injured and the season on the line, and he contributed virtually nothing. It was a golden opportunity and he didn’t rise to it.

- Meanwhile, Toppin’s play has been improving. Certainly not perfect every game, but he is impacting the game more than Harris right now, and more importantly has the physical tools that makes his upside appreciably greater than Jermaine’s. Right now he has a higher ceiling AND a higher floor.

- The team is not in the same position as it was just a couple of weeks ago. They’ve lost 2 of their last 4, nearly lost a third game to an atrocious team last night and are in need of a jolt. Things are not going well enough to just stay the course. Not making a some kind of change in an attempt to create a spark will put the season in peril. This is a new reality and requires new thinking - the prevailing wisdom from 2 weeks ago no longer applies.

- Related to the above point, because of the position the team now finds itself in with respect to the postseason, the approach to game management must change to reflect that urgency. With so few games left, and the huge importance of those games, we cannot approach the rotation with thinking that says “X needs to get 18 minutes and Y needs to get 16 minutes, etc.” Rather, I would begin playing my best 5 players every second of every game that they can handle and only use my bench to get my best five a rest when absolutely necessary. We are in a sprint now. I’m not against playing Jermaine (or Walker) when Cyril and Toppin are gassed, injured or in foul trouble but I don’t think we can go into a game thinking we need to find him X number of minutes anymore. The guys on the bench should get the minutes that they are needed for, and that’s it. It’s time to max out over the next 10 days and then see where that puts you. There is no tomorrow anymore, and no reason to leave anything in the tank.

[Rhody15]

Cox lit a fire under Fatts when he came off the bench for a game, maybe bringing Harris off the bench will do the same.

Harris' best games came right when his minutes could diminish when Walker became eligible, maybe showing Harris his play determines his starting spot /minutes will wake him up.

[rhodyfan3000]

Still alive, good work.

Basically did the absolute minimum necessary required to still be in the hunt.

Still have to win two of the next three. Start with St. Louis.

[eli#10]

TP mentions game management which is a great point. One thing I would add is Cox using a time out when the other team is on a big run. It did not happen at Brown and again last night. You have got to try and settle the team down especially with CL not playing and Dowton playing hurt and not aggressive on the offensive end. The time out may also slow down the momentum generated by the opponent's shot making.

[Rhodymob05]

We looked great with about 9-10 min to go up 12. Long hit some threes and Martin had a nice alley-oop dunk. Then we missed and they didn't.

[Obadiah]

The game was a nightmare and as the lead dwindled the team lost its composure and reasoning. They started taking too many threes early in the shot clock and, more often than not, the shots were off the mark.

[Section104]

I think it boils down to one thing for us right now: defense.

With Jeff at 50% and Cyril out it impacts our defense in a big way. Believe it or not, the 76 points allowed is the second most Fordham has given up ALL YEAR. The problem? 75 points is the most they've scored this year. It's easy to look at offense and say we're missing production from certain players, but I think what's lost is just how difficult a healthy Dowtin + Langevine makes it on our opposition.

It's why a player out like Langevine, who anchors our defense, completely alters our game-plan. His lateral quickness, ability to guard 1-5 and alter shots at the rim completely changes the dynamic of this defense. Similarly, Dowtin is our lock down defender. Put him on the opposing teams top offensive threat and you know we're in a good spot. It also opens up things for Fatts jumping passing lanes with Dowtin's length.

Point being: the makeup of this team is much different without our two seniors healthy. It's why I just asked for a win, by any means necessary, when the Cyril news broke.

Get healthy. Use the home crowd to your advantage and finish the week 2-0 and all is good.

JUST WIN.

[ramster]

I have to agree on this now. I actually just said the same thing to someone I was texting with. I do worry about just losing Harris completely, and I do really feel bad for Jermaine because he is a good kid and I think a lot of the shots people have taken at him are unseemly. But at this point Toppin is just much more productive and for the good of the team you need you best players on the floor as much as possible. We don’t have the luxury of giving courtesy minutes at this point.

How many minutes would you give to Harris Section105 and TP?

He is averaging 18 mpg and vs Fordham he played 16 minutes. 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 TOs, 3 fouls. Harris won the tip. I have only seen him lose the opening tip once all year. He played 16 minutes despite Langevine not being able to start.

Toppin played a career high 32 minutes. His previous high was 27 on 2 occasions. His minutes have been 14,11,15,18,10,16,17 in his last 7 games.

Many of Toppin minutes helped fill the void from Langevine and also from Russell and Dowtin playing fewer minutes than normal. Walker played 28 and Long played a Career high 25.

Personally I would continue to start Harris. I would give Toppin more minutes as I suggested in this thread BEFORE the game was played, and certainly he has earned more minutes.

Harris only played 16 minutes, about his norm. He made two nice assists, one to Long for a nice layup. Harris has had injury issues this season, could be behind his limit of 16 minutes.

I'd let Cox and the Staff determine Harris' minutes and whether he starts or not. But at this point in the season it makes sense to "dance with the one that brung ya". We are 20-7 (12-3) and 2nd in the A10. Huge games upcoming with SLU, Dayton and UMASS. All 3 have formidable front lines. We need Harris' strength and 16 minutes or so he provides. Whether that 16 minutes comes from starting both the 1st and 2nd half or not is irrelevant at this point and the Head Coach's call imho.

ramster - I feel like I’ve covered a lot of these points in my posts on this topic previously in this thread and elsewhere, but I’ll try to synthesize them here. For months, I have been making the argument that (a) Harris is not as bad as some portray here and just his size and strength alone has some value, (b) this team had played really well and won a lot of games with Harris starting so why would you make any changes now and (c) the total minutes played are more important than who starts the game and you’re going to need Harris for some amount of minutes whether he starts or not. So up to now I’ve shared the point of view you expressed in your post.

But for me a couple of things have changed over the last couple of weeks:

- Harris’s play seems to have deteriorated even from the level people were complaining about a few weeks ago. Last night he was vitally needed with Cyril out injured and the season on the line, and he contributed virtually nothing. It was a golden opportunity and he didn’t rise to it.

- Meanwhile, Toppin’s play has been improving. Certainly not perfect every game, but he is impacting the game more than Harris right now, and more importantly has the physical tools that makes his upside appreciably greater than Jermaine’s. Right now he has a higher ceiling AND a higher floor.

- The team is not in the same position as it was just a couple of weeks ago. They’ve lost 2 of their last 4, nearly lost a third game to an atrocious team last night and are in need of a jolt. Things are not going well enough to just stay the course. Not making a some kind of change in an attempt to create a spark will put the season in peril. This is a new reality and requires new thinking - the prevailing wisdom from 2 weeks ago no longer applies.

- Related to the above point, because of the position the team now finds itself in with respect to the postseason, the approach to game management must change to reflect that urgency. With so few games left, and the huge importance of those games, we cannot approach the rotation with thinking that says “X needs to get 18 minutes and Y needs to get 16 minutes, etc.” Rather, I would begin playing my best 5 players every second of every game that they can handle and only use my bench to get my best five a rest when absolutely necessary. We are in a sprint now. I’m not against playing Jermaine (or Walker) when Cyril and Toppin are gassed, injured or in foul trouble but I don’t think we can go into a game thinking we need to find him X number of minutes anymore. The guys on the bench should get the minutes that they are needed for, and that’s it. It’s time to max out over the next 10 days and then see where that puts you. There is no tomorrow anymore, and no reason to leave anything in the tank.

You didn't answer my question above.
So TP, 105 and Rhody15 as you are all seemingly now wanting Harris removed from starting....and any other who might want to chime in

Would you want Harris out as a Starter and keep the same 16 minutes he has been getting?
Bench Harris to zero minutes?
Reduce Harris minutes to 8 per game - basically cut in half?
Or give Harris other number of minutes?

[DC_Rams]

I think it boils down to one thing for us right now: defense.

With Jeff at 50% and Cyril out it impacts our defense in a big way. Believe it or not, the 76 points allowed is the second most Fordham has given up ALL YEAR. The problem? 75 points is the most they've scored this year. It's easy to look at offense and say we're missing production from certain players, but I think what's lost is just how difficult a healthy Dowtin + Langevine makes it on our opposition.

It's why a player out like Langevine, who anchors our defense, completely alters our game-plan. His lateral quickness, ability to guard 1-5 and alter shots at the rim completely changes the dynamic of this defense. Similarly, Dowtin is our lock down defender. Put him on the opposing teams top offensive threat and you know we're in a good spot. It also opens up things for Fatts jumping passing lanes with Dowtin's length.

Point being: the makeup of this team is much different without our two seniors healthy. It's why I just asked for a win, by any means necessary, when the Cyril news broke.

Get healthy. Use the home crowd to your advantage and finish the week 2-0 and all is good.

JUST WIN.

I love reading sound logic.

Bravo, 105. Bravo.

[TruePoint]

How many minutes would you give to Harris Section105 and TP?

He is averaging 18 mpg and vs Fordham he played 16 minutes. 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 TOs, 3 fouls. Harris won the tip. I have only seen him lose the opening tip once all year. He played 16 minutes despite Langevine not being able to start.

Toppin played a career high 32 minutes. His previous high was 27 on 2 occasions. His minutes have been 14,11,15,18,10,16,17 in his last 7 games.

Many of Toppin minutes helped fill the void from Langevine and also from Russell and Dowtin playing fewer minutes than normal. Walker played 28 and Long played a Career high 25.

Personally I would continue to start Harris. I would give Toppin more minutes as I suggested in this thread BEFORE the game was played, and certainly he has earned more minutes.

Harris only played 16 minutes, about his norm. He made two nice assists, one to Long for a nice layup. Harris has had injury issues this season, could be behind his limit of 16 minutes.

I'd let Cox and the Staff determine Harris' minutes and whether he starts or not. But at this point in the season it makes sense to "dance with the one that brung ya". We are 20-7 (12-3) and 2nd in the A10. Huge games upcoming with SLU, Dayton and UMASS. All 3 have formidable front lines. We need Harris' strength and 16 minutes or so he provides. Whether that 16 minutes comes from starting both the 1st and 2nd half or not is irrelevant at this point and the Head Coach's call imho.

ramster - I feel like I’ve covered a lot of these points in my posts on this topic previously in this thread and elsewhere, but I’ll try to synthesize them here. For months, I have been making the argument that (a) Harris is not as bad as some portray here and just his size and strength alone has some value, (b) this team had played really well and won a lot of games with Harris starting so why would you make any changes now and (c) the total minutes played are more important than who starts the game and you’re going to need Harris for some amount of minutes whether he starts or not. So up to now I’ve shared the point of view you expressed in your post.

But for me a couple of things have changed over the last couple of weeks:

- Harris’s play seems to have deteriorated even from the level people were complaining about a few weeks ago. Last night he was vitally needed with Cyril out injured and the season on the line, and he contributed virtually nothing. It was a golden opportunity and he didn’t rise to it.

- Meanwhile, Toppin’s play has been improving. Certainly not perfect every game, but he is impacting the game more than Harris right now, and more importantly has the physical tools that makes his upside appreciably greater than Jermaine’s. Right now he has a higher ceiling AND a higher floor.

- The team is not in the same position as it was just a couple of weeks ago. They’ve lost 2 of their last 4, nearly lost a third game to an atrocious team last night and are in need of a jolt. Things are not going well enough to just stay the course. Not making a some kind of change in an attempt to create a spark will put the season in peril. This is a new reality and requires new thinking - the prevailing wisdom from 2 weeks ago no longer applies.

- Related to the above point, because of the position the team now finds itself in with respect to the postseason, the approach to game management must change to reflect that urgency. With so few games left, and the huge importance of those games, we cannot approach the rotation with thinking that says “X needs to get 18 minutes and Y needs to get 16 minutes, etc.” Rather, I would begin playing my best 5 players every second of every game that they can handle and only use my bench to get my best five a rest when absolutely necessary. We are in a sprint now. I’m not against playing Jermaine (or Walker) when Cyril and Toppin are gassed, injured or in foul trouble but I don’t think we can go into a game thinking we need to find him X number of minutes anymore. The guys on the bench should get the minutes that they are needed for, and that’s it. It’s time to max out over the next 10 days and then see where that puts you. There is no tomorrow anymore, and no reason to leave anything in the tank.

You didn't answer my question above.
So TP, 105 and Rhody15 as you are all seemingly now wanting Harris removed from starting....and any other who might want to chime in

Would you want Harris out as a Starter and keep the same 16 minutes he has been getting?
Bench Harris to zero minutes?
Reduce Harris minutes to 8 per game - basically cut in half?
Or give Harris other number of minutes?

Do you read the responses to your posts? I did answer your question. See bolded, above.

[ramster]

ramster - I feel like I’ve covered a lot of these points in my posts on this topic previously in this thread and elsewhere, but I’ll try to synthesize them here. For months, I have been making the argument that (a) Harris is not as bad as some portray here and just his size and strength alone has some value, (b) this team had played really well and won a lot of games with Harris starting so why would you make any changes now and (c) the total minutes played are more important than who starts the game and you’re going to need Harris for some amount of minutes whether he starts or not. So up to now I’ve shared the point of view you expressed in your post.

But for me a couple of things have changed over the last couple of weeks:

- Harris’s play seems to have deteriorated even from the level people were complaining about a few weeks ago. Last night he was vitally needed with Cyril out injured and the season on the line, and he contributed virtually nothing. It was a golden opportunity and he didn’t rise to it.

- Meanwhile, Toppin’s play has been improving. Certainly not perfect every game, but he is impacting the game more than Harris right now, and more importantly has the physical tools that makes his upside appreciably greater than Jermaine’s. Right now he has a higher ceiling AND a higher floor.

- The team is not in the same position as it was just a couple of weeks ago. They’ve lost 2 of their last 4, nearly lost a third game to an atrocious team last night and are in need of a jolt. Things are not going well enough to just stay the course. Not making a some kind of change in an attempt to create a spark will put the season in peril. This is a new reality and requires new thinking - the prevailing wisdom from 2 weeks ago no longer applies.

- Related to the above point, because of the position the team now finds itself in with respect to the postseason, the approach to game management must change to reflect that urgency. With so few games left, and the huge importance of those games, we cannot approach the rotation with thinking that says “X needs to get 18 minutes and Y needs to get 16 minutes, etc.” Rather, I would begin playing my best 5 players every second of every game that they can handle and only use my bench to get my best five a rest when absolutely necessary. We are in a sprint now. I’m not against playing Jermaine (or Walker) when Cyril and Toppin are gassed, injured or in foul trouble but I don’t think we can go into a game thinking we need to find him X number of minutes anymore. The guys on the bench should get the minutes that they are needed for, and that’s it. It’s time to max out over the next 10 days and then see where that puts you. There is no tomorrow anymore, and no reason to leave anything in the tank.

You didn't answer my question above.
So TP, 105 and Rhody15 as you are all seemingly now wanting Harris removed from starting....and any other who might want to chime in

Would you want Harris out as a Starter and keep the same 16 minutes he has been getting?
Bench Harris to zero minutes?
Reduce Harris minutes to 8 per game - basically cut in half?
Or give Harris other number of minutes?

Do you read the responses to your posts? I did answer your question. See bolded, above.

Sorry, I was looking for a number.

So reading your minutes distribution strategy for Harris, this is my opinion.
I said before the Fordham game that Toppin needs to play more. He is too good to have on the bench. Toppin can play for Fats, Dowtin or Langevine since he started in their places in 4 games this season. Of course it means moving some responsibilities around but it does not mean Toppin only gets more minutes for Harris.

If you bench Harris now, after having started him since he first came to URI, I'd say this is his last season. Odds are he is gone. Some will like that, he may not leave, but certainly the odds of that happening increase to some level

Benching Harris is not even something I think Toppin would be happy with. I'm not sure the players on the team would be happy with that. Who knows, maybe they might but it is late in the game for a line up change like that.

I think Harris is improved over last season, he has had injury issues this season and last. He provides bulk up front, takes up space, passes the ball ok for a big man, shoots FTs proficiently, he hustles up and down the floor. No need to disrupt the starting line up that has not changed at all except for 4 events all season:
Fatts benching
Langevine Injury #1
Dowtin sitting out due to charity event
Langevine injury #2

David Cox has stayed with the exact same starting line up all year. In fact, he has stayed with the exact same starting line up since Tyrese Martin replaced Christian Thompson last season, and even then Thompson's minutes played stayed about the same
There are host of reasons why URI did not play great or good against Davidson and now Fordham. It seems that Harris gets criticized more than any other player on the team despite he plays only 16 minutes per game. Some other players can have horrible games and we just shrug our shoulders and say little or nothing about them. Harris has two threads trashing him extensively, He has even been called a bag of trash by a poster here.

I would not disrupt the starting line up at this point in the season. Next season all positions are wide open for competition.

But ultimately David Cox disagrees as he and his staff continue to start Harris. Maybe he has a change of mind after reading KB

[RhowdyRam02]

David Cox is significantly below average in timeout and roster management and it almost cost us the season tonight. We live to fight another day but this team needs to play a lot smarter if they're going to have the ending we're hoping for and Cox needs to improve a lot if he's going to have the career a lot of people on here project him to have

I wouldnt go this far at all. You cant predict the Tate situation. Hammond, no offense, was a bitch and couldnt handle not getting playing time immediately. Thats 2 guys that could have played meaningful minutes. Those are not Cox's fault. The timeouts yes needs to learn how to use those better also needs to find a more consistent defensive set. But roster management dont be over critical there.

We're down to 8 scholarship players that can play if we're at perfect health, 1 scholarship player that was deemed not good enough to play so we're redshirting him and 1 that's not academically eligible. Even if you think there was no way the staff could have done anything about Tate or Hammond, which is a premise I disagree with, that means we still have one scholarship we decided to do nothing with. I'm sorry, this is horrible roster construction no matter which way you slice it.

Why are we bringing in a junior who can't contribute right away (Johnson) when our roster was so thin? Why did we bring in a guard (Sheppard) when we desperately needed a backup to Jeff and Fatts that could play right away, whose academics were so bad that even summer and fall semesters wouldn't be enough to allow him to play right now? Why have we wasted so many scholarships on guys that can't play so they just cycle out of the program like Aris?

Why do we have so many more transfers than the average school? Don't say that's how it is now, because having above average transfers by definition means things here aren't how things are now. And why is that an issue for URI now when it wasn't before Dan left?

[section(105)]

......fwiw, I am not into playing specific more or less minutes.....I am in a mode of playing who is hot, and riding that, and getting a quick start on offense, and to me Jacob is trending up on these......Jermaine’s minutes will come as needed off bench as game situations unfold......match ups matter in game flows, I think what have see from Jermaine is basically what we are gonna get.....Jacob’s upside is much greater.......more, I am not in any way suggesting that Jermaine get buried on the bench, just not starting and yes Jacob getting more minutes......I do not buy into any concerns for how a player is gonna potentially negatively react to changes in a starting lineup, and fearing transfer for me is a not a factor in who plays and how much......

[TruePoint]

ramster - I also said in my post that I believed in and defended Cox’s “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” strategy up until now. But I think with how important this season is to the program’s trajectory and future, and how important these next few games are to the outcome of the season, and how this season has trended over the last few weeks, it’s no longer a matter of philosophy or psychology or sociology. You have to max out on your best players, get every minute you can out of them up to the point that it would begin hurting them or the team and use your bench just to buy yourself time to get those five back into the game.

Cox may not agree with me and ultimately decide to stay the course. I’m just saying, as someone who generally advocates staying calm and staying the course, I think it’s time to play for broke. We are too close and too much hangs in the balance. MLB managers can’t start bringing their #1 starter out of the bullpen in the 8th inning on 2 days rest to get to the closer starting in June, but they sure as hell better be doing that in a play-in wild card game if they have to. That’s kind of where I see URI’s basketball season right now.

[ramster]

......fwiw, I am not into playing specific more or less minutes.....I am in a mode of playing who is hot, and riding that, and getting a quick start on offense, and to me Jacob is trending up on these......Jermaine’s minutes will come as needed off bench as game situations unfold......match ups matter in game flows, I think what have see from Jermaine is basically what we are gonna get.....Jacob’s upside is much greater.......

ok

I can agree with that

I am all for Toppin's minutes going up. I said that before the Fordham game and expected he would get more minutes since Ossining is 25 miles from Fordham. Absolutely Toppin should be playing more than 13 minutes per game. I've been beating that drum before last nights heroics

Where I disagree is that Harris needs to lose his starting position that he has had since literally Day 1 for Toppin to get more minutes.

Russell, Dowtin and Martin are all playing tons of minutes. Walker, Toppin and Long have been subbing more for Langevine and Harris.

Russell, Dowtin and Martin could easily reduce 3-5 minutes per game and let those minutes go to Toppin.

Even if Harris goes to Zero Minutes that only gets 16 more minutes for Toppin.

Completely agree More TOPPIN

Disagree that benching Harris is the right path for more Toppin.

[FDshoes]

David Cox is significantly below average in timeout and roster management and it almost cost us the season tonight. We live to fight another day but this team needs to play a lot smarter if they're going to have the ending we're hoping for and Cox needs to improve a lot if he's going to have the career a lot of people on here project him to have

I wouldnt go this far at all. You cant predict the Tate situation. Hammond, no offense, was a bitch and couldnt handle not getting playing time immediately. Thats 2 guys that could have played meaningful minutes. Those are not Cox's fault. The timeouts yes needs to learn how to use those better also needs to find a more consistent defensive set. But roster management dont be over critical there.

We're down to 8 scholarship players that can play if we're at perfect health, 1 scholarship player that was deemed not good enough to play so we're redshirting him and 1 that's not academically eligible. Even if you think there was no way the staff could have done anything about Tate or Hammond, which is a premise I disagree with, that means we still have one scholarship we decided to do nothing with. I'm sorry, this is horrible roster construction no matter which way you slice it.

Why are we bringing in a junior who can't contribute right away (Johnson) when our roster was so thin? Why did we bring in a guard (Sheppard) when we desperately needed a backup to Jeff and Fatts that could play right away, whose academics were so bad that even summer and fall semesters wouldn't be enough to allow him to play right now? Why have we wasted so many scholarships on guys that can't play so they just cycle out of the program like Aris?

Why do we have so many more transfers than the average school? Don't say that's how it is now, because having above average transfers by definition means things here aren't how things are now. And why is that an issue for URI now when it wasn't before Dan left?

Significantly more transfers? There are roughly 700 per year in D1. Past 2 years roughly 270 programs had 1,2,3 or 4 players transfer in said year. How do we have SO many more transfers then the average?
2018 2019
94 93 1 transfer
78 90 2 transfers
55 58 3 transfers
43 29 4 transfers

58 & 59 programs had zero transfers respectfully.

The Tate situation was unforseen and i for one hated to see him go. Feel how you want about the situation i believe a lot of it was out of DC's hands. You have 12 scholarships and no team plays 12 guys most have a 8-9 man rotation. Hammond shouldnt have left he should have stayed and worked on his game but that's the landscape of todays youth they want instant gratification. If Shepard can ball like some say then he was worth taking the chance he would have been deemed academically eligible since we had NINE guys who were ready for minutes, I'm counting Tate and Walker. The program thought they were going to get a waiver for Walker. Now you are down to spots 11 & 12 who never see the court for any program but you need guys to practice and thise spots typically become revolving doors. This is also where you take flyers on guys in a chance they were hidden gems, this is were DJ falls. This isnt extremely poor roster management on Cox's part like you claim.

Now if you want to be concerned about still having 3 open scholies for next year i will completely back that thought process 100%.