12/9 | #13 University of Wisconsin | 4:30PM (Big Ten Network)

[RhowdyRam02]

What an utterly pathetic performance. Painful to watch all the way around. Coaching is beyond pathetic. Come on Cox play your best players and let me tell you that does not include Jalen Carey or Antoine Walker. Man we are a painful offensive team. Turnover machines both of them. Blessing in disguise last game as Carey is beyond playable. Nothing but a street ball player with no skill other than putting his head down and running wildly into the lane. Yes I am a little pissed at the stupid foul at the end of the half as well.

How can Walker and Carey (And the Mitchells) get so many minutes and Ish plays like two minutes and Harris does not play at all? Really coach. I am longing for Harris to play, at least he knows his role, plays solid defense and will be in the right place on offense. How many f'ing times does Antoine Walker have to be told where to go on offense. And the lack of skill on this team is incredible. How many turnovers did we have in that first half? Many of the unforced just no skill variety.

They are turnover machines, Walker and Carey. Sorry I love Cox but I really think he has no idea about rotations and who his best players on. I never come on these game threads and bitch but holy shit this game is brutal. Sit Carey, play Harris, try to get Johnson involved more. Anyone who is a threat to put the ball in the basket should be on the floor. And for Christ sakes, move the ball on offense.

Yes we play hard on defense (not smart either coaching wise or playing wise, how the hell do you go under two ball screens in the first four minutes on their best shooter). If Harris was playing that would not have happened, but let me tell you basketball 101. You do not go under ball screens on shooters!! Yet we do it all game. You only go under if someone is hedging which the Mitchell twins are obviously incapable of doing.

Bottom line, we are not very good. If we cannot turn a team over, or bully them on the boards, we are not skilled enough or well coached enough to compensate with how bad we shoot the ball and how careless we are with the basketball.

Utterly demoralizing watching that half.

You know Harris didn't travel with the team, right?

Forget it, he's rolling

[brady1]

Lol, it’s a number 15 team on there court on a moments notice! I remember a big Dance Game against the twin towers that was one we had no chance in. This one ball bounces Fatts my fav, plays for URI . MAYBE!

GO RHODY!

[eli#10]

I have not yet read any comments on the board about the game but I am very happy we played this game against a very quality opponent. Obviously the first half was beyond awful but the way we played in the second half will benefit this team (especially the twins) as the season progresses. I thought a couple of fouls called against the twins were borderline.
The one thing Cox has to do is tell the players to keep their mouths shut on the court no matter what kind of play has been made. Very bad move by Walker after being warned. Those techs cost us 4 points.

[RhowdyRam02]

I feel like it’s the same move over and over again with this program. Pretty much for my entire life.

We just aren’t big time. Aren’t ready for it. Crumble when it counts.

Waaaahhh waaahhhhh waahhhhh...

Dude are you even a fucking fan?

You showed up here when the coach showed up. Miss me with this bullshit and go ask your boy why he felt the need to call a timeout and stop our offensive momentum the first time we showed any.

I still have never been able to figure out why he takes a timeout within the first four minutes of the second half and I can't recall other coaches doing it, but this has been a consistent thing from him since game one here

[rhodyruckus]

Can anyone explain the reason why Wisconsin shot free throws when Legget got double elbows to the face?

Looking at the play by play on CBS sports, I believe they called a foul on Ish when the first elbow hit him and then a foul on Davis for the second elbow.

Let me just say I disagree with the refs on that one.

Yeah it is illegal for a meager A10 player to cover a B10 player that tight, I can't believe the gall of Leggett to put his face within 5 feet of the UW player.

[hrstrat57]

nice summary by Goeghegan

like I said free plane rides and game tape, win

https://www.independentri.com/sports/ar ... ddaed.html

https://gorhody.com/news/2020/12/9/mens ... 73-62.aspx

[SandorClegane]

Big 10 games.. big 10 refs.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Can anyone explain the reason why Wisconsin shot free throws when Legget got double elbows to the face?

The first contact was Ish bashing the guy's humeroradial joint with his face. The second one was on the Wiscy guy.

[bigappleram]

We just played a Top 10 team with a historically stifling defense returning their entire lineup from the year before after winning the Big 10. That would be a stiff test for any team never mind a team with 1 returning starter and 6 new faces counted on to contribute.

A mediocre to bad team loses that game by 20+.

In back to back games we outrebounded two of the biggest teams in the country.

The Mitchell’s, when not in foul trouble, continue to improve and show huge potential.

Jalen Carey is going to be really good in time; just still trying to find his role and identity on offense. Malik also played well tonight.

Unforced errors and poor execution killed us in the first 15 minutes. Fatts, Shep and Twan were guilty of a lot of that.

This team showed grit and togetherness to not get boatraced. Remain optimistic...we won’t see another team that good this year, unless we go dancing.

[SandorClegane]

First half was a rough go. Looked a little bit better in the second half. We are never going to win games with the refs call ticky tack fouls. Our guys play physical defense, which hurts us when the refs call it very close.
On offense, we need to get the ball to Shep a bit more. I also like when Carey and Martin were taking the ball to the hole. Just wasn’t our best game. Can’t even say we had bad shot selection this game, we just didn’t hit shots. Reminded me of last year.

One knock I have on how we played this game was the fact that we only had four assists. Either we moved the ball around and didn’t hit shots, or we didn’t move the ball well enough.

48 fouls called is also embarrassing for the sport. We need to get have these refs get over themselves and let the kids play basketball.

[Rhody Sody]

We just played a Top 10 team with a historically stifling defense returning their entire lineup from the year before after winning the Big 10. That would be a stiff test for any team never mind a team with 1 returning starter and 6 new faces counted on to contribute.

A mediocre to bad team loses that game by 20+.

In back to back games we outrebounded two of the biggest teams in the country.

The Mitchell’s, when not in foul trouble, continue to improve and show huge potential.

Jalen Carey is going to be really good in time; just still trying to find his role and identity on offense. Malik also played well tonight.

Unforced errors and poor execution killed us in the first 15 minutes. Fatts, Shep and Twan were guilty of a lot of that.

This team showed grit and togetherness to not get boatraced. Remain optimistic...we won’t see another team that good this year, unless we go dancing.

Carey is going to be a stud. Never going to be a 35+ from deep but the kid has the skills to be great in the a10. Rough first half but showed some grit with our best player cold as ice. Cant chalk this up as a positive but hard to say it was a negative. If Fatts and Walker play a B+ game it would have been down to the wire.

[RhodyRam86]

First half was a rough go. Looked a little bit better in the second half. We are never going to win games with the refs call ticky tack fouls. Our guys play physical defense, which hurts us when the refs call it very close.
On offense, we need to get the ball to Shep a bit more. I also like when Carey and Martin were taking the ball to the hole. Just wasn’t our best game. Can’t even say we had bad shot selection this game, we just didn’t hit shots. Reminded me of last year.

One knock I have on how we played this game was the fact that we only had four assists. Either we moved the ball around and didn’t hit shots, or we didn’t move the ball well enough.

48 fouls called is also embarrassing for the sport. We need to get have these refs get over themselves and let the kids play basketball.

Sandor I would agree that a closely officiated game works against us, but there were relatively few fouls called most of the way through the first half when the game got out of hand. We were actually more competitive in the second have when a foul was called on nearly every possession.

[RhodyRam86]

We just played a Top 10 team with a historically stifling defense returning their entire lineup from the year before after winning the Big 10. That would be a stiff test for any team never mind a team with 1 returning starter and 6 new faces counted on to contribute.

A mediocre to bad team loses that game by 20+.

In back to back games we outrebounded two of the biggest teams in the country.

The Mitchell’s, when not in foul trouble, continue to improve and show huge potential.

Jalen Carey is going to be really good in time; just still trying to find his role and identity on offense. Malik also played well tonight.

Unforced errors and poor execution killed us in the first 15 minutes. Fatts, Shep and Twan were guilty of a lot of that.

This team showed grit and togetherness to not get boatraced. Remain optimistic...we won’t see another team that good this year, unless we go dancing.

Carey is going to be a stud. Never going to be a 35+ from deep but the kid has the skills to be great in the a10. Rough first half but showed some grit with our best player cold as ice. Cant chalk this up as a positive but hard to say it was a negative. If Fatts and Walker play a B+ game it would have been down to the wire.

I agree. Of all the players on this team, to me, Carey looks the most like he could play in the Power 5 (yes...I'm aware of the fact he already has). Not saying others can't, Carey just seems to have the size to play at a higher level.

[Rhodymob05]

Carey is a bull when going to the basket, and a nice mid range jumper.

[RhowdyRam02]

For all of the increased depth we've talked about we're still too reliant on Fatts and when he's bad Fatts like he was in the first half we are a terrible team. 2-9 from the field in the first half when the next highest player only had four shots, 0-3 from three, and 1 assist on 2 turnovers is a backbreaker. Bad shooting games are going to happen, but when it's not his night, as a senior, he has to have the maturity to switch to more of a pure point guard as opposed to a point guard who is also the team's shooter. He needs to be able to create offense for other players when his shot isn't falling. And if he can't do it then Cox has to take the reigns and make changes during the game, and yet three years in, and with the most depth of the Cox era, that still isn't happening

[NYGFan_Section208]

We just played a Top 10 team with a historically stifling defense returning their entire lineup from the year before after winning the Big 10. That would be a stiff test for any team never mind a team with 1 returning starter and 6 new faces counted on to contribute.

A mediocre to bad team loses that game by 20+.

In back to back games we outrebounded two of the biggest teams in the country.

The Mitchell’s, when not in foul trouble, continue to improve and show huge potential.

Jalen Carey is going to be really good in time; just still trying to find his role and identity on offense. Malik also played well tonight.

Unforced errors and poor execution killed us in the first 15 minutes. Fatts, Shep and Twan were guilty of a lot of that.

This team showed grit and togetherness to not get boatraced. Remain optimistic...we won’t see another team that good this year, unless we go dancing.

Agree, but would add that, it kinda looks like The Mitchell's are going to be in foul trouble pretty much all year...?

[bigappleram]

We just played a Top 10 team with a historically stifling defense returning their entire lineup from the year before after winning the Big 10. That would be a stiff test for any team never mind a team with 1 returning starter and 6 new faces counted on to contribute.

A mediocre to bad team loses that game by 20+.

In back to back games we outrebounded two of the biggest teams in the country.

The Mitchell’s, when not in foul trouble, continue to improve and show huge potential.

Jalen Carey is going to be really good in time; just still trying to find his role and identity on offense. Malik also played well tonight.

Unforced errors and poor execution killed us in the first 15 minutes. Fatts, Shep and Twan were guilty of a lot of that.

This team showed grit and togetherness to not get boatraced. Remain optimistic...we won’t see another team that good this year, unless we go dancing.

Agree, but would add that, it kinda looks like The Mitchell's are going to be in foul trouble pretty much all year...?

That’s why it is great there are 2 of them.

[eli#10]

The Mitchell twins technically are sophomores but in basketball years they are really 6 games into their freshmen years. When this season began they had not played in a game for almost a year. Their freshman year was a lost year for both of them. Makhi only played 112 minutes and Makhel only 68 minutes. They obviously need help on the defensive end but I think they are playing a little better each game and at the end of this year will be a lot better in the A-10.
This team is still learning to play together.
Watch out as the season progresses I say.

[SmartyBarrett]

First half was a rough go. Looked a little bit better in the second half. We are never going to win games with the refs call ticky tack fouls. Our guys play physical defense, which hurts us when the refs call it very close.
On offense, we need to get the ball to Shep a bit more. I also like when Carey and Martin were taking the ball to the hole. Just wasn’t our best game. Can’t even say we had bad shot selection this game, we just didn’t hit shots. Reminded me of last year.

One knock I have on how we played this game was the fact that we only had four assists. Either we moved the ball around and didn’t hit shots, or we didn’t move the ball well enough.

48 fouls called is also embarrassing for the sport. We need to get have these refs get over themselves and let the kids play basketball.

Sandor I would agree that a closely officiated game works against us, but there were relatively few fouls called most of the way through the first half when the game got out of hand. We were actually more competitive in the second have when a foul was called on nearly every possession.

One thing that's abundantly clear to me about URI so far is that they're so, so much better when they're attacking and getting to the line.

2 FTs attempted in the first half
23 FTs attempted in the second half

[rhodylaw]

We just played a Top 10 team with a historically stifling defense returning their entire lineup from the year before after winning the Big 10. That would be a stiff test for any team never mind a team with 1 returning starter and 6 new faces counted on to contribute.

A mediocre to bad team loses that game by 20+.

In back to back games we outrebounded two of the biggest teams in the country.

The Mitchell’s, when not in foul trouble, continue to improve and show huge potential.

Jalen Carey is going to be really good in time; just still trying to find his role and identity on offense. Malik also played well tonight.

Unforced errors and poor execution killed us in the first 15 minutes. Fatts, Shep and Twan were guilty of a lot of that.

This team showed grit and togetherness to not get boatraced. Remain optimistic...we won’t see another team that good this year, unless we go dancing.

I agree with everything you said except the last statement - SLU is that good.

[formerlybis]

Hello, again from the Badger fan from earlier in this thread. Thanks again for filling the hole in our schedule.

First off, from my lens, your interior defense gave our bigs more issues than I expected. That was really a terrible game from Reuvers, well below what we expect. But, we also have come to expect that any of the other players are capable of being the scorer on any night, and Davison was that guy in the first half (where the game was really won).

I like your scrappiness alot. I have no idea what was up with the technical fouls, but your Rams have passion. I was less impressed with the overall offensive skill, but the defense was reasonably tough.

Good luck the rest of the way!

[RhodeIslandRams]

I'm optimistic simply because not long ago we had almost no players, and didn't know if we'd have a season.

Now I'm watching a team with great potential playing ranked teams on national TV. That's way more fun.

To me today was predictable due to the "heads" of five seniors playing together VS new teammates just getting used to one another. I predict a good future!!!

[Blue Man]

Hello, again from the Badger fan from earlier in this thread. Thanks again for filling the hole in our schedule.

First off, from my lens, your interior defense gave our bigs more issues than I expected. That was really a terrible game from Reuvers, well below what we expect. But, we also have come to expect that any of the other players are capable of being the scorer on any night, and Davison was that guy in the first half (where the game was really won).

I like your scrappiness alot. I have no idea what was up with the technical fouls, but your Rams have passion. I was less impressed with the overall offensive skill, but the defense was reasonably tough.

Good luck the rest of the way!

Likewise - you guys are good (shocker).

We were incredibly less impressed with our offensive skill, as that was potentially one of the worst halves of offense we’ve ever seen in the last 4 years. That’s not joking.

We have a lot to work on but the talent is there. Thanks to your team for giving us a game that will be much more difficult than any we’ll face until the NCAA if we’re fortunate enough.

[ericf0120]

I was happy to see Rhody fight back in the second half, but i can’t help but feel frustrated to see them not ready to play for the 2nd straight game against a top-25 team. I’m not sure whether it is nerves or what, but I just hope this doesn’t become a trend for things to come. Fell behind early against ASU, and same thing happened today vs Wisconsin. We can’t do this against teams like Richmond, Saint Louis, Dayton etc. We have the talent to compete with nearly everyone, and even could have pulled a magic trick out tonight for an upset, but being down 17 in the first half is just insurmountable against top-level programs.

Encouraging 2nd half though, and looking forward to the WKU tilt Sunday afternoon

[PeterRamTime]

I missed the second half because of work, but I'm glad to see we showed some testicles and made some shit happen.

That was the likely third or second best team in the best conference in America.

That type of team is our kryptonite. We thrive on getting teams rattled and exploiting teams with our athleticism.

A senior laden pack line defense team is what the CORONER ordered for us. Especially with our still being a newly constructed team.

The fact we lost by 11 with a really ineffective Fatts bodes pretty well.

We will not face a team in the A-10 that good and nobody plays a defense that will give us that many issues.

I'm not that worried. We still look like we can make it to the dance. It is troubling to see the absolutely atrocious play at times. It's straight up inexcusable and Cox has some work to do on his end to clean that up because we have seen that a lot under him.

However we have pride and we are scrappy.

Just need to keep jelling and have Fatts pull his head out of his own ass.

[FDshoes]

For all of the increased depth we've talked about we're still too reliant on Fatts and when he's bad Fatts like he was in the first half we are a terrible team. 2-9 from the field in the first half when the next highest player only had four shots, 0-3 from three, and 1 assist on 2 turnovers is a backbreaker. Bad shooting games are going to happen, but when it's not his night, as a senior, he has to have the maturity to switch to more of a pure point guard as opposed to a point guard who is also the team's shooter. He needs to be able to create offense for other players when his shot isn't falling. And if he can't do it then Cox has to take the reigns and make changes during the game, and yet three years in, and with the most depth of the Cox era, that still isn't happening

Are we to reliant on Fatts or is Fatts to reliant on Fatts?

Love the kid. Will go down amongst the best ever to wear keaney blue in the record books. But is it bad to say that we could be a much better team if Fatts played a different game?

Yes we want the ball in Fatts's hands with the game on the line late because he has no fear but the other 39 minutes please play a better team style of ball. Stop trying to do to much and for fucksake stop forcing shots you are not a good enough shooter to do that.

[Jersey77]

I haven't heard, but when Mitchell was forced to leave the game with pain in his lower leg, let's hope it was just a cramp and not a strained calf muscle. Depending upon its seriousness, that injury can take a long time to completely heal.

[Section104]

There's still a fairly significant number of teams that have yet to play a game this year. Zero games. That includes UMass, St. Bonaventure, and Fordham.

Compare that against URI who has played 4 "major" programs and 6 total programs in the Kenpom top 106. We've had primetime ESPN games, had a major conference team in our home gym, and were gifted a charter to/from a preseason top 5, defending B1G champ, Wisconsin team we haven't played in many years.

There will be many obstacles to complete the season, but there's no more battle tested program in the A10 that is beginning to understand what it takes to compete. Wisconsin is smart and they take you out of your rhythm offensively. We knew they were a tough win. We knew our styles of play couldn't be more different. I'd take a slow team with 5 Sr. starters over a fast-paced team with 8 new players every day of the week. That shouldn't be too surprising. Would I have liked to see more energy out of the tunnel, less forced shots, and a higher FG %? Absolutely. But I'm not going to lose sleep over the result.

Every opportunity we get in the OOC is a good opportunity to grow and I'm confident this team will be more prepared than most heading into the A10 slate. The only two teams I have ahead of us are Richmond and St. Louis. There's a lot of talent and experience in the league this year and I think we did everything possible in the OOC to be prepared to compete and win.

There are positives to be had from every game this year. Our progression won't always be linear, but I think our best team will be the team we see in March and that's not a bad thing.

Go Rhody.

[DC_Rams]

There's still a fairly significant number of teams that have yet to play a game this year. Zero games. That includes UMass, St. Bonaventure, and Fordham.

Compare that against URI who has played 4 "major" programs and 6 total programs in the Kenpom top 106. We've had primetime ESPN games, had a major conference team in our home gym, and were gifted a charter to/from a preseason top 5, defending B1G champ, Wisconsin team we haven't played in many years.

There will be many obstacles to complete the season, but there's no more battle tested program in the A10 that is beginning to understand what it takes to compete. Wisconsin is smart and they take you out of your rhythm offensively. We knew they were a tough win. We knew our styles of play couldn't be more different. I'd take a slow team with 5 Sr. starters over a fast-paced team with 8 new players every day of the week. That shouldn't be too surprising. Would I have liked to see more energy out of the tunnel, less forced shots, and a higher FG %? Absolutely. But I'm not going to lose sleep over the result.

Every opportunity we get in the OOC is a good opportunity to grow and I'm confident this team will be more prepared than most heading into the A10 slate. The only two teams I have ahead of us are Richmond and St. Louis. There's a lot of talent and experience in the league this year and I think we did everything possible in the OOC to be prepared to compete and win.

There are positives to be had from every game this year. Our progression won't always be linear, but I think our best team will be the team we see in March and that's not a bad thing.

Go Rhody.

Bravo, brother. Bravo!

[RIFan]

I have not read all the posts, but these 2 stats surprised me...we out rebounded them and we had the same number of blocks.

Also, once again FT's cost us, and how are you going to win with 14 TO's and only 4 assists? I think if we played again we could win...we were just all out of sorts in the first half and found ourselves in the second.

[rhodylaw]

There's still a fairly significant number of teams that have yet to play a game this year. Zero games. That includes UMass, St. Bonaventure, and Fordham.

Compare that against URI who has played 4 "major" programs and 6 total programs in the Kenpom top 106. We've had primetime ESPN games, had a major conference team in our home gym, and were gifted a charter to/from a preseason top 5, defending B1G champ, Wisconsin team we haven't played in many years.

There will be many obstacles to complete the season, but there's no more battle tested program in the A10 that is beginning to understand what it takes to compete. Wisconsin is smart and they take you out of your rhythm offensively. We knew they were a tough win. We knew our styles of play couldn't be more different. I'd take a slow team with 5 Sr. starters over a fast-paced team with 8 new players every day of the week. That shouldn't be too surprising. Would I have liked to see more energy out of the tunnel, less forced shots, and a higher FG %? Absolutely. But I'm not going to lose sleep over the result.

Every opportunity we get in the OOC is a good opportunity to grow and I'm confident this team will be more prepared than most heading into the A10 slate. The only two teams I have ahead of us are Richmond and St. Louis. There's a lot of talent and experience in the league this year and I think we did everything possible in the OOC to be prepared to compete and win.

There are positives to be had from every game this year. Our progression won't always be linear, but I think our best team will be the team we see in March and that's not a bad thing.

Go Rhody.

Bravo, brother. Bravo!

Agree completely DC - its not like we are losing to Brown, or just completely not showing up. I would have liked to have won the BC game, but overall the team will be in great position come A10 play to compete for a championship.

[steviep123]

I was unable to watch the game (and didn't mind b/c before yesterday, I was able to watch the first two games live - losses, but not then other 3 - wins. Being superstitious I thought not being able to watch was a good thing. ). I did follow along on the score and while I didn't think we'd win, I didn't think the game would essentially be over at halftime. I more expected we'd keep it within arms reach for the first 30 mins, then it would either be a game or Wisconsin would pull away. What I didn't expect is to be down most of the game, then cut the lead to 8 with 5 change left (then as typical, give up the dagger 3 that we have done countless times in big spots back to the Hurley days and before - see 2015 vs. Davidson, and 2017 vs. Dayton in the game before the Fordham fiasco before the winning streak that lead to the A10 tourney title). Okay, enough Debbie Downer from me. I'll go back and watch the game over the weekend (because, why not?) and see it for myself.

What I'm hoping is that this game taught the staff and team a lot and gave them much to work on and with. If this team and staff are as good as we all think they can be, they will learn from this very tough and challenging opponent and make them better for it.

PS: formerlybis - thanks for coming on and sharing your insights into your team, and thanks to your team for flying ours out for an impromptu game to fill the gap in both schedules. I do wish we were more of a challenge, especially in the first half, but I'm glad the game was played regardless of result.

[rhodyrudder]

I was unable to watch the game (and didn't mind b/c before yesterday, I was able to watch the first two games live - losses, but not then other 3 - wins. Being superstitious I thought not being able to watch was a good thing. ).

Stevie!!!
Everybody knows that you have to change it up at regular intervals...

You watched 2, then didn't watch 3...

So to keep it going, you were supposed to WATCH the next 4, and then DON'T WATCH 1 (because you skipped the number 1 to start it off...)

Anyway, then you WATCH the next 5...unless we lose one of them in there somewhere (but it wouldn't be your fault...)

But this one is on you, my man!

[ramster]

For all of the increased depth we've talked about we're still too reliant on Fatts and when he's bad Fatts like he was in the first half we are a terrible team. 2-9 from the field in the first half when the next highest player only had four shots, 0-3 from three, and 1 assist on 2 turnovers is a backbreaker. Bad shooting games are going to happen, but when it's not his night, as a senior, he has to have the maturity to switch to more of a pure point guard as opposed to a point guard who is also the team's shooter. He needs to be able to create offense for other players when his shot isn't falling. And if he can't do it then Cox has to take the reigns and make changes during the game, and yet three years in, and with the most depth of the Cox era, that still isn't happening

Ball should have been in Sheppard's hands more. Sheppard was 3-4 on 3Ps. The reset of the team went 0-9. Russell was 0-4, Walker 0-2, Johnson 0-2 and Martin 0-1. So 3-13 with Sheppard continuing to show strong shooting accuracy as I had heard all last year he excelled at in practices - no surprise.

These is also no surprise that Russell is shooting poorly. In 6 games now:
28-33 FG = 33.7%
8-32 on 3P = 25%
32-38 FT = 84%

He shoots Its great but his FG and 3P percentages are terrible. Yet he continues to shoot, shoot and shoot. Only 1 assist vs Wisconsin, his low for the year.

At 11:27 in 1st half Cox took Russell out. We were down 17-6. He put him back in at 8:18 down 21-9.
At 13:08 in 2nd half Cox took Russell out down 50-29, 21 points behind and we looked bad. At 9:04 he returned and we had cut the lead to 57-42. I groaned when Cox put him back in.

In the first half Russell's defensive was not intense. Early in the game Trice dribbled right past him for an easy layup and Fatts looked for help with his hands in the air. I watched Fatts defensively for much of the game and he was well off his man numerous times - tending to float to the ball. He tends to want to play free safety and try to pick off balls, problem is he often losses his man. In the 2nd half he got more intense the last 9 minutes. I think Cox and/or Assistants might have talked to him about his defense - I hope so. The Announcers talked late about how Fatts was playing great defensively late in the game - and he was then - but he did not do that in the 1st half or the beginning of the 2nd half.

Russell had 5 fouls in the ASU game. Since then he has had 2,3,1,1,1. Only 1 foul in each of the last 3 games. I wonder if that game with 5 fouls has impacted his intensity on defense?
He was 3-13 vs ASU and only 3-14 vs Wisconsin.

Team has taken 321 shots with Fatts taking 83 or 26% of all shots.
Fatts is 33.7% while the rest of the team is 123 for 238 for 51.7%.

It's not rocked surgery.
He had only 1 assist and 1 steal with 3 TOs. Fatts needs to pass more, defend with more effort and shoot much less. No excuse this year. Sheppard, Carey and Leggett can all play PG. Sheppard, Martin and Leggett can all shoot the 3P better than Russell.

When Fatts is hot feed him - no problem with that. We should always feed the hot hand. Problem is he is shooting poorly. He is a scorer, not a shooter. He continues to shoot no matter how bad a shooting night he is having.

The Press Needs to stop talking about the NBA and all of the lists that he is on, stop talking about 1st Team A10. Ignore that noise.

His greatest asset is his speed. Nobody faster. His FT Shooting has improved and is a solid strength. Cox needs to figure out how to blend Russell's strengths into team success. At the same time sub out for any player who is not giving 100% on defense as I saw in last night's game. We have plenty of depth.

[eli#10]

I think he also needs to take a mid-range jumper more often. For the most part his shots consist of 3 pointers and drives to the basket a lot of which he is out of control. My recollection is that his success rate on the mid-range jumper is pretty good.

[theblueram]

To be fair, Whisky's defense in the first half was smothering. They switched perfectly and were in everyone's face. Plus they had size. That is a good defensive team.

[reef]

Very true that Wiscy team looks like a 2nd weekend team for sure

Fatts is slumping now but he will get it going , I would like to see him take the 3s when he is open and not force them and when he is missing then set up the rest of the guys for open looks

[steviep123]

I was unable to watch the game (and didn't mind b/c before yesterday, I was able to watch the first two games live - losses, but not then other 3 - wins. Being superstitious I thought not being able to watch was a good thing. ).

Stevie!!!
Everybody knows that you have to change it up at regular intervals...

You watched 2, then didn't watch 3...

So to keep it going, you were supposed to WATCH the next 4, and then DON'T WATCH 1 (because you skipped the number 1 to start it off...)

Anyway, then you WATCH the next 5...unless we lose one of them in there somewhere (but it wouldn't be your fault...)

But this one is on you, my man!

Damn it! My OCD got it all wrong!