1/27 | La Salle | 5:00PM (ESPN+)

[Rhodymob05]

He technically did play his Junior year because of academics? So he would have a year of eligibility anyways?

[luke]

Any road win in the A 10 is a good win . some of the best shooting by a Rhody team in along time . This team would be giving everyone a large dose of hope if it wasn't for the fact that they just continue to turn the ball over at an alarming rate .They can't get away with that against the better teams
even if they shoot the ball the way they did against Lasalle . The same mistakes keep happening . they continue to try to execute low percentage passes trying to get the ball down low , and they continue to dribble into traffic instead of getting rid of the ball . court awareness is a problem . they make cross court passes with defenders in between . On the positive side , they are getting lots of open looks and I think Mitchell and Walker are helping to open up the perimeter with their down low presence . Hope they can grab a win at Dayton.

[LIRAM]

Good win. Sheppard played an exceptional game. He and Fatts played well and connected. Getting nothing from the wing which is killing us- Martin and AB have been... you fill in the blank. I am suppose to move on but really miss Tyrese! Mitchell is protecting the rim without fouling which is huge. Cox coached a good game and am happy he shortened the bench. Against certain clubs we should go with Ish, Shep and Fatts with Walker and Mitchell. Best five in my opinion.

[steveystuds06]

Nice job putting them away. LaSalle stinks but we played better in the second half.

LaSalle does not stink THIS year.

Agreed. Lasalle is a solid team and we took care of business. Props to Cox and the team. We won two straight!!

[Rhody15]

He technically did play his Junior year because of academics? So he would have a year of eligibility anyways?

Every. Player. Has. An. Extra. Year. Of. Eligibility.

Every. Senior. Can. Come. Back. And. Play. Next. Year. If. They. Want.

[steveystuds06]

I wonder if Shep is eligible to come back next year. Does anyone have any answers! Rhody15 do you know?

[DC_Rams]

Hey guys, do you think Shep gets an extra year?

[DC_Rams]

Carey and Harris were limited due to injury, FYI.

[Rhodymob05]

The question is, would he have an extra two years.

[rhodylaw]

Any road win in the A 10 is a good win . some of the best shooting by a Rhody team in along time . This team would be giving everyone a large dose of hope if it wasn't for the fact that they just continue to turn the ball over at an alarming rate .They can't get away with that against the better teams
even if they shoot the ball the way they did against Lasalle . The same mistakes keep happening . they continue to try to execute low percentage passes trying to get the ball down low , and they continue to dribble into traffic instead of getting rid of the ball . court awareness is a problem . they make cross court passes with defenders in between . On the positive side , they are getting lots of open looks and I think Mitchell and Walker are helping to open up the perimeter with their down low presence . Hope they can grab a win at Dayton.

I don’t get too upset when they turn the ball over trying to feed the paint. It is such a welcoming thing to see that as regular part of our offense. The lazy perimeter passes drive me insane.

[rhodylaw]

The question is, would he have an extra two years.

Even if he did there is no way he will play 2 more years and be 25 before he starts a pro career. It is a questionable decision to come back next year, but I think if he did and dominated the entire year that he would make up lost year professionally by getting into a better league.

[Rhody15]

I wonder if Shep is eligible to come back next year. Does anyone have any answers! Rhody15 do you know?

All I’ll say is, if Harris used his extra year here, I’m moving to Tanzania.

[NJRhodyFan]

Carey and Harris were limited due to injury, FYI.

I hope their playing time is limited even when they’re healthy. Cox needs to roll with the 8-man rotation from here on out. I love that DJ and Leggett both got close to 20 minutes tonight.

Harris and Carey should only play if someone is in foul trouble or needs a quick breather. They’re both ineffective when they’re on the floor.

[theblueram]

Cox has to do something about the turnovers. Will he?

[UCH21377]

Good win. Sheppard played an exceptional game. He and Fatts played well and connected. Getting nothing from the wing which is killing us- Martin and AB have been... you fill in the blank. I am suppose to move on but really miss Tyrese! Mitchell is protecting the rim without fouling which is huge. Cox coached a good game and am happy he shortened the bench. Against certain clubs we should go with Ish, Shep and Fatts with Walker and Mitchell. Best five in my opinion.

wholeheartedly agree with this lineup

[bigappleram]

Cox has to do something about the turnovers. Will he?

The only thing he can do is yank guys. You also don’t want to make an entire team tight and afraid to play aggressively. It’s hard to pin at least half of those TOs on anyone but the player.

Like Rhodylaw said I have zero issue with a guy trying to make a play (like Twan trying to hit DJ on the back cut) or TOs where a good basketball play is made but there is just a flaw in execution (like a hi low feed that is too strong etc). What’s inexcusable were basically all of Betrands TOs. You can’t teach a college player to not throw it in the back court to his teammate. He has to just f-ing know that. All you can do is pull a guy. Which is basically what DC did.

[bigappleram]

Totally agree with the depth chart

Fatts, Shep, Betrand, Walker, Mitchell

Ish, Martin, DJ

Break glass in case of emergency only: Carey and Harris

To me it seems DC has a quick hook with DJ and Walker but a long leash with everyone else. Walker has been one of our most consistent guys this year, has his flaws but plays hard and has an attitude and passion of a floor leader. I would play him more.

[theblueram]

Cox has to do something about the turnovers. Will he?

The only thing he can do is yank guys. You also don’t want to make an entire team tight and afraid to play aggressively. It’s hard to pin at least half of those TOs on anyone but the player.

Like Rhodylaw said I have zero issue with a guy trying to make a play (like Twan trying to hit DJ on the back cut) or TOs where a good basketball play is made but there is just a flaw in execution (like a hi low feed that is too strong etc). What’s inexcusable were basically all of Betrands TOs. You can’t teach a college player to not throw it in the back court to his teammate. He has to just f-ing know that. All you can do is pull a guy. Which is basically what DC did.

So Bar what should happen to reduce these turnovers? It's really killing us this year. Is it discipline, coaching, what?????

[Jersey77]

The question is, would he have an extra two years.

Even if he did there is no way he will play 2 more years and be 25 before he starts a pro career. It is a questionable decision to come back next year, but I think if he did and dominated the entire year that he would make up lost year professionally by getting into a better league.

Sheppard only has 1 more year of eligibility left at most, whether he plays here or transfers.
He played at East Carolina 2016-2017 his time clock runs out next year, you don't get 7 years to play 5 (this year a mulligan).

[SandorClegane]

Cox has to do something about the turnovers. Will he?

The only thing he can do is yank guys. You also don’t want to make an entire team tight and afraid to play aggressively. It’s hard to pin at least half of those TOs on anyone but the player.

Like Rhodylaw said I have zero issue with a guy trying to make a play (like Twan trying to hit DJ on the back cut) or TOs where a good basketball play is made but there is just a flaw in execution (like a hi low feed that is too strong etc). What’s inexcusable were basically all of Betrands TOs. You can’t teach a college player to not throw it in the back court to his teammate. He has to just f-ing know that. All you can do is pull a guy. Which is basically what DC did.

This is spot on. Ideally, as the team gets more comfortable in the offense and the floor spacing, turnovers go down. Hopefully reps will help us figure it out.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Lazy passes, brain farts, offensive fouls, this team needs to take care of the ball. There were passes that had me scratching my head. The turnovers need to end. Value the ball! 20 turnovers is 20 less shots a game. Inexcusable.

Seriously lazy passes today...so lazy that, guy sitting on the couch watching the game can see the player "think about" starting a passing motion and be able to say all three words of WTF before the other team picks it off. So, you see the player thinking about a pass...you say 'wtf'...and THEN he throws it to the other team. It's like a delayed play-action kind of thing I think.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Hey guys, do you think Shep gets an extra year?

No. He's a senior, he's done. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself)

[ramster]

Hey guys, do you think Shep gets an extra year?

No. He's a senior, he's done. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself)

Unless he applies for a waiver

[DC_Rams]

Cox has to do something about the turnovers. Will he?

Blue, seriously...you don’t think the guy is pulling his hair out watching film of this team turn the ball over?! If it just took a snap of the fingers, he would’ve done it a million times over by now.

[Rhody15]

Whoever said Bertrand is better than Fatts/would be the best player on the team next year, yikes.

He’s given us next to nothing since he’s been eligible.

[eli#10]

An idea for Cox: the next time he takes AB and Carey out of a game due to lazy turnover(s) that he get in their face and stay there as they saunter to their seat off the court. For the first time in a long time he was having an animated discussion with a ref over that awful call on Walker's basket. Would like to see him do that to AB and Carey when he takes them out after a bad play or plays.
Get their attention and maybe they will play smarter and stay in the game. I hope we have seen Carey taking the ball up court for the LAST time.

[eli#10]

Whoever said Bertrand is better than Fatts/would be the best player on the team next year, yikes.

He’s given us next to nothing since he’s been eligible.

It's a toss up with Martin and Carey. All three have been basically AWOL.

[Jersey77]

Whoever said Bertrand is better than Fatts/would be the best player on the team next year, yikes.

He’s given us next to nothing since he’s been eligible.

If we want to compete next year, both AB and Carey need to step up, they have been major disappointments so far.
Curious to see what kind of a game Tres brings.

[bigappleram]

Cox has to do something about the turnovers. Will he?

Blue, seriously...you don’t think the guy is pulling his hair out watching film of this team turn the ball over?! If it just took a snap of the fingers, he would’ve done it a million times over by now.

DC, Cox’s postgame assessment per the press conference was “a tremendous all around performance.” I don’t love that comment. 20 turnovers are not part of a tremendous performance. I would rather he said tremendous defensive performance and still some things on offense that need to be addressed/cleaned up.

Part falls on player part on coach. I think DC wants to be a players coach and to employ a free flowing aggressive offensive style with multiple guys that can put it on the floor and dribble drive. That’s all well and good but you can’t do that void of some discipline and crispness. I hope DC shortens the bench and the leash the last month of season, it will do him, our players and our program a whole lot of good.

[eli#10]

I guess he is unaware of the turnover issues. SAD!!!!!!!!!

[Ram96]

Nice job putting them away. LaSalle stinks but we played better in the second half.

LaSalle does not stink THIS year.

Agreed. Lasalle is a solid team and we took care of business. Props to Cox and the team. We won two straight!!

Lasalle is ranked about 175 in KenPom and Net rankings. They are not a “solid” team.

[DC_Rams]

Cox has to do something about the turnovers. Will he?

Blue, seriously...you don’t think the guy is pulling his hair out watching film of this team turn the ball over?! If it just took a snap of the fingers, he would’ve done it a million times over by now.

DC, Cox’s postgame assessment per the press conference was “a tremendous all around performance.” I don’t love that comment. 20 turnovers are not part of a tremendous performance. I would rather he said tremendous defensive performance and still some things on offense that need to be addressed/cleaned up.

Part falls on player part on coach. I think DC wants to be a players coach and to employ a free flowing aggressive offensive style with multiple guys that can put it on the floor and dribble drive. That’s all well and good but you can’t do that void of some discipline and crispness. I hope DC shortens the bench and the leash the last month of season, it will do him, our players and our program a whole lot of good.

He also addressed the turnovers.

[DC_Rams]

Whoever said Bertrand is better than Fatts/would be the best player on the team next year, yikes.

He’s given us next to nothing since he’s been eligible.

I’ll own it, and I’ll also admit, so far that I’m wrong. But he’s got 3 years to prove me right.

[Jersey77]

Whoever said Bertrand is better than Fatts/would be the best player on the team next year, yikes.

He’s given us next to nothing since he’s been eligible.

I’ll own it, and I’ll also admit, so far that I’m wrong. But he’s got 3 years to prove me right.

Hope so, but better be by next year, he may not be here after that.

[steveystuds06]

LaSalle does not stink THIS year.

Agreed. Lasalle is a solid team and we took care of business. Props to Cox and the team. We won two straight!!

Lasalle is ranked about 175 in KenPom and Net rankings. They are not a “solid” team.

Have you watched them this season or did you just look up a number? I recently watched them beat St. Joes and Richmond. Coming into this game they were playing solid basketball. It's never easy to win on the road.

[cRAM4finals]

You know how when you go to the dog track and bet on the dog that leaves one behind cause he’s lighter. That’s not the real reason you should bet on them. You have to look at their face afterwards. They’re smiling, feeling good, and have a superior attitude in spite of what they’ve done. I look for a good attitude after a moment like that. If they have that, I’ll bet on them.

After the past 5 or so games I have decided not to bet on Carey or Betrand because they never smile and have lousy attitudes especially after particularly “crappy” nights, which has been often.

I hate players with poor attitudes and love guys who put team first btw - if you can’t tell. I hope they get their shit together to help change my mind.

[luke]

In answer to the question does Sheppard get another year , yes every player playing this season gets another year automatically . This season does not count as far as eligibility goes , so even Fatts can return if he wants and no one needs a waiver . Even Legette will have 4 more years of eligibility if
he and the team want it.

[reef]

Nice we took care of business against a team we should beat

Let’s see how we fare at Dayton

[ramster]

Blue, seriously...you don’t think the guy is pulling his hair out watching film of this team turn the ball over?! If it just took a snap of the fingers, he would’ve done it a million times over by now.

DC, Cox’s postgame assessment per the press conference was “a tremendous all around performance.” I don’t love that comment. 20 turnovers are not part of a tremendous performance. I would rather he said tremendous defensive performance and still some things on offense that need to be addressed/cleaned up.

Part falls on player part on coach. I think DC wants to be a players coach and to employ a free flowing aggressive offensive style with multiple guys that can put it on the floor and dribble drive. That’s all well and good but you can’t do that void of some discipline and crispness. I hope DC shortens the bench and the leash the last month of season, it will do him, our players and our program a whole lot of good.

He also addressed the turnovers.

Cox post game

“We played together tonight and we shared the ball,” Cox said. “The turnovers are still an issue, but outside of that, I thought we played a well-rounded game.”

[DC_Rams]

Keyword “issue”. Do you want him to harp on it not to give you all warm and fuzzies that that’s his central focus? I can assure you it’s their focal point even though it didn’t appear like it.

[DC_Rams]

You know how when you go to the dog track and bet on the dog that leaves one behind cause he’s lighter. That’s not the real reason you should bet on them. You have to look at their face afterwards. They’re smiling, feeling good, and have a superior attitude in spite of what they’ve done. I look for a good attitude after a moment like that. If they have that, I’ll bet on them.

After the past 5 or so games I have decided not to bet on Carey or Betrand because they never smile and have lousy attitudes especially after particularly “crappy” nights, which has been often.

I hate players with poor attitudes and love guys who put team first btw - if you can’t tell. I hope they get their shit together to help change my mind.

There is a “look” test now?! Wtf am I reading. Smh

Help me understand.

[Rhody15]

Agreed. Lasalle is a solid team and we took care of business. Props to Cox and the team. We won two straight!!

Lasalle is ranked about 175 in KenPom and Net rankings. They are not a “solid” team.

Have you watched them this season or did you just look up a number? I recently watched them beat St. Joes and Richmond. Coming into this game they were playing solid basketball. It's never easy to win on the road.

Are you really using their W against St Joes to justify you saying their a solid team?

They are a below average basketball team this year, there's really no two ways around it.

[NC_Ram]

Keyword “issue”. Do you want him to harp on it not to give you all warm and fuzzies that that’s his central focus? I can assure you it’s their focal point even though it didn’t appear like it.

All 150 KBB'ers know it should be the central focus right now. It's DC's job to fix it. That's why he gets paid the big bucks !!! In what I'm seeing, it doesn't appear to getting any better.

[ramster]

Keyword “issue”. Do you want him to harp on it not to give you all warm and fuzzies that that’s his central focus? I can assure you it’s their focal point even though it didn’t appear like it.

DC,
I only posted what Cox said about Turnovers because it was said that Cox said "we played a tremendous game".

Some positives:

• I'm happy to see the last 3 halves. We scored 29 of the last 40 points of the game to beat Fordham Sunday then we beat laSalle by 13 points after being favored by 7.

• Jeremy Sheppard had a career day with 25 points and a blistering 7-11FG, 5-6 3FG, 6-7 FT, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, only 2 fouls. He had 3 TO's but he played aggressively and confidently. Just a month ago a poster suggested Cox shorted the rotation to 8 players and put Carey and Sheppard on the bench.

• Sheppard is now 3rd in A10 in 3FG 45.3%, DJ Johnson is 7th at 42.9%

• Antwan Walker now leads the A10 in FG% at 61%, Mitchell is 7th at 57.7%, Sheppard 16th at 50.7%

• Walker is 14th rebounding 6.4 rpg

• Makhel Mitchel is 5th in Blocks with 1.7 bpg, 24th in rebounding 5.3 rpg

We are at 15.4 turnovers per game vs opponents 13.2 so 2.2 higher than the opposition. As has been said often, we have many new faces on this team whereas teams like St Louis, Richmond and St Bonaventure has little or no change in their starting line ups. Most important is what happens in the next 7 regular season games and the A10 Tournament. Cox has to avoid winning the Turnover Stat but then the guys get so cautious wit the ball that drives to the hoop and passes with an average degree of risk don't get made. He has to keep the balance and most importantly win the games.

Bill Koch jumping on the turnover bandwagon showing how much would could have beaten LaSalle by with 50% or 25% fewer turnovers. I'd be careful about changing too much here based on the Fordham and LaSalle wins and heading into the Dayton game. We need to play with aggression and with confidence.


28

[Running Ram]

I thought our D in the first half was pretty lacking, there were at least three times one of our guys was looking around clueless as Explorers streaked to the basket and received passes for lay-ups. Conversely, when on offense, too often some of our players are cutting without awareness. And there were the lackadaisical passes, which will drive me crazy before I die. I will note Betrand got pulled immediately after that lazy back-court pass. Nope, can't pull guys after every mental mistake, they need to know they have some slack, but sure as heck-fire can pull a guy after committing a very lazy back-court violation 1:47 into the game. "Head in the game" isn't just some old euphemism. When a talented guy doesn't have his "head in the game" put the guy in who will be attending every movement on the court, even if he may be a little less talented or the match up may be a little tougher on paper.

Otherwise, the second half of this game was very good, Rhody played most of it looking like the team with superior talent. And that's the thing right there that can drive a fan crazy, of our loses, I don't believe there were three teams that beat us that actually have better talent than us on their squads. If two wins is a streak, lets keep it going, but have these guys think of each half as subsets, every game AND every half has to be a win. No more lazy anything from whistle to whistle, every cut is hard, every pass is crisp, every screen is established, every defensive switch is anticipated and quick. Sometimes on offense you can't account for bad bounces, 'tight rims', etc., but if you keep up the awareness and intensity from whistle to whistle, it's true your good defense will loosen your rims on offense.

Lets go streaking Rhody!!!

[TruePoint]

You know how when you go to the dog track and bet on the dog that leaves one behind cause he’s lighter. That’s not the real reason you should bet on them. You have to look at their face afterwards. They’re smiling, feeling good, and have a superior attitude in spite of what they’ve done. I look for a good attitude after a moment like that. If they have that, I’ll bet on them.

Lolwut

[SGreenwell]

I think he's doing the "body language doctor" thing that Bill Simmons sometimes jokes about, which, meh. Like I'm kind of the mindset that winning usually creates those buzzwords like "chemistry" and "team harmony" and so on. You never heard about a losing team with great chemistry. Bertrand didn't have a great game last night - It would be weird as fuck if he was all smiles on the bench.

[steveystuds06]

Lasalle is ranked about 175 in KenPom and Net rankings. They are not a “solid” team.

Have you watched them this season or did you just look up a number? I recently watched them beat St. Joes and Richmond. Coming into this game they were playing solid basketball. It's never easy to win on the road.

Are you really using their W against St Joes to justify you saying their a solid team?

They are a below average basketball team this year, there's really no two ways around it.

Did you only read that I watched them beat St. Joes and then just ignored that I watched them beat a good Richmond team? My point was they were playing well the last two games. I didn't say they were this amazing team and this was a great win!

[Rhody15]

Have you watched them this season or did you just look up a number? I recently watched them beat St. Joes and Richmond. Coming into this game they were playing solid basketball. It's never easy to win on the road.

Are you really using their W against St Joes to justify you saying their a solid team?

They are a below average basketball team this year, there's really no two ways around it.

Did you only read that I watched them beat St. Joes and then just ignored that I watched them beat a good Richmond team? My point was they were playing well the last two games. I didn't say they were this amazing team and this was a great win!

Calling this a "great win" just goes to show how low expectations are now.

Seton Hall was a great win, we just beat a below .500 A10 team in which we were favored by 7 points. This was a win, nothing more.

[ramsman75]

...and nothing less