2/6 | UMass | 8:00PM (ESPN2)

[section(105)]

.....hey Thor........can I defer my tickets for.......say next year and maybe the year after?....that should be enough time......

[rhodysurf]

I didn’t understand this team all year, but now it’s crystal clear. That’s bad coaching period

[section(105)]

Our radio guys just said Walker needed to lay more than 24 minutes.......

[RI_Bred]

If it were up to people on this board we’d play fatts - Shep - ish - walker - Mitchell for all 40 minutes every game. Obviously these not realistic

What is a reality is that we have a bunch of misfit toys who have not found any sort of rhythm. If you want to say that’s coaching I won’t fight you the whole way. But so many things the Carey does for example is the same shit different night. I refuse to believe they haven’t acknowledged it with him all season long. Him not changing is a different problem

So why do they continue to play Carey?

[RhowdyRam02]

I predict a big URI win with or without Tre Mitchell. It is this time of season that tells you about the character of your players. I believe in this team.

Yeah? Any thoughts on tomorrow's game so I know what to bet against?

[kmillr]

Martin, Harris, AB, Carey & DJ combined 43 minutes combined 3 points...

[LIRAM]

I know this is not the time or I need to move on but I really miss Dan Hurley! This sucks and I really feel for Fatts! I'm sure this isn't the ending he scripted. Our three wings are God awful! Betrand and Martin have no lift and very little athleticism, where have you gone Will Daniels, Delroy and E.C.? Seeing Tyrese in a Uconn jersey makes me ill.

[Blue Man]

If it were up to people on this board we’d play fatts - Shep - ish - walker - Mitchell for all 40 minutes every game. Obviously these not realistic

What is a reality is that we have a bunch of misfit toys who have not found any sort of rhythm. If you want to say that’s coaching I won’t fight you the whole way. But so many things the Carey does for example is the same shit different night. I refuse to believe they haven’t acknowledged it with him all season long. Him not changing is a different problem

False. But I do think this board is significantly better at recognizing momentum and game flow than the coach.

Once again, your entire 2nd paragraph is coaching.

This team has played more games than just about any team in the country this year. TWENTY games.

A YMCA pickup league would have more continuity by this point.

There are thousands of players in the NCAA. The reason coaches get paid what they do is to get the most out of their guys. This team is way too talented to be this bad.

[Blue Man]

Martin, Harris, AB, Carey & DJ combined 43 minutes combined 3 points...

Lolz. But the message board would definitely do a worse job with managing the rotations.

[RI_Bred]

PC lost
UConn lost
Kentucky lost
Duke lost

So all is not lost today.

[KingstonLane]

If it were up to people on this board we’d play fatts - Shep - ish - walker - Mitchell for all 40 minutes every game. Obviously these not realistic

What is a reality is that we have a bunch of misfit toys who have not found any sort of rhythm. If you want to say that’s coaching I won’t fight you the whole way. But so many things the Carey does for example is the same shit different night. I refuse to believe they haven’t acknowledged it with him all season long. Him not changing is a different problem

So why do they continue to play Carey?

1) his playing time is down significantly

2) can’t imagine he gets much better by not playing at all. You’re 9-11, does it really matter that much at this point?

[RhowdyRam02]

I mean I get what you’re trying to say but at the end of the day what is there left to prove this year? If I’m the coach (and know next year is one of the most important of my career), I’d want everyone on my roster getting as much experience as possible

If your theory is true, why is Sheppard leading the team with 18 minutes and why is an injured Fatts second?

Every single poster on this board better hope Shep comes back next year. And I bet Cox is praying even harder than any of us

Nothing says “come play at URI” like benching one of the all time players in your schools history

There's a giant difference between benching Fatts as you put it and not playing him the second most minutes in the first half and third most for the game when he's clearly hurt. He was our worst player by +/- in both the first half and game

[ram1980]

I know this is not the time or I need to move on but I really miss Dan Hurley! This sucks and I really feel for Fatts! I'm sure this isn't the ending he scripted. Our three wings are God awful! Betrand and Martin have no lift and very little athleticism, where have you gone Will Daniels, Delroy and E.C.? Seeing Tyrese in a Uconn jersey makes me ill.

Not for nothing.. Hurley is catching his share of grief on boneyard for a lot of the same things we are ripping cox for.. maybe they'll send him back to us..

[JimSidd]

I hope all the “we can make a run in the A10 tournament” posts will end now.

[section(105)]

.......careful on the way to talented........not so much......

[cRAM4finals]

I’ve been looking at this the last six games just to see if my eyes deceive me when I am seeing poor play. They haven’t. Sports Reference shows
BPM
▼ -- Box Plus/Minus
A box score estimate of the points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average player, translated to an average team.

The worst BPMs of our list of regulars in descending order. Harris, Betrand, Carey. This has been consistent for about two months.

Spot minutes from any of these guys is plenty.

[KingstonLane]

If your theory is true, why is Sheppard leading the team with 18 minutes and why is an injured Fatts second?

Every single poster on this board better hope Shep comes back next year. And I bet Cox is praying even harder than any of us

Nothing says “come play at URI” like benching one of the all time players in your schools history

There's a giant difference between benching Fatts as you put it and not playing him the second most minutes in the first half and third most for the game when he's clearly hurt. He was our worst player by +/- in both the first half and game

Whether it’s right or wrong I truthfully think Fatts is above Cox in the hierarchy. If he feels like he can play he does. Cox has said publicly he has the keys to the castle

[phipsiGD'11]

I predict a big URI win with or without Tre Mitchell. It is this time of season that tells you about the character of your players. I believe in this team.

So what did this tell you about our team?

Thank the lord I had already given up on this season and only watched the first half at dinner and didn't stay at the restaurant ordering drinks and food to continue watching.

[Blue Man]

I know this is not the time or I need to move on but I really miss Dan Hurley! This sucks and I really feel for Fatts! I'm sure this isn't the ending he scripted. Our three wings are God awful! Betrand and Martin have no lift and very little athleticism, where have you gone Will Daniels, Delroy and E.C.? Seeing Tyrese in a Uconn jersey makes me ill.

Not for nothing.. Hurley is catching his share of grief on boneyard for a lot of the same things we are ripping cox for.. maybe they'll send him back to us..

UConn expects national championships and Calhoun level coaching of teams.

Danny is a grinder. His teams will out work anyone but he won’t outcoach everyone. Danny’s teams make games ugly.

Would’ve been happy if Danny became our Mark Few and we just had the calling card of suffocating D and fighting.

Certainly better at least watching Danny care and show emotion that what we’re looking at now.

[RhowdyRam02]

We are fast approaching Jerry D.

If you can’t beat UMass without their 2 best players.

If you get WALLOPED by UMass without their 2 best players.

Lol I mean just laugh. We suck. This team is way too talented to be 2 games below .500.

This is coaching. Or lack of it.

Not just fast approaching, tonight was a carbon copy of the Jerry D era, I made that exact comparison in a group chat. Giving up 75 and losing by 12 to UMass without Mitchell is exactly what the Jerry D was like. No defense, no discipline, no attention to detail, just a collection of guys running around doing whatever they want

[Obadiah]

The signs have been there for some time, despite having the advantage of escaping the worst of Covid delays this team has gotten worse game by game. Apart from the loss of confidence that is a clear sign of bad coaching. The Rams are now on a three game losing streak and given the schedule we might not win a game the rest of the season.

[RhowdyRam02]

It's just tanking right? Part of the process?

You just don't get it. Cox is playing the long game and helping us get a better draft pick, and we're too stupid and ungrateful to get it. Luckily we have some Cox friends and family who recently joined the board around to set us straight...

[section(105)]

......Don just said, this late in the season, he doubts Dave will change things......game set match......done, out.......

[DigB]

Hurley had a shorter roration, kept the team's play on a short leash, and let his players find that rhythm. Cox has 6 players who need to do more to earn playing time.

[RhowdyRam02]

.....hey Thor........can I defer my tickets for.......say next year and maybe the year after?....that should be enough time......

Switch them over to women's basketball, they have a real coach

[RhowdyRam02]

Our radio guys just said Walker needed to lay more than 24 minutes.......

When Jim Shorts and Don Kaull are openly questioning something like that, you know the coach fucked up. They never question coaching decisions

[RI_Bred]

My brother in NC is a Rhody fan by proxy, and his brief text to me after watching tonight's game was "regressing"...

[Blue Man]

My brother in NC is a Rhody fan by proxy, and his brief text to me after watching tonight's game was "regressing"...

That’s like describing the Hindenburg as “descending”

[SmartyBarrett]

The Walker minutes situation isn't just a "hindsight is 20/20" thing either. People were openly questioning it from the first time he sat. Especially considering he had Rhody's first six points. One of many tweets from halftime and beyond. Apologies if it was already posted but it's worth repeating regardless.

[RhowdyRam02]

I know this is not the time or I need to move on but I really miss Dan Hurley! This sucks and I really feel for Fatts! I'm sure this isn't the ending he scripted. Our three wings are God awful! Betrand and Martin have no lift and very little athleticism, where have you gone Will Daniels, Delroy and E.C.? Seeing Tyrese in a Uconn jersey makes me ill.

It's always going to be a travesty that Dowtin and Langevin didn't get to play in the tournament as upperclassmen and Fatts only got there as a reserve freshman

[neil]

Not only did the subs only have 3 points, but out of our 14 assists they had two. Coach puts these players in and immediately driving into double teams, playing matador defense and refusing to pass the ball. They must think that this the way to impress the coach. Selfish play. They must also think that they deserve more playing time by out scoring the others. Cox should play those who care about the team rather than themselves. If there are only five just play them. (I’m thinking of Hoosiers). Go Rhody!

[kmillr]

Not only did the subs only have 3 points, but out of our 14 assists they had two. Coach puts these players in and immediately driving into double teams, playing matador defense and refusing to pass the ball. They must think that this the way to impress the coach. Selfish play. They must also think that they deserve more playing time by out scoring the others. Cox should play those who care about the team rather than themselves. If there are only five just play them. (I’m thinking of Hoosiers). Go Rhody!

Not just the subs AB started...

[Rhody22]

The Walker minutes situation isn't just a "hindsight is 20/20" thing either. People were openly questioning it from the first time he sat. Especially considering he had Rhody's first six points. One of many tweets from halftime and beyond. Apologies if it was already posted but it's worth repeating regardless.

The way he was playing tonight he should’ve come off the court for Timeouts, halftime and when he got hit in he jaw. Clueless Cox couldn’t see his play? No assistant to point out to Cox that he was removing the best player on the court? This is the definition of clueless.

[ramster]

The Walker minutes situation isn't just a "hindsight is 20/20" thing either. People were openly questioning it from the first time he sat. Especially considering he had Rhody's first six points. One of many tweets from halftime and beyond. Apologies if it was already posted but it's worth repeating regardless.

The way he was playing tonight he should’ve come off the court for Timeouts, halftime and when he got hit in he jaw. Clueless Cox couldn’t see his play? No assistant to point out to Cox that he was removing the best player on the court? This is the definition of clueless.

24 minutes
26 points on 12-17 FG shooting, 2-2 FT
14 rebounds
1 assist
1 turnover
2 personal fouls (never close to being in foul trouble)
1 block
2 steals

Sheppard played 34 minutes, Mitchell 30 minutes

Mitchell and Walker were the only Rams +2
Russell was the worst at -15 and played more minutes with 27 than Walker at only 24

It's beyond head scratching why Walker would have his greatest career College Basketball game and be limited to only 24 minutes. Reasons given by Cox are terrible, he would be better to say nothing. Maybe just say he screwed up not playing Walker more. It is not the first time Cox has played Walker fewer minutes than seemed to make sense. Not the first "head scratcher" as far as Walker is concerned. Walker took Toppin under his wing last season. I watched him often with his arm around Toppin helping him along. Strange.

[McRam]

simple question on tonight's game, which team looked better prepared? Why?

Is it that hard to simply have someone stay in Carl Pierre's face NO MATTER WHAT.?

Did UMass have such dominant players tonight that you had to help and leave Pierre open?

This is 100% preparation!

I would love to know what the practices covered on Thurs and Friday and today's shoot around.

[SmartyBarrett]

Some more tweets regarding some of the rotation "decisions" tonight.

[RhowdyRam02]

The Walker minutes situation isn't just a "hindsight is 20/20" thing either. People were openly questioning it from the first time he sat. Especially considering he had Rhody's first six points. One of many tweets from halftime and beyond. Apologies if it was already posted but it's worth repeating regardless.

The way he was playing tonight he should’ve come off the court for Timeouts, halftime and when he got hit in he jaw. Clueless Cox couldn’t see his play? No assistant to point out to Cox that he was removing the best player on the court? This is the definition of clueless.

WOW. And then this gem:



It was known he was iffy to play, and it was known for a day or two he was definitely out. This coaching staff is in so far over their heads it's amazing

[Rhody15]

I know this is not the time or I need to move on but I really miss Dan Hurley! This sucks and I really feel for Fatts! I'm sure this isn't the ending he scripted. Our three wings are God awful! Betrand and Martin have no lift and very little athleticism, where have you gone Will Daniels, Delroy and E.C.? Seeing Tyrese in a Uconn jersey makes me ill.

Remember when people were convinced Malik was better than Tyrese because “he wanted to be here?”

Lol doing side by side comparisons of CUSA stats to A10 stats.

Malik at least looks athletic when he moved.

Betrand on the other hand looks like he would struggle at RIC.

[RhodyFanNotAlum]

Tonight was the first time in many many years that I passed up an opportunity to watch a Rhody game on national TV when I literally had no other plans or anything else to do. I don't regret it.

[ramster]

At the end of the game as the URI players left the court and headed for the tunnel I saw Russell seemed upset (I would hope all of the players and Coaches would be after that performance) and he punched a sign to his right by the end-line close to the end of the URI Bench.

Did anyone else see this? Did anyone tape the game or have a replay of this when Russell left the court?

Hope he didn't add a right hand injury to his list of injuries.

[RhodyRams916]

Anyone else lose a bit of respect for Cox after seeing this video? Like is this not worrying for any of you? That he is ok playing Antwan 9 minutes in the first half despite him being the best player on the court, but he will keep no shows like Betrand and Martin there??!?! fucking insane.

[Rhody15]

At the end of the game as the URI players left the court and headed for the tunnel I saw Russell seemed upset (I would hope all of the players and Coaches would be after than performance) and he punched a sign to his right by the end-line close to the end of the URI Bench.

Did anyone else see this? Did anyone tape the game or have a replay of this when Russell left the court?

Hope he didn't add a right hand injury to his list of injuries.

I don’t mind that at all. Nobody else seems to give a shit. I like the emotion.

Fatts’ frustration is obviously a combo of losing / injuries.

[ramster]

At the end of the game as the URI players left the court and headed for the tunnel I saw Russell seemed upset (I would hope all of the players and Coaches would be after than performance) and he punched a sign to his right by the end-line close to the end of the URI Bench.

Did anyone else see this? Did anyone tape the game or have a replay of this when Russell left the court?

Hope he didn't add a right hand injury to his list of injuries.

I don’t mind that at all. Nobody else seems to give a shit. I like the emotion.

Fatts’ frustration is obviously a combo of losing / injuries.

My question is did anyone else see it? Anyone have a tape of it that they can post or pm me? Unfortunately I didn't record the game. My concern is if he could have hurt himself - I did not get a good look at the sign as to what it is made of.

[Blue Man]

The fact that the local media is asking tough questions of the URI coach for the first time that I can actually remember should speak volumes.

This is really bad.

This staff is over their heads. There’s a reason you hire guys with HC experience. It’s different when it’s all on you.

[Rhody22]

At the end of the game as the URI players left the court and headed for the tunnel I saw Russell seemed upset (I would hope all of the players and Coaches would be after than performance) and he punched a sign to his right by the end-line close to the end of the URI Bench.

Did anyone else see this? Did anyone tape the game or have a replay of this when Russell left the court?

Hope he didn't add a right hand injury to his list of injuries.

I don’t mind that at all. Nobody else seems to give a shit. I like the emotion.

Fatts’ frustration is obviously a combo of losing / injuries.

My question is did anyone else see it? Anyone have a tape of it that they can post or pm me?

I saw it also but deleted that crap immediately.

[Rhody15]

At the end of the game as the URI players left the court and headed for the tunnel I saw Russell seemed upset (I would hope all of the players and Coaches would be after than performance) and he punched a sign to his right by the end-line close to the end of the URI Bench.

Did anyone else see this? Did anyone tape the game or have a replay of this when Russell left the court?

Hope he didn't add a right hand injury to his list of injuries.

I don’t mind that at all. Nobody else seems to give a shit. I like the emotion.

Fatts’ frustration is obviously a combo of losing / injuries.

My question is did anyone else see it? Anyone have a tape of it that they can post or pm me? Unfortunately I didn't record the game. My concern is if he could have hurt himself - I did not get a good look at the sign as to what it is made of.

I did see it yes. I’m assuming others did too, it was only a couple seconds after the game ended.

[Blue Man]

At the end of the game as the URI players left the court and headed for the tunnel I saw Russell seemed upset (I would hope all of the players and Coaches would be after than performance) and he punched a sign to his right by the end-line close to the end of the URI Bench.

Did anyone else see this? Did anyone tape the game or have a replay of this when Russell left the court?

Hope he didn't add a right hand injury to his list of injuries.

I don’t mind that at all. Nobody else seems to give a shit. I like the emotion.

Fatts’ frustration is obviously a combo of losing / injuries.

My question is did anyone else see it? Anyone have a tape of it that they can post or pm me? Unfortunately I didn't record the game. My concern is if he could have hurt himself - I did not get a good look at the sign as to what it is made of.

I saw it. Didn’t register as an issue from an injury standpoint. He was pissed. I wish more people associated with this program were equally as pissed.

Doesn’t matter if he broke his hand anyway. Cox would still put him out for 27 mins and let him put up 6 3 pointers if he said he wanted to.

[Rhody22]

Anyone else lose a bit of respect for Cox after seeing this video? Like is this not worrying for any of you? That he is ok playing Antwan 9 minutes in the first half despite him being the best player on the court, but he will keep no shows like Betrand and Martin there??!?! fucking insane.

Nope, didn’t lose any respect for Cox after that...there was none left to lose.

[rambone 78]

Absolutely unbelievable cluelessness from the HC. His answers totally reveal just how clueless he is.

I guess we're not the only ones questioning Cox's substitution insanity.

You play your best players and those who aren't playing well should sit.

But with Cox, if your name isn't Fatts, you only play a certain number of minutes no matter what.

But some on this board still think Cox is the answer?

There aren't just signs that he's in over his head, there's bright red flashing neon signs.

If Thorr doesn't have doubts about this hire by now, he's just as lost as Cox.

[Rhody15]

@ St Louis, @ Davidson, home Dayton next 3 games.

Hopefully the snowstorm tomorrow knocks out the power for a week and a half so we don’t have to watch that.