Leaders on the court

[neil]

It is apparent that Ish is becoming a floor leader. I tried to come up with a couple of examples from the past. Please feel free to jump in. There is a picture hanging somewhere in the RC of Art Stephenson with his four other starters right after the starting lineups. His face tells you everything you wan to know. Simply put, we are not losing this game. A pleasure to see him in person. Michael Brown, lead by example, always taking the toughest defensive assignment. Jiggy, maybe the best floor leader of them all - tough as nails. One I almost forgot- Howard Smith, played on Baron’s first team. He was a one man press and defensive wizard. On a team with very little scoring, you could always count on him for putting points on the board through defense. And of course, TJ, playing defense, taking charges, making a key basket or foul shot. No facts on this but he probably got the loudest ovation at Senior night for a ram who might have averaged around 5 points per game. Ish, the floor is yours! Go Rhody

[RAM67]

I like a lot of your picks, but Chubin and Jiggy stand out to me.

[LIRAM]

Great post Neil. Leadership is an issue with this group. Carlos Easterling was another competitor and leader who was great with teammates and the crowd. That group in the early 90's really competed and were never intimidated. Brown, Samuels, Fox, Cofield, Ivey-Jones and the three headed monster in the post. The A10 was loaded then and Keaney was hot as hell. The "Cat" and ARD were old school junk yard dogs. JT might have been the best Alpha Dog of all. We need a dog! Cyril is greatly missed. He had his shortcoming he was always the toughest guy on the court.

You are absolutely correct Neil, Ish has that fire and edge. Special competitor and the type of young man we want leading our program.

[section(105)]

.......Jarvis Garrett.......

[Billyboy78]

It is apparent that Ish is becoming a floor leader. I tried to come up with a couple of examples from the past. Please feel free to jump in. There is a picture hanging somewhere in the RC of Art Stephenson with his four other starters right after the starting lineups. His face tells you everything you wan to know. Simply put, we are not losing this game. A pleasure to see him in person. Michael Brown, lead by example, always taking the toughest defensive assignment. Jiggy, maybe the best floor leader of them all - tough as nails. One I almost forgot- Howard Smith, played on Baron’s first team. He was a one man press and defensive wizard. On a team with very little scoring, you could always count on him for putting points on the board through defense. And of course, TJ, playing defense, taking charges, making a key basket or foul shot. No facts on this but he probably got the loudest ovation at Senior night for a ram who might have averaged around 5 points per game. Ish, the floor is yours! Go Rhody

Totally agree on Jiggy. Silk Owens was another one. He was in charge when he was on the floor and a great leader.

[eli#10]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

Intensity from the bench? Like Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, Jay Wright.

Jack Kraft, Tom Penders, and Al Skinner were as mild-mannered as they come.

Nobody needs a coach jumping around like a crazy man. (Bruce Pearl shtick?) The best teams are player-led teams. Dowtin's absence is huge as Fatts is not a leader. This team lacks leadership from the players and the chemistry easily cracks when things get tough.

"Bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead." - P.J. Fleck

Read these articles:
https://coachingtoolbox.net/the-advanta ... ip-council

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2020/12/1 ... d-team-msu

[DeanDome88]

Silk Owens was tops in my book and Garrick was excellent once his game improved.

[rambone 78]

Imo Ish could become one.....Jeff did as a freshman.

Of course with guys like Betrand and Carey, does it matter?

[RhowdyRam02]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

Intensity from the bench? Like Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, Jay Wright.

Jack Kraft, Tom Penders, and Al Skinner were as mild-mannered as they come.

Nobody needs a coach jumping around like a crazy man. (Bruce Pearl shtick?) The best teams are player-led teams. Dowtin's absence is huge as Fatts is not a leader. This team lacks leadership from the players and the chemistry easily cracks when things get tough.

"Bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead." - P.J. Fleck

Read these articles:
https://coachingtoolbox.net/the-advanta ... ip-council

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2020/12/1 ... d-team-msu

Intensity doesn't mean jumping around like a maniac. Do you really think Bill Belichick for example, isn't intense. His intensity comes through in maniacal preparation and attention to detail, and yes, he gets after it plenty on the sidelines as well. I don't see that from Cox

[bigappleram]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

Intensity from the bench? Like Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, Jay Wright.

Jack Kraft, Tom Penders, and Al Skinner were as mild-mannered as they come.

Nobody needs a coach jumping around like a crazy man. (Bruce Pearl shtick?) The best teams are player-led teams. Dowtin's absence is huge as Fatts is not a leader. This team lacks leadership from the players and the chemistry easily cracks when things get tough.

"Bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead." - P.J. Fleck

Read these articles:
https://coachingtoolbox.net/the-advanta ... ip-council

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2020/12/1 ... d-team-msu

Agree with this which is why I think Jeff masked some deficiencies for 2 years. On and off the court.

[Billyboy78]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

Intensity from the bench? Like Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, Jay Wright.

Jack Kraft, Tom Penders, and Al Skinner were as mild-mannered as they come.

Nobody needs a coach jumping around like a crazy man. (Bruce Pearl shtick?) The best teams are player-led teams. Dowtin's absence is huge as Fatts is not a leader. This team lacks leadership from the players and the chemistry easily cracks when things get tough.

"Bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead." - P.J. Fleck

Read these articles:
https://coachingtoolbox.net/the-advanta ... ip-council

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2020/12/1 ... d-team-msu

Intensity doesn't mean jumping around like a maniac. Do you really think Bill Belichick for example, isn't intense. His intensity comes through in maniacal preparation and attention to detail, and yes, he gets after it plenty on the sidelines as well. I don't see that from Cox

But Bill doesn't mind destroying tablets

[Blue Man]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

Intensity from the bench? Like Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, Jay Wright.

Jack Kraft, Tom Penders, and Al Skinner were as mild-mannered as they come.

Nobody needs a coach jumping around like a crazy man. (Bruce Pearl shtick?) The best teams are player-led teams. Dowtin's absence is huge as Fatts is not a leader. This team lacks leadership from the players and the chemistry easily cracks when things get tough.

"Bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead." - P.J. Fleck

Read these articles:
https://coachingtoolbox.net/the-advanta ... ip-council

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2020/12/1 ... d-team-msu

All of the great coaches have emotions on the sideline. Not everyone needs to go full Pearl or Hurley - but SOME emotion wouldn't be the worst. Izzo, K, Boeheim, Williams, Cal...every great coach has at least a little bit of fire.

Cox is way too close to Baron in that regard - whether he is or isn't, his body language comes off as aloof or confused. At this point his offensive philosophy and in-game adjustments aren't anywhere close to a level to allow him to be laid back.

And yes there are exceptions like a Jay Wright - but if you are a master tactician and run a flawless motion offense, you're probably the exception and not the rule.

[rhodylaw]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

Intensity from the bench? Like Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, Jay Wright.

Jack Kraft, Tom Penders, and Al Skinner were as mild-mannered as they come.

Nobody needs a coach jumping around like a crazy man. (Bruce Pearl shtick?) The best teams are player-led teams. Dowtin's absence is huge as Fatts is not a leader. This team lacks leadership from the players and the chemistry easily cracks when things get tough.

"Bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead." - P.J. Fleck

Read these articles:
https://coachingtoolbox.net/the-advanta ... ip-council

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2020/12/1 ... d-team-msu

All of the great coaches have emotions on the sideline. Not everyone needs to go full Pearl or Hurley - but SOME emotion wouldn't be the worst. Izzo, K, Boeheim, Williams, Cal...every great coach has at least a little bit of fire.

Cox is way too close to Baron in that regard - whether he is or isn't, his body language comes off as aloof or confused. At this point his offensive philosophy and in-game adjustments aren't anywhere close to a level to allow him to be laid back.

And yes there are exceptions like a Jay Wright - but if you are a master tactician and run a flawless motion offense, you're probably the exception and not the rule.

I agree, but I actually feel like last year he had more expression even though it was muted. Maybe it this mask?

[Blue Man]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

Intensity from the bench? Like Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, Jay Wright.

Jack Kraft, Tom Penders, and Al Skinner were as mild-mannered as they come.

Nobody needs a coach jumping around like a crazy man. (Bruce Pearl shtick?) The best teams are player-led teams. Dowtin's absence is huge as Fatts is not a leader. This team lacks leadership from the players and the chemistry easily cracks when things get tough.

"Bad teams, no one leads. Average teams, coaches lead. But elite teams, players lead." - P.J. Fleck

Read these articles:
https://coachingtoolbox.net/the-advanta ... ip-council

https://www.theonlycolors.com/2020/12/1 ... d-team-msu

Agree with this which is why I think Jeff masked some deficiencies for 2 years. On and off the court.

I do think this was the biggest factor.

Jeff was one of the best PG's ever to come through here. As a floor general he had a chance to be THE best, but he was robbed of that opportunity by a coach who valued his own "system" over recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the players he had in front of him.

Having a smart, steady, capable leader on the floor in a point guard role is a common theme of every great college basketball team.

We threw that away.

Losing Jeff made it incredibly apparent how poorly prepared this staff is.

[Dowtinsavestheworld]

I've been a fan of URI since I enrolled as a freshman in 2001. There have been several URI players that I followed closely but none as close as Jeff Dowtin. As Keany Blue posters/followers we can easily forget how that 2016-2017 was going nowhere before Dowtin entered the starting line-up. Hurley's offense was not much better than Cox (it did have better players) but it had Jeff to always make the right decision. Jeff knew that if the play (if there was a play) wasn't going anywhere with 10 seconds on the clock, he would find the right match up. Jeff could also break down most defenders and create a shot for himself or teammates. Dowtin also never let the pressure or the moment get to him, keeping the team locked in at all times.

I LOVED how Hurley put Dowtin in the middle of the zone to pick a part zone defenses. Exactly what we should with Ish. As BlueMan posted above, Dowtin hid many of the flaws in our offesnive "system" under Hurley and Cox. Also lets not forget that Dowtin could match up with any guard in the A-10 or hell, all of college basketball.

We need to start recruiting more of Dowtin type players and actually let them run an offense!!!

[NC_Ram]

I've been a fan long before Al Gore invented the internet and I also loved Dowtin. High bb IQ and fun to watch. I really hope he becomes a coach on day.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I've been a fan of URI since I enrolled as a freshman in 2001. There have been several URI players that I followed closely but none as close as Jeff Dowtin. As Keany Blue posters/followers we can easily forget how that 2016-2017 was going nowhere before Dowtin entered the starting line-up. Hurley's offense was not much better than Cox (it did have better players) but it had Jeff to always make the right decision. Jeff knew that if the play (if there was a play) wasn't going anywhere with 10 seconds on the clock, he would find the right match up. Jeff could also break down most defenders and create a shot for himself or teammates. Dowtin also never let the pressure or the moment get to him, keeping the team locked in at all times.

I LOVED how Hurley put Dowtin in the middle of the zone to pick a part zone defenses. Exactly what we should with Ish. As BlueMan posted above, Dowtin hid many of the flaws in our offesnive "system" under Hurley and Cox. Also lets not forget that Dowtin could match up with any guard in the A-10 or hell, all of college basketball.

We need to start recruiting more of Dowtin type players and actually let them run an offense!!!

Why would the hc recruit for a position he doesn't value?

[ramster]

Leaders on the Court for URI last week

Atlantic 10 Weekly Recognition - Monday February 8

HONOR ROLL
Jalen Crutcher had a stellar performance for Dayton, averaging 24.5 points and 6.5 assists in a 1-1 week including hitting 17-of-31 (.548) from the field … Duquesne’s Michael Hughes posted a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double to help lead the Dukes to a victory over Dayton on opening night for the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse … Carl Pierre tallied 14.5 points per game with 4.90 rebounds and 2.5 assists in a pair of wins for Massachusetts … UMass freshman Ronnie DeGray III had 11 points and six rebounds in a victory over Rhode Island … Antwan Walker had back-to-back double digit games, including a 26-point, 14-rebound double-double for Rhode Island against the Minutemen, where he shot 12-of-17 (.706) from the field … Rhody freshman Ishmael Leggett scored 17 points with four rebounds against VCU as part of a week where he shot .556 (10-of-18) from the field … Saint Louis’ Javonte Perkins had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists in a key win for Saint Louis over St. Bonaventure.

[Rhody72]

How tough was Howard Smith? At just over 6' he played PG and PF at various times in his career.

Moving Jeff Dowtin from PG to SG was a good career move for Jeff and he did it for the team. Jeff needed to develop as a shooter and Fatts needed a position to play.

I disagree with the Baron-Cox comparisons. Cox is a player's coach to a fault; Baron was going to do it his way come hell or high water, total control freak.

Don't expect a freshman like Ish ti be a leader on a team with so man veterans and transfers. He has to lead by example which he is doing. Which is what Dowtin did as a freshman. You have to earn your stripes.

I posted about the lack of leadership on this team before the season. Fatts and JH are not leaders. and don't expect transfers or freshman to step into this role. Cox starting Carey early in the season may have been a misguided effort to see if he could take on a leadership role.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Moving Jeff Dowtin from PG to SG was a good career move for Jeff and he did it for the team. Jeff needed to develop as a shooter and Fatts needed a position to play.

Which Jeff Dowtin were you watching? He was a good shooter but only looked for his own shot when nothing else was working, which is what a point guard is supposed to do. (If your point guard has taken 20 percent of your team's shots despite missing two games, you've got a problem, especially when said point guard is shooting 33 percent.) And at 6-4, Jeff is just about tall enough to play shooting guard professionally but has great size for a point guard.

[Rhody15]

How tough was Howard Smith? At just over 6' he played PG and PF at various times in his career.

Moving Jeff Dowtin from PG to SG was a good career move for Jeff and he did it for the team. Jeff needed to develop as a shooter and Fatts needed a position to play.

I disagree with the Baron-Cox comparisons. Cox is a player's coach to a fault; Baron was going to do it his way come hell or high water, total control freak.

Don't expect a freshman like Ish ti be a leader on a team with so man veterans and transfers. He has to lead by example which he is doing. Which is what Dowtin did as a freshman. You have to earn your stripes.

I posted about the lack of leadership on this team before the season. Fatts and JH are not leaders. and don't expect transfers or freshman to step into this role. Cox starting Carey early in the season may have been a misguided effort to see if he could take on a leadership role.

How was that a good career move for Jeff? He certainly didn’t go to Cox and tell him to move him off the ball. For the team? Improve his shooting? The team got worse and he had his best 3 point % as a sophomore when he was on the ball.

[Rhody72]

Moving Jeff Dowtin from PG to SG was a good career move for Jeff and he did it for the team. Jeff needed to develop as a shooter and Fatts needed a position to play.

Which Jeff Dowtin were you watching? He was a good shooter but only looked for his own shot when nothing else was working, which is what a point guard is supposed to do. (If your point guard has taken 20 percent of your team's shots despite missing two games, you've got a problem, especially when said point guard is shooting 33 percent.) And at 6-4, Jeff is just about tall enough to play shooting guard professionally but has great size for a point guard.

I agree with you to a point. Fatts was going to start, so the question was which would play PG and SG. Jeff was a good shooter inside the three point line. I think he is just average beyond the line and needed to improve this part of his game for the next level. The feeling was, as I said, that the "team" would be better with Fatts at PG and Jeff was always the consummate team player. Just as Harrick moved Tyson to PG and Cat to SG.

You are preaching to the choir in not liking the move, as I said at the time.

[Blue Man]

How tough was Howard Smith? At just over 6' he played PG and PF at various times in his career.

Moving Jeff Dowtin from PG to SG was a good career move for Jeff and he did it for the team. Jeff needed to develop as a shooter and Fatts needed a position to play.

I disagree with the Baron-Cox comparisons. Cox is a player's coach to a fault; Baron was going to do it his way come hell or high water, total control freak.

Don't expect a freshman like Ish ti be a leader on a team with so man veterans and transfers. He has to lead by example which he is doing. Which is what Dowtin did as a freshman. You have to earn your stripes.

I posted about the lack of leadership on this team before the season. Fatts and JH are not leaders. and don't expect transfers or freshman to step into this role. Cox starting Carey early in the season may have been a misguided effort to see if he could take on a leadership role.

I think subliminally you're switching sides on Cox since you're referencing a PG who played under one of the best coaches in program history and then had to survive..erm...a coach who could use some improvement.

This seems like a bit of revisionist history. Moving Jeff off the ball was an AWFUL move for both Jeff's career and for the team. Cox moving one of the greatest pure point guards in the history of this program, one who was on track to be one of the best PG's in the COUNTRY during his junior and senior years, off the ball, is criminally ignorant.

Jeff would've had a chance at another NCAA run and to play at a high level in front of more eyeballs. His shooting percentages and apg all fell off his final two years. He became less efficient as a scorer, and his best attribute, his floor leadership, was negated.

Jeff didn't need to develop as a shooter. 47% from 2 and 39% from 3 is pretty good for a sophomore PG with a greater than 4:1 A/TO ratio.

To say Cox is a "players coach to a fault" is burying the lede. He is a Fatts' coach to a fault. And to the detriment of every other player on the team, including Fatts himself.

Fatts needed a coach. Fatts needed someone to put structure around him and allow him to excel at the best parts of his game. Instead DC has allowed Fatts to do whatever he wants, call whatever plays he wants, take whatever shots he wants, and play whatever position he wants. Fatts has regressed because of it. Also, because of that - Fatts takes the most shots on the team and is legitimately the worst shooter of the backcourt on our roster. Think about it...DC has let a CAREER 28% 3 point shooter "shoot his way" out of "slumps" and by "slumps" I mean 2 years of shooting under 25%, 1 year of shooting 29%, and an anomaly of shooting 35%.

If Cox was a "players coach" he would probably ride the hot hand of guys when they're playing well - like Walker last game, or the countless other times this season a player has stepped up only to be subbed out for no other reason than it was Cox's predetermined plan from practice. Cox may have been the "players coach" under Hurley because he was the nice guy to Dan's mean guy. The problem is, you need a good cop and a bad cop. Good cop/good cop doesn't work and all you get without "bad cop" discipline is pick-up street ball.

To say Baron did it "his way" or "was a total control freak" is spoken like someone who had no idea what was happening here in the 2000's. Baron didn't have a "system" like DC, he would spout nonsense and Skerry or another assistant would pretty much tell players what they should be doing. We didn't gameplan or make adjustments - and there was a reason we would win a bunch of games against lower level competition and could never win a big game or one where it counted at the end of the year. Other teams would watch film and learn how to stop us, and Baron's teams didn't have the same luxury of making those adjustments.

We had superior athletes, and one of the greatest pure shooters in college basketball history. We could out streetball lesser teams, but when it came to making adjustments or gameplanning - we had none of that. Sounds awfully familiar (though Shepp isn't Jimmy).

DC's stubborn commitment to his "system" of multiple point guards, or at least his commitment to letting Fatts do whatever he wants, is what is sinking this team. A lot of us may have overrated the talent on this roster, but you cannot tell me that this is the best this collection of players could be doing. 2 games under .500 in one of the weakest A-10s in recent memory. This is a 2-3 bid league, and we're in rock fights/losing to teams in the basement.

What Dowtin did as a freshman by "earning his stripes" is negated by the fact that 13 games in Jeff became a starter. He averaged 22 minutes a game. Hurley would make adjustments and put players in positions to be successful. He didn't make baseless promises about playing time and then robotically follow through on them because he had a stubborn commitment to an idea.

DC's stubborn commitment to his "system" of fluid, non-defined PG's, and his weird obsession with running Fatts into the ground and letting him chuck low percentage shots up whenever he wants is what has sank this team.

The loss of Jeff has just highlighted how over his head DC actually is.

[SmartyBarrett]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

I don't buy the notion that if you don't go berserk on the sidelines it means you don't care.

Also, I recall seeing several posts here that Dan Hurley was *too* intense so it's a lose-lose situation. When the team is performing poorly whatever body language the coach shows is wrong.

[ace]

How bout the coach taking over with a lot of intensity from the bench? It might become contagious.

I don't buy the notion that if you don't go berserk on the sidelines it means you don't care.

Also, I recall seeing several posts here that Dan Hurley was *too* intense so it's a lose-lose situation. When the team is performing poorly whatever body language the coach shows is wrong.

I think this is mainly right. People ascribe a lot of intent and emotions to people’s outward behavior. I do think Dave is still figuring out how to present himself on the sidelines, though, mainly based on how he acts at practice and what we’ve seen of him at times when he was an assistant (decidedly intense and not calm!). I also don’t find that struggle too surprising for a third year coach.

[section(105)]

......just to add, during the Hurley years, he would often, during games, dead ball situations, stroll down the bench area and demanding players show support for the floor players, and saying “come on bench......”

[Jersey77]

......just to add, during the Hurley years, he would often, during games, dead ball situations, stroll down the bench area and demanding players show support for the floor players, and saying “come on bench......”

I think Cox, relatively new at this position, is still trying to find himself and identity as a head coach. Even seasoned coaches still adjust their style and methods, as this game and players continue to evolve.

[rambone 78]

Here we go again.....Cox has had 3 years to figure this out, and he's no closer now than he was at the beginning of his tenure as HC.

Actually, he might have gotten worse in many areas.

Fuck let's give him another 3 years! With Cox, there are more excuses than there are trees in the forest.

And there are some on this board who think likewise.

[Jersey77]

Here we go again.....Cox has had 3 years to figure this out, and he's no closer now than he was at the beginning of his tenure as HC.

Actually, he might have gotten worse in many areas.

Fuck let's give him another 3 years! With Cox, there are more excuses than there are trees in the forest.

And there are some on this board who think likewise.

I realize 78' that you want Cox gone immediately, at least that is what you constantly allude to.

So after the way the pandemic has impacted the basketball community for almost an entire year, you believe we should just send the entire staff packing. You obviously feel that it is inevitable anyway.

I wonder what coaches you have in mind to instantly turn this program around. To start an entire rebuild with probably a completely new roster, you are looking at about 5-6 years at best to get your desired results, if they even succeed. It doesn't sound like you have the patience for that.

[LIRAM]

Just saw an interview with Mike Anderson who is now in his second season at St. John's and seems to be turning things around. Mike has had success at UAB, Missouri and Arkansas. He is a disciple of Nolan Richardson and plays to the "40 minutes of Hell" system. He recruits to this system and plays fast and furious. He is also a very mild mannered gentleman who rarely shows anger or emotion during games. The system provides the "Juice" and intensity.

He is also a very confident, intelligent, strong minded man. He does not mix his words. As he entered the locker room minutes before his team upset Villanova he said things were different? Normally his guys were loose and talkative but this time there was dead silence. He approached his freshman stud, Posh Alexander and asked "You guys scared?" "What do you all got to be scared of?" He said they weren't scared that they just new it was their biggest game and they were ready for a fight. Posh said to him 'We got this Coach'.

Mike Anderson said he new his team was turning the corner and ready to compete night in and out. This is a veteran coach with a system who has players who fit it, quality assistants, tons of experience and now has a team.

Is DC at the Crossroads? What he has been doing is clearly in a free fall. How does he navigate threw this? He he able to truly evaluate and assess this mess and correct it? Who does he lean on for support and guidance? Is he willing to humble himself and roll up his sleeves and get after it.

I only use Mike Anderson as an example of Leadership because of how he is able to do it. Very unconventional.

[rambone 78]

Patience is fine if we were going in the right direction.

But we're not. And if and when does that happen?

Show some signs of improvement, and my outlook will improve!

I also know that he's not going anywhere next season, even if URI had the money to spend on a new and more expensive staff.

The frustration is building, especially since I'm one of those dinosaurs on this board.

Like Billyboy alluded to, us old folks don't have forever to see results.

[SGreenwell]

Here we go again.....Cox has had 3 years to figure this out, and he's no closer now than he was at the beginning of his tenure as HC.

Actually, he might have gotten worse in many areas.

Fuck let's give him another 3 years! With Cox, there are more excuses than there are trees in the forest.

And there are some on this board who think likewise.

I realize 78' that you want Cox gone immediately, at least that is what you constantly allude to.

So after the way the pandemic has impacted the basketball community for almost an entire year, you believe we should just send the entire staff packing. You obviously feel that it is inevitable anyway.

I wonder what coaches you have in mind to instantly turn this program around. To start an entire rebuild with probably a completely new roster, you are looking at about 5-6 years at best to get your desired results, if they even succeed. It doesn't sound like you have the patience for that.

I think bringing up the pandemic is a bit of a red herring though, because URI was playing a lot better *early* in the season, despite the team probably having limited practice time and familiarity with each other. I'm usually more of a "give them time!" guy myself, but it's worrisome to see a team degrade during the season. Obviously, Fatts dealing with nagging injuries and the loss of a Mitchell brother hurts. But the team has lost three in a row, the most recent game by double digits to a team missing two starters, and outside of Ish it's hard to point to a player that's gotten better as the year has gone on. (Guys like Walker and Mitchell have had some tremendous individual games, only to be ineffective in the next one.)

[Jersey77]

Here we go again.....Cox has had 3 years to figure this out, and he's no closer now than he was at the beginning of his tenure as HC.

Actually, he might have gotten worse in many areas.

Fuck let's give him another 3 years! With Cox, there are more excuses than there are trees in the forest.

And there are some on this board who think likewise.

I realize 78' that you want Cox gone immediately, at least that is what you constantly allude to.

So after the way the pandemic has impacted the basketball community for almost an entire year, you believe we should just send the entire staff packing. You obviously feel that it is inevitable anyway.

I wonder what coaches you have in mind to instantly turn this program around. To start an entire rebuild with probably a completely new roster, you are looking at about 5-6 years at best to get your desired results, if they even succeed. It doesn't sound like you have the patience for that.

I think bringing up the pandemic is a bit of a red herring though, because URI was playing a lot better *early* in the season, despite the team probably having limited practice time and familiarity with each other. I'm usually more of a "give them time!" guy myself, but it's worrisome to see a team degrade during the season. Obviously, Fatts dealing with nagging injuries and the loss of a Mitchell brother hurts. But the team has lost three in a row, the most recent game by double digits to a team missing two starters, and outside of Ish it's hard to point to a player that's gotten better as the year has gone on. (Guys like Walker and Mitchell have had some tremendous individual games, only to be ineffective in the next one.)

I also have concerns, especially the way we seem to be regressing towards the end of this season and the same last year. Not sure if Cox is the answer, but I think it would be a mistake at this point to pull the plug on this staff and start over from scratch.

[Blue Man]

I realize 78' that you want Cox gone immediately, at least that is what you constantly allude to.

So after the way the pandemic has impacted the basketball community for almost an entire year, you believe we should just send the entire staff packing. You obviously feel that it is inevitable anyway.

I wonder what coaches you have in mind to instantly turn this program around. To start an entire rebuild with probably a completely new roster, you are looking at about 5-6 years at best to get your desired results, if they even succeed. It doesn't sound like you have the patience for that.

I think bringing up the pandemic is a bit of a red herring though, because URI was playing a lot better *early* in the season, despite the team probably having limited practice time and familiarity with each other. I'm usually more of a "give them time!" guy myself, but it's worrisome to see a team degrade during the season. Obviously, Fatts dealing with nagging injuries and the loss of a Mitchell brother hurts. But the team has lost three in a row, the most recent game by double digits to a team missing two starters, and outside of Ish it's hard to point to a player that's gotten better as the year has gone on. (Guys like Walker and Mitchell have had some tremendous individual games, only to be ineffective in the next one.)

I also have concerns, especially the way we seem to be regressing towards the end of this season and the same last year. Not sure if Cox is the answer, but I think it would be a mistake at this point to pull the plug on this staff and start over from scratch.

The problem is (and I would hate to be Thorr right now) that attitude is how you get the 11 year Baron drought. And, like you said, that will turn into a 16 year drought once you add in the subsequent rebuild.

With Baron we were always "close" and needed "one more year" - you have to be able to recognize what you're seeing though.

Now I agree with you, Cox will have one more year to prove he can get it done. I don't think he's necessarily proven he deserves it, as the concerns and complaints you could say about him now, we were all saying about him 3 years ago.

The roster turnover excuse is irrelevant because roster turnover falls on the coach.

The pandemic excuse is irrelevant because everyone is playing by the same set of rules, we've played more games than most of the entire country without a Covid pause, and this team has somehow gotten worse not better by "gelling" over the course of the year.

Cox will get the final year to make something happen because you need to show incoming coaches they'll get 4 years to make their mark.

However, if we do lose out and finish the year on an 8 game losing streak, 9-15 (6-11), 1st round exit in the A-10 - I think you could make the argument that things have gone so bad that an immediate change is needed. That, combined with the fact that he lost by double digits at home to a rebuilding team without their best 2 players, and admitted he didn't gameplan.

[Jersey77]

I think bringing up the pandemic is a bit of a red herring though, because URI was playing a lot better *early* in the season, despite the team probably having limited practice time and familiarity with each other. I'm usually more of a "give them time!" guy myself, but it's worrisome to see a team degrade during the season. Obviously, Fatts dealing with nagging injuries and the loss of a Mitchell brother hurts. But the team has lost three in a row, the most recent game by double digits to a team missing two starters, and outside of Ish it's hard to point to a player that's gotten better as the year has gone on. (Guys like Walker and Mitchell have had some tremendous individual games, only to be ineffective in the next one.)

I also have concerns, especially the way we seem to be regressing towards the end of this season and the same last year. Not sure if Cox is the answer, but I think it would be a mistake at this point to pull the plug on this staff and start over from scratch.

The problem is (and I would hate to be Thorr right now) that attitude is how you get the 11 year Baron drought. And, like you said, that will turn into a 16 year drought once you add in the subsequent rebuild.

With Baron we were always "close" and needed "one more year" - you have to be able to recognize what you're seeing though.

Now I agree with you, Cox will have one more year to prove he can get it done. I don't think he's necessarily proven he deserves it, as the concerns and complaints you could say about him now, we were all saying about him 3 years ago.

The roster turnover excuse is irrelevant because roster turnover falls on the coach.

The pandemic excuse is irrelevant because everyone is playing by the same set of rules, we've played more games than most of the entire country without a Covid pause, and this team has somehow gotten worse not better by "gelling" over the course of the year.

Cox will get the final year to make something happen because you need to show incoming coaches they'll get 4 years to make their mark.

However, if we do lose out and finish the year on an 8 game losing streak, 9-15 (6-11), 1st round exit in the A-10 - I think you could make the argument that things have gone so bad that an immediate change is needed. That, combined with the fact that he lost by double digits at home to a rebuilding team without their best 2 players, and admitted he didn't gameplan.

I think it is very possible that this team can finish with an 0-8 losing streak, but regardless Cox will still be retained.

My guess is that this team will show some improvement next season, just my gut feeling although I do have some reservations. The administration will probably allow Cox and his staff 5-6 years (from hire date) to get desired results before considering a change.

[Rhody72]

Fanatics hate losing and offer irrational solutions.

[SGreenwell]

Fanatics hate losing and offer irrational solutions.

Fans hate losing, and that's what about 99.9 percent of this forum's registered users are. I mean, I doubt "casual" fans are happy about the team's play either, but losing teams don't usually have casual fans anyway.

[Rhody72]

Fanatics hate losing and offer irrational solutions.

Fans hate losing, and that's what about 99.9 percent of this forum's registered users are. I mean, I doubt "casual" fans are happy about the team's play either, but losing teams don't usually have casual fans anyway.

Many posters here are fans with a rational perspective about the team while some others are fanatics with an irrational perspective. Both groups want the team to be successful. I didn't "hate" losing to Wisconsin, Dayton or VCU for that matter. Admittedly, the losses to UMASS were tough to take. Everyone expected more from Carey, Betrand and Harris; and the injuries to Fatts and Makhi have hurt the team. Those with a rational perspective don't want to blow up the program because of what has happened this year.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Here we go again.....Cox has had 3 years to figure this out, and he's no closer now than he was at the beginning of his tenure as HC.

Actually, he might have gotten worse in many areas.

Fuck let's give him another 3 years! With Cox, there are more excuses than there are trees in the forest.

And there are some on this board who think likewise.

I realize 78' that you want Cox gone immediately, at least that is what you constantly allude to.

So after the way the pandemic has impacted the basketball community for almost an entire year, you believe we should just send the entire staff packing. You obviously feel that it is inevitable anyway.

I wonder what coaches you have in mind to instantly turn this program around. To start an entire rebuild with probably a completely new roster, you are looking at about 5-6 years at best to get your desired results, if they even succeed. It doesn't sound like you have the patience for that.

Or...cue the Rick...

[phipsiGD'11]

The only way I could possibly be okay with losing out is if Cox shortens the bench and plays people the minutes they actually deserve.
And I hate to say it because I love him, but that includes Fatts whether he is injured or not. He shoots a contested 3 after one pass with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, yank him.
It is time to start sending a message. I came to the realization months ago that we weren't destined for the tournament so I was okay with seeing what we had with players. But the sample size for this season is big enough. Shorten the bench. Players can always improve their minutes this year and of course next year is a clean slate, but those minutes must be earned and not given.

[SmartyBarrett]

I'm all in on the sending a message piece. You know (hope?) this team is reviewing film and Cox is pointing out various plays and saying "See this? Don't do that." If a player does the same thing in a game after having it pointed out to him on film he needs to be yanked.

[Blue Man]

Fanatics hate losing and offer irrational solutions.

Fans hate losing, and that's what about 99.9 percent of this forum's registered users are. I mean, I doubt "casual" fans are happy about the team's play either, but losing teams don't usually have casual fans anyway.

Many posters here are fans with a rational perspective about the team while some others are fanatics with an irrational perspective. Both groups want the team to be successful. I didn't "hate" losing to Wisconsin, Dayton or VCU for that matter. Admittedly, the losses to UMASS were tough to take. Everyone expected more from Carey, Betrand and Harris; and the injuries to Fatts and Makhi have hurt the team. Those with a rational perspective don't want to blow up the program because of what has happened this year.

So "fan" is literally the short form of "fanatic" - if you care about a sports team you do not play on enough to spend your free time posting your opinions on it on a message board, you're a fanatic too. We're all in the same boat. You are right that everyone on here wants the team to be successful.

I would point out that the biggest divide is what we all deem "success" to mean.

A lot of this programs fans are people from south county who do not care about sports outside of Kingston. They are happy to watch the team and think that a win against a "name brand" program is good - no matter how good that team actually is. They think that because we've never been a feature in March that an NCAA tournament birth is frosting on top of the cake that is watching the basketball team in the middle of winter, no matter how they are playing.

Then there are those of us who are also from the same area, but also care about sports outside of Kingston. They understand what "success" actually looks like in the context of college basketball and see no reason why with the proper investments and people that we could be a part of it.

They saw where Xavier, Temple, and Dayton have all gone since the late 1990's, and remember that we were contemporaries with all 3 of those programs. We made two awful decisions (Jerry D and a 10 year baseless contract extension for JB), and took different roads than the other former A-10 powers.

You also don't need to go too far back in history (3-5 years) to see a time when URI was once again a perennial top-of-the-conference power. Again, a lack of investments signaled a lack of a commitment to winning, and their star coach went to a place that tangibly valued winning on the same level he did. Mainly because their fan base had bigger expectations than what they were currently seeing. They fired a head coach who had literally won them a national championship - but they also understood basketball and knew what they were seeing wasn't sustainable under that coach.

So while I understand your perspective of not "hating" losing to certain teams - I remember the games and the context of how/why we lost those games, which is frustrating.

For example you talk about an injury to Fatts as hurting the team. That's obvious - but why he's hurting the team is the problem. He's being played 20-30 minutes a night INJURED. In the Dayton loss, the team was working fine with Ish running the point and being on the floor instead of Fatts. In fact, Ish was the only player to register a positive +/- that night. a +9. Fatts Russell? -13. Plus with Ish in the lineup we had a lead. Cox put in Fatts and the lead evaporated.

That's one of a series of similar examples. Fatts' injury is hurting the team because of how the coach is handling it. Instead of letting his star player get rest (or forcing him to get rest for his own good) he is playing him to the detriment of the team and the player, helping no one.

It's the same argument for the VCU loss.

Losing is part of basketball, it comes with the territory. But it's on the coach to put the players in a position to win, and then the teams duke it out to see who was better on that given night.

The coach has pushed far more of the wrong buttons than the right buttons for the past 3 years, with obvious errors that were pointed out at the time and not just armchair point guards.

For the "everyone expected more from Carey and Betrand" argument - you're right, we did. This statement is apparent that you agree that they have fallen way short of expectations. So why then are they 5th and 7th in minutes on a team that plays 10 players a night?

Anyone who expected more of Harris simply hasn't watched basketball or has this weird complex where you can't point out that he sucks because he actually sucks - but why is he getting minutes in high leverage situations if there isn't foul trouble?

These are a few of a myriad of questions that hopefully the "casual" fan will start to ask of their coach after reading Morey's article.

But to say that those with a "rational perspective don't want to blow up the program because of what has happened this year" is a complete misrepresentation of what people are saying.

It has less to do with this individual year, as much as it does the development of the team, players, program, and coaches over a linear 3 year period.

It goes all the way back to taking Jeff Dowtin off the ball and letting Fatts do literally whatever he wants - calling his own plays at the end of games, forcing shots, literally shooting 18% for MONTHS that cost us 7 of 8 games in Jan/Feb and a chance at an NCAA birth.

It has less to do with wins and losses and more to do with HOW and WHY we are losing.

Hurley's year 2 team had a long losing streak and finished below .500 - no one was sounding alarm bells. We had a young team, our "leaders" were a senior transfer and a senior glue guy, and depended on freshmen EC and Hassan. Hurley's year 3 team took a huge step forward, beat a ranked team, almost made the NCAA, and went to the NIT. There was a linear progression in EVERYTHING - coaching staff changes, Hurley's substitution patterns and rotations changed - less playing time for guys like Biggie Minnis with the emergence of Jarvis, and burying guys like Jerelle Reischel who couldn't contribute. We didn't have an exodus of key pieces year over year.

It's such a wild oversimplification to say that people are angry because we're losing games this year and doesn't give this fan base enough credit. You don't need to be a pilot to recognize a plane crash. We recognize what good basketball looks like, we recognize what a functioning program looks like. It's obvious we're not seeing that regardless of our record.

[Rhody72]

Sorry, but URI this year is not a plane crash to me. Maybe to a fanatic with an irrational perspective it is. A lesser coach would have played an easier schedule to the benefit of only his career record.

[Rhody15]

Sorry, but URI this year is not a plane crash to me. Maybe to a fanatic with an irrational perspective it is. A lesser coach would have played an easier schedule to the benefit of only his career record.

You continue to sound more and more delusional by the post.

It's comical at this point.

Let's take out the OOC games to cater to your "easier schedule" line.

We were picked to finish 6th in conference, are currently in 8th, and there aren't too many more wins on the schedule, therefore we'll finish below 6th.

We also lost to the worst P5 program in America, who was without their leading scorer, and would struggle to compete in the AAC, A10, WCC.

We've blown late game leads @ Duquesne, @ UMass, VCU. Not competitive in a loss at home against UMass who was without two starters.

We also have gotten worse as a team as the season has progressed.

So please tell us how this isn't a plane crash of a season.

[Blue Man]

Sorry, but URI this year is not a plane crash to me. Maybe to a fanatic with an irrational perspective it is. A lesser coach would have played an easier schedule to the benefit of only his career record.

I write all of that and this is what you respond with?

Please provide additional details of ways you have seen the team, the players, and the coach IMPROVE over the course of this season. Please provide equal examples of improvement in the past 3 seasons?

The only "irrational" perspective on here is you who continually talks about what a superior coach Dave Cox is while listing erroneous examples of his character that in no way, shape, or form relate to his ability to get the most out of a basketball team on the court.

You are yet to provide one concrete example of improvement in any area of Dave Cox's development as a coach beyond your "experience in hiring people" which I do not remember seeing on the selection committee's rubric for tournament bids.

[PeterRamTime]

Sorry, but URI this year is not a plane crash to me. Maybe to a fanatic with an irrational perspective it is. A lesser coach would have played an easier schedule to the benefit of only his career record.

It's at the very least a golf cart wreck right now.

And the cart is on top of coach Cox's head and Fatt's heel.

[phipsiGD'11]

Idk about plane crashes or golf cart crashes (despite my record of damaging a few over the years), but having lived my entire life in NY (not including my 4 years at URI) I know a thing or two about dumpster fires. And while the dumpster might not be engulfed in flames yet, it is smoking.

-bench needs to be shortened (starting TODAY)
-an assistant coach needs to go (end of season)
-if on court play and more importantly in game coaching decisions are not improved through mid season next year then you cut ties before the season ends. We don't have the next coach on this current staff, but if by mid seasom next year things havent changes then Cox is not the coach for this program.

Average can not be acceptable.

[Rhody72]

Blue Man, you continue to identify yourself as a fanatic by using a word. "superior" in this case, which I have never used to describe Cox, and expecting too much under the current circumstances. I'll repeat for you, I see Cox becoming a very good head coach. Also, I recognize the difficulty in molding a truck load of transfers into a winning program, and then with (1) a candidate for conference POY injured for most of the year, (2) your best big-man out for most of the year, and (3) a tough OOC schedule.

But, I admire your passion for URI Basketball.

[theblueram]

72 why do we have a truck load of transfers in the 3rd year of coach?