11/12 | Bryant University | 6:00PM (YurView/ESPN+)

[SmartyBarrett]

Dude, Bryant sucks and is in the NEC. It's a cupcake game.

We’re not a blue chip. These are good wins. Always have been. Always will be.

Sometimes I swear people on this forum think in the Danny Hurley years we were steam rolling any team that walked through those doors. The same years we made the tournament under DH we were squeaking out single digit wins over the likes of Brown, holy cross and Iona and losing to teams like Valpo.

You’re allowed to be proud of the team you root for. I promise it’s more fun

Sorry, completely disagree. The A10 has been a top conference for many years, You think beating Bryant is a feather in the cap? Cmon. Beating Kansas or Duke or Kentucky is a great win. Beating Bryant? Cmon. We beat a cupcake tonight. Nothing less.

Bryant beat UMass wire-to-wire last season and hung 93 on them.

[KMar970]

Just catching up on all this n currently watching the game—if r bigs can stay out of foul trouble n games Rhody can def compete but the Bonnie’s r what Rhody was in hurleys last two years. That being said this team can definitely compete and keep us interested all season. That being said with this schedule it’s win a10 tourney or bust to dance but I’m definitely intrigued n like the athletes we have, especially leggett he’s def a player and a freshman again lol

[KMar970]

Also love walker off the bench he’s a glue guy can rebound defend n score if he needs to

[Rhody72]

Didn't we exhibition against Bryant a few years ago?

nit picker!

[Rhody72]

David Cox is in better physical shape than Jared Grasso. No sweat stains on David's shirt. Jared is a finalist for the Gary Williams award. I hope he has a dry cleaning benefit in his contract.

[section(105)]

……can I get a redo on my pick for Shep leading scorer?……what’s up with his IMHO being kinda invisible on offense, isn’t he supposed to be our best three point threat…….gotta get him going from three…….no?

[Jersey77]

Bassy continues to impress me. I feel good about our guard position in the future with him and Ish leading the way.
He is much better than many of the posters here thought when he committed.
I like the way we finished this game after a rough start and some brutal moments.

[Bos8]

Is the only way to listen to Steve and Don is sign up for a subscription to tunein? The varsity app has not worked for either game.

Did you get an answer to this question? I was in the car and tried every method I could to access a stream, but was unable to. I used the tunein for B101 and whjj, as well as the varsity app, but nothing worked.

[section(105)]

……..I would take Charlie Pride over Barkley on my team…….

[Roz]

When you are bigger, faster, deeper and more athletic, you take it to the opponent the way URI did tonight. Good coaching job by Cox. Nit pick this win you Cox haters.

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

[SGreenwell]

Is the only way to listen to Steve and Don is sign up for a subscription to tunein? The varsity app has not worked for either game.

Did you get an answer to this question? I was in the car and tried every method I could to access a stream, but was unable to. I used the tunein for B101 and whjj, as well as the varsity app, but nothing worked.

I've also been unable to find an online stream, which is annoying, because I now live in Texas.

[RIFan]

No answer. So far, no way to listen without adding yet another subscription. I take that back, you can listen to WRIU I believe, maybe for only the home games…not sure. Nothing against the kids, I just like listening to Steve and Don.

[Rhody15]

Don’t know if this has already been mentioned, but here’s my thoughts.

Lost all respect for Bryant last night. Two techs, a flagrant, and Peter Kiss acting like a clown taunting the student section / directing his attention more towards them than the game. He’s obviously not a good dude, evident by the suspension for violation of team rules. Grasso also embarrassed himself all night with his sideline antics acting like a tough guy.

Won’t be cheering for them going forward.

One las thing, Charles Pride is an absolute stud. Would take him in a second.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Don’t know if this has already been mentioned, but here’s my thoughts.

Lost all respect for Bryant last night. Two techs, a flagrant, and Peter Kiss acting like a clown taunting the student section / directing his attention more towards them than the game. He’s obviously not a good dude, evident for the suspension for team rules. Grasso also embarrassed himself all night with his sideline antics acting like a tough guy.

Won’t be cheering for them going forward.

One las thing, Charles Pride is an absolute stud. Would take him in a second.

Grasso seemed kinda feisty last night...but nothing compared to Hurls...
(If you're going to sweat like that...I'm thinking...mixing in a white shirt and a change at halftime might not be a bad idea)

[KingstonLane]

Don’t know if this has already been mentioned, but here’s my thoughts.

Lost all respect for Bryant last night. Two techs, a flagrant, and Peter Kiss acting like a clown taunting the student section / directing his attention more towards them than the game. He’s obviously not a good dude, evident by the suspension for violation of team rules. Grasso also embarrassed himself all night with his sideline antics acting like a tough guy.

Won’t be cheering for them going forward.

One las thing, Charles Pride is an absolute stud. Would take him in a second.

Agreed on Pride. Will see how his stats hold up once Kiss is back.

My guess is he’s not playing in Smithfield next year though

[rhodylaw]

Don’t know if this has already been mentioned, but here’s my thoughts.

Lost all respect for Bryant last night. Two techs, a flagrant, and Peter Kiss acting like a clown taunting the student section / directing his attention more towards them than the game. He’s obviously not a good dude, evident by the suspension for violation of team rules. Grasso also embarrassed himself all night with his sideline antics acting like a tough guy.

Won’t be cheering for them going forward.

One las thing, Charles Pride is an absolute stud. Would take him in a second.

This is an in-state game so I guess I disagree with the Bryant guys being fired up as a bad thing. Makes it fun and is what makes college basketball different. I don’t view them as our rival (yet) but they sure as hell see us as one. It’s good for the game.

I like the start to the season here with wins over two OK teams. Need to keep it going though. Last year we beat an OK San Francisco team, USF and then beat Seton Hall only to collapse after.

[Bos8]

No answer. So far, no way to listen without adding yet another subscription. I take that back, you can listen to WRIU I believe, maybe for only the home games…not sure. Nothing against the kids, I just like listening to Steve and Don.

I agree 100%. Even when I have a stream/the game is on TV I usually have their stream up and listen to the half time show. So far I've been unable to do that.

[McRam]

Don’t know if this has already been mentioned, but here’s my thoughts.

Lost all respect for Bryant last night. Two techs, a flagrant, and Peter Kiss acting like a clown taunting the student section / directing his attention more towards them than the game. He’s obviously not a good dude, evident by the suspension for violation of team rules. Grasso also embarrassed himself all night with his sideline antics acting like a tough guy.

Won’t be cheering for them going forward.

One las thing, Charles Pride is an absolute stud. Would take him in a second.

Agreed on Pride. Will see how his stats hold up once Kiss is back.

My guess is he’s not playing in Smithfield next year though

Grassy kina of reminded me of DH his first years here.

[bigappleram]

-we beat them exactly as the script would call for…use our size to get easy buckets and chase them off the 3 pt line

-first half we gave up too many offensive rebounds which can happen with lots of threes and long boards and that gave them extra possessions. It was one and done in 2nd half and we ran away from them

-I thought we executed at a high level on offense. Got the ball to the foul line on most possessions and used our interior strength to bully them.

-After two games I’ll say this, the ball is less sticky and the offense less stagnant sans Fatts. I don’t blame Fatts I loved him as a player but too often our guys stood and watched when he had the ball. Shepp, Ish and Ish are moving the ball much more and offense looks crisper

-I’d instill a no more than 1 dribble rule for both Mitchells and Malik. It’s almost always gonna be a turnover or bad decision with any more dribbles than that.

-Someone referenced Sheppard and his relatively modest stat lines. No issue with that he is trying to facilitate more than look for his own shot I’m confident when we need a bucket he will be more assertive.

[McRam]

When you are bigger, faster, deeper and more athletic, you take it to the opponent the way URI did tonight. Good coaching job by Cox. Nit pick this win you Cox haters.

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

Was Cox a good coach during the first half? What was that first half defense about. ?

[steveystuds06]

When you are bigger, faster, deeper and more athletic, you take it to the opponent the way URI did tonight. Good coaching job by Cox. Nit pick this win you Cox haters.

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

Was Cox a good coach during the first half? What was that first half defense about. ?

Our guys came out too hyped. They were rushing at their defenders and playing a little bit too aggressively, which caused some open shots due to Bryants ability to move the ball well. They also hit some tough 3s. The sign of a well-coached team is how you adjust and finish. Once we slowed down, we played great D and dominated.

[LIRAM]

Congrats on the win. Really enjoyed the second half. The guys did a much better job of defending the three and that mickey mouse weave offense. Lots of guys contributed to the win. The twins need to stay out of foul trouble! They are going to be a force if they can just contain the bone head plays and fouls. Turnovers again seem to be an issue and hopefully we can clean that up. I really like our three guards and if Thomas can continue to develop the staff might have found something special right in our back yard. Carey will give us a plus athlete and bigger more physical player against the more mature back courts we will see in conference.

Coach Cox did a really nice job against that used car salesman. Grasso is a Calapari/Pitino wannabe. I have been to a few clinics on Long Island that he has hosted and he is a clown. In fact the last one was canceled because of lack of registration. I'm glad a guy like Cox is running our program over a guy like that. We had Dan who's sideline behavior was over the top but there was so much substance to the man. So much knowledge and desire. Grasso is all about Grasso. Probably should not share these thoughts but some of you might want a guy like that over Coach Cox. I take Coach Cox all day long. Having Bozeman with him is huge. Coach Bozeman did a great job refocusing David and the players after that hard foul on Martin.

We are going to have some rough nights but last night was not one of them. Great student turnout and lets keep pushing forward!
Rhody! Rhody! Rhody!

[DC_Rams]

When you are bigger, faster, deeper and more athletic, you take it to the opponent the way URI did tonight. Good coaching job by Cox. Nit pick this win you Cox haters.

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

Was Cox a good coach during the first half? What was that first half defense about. ?

The adjustments were made. What more do folks want? You can tell this team is being COACHED. Much more disciplined on offense and defense. Coaching only goes so far, the guys have to perform/execute.

[Rhody72]

...

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

The zone would kill us in the past because in addition to not having effective outside shooters we lacked size and scoring ability on the inside. Opponents would pack down in a zone against us, Now we can score from the blocks and the paint in general, and we still have our transition offense off our aggressive defense. We just need to continue to improve at what we are doing.

[NYGFan_Section208]

When you are bigger, faster, deeper and more athletic, you take it to the opponent the way URI did tonight. Good coaching job by Cox. Nit pick this win you Cox haters.

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

It was good to see they had a guy at the foul line for that that they could work the ball to/through effectively. Not sure we saw as much of it last year.

[PeterRamTime]

Well Bryant is a typical live and die by the three team with one incredible player in Charles Pride.

Pride can play with anybody and Bryant as a whole could be a thorn in a lot of teams side. I think it says a lot about us how we were able to shut them down and win by 19.

Really nice to see that the twins and Walkers first game was likely an anomaly. They were huge mismatches for Bryant and it won't be the last time we have a big advantage inside the rest of the way.

It was hilarious how many times Bryant took it right at Makhel like, okay he blocked it the first four times what makes you think that's gonna change dude?

Turnovers are still a problem, but it doesn't seem like it's as careless as it was last year. We did have one out of bounds pass that went soaring out of bounds. That was bad...otherwise they mostly come from the Twins doing too much which hopefully improves. Like I don't wanna tell Makhi he can't put the ball on the floor because sometimes he does some great things with it, so maybe he works through some of the TO issues.

I also wouldn't mind us working through Walker a little more. He's just as skilled as the twins and is less turnover prone.

Too bad we couldn't have gotten Charles Pride to transfer here. We are really missing a wing scorer and he would be perfect!

[reef]

Agree on pride maybe he transfers to URI next year a step up in competition!!

[Rhody15]

If Charles Pride does transfer, my guess is he shoots higher than the A10.

[Rhodymob05]

I will say Grasso is an Italian Hurley and a pain in the ass but he did have some good things to say after the game.

[section(105)]

I will say Grasso is an Italian Hurley and a pain in the ass but he did have some good things to say after the game.

…….like…….?

[section(105)]

When you are bigger, faster, deeper and more athletic, you take it to the opponent the way URI did tonight. Good coaching job by Cox. Nit pick this win you Cox haters.

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

It was good to see they had a guy at the foul line for that that they could work the ball to/through effectively. Not sure we saw as much of it last year.

……..if I recall correctly, TJ Buchanan was effective in the role as a player, maybe he is doing tutorial work for some players…….

[Seawrightspostgame]

Nice win to pull away and really wear them out. Bryant was white hot and URI just stayed composed and executed. Really good win to do that. Obviously a low level opponent but they were making 3s like nobody’s business and URI just kept with it. Paid off in the end. Good sign in my book.

Excited about this year.

[steviep123]

Nice win to pull away and really wear them out. Bryant was white hot and URI just stayed composed and executed. Really good win to do that. Obviously a low level opponent but they were making 3s like nobody’s business and URI just kept with it. Paid off in the end. Good sign in my book.

Excited about this year.

At the risk of being accusing of comparing us to UNC - UNC wasn't able to pull away from Brown the same night. No we are not UNC, but the ability to put teams away has been lacking in the past couple of seasons, turning what could have been a laugher into a game or even a loss. The last 10/15 minutes to go from a tight game to running away is a good thing.

[TruePoint]

When you are bigger, faster, deeper and more athletic, you take it to the opponent the way URI did tonight. Good coaching job by Cox. Nit pick this win you Cox haters.

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

Was Cox a good coach during the first half? What was that first half defense about. ?

Sometimes the other team has a good plan. The criteria for being a good coach can’t be that your team is always perfect; a lot of being a good coach is identifying what is going wrong and figuring out how to fix it. I think the jury is still out on whether Cox is a good enough coach but to the extent that the Bryant game was evidence one way or the other I think I’d put it in the “good coaching” column.

[RF1]

Nice win to pull away and really wear them out. Bryant was white hot and URI just stayed composed and executed. Really good win to do that. Obviously a low level opponent but they were making 3s like nobody’s business and URI just kept with it. Paid off in the end. Good sign in my book.

Excited about this year.

Bryant wasn't really hot. In the first half they shot 29% from the field (11-38) and ended the game at 26% (18-69). They shot only 36% (9-25) from three in the first half and ended the game at 31% (12-39). They made the game close for a while because they were lights out at the stripe shooting 89% (16-18) and made a high number of threes which was basically all tied to the crazy volume of attempts. In one of the oddest stats of the night, the Bulldogs had 12 made threes and just 6 made twos for the game. They actually only had two field goals inside the three point line in the first half.

[theblueram]

They handled the zone better than they have recently.

Was Cox a good coach during the first half? What was that first half defense about. ?

Sometimes the other team has a good plan. The criteria for being a good coach can’t be that your team is always perfect; a lot of being a good coach is identifying what is going wrong and figuring out how to fix it. I think the jury is still out on whether Cox is a good enough coach but to the extent that the Bryant game was evidence one way or the other I think I’d put it in the “good coaching” column.

Agreed. I think the lack of complaints on Cox thus far confirms this. It's not like we want the guy to fail. So it's a wait and see. It's concerning we have no outside shooting though.

[rambone 78]

We aren't going to know until the end of the season, as to whether Cox will stay or go.

Early signs are encouraging, but a long long way to go.

We've started seasons well with this coach, but we all know how they've ended.

I'm not going to flip out if he and the team has a bad game....I'm looking for a trend......

[reef]

Huge game vs 3-0 BC from a great conference looking forward to see how we do

[Rhody15]

We aren't going to know until the end of the season, as to whether Cox will stay or go.

Early signs are encouraging, but a long long way to go.

We've started seasons well with this coach, but we all know how they've ended.

I'm not going to flip out if he and the team has a bad game....I'm looking for a trend......

You will 100% flip out and say the sky is falling if the team has a bad game.

[section(105)]

……..that might depend on whether or not it is against a cupcake…….

[Bos8]

Congrats on the win. Really enjoyed the second half. The guys did a much better job of defending the three and that mickey mouse weave offense. Lots of guys contributed to the win. The twins need to stay out of foul trouble! They are going to be a force if they can just contain the bone head plays and fouls. Turnovers again seem to be an issue and hopefully we can clean that up. I really like our three guards and if Thomas can continue to develop the staff might have found something special right in our back yard. Carey will give us a plus athlete and bigger more physical player against the more mature back courts we will see in conference.

Coach Cox did a really nice job against that used car salesman. Grasso is a Calapari/Pitino wannabe. I have been to a few clinics on Long Island that he has hosted and he is a clown. In fact the last one was canceled because of lack of registration. I'm glad a guy like Cox is running our program over a guy like that. We had Dan who's sideline behavior was over the top but there was so much substance to the man. So much knowledge and desire. Grasso is all about Grasso. Probably should not share these thoughts but some of you might want a guy like that over Coach Cox. I take Coach Cox all day long. Having Bozeman with him is huge. Coach Bozeman did a great job refocusing David and the players after that hard foul on Martin.

We are going to have some rough nights but last night was not one of them. Great student turnout and lets keep pushing forward!
Rhody! Rhody! Rhody!

Great post. I can't speak at all on Grasso, but I agree with you on your points regarding Cox. It's very rare you have someone who is spoken of so highly of in coaching circles. It certainly doesn't guarantee success, but I think he is a great representative for our University.

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

Is there a more punchable face than Grasso when he is whining to the refs?

Dan Hurley's face when he's whining...which was and is constant.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Nice win to pull away and really wear them out. Bryant was white hot and URI just stayed composed and executed. Really good win to do that. Obviously a low level opponent but they were making 3s like nobody’s business and URI just kept with it. Paid off in the end. Good sign in my book.

Excited about this year.

Bryant wasn't really hot. In the first half they shot 29% from the field (11-38) and ended the game at 26% (18-69). They shot only 36% (9-25) from three in the first half and ended the game at 31% (12-39). They made the game close for a while because they were lights out at the stripe shooting 89% (16-18) and made a high number of threes which was basically all tied to the crazy volume of attempts. In one of the oddest stats of the night, the Bulldogs had 12 made threes and just 6 made twos for the game. They actually only had two field goals inside the three point line in the first half.

Sorry. I watch uri basketball and I can be deceived that 36% 3 point shooting is really good. I’ve watched a team that averaged 31% or less the last three years.

[Ramulous]

36% 3 pt shooting = 54% 2 pt shooting

[Rhodymob05]

36 is solid. Anything over 40 is very good.

[rhodyruckus]

Is there a more punchable face than Grasso when he is whining to the refs?

Dan Hurley's face when he's whining...which was and is constant.

Fair enough, I probably just haven't watched him enough at UConn to be reminded of the antics.

[RhowdyRam02]

Bryant is 223 in the KenPom rankings, which is solidly in quadrant 4, and they played without their best player. Great last ten minutes, but any assertion that Bryant was something other than a cupcake is laughable

[NYGFan_Section208]

Bryant is 223 in the KenPom rankings, which is solidly in quadrant 4, and they played without their best player. Great last ten minutes, but any assertion that Bryant was something other than a cupcake is laughable

So confusing....can you be a cupcake and a trap game at the same time?

[JimSidd]

I don’t recall reading anything about the following in this thread, and I just remembered it now.
At one point on the broadcast, Stone mentioned that that 2018 Bryant vs URI game was the first game as head coach for both Grasso and Cox. He then mentioned that some refer to it as the Aris game. Nothing more needed to be said: I laughed out loud.
I was there that night and I just had to go back and watch his one minute of infamy.
I’ve said this before, but the person who referred to his name translated to the Greek god of fouls may have had the all time line in this forum.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I don’t recall reading anything about the following in this thread, and I just remembered it now.
At one point on the broadcast, Stone mentioned that that 2018 Bryant vs URI game was the first game as head coach for both Grasso and Cox. He then mentioned that some refer to it as the Aris game. Nothing more needed to be said: I laughed out loud.
I was there that night and I just had to go back and watch his one minute of infamy.
I’ve said this before, but the person who referred to his name translated to the Greek god of fouls may have had the all time line in this forum.

LOL...the Aris game....nuff said