12/7 | Sacred Heart | 6:00PM (YurView/ESPN+)

[steveystuds06]

Once again I don't think ANYONE on here thinks Thomas is going to save Cox this season. He's not remotely ready to be that guy.. Shep hasn't played well at the point. We want someone that can run this team better than he has. Thomas seems like the only option. Put him around shooters and let's see what happens..

..

I guess I bristle a bit at this, because even if you think Sheppard hasn't played well at the point, he still holds the edge in pretty much all of the per 40 minute stats except assists (5.2 vs. 4.2) and turnovers (2.2 vs. 1.8). Those are also marginal edges in secondarily important stats, whereas Sheppard is double Thomas in points per 40, and PER (17.1 vs. 8.0). The likelihood that Thomas will be better than Sheppard by the end of the year strikes me as almost nil, so while I think you can bump Thomas' minutes a bit here, it would be folly if they were even playing equal time.

I'm going off what I see from Thomas lately. In the last three games, Shep has had a total of 4 assists. Thomas had 5 last night.

Thomas is not a better player Shep right now. I think he can eventually run the offense better than him, though. Shep is best off the ball,. Shooting and scoring... Now I get the competition last night was weak, and that was the worst team we've played besides Georgia State, but I thought Thomas played well against PC as well. Arguably our most formidable opponent. When they were pressing us, he and Ish brought us back..

I'm willing to bet the more Thomas runs the point, will start to see a more fluid offense.

[Jersey77]

Once again I don't think ANYONE on here thinks Thomas is going to save Cox this season. He's not remotely ready to be that guy.. Shep hasn't played well at the point. We want someone that can run this team better than he has. Thomas seems like the only option. Put him around shooters and let's see what happens..

I guess I bristle a bit at this, because even if you think Sheppard hasn't played well at the point, he still holds the edge in pretty much all of the per 40 minute stats except assists (5.2 vs. 4.2) and turnovers (2.2 vs. 1.8). Those are also marginal edges in secondarily important stats, whereas Sheppard is double Thomas in points per 40, and PER (17.1 vs. 8.0). The likelihood that Thomas will be better than Sheppard by the end of the year strikes me as almost nil, so while I think you can bump Thomas' minutes a bit here, it would be folly if they were even playing equal time.

I agree with some of your comments but still feel Shep is struggling at PG and Thomas is certainly a little too green at this time to take over, especially going into A10 play soon.
Until Shep can finds his way out of this funk, how about this starting 5 to change things up a little ; EA, Ish, Martin, Walker, Makhel.
I just think something needs to change soon, we don't really have a true PG anyway so why not EA or Ish handling the ball.
Martin gives that defensive presence against a big guard and wing, he plays with a lot of intensity and helps on the boards.
Also he has shown offensive flashes.
I like Walker's energy and his athleticism in the paint, he is very efficient around the basket.
Shep, Makhi, and Bassy would all get substantial minutes off the bench, maybe just a temporary fix.
Anyway just a thought.

[rambone 78]

Maybe Thomas got more minutes because Cox reads this board and did what we told him to do.

Now we need him to play Ish at PG when Thomas sits.

And start Walker. Also have the twins stop dribbling.

See how easy it is coach?

Maybe TB does have his ear....making personnel changes based on game performance is a step in the right direction.

Now all we need is more talent, and we'll be good.

Just being facetious folks......

[Billyboy78]

I think Thomas plays what we called in the old days, a good 'floor game'. He has to improve his shot to be at minimum, an average shooter, to increase his effectiveness. As far as his defense goes, I think he's fine. He plays hard. He was the only one of the five running back after a turnover and he plays with intensity all of the time on that end. Shep didn't play much last night because he WASN'T playing hard on defense.

[bigappleram]

Ish doesn’t have the handle to play PG. He’s a slashing combo guard at best. Classic A10 tweener. Shep is a very good ball handler but has more of the instincts of a scoring 2G vs a facilitator. Moving Leggett to the 1 isn’t the answer.

The answer is coaching up Shep if he wants to play pro ball anywhere it’s at PG. And giving Thomas spot minutes where you move Shep off the ball and try to get him catch and shoot opps.

[ramster]

I think Thomas plays what we called in the old days, a good 'floor game'. He has to improve his shot to be at minimum, an average shooter, to increase his effectiveness. As far as his defense goes, I think he's fine. He plays hard. He was the only one of the five running back after a turnover and he plays with intensity all of the time on that end. Shep didn't play much last night because he WASN'T playing hard on defense.

Exactly.
It was not Sheppard's offense that limited him to 12 minutes, it was his defense. He has had other instances where Cox quickly replaced him with Thomas, one time was about 30 seconds into the 2nd half of recent game. Walker and Makhi Mitchell have also had some replacements due to defensive efforts. These incidents do not show up in the scorebooks or statistics but are evident at the games. Thomas is getting more playing time due to his defense. Even Leggett and El-Amin have seen the bench now and then that I believe were for defensive lapses. Cox is very serious about the defensive pressure this season - more than last year for sure.

[Jersey77]

Ish doesn’t have the handle to play PG. He’s a slashing combo guard at best. Classic A10 tweener. Shep is a very good ball handler but has more of the instincts of a scoring 2G vs a facilitator. Moving Leggett to the 1 isn’t the answer.

The answer is coaching up Shep if he wants to play pro ball anywhere it’s at PG. And giving Thomas spot minutes where you move Shep off the ball and try to get him catch and shoot opps.

One of the early interviews with EA, he was asked about PG and he did reply he had experience in the past playing that position and was capable of doing anything that was asked. I think our defense is struggling trying to handle the bigger guards.
That is one way of getting Martin to start the game, nothing else seems to be currently working.

[DeanDome88]

Ish doesn’t have the handle to play PG. He’s a slashing combo guard at best. Classic A10 tweener. Shep is a very good ball handler but has more of the instincts of a scoring 2G vs a facilitator. Moving Leggett to the 1 isn’t the answer.

The answer is coaching up Shep if he wants to play pro ball anywhere it’s at PG. And giving Thomas spot minutes where you move Shep off the ball and try to get him catch and shoot opps.

Let's not ruin Ish Leggett by trying to make him play point guard. As an upperclassman he will probably have a couple of nice assist a game but let him develop naturally as a scoring guard.

[SGreenwell]

I think Thomas plays what we called in the old days, a good 'floor game'. He has to improve his shot to be at minimum, an average shooter, to increase his effectiveness. As far as his defense goes, I think he's fine. He plays hard. He was the only one of the five running back after a turnover and he plays with intensity all of the time on that end. Shep didn't play much last night because he WASN'T playing hard on defense.

Exactly.
It was not Sheppard's offense that limited him to 12 minutes, it was his defense. He has had other instances where Cox quickly replaced him with Thomas, one time was about 30 seconds into the 2nd half of recent game. Walker and Makhi Mitchell have also had some replacements due to defensive efforts. These incidents do not show up in the scorebooks or statistics but are evident at the games. Thomas is getting more playing time due to his defense. Even Leggett and El-Amin have seen the bench now and then that I believe were for defensive lapses. Cox is very serious about the defensive pressure this season - more than last year for sure.

The eye test AND statistics can be deceiving in their own ways. Cox might not have loved Sheppard's effort on the defensive end, but there is nothing to suggest that Thomas is better. Hey - The stats could be "lagging" behind real life here, absolutely. But it's always important to not mistake effort and scrappiness for effectiveness. Steve Mello was scrappy, it didn't mean you wanted him playing major minutes.

[reef]

I like Bassy off the bench about 20 minutes per game

Also agree with BAR play Bassy and Shep together for stretches , Shep can play better off the ball

Shep deserves 20 minutes a night not 12

[Joe95]

Whoever said Bassy is like Yuri Collins on SLU a couple game threads ago I 100% agree with that statement now

That was I but I said a poor man’s Yuri Collins to this point, would love for him to become the floor general Yuri has become at SLU

[Joe95]

Like in A10 games where teams don’t have a lot of size I would even experiment with this lineup

Walker
Martin
Either Ish
Shep
Thomas

Surround him with 4 guys that can shoot. Spread the floor for Ish and Shep to drive. That is setting him up better for success than putting him out there with both twins and Malik or Carey.

Love that lineup

[Rhodymob05]

I like the flexibility and that option to trade twins for a breather/foul trouble so we can always have a center.

[Jersey77]

Like in A10 games where teams don’t have a lot of size I would even experiment with this lineup

Walker
Martin
Either Ish
Shep
Thomas

Surround him with 4 guys that can shoot. Spread the floor for Ish and Shep to drive. That is setting him up better for success than putting him out there with both twins and Malik or Carey.

Love that lineup

I guarantee Makhel will be starting, but would like to see him matched up with Walker.
I like Thomas but don't think he is ready to take over, I am also very concerned about Shep's all-round play.
Martin needs to get plenty of run.

[steveystuds06]

Yup, no way Makehl isn't in the starting lineup.

[ramster]

Like in A10 games where teams don’t have a lot of size I would even experiment with this lineup

Walker
Martin
Either Ish
Shep
Thomas

Surround him with 4 guys that can shoot. Spread the floor for Ish and Shep to drive. That is setting him up better for success than putting him out there with both twins and Malik or Carey.

Love that lineup

Leggett and El-Amin are shooting at a higher percentage 3P than Sheppard. Both are also playing far tougher defense than Sheppard.

URI is 4th out of 350 teams in Blocked Shots per game
Makhel is 16th Nationally in Blocks per game.

URI is #21 in FG% out of 350 teams and #61 in 3P%

Shooting Percentage and Blocked Shots are strengths thru 10 games.

Defense from some players needs improvement plus rebounding.

El-Amin, Leggett and Makhel have been our most consistent starters through 10 games.

[ramster]

In A10:

URI is 5th in 3P%

• Leggett is 4th

• El-Amin is 16th

• Sheppard is 23rd

URI is #1 in FG%

• Walker is 1st

• Makai is 5th

• Makhel is 7th

[bigappleram]

Like in A10 games where teams don’t have a lot of size I would even experiment with this lineup

Walker
Martin
Either Ish
Shep
Thomas

Surround him with 4 guys that can shoot. Spread the floor for Ish and Shep to drive. That is setting him up better for success than putting him out there with both twins and Malik or Carey.

Love that lineup

Leggett and El-Amin are shooting at a higher percentage 3P than Sheppard. Both are also playing far tougher defense than Sheppard.

URI is 4th out of 350 teams in Blocked Shots per game
Makhel is 16th Nationally in Blocks per game.

URI is #21 in FG% out of 350 teams and #61 in 3P%

Shooting Percentage and Blocked Shots are strengths thru 10 games.

Defense from some players needs improvement plus rebounding.

El-Amin, Leggett and Makhel have been our most consistent starters through 10 games.

That lineup I threw up there wasn't to start the game. That was a lineup I would love to see at some point within the flow of the game. A small ball lineup with our best shooters and a game facilitator / manager PG in Thomas.

In terms of Shep he has been close to a 40% shooter for his entire career with us. He has had an erratic and inconsistent first 1/3rd of season but we won't reach our ceiling if he is sitting on the bench for long stretches IMO. He has the best handle on the team and is the only guard who can get his own shot off the dribble. Ish and Ish are good shooters when open off the catch and shoot. Shep is the only one that can get his own shot and at end of shot clock and end of game situations you need someone like that. That said, he needs to start playing like the 6th year senior he is and make the most out of the last 15-20 games of his career. We won't go very far if he continues to struggle.