Observations of URI going into conference play

[sbrand]

Let's start with the Princeton offense. Thoughts.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Really have some good pieces. They have to elevate a little bit and they will be pretty good. Hopefully they do improve through the season. Be a shame to waste such a front court. It goes Seawright - Martell - Hassan Martin - these twins with walker. Hopefully this era will come close to Martin. Too bad he got hurt at the end bc he was just unstoppable.

[Rhody72]

Makhi needs to play to his strength and hide his weakness. He has not played up to his pre-injury potential. Shepp is not a PG, his improved A/TO stats are a result of his play as the off-guard. There is substantial growth potential on the URI roster.

[reef]

Let's start with the Princeton offense. Thoughts.

I actually like the version of that offense we run

I rewatched the PC game last night , the twins really need to stop committing silly fouls it kills us

Be interesting to see how we come out vs Dayton after the Covid pause

[McRam]

To me he questions revolve around TOS and those periods where we don’t score for 10 minutes.

Do they get tired from all the offense motion and intense defense or is it in their heads or are they simply not in that good of shape ?

And of course my hot button, take some offensive fouls !

[Blue Man]

Let's start with the Princeton offense. Thoughts.

I actually like the version of that offense we run

I rewatched the PC game last night , the twins really need to stop committing silly fouls it kills us

Be interesting to see how we come out vs Dayton after the Covid pause

Or maybe the coach needs to only play one of them at a time so they don’t pick up fouls away from the basket covering other team’s stretch 4’s.

[bigappleram]

Makhi needs to play to his strength and hide his weakness. He has not played up to his pre-injury potential. Shepp is not a PG, his improved A/TO stats are a result of his play as the off-guard. There is substantial growth potential on the URI roster.

He literally hasn’t played more than a minute at off guard all season. We have had the convo questioning why Cox uses Thomas as a like for like sub with Shep and doesn’t play them together. But beyond that fact you nailed it in terms of your making shit up quotient.

[bigappleram]

I never liked the idea of the Twins both on the floor for extended minutes together. But I do imagine that was an inducement for them choosing Rhody.

Walker remains IMO an under utilized asset. His metrics are through the roof and have been for 1.5 seasons now. It’s not a fluke.

El Amin needs to be a bigger factor in A10 play.

My golden rules for Cox remain:
1.) immediately sub out the twins if they get a foul before the first TV timeout

2.) don’t allow Makhi, Makhel, Twan or Malik to take more than 1 dribble ever. If they do yank them.

3.) limit turnovers to 12 or less (directly linked to #2)

[section(105)]

…….me thinks the Dayton game will tell us a lot about the this team going into conference play…….I think what we have seen is what this team is and how it is coached……..and we will see more the same…….no switch being flipped……..maddeningly inconsistent, beating a favored top tier A-10 team, then loosing the next one to bottom team……..go Rhody…….

[Rhodyram]

The fouls made by the twins are reminiscent of the ones Jermaine Harris committed for three years. Is this coincidence or poor coaching???

[ramster]

NET as we are about to enter into A10 Conference Play

Preseason A10 Coaches Poll in ( )
1. (6) Davidson 46 - Biggest positive surprise. Hyunjung Lee 3rd in A10 scoring and 14th in 3FG%, Foster Loyer 12th in A10 scoring and 2nd in 3FG%.
2. (4) VCU 70
3. (3) Saint Louis 71
4. (2) Richmond 78
5. (7) URI 93
6. (5) Dayton 105
7. (1) St Bonaventure 112 - Biggest negative surprise.
8. (8) George Mason 114
9. (9) UMASS 144
10. (14) Fordham 158 - Big positive surprise. Antonio Daye Jr 2nd in A10 scoring, Darius Quisenberry 7th in A10 scoring
11. (10) St Joseph's 179
12. (11) Duquesne 215
13. (13) George Washington 268
14. (12) LaSalle 273

Transfers have been significant impacts on the 2 surprise teams - Davidson and Fordham
For Fordham: Darius Quisenberry is a grad transfer from Youngstown State, Antonio Daye Jr transferred in after 3 years at Florida International
For Davidson: Foster Loyer transferred in after 3 years at Michigan State

URI was picked 7th preseason, comes in at 5th currently with a NET of 93

Keys to URI having improved two slots from preseason expectations:

• Solid play from Makhel Mitchell and Makhi Mitchell - FG percentage and shot blocking

• Solid Play of Walker, Martin and Thomas off the bench

• Improved 3FG% Shooting 4th in A10 with Sheppard, Leggett, El-Amin all shooting well

• Improved FG% Shooting with URI ranked 2nd in A10: Walker 2nd, Makhi 5th and Makhel 7th in A10 - outstanding

• URI is ranked 1st in A10 in Blocked shots, URI is ranked 6th Nationally

• URI is ranked 6th Nationally in FG% Defense

Keys to improving and winning the A10:

• Keep up the outstanding Nationally Top 10 FG% Defense and Shot Blocking performances

• Improve boxing out for rebounds. URI ranks only 7th among A10 teams. Rebounding must improve on both ends of the court

• Reduce Turnovers. URI is ranked a paltry 11th in Assist/Turnover Ratio in A10. Big opportunity for the Coaching Staff

• Get off to a quick start in A10 play to boost the confidence of the players and the staff itself

• Stay Covid free and Injury free

[Rhody72]

He literally hasn’t played more than a minute at off guard all season.

You are not watching what is actually happening on the court. Typical NYer: all hat, no cattle.

[ramster]

He literally hasn’t played more than a minute at off guard all season.

You are not watching what is actually happening on the court. Typical NYer: all hat, no cattle.

So 72, you are saying Leggett or El-Amin have been the PG with Sheppard in the game? Sheppard has been the PG in all games I’ve seen and I’ve seen them all.

[Jersey77]

NET as we are about to enter into A10 Conference Play

Preseason A10 Coaches Poll in ( )
1. (6) Davidson 46 - Biggest positive surprise. Hyunjung Lee 3rd in A10 scoring and 14th in 3FG%, Foster Loyer 12th in A10 scoring and 2nd in 3FG%.
2. (4) VCU 70
3. (3) Saint Louis 71
4. (2) Richmond 78
5. (7) URI 93
6. (5) Dayton 105
7. (1) St Bonaventure 112 - Biggest negative surprise.
8. (8) George Mason 114
9. (9) UMASS 144
10. (14) Fordham 158 - Big positive surprise. Antonio Daye Jr 2nd in A10 scoring, Darius Quisenberry 7th in A10 scoring
11. (10) St Joseph's 179
12. (11) Duquesne 215
13. (13) George Washington 268
14. (12) LaSalle 273

Transfers have been significant impacts on the 2 surprise teams - Davidson and Fordham
For Fordham: Darius Quisenberry is a grad transfer from Youngstown State, Antonio Daye Jr transferred in after 3 years at Florida International
For Davidson: Foster Loyer transferred in after 3 years at Michigan State

URI was picked 7th preseason, comes in at 5th currently with a NET of 93

Keys to URI having improved two slots from preseason expectations:

• Solid play from Makhel Mitchell and Makhi Mitchell - FG percentage and shot blocking

• Solid Play of Walker, Martin and Thomas off the bench

• Improved 3FG% Shooting 4th in A10 with Sheppard, Leggett, El-Amin all shooting well

• Improved FG% Shooting with URI ranked 2nd in A10: Walker 2nd, Makhi 5th and Makhel 7th in A10 - outstanding

• URI is ranked 1st in A10 in Blocked shots, URI is ranked 6th Nationally

• URI is ranked 6th Nationally in FG% Defense

Keys to improving and winning the A10:

• Keep up the outstanding Nationally Top 10 FG% Defense and Shot Blocking performances

• Improve boxing out for rebounds. URI ranks only 7th among A10 teams. Rebounding must improve on both ends of the court

• Reduce Turnovers. URI is ranked a paltry 11th in Assist/Turnover Ratio in A10. Big opportunity for the Coaching Staff

• Get off to a quick start in A10 play to boost the confidence of the players and the staff itself

• Stay Covid free and Injury free

Ramster, I would maybe add George Mason.
They have 3 key transfer starters:
Schwartz (Colorado)- 14.6 pts/ 5 rebs
Gaines (Tenn)- 11 pts/ almost 8 rebs
Cooper (Moorehead)- 13 pts

You made all valid points concerning URI.
Rebounding has been one my biggest disappointments along with our lack of assists and high turnover rate, which you identified.
Also as far as keys for improvement, I would also add staying out of foul trouble, especially the Mitchells.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

It's simple: Our offense can't deal with a zone, and our defense doesn't switch screens.

[The Dude]

Observations:
- Too many fouls (meaning giving too many easy opportunities to opponents to score uncontested points at the line)
- Not good at free throws (meaning not able to win close games)
- Not good from 3pt (meaning not likely to handle zone defenses or be able to come back in games)
I don't see how this team wins too many games playing the way they currently do. It's definitely not NCAA Tournament worthy at this point, in my opinion, or worth of top 4 in the A10.

[bigappleram]

He literally hasn’t played more than a minute at off guard all season.

You are not watching what is actually happening on the court. Typical NYer: all hat, no cattle.

Your shtick is tired to keep with the cattle theme you need to be put out to pasture.

[ramster]

NET as we are about to enter into A10 Conference Play

Preseason A10 Coaches Poll in ( )
1. (6) Davidson 46 - Biggest positive surprise. Hyunjung Lee 3rd in A10 scoring and 14th in 3FG%, Foster Loyer 12th in A10 scoring and 2nd in 3FG%.
2. (4) VCU 70
3. (3) Saint Louis 71
4. (2) Richmond 78
5. (7) URI 93
6. (5) Dayton 105
7. (1) St Bonaventure 112 - Biggest negative surprise.
8. (8) George Mason 114
9. (9) UMASS 144
10. (14) Fordham 158 - Big positive surprise. Antonio Daye Jr 2nd in A10 scoring, Darius Quisenberry 7th in A10 scoring
11. (10) St Joseph's 179
12. (11) Duquesne 215
13. (13) George Washington 268
14. (12) LaSalle 273

Transfers have been significant impacts on the 2 surprise teams - Davidson and Fordham
For Fordham: Darius Quisenberry is a grad transfer from Youngstown State, Antonio Daye Jr transferred in after 3 years at Florida International
For Davidson: Foster Loyer transferred in after 3 years at Michigan State

URI was picked 7th preseason, comes in at 5th currently with a NET of 93

Keys to URI having improved two slots from preseason expectations:

• Solid play from Makhel Mitchell and Makhi Mitchell - FG percentage and shot blocking

• Solid Play of Walker, Martin and Thomas off the bench

• Improved 3FG% Shooting 4th in A10 with Sheppard, Leggett, El-Amin all shooting well

• Improved FG% Shooting with URI ranked 2nd in A10: Walker 2nd, Makhi 5th and Makhel 7th in A10 - outstanding

• URI is ranked 1st in A10 in Blocked shots, URI is ranked 6th Nationally

• URI is ranked 6th Nationally in FG% Defense

Keys to improving and winning the A10:

• Keep up the outstanding Nationally Top 10 FG% Defense and Shot Blocking performances

• Improve boxing out for rebounds. URI ranks only 7th among A10 teams. Rebounding must improve on both ends of the court

• Reduce Turnovers. URI is ranked a paltry 11th in Assist/Turnover Ratio in A10. Big opportunity for the Coaching Staff

• Get off to a quick start in A10 play to boost the confidence of the players and the staff itself

• Stay Covid free and Injury free

Ramster, I would maybe add George Mason.
They have 3 key transfer starters:
Schwartz (Colorado)- 14.6 pts/ 5 rebs
Gaines (Tenn)- 11 pts/ almost 8 rebs
Cooper (Moorehead)- 13 pts

You made all valid points concerning URI.
Rebounding has been one my biggest disappointments along with our lack of assists and high turnover rate, which you identified.
Also as far as keys for improvement, I would also add staying out of foul trouble, especially the Mitchells.

77,
I only mentioned transfers having an impact on the 2 teams with the biggest changes so far: Davidson #1 NET vs #6 Preseason and Fordham #10 NET vs #14 Preseason (6 places and 4 places respectively). George Mason is #8 NET and #8 Preseason so unchanged.

My own inference is that possibly the Coaches did not know of or underestimated the value of he transfers to both Davidson and Fordham.

The Transfers to GMU maybe were more factored in by Coaches preseason? Or maybe other reasons for Davidson and Fordham to be surprising by so much at this early stage. We also do not know if the Davidson and Fordham upside surprise will "keep up"

[sbrand]

So is the consensus to start Antwan and have Makei come off the bench. What would Antwan bring to the starting five that Makei does not offer? Less turnovers. Better defense. Better offense when playing in tandem with Makel?

Also on playing against a zone haven’t we improved in this area?

[Jersey77]

So is the consensus to start Antwan and have Makei come off the bench. What would Antwan bring to the starting five that Makei does not offer? Less turnovers. Better defense. Better offense when playing in tandem with Makel?

Also on playing against a zone haven’t we improved in this area?

That would be my preference and all of the above, but probably not going to happen.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Martin start over EA with his length and defense.
I think his play has been more consistent and would give us more of an edge coming out of the gate.
EA could bring that spark off the bench.

[section(105)]

……..I like the Martin starting, but Coach Cox has his ways, seems pretty set in them…….the switch I mentioned in earlier post seems stuck here it is, I just do not see anything significant changing in use of players, attacking the zones, reducing the turnovers, etc…….riding the up and down from game to game, possession to possession……..letting the conference season play itself out……and we will see what pieces there are to keep, which will hit the portal button, what evaluation Thor and company will complete, what turns up in the portal that fits our needs at that point……

[sbrand]

Walker’s minutes and overall numbers are down. Is he being underutilized?

[steviep123]

Walker’s minutes and overall numbers are down. Is he being underutilized?

Yes - very much so.

[sbrand]

Would you say they should run some plays inside for him or just play him with just one of the bigs.

[steviep123]

Would you say they should run some plays inside for him or just play him with just one of the bigs.

Both. Walker is an underrated passer - either design plays for him to pass to one of the Mitchells or kick back out (or a pass back to him).

I would have loved to see him play with Toppin more than one semester.

[reef]

……..I like the Martin starting, but Coach Cox has his ways, seems pretty set in them…….the switch I mentioned in earlier post seems stuck here it is, I just do not see anything significant changing in use of players, attacking the zones, reducing the turnovers, etc…….riding the up and down from game to game, possession to possession……..letting the conference season play itself out……and we will see what pieces there are to keep, which will hit the portal button, what evaluation Thor and company will complete, what turns up in the portal that fits our needs at that point……

I can’t see Cox putting Twan in the starting lineup unless an injury to either twin

[SGreenwell]

The fouls made by the twins are reminiscent of the ones Jermaine Harris committed for three years. Is this coincidence or poor coaching???

FWIW, I kind of think some players are just foul prone. If you're recruiting shot-blocking centers and PFs, they're more likely to foul than guys who just focus on positional defense. Ideally, you want players who can do both. And that being said, I think URI's frontcourt defense is pretty good - the defensive ratings for our backcourt guys are the issue.

[ace]

The fouls made by the twins are reminiscent of the ones Jermaine Harris committed for three years. Is this coincidence or poor coaching???

FWIW, I kind of think some players are just foul prone. If you're recruiting shot-blocking centers and PFs, they're more likely to foul than guys who just focus on positional defense. Ideally, you want players who can do both. And that being said, I think URI's frontcourt defense is pretty good - the defensive ratings for our backcourt guys are the issue.

With Harris, he fouled a lot in high school, too, but his team had him playing away from the basket. The teams recruiting him were hopeful that they could get him under the basket and coach him up. It didn’t work out that way.

[Jersey77]

The fouls made by the twins are reminiscent of the ones Jermaine Harris committed for three years. Is this coincidence or poor coaching???

FWIW, I kind of think some players are just foul prone. If you're recruiting shot-blocking centers and PFs, they're more likely to foul than guys who just focus on positional defense. Ideally, you want players who can do both. And that being said, I think URI's frontcourt defense is pretty good - the defensive ratings for our backcourt guys are the issue.

With Harris, he fouled a lot in high school, too, but his team had him playing away from the basket. The teams recruiting him were hopeful that they could get him under the basket and coach him up. It didn’t work out that way.

Yes , it was unfortunate.
Not sure if it was his lingering injuries that hindered him, he was contemplating foot surgery at some point.
I feel bad the situation at New Mexico State didn't work out for him.
Many recruits much higher ranked than him didn't pan out at the next level.

[section(105)]

……I would have to offer that coaching, or lack there of, has a some role with Rhody players repeatedly being called on these type fouls……..coaching, I mean more then telling a layer….” Don’t do that……..”

[NC_Ram]

I've seen Davidson's Loyer play and he is really really good. He was a former Mr. Basketball in Michigan. Both he and Lee are shooting around 40/50/90 (3p/2p/FT). Davidson found a diamond!!