How would you rate Coach Miller for the 2022-2023 Season?

[ramster]

How would you rate Coach Miller for the 2022-2023 Season?

This is the 4th annual HC Report Card

Same format as the previous 3 Ratings Polls.

2019-2020 - had 82 responses
2020-2021 - had 81 responses
2021-2022 - had 70 responses

[Rhody Guy]

In my opinion he was far too slow to adjust his rotations in some games. There were games where 10 minutes in I was screaming to play 2 "bigs" and it didn't happen till there were 10 minutes left, or to start doubling down in the post. Have to make quicker adjustments before it's too difficult to regain momentum.

[Rhody15]

Kicked off best transfer, another transfer didn’t come to the school, predicted 9th and finished 14th, won 9 games (only team in conference with single digit wins), no A10 tourney wins, not many players showed improvement from beginning to end of season, and to top it all off, our best player is in the portal and probably isn’t returning.

Hard to give that anything other than an F.

[section(105)]

Give it a C, why you ask? Well, for starters he brought hope, transition from hopelessness to hope. Couple that he brought an overall proven successful system to URI. Downside, questionable talent evaluation and failure to further develop players with deficiencies. Expected more in terms of slow and steady growth as the season unfolded. Like he said, when the ball went up against Q, he had no idea what he had. Obviously much of this was due to late hiring regarding the use of transfer portal and the cupboard pretty empty with A-10 level competitive talent. Not giving him as pass this past season, and I think even he was surprised by the overall season results.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Gave him an incomplete because it was hard to judge a coach with that roster.

[ram1980]

I'm concerned about his stubbornness sticking with the packline defense when he didn't have the personnel to utilize it. Mix in other defenses to make the other team adjust. He didn't do that once all year. Especially considering he probably knew at least half these players would not be back next year. Timeout usage was coxesque in many games (after made baskets). Cox got crucified for that. Give him a pass on personnel because he was hired late. Will start judging him on his incoming class and manipulation of portapalooza. This is a big year for the coach. Need to see consistent improvement as year goes on. We didn't see that this past season. I would like to see better in game decisions and continuous improvement this year..

[SGreenwell]

I went with a C+, but vacillated between that and a C. I bumped it up a tiny bit for basically turning Leggett from a guy that was in a pretty deep funk to a near All-Conference level. Thomas also improved incrementally, and Samb wasn't good, but I kind of doubt he was awesome in 2021-22 either, since Cox chose to redshight him. Freeman didn't work out, but his production per 40 minutes increased in some regards even with his difficulties. Miller clearly still knows how to coach guys up.

The talent acquisition and talent scouting part remains a big TBD. This year's roster felt like it was assembled last minute, which I attribute to Miller being out of coaching for a year. I doubt he was pounding the pavement at the AAU circuits to recruit kids for a job he didn't have. His recruiting for the next two to three years is going to be the "make or break" aspect of the job for him, because the cupboard is completely bare from the Cox era and Miller's grab-bag attempt at a roster heading into 2022-23. I don't think it matters so much if those players are graduate transfers, conventional transfers or HS recruits - we just need talent at this point, to build around and to entice higher level talent from there.

[Billyboy78]

Gave him an incomplete because it was hard to judge a coach with that roster.

I did the same. And people would say he's the one who built the roster. Yes, he did, but he got here in March and had to fill spots to field a team. He and Kenny hadn't coached the previous season, so they weren't in on a lot of these kids. No excuse now though. Connections have been re-established. Now go get the players.

[RhowdyRam02]

Gave him an incomplete because it was hard to judge a coach with that roster.

I did the same. And people would say he's the one who built the roster. Yes, he did, but he got here in March and had to fill spots to field a team. He and Kenny hadn't coached the previous season, so they weren't in on a lot of these kids. No excuse now though. Connections have been re-established. Now go get the players.

This is pretty much exactly where I am

[DeanDome88]

This past season was painful as a fan. I gave Archie a B because I still believe he is the right man for the job.

I caught a press conference with Jacoby Meyers after he signed with the Raiders. In response to a question he was talking about how Josh McDaniels had really pushed him to improve as a player when he was OC of the Patriots. Meyers explained that he thought he already knew everything when he entered the league and did not enjoy many of the interactions at the time but he realized a couple of years later how much it had helped him improve as a football player and mature as a man.

Archie knows the game and seems to push his players hard. Ish Leggett improved considerably under Archie this year and would be smart to stay if improving as a basketball player is most important to him.

Players have to understand that the coaches are in charge and actually know the game even though players have NIL and transfer opportunities. We may have had some players in the program over the last couple of seasons who did not quite understand or accept that. Under Archie I do not suspect we will have any that stay in the program.

[Blue Man]

I think you have to start this year with a handicap.

We hired a coach who was out of the game for a year - that means no pipeline, no assistant coaches to bring with him. The coaches he brought in either came late like Duane or were also out of the game for a year.

We hired the right guy, it's unfortunate we didn't get him from another program after building them up...but that's the reality for URI. We're not a "destination" so we had to sell a vision. That means we're not getting a plug and play person who can immediately come in and turn something around.

As far as I'm concerned, this year wasn't about W/L. It was about building culture and starting to see glimpses of what could be when it's all set up in year 4.

If you don't think we saw that you're high, an idiot, a hater, or Rhody72, the megazord of dumb on this board.

We had NINE games - almost a third of our schedule - that were decided in the final minute of regulation or at the buzzer. Literal bounces of the ball, a whistle going the other way, a shot that goes in or out - and the mouth breathers who only understand W/L and not the nuances and realities of a year one rebuild would be calling this a "resounding success."

Despite everything that happened this year with injuries and the Bray situation - a seriously hobbled and largely talentless roster took the only NCAA team in this conference to the brink and forced them to hit a difficult buzzer beater with a hand in their face to beat us. For the games that we did win, and what we were close in - to do what we did with the roster we had? That's a hell of a coaching job.

This year will be huge in terms of bringing in the talent - but I think last year showed what Archie can do with very little talent. Yes, it's on the coaching staff to bring in talent - but for where we were last year with hiring and how far our program had fallen, we had to take chances on high risk/high reward guys. Guys with injury history (Bilau, Alex). Guys with eligibility issues (Foumena, Harris). Guys with behavioral issues (Bray). We had bad luck with all of them. The injuries, the eligibility, and the behavior. Nothing went our way in terms of luck.

I have confidence that we've at least established a culture within the building and with the guys who stay as to what will be expected.

As for the past year, with all those realities - I'm stuck somewhere between a B- and an incomplete, and here's why:

It is the coaches' job to put his players in positions to be successful. It is the player's job to execute on that guidance.

In all my years of watching URI basketball, I don't think I've ever seen an offense that generated more open looks than this years. I've also never seen players miss more WIDE OPEN shots. That tells me we have the coach and the system, not the right players.

Look at Ish. Look at who he was last year under Cox and who he transformed into this year. Look at Rory - he was unplayable the first few weeks and you saw down the stretch he looked like someone who could become a serious threat in the years to come.

I have hope again, and I have faith that we're going to have a great offseason recruiting. See you in November.

[luke]

If we are giving a grade to Archie for this season , I give him an incomplete . I am a patient person . It is always hard to be patient and I remember
many people on this board were doubting Hurley .Hurley started out 8-21 then went 14-18 then 23-10 . the next season when Matthews went down they were 17-15 and many started doubting Hurley and thought he should be on a short leash if he didn't get it done the following year . He did , but the team
had to win their final 9 games of the season including winning the a 10 Tournament . I remember when they had lost 5 in a row that season before that 9 game winning streak i posted that they could still make it to the NCAA Tournament and many thought I was crazy , but there were a few who did buy
into the optimism and Hurley got it done . Some very short memories among the URI faithful . We didn't go from 8-21 to25-10 and 26-8. We hada
second losing season at 14-18 . it wasn't all peaches and cream right away and there were plenty of impatient fans that weren't that sure about Hurley then . I had faith in Hurley because I was ver y familiar with him being from NJ so I never doubted . I have the same faith in Archie because I am a Dayton grad and watched Archie coach Dayton to the final 8 and 4 consecutive NCAA tournaments .You gotta believe this man knows how to build a
team . He will get it done . I believe we will see significant progress next season just as Hurley did. Keep the faith .

[Jdrums#3]

I haven’t read through the thread yet but I gave Arch a C+.

Here’s how it breaks down for me, fwiw:

65 for roster construction
90 for coaching staff construction
80 for culture building
75 for scheduling
85 for in game coaching

The 5 aspects above avg out to 79 or a C+ For yr 1.

[adam914]

It was a D for me. That doesn’t change anything about my expectations, hope for the future, or faith in Archie, but this season was a mess.

[rhodysurf]

It was a D for me. That doesn’t change anything about my expectations, hope for the future, or faith in Archie, but this season was a mess.

same from me

[Jdrums#3]

I sympathize with the incomplete’s because I struggled back and forth between an incomplete and my C+.

To add quickly, my expectations are still high but timeline is longer than what I thought initially.

[CaptainRon]

Incomplete. Came in late and didn’t get to have a full recruiting class. Team was bad, but got better. Next year, no excuses. Need to see more.

[reef]

I’m a huge Arch fan but gave a C , 9-22 record

[Seawrightspostgame]

Awful. Team seemed to improve which is cool and indicative of coaching talent. The team was awful though. I don't really see how he can build it up. It will take a long time. Especially if the team is so bad and then one guy gets good and just leaves because the team is trash. Tough spot to be in. I like Arch but the vision wasn't there this year putting the team together.

[RAM67]

I'll own up to giving a B. I was borderline C+, but always hated that type of grade when I was a kid so I bumped it up to a B. Tough to grind out this type
of season with the talent he had. If the A10 was stronger, a lot of people would probably have given him a higher grade. I personally don't think it should matter.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Kicked off best transfer, another transfer didn’t come to the school, predicted 9th and finished 14th, won 9 games (only team in conference with single digit wins), no A10 tourney wins, not many players showed improvement from beginning to end of season, and to top it all off, our best player is in the portal and probably isn’t returning.

Hard to give that anything other than an F.

Agree. Although I commend the effort. We used to also be graded on effort. My parents were only concerned with that, not the actual grade...bygone era...

[steviep123]

I have to think about this - the culture got better and clearly Ish and to some extent Bassy improved. Stewart also got better throughout the season. Other than a few outliers, the effort was there and there were some good moments, like the back to back wins vs. LaSalle and Dayton before everything went to hell.

[rambone 78]

He gets a C
Plenty of room for improvement, but the potential is there.

[hrstrat57]

He gets a C
Plenty of room for improvement, but the potential is there.

I went C as well. Offense created a ton of shots CYO and youth hoops kids make. Now he needs a few players that can make shots. Pack line was decent and will get better if talent level goes up.

Hate to see Leggett go he really fit into Miller’s style.

[R.Kelly150]

C an average man’s grade, but I don’t think he is average. He had them playing well at times, but clearly the overall performance of the team was low. I don’t understand who honestly thought they would win 20 games this season. No front court and weak outside shooting isn’t going to win many games. I get Legget leaving, he would most likely never experience a NCAA tournament game if he stayed here. Miller needs to build by getting freshman in here who believe in him and the program. Would have EC or Jared left Hurley even if there was a wide open transfer portal doing their time at URI? I think not! Yes supplement with transfers especially those looking to move up a level not down a level. I would say only target the players moving down from high major if you already recruited them, if there was a coaching change, or some other reasonable reason why they are looking to move down…. everyone wants more playing time some deserve more and others just want it.

[RamStock]

Gave him a D only because he is unquestionably a better coach than Cox. In terms of everything else I don’t see how anyone can give him a B when we won 9 games, finished in last place, didn’t develop any players to be excited about, missed out on recruits and whiffed on Harris and Freeman. If he earned a B what we he get if we ever finished at .500 an A+. Hopefully he does a better job with getting some talent in rather than all the projects and castoffs we had this year. He can coach for sure, but he isn’t close to good enough to overcome this kind of lack of talent.

[reef]

I’m confident when Arch has the talent around him then he will exceed his grade

[UCH21377]

D

Bottom line was 9-22, and not a ton of talent on board yet.

[theblueram]

I gave him an A+. Because I'm glad we got him here to coach. He had to put an entire team together out of the blue. The scrimmage told me the players sucked, but what are ya gonna do? Next year and the '24 recruits will let me know how this will work out.

[rambone 78]

I know it's been said here many times already, but the next 2 recruiting periods are HUGE for the direction of this program.

We have to be better. As in at least .500 next season.

[reef]

I know it's been said here many times already, but the next 2 recruiting periods are HUGE for the direction of this program.

We have to be better. As in at least .500 next season.

And if we are under .500 then year 3 will be extra extra critical