11/26 | Yale | 4:00PM (ESPN+)

[PeterRamTime]

Small sample size but Weston is 6 of 7 from three and the 1 he missed was all but in…and out. Struggles to find his own shot tho which is a concern. Would love Archie to run stuff to find him looks bc I like his shot.

The issue with Always is he is almost zero threat to score. Any old timers remember Carlos Easterling who was effective but had a ceiling bc he was not a threat to score. Against better competition that weakness stands out more. It’s hidden against less formidable comp.

For today…Bilau makes an impact, Jaden gets some of his mojo back, Zek is Zek. Rhody wins. Manifest it!

Yeah. Personally, I think Always is a liability. He does well against weak competition, but when he played against legitimate talent, he couldn't do a thing. Some may criticize me for saying this, but I believe Bassy was a better guard off the bench. Ways could develop, but Hammond should be ahead of him the moment he arrives. If he's not, then he's not as good as we thought.

Weston still has plenty of upside, and he's clearly a better player than last year. If he stays healthy, I think he'll be one of our most consistent players and earn more minutes. The more our bigs get abused, I believe Archie will go smaller with Weston and Zek.

As I posted earlier today, I'd take Bassy over Ways. But in my opinion, both aren't A10-level guards. Cam and Hammond are the future backcourt.

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

[jcru]

I like Always over Bassy, but the point is moot because he's not going to get significant minutes going forward. He got 6 this game, that or less, is what you should expect going forward, barring unforeseen circumstances.

[CamsRams]

Reminder:
The Yale game is the start of a three-year series in which the Bulldogs return to the Ryan Center next season before hosting URI in 2025-26.

(In case this hasn’t been recently posted)

[class of 86]

This is 1 of the best college games I've ever attended What really surprise me that fact that the game Was over in just about an hour and 50 minutes.10 players from URI scored. Only 18 free throws for both teams and that did not slow down the game 1 bit.

[steveystuds06]

Yeah. Personally, I think Always is a liability. He does well against weak competition, but when he played against legitimate talent, he couldn't do a thing. Some may criticize me for saying this, but I believe Bassy was a better guard off the bench. Ways could develop, but Hammond should be ahead of him the moment he arrives. If he's not, then he's not as good as we thought.

Weston still has plenty of upside, and he's clearly a better player than last year. If he stays healthy, I think he'll be one of our most consistent players and earn more minutes. The more our bigs get abused, I believe Archie will go smaller with Weston and Zek.

As I posted earlier today, I'd take Bassy over Ways. But in my opinion, both aren't A10-level guards. Cam and Hammond are the future backcourt.

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

[Not Mike Powell]

As I posted earlier today, I'd take Bassy over Ways. But in my opinion, both aren't A10-level guards. Cam and Hammond are the future backcourt.

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

Sebastian Thomas was not good at basketball here.

[rhodylaw]

As I posted earlier today, I'd take Bassy over Ways. But in my opinion, both aren't A10-level guards. Cam and Hammond are the future backcourt.

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

In two years maybe - look the question is not Bassy or Ways, it is Bassy or Kortwright. Give me Kortwright.

Ways is a guy who can develop over time, the way that Thomas was supposed to. Bassy would have been much better off here with a redshirt year followed by backup minutes his first year - not his fault he beat out the rest of the PGs on the team both years he was here even though he was not ready for that role.

[section(105)]

Morning after; coffee smells better, tastes better, 1/2 spring in the step, deep cleansing breaths, gonna attack the last pile of leaves, looking forward to the ‘Hate Week’ stuff on here. My usual theme, kids have have to adjust and respond quickly to that bigger stage. Go Rhody

[SandorClegane]

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

In two years maybe - look the question is not Bassy or Ways, it is Bassy or Kortwright. Give me Kortwright.

Ways is a guy who can develop over time, the way that Thomas was supposed to. Bassy would have been much better off here with a redshirt year followed by backup minutes his first year - not his fault he beat out the rest of the PGs on the team both years he was here even though he was not ready for that role.

Spot on take here. Thought Sebastian would have immensely benefited from a RS year. Gotta give the kid credit through, he worked hard and no one questioned his effort.

Seems like it worked out well for everyone. Kortwright is a good fit here, Hammond looks primed to take the reins…and Bassey looks like he’s doing well at his new school.

[jcru]

I don't know anything about Albany. Their coach, their style of play, nothing. But I do know that in the past we have had players leave very disciplined, very structured, very intense game plans, that not everyone is able to adapt to, and when they go to another program where they are given free reign to basically express themselves and play however they want, they sometimes flourish. Is it possible that is what is happening in this case?

I made a mention of this in-game. We play straight up Man D here, like we did when Hurley was here. When you are cruising, like we saw in the second half, all is well, but when you are down double digits like we were in the first half it can be very taxing on every facet of the game plan.

I think that is why they seemed to explode out of the locker room in the second half. Fresh legs. Reset button.

I mean, the concept really isn't that different than the time of possession aspect of football, where if you leave your defense out on the field forever, they eventually break. I realize I look at things from a perspective of stats, but that seems likely to me.

[DeanDome88]

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

Sebastian Thomas was not good at basketball here.

Bassy played very hard for us.

[PeterRamTime]

As I posted earlier today, I'd take Bassy over Ways. But in my opinion, both aren't A10-level guards. Cam and Hammond are the future backcourt.

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

No, but as far as a back up PG goes he is better suited than Bassey is right now. Bassey would go in the game and force his offense like he did last year and it would probably kill the flow of the offense. I'm sure there would be times where he'd go off, but in the grand scheme of things I like Ways coming in and getting everyone involved.

I also watched Bassey against a pretty average Seton Hall team and he was completely inept in that game. When faced with higher level athletes he was overmatched. 2-11 7 points 4 TO's.

He's also a junior in his 3rd year in college basketball and Ways just played in his 7th D1 game.

Yeah Always will never score a bunch of points, but I don't think that's necessary for us going forward. He just needs to provide some offense, which he's showed flashes of. His three against Wagner late and his basket against Yale early in the game when we had just gone down 11.

[steveystuds06]

Always was fine out there today. He didn't do anything that screwed anything up. Made a nice little jump shot when we were in a slump. I think as the season goes on he'll just get better. Dude is an athlete and I like how he runs the offense.

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

No, but as far as a back up PG goes he is better suited than Bassey is right now. Bassey would go in the game and force his offense like he did last year and it would probably kill the flow of the offense. I'm sure there would be times where he'd go off, but in the grand scheme of things I like Ways coming in and getting everyone involved.

I also watched Bassey against a pretty average Seton Hall team and he was completely inept in that game. When faced with higher level athletes he was overmatched. 2-11 7 points 4 TO's.

He's also a junior in his 3rd year in college basketball and Ways just played in his 7th D1 game.

Yeah Always will never score a bunch of points, but I don't think that's necessary for us going forward. He just needs to provide some offense, which he's showed flashes of. His three against Wagner late and his basket against Yale early in the game when we had just gone down 11.

I didn't think he was inpet against Seton Hall. His shot didn't fall, but I thought he was the only player on Albany that actually penetrated and gave his teammates some open looks. Imagine Ways needing to run the offense the entire game with the pressure Seton Hall had that game? Reminder that Ways was unplayable against Northwestern against more athletic high major players. Albany just happened to miss a lot of shots that game. But that's his only bad game this year. He's had one. He's been great in the rest. Inculding yesterday where he had 14 pts, 7 boards, and 4 assts. He's become a very solid D1 point guard. Ways is a sophmore. I think he has a ways to go to make that type of jump by next year like Bassy has. We'll see what happens.

[PeterRamTime]

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

No, but as far as a back up PG goes he is better suited than Bassey is right now. Bassey would go in the game and force his offense like he did last year and it would probably kill the flow of the offense. I'm sure there would be times where he'd go off, but in the grand scheme of things I like Ways coming in and getting everyone involved.

I also watched Bassey against a pretty average Seton Hall team and he was completely inept in that game. When faced with higher level athletes he was overmatched. 2-11 7 points 4 TO's.

He's also a junior in his 3rd year in college basketball and Ways just played in his 7th D1 game.

Yeah Always will never score a bunch of points, but I don't think that's necessary for us going forward. He just needs to provide some offense, which he's showed flashes of. His three against Wagner late and his basket against Yale early in the game when we had just gone down 11.

I didn't think he was inpet against Seton Hall. His shot didn't fall, but I thought he was the only player on Albany that actually penetrated and gave his teammates some open looks. Imagine Ways needing to run the offense the entire game with the pressure Seton Hall had that game? Reminder that Ways was unplayable against Northwestern against more athletic high major players. Albany just happened to miss a lot of shots that game. But that's his only bad game this year. He's had one. He's been great in the rest. Inculding yesterday where he had 14 pts, 7 boards, and 4 assts. He's become a very solid D1 point guard. Ways is a sophmore. I think he has a ways to go to make that type of jump by next year like Bassy has. We'll see what happens.

You're just Always hatin'!

Thomas has 68 D1 games under his belt and Always has 7. He was splitting time with football throughout high school too. Wasn't until about a year ago he decided to do basketball full time. I just don't get how Thomas on this team would make any sense.

Okay he'd be back up, force his offense and be okay with taking a backseat to Kortright?

One guy you have for 3 years the other for 2.

[steveystuds06]

No, but as far as a back up PG goes he is better suited than Bassey is right now. Bassey would go in the game and force his offense like he did last year and it would probably kill the flow of the offense. I'm sure there would be times where he'd go off, but in the grand scheme of things I like Ways coming in and getting everyone involved.

I also watched Bassey against a pretty average Seton Hall team and he was completely inept in that game. When faced with higher level athletes he was overmatched. 2-11 7 points 4 TO's.

He's also a junior in his 3rd year in college basketball and Ways just played in his 7th D1 game.

Yeah Always will never score a bunch of points, but I don't think that's necessary for us going forward. He just needs to provide some offense, which he's showed flashes of. His three against Wagner late and his basket against Yale early in the game when we had just gone down 11.

I didn't think he was inpet against Seton Hall. His shot didn't fall, but I thought he was the only player on Albany that actually penetrated and gave his teammates some open looks. Imagine Ways needing to run the offense the entire game with the pressure Seton Hall had that game? Reminder that Ways was unplayable against Northwestern against more athletic high major players. Albany just happened to miss a lot of shots that game. But that's his only bad game this year. He's had one. He's been great in the rest. Inculding yesterday where he had 14 pts, 7 boards, and 4 assts. He's become a very solid D1 point guard. Ways is a sophmore. I think he has a ways to go to make that type of jump by next year like Bassy has. We'll see what happens.

You're just Always hatin'!

Thomas has 68 D1 games under his belt and Always has 7. He was splitting time with football throughout high school too. Wasn't until about a year ago he decided to do basketball full time. I just don't get how Thomas on this team would make any sense.

Okay he'd be back up, force his offense and be okay with taking a backseat to Kortright?

One guy you have for 3 years the other for 2.

Maybe I watched a different player but this idea that Bassy was some selfish player that forced shots and wouldn't be ok to come off the bench is not true. The kid worked his ass off and did whatever the team asked. I'd take a kid like that on any team.. He got more aggressive last year because we literally had no scoring options besides Ish. If we needed playmaking, he did that. If we needed more scoring, he took more shots. If Ways stays here all three years and that's a big IF and becomes a great player that's great but I think he's really far away. I'm not hating; I just think one player is better than the other. We'll see what happens.

[Not Mike Powell]

Ya, he was fine. Do you think he could go drop 17 a game at Albany right now? I don't. Say what you want about Bassy, but the kid looks bigger, stronger, and faster, and his shot looks better too. I watched him against Umass, and he was one of the best players on the floor. He's 9-21 from 3 so far this year as well, which is 42%. The good news is we have another kid named Cam Esteves, who I think will be much better than Ways and Bassy. So it all worked out. Bassy is where he should be and he's doing a great job.

Sebastian Thomas was not good at basketball here.

Bassy played very hard for us.

So what. He missed layups and shot 20% from 3.

[Jersey77]

I didn't think he was inpet against Seton Hall. His shot didn't fall, but I thought he was the only player on Albany that actually penetrated and gave his teammates some open looks. Imagine Ways needing to run the offense the entire game with the pressure Seton Hall had that game? Reminder that Ways was unplayable against Northwestern against more athletic high major players. Albany just happened to miss a lot of shots that game. But that's his only bad game this year. He's had one. He's been great in the rest. Inculding yesterday where he had 14 pts, 7 boards, and 4 assts. He's become a very solid D1 point guard. Ways is a sophmore. I think he has a ways to go to make that type of jump by next year like Bassy has. We'll see what happens.

You're just Always hatin'!

Thomas has 68 D1 games under his belt and Always has 7. He was splitting time with football throughout high school too. Wasn't until about a year ago he decided to do basketball full time. I just don't get how Thomas on this team would make any sense.

Okay he'd be back up, force his offense and be okay with taking a backseat to Kortright?

One guy you have for 3 years the other for 2.

Maybe I watched a different player but this idea that Bassy was some selfish player that forced shots and wouldn't be ok to come off the bench is not true. The kid worked his ass off and did whatever the team asked. I'd take a kid like that on any team.. He got more aggressive last year because we literally had no scoring options besides Ish. If we needed playmaking, he did that. If we needed more scoring, he took more shots. If Ways stays here all three years and that's a big IF and becomes a great player that's great but I think he's really far away. I'm not hating; I just think one player is better than the other. We'll see what happens.

Absolutely agree Stevey.
Actually this shouldn't be debatable, Bassy is currently the better player, and it isn't even close.
But yeah there may come a time when Ways develops and will surpass Bassy but not right now.

Bassy was forced into the rotation his freshman year and last season's team was horrible and he may have fell into a sophomore slump.
But this year he seemed to have found his groove and is coming into his own and yes, the conference is a drop down which helps.

He is averaging about 17 pts/ 4 rebs/ and 3 assists, also 39% 3PT and 82% FT.
Plus dropped 19 pts in their loss to UMass.

[ATPTourFan]

Nice piece from Kevin McNamara. It’s free to read.

[ATPTourFan]

[Rhody15]

Nice piece from Kevin McNamara. It’s free to read.

I saw the projo was advertising for another sportswriter 1/2 months ago.

Wonder if KMac has any interest to go back and vice versa.

[Jdrums#3]

Nice piece from Kevin McNamara. It’s free to read.

Good article, ATP. Thanks for posting it.

[steveystuds06]

You're just Always hatin'!

Thomas has 68 D1 games under his belt and Always has 7. He was splitting time with football throughout high school too. Wasn't until about a year ago he decided to do basketball full time. I just don't get how Thomas on this team would make any sense.

Okay he'd be back up, force his offense and be okay with taking a backseat to Kortright?

One guy you have for 3 years the other for 2.

Maybe I watched a different player but this idea that Bassy was some selfish player that forced shots and wouldn't be ok to come off the bench is not true. The kid worked his ass off and did whatever the team asked. I'd take a kid like that on any team.. He got more aggressive last year because we literally had no scoring options besides Ish. If we needed playmaking, he did that. If we needed more scoring, he took more shots. If Ways stays here all three years and that's a big IF and becomes a great player that's great but I think he's really far away. I'm not hating; I just think one player is better than the other. We'll see what happens.

Absolutely agree Stevey.
Actually this shouldn't be debatable, Bassy is currently the better player, and it isn't even close.
But yeah there may come a time when Ways develops and will surpass Bassy but not right now.

Bassy was forced into the rotation his freshman year and last season's team was horrible and he may have fell into a sophomore slump.
But this year he seemed to have found his groove and is coming into his own and yes, the conference is a drop down which helps.

He is averaging about 17 pts/ 4 rebs/ and 3 assists, also 39% 3PT and 82% FT.
Plus dropped 19 pts in their loss to UMass.

Ya Jersey, I don't know how anyone can say Ways is better right now. The eye test and stats say otherwise, but because he's not a Ram, I don't think people want to admit it.

[reef]

Good to see the local scribes taking notice of our nice win yesterday

We really need a solid showing @ PC to keep up that momentum

[steviep123]

Nice piece from Kevin McNamara. It’s free to read.

I saw the projo was advertising for another sportswriter 1/2 months ago.

Wonder if KMac has any interest to go back and vice versa.

I know Will Geoghegan has been freelancing for the Projo. He covered the first Rhody men's and women's games at the Ryan Center.

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

Good to see the local scribes taking notice of our nice win yesterday

We really need a solid showing @ PC to keep up that momentum

Jim Donaldson is a lazy journalistic hack, a URI-hater/PC-lover...won't read him, ever.

[bigappleram]

He’s kinda equal opportunity hater. Kmac has the PC/BE slant IMO but Donaldson seemed to more be curmudgeonly on everything.