1/27 | George Mason | 4:00PM (ESPN+)

[Blue Man]

I'm sad.

[Jdrums#3]

You have to be mentally tough, imho, to be a good defensive team. This collection of Rhody players aren’t mentally tough enough.

But then, they may not be smart enough (in basketball IQ) either.

Spread the blame around. It takes two to tango.

[Jersey77]

I'm sad.

Disappointing, but there will be some positives we can take away from this season.

The addition of Green and his impact plus the play of freshmen Cam and Fuchs.

[Jdrums#3]

I'm sad.

Disappointing, but there will be some positives we can take away from this season.

The addition of Green and his impact plus the play of freshmen Cam and Fuchs.

Jersey, like BM posted, I am sad, too. It is hard not to be with the most recent performances added on top of the past several seasons.

But, you are correct concerning the young players.

And, I will add big Fou to Cam and Fuchs, as well.

I haven’t checked but I don’t think there are multiple A10 teams relying on 3 freshman as much as we are this season. Maybe GW is the only other one ?

[theblueram]

I'm sad.

Disappointing, but there will be some positives we can take away from this season.

The addition of Green and his impact plus the play of freshmen Cam and Fuchs.

Jersey, like BM posted, I am sad, too. It is hard not to be with the most recent performances added on top of the past several seasons.

But, you are correct concerning the young players.

And, I will add big Fou to Cam and Fuchs, as well.

I haven’t checked but I don’t think there are multiple A10 teams relying on 3 freshman as much as we are this season. Maybe GW is the only other one ?

I also agree Fou, Cam and Fuchs will be really good.

[bigappleram]

I'm sad.

Disappointing, but there will be some positives we can take away from this season.

The addition of Green and his impact vplus the play of freshmen Cam and Fuchs.

I would add Foumena to that list. I like the energy he brings and if he can get stronger in offseason he could really blossom. We must retain all 3.

[Jersey77]

I'm sad.

Disappointing, but there will be some positives we can take away from this season.

The addition of Green and his impact plus the play of freshmen Cam and Fuchs.

Jersey, like BM posted, I am sad, too. It is hard not to be with the most recent performances added on top of the past several seasons.

But, you are correct concerning the young players.

And, I will add big Fou to Cam and Fuchs, as well.

I haven’t checked but I don’t think there are multiple A10 teams relying on 3 freshman as much as we are this season. Maybe GW is the only other one ?

Yes definitely Fou as well.

And yes about GW, possibly UMass with their big freshmen class.

[NYGFan_Section208]

A lot of folks criticizing the 'pack line' but honestly it does not appear that we are even playing it.
At first I thought it was just not being comprehended and executed well but if you watch, the most basic concepts of the defense are not even close to being followed. So it does not appear that the players are even attempting it. We are just playing straight man and not very well.

We are not forcing the ball to the middle, and when we get beaten middle the help is late (leading to lots of reach fouls) or non existent (leading to open lay ups). We are also getting beaten by edge drives because we are not taking an outside defensive stance.
The defense is made for teams like us - teams with guards that have trouble keeping the ball in front of them.
If they would play the defense right, it could help. They just aren't.

Yet somehow opposing teams are still getting lots of open 3s. It's like we are in between land. It's the worst of all worlds, defensively.

Agree with this. Also fwiw I think we have taken 1 charge this year. 1. Maybe have even attempted to draw a charge 3-4 times. It’s basic stuff.

Charges count as turnovers. We don't do that here?

[UCH21377]

I'm sad.

Disappointing, but there will be some positives we can take away from this season.

The addition of Green and his impact vplus the play of freshmen Cam and Fuchs.

I would add Foumena to that list. I like the energy he brings and if he can get stronger in offseason he could really blossom. We must retain all 3.

Agree these are the building blocks. A couple of the other kids may have a role but it starts with those three

[LoveThoseRams]

Ya left out the refs suck…….

also, the wifi sucks, and the announcer sucks...

[ramster]

Ya left out the refs suck…….

also, the wifi sucks, and the announcer sucks...

And no replays and the dreaded black curtain

[section(105)]

Ya left out the refs suck…….

also, the wifi sucks, and the announcer sucks...

And no replays and the dreaded black curtain

And long slow lines at concessions, crap food

[steveystuds06]

Blueram, we have some talent here for sure, especially the freshmen. If Archie could bring in a few more like them over the next couple years, and we cut out the weakest links, we might actually be good by that point.

That could be done years ago, and he did that at Dayton.

But those days are over, now that players can come and go at the drop of a hat.

I have very little confidence that we will be able to keep our core talent like Dan did

That's the elephant in the room!

Bone I think he has 2 recruits coming in that are pretty good. Keep the 3 freshmen (Fou, Cam and Fuchs) and add the two recruits and we shall see.

Hammond is great, but I worry that we expect him to come in and make a huge impact immediately. He will still need some time to get used to this level. I think he'll have no issues running the offense, but I do think he'll have some trouble scoring. He's not a good 3 pt shooter at this stage. I've seen him have some issues against bigger athletic guards. However, those guards are going to programs like Duke and other high majors. He will be a very good point guard for us, but I expect him to have a season like Cam. I still think Archie should bring on a veteran point guard. Get rid of Ways. I wish we had someone like TJ senior year. An older, intelligent, defensive-minded guard who is fine coming off the bench.

People claimed I was overhyping Farell when I said he would be our best defender in a long time. Any player who comes in as a defensive specialist would be the best defender. Our defense is horrible and has been for a while.. Farrell draws charges, and Farell plays great on-ball and off-ball d. He's a smart defender. Great shot blocker as well. The issue with Farell is he's got one of the ugliest-looking shots I've seen. He's a better passer than you would think but he will need some time to make an impact on the offensive end. It may be similar to Lamonte Ulmer. He mainly scored on put backs and hustle plays in his early years. And he jumped through the roof. I would also compare Farrell to someone like Mekhi Long who has had a decent college career.

[theblueram]

Blueram, we have some talent here for sure, especially the freshmen. If Archie could bring in a few more like them over the next couple years, and we cut out the weakest links, we might actually be good by that point.

That could be done years ago, and he did that at Dayton.

But those days are over, now that players can come and go at the drop of a hat.

I have very little confidence that we will be able to keep our core talent like Dan did

That's the elephant in the room!

Bone I think he has 2 recruits coming in that are pretty good. Keep the 3 freshmen (Fou, Cam and Fuchs) and add the two recruits and we shall see.

Hammond is great, but I worry that we expect him to come in and make a huge impact immediately. He will still need some time to get used to this level. I think he'll have no issues running the offense, but I do think he'll have some trouble scoring. He's not a good 3 pt shooter at this stage. I've seen him have some issues against bigger athletic guards. However, those guards are going to programs like Duke and other high majors. He will be a very good point guard for us, but I expect him to have a season like Cam. I still think Archie should bring on a veteran point guard. Get rid of Ways. I wish we had someone like TJ senior year. An older, intelligent, defensive-minded guard who is fine coming off the bench.

People claimed I was overhyping Farell when I said he would be our best defender in a long time. Any player who comes in as a defensive specialist would be the best defender. Our defense is horrible and has been for a while.. Farrell draws charges, and Farell plays great on-ball and off-ball d. He's a smart defender. Great shot blocker as well. The issue with Farell is he's got one of the ugliest-looking shots I've seen. He's a better passer than you would think but he will need some time to make an impact on the offensive end. It may be similar to Lamonte Ulmer. He mainly scored on put backs and hustle plays in his early years. And he jumped through the roof. I would also compare Farrell to someone like Mekhi Long who has had a decent college career.

I thought Hammond was a 4*? Maybe I misread something. If these two aren't like EC and Hass, ready to go day 1, Archie still has work to do.

[SmartyBarrett]

A lot of folks criticizing the 'pack line' but honestly it does not appear that we are even playing it.
At first I thought it was just not being comprehended and executed well but if you watch, the most basic concepts of the defense are not even close to being followed. So it does not appear that the players are even attempting it. We are just playing straight man and not very well.

We are not forcing the ball to the middle, and when we get beaten middle the help is late (leading to lots of reach fouls) or non existent (leading to open lay ups). We are also getting beaten by edge drives because we are not taking an outside defensive stance.
The defense is made for teams like us - teams with guards that have trouble keeping the ball in front of them.
If they would play the defense right, it could help. They just aren't.

Yet somehow opposing teams are still getting lots of open 3s. It's like we are in between land. It's the worst of all worlds, defensively.

Agree with this. Also fwiw I think we have taken 1 charge this year. 1. Maybe have even attempted to draw a charge 3-4 times. It’s basic stuff.

It wouldn't fix all the issues they have in generating turnovers, but it would help!

[SGreenwell]

We may set an NCAA record this year for least number of turnovers forced during a season.

In all seriousness, if an opposing team did full court, 3 man weave drills with no defense for 40 min they'd have more than 2 turnovers.

After yesterday's game, we're now 282 (out of 362) in adjusted defense by Kenpom, and by Sports Reference, we're 340th. We are 343rd in steals per game, and your thoughts about turnovers is correct - We have forced 171 turnovers, about 8.6 per game. That is 361st in the country right now. Teams are shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from 3 against us, which aren't awful, but it doesn't matter when they're getting so many "extra" possessions. Plus, turnovers usually mean easier baskets on the other end for us.

[rhodyram22]

The real question is, when is the turning point for this team? In 1 game, 3 games, 6 games?

[bigappleram]

To further illustrate the deficiencies…we have the 2nd best eFG% in league games and 7th overall offense. And the highest free throw rate in the league.

That would translate to wins if we could play any semblance of D, improve from the foul line and either cut down our own turnovers or create some from the opponent.

[Rhodymob05]

I feel like the A10 doesn’t have any world beaters, but most teams are definitely competitive enough to give anyone in the league a problem. No real cupcakes.

[Jersey77]

I feel like the A10 doesn’t have any world beaters, but most teams are definitely competitive enough to give anyone in the league a problem. No real cupcakes.

Yep, exactly

[rambone 78]

Most of our issues stem from a lack of talent.

Archie's job is to keep our good players, dump the underachievers, and bring in more good players.

Simple right?

[NYGFan_Section208]

Most of our issues stem from a lack of talent.

Archie's job is to keep our good players, dump the underachievers, and bring in more good players.

Simple right?

Mostly, I would add that, you don't have to keep every 'good' player, you can "dump" those (kick rocks?) for great ones

[bigappleram]

Most of our issues stem from a lack of talent.

Archie's job is to keep our good players, dump the underachievers, and bring in more good players.

Simple right?

I don’t necessarily think that’s true. I think there is talent but not enough of them have that dog in them. Talented but mentally soft.

[ElmCityRhody]

I'm sad.

[section(105)]

Difficult to judge mentally soft from the portal? Unless we know their toilet tissue choice?

[rambone 78]

Mental talent is seriously lacking in several of our players.

Just as important as physical talent, if not more so.

All important in evaluating recruits.

[Rhodymob05]

The win streak proved there’s talent. The losing streak proved its mentally unstable.

[rjv]

I just want to put out there
High Point 7-0 conf 18-4 overall
Quinnipiac 8-1 conf 16-4 overall
Bradley 7-3 conf 15-6 overall

[SGreenwell]

I just want to put out there
High Point 7-0 conf 18-4 overall
Quinnipiac 8-1 conf 16-4 overall
Bradley 7-3 conf 15-6 overall

High Point and Quinnipiac changed head coaches. Bradley won 25 games last year.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I just want to put out there
High Point 7-0 conf 18-4 overall
Quinnipiac 8-1 conf 16-4 overall
Bradley 7-3 conf 15-6 overall

I wonder if fans of those teams see House, Luis and Zek as having "transferred down"?

[section(105)]

I just want to put out there
High Point 7-0 conf 18-4 overall
Quinnipiac 8-1 conf 16-4 overall
Bradley 7-3 conf 15-6 overall

High Point and Quinnipiac changed head coaches. Bradley won 25 games last year.

Kinda my point on someone else’s castoffs, but every situation is different, the crap shoot of the portal……

[Jersey77]

I just want to put out there
High Point 7-0 conf 18-4 overall
Quinnipiac 8-1 conf 16-4 overall
Bradley 7-3 conf 15-6 overall

High Point and Quinnipiac changed head coaches. Bradley won 25 games last year.

Kinda my point on someone else’s castoffs, but every situation is different, the crap shoot of the portal……

What's really crazy is that I originally thought David Green would be our most marginal addition from the portal.
And he is turning out to be the best of the bunch.

[reef]

We may set an NCAA record this year for least number of turnovers forced during a season.

In all seriousness, if an opposing team did full court, 3 man weave drills with no defense for 40 min they'd have more than 2 turnovers.

After yesterday's game, we're now 282 (out of 362) in adjusted defense by Kenpom, and by Sports Reference, we're 340th. We are 343rd in steals per game, and your thoughts about turnovers is correct - We have forced 171 turnovers, about 8.6 per game. That is 361st in the country right now. Teams are shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from 3 against us, which aren't awful, but it doesn't matter when they're getting so many "extra" possessions. Plus, turnovers usually mean easier baskets on the other end for us.

361st out of how many in turnovers forced ?

[PeterRamTime]

We may set an NCAA record this year for least number of turnovers forced during a season.

In all seriousness, if an opposing team did full court, 3 man weave drills with no defense for 40 min they'd have more than 2 turnovers.

After yesterday's game, we're now 282 (out of 362) in adjusted defense by Kenpom, and by Sports Reference, we're 340th. We are 343rd in steals per game, and your thoughts about turnovers is correct - We have forced 171 turnovers, about 8.6 per game. That is 361st in the country right now. Teams are shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from 3 against us, which aren't awful, but it doesn't matter when they're getting so many "extra" possessions. Plus, turnovers usually mean easier baskets on the other end for us.

361st out of how many in turnovers forced ?

That would be second to last in the entire country.

We couldn't turnover a sheet of tissue paper if we wanted to.

[rambone 78]

With our turnovers forced and ft shooting, we dominate the stat sheets.

In the wrong direction.

Pathetic and embarassing.

[section(105)]

I just want to put out there
High Point 7-0 conf 18-4 overall
Quinnipiac 8-1 conf 16-4 overall
Bradley 7-3 conf 15-6 overall

I wonder if fans of those teams see House, Luis and Zek as having "transferred down"?

Interesting, High Point up, Quinn up, Bradley down. No?

[Billyboy78]

Blueram, we have some talent here for sure, especially the freshmen. If Archie could bring in a few more like them over the next couple years, and we cut out the weakest links, we might actually be good by that point.

That could be done years ago, and he did that at Dayton.

But those days are over, now that players can come and go at the drop of a hat.

I have very little confidence that we will be able to keep our core talent like Dan did

That's the elephant in the room!

Bone I think he has 2 recruits coming in that are pretty good. Keep the 3 freshmen (Fou, Cam and Fuchs) and add the two recruits and we shall see.

Hammond is great, but I worry that we expect him to come in and make a huge impact immediately. He will still need some time to get used to this level. I think he'll have no issues running the offense, but I do think he'll have some trouble scoring. He's not a good 3 pt shooter at this stage. I've seen him have some issues against bigger athletic guards. However, those guards are going to programs like Duke and other high majors. He will be a very good point guard for us, but I expect him to have a season like Cam. I still think Archie should bring on a veteran point guard. Get rid of Ways. I wish we had someone like TJ senior year. An older, intelligent, defensive-minded guard who is fine coming off the bench.

People claimed I was overhyping Farell when I said he would be our best defender in a long time. Any player who comes in as a defensive specialist would be the best defender. Our defense is horrible and has been for a while.. Farrell draws charges, and Farell plays great on-ball and off-ball d. He's a smart defender. Great shot blocker as well. The issue with Farell is he's got one of the ugliest-looking shots I've seen. He's a better passer than you would think but he will need some time to make an impact on the offensive end. It may be similar to Lamonte Ulmer. He mainly scored on put backs and hustle plays in his early years. And he jumped through the roof. I would also compare Farrell to someone like Mekhi Long who has had a decent college career.

Hammond has been playing against the best high school talent in the country for 4 years. I'm not worried about that. It's crazy but when he comes here, he'll be playing with less talent than he has at Paul VI and Team Takeover. He's been great at running a team with talent loaded around him. I wonder when he gets here if he'll feel like he'll have to do too much himself since the scorers around him won't be as good as they were in high school and AAU. What I'm trying to say is I'm more concerned about who he will be playing WITH more than I do about who he's playing against.

[RF1]

The real question is, when is the turning point for this team? In 1 game, 3 games, 6 games?

I hope that Archie realizes that patience is wearing thin for Rhody fans as most of us expected we would be further along in the rebuild process than where we seem to presently be.

[rhodyram22]

The real question is, when is the turning point for this team? In 1 game, 3 games, 6 games?

I hope that Archie realizes that patience is wearing thin for Rhody fans as most of us expected we would be further along in the rebuild process than where we seem to presently be.

exactly.

[theblueram]

The real question is, when is the turning point for this team? In 1 game, 3 games, 6 games?

I hope that Archie realizes that patience is wearing thin for Rhody fans as most of us expected we would be further along in the rebuild process than where we seem to presently be.

I get it. But we have three very promising freshmen in Fuchs, Cam and Foumena. We have some good recruits coming in next year. The team needs another year to see what we got. I'm as impatient as everyone else. But I'm waiting to see if the freshmen this year step up as sophomores.

[Jersey77]

The real question is, when is the turning point for this team? In 1 game, 3 games, 6 games?

I hope that Archie realizes that patience is wearing thin for Rhody fans as most of us expected we would be further along in the rebuild process than where we seem to presently be.

I am sure Archie realizes it and understands the current situation in regard to the fan base.

Finishing 14th last season was below our expectations, but understandably we gave him a pass.
Getting beat at home by Brown, UNH, and Fordham in addition to the 30+ point losses certainly created quite a stir (in a negative way) around the Rhody faithful.

It is now time for him to turn it around and having La Salle and Duquesne back-to-back at the RC should give him that opportunity, at least start getting things going in a positive direction.

Still with the talent of our youth, we should have some optimism going forward in 24-25.

[NYGFan_Section208]

The real question is, when is the turning point for this team? In 1 game, 3 games, 6 games?

I hope that Archie realizes that patience is wearing thin for Rhody fans as most of us expected we would be further along in the rebuild process than where we seem to presently be.

I am sure Archie realizes it and understands the current situation in regard to the fan base.

Finishing 14th last season was below our expectations, but understandably we gave him a pass.
Getting beat at home by Brown, UNH, and Fordham in addition to the 30+ point losses certainly created quite a stir (in a negative way) around the Rhody faithful.

It is now time for him to turn it around and having La Salle and Duquesne back-to-back at the RC should give him that opportunity, at least start getting things going in a positive direction.

Still with the talent of our youth, we should have some optimism going forward in 24-25.

He either realized it, or someone told him. My guess is someone told him to send that tweet. Doesn't strike me as the type that would just voluntarily do that

[section(105)]

Exactly, social media is just trash.

[Rhody15]

Exactly, social media is just trash.

Social media is the best and worst thing to happen to society.

So much good comes from it, yet so much insufferable trash comes along as well.

[DeanDome88]

I sincerely hope Hammond is quick enough to actually guard someone.

He's a small guy with quick feet and hands. He is actually a threat to steal the ball. He should be fine on that end and in running the offense just do not expect him to be a lights out shooter because so far he is not.

[reef]

I sincerely hope Hammond is quick enough to actually guard someone.

He's a small guy with quick feet and hands. He is actually a threat to steal the ball. He should be fine on that end and in running the offense just do not expect him to be a lights out shooter because so far he is not.

I’m expecting him to be lightning quick FATTS style !

[Jdrums#3]

I sincerely hope Hammond is quick enough to actually guard someone.

He's a small guy with quick feet and hands. He is actually a threat to steal the ball. He should be fine on that end and in running the offense just do not expect him to be a lights out shooter because so far he is not.

I’m expecting him to be lightning quick FATTS style !

Good discussion on Hamm above.

I also think - from what I’ve watched of him so far - that his foot speed resembles Fatts’ although I don’t know if it as elite as Fatts’ foot speed. We will see when he plays here.

I agree he has the quick feet and hands to help us on D. We (the Rhody coaching staff) just have to be careful to keep him out of situations against stronger guards that can body him because of his slight build.

Really looking forward to watching him play here.