3/9 | Fordham | 1:00PM (ESPN+)

[BobfromMatunuck]

Yes let’s get fast. Do not forget where the fast break was invented. Trust

[ramster]

Congrats on the family addition, 77! That's awesome!

Brown did have a good game, Fuchs was back starting, where he should be...and Luis continues to get after it despite being less than perfectly suited for the PG role. To me, LK gets the "delivered way more than expected" award. (It is almost a little humorous now to see Arch waving his arms for them to "run" "faster"...with Luis already running as fast as he can)

Need to go streaking and postpone L #20 as long as possible.

I agree NYG, relative to expectations Luis performed well this year.
He's not a natural PG, but he had plenty of moments where he showed up big. Moreso than others.

Luis, he got thrust into the PG position out of necessity. If House goes and Hammond arrives, I think Luishas shown capability to get to the hoop on dribble drive. I don’t like how Luis puts back to defender while at PG, to protect the ball. I think that reduces his court vision that the PG needs. Like his motor. Hope he stays.

I don't think he was thrust in to the PG out of necessity. That sounds like someone got injured or transferred out unexpectedly.
Kortright was recruited in to be the Point Guard. There was nobody else for PG unless you count Always Wright who came in as a Junior College 1 year PG.

Kortright had a great game against URI playing last season for Quinnipiac that Miller remembered fondly. Kortright was the 6th man at Quinnipiac and played both PG and Shooting guard.

[reef]

Congrats on the family addition, 77! That's awesome!

Brown did have a good game, Fuchs was back starting, where he should be...and Luis continues to get after it despite being less than perfectly suited for the PG role. To me, LK gets the "delivered way more than expected" award. (It is almost a little humorous now to see Arch waving his arms for them to "run" "faster"...with Luis already running as fast as he can)

Need to go streaking and postpone L #20 as long as possible.

I agree NYG, relative to expectations Luis performed well this year.
He's not a natural PG, but he had plenty of moments where he showed up big. Moreso than others.

Yeah, Luis has been one of our most consistent players all year. He's a tough kid and a leader. I would give him a B for this year. He had a stretch where he was pretty bad, but I think he was playing hurt in those games, as he looked even slower.

I know many have said they want him back, and I would take him, but I think we need faster, more athletic players on the floor for this team to take a real step forward, as Archie wants. Luis is slow on both ends, and it can hurt us. However, Luis is a veteran who has shown he can be a clutch player. He might be more successful playing off the ball while Hammond runs the point. He's also a solid backup point guard if we need him to run the offense.

I think I'm in the minority in wanting House back over Luis. The main reason is I want Hammond to get as much playing time as possible, and I believe House could be very successful next to a fast-paced, playmaking point guard. Too often, Luis slows it down and has issues getting by his man, so House is stuck receiving the ball outside the 3-point line and needs to try to make a play by himself. I think Hammond will put House and others in much better positions to score. I know we could bring back House and Luis, but that makes me believe Cam won't have a more significant role, and Hammond won't play as much. Since next year will be a rebuilding year yet again, I would prefer to see our younger guys develop and play big minutes.

We'll see what happens. For now, let's extend the season a little longer and have some fun. Obviously, if we win both games and play Dayton, we will lose by 100, but let's win the first two games!!

Solid points Stevey, I’m sure Arch is going to have some difficult conversations with some of our players , does he want them back ? Do they want to come back ? Will be interesting to see how it plays out

[ramster]

Some thoughts on the Fordham game and the environment……..

2,850 attendance on a rainy afternoon. Game was sold out in advance with exception of students who get tickets at the game. Student Section ended up being full.
Lot of energy in the building which is old and compact. Seats are all close to the court.
Fordham Band was loud and larger than the URI band. The acoustics are good. Band is loud as are the fans making for a good basketball environment.

Nice Senior Day celebration. Keith Urgo started 2 Seniors who rarely play to the excitement of the student section who clearly knew the two classmates. At the end of the game Urgo inserted Senior 5’11” Guard Albe Evans again for the last 20 seconds exciting the students and he was grinning ear to ear and getting lots of hugs from coaches and teammates.

Fordham Student Section went with chants like “Let’s Go Fordham” and “You Can’t Do That” numerous times. They stay engaged in the action.

Nice having the gym on campus and easy to walk to.

While URI announced 3100 Senior Night attendance I’d guess it was actually 1500-2000 or so, also on a rainy night. Big difference with 2850 in a sold out small building vs 1500-2000 actual bodies in a 8000 capacity building.

Both teams very similar, not very good W/L records…..yet Fordham still sold out.
URI went in (11-19) (5-12)
Fordham went in (11-18) (5-11)
Fordham was 7.5 point favorites and URI win by 8

I wonder if the close in environment, the band, the crowd noise and enthusiasm got our URI guys going and motivated? It sure seemed like it. Our players had energy, a chip on their shoulder, played tough defense especially out along the 3 point line.

I wonder also how we will react to a very large and very empty Barclay Center at 4:30pm Tuesday afternoon. Doubtful that many fans from the 11:30 and the 2pm games will stay around.
St Louis and URI will likely have small contingents based on last year’s attendance.

Was nice to get a win heading to Barclays.

Pictures of the Senior who started the game and also ended it while playing 1 total minute. So excited and fans clearly appreciated him.

Fan at halftime swished the shot from halfcourt but I’m not sure what he won.

[ramster]

Student section

[ramster]

Scoreboard on both ends of the court show key stats for both teams and keeps them displayed.
Player number
Points
Rebounds
Assists
Fouls

[ramster]

Some in student section had posters

Not sure what the “F-“sign meant but my mind went towards when Archie said our defense was F-
And not sure what the “73” sign meant but the students were having fun with them.

[RF1]

Supposedly the Fordham Rose Hill Gym presently has a capacity of 2,850 despite the school still listing it at 3,200. Some changes over the years such as replacing some bleachers with chair backs and making accessibility improvements have reduced capacity. Last year, Fordham capped capacity at even less than 2,850 because of construction on the building connected to the gym. The season before also had capacity reduced as NY (both city and date) had strict Covid rules.

Fordham is one of several A-10 schools where is it tough to get accuratel venue capacities. GW, SBU, and LaSalle are also in that group. Modifications have been made at these facilities which have supposedly reduced capacity but the school either has not changed the official number or chosen to no longer list it. SBU for the longest time listed the Reilly Center at 6,000. It is now thought to be 4,750. GW used to list the Smith Center at 5,000 but it is thought to be closer to 4,500 these days. LaSalle used to list Gola at 4,000 but they now have it as 3,400. It is thought the upcoming reconfiguration of the venue will even further reduce that number.

[Blue Man]

Great thoughts and intel Ramster.

One thing I will say re: capacity, is that if Rhody stayed in Keaney we'd sell out every game.

Fordham staying in Rose hill and only recently able to sell it out (they had their most wins EVER last year) is more a commentary on their commitment to basketball (their endowment is 5x URI) and where both programs stand in stature for their respective down and up years.