12/7 | Brown | 7:00PM (YurView/ESPN+)

[RI_Bred]

President, CEO, SVP of the Archie Miller Fan Club has some explaining to do. Hopefully an official statement forthcoming tonight.

Welcome to year one of a rebuild. It was disgusting to see. But did we forget what rebuilds look like? We got let down slowly over 4 years and for whatever reason people just ignored URI instead of being angry at Dave Cox.

Idk why you’re getting angry at the guy who’s going to dig us out of this mess and not the guy who got us here.

Year 1-2 is about the guy before. Year 3 is about the guy in the chair.

That sucked - but we have a young team and a broken culture. 1 reliable scorer now in Ish Leggett. But you can’t make assessments on true freshmen in 9 games. Anyone saying they’re looking for mass transfers can go suck a brick and go up to Providence and root for them.

I guess this is the part where I remind everyone that Dan Hurley started out worse, that people here wanted him fired, and that the Fordham loss our A10 championship year was worse.

Bassy isn’t good enough to play the major minutes, but we’re short on ball handlers. These are the growing pains.

Archie is trying to establish a culture and teach a very complex system to a team of largely freshmen.

I like hearing that he had an explanation for why he didn’t call a timeout. I disagree but I trust the guy.

He’s going to fix it. But it won’t be on our timetable. It won’t be pleasant. But it’ll be worth it.

We’ll be good when we’re good. See you Saturday.

I don’t know what it is, my friend. I can’t pinpoint it, but for me it goes beyond being the first year of a rebuild with an inexperienced roster. Something is off.

Maybe I just miss that absolute maniac on the sidelines desperate to win every game. I don’t get the same vibe with this coaching staff.

Archie was absolutely the best hire. I’d do it 100 out of 100 times. But if there was a performance evaluation after 9 months since his hire, and 9 games played, there wouldn’t be many positives.

Not that my opinion means a darn thing.

Agree, it's just a feeling. Hopefully it corrects and passes.

[steveystuds06]

It’s been a brutal start but I’m with Blueman. We’ll be fine.

[bigappleram]

Not all rebuilds are the same and every coach is different.
But from minute 1 of Game 1 under Dan you could feel the difference. It was tangible. Even when we sucked you saw it and could point to things and say that’s different. The bread crumbs were being laid down. I don’t see that yet with Archie. It’s still early.

[bigappleram]

Just read Roady Jay’s note…great minds

[bigappleram]

I also can’t reiterate enough how bad our streaming TV product is.

“Tyson wheeler Rhody legend from those special teams with Lamar Odom and Cuttino Mobley”

They replayed a Brown guy dunking in our face multiple times including going into commercial after Ish made that awesome pass to Weston. One of our nicest plays of the year maybe and the home broadcast going into commercial shows the home team guy getting dunked on. You can’t make this up.

And again it’s not the kids fault. They are kids. They shouldn’t be our TV announcing crew.

[hrstrat57]

Like I said early in the thread it’s just weird. Coach Dale had a plan Hickory passed up tons of open shots till 4 passes were exchanged.

Mrs hrstrat57 yelled “shoot” all night. I recall early in the game Freeman being wide open and still calling for the pick.

I dunno….when Freeman did dribble drive he scored or went to the line over and over.

[DeanDome88]

Sure he could have used the TO to set up a half court offense that we suck at running. But yea he should have at least tried.

This is my thought. I don’t have a huge issue with not using the TOs. Our half court offense is horrific, probably had a better chance catching them off guard in transition.

Been saying it for weeks. You have two creators/scores in Bray and Ish. Then you have everyone else. And everyone else seems incapable of scoring consistently at a D1 level (minus Malik on occasion)

Samb is decent on the offensive end and I will give him a lot of credit for consistently running the floor. I wish his defense in the paint would catch up to his offense. Our team does not seem connected to each other at all on the defensive end of the court. Early in the game when Rhody seemed to get almost every defensive rebound they jumped out to a lead. Later when Brown was getting second chance points they got back into the game. I hated watching Lou Hutchinson get beat down the court by the kid who blocked his 3 point attempt. I'd like to see him sprint down the court. Weston just looked tentative and a step slow to me. We need serious improvement. I 'm a little bit surprised our transfer from Alabama is getting splinters while we sometimes play small ball with these other guys who are also struggling to contribute. I thought he showed potential early in the season.

[DeanDome88]

Can’t win giving up layups under your basket on inbound passes.

At any level….

Brown gave one up tonight and still won.

[PeteRI]

The really disappointing part is you aren’t seeing even a glimmer of consistency from any of the new guys. Weston still looks unsure of himself on offense and like he’s never played basketball. Tchikou didn’t even see the court. Rory and Hutch zilch.

Right now we have two small-ish combo guards (Bray and Ish) that can play and I’m searching for what else. Bilau has shown flashes in multiple games of being serviceable but thats about it. I have no expectations for wins but some development isn’t even evident yet.

I dont know we looked good the entire way except for the last three minutes

Guys were making plays

They kept answering the bell then they just don't know how to win and folded

But damn we gotta at least start beating the bottom of division 1 I mean come on

Hate to break it to you but right now we ARE the bottom of Division 1.

[ramster]

Sure he could have used the TO to set up a half court offense that we suck at running. But yea he should have at least tried.

This is my thought. I don’t have a huge issue with not using the TOs. Our half court offense is horrific, probably had a better chance catching them off guard in transition.

Been saying it for weeks. You have two creators/scores in Bray and Ish. Then you have everyone else. And everyone else seems incapable of scoring consistently at a D1 level (minus Malik on occasion)

Samb is decent on the offensive end and I will give him a lot of credit for consistently running the floor. I wish his defense in the paint would catch up to his offense. Our team does not seem connected to each other at all on the defensive end of the court. Early in the game when Rhody seemed to get almost every defensive rebound they jumped out to a lead. Later when Brown was getting second chance points they got back into the game. I hated watching Lou Hutchinson get beat down the court by the kid who blocked his 3 point attempt. I'd like to see him sprint down the court. Weston just looked tentative and a step slow to me. We need serious improvement. I 'm a little bit surprised our transfer from Alabama is getting splinters while we sometimes play small ball with these other guys who are also struggling to contribute. I thought he showed potential early in the season.

2:37 to go Samb made a bad pass turnover
2:00 to go Samb made 1 of 2 FTs
1:37 to go Samb shot an air ball from about 5 feet from the hoop
Having both Samb and Bilau in the game the last couple minutes hurt. Westin would have been a better option than Samb the last 2 minutes for FTs and better ball handling.

As already mentioned, at least 1 timeout was desirable, maybe even 2. Seemed to be a bit of deer in the headlights looks with the URI coaches and players as Brown snatched Victory from Defeat

I can tell you there was plenty of grumbling from the 200 level patrons as they headed for the exits after this one. Not the keep the chin up like some here are calling for.

And not very good attendance for season ticket holder seating or from students. Games like this don’t help for upcoming games either.

[ramster]

President, CEO, SVP of the Archie Miller Fan Club has some explaining to do. Hopefully an official statement forthcoming tonight.

Welcome to year one of a rebuild. It was disgusting to see. But did we forget what rebuilds look like? We got let down slowly over 4 years and for whatever reason people just ignored URI instead of being angry at Dave Cox.

Idk why you’re getting angry at the guy who’s going to dig us out of this mess and not the guy who got us here.

Year 1-2 is about the guy before. Year 3 is about the guy in the chair.

That sucked - but we have a young team and a broken culture. 1 reliable scorer now in Ish Leggett. But you can’t make assessments on true freshmen in 9 games. Anyone saying they’re looking for mass transfers can go suck a brick and go up to Providence and root for them.

I guess this is the part where I remind everyone that Dan Hurley started out worse, that people here wanted him fired, and that the Fordham loss our A10 championship year was worse.

Bassy isn’t good enough to play the major minutes, but we’re short on ball handlers. These are the growing pains.

Archie is trying to establish a culture and teach a very complex system to a team of largely freshmen.

I like hearing that he had an explanation for why he didn’t call a timeout. I disagree but I trust the guy.

He’s going to fix it. But it won’t be on our timetable. It won’t be pleasant. But it’ll be worth it.

We’ll be good when we’re good. See you Saturday.

I don’t know what it is, my friend. I can’t pinpoint it, but for me it goes beyond being the first year of a rebuild with an inexperienced roster. Something is off.

Maybe I just miss that absolute maniac on the sidelines desperate to win every game. I don’t get the same vibe with this coaching staff.

Archie was absolutely the best hire. I’d do it 100 out of 100 times. But if there was a performance evaluation after 9 months since his hire, and 9 games played, there wouldn’t be many positives.

Not that my opinion means a darn thing.

Up 30-23 at half - nice up by 7!!
Wojkic hits a 3 at 19:27 as inexplicably Freeman fouls him shooting a 3.
Wojkic misses the FT but Brown gets the damn rebound. Wojkic launches another 3 and just misses what would have been a 6 point possession!!

At 18:44 Malik Martin buries a 3 standing 2 feet in front of the URI Bench. The bench goes wild, the guys on the court feel great as we just counterpunched Brown to go back to a 7 point lead.

Archie calls Time Out immediately after Martin makes the huge 3P.

Feels like I’ve seen this movie before. Has he been watching Cox tapes? I said WTF as soon as he called the Time Out at 18:45.

Was Archie upset about Freeman’s foul on Wojkic’s made 3P? Who knows.

These guys need confidence, they were sky high with Martins 3 pointer. Don’t stop the action on a made 3P, please. We don’t get enough high moments like that as it is.

The Miller Time Out Let’s Brown regroup, quiets down the crowd.

Maybe Archie saw something defensively he didn’t like but that timeout really squelched the Rhody momentum.

He takes a Time Out as a head scratcher, then doesn’t take his last two remaining Time outs as Brown steals away a win in the last minutes.

Only lead of the game for Brown. They never led.

[class of 86]

I listened to The brown radio Broadcast on 790 AM and he did say they were the second best defensive rebounding team in the country. We did not lose to a bad team.

[Not Mike Powell]

President, CEO, SVP of the Archie Miller Fan Club has some explaining to do. Hopefully an official statement forthcoming tonight.

Welcome to year one of a rebuild. It was disgusting to see. But did we forget what rebuilds look like? We got let down slowly over 4 years and for whatever reason people just ignored URI instead of being angry at Dave Cox.

Idk why you’re getting angry at the guy who’s going to dig us out of this mess and not the guy who got us here.

Year 1-2 is about the guy before. Year 3 is about the guy in the chair.

That sucked - but we have a young team and a broken culture. 1 reliable scorer now in Ish Leggett. But you can’t make assessments on true freshmen in 9 games. Anyone saying they’re looking for mass transfers can go suck a brick and go up to Providence and root for them.

I guess this is the part where I remind everyone that Dan Hurley started out worse, that people here wanted him fired, and that the Fordham loss our A10 championship year was worse.

Bassy isn’t good enough to play the major minutes, but we’re short on ball handlers. These are the growing pains.

Archie is trying to establish a culture and teach a very complex system to a team of largely freshmen.

I like hearing that he had an explanation for why he didn’t call a timeout. I disagree but I trust the guy.

He’s going to fix it. But it won’t be on our timetable. It won’t be pleasant. But it’ll be worth it.

We’ll be good when we’re good. See you Saturday.

Yeah, except for the fact that Hurley didn’t start out worse. They have the same record after their first 9 games. 2-7. However, I felt a lot better about the 2012-2013 start with losses to #4 Ohio State, Virginia Tech, and Seton Hall as opposed to Quinnipiac, Brown, and Texas State. We were at least scrappy and competitive against a tough early schedule back in 2012. Hurley also found a way to beat powerhouse Brown in his first year as well for what it’s worth.

[reef]

President, CEO, SVP of the Archie Miller Fan Club has some explaining to do. Hopefully an official statement forthcoming tonight.

Welcome to year one of a rebuild. It was disgusting to see. But did we forget what rebuilds look like? We got let down slowly over 4 years and for whatever reason people just ignored URI instead of being angry at Dave Cox.

Idk why you’re getting angry at the guy who’s going to dig us out of this mess and not the guy who got us here.

Year 1-2 is about the guy before. Year 3 is about the guy in the chair.

That sucked - but we have a young team and a broken culture. 1 reliable scorer now in Ish Leggett. But you can’t make assessments on true freshmen in 9 games. Anyone saying they’re looking for mass transfers can go suck a brick and go up to Providence and root for them.

I guess this is the part where I remind everyone that Dan Hurley started out worse, that people here wanted him fired, and that the Fordham loss our A10 championship year was worse.

Bassy isn’t good enough to play the major minutes, but we’re short on ball handlers. These are the growing pains.

Archie is trying to establish a culture and teach a very complex system to a team of largely freshmen.

I like hearing that he had an explanation for why he didn’t call a timeout. I disagree but I trust the guy.

He’s going to fix it. But it won’t be on our timetable. It won’t be pleasant. But it’ll be worth it.

We’ll be good when we’re good. See you Saturday.

1000 % agree with all of this , we won 8 games in DH first year and I bet we win 8-10 this year so we are basically in the same spot

Trust Arch and the process it will be a fun ride , he won big @ this level with Dayton and he will win here give him time

If we don’t win 18-20 wins or more in year 3 I’ll be highly surprised

[Rhody72]

Bassy took 6 shots. Ish 8 shots for the game. That ain’t right.

0 fer for Bassy while Ish goes 6 of 8. How did we only get him 8 shots tonight? That’s poor shot distribution. Need to get that fixed ASAP!

Clearly Bassy had a poor shooting game, but some of his missed shots were at the end of the 30 second clock. Ish doesn't force his outside shot and Brown guarded him. Archie started 2 bigs and URI trued to pound the ball inside. Brown let Martin and Freeman, as well as Bassy, take open treys and packed the paint. Good strategy by Brown which should have won by more.

[damram]

A timeout should have been called after the second pass to no one. Freeman’s last three fouls were of the dumb and useless variety. For someone who is that important to the team, he has to play much smarter.

[Rhody72]

..
I’ve said it before, but as a fan base, we tend to overhype anyone who we are even mentioned with. If they choose us? They are all the 2nd coming of EC and Hassan.

This is why the off-season is the best time to be a URI basketball fan. I get hammered every off-season for questioning the talent of recruits who are touted as the next EC and Hassan.

[rhodysurf]

roadyjay onto something. Think Archie has to unlock that level of desperation that we saw with Dan and we’ve seen from him at other gigs. He’s getting back into the game too at this point. At some point the losing will break him, if he’s the winner we believe he is

[section(105)]

Lots of themes going on here with explaining various views on where we are and why. Fine. I will go with those that point to the collective talent currently assembled is just not A-10 competitive level players. I suppose some will say that some of these players are place holders for those arriving next year etc. Of course we will over hype those folks. I think the Archie systems, pack line etc can take hold in time, but executing those fundamentals with a talent deficiency makes it very frustrating for fans. Yes, my slow and steady growth theme took a major hit last night. More tough times lie ahead with this group as we shade further toward the A-10 cellar. “We are what our record says we are…….”

[Rhody_NYCT]

This team was always considered a big unknown with under the radar signings, and I think most of us didn't expect much. Yes, things are worse than we thought they would be. That said, it's still too early to say whether or not these new players will pan out. Regardless of our record, this season will be very important to see what we have to work with moving forward. I think Archie's '23 (and '24) recruits and transfers will be the fair and true test for him and his ability to bring in winning talent. I know it's easier said than done, but we need a great outside shooter.

[rhodylaw]

Bassy took 6 shots. Ish 8 shots for the game. That ain’t right.

0 fer for Bassy while Ish goes 6 of 8. How did we only get him 8 shots tonight? That’s poor shot distribution. Need to get that fixed ASAP!

Clearly Bassy had a poor shooting game, but some of his missed shots were at the end of the 30 second clock. Ish doesn't force his outside shot and Brown guarded him. Archie started 2 bigs and URI trued to pound the ball inside. Brown let Martin and Freeman, as well as Bassy, take open treys and packed the paint. Good strategy by Brown which should have won by more.

People really need to get off Bassy’s back. It is not his fault that he is the best 2nd option to run the offense. He was and always will be a 4 year development player who should be getting maybe 10-15 mins a night until he can develop an outside shot. Kid is a D1 level player and does a lot of things right. The deficiencies in his game right now should be hidden by playing less minutes but that is not an option. Honestly if Carey was healthy and Ant Harris was playing things would probably be looking different all around. In the meantime, since they are not Bassy is getting some good experience out there and if he comes back next year with a massively improved outside shot I think he will be a good A10 player.

[Rhody22]

Hahahahaha already talking about a current high school senior making an instant impact next season.

When are you people gonna learn?

Stewart was supposed be this shooting savior, posters here said he was “really good” and he sucks.

We have multiple kids who were 4* in high school. Underwhelming to say the least.

Will people here EVER stop hyping up our recruits?

No they won’t.

I’d rather have faith that a proven head coach that has landed and developed some absolute studs in his career will do the same for us and get us back to where we should be over being negative 24/7 like 15. I’m not gonna overreact and think every recruit is gonna suck because we have had a bad start in year one. Archie is going to have recruiting misses like every head coach but I truly believe Archie and this staff will land the players we need to get this program back on top of the A10.

My question for you is, what about Connors game leads you to believe he won't be a good player? I’ve explained multiple times why I like Connors game. Why do you two think he won't make an impact??

I’m not a basketball expert nor do I follow recruiting in-depth. I read the info posted in this forum and some of the articles attached, so take that for what it’s worth. The reason that comes to mind right now is that I recall somebody posting that he had only played a few minutes at his new school. That doesn’t sound promising. Then, the years of overhyping all players who choose URI. I have to see it to believe it. Long, Silverio, Tres, Hammond, Bertrand and so many others. Someone even said Malik for Tyrese was an upgrade…

[SGreenwell]

FWIW - I think if you hooked Archie up to a lie detector machine and asked him about the recruits he got for this year, he'd probably admit that he basically had to take anyone with a pulse that seemed promising. I also suspect this is why he was happy to take anyone who wanted to stay (Thomas, Ish, Samb, Martin), because it meant one less player he had to acquire from the "market" when he was already late to it. We would always rail on late signings by Cox and Baron, and my suspicion is that those players don't work out as well as recruits who sign earlier. (My suspicion, but, I haven't had a chance to actually review our past history.)

One final thing - Progress is never linear. This loss sucks, but when the team is bad, you have losses that suck. I suspect we'll have one or two more, along with some decent wins, by the time the year ends. (Brown is at KenPom 221, and we're at 190, so the cold, unfeeling computers didn't think this was that much of an upset anyway.)

[section(105)]

Carey would help, heard in the Alumni Room Q&A with Coach AC, ‘Carey hip condition improving, and pretty sure I heard Harris expected for second semester…’

[Rhodymob05]

Hate to say it, but once Carey and Harris are here, Bassy is likely to be shelved. 18 min, no points, 2 assists last night.

[RhowdyRam02]

Bassy took 6 shots. Ish 8 shots for the game. That ain’t right.

0 fer for Bassy while Ish goes 6 of 8. How did we only get him 8 shots tonight? That’s poor shot distribution. Need to get that fixed ASAP!

Clearly Bassy had a poor shooting game, but some of his missed shots were at the end of the 30 second clock. Ish doesn't force his outside shot and Brown guarded him. Archie started 2 bigs and URI trued to pound the ball inside. Brown let Martin and Freeman, as well as Bassy, take open treys and packed the paint. Good strategy by Brown which should have won by more.

People really need to get off Bassy’s back. It is not his fault that he is the best 2nd option to run the offense. He was and always will be a 4 year development player who should be getting maybe 10-15 mins a night until he can develop an outside shot. Kid is a D1 level player and does a lot of things right. The deficiencies in his game right now should be hidden by playing less minutes but that is not an option. Honestly if Carey was healthy and Ant Harris was playing things would probably be looking different all around. In the meantime, since they are not Bassy is getting some good experience out there and if he comes back next year with a massively improved outside shot I think he will be a good A10 player.

The problem with that is he needed to come back this year with a massively improved outside shot, and didn't. What are the odds he ever will be able to? Pretty low at this point

[RIFan]

The people who are saying NCAA in 3 years, I assume that means being on the bubble or an NIT team next year, is that your expectation? Can you squint and see the makings of a bubble team or NIT team here? That would mean this group is going to all of a sudden become a top 60ish team next year…hope your right for everyone’s sake. Unless we give up on the A10 being a multi bid league and the plan is to win the tournament. I guess you can always catch lightning in a bottle.

[section(105)]

Clearly Bassy had a poor shooting game, but some of his missed shots were at the end of the 30 second clock. Ish doesn't force his outside shot and Brown guarded him. Archie started 2 bigs and URI trued to pound the ball inside. Brown let Martin and Freeman, as well as Bassy, take open treys and packed the paint. Good strategy by Brown which should have won by more.

People really need to get off Bassy’s back. It is not his fault that he is the best 2nd option to run the offense. He was and always will be a 4 year development player who should be getting maybe 10-15 mins a night until he can develop an outside shot. Kid is a D1 level player and does a lot of things right. The deficiencies in his game right now should be hidden by playing less minutes but that is not an option. Honestly if Carey was healthy and Ant Harris was playing things would probably be looking different all around. In the meantime, since they are not Bassy is getting some good experience out there and if he comes back next year with a massively improved outside shot I think he will be a good A10 player.

The problem with that is he needed to come back this year with a massively improved outside shot, and didn't. What are the odds he ever will be able to? Pretty low at this point

Yes, exactly.

[SGreenwell]

The people who are saying NCAA in 3 years then I assume that means being on the bubble or an NIT team next year, is that your expectation? Can you squint and see the makings of a bubble team or NIT team here? That would mean this group is going to all of a sudden become a top 60ish team next year…hope your right for everyone’s sake. Unless we give up on the A10 being a multi bid league and the plan is to win the tournament. I guess you can always catch lightning in a bottle.

The weird thing about team building, as Cox's teams showed - In a way, it's better to have a bunch of "bad" players that are easily replaced, vs. a roster full of average-ish players. Ish and Freeman are already above average A-10 players. There are a couple other pieces (Tchikou, Samb, Bilau) that rate as slightly below average regulars, meaning they're probably fine as 10 to 15 minute bench players or platoon starters, as they mature. If Ant Harris or Connor Dubsky or Estevez can play, well, they'll probably do so immediately - there isn't anyone blocking their path to minutes.

[RIFan]

That is very true. It all goes back to needing better players. Archie keeps taking the blame after the game, but these games were lost in the off season with his recruiting work and his coaching can only do so much now.

[RhowdyRam02]

The people who are saying NCAA in 3 years, I assume that means being on the bubble or an NIT team next year, is that your expectation? Can you squint and see the makings of a bubble team or NIT team here? That would mean this group is going to all of a sudden become a top 60ish team next year…hope your right for everyone’s sake. Unless we give up on the A10 being a multi bid league and the plan is to win the tournament. I guess you can always catch lightning in a bottle.

That was my expectation. A team like Dan's third year next year and contending for the tournament in year 3. Before last night I felt the rebuild was bigger than I expected but my expectations for years 2 and 3 hadn't changed. Last night has me seriously questioning that timeline now

[Jersey77]

The people who are saying NCAA in 3 years, I assume that means being on the bubble or an NIT team next year, is that your expectation? Can you squint and see the makings of a bubble team or NIT team here? That would mean this group is going to all of a sudden become a top 60ish team next year…hope your right for everyone’s sake. Unless we give up on the A10 being a multi bid league and the plan is to win the tournament. I guess you can always catch lightning in a bottle.

That was my expectation. A team like Dan's third year next year and contending for the tournament in year 3. Before last night I felt the rebuild was bigger than I expected but my expectations for years 2 and 3 hadn't changed. Last night has me seriously questioning that timeline now

I haven't changed my thinking from when I posted in another thread "Where will this program be...."
Next season maybe top half or middle tier A10.
3rd season hopefully 20 wins and NIT bid.
4th season NCAAT.

[section(105)]

Next season, top 1/2 or middle tier A10 ?……lots of teams to jump over from where will probably be at years end, just saying.

[Rhodyram]

At least Rhody MBB wasnt the worst team on the Ryan Center court yesterday- that Hartford team- wow.....

[Jersey77]

Next season, top 1/2 or middle tier A10 ?……lots of teams to jump over from where will probably be at years end, just saying.

Yeah, I expect a big jump and much growth in this team next season.
Same goes for the staff.

[Big Rhody Guy]

At least Rhody MBB wasnt the worst team on the Ryan Center court yesterday- that Hartford team- wow.....

Hang the banner! Less embarrassing than a division 3 bound women's team. I know you're joking and that it's been a slow decay over 4 years but I still can't believe this is where we are. I think next year we might need to have an education day for the mens team, might be the only way to get 3000 people to a game.

[SmartyBarrett]

The problem with that is he needed to come back this year with a massively improved outside shot, and didn't. What are the odds he ever will be able to? Pretty low at this point

And knowing what I know about Bassy, there's no doubt in my mind that he completely busted his ass over the summer to try and improve his shot. It's not lack of effort... I just think he's simply not a shooter.

[rambone 78]

As more talent is brought in Bassy will play a lot less. Hes not an A10 level player sorry to say. Archie needs to find the next Scootchie Smith as his PG. Easier said than done.

[RamStock]

..
I’ve said it before, but as a fan base, we tend to overhype anyone who we are even mentioned with. If they choose us? They are all the 2nd coming of EC and Hassan.

This is why the off-season is the best time to be a URI basketball fan. I get hammered every off-season for questioning the talent of recruits who are touted as the next EC and Hassan.

I agree with you. It seems like no matter who we bring in we start talking about how good they are without having seen them play. How many players on this roster right now would be part of an NCAA tourney team? We aren’t going anywhere until we have consistent shooters. For example Thomas is a nice story, but he shouldn’t be playing at this level in my opinion. Right now this is bottom of the A-10 talent. It looks like it will take another two years at least

[bigappleram]

If we had Antwan Walker on this team we would be 5-4 at least.
He was the only loss of the possible holdovers. Ugggh

[Blue Man]

As far as recruits and talent goes - Archie plays a defensive system that a handful of teams in the country play. Literally Virginia is one of the only teams I can think of. It works when the players understand it, as you saw with his Dayton teams, and his last 2 IU teams that were NCAA bound with Covid/60% of his starters went down.

With that being said, you can't just go and get 1 year rental transfers that don't know how to play a packline. Then you're just taking up space to get 4 more wins in a meaningless season, and hurting your guys developmental chances.

Hurley's team had Xavier Munford. You could cover up a lot and be very competitive with those top level teams when you have an NBA player on your team. Dan could bring in short term guys because his system was aggressive man-to-man defense that's easy to learn. Then you're just gauging effort.

Archie doesn't need the best players, he needs the right ones. The ones that can learn his system.

This road is longer and more painful, but the team on the other side is much better.

Keep the faith.

[Rhodymob05]

..
I’ve said it before, but as a fan base, we tend to overhype anyone who we are even mentioned with. If they choose us? They are all the 2nd coming of EC and Hassan.

This is why the off-season is the best time to be a URI basketball fan. I get hammered every off-season for questioning the talent of recruits who are touted as the next EC and Hassan.

I agree with you. It seems like no matter who we bring in we start talking about how good they are without having seen them play. How many players on this roster right now would be part of an NCAA tourney team? We aren’t going anywhere until we have consistent shooters. For example Thomas is a nice story, but he shouldn’t be playing at this level in my opinion. Right now this is bottom of the A-10 talent. It looks like it will take another two years at least

When a fan hears and sees 4 -star recruits and schools like Seton Hall, Alabama etc, what are we supposed to think? That they suck?

[RIFan]

I usually think the sign of a good coach is being able to adapt, if the game has changed why stick with complicated system that requires continuity and players with a high basketball IQ? There other ways to win than playing the packline.

[Blue Man]

President, CEO, SVP of the Archie Miller Fan Club has some explaining to do. Hopefully an official statement forthcoming tonight.

Welcome to year one of a rebuild. It was disgusting to see. But did we forget what rebuilds look like? We got let down slowly over 4 years and for whatever reason people just ignored URI instead of being angry at Dave Cox.

Idk why you’re getting angry at the guy who’s going to dig us out of this mess and not the guy who got us here.

Year 1-2 is about the guy before. Year 3 is about the guy in the chair.

That sucked - but we have a young team and a broken culture. 1 reliable scorer now in Ish Leggett. But you can’t make assessments on true freshmen in 9 games. Anyone saying they’re looking for mass transfers can go suck a brick and go up to Providence and root for them.

I guess this is the part where I remind everyone that Dan Hurley started out worse, that people here wanted him fired, and that the Fordham loss our A10 championship year was worse.

Bassy isn’t good enough to play the major minutes, but we’re short on ball handlers. These are the growing pains.

Archie is trying to establish a culture and teach a very complex system to a team of largely freshmen.

I like hearing that he had an explanation for why he didn’t call a timeout. I disagree but I trust the guy.

He’s going to fix it. But it won’t be on our timetable. It won’t be pleasant. But it’ll be worth it.

We’ll be good when we’re good. See you Saturday.

I don’t know what it is, my friend. I can’t pinpoint it, but for me it goes beyond being the first year of a rebuild with an inexperienced roster. Something is off.

Maybe I just miss that absolute maniac on the sidelines desperate to win every game. I don’t get the same vibe with this coaching staff.

Archie was absolutely the best hire. I’d do it 100 out of 100 times. But if there was a performance evaluation after 9 months since his hire, and 9 games played, there wouldn’t be many positives.

Not that my opinion means a darn thing.

I think it's your second point. You're an unhinged lunatic (like myself, and I mean that in a good way) so of course you're going to connect with Dan more.

Dan's teams were a reflection of that. Unbridled, unhinged aggression.

Archie isn't Dan. Archie's teams are traditionally killers from a systemic point. When he has his team and system in place - his guys won't out-work you, his team and system will out-play you.

The packline is complex. Most of these guys have never played in it or even in a variant of it. A lot of the reason we're getting gashed in the paint is that guys are still learning how to communicate and anticipate switches. It's a sagging man-to-man against an invisible line. Your callouts are different. Your switches are different. And when we get confused we get burned.

The more they play the better they'll be. Love and trust.

[RIFan]

We have two issues, we have yet to learn his complex defense and we can’t score. Maybe if we we good at one or the other it wouldn’t be so painful. Sadly you need to be able to do both to win a high level.

[Blue Man]

I usually think the sign of a good coach is being able to adapt, if the game has changed why stick with complicated system? There other ways to win than playing the packline.

Because it works? Tony Bennett's currently undefeated team with a national championship, 2 final fours, 3 elite 8s, 4 sweet 16's, 4 #1 seeds, 7 top 5 seeds, and 8 NCAA appearances in 12 years would probably say it does.

You stick with the complicated system because you have a long term vision that when you have a young team that grows into an old team who understands it, you can plug 1 or 2 guys into the system as recruits every year and continue to be good.

If Archie were to come out and say "well we're going to play man this year because it's too hard for these guys so we can see some wins" I would fire him on the spot. Because that's not him. He got to the top of college basketball by trusting that system and using it to his advantage. That system takes 1-2 years to implement. This is the implementation. It sucks to go through but it'll be worth it.

[hrstrat57]

If we had Antwan Walker on this team we would be 5-4 at least.
He was the only loss of the possible holdovers. Ugggh

Maybe 6-3

[RIFan]

The same Virginia that lost to a 16 in the first round?

I get it, but these kids have had 9 games and 2 months of practice…how hard is it? I assume everywhere he went it was a new system the first year…they certainly didn’t suck like this.

[KevanBoyles]

I agree with Blue Man. I've watched Tony Bennett from the beginning UVA. It was tough to watch the first couple of years. He went through an unusually high number of players. But once it clicked. Oh baby. It will happen here too and when it happens it will happen overnight. Don't blink.

[RIFan]

Ok, I get the system thing, I just hope it is still viable in the environment where about a third of the players enter the transfer portal each year.