3/4 | Dayton | 9:00PM (CBSSN)

[section(105)]

I saw some game films from when he was all rookie at ECU. He looked really good, so unless he regressed significantly, I think you can use those films as a gauge.

.......glass half empty guy here, I see no relationship between good or bad predictions and any prior films of any player once they get here.....no more.......been down this road before being fooled into prior play predicts performance here on Kingston Hill.....they often start off being “not ready”......

[Blue Man]

1. Running out of gas after 30 games for a bunch of 19-22 year olds is BS
2. No argument there
3. Plenty questioned why Jeff was no longer running the point.
4. Majority of teams run an 8 man rotation, only Tate hurt the "depth" issue
5. Agree there
6. Who else should have? Walker isnt anything special and Toppin doesnt have the strength yet to play down low.

1. Players are tired. Their legs are gone.
3. Some did; many didn't.
4. Toppin, Long and Walker not physically able to compete this year.
6. Rotate starters based on performance. Create competition for the honor of being a starter.

Still say #1 is a cop out excuse and not reality at all, if what you say in #4 is true then who the hell is left to start aver Harris in #6?

Hurley has 7 scholly players right now. Took care of a ranked team on senior night...

[daytonflyerfan]

Well, wait and see what happens this year and next year. You guys were way down on Cox last year finishing around rpi #110...you improved to around rpi #38 this year so far...so, the trend is improving.

Per Torvik, you guys are about 4 games away from being in...reverse the Brown, Richmond, Davidson, and SLU losses, and you are in.

http://www.barttorvik.com/teamcast.php? ... m=&x5_res=

[ramster]

https://www.a10talk.com/takeaways-from- ... de-island/

[ramster]

1. Players are tired. Their legs are gone.
3. Some did; many didn't.
4. Toppin, Long and Walker not physically able to compete this year.
6. Rotate starters based on performance. Create competition for the honor of being a starter.

Still say #1 is a cop out excuse and not reality at all, if what you say in #4 is true then who the hell is left to start aver Harris in #6?

Hurley has 7 scholly players right now. Took care of a ranked team on senior night...

Just some comments:
1. The team ran out of gas physically AFTER bye week. Go figure! Only playing 30 games, allowed 31 so URI is one short. NBA plays 82. AAU and summer ball these players log way more minutes. Running out of gas is a BS excuse often used by Message Board posters and the news media.
2. Fatts and no-calls: Who initiated contact? Need specific examples. The bigger question is knowing what Cox knows and sees, does he continue to have Fatts drive the lane and get swallowed up or go to other options? Because Fatts’ shot is not falling as it was a month ago he seems to be driving inside more, but teams are adjusting to his speed advantage. Teams are anticipating as they know better now what Fatts and URI are going to do. Reminds of the Baron years when Baron teams did well 1st A10 round, then the 2nd round of games teams adjusted, Baron did not and we plummeted.
3. JD as off-guard: Where are those that had no problem with it last Nov? Go back to November, December. You will see suggestions for Dowtin being the PG, even throughout the season, suggestions for Fatts coming off the bench. It was called for before the Richmond game. Before Cox benched Fatts for Davidson. I suggested Harris, Langevine, Toppin, Martin and Dowtin several times. Fatts’ shooting statistics were posted during the period before the Davidson benching. Fatts did come back and play phenomenal and with a vengeance after the Richmond game and throughout the 10 game win streak.
4. Cox: No depth means no options. He has depth. 8 players is plenty. Hurley is playing 7 guys and winning late in season. Many teams playing 7 players now. Another lame excuse.
5. Walker, Long, Toppin, Martin: Will Cox be able to develop this talented group? Only Time will tell. Past 2 years no URI player on A10 Freshman Team as I don’t expect this year. Freshmen don’t get big minutes these two years because of veterans. Will see next season.
6. Harris: Didn't deserve the honor of starting. Bad take anyway but your timing to say this couldn’t be worse. Biggest A10 game of year for URI with NCAA berth on line and Harris had his best A10 game - and you say he didn’t deserve to start????
In only 15 minutes playing time vs Dayton - what did he did?
I have seen Harris lose the opening tip one time in 28 games. Going up against Obi Toppin Wednesday night Harris won the top yet again - vs arguably the best player in College Basketball
3-6 FG
3-4 FT
0-2 on 3P. Take out Dowtin (5-7) and team was (1-15) on 3Ps. I’d give his 2 3Ps to Dowtin but not to nobody else.
Scored 9 points equaling Russell who played 36 minutes (2-13 FG) and Martin who played 37 minutes (3-12 FG). Only Dowtin had more that 9 points
4 rebounds
1 of the teams total of 8 assists
1 of the teams total of 4 steals
1 TO
3 Fouls

Replacement options for Harris to not start?
Walker played 9 minutes with zero points, zero rebounds
Long played 10 minutes with 1 point, 2 rebounds
Toppin played 18 minutes with 5 points, 7 rebounds


I’m fine with Harris starting, if I put Toppin in the starting line up (which I would by the way) it would NOT be for Harris.

[rambone 78]

Walker has virtually disappeared.

How can that happen?

And yes Toppin is the future. He needs to play more, and I'm sure he will next season.

Harris will be counted on big time next year also. What else we got?

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Well, wait and see what happens this year and next year. You guys were way down on Cox last year finishing around rpi #110...you improved to around rpi #38 this year so far...so, the trend is improving.

Per Torvik, you guys are about 4 games away from being in...reverse the Brown, Richmond, Davidson, and SLU losses, and you are in.

http://www.barttorvik.com/teamcast.php? ... m=&x5_res=

And if my grandmother was a man, she'd be my grandfather.

[rambone 78]

Expecting a 100% turnaround just because it actually happened before, is really wishful thinking.

Are we getting a new coaching staff? New players?

Didn't think so.

[RhodyRam86]

Agree with last post, the most inexplicable part of this awful stretch of basketball is on the defensive end. Forget getting throttled by Dayton twice where we couldn't string together 2-3 stops in a row once, but we also made offensively challenged teams like St Louis and Fordham look like Gonzaga. Don't understand how a team could fall off a cliff in terms of defensive focus and connectivity at this point in the season, at one point we had a Top 25 KenPom defense.

To add further insult to injury think about the last 2 big send offs of senior classes with some all time Rhody greats in them...

2017/18 - EC, Jared, Jarvis, Stan, Andre and we lose by 30
2019/20 - Jeff and Cyril and we lose by 25

On top of that poor Hassan got the goose egg in his last game in a Rhody uniform (vs Oregon) due to injury.

Rhody basketball, it's never easy.

We learned under Dan Hurley that you can win games by playing ugly and playing tough man to man defense. When we would go on runs under Dan, a lot of it was started by our defense. We would draw charges, shot clock violations, and turnovers. Does anyone know how to draw a charge on this team? Why don't we know how to get back on defense and find our man? Why can't we defend the pick and roll? Why can't we box out our man and stop teams from constantly scoring 2nd chance points?

When things are good this team has a swagger that I love. When things are bad it's REALLY bad. We are incredibly inconsistent. Sorry guys but that's coaching.

How about JH drawing a charge in the Dayton game? Couldn't believe it. That has to be the first charge he's drawn in two years!

[ramster]

Agree with last post, the most inexplicable part of this awful stretch of basketball is on the defensive end. Forget getting throttled by Dayton twice where we couldn't string together 2-3 stops in a row once, but we also made offensively challenged teams like St Louis and Fordham look like Gonzaga. Don't understand how a team could fall off a cliff in terms of defensive focus and connectivity at this point in the season, at one point we had a Top 25 KenPom defense.

To add further insult to injury think about the last 2 big send offs of senior classes with some all time Rhody greats in them...

2017/18 - EC, Jared, Jarvis, Stan, Andre and we lose by 30
2019/20 - Jeff and Cyril and we lose by 25

On top of that poor Hassan got the goose egg in his last game in a Rhody uniform (vs Oregon) due to injury.

Rhody basketball, it's never easy.

We learned under Dan Hurley that you can win games by playing ugly and playing tough man to man defense. When we would go on runs under Dan, a lot of it was started by our defense. We would draw charges, shot clock violations, and turnovers. Does anyone know how to draw a charge on this team? Why don't we know how to get back on defense and find our man? Why can't we defend the pick and roll? Why can't we box out our man and stop teams from constantly scoring 2nd chance points?

When things are good this team has a swagger that I love. When things are bad it's REALLY bad. We are incredibly inconsistent. Sorry guys but that's coaching.

How about JH drawing a charge in the Dayton game? Couldn't believe it. That has to be the first charge he's drawn in two years!

Hurley took on the arguing of calls with the Refs. He managed the Refs, not the players.
It’s hard to play defense when you are arguing and pleading your case with the Refs so often as Fatts does.
Let Cox manage the Refs.
Players play both endS of the court

And I’m not blaming Fatts, I’m blaming Cox.

[RhodyRam86]

This is bad but I don't think it reaches 2007-2008 level. To be honest that team was more talented than this team and they were, what, 20-3? 20-4? Something like that. And they went from one of those records to the 11 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Think about that for a second. They lost, what, 8 of their last 9 games or something like that?

As a college player, Will Daniels was better than anyone on URI right now. They never had a shooter like they had in Baron. Cothran, Ulmer, Bittee and Seawright were all solid players and better than almost everyone on the current team. If you were combining the two teams to make a 9-man rotation you'd have more players on the 2007-2008 team than today's team.

I realize that what's going on is fresh and I've seen some say this is worse than the collapses under Baron. It's not. At least when compared to the 2007-2008 team.

This collapse may be worse because of the timing of it. It also may be an understandable collapse in that we have dealt with the 8 man rotation we were dealt.

Cox went from great coach to nothing in just a few weeks.

I think you have to base our current situation on the roster management. Cox almost coached the team out of it, but only have the particular 8 guys we have, led by Fatts who is somehow capable of playing like an All-American and then playing like I dont even know.

I mean besides us relying on Fatts entirely, we have seen us execute plays offensively with a crispness that some here havent seen here in a while. We were pick and rolling like crazy and Fatts was lighting people up.

Our defense was up in peoples grill. Teams could never get going. Remember how we shut down Duquesne? They are a talented offensive team right there and we made them look like current us.

I mean, I think Cox has shown he can create good results. Last year we peaked at this time. Earlier in the year we peaked.

I think the goal HAS to be to not have to rely on Fatts. Then we neeeeeed a big. I would wager Harris and Walker will be better, but they wont be good enough and for heavens sake you need more than 2 freaking big men. We dont have JG JT EC Stan Dowtin and Fatts next year. Just hot cold Fatts. Cant have a year with just two guards and then follow it with just two bigs. I wouldn't even mind getting two more big guys!
We just need enough guys to pick up the slack if Fatts doesnt have it. Rese can do it. Love Dowtin, but he obviously struggles being an offensive weapon. Can Rese, Sheppard, Leggett, Wood, Toppin and everyone else be good enough to make shots and score some points? Good teams can afford multiple guys having off nights.


Ugh I'm just blabbering. This makes me sad.

I was so excited to pound my chest when we made the tournament. Give my profile picture the Rhody March Madness frame. Get to see all the hype leading up. And it's gone in two weeks.

Feel bad for the guys though. Must really suck for them

Ignoring all of the roster issues, my biggest issues with the coaching are taking the ball out of Dowtin's hands and the treatment of Fatts. Letting Fatts play hero ball is great if he's playing like Obi Toppin...but I've watched Obi Toppin and Dayton play, and they don't even let their consensus lottery pick play hero ball. EVERY DAYTON PLAYER TOUCHES THE BALL IN THE HALF COURT.

Seriously, when's the last time you even saw a single possession that had all 5 rams touch the ball?

This team was on a winning streak when Fatts was scoring. This team gets on a losing streak when Fatts isn't scoring. It's exactly like last year. Hero ball doesn't work. ESPECIALLY when the "hero" is a wildly inconsistent shooter. That's not good coaching. It's literally the same crap we bag on Ed Cooley about.

Speaking of Cooley - compare Fatts to Pipkins. Same exact thing - except Pipkins decided to shoot his team out of games in the beginning of the year, and shoot them into them at the end. Fatts went the opposite way which is way worse.

When it comes to the treatment of our "star" - Fatts' technical and subsequent lack of punishment told me everything I needed to know. Under Hurley, it wouldn't have mattered who was available on the bench. We'd have gone with 4 forwards or Eric Dadika would've come into the game to make a point that that behavior was unacceptable. Fatts gets the superstar treatment - which causes me issues because once you tell him he's a superstar he stops producing like one. His season turned the second he made that watch list. Dude is a Philly grinder which is awesome. He loves being the underdog. The second he's out front he loses his edge.

On top of that, I feel bad for Jeff. After his sophomore year I think a lot of people saw him as having a legitimate chance at making a run at the NBA. Then we took the ball out of his hands the last 2 years instead of letting him run the show. That's the biggest problem with this whole experiment.

There's no floor general. No leadership. That's why we take so many bad shots early in the clock. It doesn't excuse the lack of effort to get back on defense, but holy hell is it pathetic basketball to watch.

The lack of BBIQ from anyone but JD is really astounding. I think it's fair to put that on the coach - and I don't mean he's supposed to get everyone up to a Jeff Dowtin IQ level. I mean he's supposed to identify his smartest player and keep the ball in his hands. The games where that doesn't happen are the games we get embarrassed in.

There's just no excuse for us not to be a tournament team this year. Once again, we didn't have to beat Dayton. We didn't have to beat Maryland, LSU, or WVU either. That much was clear. Technically, we didn't even need to beat Brown or Richmond. We were CLEARLY in the NCAA field as of a week ago with all of those losses. We were a consensus 9 seed. All we had to do was beat a shitty Davidson team and St Louis at home. We couldn't do that. We don't deserve shit.

Hopefully Coach takes a lot of lessons from this season and makes the appropriate changes. I'd really prefer to not post on this message board in the "NIT or Bust" section.

Blue Man...just about everyone touches the ball when we run the weave...all 40 feet from the basket.

[RhodyRam86]

Maybe it's the lack of sleep, but I can't even really put into words how pissed off I am at last night and this season.

Fatts was a complete and total liability last night. 2-13 from the field, 0-4 from three, doesn't get a call on offense so never bothers to get back on d, and the ultimate back breaking play of the game: Jeff hits a 3 with 4:14 to go in the half and we're down 8. We're called for a foul and Fatts gets T'd up complaining about it. Dayton hits their two technical free throws, Obi hits his two free throws because of the foul and we're instantly down 12 and we ever got the deficit in single digits the rest of the way. Did he face any apparent discipline for his poor shot selection, ball chucking, and poor attitude? Nope. Keep running him out there and let him keep chucking.

Speaking of guys not sitting, if you're down 20 throughout the last quarter of the game, you have two guys extremely banged up, and your only chance of making the tournament is winning the conference championship do you keep the banged up guys in or do you sit them? If you chose the right answer then you disagreed with Cox' strategy last night. What the fuck were Jeff and Cyril doing in the game with under a minute left? Seriously does anyone have a clue what Cox was doing there, because I certainly don't.

I think it's clear at this point that for Cox to be successful he needs conference player of the year Fatts and if he doesn't have that we're mediocre at best. He can win if he has superior talent but we won't win if it's a battle of coaching wits. He's a fantastic assistant but there is no evidence that he's a good head coach. If we don't win the conference championship this year and don't make the tournament next year then everything Hurley built here would have been pissed away. If that happens Cox shouldn't be the head coach here any longer. I don't want to hear another hint of him being extended until we make a tournament

RR2,

That was a huge moment. Dowtin had just hit the 3P. Energy was pouring out from the crowd and from the URI bench. Down to 8 points vs the #3 Team in the country!!

Jacob committed the foul. Jacob did not have a problem with the foul, nobody did, except Fatts. Rightfully so the Ref Teed up Russell. It was right in front of Cox, 15 feet away. I actually think Russell was still mad about previous calls or non calls or who knows what. Russell complains about officiating all the time. It’s tiring. But Cox allows it. Never tells Russell to get his head back in the game. Russell goes unmanaged complaining about Refs like the boy who cried wolf.

That was a crucial Technical. Totally unnecessary and unwarranted by Russell. Was Not even his play or foul. He was not involved!!

Fans around me said the same thing. It took the momentum we had from Jeff’s big 3-point shot away. It silenced the crowd and the URI Bench. But Cox left Russell in. No repercussions whatsoever.

Later in the game Russell waved off a call by the Ref, it was one of those waves that would only piss of a Ref and that was Russels intent. If the Ref had seen Russell do it he would have teed him up and thrown him out. I’m not 100% sure any of the 3 Refs didn't see Russell wave his hand, but if they did they gave him a break. I would have tossed him.

I’m so tired if Russell complaining about calls or more so non-calls.

He not only shot 2-13 but most all of his misses were way off, not even close. Dowtin goes 5-7 on 3-pointers but do we try to get him more shots from 3? No.

ramster...agree with everything you said here, but Fatts didn't get t'd up for complaining to the refs...he got t'd up for jawing with the other team. looks like the ref told him to stop, but he kept going and that's when the T came. everything else is spot on.

[bigappleram]

All stats show that FG% goes up greatly in relation to ball reversals and paint touches...would love to chart the number of possessions vs SLU and UD where the ball never left 1 side of the floor nor got anywhere near the paint. That is execution and design. It's on the players and the coach.
Not sure I agree with pinning all on Fatts, bc quite honestly, where else do you want the shots to come from? It's the quality of the shots that is in question, he is back to taking very very difficult two point shots and off balance 3s.

For me our entire year was predicated on solving 1 major issue from last year - ability to generate "easy" offense. Whether via turnovers and in transition or better execution earlier in the year we had a more fluid offense that generated easy scoring opportunities. That has ground to a complete halt and of late every basket has been a slog.

[ramster]

Maybe it's the lack of sleep, but I can't even really put into words how pissed off I am at last night and this season.

Fatts was a complete and total liability last night. 2-13 from the field, 0-4 from three, doesn't get a call on offense so never bothers to get back on d, and the ultimate back breaking play of the game: Jeff hits a 3 with 4:14 to go in the half and we're down 8. We're called for a foul and Fatts gets T'd up complaining about it. Dayton hits their two technical free throws, Obi hits his two free throws because of the foul and we're instantly down 12 and we ever got the deficit in single digits the rest of the way. Did he face any apparent discipline for his poor shot selection, ball chucking, and poor attitude? Nope. Keep running him out there and let him keep chucking.

Speaking of guys not sitting, if you're down 20 throughout the last quarter of the game, you have two guys extremely banged up, and your only chance of making the tournament is winning the conference championship do you keep the banged up guys in or do you sit them? If you chose the right answer then you disagreed with Cox' strategy last night. What the fuck were Jeff and Cyril doing in the game with under a minute left? Seriously does anyone have a clue what Cox was doing there, because I certainly don't.

I think it's clear at this point that for Cox to be successful he needs conference player of the year Fatts and if he doesn't have that we're mediocre at best. He can win if he has superior talent but we won't win if it's a battle of coaching wits. He's a fantastic assistant but there is no evidence that he's a good head coach. If we don't win the conference championship this year and don't make the tournament next year then everything Hurley built here would have been pissed away. If that happens Cox shouldn't be the head coach here any longer. I don't want to hear another hint of him being extended until we make a tournament

RR2,

That was a huge moment. Dowtin had just hit the 3P. Energy was pouring out from the crowd and from the URI bench. Down to 8 points vs the #3 Team in the country!!

Jacob committed the foul. Jacob did not have a problem with the foul, nobody did, except Fatts. Rightfully so the Ref Teed up Russell. It was right in front of Cox, 15 feet away. I actually think Russell was still mad about previous calls or non calls or who knows what. Russell complains about officiating all the time. It’s tiring. But Cox allows it. Never tells Russell to get his head back in the game. Russell goes unmanaged complaining about Refs like the boy who cried wolf.

That was a crucial Technical. Totally unnecessary and unwarranted by Russell. Was Not even his play or foul. He was not involved!!

Fans around me said the same thing. It took the momentum we had from Jeff’s big 3-point shot away. It silenced the crowd and the URI Bench. But Cox left Russell in. No repercussions whatsoever.

Later in the game Russell waved off a call by the Ref, it was one of those waves that would only piss of a Ref and that was Russels intent. If the Ref had seen Russell do it he would have teed him up and thrown him out. I’m not 100% sure any of the 3 Refs didn't see Russell wave his hand, but if they did they gave him a break. I would have tossed him.

I’m so tired if Russell complaining about calls or more so non-calls.

He not only shot 2-13 but most all of his misses were way off, not even close. Dowtin goes 5-7 on 3-pointers but do we try to get him more shots from 3? No.

ramster...agree with everything you said here, but Fatts didn't get t'd up for complaining to the refs...he got t'd up for jawing with the other team. looks like the ref told him to stop, but he kept going and that's when the T came. everything else is spot on.

Thanks 86, agree on Fatts jawing with the Dayton players.

[RhodyRam86]

BTW, I was so excited when I saw Antwan Walker play his first couple of games. I remember some nice work around the rim and some beautiful passes from high to low post or kicking out to the wing. Since then, what the hell happened?

yup...after he missed a wide open 15 footer i said to the guy behind me, remember how good he looked in the WKU game? he made two of those shots and looked smooth doing it. really thought we had something. hasn't come close to making a jumper since.

[PeteRI]

I have to chime in on the 00 comments. He started the game strong offensively, but he was absolutely DREADFUL on defense. In the first 5 minutes our section had him scoring 5 points and giving up at least 9.

[RhodyRam86]

Fatts should have been the 2 all year. Jeff never did anything wrong, actually nothing but good running the point for 2 NCAA tournament teams. Then Fatts is given the rungs of the offense and Jeff's production has taken a huge hit.

I am actually intrigued about Wood next year. A pass first PG, if he is solid on defense and limits TOs give him a chance.

Fatts is playing pg and Cox's career seems bent on it. If I was a Vegas man, I would run.

i think the problem is that, at least in this offensive system (if you can actually call it a system) fatts needs to have the ball in his hands to be effective. so if the better point guard is going to play point, you would be best set to come up with another offensive system. not sure our coach is made for that.

[RhodyRam86]

Just some comments:
1. The team ran out of gas physically AFTER bye week. Go figure!
2. Fatts and no-calls: Who initiated contact?
3. JD as off-guard: Where are those that had no problem with it last Nov?
4. Cox: No depth means no options.
5. Walker, Long, Toppin, Martin: Will Cox be able to develop this talented group?
6. Harris: Didn't deserve the honor of starting.

1. Running out of gas after 30 games for a bunch of 19-22 year olds is BS
2. No argument there
3. Plenty questioned why Jeff was no longer running the point.
4. Majority of teams run an 8 man rotation, only Tate hurt the "depth" issue
5. Agree there
6. Who else should have? Walker isnt anything special and Toppin doesnt have the strength yet to play down low.

it's fair to say that other teams also run an 8 man rotation, but most other teams have better talent coming off the bench so their 6-7-8 are much better than ours. i have no confidence in walker or long.

[Billyboy78]

Just some comments:
1. The team ran out of gas physically AFTER bye week. Go figure!
2. Fatts and no-calls: Who initiated contact?
3. JD as off-guard: Where are those that had no problem with it last Nov?
4. Cox: No depth means no options.
5. Walker, Long, Toppin, Martin: Will Cox be able to develop this talented group?
6. Harris: Didn't deserve the honor of starting.

1. Running out of gas after 30 games for a bunch of 19-22 year olds is BS
2. No argument there
3. Plenty questioned why Jeff was no longer running the point.
4. Majority of teams run an 8 man rotation, only Tate hurt the "depth" issue
5. Agree there
6. Who else should have? Walker isnt anything special and Toppin doesnt have the strength yet to play down low.

it's fair to say that other teams also run an 8 man rotation, but most other teams have better talent coming off the bench so their 6-7-8 are much better than ours. i have no confidence in walker or long.

We also only have 12 players at practice as compared to most teams at 15. Not much rest for the starters at practice during scrimmages either.

[Blue Man]

I have to chime in on the 00 comments. He started the game strong offensively, but he was absolutely DREADFUL on defense. In the first 5 minutes our section had him scoring 5 points and giving up at least 9.

I think when he came out in the first we had him at a minus 6 - with 7 points scored, and 13 points directly against.

But hey, points are all that matters! Who cares that basketball is played at both ends!

[PeterRamTime]

1. Running out of gas after 30 games for a bunch of 19-22 year olds is BS
2. No argument there
3. Plenty questioned why Jeff was no longer running the point.
4. Majority of teams run an 8 man rotation, only Tate hurt the "depth" issue
5. Agree there
6. Who else should have? Walker isnt anything special and Toppin doesnt have the strength yet to play down low.

it's fair to say that other teams also run an 8 man rotation, but most other teams have better talent coming off the bench so their 6-7-8 are much better than ours. i have no confidence in walker or long.

We also only have 12 players at practice as compared to most teams at 15. Not much rest for the starters at practice during scrimmages either.

I think that hurts the competition level more than anything.

The main issue with our depth is we dont have another guard to assume any control of the offense. It's all on Fatts and Jeff all the time.

[ramster]

I have to chime in on the 00 comments. He started the game strong offensively, but he was absolutely DREADFUL on defense. In the first 5 minutes our section had him scoring 5 points and giving up at least 9.

I think when he came out in the first we had him at a minus 6 - with 7 points scored, and 13 points directly against.

But hey, points are all that matters! Who cares that basketball is played at both ends!

So why Pete was your All American POY candidate yelling at Toppin when Dayton scores underneath. What was Toppins + - ??
What were the +- numbers for all of the team members if you are going down that path now?

While your section is all on Harris now to blame how is your section on Russell last 6 games? Pretty quiet?

You guys are amazing. Never miss on opportunity to bash Harris. Even when he plays his best A-10, game of the season when only Dowtin played well.
I did net see all of those scores as Harris fault.

The statement that was made that I commented on was Harris had not earned his starting spot

So who Pete would you start? Posters here are now saying our bench is weak too. So who starts at center in your world?

And interesting Pete, your section and BlueMan, that when Harris came out of the game after his amazing start, that David Cox went right up to him at his chair on the bench and gave him one of the most sincere “well done” acknowledgement I’ve seen him give any player all year. Cox was certainly not bashing him for an offense only, no defense performance that my eyes could see at the time.

[Rhody72]

Simple question: Do the players appear tired? The depth of other teams being similar is irrelevant. It certainly looks that way to me.

[ramster]

No. They do not appear tired to me at all.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Walker has virtually disappeared.

How can that happen?

And yes Toppin is the future. He needs to play more, and I'm sure he will next season.

Harris will be counted on big time next year also. What else we got?

Toppin is indeed the future. Needs to get that outside shot nailed down now so that when he has that 8" growth spurt and starts dominating inside...he'll have the outside shot down already.

[ramster]

Walker has virtually disappeared.

How can that happen?

And yes Toppin is the future. He needs to play more, and I'm sure he will next season.

Harris will be counted on big time next year also. What else we got?

Toppin is indeed the future. Needs to get that outside shot nailed down now so that when he has that 8" growth spurt and starts dominating inside...he'll have the outside shot down already.

Agree. Do vs UMASS the game means little or so say many KB Posters

So why NOT play Toppin 35 minutes vs UMASS?

He played for Tony Bergeron. He knows many of the UMASS players.

We want him gaining confidence in shooting the three

Many are saying the starters are tired, especially the guards who have been playing 36 mpg

Perfect opportunity.

Play the he’ll out of Toppin, Long and Walker.

[rhodylaw]

I still think the problem is we have ZERO bench scoring. Have a heart to heart with Fatts and tell him for the good of the team he is going to come off the bench. He is a starter and the most gifted player on he team but we can’t have guys that are going little to nothing offensively coming off the bench.

Also, I think it lets other players get into the offense a little more before Fatts comes and explodes into the game.

[OldSchoolRhody]

Harris looked like a double double guy to start the game. Oh yeah a bunch of NBA scouts in the house for motivation seems to be his thing. Still Cox could have stuck with him - but timeouts or takeouts of hot hands seems to be his MO.

JD did have EC, HASS, Stan and Terrell to help make that assist to TO stat a bit easier to get his first two years, but I’d still like to see him set up the floor in the half court.

[Obadiah]

Let's face facts, this team's collapse has got nothing to do with an incorrect line-up and everything to do with bad shooting on all fronts with everyone playing a role in that ineptitude. And the thing about bad shooters is they deteriorate even further under pressure. How about the Fordham game in which we blew a 12 point lead in 10 minutes highlighted by going 1-12 on 3 PTs. And why any team take 65% of their shots as threes when you know you can't hit a barn. Or how about Mr. Cool, Tyrese Martin's performance against the tough teams of the last two games - 7of 24 FGs, 1-10 3PTS, 5 -11 FT. Need more examples, how about....... oh, forget about it.

[Brian Forster]

You are all right.
Billy boy is correct-there is an old coaching adage-"to have great teams,you have to have great practices,to have great practices,you have to have depth". I don't see the depth or anything reflecting great practices in the games.

Fatigue??-give Harris and Langevine the ball under the basket and you will get same results in 1st game as last game.
Other big Walker puts up ridiculous shots.
They get jumped over or out positioned for rebounds all the time.
It was roster management that led to the 8 man rotation and small team.
Another pissed way season. Now,what do they do?

[rambone 78]

This is all pointing to coaching, or lack of it, more and more.

Remember when we were critical of Baron's teams for lack of discipline/fundamentals?

Well here we are again, and frankly I'm sick of it.

Other teams, such as PC, UConn, and Richmond continue to get better later in the season. We on the other hand, are in freefall.

Major changes need to be made, sooner than later if at all possible.

The great Cox experiment.....a failure?

It's been almost 2 seasons...and the results are coming in.....how much longer does this continue?

We know he'll get another year at least.....

Blame the short roster? Now who's responsibility is that?

You guessed it...Cox's.

[section(105)]

....we hear much about Sheppard’s shooting, just asking, shouldn’t the collective staff known prior to ruling or had strong suspicion that his academic record was not sufficient, and the risk was too much?

[ramster]

Let's face facts, this team's collapse has got nothing to do with an incorrect line-up and everything to do with bad shooting on all fronts with everyone playing a role in that ineptitude. And the thing about bad shooters is they deteriorate even further under pressure. How about the Fordham game in which we blew a 12 point lead in 10 minutes highlighted by going 1-12 on 3 PTs. And why any team take 65% of their shots as threes when you know you can't hit a barn. Or how about Mr. Cool, Tyrese Martin's performance against the tough teams of the last two games - 7of 24 FGs, 1-10 3PTS, 5 -11 FT. Need more examples, how about....... oh, forget about it.

Atlantic Shooting Statistics don’t lie. For 17 games to date:

FG%: URI is 10th. Only teams worse GMU, LaSalle, St Josephs, Fordham

3P FG%: URI is 12th. Only teams worse GMU, St Josephs

FT%: URI is 11th: Only teams worse LaSalle, Fordham, St Louis

In the 5 Conference losses:
Russell FG/3P
Richmond (1-12) (0-2)
Dayton (7-18) (1-5)
Davidson (3-17) (2-6)
St. Louis (5-16) (2-7)
Dayton (2-13) (0-4)
Total in losses FG (18-76)= 23.7% and 3Ps (5-24)= 20.8%

[rambone 78]

And don't forget to throw in the fact that our defense has been virtually nonexistent the last few games.

Weren't we really good against the 3 most of the season?

Now it's wide open 3's and layup drill against us.

Opponents shooting 52% from the floor?

A lot of our offense stems from our defense. When we can't stop anybody, it puts a ton of pressure on our offense to score.

Everything has gone to shit.

[ramster]

On defense statistics:

FG%: URI is #5. Ahead #1 to #4: Dayton, Fordham, Richmond, SLU
3P FG%: URI is #1
Steals: URI is #4. Ahead LaSalle, Richmond, VCU
Blocks: URI is #2. Ahead is Duquesne

[ramster]

Let's face facts, this team's collapse has got nothing to do with an incorrect line-up and everything to do with bad shooting on all fronts with everyone playing a role in that ineptitude. And the thing about bad shooters is they deteriorate even further under pressure. How about the Fordham game in which we blew a 12 point lead in 10 minutes highlighted by going 1-12 on 3 PTs. And why any team take 65% of their shots as threes when you know you can't hit a barn. Or how about Mr. Cool, Tyrese Martin's performance against the tough teams of the last two games - 7of 24 FGs, 1-10 3PTS, 5 -11 FT. Need more examples, how about....... oh, forget about it.

Obadiah,
I found myself watching Davidson easily handle VCU last night and thought URI and VCU are built quite similar. Tall, lanky, defensive pressure athletes but not Especially good shooting the ball or passing it.

Davidson and Richmond pass much more frequently, accurately and they creatively pass as well. They also shoot very well but some of that shooting is a result of the precision passing.

Dayton seems to mirror Richmond and Davidson in style of play more so than the URI/VCU style.

[Obadiah]

Dayton passing in the Ryan was crisp, fast and accurate and they always got a man wide open for a three. Our offense is Dowtin bouncing the ball in place for awhile and hand-off pass to another, often then bobbled. Next is a pass with a look "what do I do now", next the weave with no prospect of getting a man free. Then a missed outside shot and a Cyril rebound who then puts the ball on the floor instead of continuing to the basket and either bobbles the ball or it is stripped from him. The possession often ends with a play from the sandlot or a frantic three attempt with the clock running out.
Game after game, wins or losses, the same only marked by variations on a theme.

[Rhodymob05]

The hand off at the top to Cyril is followed by back door cuts by the guards ...which haven’t been open since January.

[ramster]

Ouch. Truth hurts.

You are right. There is little flow.

Then there is the isolation 3 point attempt with 25 seconds left on the shot clock and our guy just dribbles, dribbles, dribbles but every URI fan knows he is going to shoot it when the shot click gets close to zero.
Then it’s blocked and shot clock expires, or its an air ball and does not hit the rim or the shot is just way off.

Or the shot goes in and all Rhody Fans shout for glee!

[section(105)]

.......then it’s is often an offensive foul away from ball for screening techniques and movement.....

[RI_Bred]

Dayton passing in the Ryan was crisp, fast and accurate and they always got a man wide open for a three. Our offense is Dowtin bouncing the ball in place for awhile and hand-off pass to another, often then bobbled. Next is a pass with a look "what do I do now", next the weave with no prospect of getting a man free. Then a missed outside shot and a Cyril rebound who then puts the ball on the floor instead of continuing to the basket and either bobbles the ball or it is stripped from him. The possession often ends with a play from the sandlot or a frantic three attempt with the clock running out.
Game after game, wins or losses, the same only marked by variations on a theme.

Summed up perfectly. I was really impressed with Dayton's discipline and speed with the passing. Everyone touched the ball at least once on every set, and the were laser focused.

URI often looks like the guys have just met on the court for the first time and decided to play a pickup game.

[ramster]

Dayton passing in the Ryan was crisp, fast and accurate and they always got a man wide open for a three. Our offense is Dowtin bouncing the ball in place for awhile and hand-off pass to another, often then bobbled. Next is a pass with a look "what do I do now", next the weave with no prospect of getting a man free. Then a missed outside shot and a Cyril rebound who then puts the ball on the floor instead of continuing to the basket and either bobbles the ball or it is stripped from him. The possession often ends with a play from the sandlot or a frantic three attempt with the clock running out.
Game after game, wins or losses, the same only marked by variations on a theme.

Summed up perfectly. I was really impressed with Dayton's discipline and speed with the passing. Everyone touched the ball at least once on every set, and the were laser focused.

URI often looks like the guys have just met on the court for the first time and decided to play a pickup game.

Ha ha

And it’s one of those pick up games where there is always this guy who wants to take it down the middle, everyone knows it’s coming, they snuff it out and then the guy calls foul. Then a big argument starts up and you get the picture.