KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

rodfromcranston wrote:You always judge a player based on who's recruiting him.
Maybe I haven't had my koolaide today, but
Prairie View and UTSA don't quite cut it.

Shevon Thompson wasn't recruited at a high level either, he had interest from DePaul and Old Dominion (better than North Texas and whoever) but that was after 2 full years of JUCO. And if everyone's hero, Rokas Gustys, came here, he would have chosen us over Hofstra.
I'm not arguing that we're not in the low part of the barrel, I just think its the reality of spring (almost summer) recruiting.

rodfromcranston wrote:You always judge a player based on who's recruiting him.
Maybe I haven't had my koolaide today, but
Prairie View and UTSA don't quite cut it.

ALWAYS judge a player by who's recruiting him? If that was the case, Bryce Cotton would be a nobody right now. Or how about Jordan Hare, who was getting recruited by P5 schools? How has he turned out? Or Biggie Minnis, who was recruited by, and went to Texas Tech in the Big 12?

Yes, more often than that, judging a player by who is recruiting him is a good indicator of their talents. But I wouldn't say you should always judge using that method.

There have been great players coming out of high school,
who only got one or two offers.
Doug McDermott and Bryce Cotton come to mind.
Berry is a juco, and nobody is breaking down his door.
You can always find exceptions to the rule, but
the odds of Berry being one are long.
Gustys was recruited by UAB and Tulane, also.
I'm more disturbed that we are in the position we're in,
when size has been a problem for some time now.
Why was such a small pool targeted in the fall?
Why didn't we go harder after Kyle Alexander?
Lots of questions. Everyone wants to blame Hare, but there's
more to this than one guy yo-yoing in and out of
the program.

In fairness, going back a year you thought you had Hare and Aaman on scholarship for the next few years, and overall there were five more scholarship accounted for in 2015-16 than we ultimately ended up with. I don't disagree that we'd have been better off now if we'd had invested more recruiting resources in signing a big man, but we have to acknowledge that the situation has changed somewhat.

I completely agree that our lack of success recruiting front court players is a valid criticism. The Hare excuse is weak. All good programs are continually bringing in good talent at every position. We do it at guard.

Think big we do...

Sorry. Good thread carry on.

Agree with those that say there has to be some acknowledgement of the circumstances at play to this point. It is of course not ideal to be in the situation we are right now, but I will not be overly concerned about it until we see what happens with '16 recruits. I fully expect big men to be a real focus and for Dan to get the job done with '16s, putting all of this "Dan can't recruit big men" stuff to rest.

So, you think that getting one four year guy who is 6'7", this year,
in addition to Martin, is just peachy, and we should wait til infinity
and give everyone a pass? Really?
Two guys, one proven, and playing out of position all his career.
I don't care who we bring in in 2016 to help in 2016-17, because guess what?
Martin and Matthews will be seniors, and very few bigs contribute
in their first year, unless they're top ten types.
We needed to bring in people this year or last year, to develop.
The window is closing, before M&M become this decade's Owens and Upshaw.

rodfromcranston wrote:The window is closing, before M&M become this decade's Owens and Upshaw.

I mean...I partially agree with the rest of what you're saying. But this team is going to go to the tournament next year and likely the year after, so I don't know if that is totally squandering their careers. Maybe not maxing out their careers, but not squandering them either.

One piece that's been missing their entire careers, could
have catapulted them to national notice on the big stage.
Not squandered by any means, but surely not what they expected.

rodfromcranston wrote:So, you think that getting one four year guy who is 6'7", this year,
in addition to Martin, is just peachy, and we should wait til infinity
and give everyone a pass? Really?

I didn't say anything even close to this, but ok.

No big announcement yet.
"I'm takin my talents to Salty Brine Beach".

Rhody74 wrote:

C'mon Andre - it's 2:00 already!

Wow! I'm sweating just anticipatiing!

Seems unlikely that there will be an announcement today at this point.

Still may come today, don't forget the time difference.

Good point. May I ask, based on your name, if you have "inside knowledge" here? It is cool if you don't want to say.

Haha pure coincidence no inside info

Or is it just an Outkast reference?

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Or is it just an Outkast reference?

Could have been both, but alas no inside knowledge, apparently.

And my name is actually Andre but the nickname came from some high school friends back in the 90s when Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzic came out lol just kind of stuck

The only thing that worries me about that video is he never finishes above the rim. Does not seem to be an explosive leaper.

OTOH he looks very smooth and natural scoring near the basket. Excellent body control.

I don't see any way he doesn't come here. If he doesn't play much, I hope he doesn't turn into a blue Berry.
(Sorry. That was bad, even for me.)

Well, Berry might be having second thoughts?

Pretty bad, if he goes elsewhere.....considering the competition for his services...maybe he wants to stay closer to home?

Jesus I thought you were taking a hiatus?

Jesus is taking a hiatus. He's been gone for 2000 years.

Berry, "Ahm takin my talents to the Alamo!"

TP, sorry dude, but when things are about to happen....

I'm BAACKKKKKKK!!!!!!!! Just to make your life miserable.

Don't worry, when things settle down, I'll be out for a few months.

This place is really going to implode if Berry, a player who most seem lukewarm on, chooses somewhere other than URI.

Here's a thought.....suppose Murray was the guy who recruited him?
Then today, he finds out Murray is gone.
I always wondered if Garrett would have signed his LOI,
if he'd known Preston would be gone the next day?
Before we get the usual, "Oh, that would never happen!"
Know that Jarvis was not happy when PMurph left.
Anyone notice PC hasn't gotten any of their spring targets sin Bob Simon left?
There's a reason why some assistants make big bucks.
Sure, it ultimately comes down to the head coach, but the initial,
and sometimes strongest bond is with the guy who initially recruited
the player.

Aaaaand there we go. Welcome Andre!

Best of luck to Andre! I hope he proves the doubters wrong!

What were we just about to go nuclear about?

Welcome to the family, Andre!!

Stand down! Back away from the button!

Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!

Want to hear something good about this guy from Dan, thank you very much......

Welcome Andre! Excited to see him bring some of those low post moves to Kingston and for Marshall to get a hold of him.

By the way, totally off topic for a second, but I walked into the gym out here last week wearing a Rhody shirt and one of the trainers stopped me to say he was good friends with the strength coach there. He was shocked that I knew his name right away, had to explain that I am a bit psycho about Rhody. Anyway, he couldn't stop talking about how good Marshall was. Ok, sorry for going way off topic.

Judging by the video, albeit it was small, does Berry now have the best back to the basket moves on the team? As much as I love Hassan, his back to the basket game is average at best.

15, that's what we need.

The question is, can Berry translate those moves at a much higher level?

Footwork is footwork, but the quality of athlete is much higher here....

Well, he's not a 4-star player, but he does give us front court depth. Welcome Andre!

Hey, I'm excited. We knew we weren't going to get a stud. We got someone who has legit size, nice post moves and footwork, and a local player, to a degree. Judging by our players bodies and the style of play we had this past year, I have little doubt Berry will be in top shape when November comes around.

Crunch Berry!

Rhody15 wrote:Judging by the video, albeit it was small, does Berry now have the best back to the basket moves on the team? As much as I love Hassan, his back to the basket game is average at best.

Possibly because Martin isn't a center?

Was he #45? If so, I am not impressed at all. Out of shape......not great hands.....very raw on defense. Only positive is not afraid to bang bodies.
I'd take Watson anyday. Just wish he was 6-9, not 6-6.
.....It's official, we do have a problem recruiting "bigs". This is unusual for me to be this negative.

Well, good luck, Mr.Berry. Make sure you hit the books, represent the University with honor, and graduate with that degree!
All accomplishments on the court will be pure gravy…..
All my best.

Tough to judge anyone without seeing them live. He certainly seems to bring better ball skills and back to the basket play than anyone we have. Crafty around the rim, and uses his body well. Height and athleticism may bother him, but may be mitigated by his girth. Should be effective as a screener as well.

From the Projo ...

http://www.providencejournal.com/articl ... 9369/14010

CTRamfan wrote:Was he #45? If so, I am not impressed at all. Out of shape......not great hands.....very raw on defense. Only positive is not afraid to bang bodies.
I'd take Watson anyday. Just wish he was 6-9, not 6-6.
.....It's official, we do have a problem recruiting "bigs". This is unusual for me to be this negative.

Did you watch the video of him at JUCO or just his HS tape? If you're talking about his HS tape, I agree. The video of him as a JUCO he looked like a different player to me.

TruePoint wrote:

CTRamfan wrote:Was he #45? If so, I am not impressed at all. Out of shape......not great hands.....very raw on defense. Only positive is not afraid to bang bodies.
I'd take Watson anyday. Just wish he was 6-9, not 6-6.
.....It's official, we do have a problem recruiting "bigs". This is unusual for me to be this negative.

Did you watch the video of him at JUCO or just his HS tape? If you're talking about his HS tape, I agree. The video of him as a JUCO he looked like a different player to me.

I saw the 30 min. H.S. tape.......Thanks for pointing that out................I do trust Hurley, but want so bad for a Kenny Green to walk through the door again. A big, agile guy that could go toe to toe with the leagues best. Martin needs an agile body to join him in the frontcourt. Iverson's presence will help. But we need a 6-9 to 6-11 big body as well. A lot of good 6-9+ good players in the A10.

According to the Bill Koch story above, Hurley wants him to lose weight and get in shape:

"Berry’s polished back-to-the-basket game allowed him to average 10.9 points per game and shoot 62.9 percent from the field this season, as he earned first-team all Western Junior College Athletic Conference honors. He figures to see plenty of URI strength and conditioning coach Daniel Marshall upon his arrival in Kingston — the Rams are hoping to pare down his listed playing weight of 260 pounds to something that will allow Berry to eventually play more extended minutes."

rodfromcranston wrote:Here's a thought.....suppose Murray was the guy who recruited him?
Then today, he finds out Murray is gone.
I always wondered if Garrett would have signed his LOI,
if he'd known Preston would be gone the next day?
Before we get the usual, "Oh, that would never happen!"
Know that Jarvis was not happy when PMurph left.
Anyone notice PC hasn't gotten any of their spring targets sin Bob Simon left?
There's a reason why some assistants make big bucks.
Sure, it ultimately comes down to the head coach, but the initial,
and sometimes strongest bond is with the guy who initially recruited
the player.

Murray leaving isnt exactly news that just fell from the sky internally speaking. It had to have been known to team personel and recruits that this was happening.

and ramfan, you dont have to be a center to have back to basket moves. See Kevin McHale, Gary Payton