Jeff Dowtin Two - Way???

[phipsiGD'11]

Watching the Lakeland Magic G League game and Jeff's vision on the floor is even better than I remember. His team is more composed when he is on the floor and they started to pull away in the 3rd when he came back in.

Let's see how this 4th quarter goes, but does anyone else (someone who knows more about basketball than me) think Jeff will be seeing a two way contract in the near future? (Are they still doing 2 way contracts in this weird Covid season?)

[theblueram]

Dowtin, playing PG in the G League Championships. Can someone send DC the link to the game?

edit: Dowtin takes the G League Championship, running the POINT GUARD POSITION!!!!!!!!! So glad for Jeff but a damning indictment on Cox.

[Rhodymob05]

He’s a champion! Good for Jeff! And this kid facilitates like John Stockton.

[ramster]

In the Championship Game:
27 minutes - 2nd highest of any of the 10 guys who played
4-7 FG
4 rebounds
7 assists
2 steals
2 turnovers
8 points


Lakeland won easily 97-78. Hope Dowtin gets his NBA chance soon.

[SGreenwell]

I think he needs to be willing to take the 3 a bit more - He's only averaging one attempt per game, even though he's shooting it at 50 percent (small sample size - 7-for-14). But the assist and turnover numbers are really good, and at worst, he's probably gotten himself a more serious look for a roster spot for the next off-season.

[PeteRI]

Great interview with Double Uno. It's billed as "exclusive content" for season ticket holders so not sure if this link will work.


Note to URI marketing: Whoever thought it was a good idea to cover more than 50% of this video with a pointless graphic needs to be fired.

[Rhodyhooopz]

Jeff Dowtin is a stud. Only David Cox couldn’t see it.

[PeterRamTime]

He played reaaaaally well.

So proud! Sign this man!

[ramster]

Jeff Dowtin is a stud. Only David Cox couldn’t see it.

There were plenty of posters on KB who agreed with Cox that Dowtin should not play PG. May not seem that way now on KB but it was certainly the dominant belief 2 and 3 years ago

[Rhodyhooopz]

Jeff Dowtin is a stud. Only David Cox couldn’t see it.

There were plenty of posters on KB who agreed with Cox that Dowtin should not play PG. May not seem that way now on KB but it was certainly the dominant belief 2 and 3 years ago

Not this guy. From his freshman year to the end Jeff was an All-timer.

[ramster]

Jeff Dowtin is a stud. Only David Cox couldn’t see it.

There were plenty of posters on KB who agreed with Cox that Dowtin should not play PG. May not seem that way now on KB but it was certainly the dominant belief 2 and 3 years ago

Not this guy. From his freshman year to the end Jeff was an All-timer.

Most often mentioned was then where would Fatts play? Fatts wasn’t viewed as playing a wing or shooting guard.

Jeff still brought maturity, poise and leadership to the game but not as well as he would have from the PG position that he held his first two years at URI.

[Jersey77]

There were plenty of posters on KB who agreed with Cox that Dowtin should not play PG. May not seem that way now on KB but it was certainly the dominant belief 2 and 3 years ago

Not this guy. From his freshman year to the end Jeff was an All-timer.

Most often mentioned was then where would Fatts play? Fatts wasn’t viewed as playing a wing or shooting guard.

Jeff still brought maturity, poise and leadership to the game but not as well as he would have from the PG position that he held his first two years at URI.

Agree, no doubt Jeff is best suited for PG

Fatts was on the fence when Hurley left, he had played a major role in his recruitment.
Not to say that Fatts would necessarily follow him to UConn, but there was much speculation if he was going to stay and what his role would be.
Fatts knew that his only hope and path to play at the next level would be at PG.
Thus, Cox was faced with that dilemma.

[reef]

Wow great interview Jeff is such a great guy let’s hope he gets a shot at the league

[ramster]

Not this guy. From his freshman year to the end Jeff was an All-timer.

Most often mentioned was then where would Fatts play? Fatts wasn’t viewed as playing a wing or shooting guard.

Jeff still brought maturity, poise and leadership to the game but not as well as he would have from the PG position that he held his first two years at URI.

Agree, no doubt Jeff is best suited for PG

Fatts was on the fence when Hurley left, he had played a major role in his recruitment.
Not to say that Fatts would necessarily follow him to UConn, but there was much speculation if he was going to stay and what his role would be.
Fatts knew that his only hope and path to play at the next level would be at PG.
Thus, Cox was faced with that dilemma.

So you are saying that Cox agreed to move Dowtin from the PG position he had played for 2 years, then Cox committed the PG spot to Russell because if he didn’t Russell was going to transfer to UCONN?

[Jersey77]

Most often mentioned was then where would Fatts play? Fatts wasn’t viewed as playing a wing or shooting guard.

Jeff still brought maturity, poise and leadership to the game but not as well as he would have from the PG position that he held his first two years at URI.

Agree, no doubt Jeff is best suited for PG

Fatts was on the fence when Hurley left, he had played a major role in his recruitment.
Not to say that Fatts would necessarily follow him to UConn, but there was much speculation if he was going to stay and what his role would be.
Fatts knew that his only hope and path to play at the next level would be at PG.
Thus, Cox was faced with that dilemma.

So you are saying that Cox agreed to move Dowtin from the PG position he had played for 2 years, then Cox committed the PG spot to Russell because if he didn’t Russell was going to transfer to UCONN?

No, I said Fatts may not of followed DH to UConn, I don't think that is what Hurley would of wanted.
Cox probably preferred a compromise where both would share the ball at times. IMO
But there was concern when DH left what would become of Fatts

After every season the coach meets with all the players individually
Based on what ultimately happened in Fatt''s situation, it was not difficult to understand what was discussed and decided.
Besides Jeff with his length and ability could play either guard position.
Jeff was not leaving, he was very loyal and extremely close to Cox. DC was the only reason he ended up at URI. He was his lead recruiter and they both came from St. John's in DC.

[Gonebarongone]

Too much stress on the term point guard. Doesn't really exist that much, anymore. Especially with high end offensive coaches. You are either a ball handler or not. Both, obviously, are guys that can handle the ball. You see it all over college and the NBA where two or even three guys are on the floor together. The key is not having one guy just slam the ball into the ground for 10-12 seconds before getting after it like it is 1988 while everyone else looks around.

[rhodyruckus]

I wouldn't assume the switch was all due to Fatts' wishes or that Dowtin only reluctantly played the other guard position. The name of the game in the NBA is versatility and position-less play, so playing at multiple positions at the college level is a good thing. I would say the mistake by Cox wasn't player-development wise, it was just a bad move because it hurt the team and cost us wins last year. Selfishly it could have been a good thing for Dowtin's pro success to get the 2-guard run, offensively and defensively.

[ramster]

Agree GBG on your point guard comments. But some HC’s still have the PG view of 1988.

Hurley had Dowtin running the floor and team. It was like Dowtin was an extension of Hurley. Clearly Dowtin ran the show. Saw it yesterday in the Championship game where Dowtin was hard on himself a few times. He gets upset when he makes a mistake or sometimes misses a shot because he is a perfectionist. That’s what helps him continuously improve. That’s what enables his always outstanding assists/turnover ratio. He looked great in the G-League Playoffs. Jeff is a winner and played a big role in that G-League Championship.

Cox took Dowtin out of the role of 100% running the team. He was not as effective his Jr and Sr years. His Soph year he was outstanding with high assists and low turnovers.

Cox underutilized Jeff’s amazing talents.

Wait til next year

[Jersey77]

Agree GBG on your point guard comments. But some HC’s still have the PG view of 1988.

Hurley had Dowtin running the floor and team. It was like Dowtin was an extension of Hurley. Clearly Dowtin ran the show. Saw it yesterday in the Championship game where Dowtin was hard on himself a few times. He gets upset when he makes a mistake or sometimes misses a shot because he is a perfectionist. That’s what helps him continuously improve. That’s what enables his always outstanding assists/turnover ratio. He looked great in the G-League Playoffs. Jeff is a winner and played a big role in that G-League Championship.

Cox took Dowtin out of the role of 100% running the team. He was not as effective his Jr and Sr years. His Soph year he was outstanding with high assists and low turnovers.

Cox underutilized Jeff’s amazing talents.

Wait til next year

We all agree that Jeff is best suited at running the offense.
Could it be that he was more effective his first two years because he was surrounded by Stan, EC, and Jared.
Playing alongside those star players helps improve everyone's game, and the entire team looks better.

[Rhody72]

...
We all agree that Jeff is best suited at running the offense.
Could it be that he was more effective his first two years was because he was surrounded by Stan, EC, and Jared.
Playing alongside those star players helps improve everyone's game, and the entire team looks better.

I completely agree. While Fatts was a tremendous talent, we rarely saw him as a facilitator who made his teammates better. The GW game this year was an exception but his teammates needed time to adjust to Fatts playing as a facilitator. Cox needed to play Fatts, but he needed the ball to be useful offensively, so off-guard would not have worked and we didn't have the option of sitting him as a Jr and Sr. I'm optimistic that Ish will be a great facilitator as a PG.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Agree GBG on your point guard comments. But some HC’s still have the PG view of 1988.

Hurley had Dowtin running the floor and team. It was like Dowtin was an extension of Hurley. Clearly Dowtin ran the show. Saw it yesterday in the Championship game where Dowtin was hard on himself a few times. He gets upset when he makes a mistake or sometimes misses a shot because he is a perfectionist. That’s what helps him continuously improve. That’s what enables his always outstanding assists/turnover ratio. He looked great in the G-League Playoffs. Jeff is a winner and played a big role in that G-League Championship.

Cox took Dowtin out of the role of 100% running the team. He was not as effective his Jr and Sr years. His Soph year he was outstanding with high assists and low turnovers.

Cox underutilized Jeff’s amazing talents.

Wait til next year

We all agree that Jeff is best suited at running the offense.
Could it be that he was more effective his first two years because he was surrounded by Stan, EC, and Jared.
Playing alongside those star players helps improve everyone's game, and the entire team looks better.

No question having better players around you can make you better. But we all saw the dropoff in the quality and fluidity of our offense when Cox took the keys away from Jeff. That one move weakened the team at two positions -- Fatts was just not as good at running an offense as Jeff, and Jeff looked lost as the off-guard.

[Jersey77]

Agree GBG on your point guard comments. But some HC’s still have the PG view of 1988.

Hurley had Dowtin running the floor and team. It was like Dowtin was an extension of Hurley. Clearly Dowtin ran the show. Saw it yesterday in the Championship game where Dowtin was hard on himself a few times. He gets upset when he makes a mistake or sometimes misses a shot because he is a perfectionist. That’s what helps him continuously improve. That’s what enables his always outstanding assists/turnover ratio. He looked great in the G-League Playoffs. Jeff is a winner and played a big role in that G-League Championship.

Cox took Dowtin out of the role of 100% running the team. He was not as effective his Jr and Sr years. His Soph year he was outstanding with high assists and low turnovers.

Cox underutilized Jeff’s amazing talents.

Wait til next year

We all agree that Jeff is best suited at running the offense.
Could it be that he was more effective his first two years because he was surrounded by Stan, EC, and Jared.
Playing alongside those star players helps improve everyone's game, and the entire team looks better.

No question having better players around you can make you better. But we all saw the dropoff in the quality and fluidity of our offense when Cox took the keys away from Jeff. That one move weakened the team at two positions -- Fatts was just not as good at running an offense as Jeff, and Jeff looked lost as the off-guard.

Not debating that, but where would that leave Fatts?
Also, don't kid yourself, losing almost all your key weapons, along with 4 starters, there will be a huge drop off in the quality and fluidity of the offense, regardless of who is holding the keys.
At that point, I think Cox just wanted to try and keep his troops happy, and hopefully not upset the applecart.

[steveystuds06]

We all agree that Jeff is best suited at running the offense.
Could it be that he was more effective his first two years because he was surrounded by Stan, EC, and Jared.
Playing alongside those star players helps improve everyone's game, and the entire team looks better.

No question having better players around you can make you better. But we all saw the dropoff in the quality and fluidity of our offense when Cox took the keys away from Jeff. That one move weakened the team at two positions -- Fatts was just not as good at running an offense as Jeff, and Jeff looked lost as the off-guard.

Not debating that, but where would that leave Fatts?
Also, don't kid yourself, losing almost all your key weapons, along with 4 starters, there will be a huge drop off in the quality and fluidity of the offense, regardless of who is holding the keys.
At that point, I think Cox just wanted to try and keep his troops happy, and hopefully not upset the applecart.

Why did Stan Robinson play the 4 in his senior year? Was that his natural position? Nope... As a coach, you need to figure out what's going to help your team win. Jeff was the best point guard. You start with that and then figure out how to utilize Fatts in other ways. Instead, it was live and die with Fatts. If he's hot, watch out. If he's not, we finish 10th in the A10..

[Jersey77]

No question having better players around you can make you better. But we all saw the dropoff in the quality and fluidity of our offense when Cox took the keys away from Jeff. That one move weakened the team at two positions -- Fatts was just not as good at running an offense as Jeff, and Jeff looked lost as the off-guard.

Not debating that, but where would that leave Fatts?
Also, don't kid yourself, losing almost all your key weapons, along with 4 starters, there will be a huge drop off in the quality and fluidity of the offense, regardless of who is holding the keys.
At that point, I think Cox just wanted to try and keep his troops happy, and hopefully not upset the applecart.

Why did Stan Robinson play the 4 in his senior year? Was that his natural position? Nope... As a coach, you need to figure out what's going to help your team win. Jeff was the best point guard. You start with that and then figure out how to utilize Fatts in other ways. Instead, it was live and die with Fatts. If he's hot, watch out. If he's not, we finish 10th in the A10..

I think Cox's concern at that time was trying to keep Fatts, he wasn't going to be an afterthought.
He felt that Fatts with his size, quickness and energy would be best with the ball in his hands.
He had individual meetings with both Jeff and Fatts , and this is what ended up happening, so draw your own conclusions as to what was discussed.

[SmartyBarrett]

Let's see how this 4th quarter goes, but does anyone else (someone who knows more about basketball than me) think Jeff will be seeing a two way contract in the near future? (Are they still doing 2 way contracts in this weird Covid season?)

Yes, two-way contracts still exist and now that the G-League season is over, two-way players will be allowed to join their respective NBA teams for the remainder of the season.

I *believe* the Magic only have one two-way player as of now, so there is room to add another one.

[Blue Man]

Watching the Lakeland Magic G League game and Jeff's vision on the floor is even better than I remember. His team is more composed when he is on the floor and they started to pull away in the 3rd when he came back in.

Let's see how this 4th quarter goes, but does anyone else (someone who knows more about basketball than me) think Jeff will be seeing a two way contract in the near future? (Are they still doing 2 way contracts in this weird Covid season?)

You don’t remember it because our coach moved him off the ball to play 2 guard and negated his best skills.

I hate it here.