11/23 | Florida Gulf Coast | 7:00PM (ESPN+)

[spookydog]

University of Rhode Island vs Florida Gulf Coast University
Alico Arena, Fort Meyers, FL
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
7:00PM

Media
TV: ESPN+
Online: ESPN+
Radio: 101.5 FM (B101) or Tune In Radio App

Previews:
Florida Gulf Coast Fan Forum (only one I could find)

The Rhody Rams close out their 3-game swing through Florida Tuesday night when they take on another Eagles team. They decided to deviate from the Boston College Eagles to take on Chris Sale’s alma mater, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles at Alico Arena. Long gone are the days of Dunk City as this team comes in 2-2 but there is an asterisk on those wins as they both came against DII & NAIA schools respectively. Speaking of Dunk City, FGCU did welcome back their coach from that time Andy Enfield as they hosted his top 25 ranked USC team. The other loss this season is against new A10 team, Loyola Chicago. FGCU is guard heavy team led by former Duquesne Duke guard, Tavian Dunn-Martin as well as Cyrus Largie. Dunn-Martin has been a bit streaky so far this season, but you may need to keep a close eye on him as he went off from long range against Loyola Chicago. He poured in 34 including 9-14 from deep. Largie has been more of a consistent shooter, getting double figures in scoring in each of their team’s first four games. This team does have a little bit of size as they have two true centers, both towering close to 7 feet. That is a stark contrast from when these two teams last faced off in The Ryan Center & FGCU had 5’2” Darnell Rodgers coming off the bench. My 6-year-old son was astounded seeing him out there on the court. Look for URI to come out & try to control the pace of this game. I am hoping Leggett will be able to get his shot going as he has struggled a bit offensively in the last few games. If they can play anywhere like they did Sunday against Boston College, they should take home the victory. Was great to see Walker get going offensively the last two games. Hopefully that trend will continue. Another continuing trend that hopefully keeps going is keeping better care of the ball. The team turnovers are trending downward. I am guessing URI will be favored by 5. With that being said, I think URI will be too much to handle as Rhody wins this one 81-69. Go Rhody!

Opponent
Record:
2-2, 0-0 in the Atlantic Sun
Last season: 10-8, 4-5 in the Atlantic Sun

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 286 (112)*
RPI: 87 (56)
KenPom: 205 (95)
BPI: 181 (108)
Sagarin: 234 (102)
* Denotes last season

Leaders:
Points – Tavian Dunn-Martin 18.7 (Sr., G)
Rebounds – Kevin Samuel 7.3 (Sr., C)
Assists – Luis Rolon 5.3 (Soph., G) (2.0 TO per game)

Historical
Series: 1-0
H: 1-0, A: 0-0, N: 0-0
Most Recent Matchup: 12/27/17 80-60 W at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 1 – URI
Match-up Predictor: 47.2 Chance of URI Winning

[rambone 78]

This is our first true road game.

Take nothing for granted.

Every road game will be tough for this team imo.

[section(105)]

……..Team Rankings now has their #99 URI with 59% chance of beating their #166 FGC……URI dancing at 11%, unchanged after beating BC…….go Rhody…..

[SmartyBarrett]

TDM always seems to play well against Rhody and I recall him hitting some big threes. Need to lock him down.

[Rhodyram]

Coach Sutton on staff.

[ramster]

TDM always seems to play well against Rhody and I recall him hitting some big threes. Need to lock him down.

My guess is El-Amin gets the Dunn-Martin assignment, but I'd be fine of Sheppard or Leggett get the assignment as well. All 3 are playing excellent defense.

[KingstonLane]

Would be a great time for things to click and blow a team out. FGCU’s only two wins aren’t even against D1 opponents.

I can’t even imagine the chaos on this board if we had multiple non-D1 opponents in the first four games of our schedule lol

[SmartyBarrett]

Would be a great time for things to click and blow a team out. FGCU’s only two wins aren’t even against D1 opponents.

I can’t even imagine the chaos on this board if we had multiple non-D1 opponents in the first four games of our schedule lol

Completely opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of FGCU's schedule so far.

Two games vs non-D1 opponents.
Two quad 1 games against Loyola-Chicago and USC.

[KingstonLane]

Would be a great time for things to click and blow a team out. FGCU’s only two wins aren’t even against D1 opponents.

I can’t even imagine the chaos on this board if we had multiple non-D1 opponents in the first four games of our schedule lol

Completely opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of FGCU's schedule so far.

Two games vs non-D1 opponents.
Two quad 1 games against Loyola-Chicago and USC.

So odd. What’s the point in creating a schedule like that? They’ve now determined their skill level is somewhere between not a top 30 team and D2 lol. Has to be more behind the scenes we’re not aware of

[spookydog]

Would be a great time for things to click and blow a team out. FGCU’s only two wins aren’t even against D1 opponents.

I can’t even imagine the chaos on this board if we had multiple non-D1 opponents in the first four games of our schedule lol

Completely opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of FGCU's schedule so far.

Two games vs non-D1 opponents.
Two quad 1 games against Loyola-Chicago and USC.

So odd. What’s the point in creating a schedule like that? They’ve now determined their skill level is somewhere between not a top 30 team and D2 lol. Has to be more behind the scenes we’re not aware of

Only way they are making the tournament is if they win the conference so these non-D1 games are irrelevant I am guessing.
USC home game only happened because the coach was previously at FGCU.
Assuming the Loyola Chicago was a buy game.

[PeterRamTime]

No FloSports! Woo!

[RAM67]

I'm pretty sure I saw where it was being televised on CBSSN through Comcast. I'll check when I get home tonight and post later.

[Billyboy78]

I'm pretty sure I saw where it was being televised on CBSSN through Comcast. I'll check when I get home tonight and post later.

Just checked my guide for CBSSN. It has Buffalo vs. SFA listed for that time slot.

[Obadiah]

It's on ESPN+.

[reef]

Will guess URI wins 70-65 a loss here will be kind of disappointing even though it’s on the road we need to beat opponents like this

[RAM67]

My error. It was a reminder that it was on ESPN+ and the PC game Dec 4th was scheduled to be recorded on CBSSN. Sorry for the confusion.

[ramster]

URI favored by 5.5 points. Seen as high as 6.

[Section104]

I think Kevin Sutton is an assistant coach there now. I bet he wants this win pretty bad…i wonder if there’s any bad blood?

[steveystuds06]

Like most of the games on our schedule, this is not an easy game, but it’s a game we should win. I said to myself after Tulsa beat BC and FGCU and that’s still a solid trip.

[Blue Man]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

[steviep123]

FYI for those who already pay for both Disney plus (7.99/ month) and Hulu (6.99/month) there’s no reason not to switch to the bundle (13.99/month). You add espn plus and save $2 a month in the process.

[STC]

URI should handle this team and should be an easy cover for Rhody.

URI -5.5
URI ML -260
O/U 140.5

[ramster]

From Gorhody…..

The Rams are shooting 42.3 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks 21st out of 350 schools.
While Rhody does not live at on the perimeter - it attempts just 14.2 3-point shots per game - head coach David Cox has stressed the need for the team to "take the right shots," from long range.
In Sunday's win over Boston College, the Rams were 10-for-19 from the arc. It was the first time Rhode Island had 10 or more in one game since making 11 in an 86-85 win at Saint Joseph's on March 5, 2019, covering a span of 64 games.

• Guard Jeremy Sheppard leads the team with 12 3-pointers and is shooting .480 from deep (12-for-25).

• Guard Malik Martin is shooting .500 (5-for-10), while guard Ishmael El-Amin is up to .375 (6-for-16).

• Forward Antwan Walker is 3-of-5 on the season after knocking down both of his attempts in Sunday's win over BC.

[ramster]

El-Amin 15-16 FT is 1st in A10
Sheppard 16-18 FT Is 6th in A10

Two guys who David Cox is keeping the ball in their hands in late stages of the game. They have both made FTs in clutch situations.

Makhel is 2nd in FG% and leads A10 in Blocked Shots
Makhi is 4th in FG%

[Jersey77]

I would be very disappointed if our team doesn't come out with an attitude, assert themselves early, and dominate.
I realize all away games aren't easy, but I expect us to win by double digits.
Of course, I will take any win but this shouldn't come down to the wire.

[RhowdyRam02]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

[RhowdyRam02]

From Gorhody…..

The Rams are shooting 42.3 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks 21st out of 350 schools.
While Rhody does not live at on the perimeter - it attempts just 14.2 3-point shots per game - head coach David Cox has stressed the need for the team to "take the right shots," from long range.
In Sunday's win over Boston College, the Rams were 10-for-19 from the arc. It was the first time Rhode Island had 10 or more in one game since making 11 in an 86-85 win at Saint Joseph's on March 5, 2019, covering a span of 64 games.

• Guard Jeremy Sheppard leads the team with 12 3-pointers and is shooting .480 from deep (12-for-25).

• Guard Malik Martin is shooting .500 (5-for-10), while guard Ishmael El-Amin is up to .375 (6-for-16).

• Forward Antwan Walker is 3-of-5 on the season after knocking down both of his attempts in Sunday's win over BC.

It's amazing what happens to your three point percentage when you take quality chances and not just throw up every chuck and duck opportunity you get

[STC]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

This schedule was clearly never about URI dancing this year. Cox put together this schedule with his own self interests at hand - don’t get fired and get extended.

[section(105)]

I think Kevin Sutton is an assistant coach there now. I bet he wants this win pretty bad…i wonder if there’s any bad blood?

………his departure was what, “contract not being renewed” type separation……..?

[rhodysurf]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

This schedule was clearly never about URI dancing this year. Cox put together this schedule with his own self interests at hand - don’t get fired and get extended.

This is a spicy take but I cant really disagree. This schedule is soft lol

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

So you're saying by "must win" that if URI were to lose tonight but then win every single game remaining on their schedule (losing in the A-10 title game), there would be no NCAA tourney and the season at 29-3 (or whatever it would be) would be considered a failure?

Got it.

(Instead, why don't you just let the season play out and not pass judgement on the team and the season every time somebody on the roster/coaching staff breathes.)

[Ramulous]

Anyone going to be at the game tonight?

[Blue Man]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

So you're saying by "must win" that if URI were to lose tonight but then win every single game remaining on their schedule (losing in the A-10 title game), there would be no NCAA tourney and the season at 29-3 (or whatever it would be) would be considered a failure?

Got it.

(Instead, why don't you just let the season play out and not pass judgement on the team and the season every time somebody on the roster/coaching staff breathes.)

This boards obsession with literal interpretation of posts is actually impressive.

No it’s based in the reality that we will lose Q1/Q2 games along the way and if on the bubble a resume with Q3 and Q4 losses will not get in.

Imagine trying to pick apart a statement that basically says “we need to beat the worst team on our schedule if we want to go anywhere this year.”

But yea - shut the board down until the end of the season. No point talking about it until it’s final!

[RAM67]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

Just a note. Six of those are league games. Mandated.
One was to an up and coming University, that a lot of locals wanted to see.
One is to a 100 year local rival.
Not justifying the rest of the OOC schedule, only stating what I see. Perhaps I missed something.

[steveystuds06]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

So you're saying by "must win" that if URI were to lose tonight but then win every single game remaining on their schedule (losing in the A-10 title game), there would be no NCAA tourney and the season at 29-3 (or whatever it would be) would be considered a failure?

Got it.

(Instead, why don't you just let the season play out and not pass judgement on the team and the season every time somebody on the roster/coaching staff breathes.)

The big difference between Blueman's post and yours is he's being realistic. Every person on this message board knows that this team could win out until the finals and receive a bid. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. Because of that, this is a game that would seriously hurt our resume.

[RhowdyRam02]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

Just a note. Six of those are league games. Mandated.
One was to an up and coming University, that a lot of locals wanted to see.
One is to a 100 year local rival.
Not justifying the rest of the OOC schedule, only stating what I see. Perhaps I missed something.

Fair, however two of those six league games are because we're viewed as a weaker squad and were given home and homes with weaker conference schools and the Bryant game was actually part of the Sunshine Slam tournament, which is a third rate in-season tournament that we were forced into because of our perceived weakness

[KingstonLane]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

Just a note. Six of those are league games. Mandated.
One was to an up and coming University, that a lot of locals wanted to see.
One is to a 100 year local rival.
Not justifying the rest of the OOC schedule, only stating what I see. Perhaps I missed something.

Exactly. Now it’s URIs fault for having to play shitty teams in their conference that got scheduled for them by the conference? Complain about the quality of the bottom half of the A10 before blaming our program

That doesn’t change the fact URI should win tonight and losing would be nothing short of a major disappointment. But the same can be said (and will be multiple times this season) anytime you play teams significantly worse than you

[PeteRI]

Slightly off topic, but is there an ESPN+ hack? I already pay a fortune for my cable bundle and I'll be damned if I give these greedy billionaires any more of my money.

[Jersey77]

Absolute must win. It's a Q4 game.

We already boast a Q3 loss, we absolutely cannot afford a Q4. This will be one of the worst teams we play all year.

Obviously we knew the margin for error was razor thin/non-existent with our SOS, so whatever hopes we had of a fairy tale at-large would end with a Q4 loss in the 6th game of the season.

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

This schedule was clearly never about URI dancing this year. Cox put together this schedule with his own self interests at hand - don’t get fired and get extended.

STC, you know nothing about Cox by making this statement.

Guessing you also think Thorr is totally clueless about this situation considering this is his most highly profiled sports program.
Believe me, he is totally onboard with this schedule.

Are you an expert or insider who knows exactly what went on in with constructing this schedule?

With the way things currently are with our team, I am okay with it.

[KingstonLane]

Slightly off topic, but is there an ESPN+ hack? I already pay a fortune for my cable bundle and I'll be damned if I give these greedy billionaires any more of my money.

No, separate service. That being said it’s a great value at $8/month if you plan on watching many if not all of URIs games this year. At first glance I just counted 16 games on our schedule to be streamed on ESPN+. You’re paying something like $2.50/game if you plan on having it for the next 5 months

Not to mention you get literally every NHL game, tons of NCAAB, and other sports

[RhowdyRam02]

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

Just a note. Six of those are league games. Mandated.
One was to an up and coming University, that a lot of locals wanted to see.
One is to a 100 year local rival.
Not justifying the rest of the OOC schedule, only stating what I see. Perhaps I missed something.

Exactly. Now it’s URIs fault for having to play shitty teams in their conference that got scheduled for them by the conference? Complain about the quality of the bottom half of the A10 before blaming our program

That doesn’t change the fact URI should win tonight and losing would be nothing short of a major disappointment. But the same can be said (and will be multiple times this season) anytime you play teams significantly worse than you

Well it is our fault that we have second games against St. Joe's and George Washington. And when our conference is already that weak, you don't compound the problem by putting together the out of conference schedule we did

[theblueram]

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

Just a note. Six of those are league games. Mandated.
One was to an up and coming University, that a lot of locals wanted to see.
One is to a 100 year local rival.
Not justifying the rest of the OOC schedule, only stating what I see. Perhaps I missed something.

Exactly. Now it’s URIs fault for having to play shitty teams in their conference that got scheduled for them by the conference? Complain about the quality of the bottom half of the A10 before blaming our program

That doesn’t change the fact URI should win tonight and losing would be nothing short of a major disappointment. But the same can be said (and will be multiple times this season) anytime you play teams significantly worse than you

100% URI's fault. The A10 schedule is based on prior years performance.

[RhowdyRam02]

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

This schedule was clearly never about URI dancing this year. Cox put together this schedule with his own self interests at hand - don’t get fired and get extended.

STC, you know nothing about Cox by making this statement.

Guessing you also think Thorr is totally clueless about this situation considering this is his most highly profiled sports program.
Believe me, he is totally onboard with this schedule.

Are you an expert or insider who knows exactly what went on in with constructing this schedule?

With the way things currently are with our team, I am okay with it.

David Cox scheduled the Sunshine Slam against Bryant, Tulsa, and BC/Utah, Boston University, a home and home with Georgia State, Sacred Heart, a home and home with Milwaukee, and a neutral site game against College of Charleston this offseason. Everything else was part of a pre-existing arrangement.

There are only two reasons for putting that schedule together, especially in light of the schedule already having plenty of soft games. Either Cox has killed this program to the point those are the only teams we could schedule or Cox put together a schedule designed to pad his win totals at the expense of the program? Which do you think it is and how is it not a complete indictment of his time here?

And there is no way Thorr is totally onboard, but he knows that if he stepped in and scheduled for Cox that Cox would claim he was set up to fail this year. Basketball programs handle their own schedules, fact not opinion

[Jersey77]

Just a note. Six of those are league games. Mandated.
One was to an up and coming University, that a lot of locals wanted to see.
One is to a 100 year local rival.
Not justifying the rest of the OOC schedule, only stating what I see. Perhaps I missed something.

Exactly. Now it’s URIs fault for having to play shitty teams in their conference that got scheduled for them by the conference? Complain about the quality of the bottom half of the A10 before blaming our program

That doesn’t change the fact URI should win tonight and losing would be nothing short of a major disappointment. But the same can be said (and will be multiple times this season) anytime you play teams significantly worse than you

Well it is our fault that we have second games against St. Joe's and George Washington. And when our conference is already that weak, you don't compound the problem by putting together the out of conference schedule we did

For the team that we are, coming out of last season, the schedule is fine.
Also remember that Seton Hall postponed their game with us this year.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Anyone going to be at the game tonight?

I'll be there. This is the closest thing to a home game I'll likely ever have.

[Jersey77]

This schedule was clearly never about URI dancing this year. Cox put together this schedule with his own self interests at hand - don’t get fired and get extended.

STC, you know nothing about Cox by making this statement.

Guessing you also think Thorr is totally clueless about this situation considering this is his most highly profiled sports program.
Believe me, he is totally onboard with this schedule.

Are you an expert or insider who knows exactly what went on in with constructing this schedule?

With the way things currently are with our team, I am okay with it.

David Cox scheduled the Sunshine Slam against Bryant, Tulsa, and BC/Utah, Boston University, a home and home with Georgia State, Sacred Heart, a home and home with Milwaukee, and a neutral site game against College of Charleston this offseason. Everything else was part of a pre-existing arrangement.

There are only two reasons for putting that schedule together, especially in light of the schedule already having plenty of soft games. Either Cox has killed this program to the point those are the only teams we could schedule or Cox put together a schedule designed to pad his win totals at the expense of the program? Which do you think it is and how is it not a complete indictment of his time here?

And there is no way Thorr is totally onboard, but he knows that if he stepped in and scheduled for Cox that Cox would claim he was set up to fail this year. Basketball programs handle their own schedules, fact not opinion

If Thorr had some serious issues with it, there would of been some discussion, very doubtful he is totally in the dark about it.
Thorr on several occasions has praised Cox for his willingness to play tough competition.

You have no clue as to what went on in constructing this OOC schedule.

Sorry but Cox hasn't killed this program and you are wrong to comment on his integrity.

Are you now going to blame Cox for Seton Hall (a ranked P6 team) postponing their game against us this year?

[PeteRI]

Slightly off topic, but is there an ESPN+ hack? I already pay a fortune for my cable bundle and I'll be damned if I give these greedy billionaires any more of my money.

No, separate service. That being said it’s a great value at $8/month if you plan on watching many if not all of URIs games this year. At first glance I just counted 16 games on our schedule to be streamed on ESPN+. You’re paying something like $2.50/game if you plan on having it for the next 5 months

Not to mention you get literally every NHL game, tons of NCAAB, and other sports

Wow I didn't realize we have so many games on ESPN+ (unless we get really good and force ourselves onto the legitimate cable channels). Perhaps I have no choice ...

[ramster]

Just a note. Six of those are league games. Mandated.
One was to an up and coming University, that a lot of locals wanted to see.
One is to a 100 year local rival.
Not justifying the rest of the OOC schedule, only stating what I see. Perhaps I missed something.

Exactly. Now it’s URIs fault for having to play shitty teams in their conference that got scheduled for them by the conference? Complain about the quality of the bottom half of the A10 before blaming our program

That doesn’t change the fact URI should win tonight and losing would be nothing short of a major disappointment. But the same can be said (and will be multiple times this season) anytime you play teams significantly worse than you

Well it is our fault that we have second games against St. Joe's and George Washington. And when our conference is already that weak, you don't compound the problem by putting together the out of conference schedule we did

Exactly. Coming in 10th place results in the schedule weighted towards the bottom half the following year.

[RhowdyRam02]

STC, you know nothing about Cox by making this statement.

Guessing you also think Thorr is totally clueless about this situation considering this is his most highly profiled sports program.
Believe me, he is totally onboard with this schedule.

Are you an expert or insider who knows exactly what went on in with constructing this schedule?

With the way things currently are with our team, I am okay with it.

David Cox scheduled the Sunshine Slam against Bryant, Tulsa, and BC/Utah, Boston University, a home and home with Georgia State, Sacred Heart, a home and home with Milwaukee, and a neutral site game against College of Charleston this offseason. Everything else was part of a pre-existing arrangement.

There are only two reasons for putting that schedule together, especially in light of the schedule already having plenty of soft games. Either Cox has killed this program to the point those are the only teams we could schedule or Cox put together a schedule designed to pad his win totals at the expense of the program? Which do you think it is and how is it not a complete indictment of his time here?

And there is no way Thorr is totally onboard, but he knows that if he stepped in and scheduled for Cox that Cox would claim he was set up to fail this year. Basketball programs handle their own schedules, fact not opinion

If Thorr had some serious issues with it, there would of been some discussion.
Thorr on several occasions has praised Cox for his willingness to play tough competition.

You have no clue as to what went on in constructing this schedule.

Sorry but Cox hasn't killed this program and you are wrong to comment on his integrity.

Are you now going to blame Cox for Seton Hall (a ranked P6 team) postponing their game against us this year?

If he didn't kill the program and he has too much integrity to try and pad his win total with cupcakes, why did he schedule so poorly in the offseason?

Boston University = quad 4
Bryant = quad 4
Tulsa = quad 3
BC/Utah at the Sunshine Slam = quad 3/2
Georgia State = quad 3
Sacred Heart = quad 4
Milwaukee = quad 2
Charleston = quad 4

I'm glad you're ok with that because we were terrible last year, but that's a garbage schedule and an A10 school should be embarrassed by it

[STC]

It's really an indictment that our 10-ply schedule has way too many games worse than this one. According to KenPom Bryant, Sacred Heart, Charleston, Brown, La Salle, St. Joe's (x2), George Washington (x2), and Fordham are all worse teams than Florida Gulf Coast. When 10 of your 31 scheduled games are against teams worse than the 203rd ranked KenPom team you scheduled way too soft

This schedule was clearly never about URI dancing this year. Cox put together this schedule with his own self interests at hand - don’t get fired and get extended.

STC, you know nothing about Cox by making this statement.

Guessing you also think Thorr is totally clueless about this situation considering this is his most highly profiled sports program.
Believe me, he is totally onboard with this schedule.

Are you an expert or insider who knows exactly what went on in with constructing this schedule?

With the way things currently are with our team, I am okay with it.

STC, you know nothing about Cox by making this statement. Correct, I don't know anything about Cox. I'm just an alum who wants to dance.

Guessing you also think Thorr is totally clueless about this situation considering this is his most highly profiled sports program.
Believe me, he is totally onboard with this schedule. I've been consistent in saying that I like how Thorr has handled Cox's contract status thus far. Thorr getting out of the way and letting Cox chart his own path with the schedule is a great move. It's year 4, these are Cox's guys, the program is regressing, good on Thorr to leave it up to Cox to sink or swim.

Are you an expert or insider who knows exactly what went on in with constructing this schedule? It doesn't take an expert or insider to infer what's going on with this year's schedule. Since you're evidently one, please enlighten me to what went on...

With the way things currently are with our team, I am okay with it. "With the way things currently are", what does this mean? Sounds like an acknowledgement of regression without actually acknowledging it....