2/15 | VCU | 7:00PM (YurView/ESPN+)

[spookydog]

University of Rhode Island vs Virginia Commonwealth University
Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
7:00PM

Media
TV: YurView
Online: ESPN +
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network

Previews
VCU Fan Forum


On the heels of losing all three games on their road trip, the University of Rhode Island Rams limp back to Kingston with one less body on the roster. As most of us are aware, Bray Freeman has been dismissed from the team. It is too bad, now who is going to like my tweets when I say he is going to transfer after the season?

Virginia Commonwealth University, currently Atlantic 10’s first place team, head to Kingston Wednesday night. The Rams of VCU are coming off a week off after a loss at home against Dayton. They lost to Dayton at home. Who does that? Well, the other Rams of Fordham also lost to Dayton at home. That leaves Rhody as the only Rams team to beat the Flyers on their home court. VCU has lost their last two home games with the other loss coming from St. Bonaventure. Their only other conference loss was at Duquesne in the beginning of the new year.

VCU is led by junior guard Ace Baldwin, who is leading the team in scoring at 13.5 & assists at 5.7. If the game is miraculously close at the end, he is someone you don’t want to foul. He is shooting 93% from the line on the road. Michigan transfer Brandon Johns Jr is second on the team in both scoring & rebounding, 12 & 5.1 respectively. Leading the team in rebounding is forward Jalen DeLoach with over 7 per contest. Hartford transfer David Shriver is their best three-point shooter, but his play has been down as of late. He had a couple conference games where he went 6 for 8 from deep but is 0 for his last 7 & hasn’t hit a shot from the floor in his last 3 games. Although VCU is not quite the havoc defense of old, they still put quite a bit of pressure on the ball handlers. VCU is averaging over 9 steals per game. With Rhody being down a viable option to handle the ball, this puts even more pressure on URI to get the ball down the court quickly so they can get into their offensive set. The good news for Rhody is that the other Rams are averaging almost as many turnovers as they do. This game could easily hit 30+ turnovers as both teams’ average over 14 per game.

VCU’s lineup isn’t too big, so Rhody has potential of going small against them. Could see Malik & 4 guards at times in this one. Rhody is averaging 5 more rebounds per game than their Ram counterparts. With Bray now gone, how do the others step up? With Carey handling the ball more, can he limit his turnovers? Will there be more Weston minutes? Does Hutch get a little more play this game at the 4? Will I need to pregame even harder at Shaidzon to make this game tolerable? Since I had zero takers the last time I did this, I will try it again. If you are reading this preview, I will be perched at the corner of the bar at Shaidzon on Wednesday before the game from 4-6:30. If you come by & say the phrase that pays, “URI race to 10”, I will buy you a half liter of Buffalo Czech.

URI has potential to pull off a home trifecta Wednesday night. If Rhody can pull off the upset win against VCU, Rhody would then have home wins against the top 3 teams in the conference (VCU, Dayton & Fordham). Will this happen, probably not but stranger things have happened. I am guessing that the Rams of VCU will be favored by about 4 over the Rams of Rhode Island. My prediction VCU 68 – URI 61. Go Rhody!!

Opponent
Record:
18-7, 9-3 in the A10
22-10, 14-4 in the A10 (Last Season)

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 84 (229)
RPI: 49 (247)
KenPom: 84 (217)
BPI: 75 (216)
Sagarin: 71 (201)
Barttovik: 86 (216)

Leaders:
Points – Ace Baldwin Jr 13.5 (Jr., G)
Rebounds – Jalen DeLoach 7.3 (Soph., F)
Assists – Ace Baldwin Jr 5.7 (Jr., G) (2.5 TO per game)

Historical
Series: 11-9
H: 5-2, A: 3-7, N: 3-0
Most Recent Matchup: 2/8/22 73-64 L at VCU
Most Recent Win Streak: 2 – VCU
Match-up Predictor: 23.9% Chance of URI Winning

[Iggy1979]

Cant see URI hitting 60. 50 will be a challenge.

[section(105)]

29% chance to win according to Team Rankings. Before Freemen departure.

[RI_Bred]

Cant see URI hitting 60. 50 will be a challenge.

Yeah losing a significant piece of our already anemic offense is going to kill the rest of the season.

[Billyboy78]

Jeff will be at the game.

[RhowdyRam02]

Boy, could we use him on the court instead of on the concourse....

[ramster]

Plus Archie would play him at Point Guard

[adam914]

Put him in Freeman's jersey and see if anyone notices!

[rjv]

I'm feeling a Rhody win!!!
I really believe they are going to win this game!

[RhodyRams916]

Put him in Freeman's jersey and see if anyone notices!

Dowtin is the opposite of Freeman. Mature, involves his teammates, does what the coach asks, doesn’t cry when he’s on the bench.

[Jdrums#3]

29% chance to win according to Team Rankings. Before Freemen departure.

Ooph

[Jdrums#3]

Cant see URI hitting 60. 50 will be a challenge.

Double ooph

Could be a rock fight. Bring a helmet.

[Jdrums#3]

Cant see URI hitting 60. 50 will be a challenge.

VCU will probably pressure the hell out of us and make Ish work his Aris off to get a shot. I could envision Rory struggling due to VCU’s quick players on D. Also, I expect turnovers to be a problem across the board unless Bassy can withstand the hoard bringing pressure constantly enough to adequately run the offense.

If we turn them over a lot and are able to run before they can set their D and keep them below 55-60ish, we may have a final shot at pulling an upset. If VCU gets to 65 or more it will likely be 5 minutes of garbage time for them at near the end of the game, imo.

[RhodyRams916]

What does the gold jersey mean again? I notice Tchikou wearing it in an Instagram pic.

[SGreenwell]

RR916, I believe it's essentially Player of the Week. I'm not sure if it's for practice only, or accounts for game activities as well.

[PeteRI]

Spooky, thanks for being the only enjoyable part of this rectal boil of a season. I can't make it to Shaidzon but I promise to like your tweet about Bye Bye Brayon.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Put him in Freeman's jersey and see if anyone notices!

Dowtin is the opposite of Freeman. Mature, involves his teammates, does what the coach asks, doesn’t cry when he’s on the bench.

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

[theblueram]

Put him in Freeman's jersey and see if anyone notices!

Dowtin is the opposite of Freeman. Mature, involves his teammates, does what the coach asks, doesn’t cry when he’s on the bench.

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

Still pisses me off Red as well.

[Rhody15]

Dowtin is the opposite of Freeman. Mature, involves his teammates, does what the coach asks, doesn’t cry when he’s on the bench.

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

[PeteRI]

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Don't forget a hobbled Hassan. We would have beaten the Ducks by 10 if he was healthy.

[Rhodymob05]

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Watched the replay today. That was our chance as another elite 8 run. Brutal.

[Rhody15]

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Watched the replay today. That was our chance as another elite 8 run. Brutal.

But then I always play the “well if we beat Oregon and then Michigan, does Hurley move on, does EC leave as well and then we don’t have another tournament season after this one” game.

[reef]

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Watched the replay today. That was our chance as another elite 8 run. Brutal.

I still hate that punk Dillon Brooks !!

[RhowdyRam02]

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Piss me off? Where do I sign up to feel pain like that again?

[ramster]

Spookydog

Thank you for including these rankings for both teams for eatery game. Appreciate the time, effort and expertise you donate.

I see NET and RPI for WBB
Are there any others that produce daily Womens Basketball Rankings?

Thanks

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 84 (229)
RPI: 49 (247)
KenPom: 84 (217)
BPI: 75 (216)
Sagarin: 71 (201)
Barttovik: 86 (216)

[spookydog]

Spookydog

Thank you for including these rankings for both teams for eatery game. Appreciate the time, effort and expertise you donate.

I see NET and RPI for WBB
Are there any others that produce daily Womens Basketball Rankings?

Thanks

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 84 (229)
RPI: 49 (247)
KenPom: 84 (217)
BPI: 75 (216)
Sagarin: 71 (201)
Barttovik: 86 (216)

Those are the only ones that I am aware for the women as well.

[ramster]

Spookydog

Thank you for including these rankings for both teams for eatery game. Appreciate the time, effort and expertise you donate.

I see NET and RPI for WBB
Are there any others that produce daily Womens Basketball Rankings?

Thanks

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 84 (229)
RPI: 49 (247)
KenPom: 84 (217)
BPI: 75 (216)
Sagarin: 71 (201)
Barttovik: 86 (216)

Those are the only ones that I am aware for the women as well.

Thanks. I thought so but was hoping you might have some other options. Surprising in a way since the algorithms and calculations should be fairly easy to apply, but, oh well.

[RI_Bred]

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Piss me off? Where do I sign up to feel pain like that again?

I'm still not over the 1998 Stanford game!

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Walking out of that game, St. Daddy-o the Great -- himself victim of a referee's screw job almost 20 years earlier (Arthur Lee is a punk) -- announced "that call on Matthews was horseshit!"

[RhowdyRam02]

With the significant downgrade in offense due to Freeman leaving the team, we can't afford to lose possessions from poor shot selection any longer. I would like to see Archie institute the Rory Stewart line for shooting threes. If your three point shooting percentage is worse than Rory's and you miss a three you ride some pine for a while. This means Malik (28.8%), Sebastian (20.8), and Jalen (20.6) all have giant yellow lights. Hell, I would go so far as to give Sebastian and Jalen red lights right now, but we're already short on scholarship players.

Unfortunately I wish I was joking, but we've let poor shot selection happen way too often with seemingly no consequences. It's time we tighten up this weakness

[ramster]

With removing Freeman and his glaring defensive weakness there will be fewer opponent layups and open 3Ps. Therefore more misses and more opportunities for defensive rebounds and controlled fast breaks for URI.
Better passing, less dribbling means more players involved in the offense and players receiving the ball in better position to shoot an open set 3P. Higher percentage shots.

Less dribbling and firing up contested 3Ps and fewer 3Ps fired in a rush as the shot clock expires. There have been a lot of those this year.

[RamStock]

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

Piss me off? Where do I sign up to feel pain like that again?

I'm still not over the 1998 Stanford game!

I haven’t gotten over it either. It would have been incredible. I was going to the Final Four that year in San Antonio already. I still went, but it wasn’t the same

[PeterRamTime]

Kept his mouth shut for two years while his idiot coach gave his position to an inferior player. Yes, it still pisses me off.

Still pisses me off Red as well.

Speaking of still pissing people off, anyone randomly still think about the Oregon game and their blood starts to boil?

The EC “charge”, two missed rebounds leading to a 3, Tyler Dorsey bomb, and the missed 3 at the end to tie.

Then a low seeded Michigan awaited in the Sweet 16.

Ugh.

And Hass having a broken foot.

[bigappleram]

With the significant downgrade in offense due to Freeman leaving the team, we can't afford to lose possessions from poor shot selection any longer. I would like to see Archie institute the Rory Stewart line for shooting threes. If your three point shooting percentage is worse than Rory's and you miss a three you ride some pine for a while. This means Malik (28.8%), Sebastian (20.8), and Jalen (20.6) all have giant yellow lights. Hell, I would go so far as to give Sebastian and Jalen red lights right now, but we're already short on scholarship players.

Unfortunately I wish I was joking, but we've let poor shot selection happen way too often with seemingly no consequences. It's time we tighten up this weakness

You have basically eliminated the entire offense except Ish from shooting from the perimeter. So how are we going to score exactly?

Our issue has been TOs much more than bad shot selection. While I think with Thomas out there the ball will be less sticky and will move more it still will come down to people having to make shots and there is 1 less shot maker on the roster on what was already the worst offensive team (by a good margin) in the league. If Malik, Sebastian or Jalen have wide open looks from 3 they are probably going to have the green light simply bc there aren't many better options out there for shots. I do hope Weston is given extended run and allowed to play through mistakes and get up some shots bc he at least has shown an ability to make some.

[RhowdyRam02]

With the significant downgrade in offense due to Freeman leaving the team, we can't afford to lose possessions from poor shot selection any longer. I would like to see Archie institute the Rory Stewart line for shooting threes. If your three point shooting percentage is worse than Rory's and you miss a three you ride some pine for a while. This means Malik (28.8%), Sebastian (20.8), and Jalen (20.6) all have giant yellow lights. Hell, I would go so far as to give Sebastian and Jalen red lights right now, but we're already short on scholarship players.

Unfortunately I wish I was joking, but we've let poor shot selection happen way too often with seemingly no consequences. It's time we tighten up this weakness

You have basically eliminated the entire offense except Ish from shooting from the perimeter. So how are we going to score exactly?

Our issue has been TOs much more than bad shot selection. While I think with Thomas out there the ball will be less sticky and will move more it still will come down to people having to make shots and there is 1 less shot maker on the roster on what was already the worst offensive team (by a good margin) in the league. If Malik, Sebastian or Jalen have wide open looks from 3 they are probably going to have the green light simply bc there aren't many better options out there for shots. I do hope Weston is given extended run and allowed to play through mistakes and get up some shots bc he at least has shown an ability to make some.

Well we're not going to score by having guys that can't hit a three taking a three. We've got 24 games of data to show that now. There's a reason those three guys get open looks, because they're terrible shooting three pointers and the defense wants us to take that shot. There is simply no universe where them taking a three is a good option. I'm also fine with sitting guys who make dumb turnovers.

With Malik and Jalen not scheduled to come back next year, and this being a lost season, if they miss a three they should be sat in favor of one of our younger players like Weston. They should probably be sat in favor of those players no matter what at this point anyway. And if Sebastian is taking a three pointer than he's not doing his job as a point guard to get our offense the best possible shot on that possession. So make it or sit and we'll get someone else in there.

Saturday should be the turning point and this sinking ship should now be turned over to our younger players. It's also time to go back to the fire drill lineups at the beginning of the year and yanking people for mistakes. Time to get young guys playing time and reinforcing positive traits like getting the right shot for the team and taking care of the ball by punishing bad shot selection and turnovers

[reef]

Piss me off? Where do I sign up to feel pain like that again?

I'm still not over the 1998 Stanford game!

I haven’t gotten over it either. It would have been incredible. I was going to the Final Four that year in San Antonio already. I still went, but it wasn’t the same

Easily the worst loss in URI history

Up 6 with 59 secs left and a trip to the final 4 @ stake

[Jdrums#3]

Ooph. Getting bad flashbacks from the reminiscing. No Maas! No Maas!

[RF1]

VCU for many years has been known for their pressure defense. I am interested to see how URI does with its turnovers tonight. Ball possession has not been a strong suit for this Rhody team.

[reef]

I bet Arch has watched a lot of film on VCU and prepared his guys , we will turn it over but I don’t think it will be extreme

[SGreenwell]

VCU for many years has been known for their pressure defense. I am interested to see how URI does with its turnovers tonight. Ball possession has not been a strong suit for this Rhody team.

VCU's defense is 30th by KenPom, 14th by DRtg, and we just lost our second best offensive player. We have one natural PG on the roster now, and VCU (arguably) goes about nine deep, even if this is mitigated slightly by them "only" having three good to excellent players (Deloach, Baldwin, Johns). Unless VCU comes into this game sleepwalking, it could get ugly. This would be a more surprising win than the Dayton one to me.

[KevanBoyles]

Classic underdog story. I love it. Makes a victory that much sweeter.

[luke]

I think Dayton has a much stronger lineup than VCU . Look how they handled VCU recently in Richmond , and they had to basically give the game away in dayton , having had a 4 point lead and the ball with 34 seconds remaining. I think a victory over VCU would be easier than beating Dayton.

[ramster]

VCU for many years has been known for their pressure defense. I am interested to see how URI does with its turnovers tonight. Ball possession has not been a strong suit for this Rhody team.

VCU's defense is 30th by KenPom, 14th by DRtg, and we just lost our second best offensive player. We have one natural PG on the roster now, and VCU (arguably) goes about nine deep, even if this is mitigated slightly by them "only" having three good to excellent players (Deloach, Baldwin, Johns). Unless VCU comes into this game sleepwalking, it could get ugly. This would be a more surprising win than the Dayton one to me.

2/3rds the way through the A10: 12 of 18 Games

Total FG%
.515 - Tchikou
.500 - Samb
.471 - Stewart
.458 - Martin
.406 - Carey
.389 - Westin
.377 - Leggett
.365 - Thomas
.364 - Freeman

FT%
.864 - Weston
.857 - Samb
.833 - Leggett
.833 - Carey
.813 - Thomas
.650 - Martin
.632 - Freeman
.618 - Tchikou
.500 - Stewart

3P%
.400 - Stewart
.375 - Martin
.352 - Freeman
.313 - Weston
.309 - Leggett
.231 - Carey
.200 - Thomas

I don't see him as our 2nd best offensive player.

9th out of 9 FG%
7th out of 9 FT%
3rd out of 7 3P%

[Dino611]

With El Jefe being there tonight I think he improves to 10-1 being in the building vs VCU

[SGreenwell]

VCU for many years has been known for their pressure defense. I am interested to see how URI does with its turnovers tonight. Ball possession has not been a strong suit for this Rhody team.

VCU's defense is 30th by KenPom, 14th by DRtg, and we just lost our second best offensive player. We have one natural PG on the roster now, and VCU (arguably) goes about nine deep, even if this is mitigated slightly by them "only" having three good to excellent players (Deloach, Baldwin, Johns). Unless VCU comes into this game sleepwalking, it could get ugly. This would be a more surprising win than the Dayton one to me.

2/3rds the way through the A10: 12 of 18 Games

FG%
.525 - Tchikou
.500 - Samb
.471 - Stewart
.458 - Martin
.406 - Carey
.389 - Westin
.377 - Leggett
.365 - Thomas
.364 - Freeman

FT%
.864 - Weston
.857 - Samb
.833 - Leggett
.833 - Carey
.813 - Thomas
.650 - Martin
.632 - Freeman
.618 - Tchikou
.500 - Stewart

3P%
.400 - Stewart
.375 - Martin
.352 - Freeman

If you think URI's offense is going to be better here on out with Thomas instead of Freeman, well, I wish you the best of luck with that bet. I imagine you can get pretty good odds on the URI "over" for points going forward. There's a non-zero chance that he really was awful behind the scenes, and the whole team plays better with him gone. I don't really think that's the case, much like how some people thought we'd magically get better without Fatts dominating the ball. This isn't youth basketball or 1970 LSU - Freeman wasn't taking a bunch of shots because his dad was the coach, he was getting the green light because he was one of the few guys on the team that could create a decent shot.

[Iggy1979]

Will women outdraw men this week?

[ramster]

VCU's defense is 30th by KenPom, 14th by DRtg, and we just lost our second best offensive player. We have one natural PG on the roster now, and VCU (arguably) goes about nine deep, even if this is mitigated slightly by them "only" having three good to excellent players (Deloach, Baldwin, Johns). Unless VCU comes into this game sleepwalking, it could get ugly. This would be a more surprising win than the Dayton one to me.

2/3rds the way through the A10: 12 of 18 Games

FG%
.525 - Tchikou
.500 - Samb
.471 - Stewart
.458 - Martin
.406 - Carey
.389 - Westin
.377 - Leggett
.365 - Thomas
.364 - Freeman

FT%
.864 - Weston
.857 - Samb
.833 - Leggett
.833 - Carey
.813 - Thomas
.650 - Martin
.632 - Freeman
.618 - Tchikou
.500 - Stewart

3P%
.400 - Stewart
.375 - Martin
.352 - Freeman

If you think URI's offense is going to be better here on out with Thomas instead of Freeman, well, I wish you the best of luck with that bet. I imagine you can get pretty good odds on the URI "over" for points going forward. There's a non-zero chance that he really was awful behind the scenes, and the whole team plays better with him gone. I don't really think that's the case, much like how some people thought we'd magically get better without Fatts dominating the ball. This isn't youth basketball or 1970 LSU - Freeman wasn't taking a bunch of shots because his dad was the coach, he was getting the green light because he was one of the few guys on the team that could create a decent shot.

You called Freeman our 2nd best offensive player. I disagree.

[SGreenwell]

2/3rds the way through the A10: 12 of 18 Games

FG%
.525 - Tchikou
.500 - Samb
.471 - Stewart
.458 - Martin
.406 - Carey
.389 - Westin
.377 - Leggett
.365 - Thomas
.364 - Freeman

FT%
.864 - Weston
.857 - Samb
.833 - Leggett
.833 - Carey
.813 - Thomas
.650 - Martin
.632 - Freeman
.618 - Tchikou
.500 - Stewart

3P%
.400 - Stewart
.375 - Martin
.352 - Freeman

If you think URI's offense is going to be better here on out with Thomas instead of Freeman, well, I wish you the best of luck with that bet. I imagine you can get pretty good odds on the URI "over" for points going forward. There's a non-zero chance that he really was awful behind the scenes, and the whole team plays better with him gone. I don't really think that's the case, much like how some people thought we'd magically get better without Fatts dominating the ball. This isn't youth basketball or 1970 LSU - Freeman wasn't taking a bunch of shots because his dad was the coach, he was getting the green light because he was one of the few guys on the team that could create a decent shot.

You called Freeman our 2nd best offensive player. I disagree.

If you're not picking him, you're picking Jalen Carey or Malik Martin. You sure about that? Carey has broken 20 points twice in his career, and both games he had six turnovers. Martin is averaging 7.5 PPG in 30+ MPG. It's fine to be happy that Freeman is now gone from the team, but you don't have to twist yourself into knots here and act like he wasn't the second best offensive player on the team.

[RhowdyRam02]

If you think URI's offense is going to be better here on out with Thomas instead of Freeman, well, I wish you the best of luck with that bet. I imagine you can get pretty good odds on the URI "over" for points going forward. There's a non-zero chance that he really was awful behind the scenes, and the whole team plays better with him gone. I don't really think that's the case, much like how some people thought we'd magically get better without Fatts dominating the ball. This isn't youth basketball or 1970 LSU - Freeman wasn't taking a bunch of shots because his dad was the coach, he was getting the green light because he was one of the few guys on the team that could create a decent shot.

You called Freeman our 2nd best offensive player. I disagree.

If you're not picking him, you're picking Jalen Carey or Malik Martin. You sure about that? Carey has broken 20 points twice in his career, and both games he had six turnovers. Martin is averaging 7.5 PPG in 30+ MPG. It's fine to be happy that Freeman is now gone from the team, but you don't have to twist yourself into knots here and act like he wasn't the second best offensive player on the team.

Thank you. I didn't particularly like his game and attitude, but I understood why he was allowed to play that way offensively. He was absolutely our second best offensive player and it's not particularly close

[KingstonLane]

URI having one of their best FT shooting years in program history

Our announcer: “URI really struggling from the FT line this year”

Such a bush league operation