11/1 | Assumption | 7:00PM (Varsity App) (EXHIBITION)

[SGreenwell]

FWIW, the final Cox year also begun with a 40+ point drubbing of a non-Division I team. That team finished a game under .500, if I recall correctly. I think its good that URI beat the crap out of Assumption, and that guys like House, Montgomery and Kortright looked as advertised. I'm somewhat confident in their production going forward.

Fuchs, Brown and Foumena, I'd be less confident about, simply because its not unusual for even iffy D-I big men to beat the crap out of lower squads. I'm not saying that those three won't be this productive going forward, just noting that guys like Jonathan Cruz, Onyekaba and a still large Andre Berry put up good stats against those types of teams.

ETA: Here is a past preseason game thread vs. Pace, where I and some others mention toward the top some of the fun results you get from these bizarro games. I think this game with Assumption at least gave us a look at what the rotation is going forward.

[Blue Man]

FWIW, the final Cox year also begun with a 40+ point drubbing of a non-Division I team. That team finished a game under .500, if I recall correctly. I think its good that URI beat the crap out of Assumption, and that guys like House, Montgomery and Kortright looked as advertised. I'm somewhat confident in their production going forward.

Fuchs, Brown and Foumena, I'd be less confident about, simply because its not unusual for even iffy D-I big men to beat the crap out of lower squads. I'm not saying that those three won't be this productive going forward, just noting that guys like Jonathan Cruz, Onyekaba and a still large Andre Berry put up good stats against those types of teams.

ETA: Here is a past preseason game thread vs. Pace, where I and some others mention toward the top some of the fun results you get from these bizarro games. I think this game with Assumption at least gave us a look at what the rotation is going forward.

Why are we so intent to not believe we're going to be good?

Cox's last team had talent, certainly more than Archie's first year - that's why it was so frustrating. Cox was a terrible coach.

He had a team with a guy that started 31 games for Arkansas playing behind a guy who started 9 games for Arkansas. Or he played both of them at the same time which was so pointless.

I guess if we're going to keep looking for reasons to think we won't be good, you'll be able to find them - like you could with any team.

But last years team, a team that had 1 legit high major D1 player on it, had a chance to win 18/31 games last year and couldn't finish. That team was coached up as far as the talent would take them.

Ish Leggett transferred to Pitt. That's it.

Bray went down to the Sun Belt. No one wanted Jalen Carey. How Sebastian Thomas is even at the level of the America East is hilarious. Tchikou to Horizon. Lou Hutch to the Big South. Samb to the Horizon.

This team has legit talent and scoring. Exhibition games are literally a talent display. That's all. No coach is going to put any motions or sets in place for a game that means nothing. Who wants to give opponents more tape?

So all last night confirmed is that we are significantly more talented than last years team, which is enough for me as it's basically been what I've been screaming for the last 6 months.

We can handle the ball. We can shoot. And we can make good decisions.

If you trust the coach, then you should be psyched for this year. If you don't trust the coach you're dumb.

[hrstrat57]

FWIW, the final Cox year also begun with a 40+ point drubbing of a non-Division I team. That team finished a game under .500, if I recall correctly. I think its good that URI beat the crap out of Assumption, and that guys like House, Montgomery and Kortright looked as advertised. I'm somewhat confident in their production going forward.

Fuchs, Brown and Foumena, I'd be less confident about, simply because its not unusual for even iffy D-I big men to beat the crap out of lower squads. I'm not saying that those three won't be this productive going forward, just noting that guys like Jonathan Cruz, Onyekaba and a still large Andre Berry put up good stats against those types of teams.

ETA: Here is a past preseason game thread vs. Pace, where I and some others mention toward the top some of the fun results you get from these bizarro games. I think this game with Assumption at least gave us a look at what the rotation is going forward.

Agree. I saw good hybrid guard play with strong technique from Kortwright and Montgomery. House seems to be able to get where he wants on the court and finishes at the bucket. As stated at half time Wright looked excellent - plays with pace has good on-ball skills and appeared to take a leadership role. He’s a distribute the ball player. I expect the guard play to be good against stronger opposition. The improvement in backcourt skill level was obvious and dramatic.

The inside game, whilst improved I’m not so sure about. We’ll see more Monday night.

[theblueram]

The big thing for me was seeing many players finish around the basket. I think they need to cleanup on rebounds, but maybe they were just not being overly physical during an exhibition. But if they can clean the glass efficiently, this team could be pretty competitive.

[Jersey77]

The big thing for me was seeing many players finish around the basket. I think they need to cleanup on rebounds, but maybe they were just not being overly physical during an exhibition. But if they can clean the glass efficiently, this team could be pretty competitive.

Yes Blueram, I feel we will be competitive, and we should dominate our lesser foes.
But unlike the thoughts of many here, I think the A10 will be much tougher top to bottom than most expect.
The overall guard play in our conference will be very good and there are quite a few quality bigs.

[KingstonLane]

The big thing for me was seeing many players finish around the basket. I think they need to cleanup on rebounds, but maybe they were just not being overly physical during an exhibition. But if they can clean the glass efficiently, this team could be pretty competitive.

Yes Blueram, I feel we will be competitive, and we should dominate our lesser foes.
But unlike the thoughts of many here, I think the A10 will be much tougher top to bottom than most expect.
The overall guard play in our conference will be very good and there are quite a few quality bigs.

Whatever happens this year will happen with our A10 results. I anticipate us being better than 14th, but not yet in contention to challenge for the league title

I’m more concerned with building energy and excitement behind the program again this year. I don’t want to pretend I’m punting on the season, but there is a snowball effect we need to start building towards in advance of 24-25 season when we will be a true contender

What that means in practice is getting out of the OOC hot. Anything less than 8-5 or 9-4 will likely be a disappointment to casual fans. Really need a strong start to build interest and drive attendance. Especially with the students.

[ramster]

Write up on game

https://www.golocalprov.com/sports/uri- ... 50-of-thei

[PeterRamTime]

FWIW, the final Cox year also begun with a 40+ point drubbing of a non-Division I team. That team finished a game under .500, if I recall correctly. I think its good that URI beat the crap out of Assumption, and that guys like House, Montgomery and Kortright looked as advertised. I'm somewhat confident in their production going forward.

Fuchs, Brown and Foumena, I'd be less confident about, simply because its not unusual for even iffy D-I big men to beat the crap out of lower squads. I'm not saying that those three won't be this productive going forward, just noting that guys like Jonathan Cruz, Onyekaba and a still large Andre Berry put up good stats against those types of teams.

ETA: Here is a past preseason game thread vs. Pace, where I and some others mention toward the top some of the fun results you get from these bizarro games. I think this game with Assumption at least gave us a look at what the rotation is going forward.

Yeah that Cox team finishing at .500 had everything to do with Cox being awful and the team just giving up.

That Cox team was undoubtedly way more talented than what Archie had to work with last year and if this current team is dominating a DII school like it just did, then that suggests the talent level is trending towards where you want it to be.

Archie knows how to win with talent. No one's saying we are tournament bound either, but I think it's not unfair to think we should finish above .500

[PeterRamTime]

The big thing for me was seeing many players finish around the basket. I think they need to cleanup on rebounds, but maybe they were just not being overly physical during an exhibition. But if they can clean the glass efficiently, this team could be pretty competitive.

Yes Blueram, I feel we will be competitive, and we should dominate our lesser foes.
But unlike the thoughts of many here, I think the A10 will be much tougher top to bottom than most expect.
The overall guard play in our conference will be very good and there are quite a few quality bigs.

I've watched GMU and St Joe's. They look alright, but kinda small physically.

[PeterRamTime]

PC beat this Assumption team last year 106-69

So yeah, our showing suggests our talent level is around where we want it to be now. Just as I predicted before the game that it should be a lay up drill. And it was. Last years team maybe beats them by 20 because lay ups were hard for them.

[rhodyram22]

I can’t believe WE HAVE BIG MEN THAT CAN SHOOT AND GRAB REBOUNDS

[bigappleram]

The big thing for me was seeing many players finish around the basket. I think they need to cleanup on rebounds, but maybe they were just not being overly physical during an exhibition. But if they can clean the glass efficiently, this team could be pretty competitive.

Yes Blueram, I feel we will be competitive, and we should dominate our lesser foes.
But unlike the thoughts of many here, I think the A10 will be much tougher top to bottom than most expect.
The overall guard play in our conference will be very good and there are quite a few quality bigs.

I'm generally with you Jersey in taking a cautious approach.

But I also think you are puffing the conference a bit more than is warranted. If the league had very good guard play and quite a few quality bigs you would think it would be a multi-bid like season.

Besides Holmes who are these "few quality bigs" in the league that will obv outclass our front court? Sorry I don't see it. The league is historically not a league with great skill at the 5. Most teams have big bangers which we had no one to match up with last year; that won't be the case between Foumena, Bilau, Brown and Fuchs. I'm thinking of that big Russian kid on Fordham or the kid that was at Duquesne last season at the 5. Not massively skilled or athletic guys just big bangers. I don't think there are many other bigs in the league besides Holmes that bring both size and athleticism as well as skill.

Now I will agree the A10 is historically a good guard league...and always has some good ones. But I also think that will be our strength in terms of having an experienced battle tested group in the back court (Kortright, House, Montgomery) with some promising youngsters behind them (Estevez and Wright).

I'm just not looking at the rosters in the league this year and thinking it's a murderers row. Dayton will be tough, and IMO Bonnies will be really good. But after that I don't know. Are you really afraid of what Duquesne rolls out there? What about Fordham? SLU, Richmond and Davidson all have as many question marks as we do if not more. VCU will take a little step back assuming their 2x transfers can't play. Mason looks ok not great with a lot of new faces. Umass back court is basically FR or SO and if either Cross or Cohen get hurt they are toast. And so on and so on.

[Rhody15]

Montgomery is the X Factor to me. He's going to have to be the second consistent wing scorer behind House.

[jcru]

I mentioned that this team was not a turnover machine like last year's team was, and it got slapped down as merely being a "small" factor, the major factor being that this team has a lot more talent.

My bad, I thought taking care of the ball WAS a "talent".

[SGreenwell]

I mentioned that this team was not a turnover machine like last year's team was, and it got slapped down as merely being a "small" factor, the major factor being that this team has a lot more talent.

My bad, I thought taking care of the ball WAS a "talent".

They averaged 14.1 turnovers a game last year, and had 13 in an exhibition. Maybe they will be better with the ball this year, but their turnover rate ranked 45th in the nation last year, and 2nd in A-10 only games. Last year's team had a lot of problems - mostly shooting (39.4 percent from the field, 355th overall) - but turnovers wasn't one of them. I'd expect our turnovers to go up this year, because we have more players who want to drive and attack on offense (House) vs. passive offensive players (Thomas, Martin) who were comfortable with eternal passing or launching uncontested shots they couldn't make.

[4Diffs]

I mentioned that this team was not a turnover machine like last year's team was, and it got slapped down as merely being a "small" factor, the major factor being that this team has a lot more talent.

My bad, I thought taking care of the ball WAS a "talent".

They averaged 14.1 turnovers a game last year, and had 13 in an exhibition. Maybe they will be better with the ball this year, but their turnover rate ranked 45th in the nation last year, and 2nd in A-10 only games. Last year's team had a lot of problems - mostly shooting (39.4 percent from the field, 355th overall) - but turnovers wasn't one of them. I'd expect our turnovers to go up this year, because we have more players who want to drive and attack on offense (House) vs. passive offensive players (Thomas, Martin) who were comfortable with eternal passing or launching uncontested shots they couldn't make.

I agree JCRU. Not all turnovers are the same, show me a stat that breaks out live ball turnovers from the others and I doubt we would do so well. We had to be in the bottom half for live ball turnovers which is the worse thing in basketball as it often leads to fast break points for the other team. It certainly seemed that way to me. As Sgreenwell stated the turnover stats were low because we played at a snails pace and ran the shot clock down on most possessions and settled for difficult jump shots. What was the turnovers to assists ratio. Would be surprised if that was in the top half of the league. Did not see the game yesterday as I was at TD Garden but will be there next week. Reports are encouraging and I am looking forward to seeing the team for the first time.

[PeterRamTime]

Montgomery is the X Factor to me. He's going to have to be the second consistent wing scorer behind House.

Really excited about Zek

When was the last time we had a 6'6 dude that can cross people up then dunk on people and nail step back threes?

[PeterRamTime]

The big thing for me was seeing many players finish around the basket. I think they need to cleanup on rebounds, but maybe they were just not being overly physical during an exhibition. But if they can clean the glass efficiently, this team could be pretty competitive.

Yes Blueram, I feel we will be competitive, and we should dominate our lesser foes.
But unlike the thoughts of many here, I think the A10 will be much tougher top to bottom than most expect.
The overall guard play in our conference will be very good and there are quite a few quality bigs.

I'm generally with you Jersey in taking a cautious approach.

But I also think you are puffing the conference a bit more than is warranted. If the league had very good guard play and quite a few quality bigs you would think it would be a multi-bid like season.

Besides Holmes who are these "few quality bigs" in the league that will obv outclass our front court? Sorry I don't see it. The league is historically not a league with great skill at the 5. Most teams have big bangers which we had no one to match up with last year; that won't be the case between Foumena, Bilau, Brown and Fuchs. I'm thinking of that big Russian kid on Fordham or the kid that was at Duquesne last season at the 5. Not massively skilled or athletic guys just big bangers. I don't think there are many other bigs in the league besides Holmes that bring both size and athleticism as well as skill.

Now I will agree the A10 is historically a good guard league...and always has some good ones. But I also think that will be our strength in terms of having an experienced battle tested group in the back court (Kortright, House, Montgomery) with some promising youngsters behind them (Estevez and Wright).

I'm just not looking at the rosters in the league this year and thinking it's a murderers row. Dayton will be tough, and IMO Bonnies will be really good. But after that I don't know. Are you really afraid of what Duquesne rolls out there? What about Fordham? SLU, Richmond and Davidson all have as many question marks as we do if not more. VCU will take a little step back assuming their 2x transfers can't play. Mason looks ok not great with a lot of new faces. Umass back court is basically FR or SO and if either Cross or Cohen get hurt they are toast. And so on and so on.

Yeah I don't know why some people have no problem pumping up an A-10 that has done nothing but fall on its face lately and crap on any positivity about our own team.

It's not unreasonable to think Brown, Fuchs, Foumena and Bilau will be one of the more formidable frontcourt groups in the A-10. It's very possible.

[Jersey77]

Yes Blueram, I feel we will be competitive, and we should dominate our lesser foes.
But unlike the thoughts of many here, I think the A10 will be much tougher top to bottom than most expect.
The overall guard play in our conference will be very good and there are quite a few quality bigs.

I'm generally with you Jersey in taking a cautious approach.

But I also think you are puffing the conference a bit more than is warranted. If the league had very good guard play and quite a few quality bigs you would think it would be a multi-bid like season.

Besides Holmes who are these "few quality bigs" in the league that will obv outclass our front court? Sorry I don't see it. The league is historically not a league with great skill at the 5. Most teams have big bangers which we had no one to match up with last year; that won't be the case between Foumena, Bilau, Brown and Fuchs. I'm thinking of that big Russian kid on Fordham or the kid that was at Duquesne last season at the 5. Not massively skilled or athletic guys just big bangers. I don't think there are many other bigs in the league besides Holmes that bring both size and athleticism as well as skill.

Now I will agree the A10 is historically a good guard league...and always has some good ones. But I also think that will be our strength in terms of having an experienced battle tested group in the back court (Kortright, House, Montgomery) with some promising youngsters behind them (Estevez and Wright).

I'm just not looking at the rosters in the league this year and thinking it's a murderers row. Dayton will be tough, and IMO Bonnies will be really good. But after that I don't know. Are you really afraid of what Duquesne rolls out there? What about Fordham? SLU, Richmond and Davidson all have as many question marks as we do if not more. VCU will take a little step back assuming their 2x transfers can't play. Mason looks ok not great with a lot of new faces. Umass back court is basically FR or SO and if either Cross or Cohen get hurt they are toast. And so on and so on.

Yeah I don't know why some people have no problem pumping up an A-10 that has done nothing but fall on its face lately and crap on any positivity about our own team.

It's not unreasonable to think Brown, Fuchs, Foumena and Bilau will be one of the more formidable frontcourt groups in the A-10. It's very possible.

Of course it is possible, but all our bigs have very limited or no Div.1 experience, so we will see.

As far as frontcourt:
BAR, aside from Holmes you have Venning form the Bonnies along with Farell (now Essamvous)
Kuany sand Bairstow at VCU.
Richmond has Quinn and Bigelow.
Fordham has Tsimbila and Rivera
Loyola has Alston, Schweiger, and Adelekun.
Duquesne has a loaded frontcourt with Mahorcic, Dixon, Williams, Drame twins.

Overall, the teams that concern me the most are: Dayton, Bonnies, Duquesne, St. Joe's, and Fordham.
Then maybe Loyola, Richmond, and GW.

Look I think we will finish higher than all the other prediction/polls.
I just don't feel this season we will be a top tier team.
Hopefully they surprise me.

For all of you who feel this conference sucks and if Archie doesn't finish in the top half, then what does that say about him.

[Jdrums#3]

Jersey, I wouldn’t put myself in the “I think the conference sucks” category but I am in the “A10 isn’t what it used to be” category. I am also in the “I see troubling signs for the future” category.

That said, the conference could get 2 teams dancing this year with luck, I think.

Even in that context, I think we are a 6-9th (6th with Green cleared) place A10 team this season and a tough out in the A10 T if healthy. I don’t think there are 10 teams better in conference, imho.

Archie is moving the program incrementally back to NCAAT relevance overall but not there yet. We could very well be on the cusp of a bid next season, however.

The A10 should be better this year but that does not mean it has gained substantially on the NCAAT field this year.

[Jersey77]

Jersey, I wouldn’t put myself in the “I think the conference sucks” category but I am in the “A10 isn’t what it used to be” category. I am also in the “I see troubling signs for the future” category.

That said, the conference could get 2 teams dancing this year and maybe a third - IF absolutely all the stars line up in the A10’s future and with much luck.

Even in that context, I think we are a 6-9th (6th with Green cleared) place A10 team this season and a tough out in the A10 T if healthy. I don’t think there are 10 teams better in conference, imho.

The A10 should be better this year but that does not mean it has gained on the NCAAT field.

Unfortunately JD, not sure the A10 will ever be what it was back in the day.
The NCAA/P5 just making it that much more difficult.

[Jdrums#3]

I hear ya, Jersey. I’d just like to see some fight from the conference before things settle.

Once things settle and if there is still an A10 then I’d like to see us being on the level of Dayton and VCU ( regularly competing for the top 3 in conf ) even if both are still in the conference.

[Blue Man]

Yes Blueram, I feel we will be competitive, and we should dominate our lesser foes.
But unlike the thoughts of many here, I think the A10 will be much tougher top to bottom than most expect.
The overall guard play in our conference will be very good and there are quite a few quality bigs.

I'm generally with you Jersey in taking a cautious approach.

But I also think you are puffing the conference a bit more than is warranted. If the league had very good guard play and quite a few quality bigs you would think it would be a multi-bid like season.

Besides Holmes who are these "few quality bigs" in the league that will obv outclass our front court? Sorry I don't see it. The league is historically not a league with great skill at the 5. Most teams have big bangers which we had no one to match up with last year; that won't be the case between Foumena, Bilau, Brown and Fuchs. I'm thinking of that big Russian kid on Fordham or the kid that was at Duquesne last season at the 5. Not massively skilled or athletic guys just big bangers. I don't think there are many other bigs in the league besides Holmes that bring both size and athleticism as well as skill.

Now I will agree the A10 is historically a good guard league...and always has some good ones. But I also think that will be our strength in terms of having an experienced battle tested group in the back court (Kortright, House, Montgomery) with some promising youngsters behind them (Estevez and Wright).

I'm just not looking at the rosters in the league this year and thinking it's a murderers row. Dayton will be tough, and IMO Bonnies will be really good. But after that I don't know. Are you really afraid of what Duquesne rolls out there? What about Fordham? SLU, Richmond and Davidson all have as many question marks as we do if not more. VCU will take a little step back assuming their 2x transfers can't play. Mason looks ok not great with a lot of new faces. Umass back court is basically FR or SO and if either Cross or Cohen get hurt they are toast. And so on and so on.

Yeah I don't know why some people have no problem pumping up an A-10 that has done nothing but fall on its face lately and crap on any positivity about our own team.

It's not unreasonable to think Brown, Fuchs, Foumena and Bilau will be one of the more formidable frontcourt groups in the A-10. It's very possible.

THANK YOU

[RhodysRelevant]

Very excited for this season, less than enthused that almost every home games falls onto my rotating work schedule days or nights. Thanks to those here providing updates from the scrimmage, appreciate all your efforts and input for those of us that can't be there.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I'm generally with you Jersey in taking a cautious approach.

But I also think you are puffing the conference a bit more than is warranted. If the league had very good guard play and quite a few quality bigs you would think it would be a multi-bid like season.

Besides Holmes who are these "few quality bigs" in the league that will obv outclass our front court? Sorry I don't see it. The league is historically not a league with great skill at the 5. Most teams have big bangers which we had no one to match up with last year; that won't be the case between Foumena, Bilau, Brown and Fuchs. I'm thinking of that big Russian kid on Fordham or the kid that was at Duquesne last season at the 5. Not massively skilled or athletic guys just big bangers. I don't think there are many other bigs in the league besides Holmes that bring both size and athleticism as well as skill.

Now I will agree the A10 is historically a good guard league...and always has some good ones. But I also think that will be our strength in terms of having an experienced battle tested group in the back court (Kortright, House, Montgomery) with some promising youngsters behind them (Estevez and Wright).

I'm just not looking at the rosters in the league this year and thinking it's a murderers row. Dayton will be tough, and IMO Bonnies will be really good. But after that I don't know. Are you really afraid of what Duquesne rolls out there? What about Fordham? SLU, Richmond and Davidson all have as many question marks as we do if not more. VCU will take a little step back assuming their 2x transfers can't play. Mason looks ok not great with a lot of new faces. Umass back court is basically FR or SO and if either Cross or Cohen get hurt they are toast. And so on and so on.

Yeah I don't know why some people have no problem pumping up an A-10 that has done nothing but fall on its face lately and crap on any positivity about our own team.

It's not unreasonable to think Brown, Fuchs, Foumena and Bilau will be one of the more formidable frontcourt groups in the A-10. It's very possible.

Of course it is possible, but all our bigs have very limited or no Div.1 experience, so we will see.

As far as frontcourt:
BAR, aside from Holmes you have Venning form the Bonnies along with Farell (now Essamvous)
Kuany sand Bairstow at VCU.
Richmond has Quinn and Bigelow.
Fordham has Tsimbila and Rivera
Loyola has Alston, Schweiger, and Adelekun.
Duquesne has a loaded frontcourt with Mahorcic, Dixon, Williams, Drame twins.

Overall, the teams that concern me the most are: Dayton, Bonnies, Duquesne, St. Joe's, and Fordham.
Then maybe Loyola, Richmond, and GW.

Look I think we will finish higher than all the other prediction/polls.
I just don't feel this season we will be a top tier team.
Hopefully they surprise me.

For all of you who feel this conference sucks and if Archie doesn't finish in the top half, then what does that say about him.

NOHEHOHs. All of 'em, every single one of 'em.
This team will finish in the top half, and if they don't, Arch is not doing his job.
However, I have faith that he is...top 5 baby!

[Jersey77]

Yeah I don't know why some people have no problem pumping up an A-10 that has done nothing but fall on its face lately and crap on any positivity about our own team.

It's not unreasonable to think Brown, Fuchs, Foumena and Bilau will be one of the more formidable frontcourt groups in the A-10. It's very possible.

Of course it is possible, but all our bigs have very limited or no Div.1 experience, so we will see.

As far as frontcourt:
BAR, aside from Holmes you have Venning form the Bonnies along with Farell (now Essamvous)
Kuany sand Bairstow at VCU.
Richmond has Quinn and Bigelow.
Fordham has Tsimbila and Rivera
Loyola has Alston, Schweiger, and Adelekun.
Duquesne has a loaded frontcourt with Mahorcic, Dixon, Williams, Drame twins.

Overall, the teams that concern me the most are: Dayton, Bonnies, Duquesne, St. Joe's, and Fordham.
Then maybe Loyola, Richmond, and GW.

Look I think we will finish higher than all the other prediction/polls.
I just don't feel this season we will be a top tier team.
Hopefully they surprise me.

For all of you who feel this conference sucks and if Archie doesn't finish in the top half, then what does that say about him.

NOHEHOHs. All of 'em, every single one of 'em.
This team will finish in the top half, and if they don't, Arch is not doing his job.
However, I have faith that he is...top 5 baby!

Okay NYG, I can respect that, as with everyone else's opinion.
I would love for us to be top 5, because that would be ahead of my original schedule for him.
I think we would have to steal some games to get there.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Yea I should have waited for the exhibition to give my prediction lol.

I'm guessing you can change it til Monday?

[The Dude]

Based on what I saw last night it appears the team is definitely a smarter team. I saw guys on the floor not making some of the mistakes I saw from last year's team, which is a positive sign. Now it comes down to how well they can function together as a "team." I think they have the talent to be good. They have some guys that can hit 3pt shots and some slashers who can get a bucket in the paint at will, like House. The Freshman even looked somewhat promising in terms of their future (next year and beyond).
I actually think not having a strong out of conference schedule will bode well and will allow the players to gain confidence and give them the opportunity to gel as a team a bit quicker. It will also give them a chance to make mistakes and work out any kinks without it necessarily costing them wins.
I think the team will definitely finish in the top half of the league and might even crack the top 5. I don't see them being top 3, but hope they prove me wrong and win it all. Haha.

[Blue Man]

Of course it is possible, but all our bigs have very limited or no Div.1 experience, so we will see.

As far as frontcourt:
BAR, aside from Holmes you have Venning form the Bonnies along with Farell (now Essamvous)
Kuany sand Bairstow at VCU.
Richmond has Quinn and Bigelow.
Fordham has Tsimbila and Rivera
Loyola has Alston, Schweiger, and Adelekun.
Duquesne has a loaded frontcourt with Mahorcic, Dixon, Williams, Drame twins.

Overall, the teams that concern me the most are: Dayton, Bonnies, Duquesne, St. Joe's, and Fordham.
Then maybe Loyola, Richmond, and GW.

Look I think we will finish higher than all the other prediction/polls.
I just don't feel this season we will be a top tier team.
Hopefully they surprise me.

For all of you who feel this conference sucks and if Archie doesn't finish in the top half, then what does that say about him.

NOHEHOHs. All of 'em, every single one of 'em.
This team will finish in the top half, and if they don't, Arch is not doing his job.
However, I have faith that he is...top 5 baby!

Okay NYG, I can respect that, as with everyone else's opinion.
I would love for us to be top 5, because that would be ahead of my original schedule for him.
I think we would have to steal some games to get there.

77 - I am your friend. I understand you. I understand you've been hurt by this team before. If you weren't an unnecessarily cautious fan for your own team, you could easily say all of that about our bigs. More questions than answers - but that list of dudes isn't some murderers row.

Fuchs - 6'9 225.
Brown - 6'9 225
Bilau - 6'10 235
Foumena - 6'11 235

That's a big ass front court. For the A10, for URI, and for college basketball. And not like those are guys who will be buried. They will all get minutes. Lets look at this big bad scary A10 frontcourt of monsters you laid out that Rhody's completely new team of Jucos and international guys with experience couldn't possibly hold a candle to.

Venning - 6'10, 255 - 12 and 6, 10 and 7 vs Rhody

Essamvous - 6'6, 210 - 8 and 6, 0 and 4 vs Rhody

Kuany - 6-9, 200 - 9 and 4, Pac 12

Bairstow - 6'8, 205 - 10 and 5, more of a wing, mountain west, out 6-8 weeks anyway

Quinn - 7', 260 - 9 and 4, 14 and 5 against Rhody

Bigelow - 6'7, 205 - 7 and 5, 0 and 7 against Rhody

Tsimbila - 6'9, 245 - 5 and 6. 8 and 7 against Rhody

Rivera - 6'6, 215 - 10 and 5, patriot league

Alston - 6'6, 235 - 14 and 5 - 6 and 10 against Rhody

Schweiger - 6'7, 205 - 9 and 3 - 3 and 2 against Rhody

Adelekun - 6'8, 230 - 14 and 7 - ivy league.

Duquesne and Mahorcic+ are the only legit guys that I say, damn that's an uphill battle.

The rest? A bunch of beanpoles, or wings, or slower big dudes - but no one who's coming off like Shaq.

Look at those sizes and tell me our guys are going to get bodied? We beat half those dudes last year on a team with 1/8 the talent, and a non-existent front court. From what I could find those dudes barely did shit against Alex Tchikou and Abdou Samb - two guys who did not belong at this level.

Like, idk what your default setting is - but did you just go and list every forward and not take into account whether they were good or not? Because those guys all kind of suck. I'd bet you just about anything that our guys will be AT WORST average when compared to the group listed here.

Why is your brain allowing you to pump up the A10 and all their players, but not allowing you to pump up the team you root for?

WE ARE GOOD. WE ARE GOING TO BE GOOD. WILL YOU PLEASE GET ON BOARD.

[PeterRamTime]

I'm generally with you Jersey in taking a cautious approach.

But I also think you are puffing the conference a bit more than is warranted. If the league had very good guard play and quite a few quality bigs you would think it would be a multi-bid like season.

Besides Holmes who are these "few quality bigs" in the league that will obv outclass our front court? Sorry I don't see it. The league is historically not a league with great skill at the 5. Most teams have big bangers which we had no one to match up with last year; that won't be the case between Foumena, Bilau, Brown and Fuchs. I'm thinking of that big Russian kid on Fordham or the kid that was at Duquesne last season at the 5. Not massively skilled or athletic guys just big bangers. I don't think there are many other bigs in the league besides Holmes that bring both size and athleticism as well as skill.

Now I will agree the A10 is historically a good guard league...and always has some good ones. But I also think that will be our strength in terms of having an experienced battle tested group in the back court (Kortright, House, Montgomery) with some promising youngsters behind them (Estevez and Wright).

I'm just not looking at the rosters in the league this year and thinking it's a murderers row. Dayton will be tough, and IMO Bonnies will be really good. But after that I don't know. Are you really afraid of what Duquesne rolls out there? What about Fordham? SLU, Richmond and Davidson all have as many question marks as we do if not more. VCU will take a little step back assuming their 2x transfers can't play. Mason looks ok not great with a lot of new faces. Umass back court is basically FR or SO and if either Cross or Cohen get hurt they are toast. And so on and so on.

Yeah I don't know why some people have no problem pumping up an A-10 that has done nothing but fall on its face lately and crap on any positivity about our own team.

It's not unreasonable to think Brown, Fuchs, Foumena and Bilau will be one of the more formidable frontcourt groups in the A-10. It's very possible.

Of course it is possible, but all our bigs have very limited or no Div.1 experience, so we will see.

As far as frontcourt:
BAR, aside from Holmes you have Venning form the Bonnies along with Farell (now Essamvous)
Kuany sand Bairstow at VCU.
Richmond has Quinn and Bigelow.
Fordham has Tsimbila and Rivera
Loyola has Alston, Schweiger, and Adelekun.
Duquesne has a loaded frontcourt with Mahorcic, Dixon, Williams, Drame twins.

Overall, the teams that concern me the most are: Dayton, Bonnies, Duquesne, St. Joe's, and Fordham.
Then maybe Loyola, Richmond, and GW.

Look I think we will finish higher than all the other prediction/polls.
I just don't feel this season we will be a top tier team.
Hopefully they surprise me.

For all of you who feel this conference sucks and if Archie doesn't finish in the top half, then what does that say about him.

Holmes is still vastly superior to every single one of those players you mentioned and we beat him with Tchikou and Samb last year...

I'll go down the list.

VCU's bigs are fairly proven, they look pretty talented. The rest look pretty average and mostly undersized. Quinn is very unathletic and Bigelow is more of a stretch 4. Tsimbila is decent and Rivera is a 6'6 200 pound wing basically. Alston got dominated by Tchikou. He's very undersized, Schweiger is a finesse small forward and Adelekun is a 6'8 (on a good day) center with nice post moves and below average athleticism. I like the Drame twins, but Dixon has hardly did anything as a freshman and Williams is another undersized A-10 center that didn't average dbl figures last year.

The A-10 is still a league of undersized bigs with good guard play. Not afraid of really any of the back to the basket players this year. What's more worrisome is being able to defend the stretch 4's out there if David Green doesn't get a waiver.

Fuchs and Brown are as physically imposing and as athletic as any other 6'8/6'9 players in the league, there's hardly anyone as big as Foumena, especially not as athletic and we saw how well Tchikou did last year just because he was 6'11. Bilau looked good before his injury.

[Jersey77]

NOHEHOHs. All of 'em, every single one of 'em.
This team will finish in the top half, and if they don't, Arch is not doing his job.
However, I have faith that he is...top 5 baby!

Okay NYG, I can respect that, as with everyone else's opinion.
I would love for us to be top 5, because that would be ahead of my original schedule for him.
I think we would have to steal some games to get there.

77 - I am your friend. I understand you. I understand you've been hurt by this team before. If you weren't an unnecessarily cautious fan for your own team, you could easily say all of that about our bigs. More questions than answers - but that list of dudes isn't some murderers row.

Fuchs - 6'9 225.
Brown - 6'9 225
Bilau - 6'10 235
Foumena - 6'11 235

That's a big ass front court. For the A10, for URI, and for college basketball. And not like those are guys who will be buried. They will all get minutes. Lets look at this big bad scary A10 frontcourt of monsters you laid out that Rhody's completely new team of Jucos and international guys with experience couldn't possibly hold a candle to.

Venning - 6'10, 255 - 12 and 6, 10 and 7 vs Rhody

Essamvous - 6'6, 210 - 8 and 6, 0 and 4 vs Rhody

Kuany - 6-9, 200 - 9 and 4, Pac 12

Bairstow - 6'8, 205 - 10 and 5, more of a wing, mountain west, out 6-8 weeks anyway

Quinn - 7', 260 - 9 and 4, 14 and 5 against Rhody

Bigelow - 6'7, 205 - 7 and 5, 0 and 7 against Rhody

Tsimbila - 6'9, 245 - 5 and 6. 8 and 7 against Rhody

Rivera - 6'6, 215 - 10 and 5, patriot league

Alston - 6'6, 235 - 14 and 5 - 6 and 10 against Rhody

Schweiger - 6'7, 205 - 9 and 3 - 3 and 2 against Rhody

Adelekun - 6'8, 230 - 14 and 7 - ivy league.

Duquesne and Mahorcic+ are the only legit guys that I say, damn that's an uphill battle.

The rest? A bunch of beanpoles, or wings, or slower big dudes - but no one who's coming off like Shaq.

Look at those sizes and tell me our guys are going to get bodied? We beat half those dudes last year on a team with 1/8 the talent, and a non-existent front court. From what I could find those dudes barely did shit against Alex Tchikou and Abdou Samb - two guys who did not belong at this level.

Like, idk what your default setting is - but did you just go and list every forward and not take into account whether they were good or not? Because those guys all kind of suck. I'd bet you just about anything that our guys will be AT WORST average when compared to the group listed here.

Why is your brain allowing you to pump up the A10 and all their players, but not allowing you to pump up the team you root for?

WE ARE GOOD. WE ARE GOING TO BE GOOD. WILL YOU PLEASE GET ON BOARD.

Okay Blue Man, just got back from golf, not bad for November.

So, if you ask "Where is the Beef" I guess the answer is Rhody's basketball team.
Not saying we don't have good size with some imposing players.
We just need to see what they will do talent-wise in the conference.
Like I said before, I hope they can adjust fast.

My list was just partial and included frontcourt players not just 5's back to the basket.
Also based on their experience at this level.

You know I am very excited about this team and can't wait for Monday.

I also just cancelled going to a wedding in South Beach, Florida to attend the games at the Mohegan Sun.
Also plan on driving up for the Fairfield game and watching the women on Friday (UMass Lowell).

I still feel many here along with others are undervaluing the A10 this season.

I think the staff did a great job assembling this roster, but feel we are a year away.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Okay NYG, I can respect that, as with everyone else's opinion.
I would love for us to be top 5, because that would be ahead of my original schedule for him.
I think we would have to steal some games to get there.

77 - I am your friend. I understand you. I understand you've been hurt by this team before. If you weren't an unnecessarily cautious fan for your own team, you could easily say all of that about our bigs. More questions than answers - but that list of dudes isn't some murderers row.

Fuchs - 6'9 225.
Brown - 6'9 225
Bilau - 6'10 235
Foumena - 6'11 235

That's a big ass front court. For the A10, for URI, and for college basketball. And not like those are guys who will be buried. They will all get minutes. Lets look at this big bad scary A10 frontcourt of monsters you laid out that Rhody's completely new team of Jucos and international guys with experience couldn't possibly hold a candle to.

Venning - 6'10, 255 - 12 and 6, 10 and 7 vs Rhody

Essamvous - 6'6, 210 - 8 and 6, 0 and 4 vs Rhody

Kuany - 6-9, 200 - 9 and 4, Pac 12

Bairstow - 6'8, 205 - 10 and 5, more of a wing, mountain west, out 6-8 weeks anyway

Quinn - 7', 260 - 9 and 4, 14 and 5 against Rhody

Bigelow - 6'7, 205 - 7 and 5, 0 and 7 against Rhody

Tsimbila - 6'9, 245 - 5 and 6. 8 and 7 against Rhody

Rivera - 6'6, 215 - 10 and 5, patriot league

Alston - 6'6, 235 - 14 and 5 - 6 and 10 against Rhody

Schweiger - 6'7, 205 - 9 and 3 - 3 and 2 against Rhody

Adelekun - 6'8, 230 - 14 and 7 - ivy league.

Duquesne and Mahorcic+ are the only legit guys that I say, damn that's an uphill battle.

The rest? A bunch of beanpoles, or wings, or slower big dudes - but no one who's coming off like Shaq.

Look at those sizes and tell me our guys are going to get bodied? We beat half those dudes last year on a team with 1/8 the talent, and a non-existent front court. From what I could find those dudes barely did shit against Alex Tchikou and Abdou Samb - two guys who did not belong at this level.

Like, idk what your default setting is - but did you just go and list every forward and not take into account whether they were good or not? Because those guys all kind of suck. I'd bet you just about anything that our guys will be AT WORST average when compared to the group listed here.

Why is your brain allowing you to pump up the A10 and all their players, but not allowing you to pump up the team you root for?

WE ARE GOOD. WE ARE GOING TO BE GOOD. WILL YOU PLEASE GET ON BOARD.

Okay Blue Man, just got back from golf, not bad for November.

So, if you ask "Where is the Beef" I guess the answer is Rhody's basketball team.
Not saying we don't have good size with some imposing players.
We just need to see what they will do talent-wise in the conference.
Like I said before, I hope they can adjust fast.

My list was just partial and included frontcourt players not just 5's back to the basket.
Also based on their experience at this level.

You know I am very excited about this team and can't wait for Monday.

I also just cancelled going to a wedding in South Beach, Florida to attend the games at the Mohegan Sun.
Also plan on driving up for the Fairfield game and watching the women on Friday (UMass Lowell).

I still feel many here along with others are undervaluing the A10 this season.

I think the staff did a great job assembling this roster, but feel we are a year away.

Golfed it today myself... where'd you play? (I suck at it, but I did par 3 holes today...)

After last year, not sure it's possible to undervalue the A10...the conference was not good. At all. Rhody looks so much better than last year...looking for a huge jump.

[Jersey77]

77 - I am your friend. I understand you. I understand you've been hurt by this team before. If you weren't an unnecessarily cautious fan for your own team, you could easily say all of that about our bigs. More questions than answers - but that list of dudes isn't some murderers row.

Fuchs - 6'9 225.
Brown - 6'9 225
Bilau - 6'10 235
Foumena - 6'11 235

That's a big ass front court. For the A10, for URI, and for college basketball. And not like those are guys who will be buried. They will all get minutes. Lets look at this big bad scary A10 frontcourt of monsters you laid out that Rhody's completely new team of Jucos and international guys with experience couldn't possibly hold a candle to.

Venning - 6'10, 255 - 12 and 6, 10 and 7 vs Rhody

Essamvous - 6'6, 210 - 8 and 6, 0 and 4 vs Rhody

Kuany - 6-9, 200 - 9 and 4, Pac 12

Bairstow - 6'8, 205 - 10 and 5, more of a wing, mountain west, out 6-8 weeks anyway

Quinn - 7', 260 - 9 and 4, 14 and 5 against Rhody

Bigelow - 6'7, 205 - 7 and 5, 0 and 7 against Rhody

Tsimbila - 6'9, 245 - 5 and 6. 8 and 7 against Rhody

Rivera - 6'6, 215 - 10 and 5, patriot league

Alston - 6'6, 235 - 14 and 5 - 6 and 10 against Rhody

Schweiger - 6'7, 205 - 9 and 3 - 3 and 2 against Rhody

Adelekun - 6'8, 230 - 14 and 7 - ivy league.

Duquesne and Mahorcic+ are the only legit guys that I say, damn that's an uphill battle.

The rest? A bunch of beanpoles, or wings, or slower big dudes - but no one who's coming off like Shaq.

Look at those sizes and tell me our guys are going to get bodied? We beat half those dudes last year on a team with 1/8 the talent, and a non-existent front court. From what I could find those dudes barely did shit against Alex Tchikou and Abdou Samb - two guys who did not belong at this level.

Like, idk what your default setting is - but did you just go and list every forward and not take into account whether they were good or not? Because those guys all kind of suck. I'd bet you just about anything that our guys will be AT WORST average when compared to the group listed here.

Why is your brain allowing you to pump up the A10 and all their players, but not allowing you to pump up the team you root for?

WE ARE GOOD. WE ARE GOING TO BE GOOD. WILL YOU PLEASE GET ON BOARD.

Okay Blue Man, just got back from golf, not bad for November.

So, if you ask "Where is the Beef" I guess the answer is Rhody's basketball team.
Not saying we don't have good size with some imposing players.
We just need to see what they will do talent-wise in the conference.
Like I said before, I hope they can adjust fast.

My list was just partial and included frontcourt players not just 5's back to the basket.
Also based on their experience at this level.

You know I am very excited about this team and can't wait for Monday.

I also just cancelled going to a wedding in South Beach, Florida to attend the games at the Mohegan Sun.
Also plan on driving up for the Fairfield game and watching the women on Friday (UMass Lowell).

I still feel many here along with others are undervaluing the A10 this season.

I think the staff did a great job assembling this roster, but feel we are a year away.

Golfed it today myself... where'd you play? (I suck at it, but I did par 3 holes today...)

After last year, not sure it's possible to undervalue the A10...the conference was not good. At all. Rhody looks so much better than last year...looking for a huge jump.

I golfed in Allentown.

Unfortunately, last season some of the top tier teams shit the bed.
What gives me optimism about our conference is that some of the other teams seemed to up their game.
Also like several of the coaching hires.

[hrstrat57]

Played golf today too!

BlueMan makes a strong case. Our guard talent is stellar 4 maybe 5 deep.

The front court I’m reserving judgement. Monday we start finding out.

[Jersey77]

Played golf today too!

BlueMan makes a strong case. Our guard talent is stellar 4 maybe 5 deep.

The front court I’m reserving judgement. Monday we start finding out.

Yeah playing golf and being retired, not all that bad for me.

Wow 57, not quite sure I would use the term stellar at this time to describe our backcourt.
You can make a case that they don't even rank in the top half of the conference.

If anything, even though they are largely unproven, I would think our frontcourt will prove to be our biggest improvement.
Let's face it, the overall play of our bigs last season was beyond terrible, the worst in the A10.

[Blue Man]

Played golf today too!

BlueMan makes a strong case. Our guard talent is stellar 4 maybe 5 deep.

The front court I’m reserving judgement. Monday we start finding out.

Yeah playing golf and being retired, not all that bad for me.

Wow 57, not quite sure I would use the term stellar at this time to describe our backcourt.
You can make a case that they don't even rank in the top half of the conference.

If anything, even though they are largely unproven, I would think our frontcourt will prove to be our biggest improvement.
Let's face it, the overall play of our bigs last season was beyond terrible, the worst in the A10.

I would argue that despite how bad our frontcourt was, our backcourt was WAY worse. There is significantly more improvement among our guards.

We had a point guard who COULD NOT HANDLE THE BALL. With Kortright the Ortg goes from 88.5 to 95.2. +7 points. Ish to House is a -4. Montgomery is a 102, Carey was an 89. That's +13.

Those 3 starters alone by stats alone are +16. For an average college basketball game that's about 9-10 points per game.

That's the stat sheet. The eye test would tell you that this team is significantly smarter, faster, and more capable with the ball in their hands than they could've ever hoped to be last year. We clearly have 2 point guards capable of handling the basketball. We clearly have people who can score and shoot.

Last year we had 1 ball handler - and he had a low BBIQ, zero offensive talent, and was prone to taking terrible shots...as a 34% shooter.

We had 1 dependable scoring option. Everyone else was a "hold your breath and hope" guy on offense.

This year we have 2 clear ball handlers and PGs, along with 2 clear scorers and offensive threats. It certainly seems like your starting PG will be able to give you points, you have shooters on the bench, and your bigs seem to have basic fundamentals and the ability to score from under the basket.

Layups were literally a question mark last year...that is if the bigs didn't put the ball on the floor and turn it over.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with the overcautious reactions about this team.

[section(105)]

Yes, the eye ball test on this years team tells us generally across board better than last. But…..I think many is that folks are taking a slower, wait and see approach to see how this group meshes. Significantly better than 14th in the conference. The individual skill sets, hoops IQ, and depth at all positions now put us into the mix, and what out for Rhody, in the conference. This weeks games will tell us a lot. Looking forward to growing with this group, upward and onward, Go Rhody

[Jersey77]

Played golf today too!

BlueMan makes a strong case. Our guard talent is stellar 4 maybe 5 deep.

The front court I’m reserving judgement. Monday we start finding out.

Yeah playing golf and being retired, not all that bad for me.

Wow 57, not quite sure I would use the term stellar at this time to describe our backcourt.
You can make a case that they don't even rank in the top half of the conference.

If anything, even though they are largely unproven, I would think our frontcourt will prove to be our biggest improvement.
Let's face it, the overall play of our bigs last season was beyond terrible, the worst in the A10.

I would argue that despite how bad our frontcourt was, our backcourt was WAY worse. There is significantly more improvement among our guards.

We had a point guard who COULD NOT HANDLE THE BALL. With Kortright the Ortg goes from 88.5 to 95.2. +7 points. Ish to House is a -4. Montgomery is a 102, Carey was an 89. That's +13.

Those 3 starters alone by stats alone are +16. For an average college basketball game that's about 9-10 points per game.

That's the stat sheet. The eye test would tell you that this team is significantly smarter, faster, and more capable with the ball in their hands than they could've ever hoped to be last year. We clearly have 2 point guards capable of handling the basketball. We clearly have people who can score and shoot.

Last year we had 1 ball handler - and he had a low BBIQ, zero offensive talent, and was prone to taking terrible shots...as a 34% shooter.

We had 1 dependable scoring option. Everyone else was a "hold your breath and hope" guy on offense.

This year we have 2 clear ball handlers and PGs, along with 2 clear scorers and offensive threats. It certainly seems like your starting PG will be able to give you points, you have shooters on the bench, and your bigs seem to have basic fundamentals and the ability to score from under the basket.

Layups were literally a question mark last year...that is if the bigs didn't put the ball on the floor and turn it over.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with the overcautious reactions about this team.

Blue Man, everyone on this board is hoping we can contend this season.
But it is very fair for many of us to take the cautious approach.
Just look at the last 4 seasons.
Plus, the A10 coaches pick us 14th, along with almost everyone else in the media/polls (at least in that neighborhood)
It is very difficult for a mid-major like us to completely turn over a roster and then immediately be a top tier team.
Yes, it may work for some of the P5/BE teams who can get the blue-chip recruits along with the top transfers in the portal.

Blue Man it is good to be optimistic, but you can't blame the rest of us if we are pumping the brakes a little.
Besides I remember how much you raved about our 20-21 roster after we beat Seton Hall, that didn't age very well.

Our frontcourt last year was a complete mess which didn't help matters for our guards.
The bigs couldn't get position, rebound, bad hands, and unable to finish.

The guards we have now, I expect to be more secure with the ball and efficient, and I hope will be better overall.
But still last season our 3 guards led the way in scoring Ish (16 pts), Bray (14 pts), and Carey (10 pts).
Not sure any of the new guards will be as good on both ends of the floor as Ish.
Bray was a head cases and a problem on defense, but no denying his offensive talent.
Carey was a turnover machine but was gifted athletically, can rebound and play defense.

I like our additions, but it will take time.
Hopefully House will ease the loss of Ish on the scoring end.
Kortright has never been a true PG, more of a converted one.
Always and Cam have never played at this level, so we will see, and we must be patient with them.

[RhowdyRam02]

Losing Ish hurts but we don't need to replace him 1 for 1. If our guard minutes are better overall it doesn't matter if just one guy matches his production.

Bray was our second leading scorer, but he only played 23 games, wasn't particularly good defensively from what I remember, and was only a positive offensive presence in about half of the games he actually played.

https://kenpom.com/player.php?p=50897# for those that have a kenpom subscription

Pretty much the same with Jalen Carey. He only played 25 games, was better than Bray defensively, but was only a positive offensive player for us in 7 of his 25 games.

https://kenpom.com/player.php?p=43433

[Jersey77]

Losing Ish hurts but we don't need to replace him 1 for 1. If our guard minutes are better overall it doesn't matter if just one guy matches his production.

Bray was our second leading scorer, but he only played 23 games, wasn't particularly good defensively from what I remember, and was only a positive offensive presence in about half of the games he actually played.

https://kenpom.com/player.php?p=50897# for those that have a kenpom subscription

Pretty much the same with Jalen Carey. He only played 25 games, was better than Bray defensively, but was only a positive offensive player for us in 7 of his 25 games.

https://kenpom.com/player.php?p=43433

Don't disagree with you 02.
I was just responding to Blue Man that I felt our frontcourt was more of a problem than our backcourt.

[NYGFan_Section208]

It's not the "additions" we're talking about at all...it's The Replacements::

[Jdrums#3]

Yeah playing golf and being retired, not all that bad for me.

Wow 57, not quite sure I would use the term stellar at this time to describe our backcourt.
You can make a case that they don't even rank in the top half of the conference.

If anything, even though they are largely unproven, I would think our frontcourt will prove to be our biggest improvement.
Let's face it, the overall play of our bigs last season was beyond terrible, the worst in the A10.

I would argue that despite how bad our frontcourt was, our backcourt was WAY worse. There is significantly more improvement among our guards.

We had a point guard who COULD NOT HANDLE THE BALL. With Kortright the Ortg goes from 88.5 to 95.2. +7 points. Ish to House is a -4. Montgomery is a 102, Carey was an 89. That's +13.

Those 3 starters alone by stats alone are +16. For an average college basketball game that's about 9-10 points per game.

That's the stat sheet. The eye test would tell you that this team is significantly smarter, faster, and more capable with the ball in their hands than they could've ever hoped to be last year. We clearly have 2 point guards capable of handling the basketball. We clearly have people who can score and shoot.

Last year we had 1 ball handler - and he had a low BBIQ, zero offensive talent, and was prone to taking terrible shots...as a 34% shooter.

We had 1 dependable scoring option. Everyone else was a "hold your breath and hope" guy on offense.

This year we have 2 clear ball handlers and PGs, along with 2 clear scorers and offensive threats. It certainly seems like your starting PG will be able to give you points, you have shooters on the bench, and your bigs seem to have basic fundamentals and the ability to score from under the basket.

Layups were literally a question mark last year...that is if the bigs didn't put the ball on the floor and turn it over.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with the overcautious reactions about this team.

Blue Man, everyone on this board is hoping we can contend this season.
But it is very fair for many of us to take the cautious approach.
Just look at the last 4 seasons.
Plus, the A10 coaches pick us 14th, along with almost everyone else in the media/polls (at least in that neighborhood)
It is very difficult for a mid-major like us to completely turnover a roster and then immediately be a top tier team.
Yes, it may work for some of the P5/BE teams who can get the blue chip recruits along with the top transfers in the portal.

Blue Man it is good to be optimistic, but you can't blame the rest of us if we are pumping the brakes a little.
Besides I remember how much you raved about our 20-21 roster after we beat Seton Hall, that didn't age very well.

Our frontcourt last year was a complete mess which didn't help matters for our guards.
The bigs couldn't get position, rebound, bad hands, and unable to finish.

The guards we have now, I expect to be more secure with the ball and efficient, and I hope will be better overall.
But still last season our 3 guards led the way in scoring Ish (16 pts), Bray (14 pts), and Carey (10 pts).
Not sure any of the new guards will be as good on both ends of the floor as Ish.
Bray was a head cases and a problem on defense, but no denying his offensive talent.
Carey was a turnover machine but was gifted athletically, can rebound and play defense.

I like our additions, but it will take time.
Hopefully House will ease the loss of Ish on the scoring end.
Kortright has never been a true PG, more of a converted one.
Always and Cam have never played at this level, so we will see, and we must be patient with them.

Jersey, I understand where you are coming from. Based on recent history, it is easy for many of us to be conservative and in wait and see mode.

Stack on top of that the predictions of so called expert pundits and that just reinforces the conservative mindset.

However, succumbing to that conservative mindset undervalues Archie’s and the staff’s experience and coaching ability.

I am not at point of believing we will be in the mix for the A10 regular season championship - finish first, second or third, even - but thinking this team cannot finish somewhere in the next tier of the A10 at .500 or better, undervalues Archie’s ability in a watered down A10 overall.

That said, we shall see how we do and I will re-evaluate my stance up or down depending on results and eye-test.

Let the games begin! Go Rhody!

ETA: I am trying to be as objective as possible on my outlook.

[PeterRamTime]

I would argue that despite how bad our frontcourt was, our backcourt was WAY worse. There is significantly more improvement among our guards.

We had a point guard who COULD NOT HANDLE THE BALL. With Kortright the Ortg goes from 88.5 to 95.2. +7 points. Ish to House is a -4. Montgomery is a 102, Carey was an 89. That's +13.

Those 3 starters alone by stats alone are +16. For an average college basketball game that's about 9-10 points per game.

That's the stat sheet. The eye test would tell you that this team is significantly smarter, faster, and more capable with the ball in their hands than they could've ever hoped to be last year. We clearly have 2 point guards capable of handling the basketball. We clearly have people who can score and shoot.

Last year we had 1 ball handler - and he had a low BBIQ, zero offensive talent, and was prone to taking terrible shots...as a 34% shooter.

We had 1 dependable scoring option. Everyone else was a "hold your breath and hope" guy on offense.

This year we have 2 clear ball handlers and PGs, along with 2 clear scorers and offensive threats. It certainly seems like your starting PG will be able to give you points, you have shooters on the bench, and your bigs seem to have basic fundamentals and the ability to score from under the basket.

Layups were literally a question mark last year...that is if the bigs didn't put the ball on the floor and turn it over.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with the overcautious reactions about this team.

Blue Man, everyone on this board is hoping we can contend this season.
But it is very fair for many of us to take the cautious approach.
Just look at the last 4 seasons.
Plus, the A10 coaches pick us 14th, along with almost everyone else in the media/polls (at least in that neighborhood)
It is very difficult for a mid-major like us to completely turnover a roster and then immediately be a top tier team.
Yes, it may work for some of the P5/BE teams who can get the blue chip recruits along with the top transfers in the portal.

Blue Man it is good to be optimistic, but you can't blame the rest of us if we are pumping the brakes a little.
Besides I remember how much you raved about our 20-21 roster after we beat Seton Hall, that didn't age very well.

Our frontcourt last year was a complete mess which didn't help matters for our guards.
The bigs couldn't get position, rebound, bad hands, and unable to finish.

The guards we have now, I expect to be more secure with the ball and efficient, and I hope will be better overall.
But still last season our 3 guards led the way in scoring Ish (16 pts), Bray (14 pts), and Carey (10 pts).
Not sure any of the new guards will be as good on both ends of the floor as Ish.
Bray was a head cases and a problem on defense, but no denying his offensive talent.
Carey was a turnover machine but was gifted athletically, can rebound and play defense.

I like our additions, but it will take time.
Hopefully House will ease the loss of Ish on the scoring end.
Kortright has never been a true PG, more of a converted one.
Always and Cam have never played at this level, so we will see, and we must be patient with them.

Jersey, I understand where you are coming from. Based on recent history, it is easy for many of us to be conservative and in wait and see mode.

Stack on top of that the predictions of so called expert pundits and that just reinforces the conservative mindset.

However, succumbing to that conservative mindset undervalues Archie’s and the staff’s experience and coaching ability.

I am not not at point of believing we will be in the mix for the A10 regular season championship - finish first, second or third, even - but thinking this team cannot finish somewhere in the next tier of the A10 at .500 or better, undervalues Archie’s ability in a watered down A10 overall.

That said, we shall see how we do and I will re-evaluate my stance up or down depending on results and eye-test.

Let the games begin! Go Rhody!

It feels more likely that we finish top half than it does 14th

We have talent now, the league is meh and what other coaches in the league have been offered a job like Indiana and been endorsed by people like Bob Knight?

[Jersey77]

I would argue that despite how bad our frontcourt was, our backcourt was WAY worse. There is significantly more improvement among our guards.

We had a point guard who COULD NOT HANDLE THE BALL. With Kortright the Ortg goes from 88.5 to 95.2. +7 points. Ish to House is a -4. Montgomery is a 102, Carey was an 89. That's +13.

Those 3 starters alone by stats alone are +16. For an average college basketball game that's about 9-10 points per game.

That's the stat sheet. The eye test would tell you that this team is significantly smarter, faster, and more capable with the ball in their hands than they could've ever hoped to be last year. We clearly have 2 point guards capable of handling the basketball. We clearly have people who can score and shoot.

Last year we had 1 ball handler - and he had a low BBIQ, zero offensive talent, and was prone to taking terrible shots...as a 34% shooter.

We had 1 dependable scoring option. Everyone else was a "hold your breath and hope" guy on offense.

This year we have 2 clear ball handlers and PGs, along with 2 clear scorers and offensive threats. It certainly seems like your starting PG will be able to give you points, you have shooters on the bench, and your bigs seem to have basic fundamentals and the ability to score from under the basket.

Layups were literally a question mark last year...that is if the bigs didn't put the ball on the floor and turn it over.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills with the overcautious reactions about this team.

Blue Man, everyone on this board is hoping we can contend this season.
But it is very fair for many of us to take the cautious approach.
Just look at the last 4 seasons.
Plus, the A10 coaches pick us 14th, along with almost everyone else in the media/polls (at least in that neighborhood)
It is very difficult for a mid-major like us to completely turn over a roster and then immediately be a top tier team.
Yes, it may work for some of the P5/BE teams who can get the blue-chip recruits along with the top transfers in the portal.

Blue Man it is good to be optimistic, but you can't blame the rest of us if we are pumping the brakes a little.
Besides I remember how much you raved about our 20-21 roster after we beat Seton Hall, that didn't age very well.

Our frontcourt last year was a complete mess which didn't help matters for our guards.
The bigs couldn't get position, rebound, bad hands, and unable to finish.

The guards we have now, I expect to be more secure with the ball and efficient, and I hope will be better overall.
But still last season our 3 guards led the way in scoring Ish (16 pts), Bray (14 pts), and Carey (10 pts).
Not sure any of the new guards will be as good on both ends of the floor as Ish.
Bray was a head cases and a problem on defense, but no denying his offensive talent.
Carey was a turnover machine but was gifted athletically, can rebound and play defense.

I like our additions, but it will take time.
Hopefully House will ease the loss of Ish on the scoring end.
Kortright has never been a true PG, more of a converted one.
Always and Cam have never played at this level, so we will see, and we must be patient with them.

Jersey, I understand where you are coming from. Based on recent history, it is easy for many of us to be conservative and in wait and see mode.

Stack on top of that the predictions of so called expert pundits and that just reinforces the conservative mindset.

However, succumbing to that conservative mindset undervalues Archie’s and the staff’s experience and coaching ability.

I am not at point of believing we will be in the mix for the A10 regular season championship - finish first, second or third, even - but thinking this team cannot finish somewhere in the next tier of the A10 at .500 or better, undervalues Archie’s ability in a watered down A10 overall.

That said, we shall see how we do and I will re-evaluate my stance up or down depending on results and eye-test.

Let the games begin! Go Rhody!

ETA: I am trying to be as objective as possible on my outlook.

I would never undervalue Archie or the staff's ability to coach but I am also not ready to declare them miracle workers, at least yet.
If this team finishes ,500 or better, that is more than I predicted or expected and would consider that a big win for this group.

[Jdrums#3]

Blue Man, everyone on this board is hoping we can contend this season.
But it is very fair for many of us to take the cautious approach.
Just look at the last 4 seasons.
Plus, the A10 coaches pick us 14th, along with almost everyone else in the media/polls (at least in that neighborhood)
It is very difficult for a mid-major like us to completely turn over a roster and then immediately be a top tier team.
Yes, it may work for some of the P5/BE teams who can get the blue-chip recruits along with the top transfers in the portal.

Blue Man it is good to be optimistic, but you can't blame the rest of us if we are pumping the brakes a little.
Besides I remember how much you raved about our 20-21 roster after we beat Seton Hall, that didn't age very well.

Our frontcourt last year was a complete mess which didn't help matters for our guards.
The bigs couldn't get position, rebound, bad hands, and unable to finish.

The guards we have now, I expect to be more secure with the ball and efficient, and I hope will be better overall.
But still last season our 3 guards led the way in scoring Ish (16 pts), Bray (14 pts), and Carey (10 pts).
Not sure any of the new guards will be as good on both ends of the floor as Ish.
Bray was a head cases and a problem on defense, but no denying his offensive talent.
Carey was a turnover machine but was gifted athletically, can rebound and play defense.

I like our additions, but it will take time.
Hopefully House will ease the loss of Ish on the scoring end.
Kortright has never been a true PG, more of a converted one.
Always and Cam have never played at this level, so we will see, and we must be patient with them.

Jersey, I understand where you are coming from. Based on recent history, it is easy for many of us to be conservative and in wait and see mode.

Stack on top of that the predictions of so called expert pundits and that just reinforces the conservative mindset.

However, succumbing to that conservative mindset undervalues Archie’s and the staff’s experience and coaching ability.

I am not at point of believing we will be in the mix for the A10 regular season championship - finish first, second or third, even - but thinking this team cannot finish somewhere in the next tier of the A10 at .500 or better, undervalues Archie’s ability in a watered down A10 overall.

That said, we shall see how we do and I will re-evaluate my stance up or down depending on results and eye-test.

Let the games begin! Go Rhody!

ETA: I am trying to be as objective as possible on my outlook.

I would never undervalue Archie or the staff's ability to coach but I am also not ready to declare them miracle workers, at least yet.
If this team finishes ,500 or better, that is more than I predicted or expected and would consider that a big win for this group.

Jersey, don’t forget Archie’s (and the staff’s) will to overcome least season’s results and their sense of pride in their work. I think that will play a bigger role in this season’s results than many expect.

I do think I am placing a higher value on the coaching than others, perhaps. I look forward to seeing where that gets me in by season’s end. But, I also think - despite questions of inexperience - we have upgraded talent and that, outside of 3-4 teams in the A10, no other teams are head and shoulders better than us.

That said, I empathize with the wait and see attitude; the desire not to risk disappointment after the Cox regime and last season’s results.

I am getting excited to see how it all plays out. If you are correct then I will be significantly disappointed and will tip my hat to you.

Okay! Let’s get this show on the road! Let’s gooooooooooo

[Jersey77]

Jersey, I understand where you are coming from. Based on recent history, it is easy for many of us to be conservative and in wait and see mode.

Stack on top of that the predictions of so called expert pundits and that just reinforces the conservative mindset.

However, succumbing to that conservative mindset undervalues Archie’s and the staff’s experience and coaching ability.

I am not at point of believing we will be in the mix for the A10 regular season championship - finish first, second or third, even - but thinking this team cannot finish somewhere in the next tier of the A10 at .500 or better, undervalues Archie’s ability in a watered down A10 overall.

That said, we shall see how we do and I will re-evaluate my stance up or down depending on results and eye-test.

Let the games begin! Go Rhody!

ETA: I am trying to be as objective as possible on my outlook.

I would never undervalue Archie or the staff's ability to coach but I am also not ready to declare them miracle workers, at least yet.
If this team finishes ,500 or better, that is more than I predicted or expected and would consider that a big win for this group.

Jersey, don’t forget Archie’s (and the staff’s) will to overcome least season’s results and their sense of pride in their work. I think that will play a bigger role in this season’s results than many expect.

I do think I am placing a higher value on the coaching than others, perhaps. I look forward to seeing where that gets me in by season’s end. But, I also think - despite questions of inexperience - we have upgraded talent and that, outside of 3-4 teams in the A10, no other teams are head and shoulders better than us.

That said, I empathize with the wait and see attitude; the desire not to risk disappointment after the Cox regime and last season’s results.

I am getting excited to see how it all plays out. If you are correct then I will be significantly disappointed and will tip my hat to you.

Okay! Let’s get this show on the road! Let’s gooooooooooo

I don't want to be correct, would prefer to be wrong, to the better of course.

[steveystuds06]

I believe it's important for some of us to take a step back and avoid overreacting to our performance against an inferior opponent like Assumption. I understand that some of our players were injured, but let's not forget that we lost to Harvard by 7 points. I heard that Harvard had a strong start and built a substantial lead, and although we made a few comebacks, the outcome was never really in doubt. Personally, I don't consider Harvard to be a strong team, but I don't think we should read too much into that game either.

Had we killed Harvard and dominated against Assumption I would be more excited. Right now I think it's way too early to know. I think we need to see what this team looks like against some D1 opponents, and it starts tomorrow.

Personally, I believe there's a lot to be excited about. I see this year as the first step in a challenging rebuilding process, and I expect our team to maintain around a .500 record throughout the year. I'll be happy if we achieve that

[Jersey77]

I believe it's important for some of us to take a step back and avoid overreacting to our performance against an inferior opponent like Assumption. I understand that some of our players were injured, but let's not forget that we lost to Harvard by 7 points. I heard that Harvard had a strong start and built a substantial lead, and although we made a few comebacks, the outcome was never really in doubt. Personally, I don't consider Harvard to be a strong team, but I don't think we should read too much into that game either.

Had we killed Harvard and dominated against Assumption I would be more excited. Right now I think it's way too early to know. I think we need to see what this team looks like against some D1 opponents, and it starts tomorrow.

Personally, I believe there's a lot to be excited about. I see this year as the first step in a challenging rebuilding process, and I expect our team to maintain around a .500 record throughout the year. I'll be happy if we achieve that

Good post Stevey, well said.

[Jdrums#3]

Very good intel on the Harvard secret scrimmage, Stevey. Thanks!

I am figuring that since we were able to win 9 games last year with that poor (not including Ish) group (and stay in more games than I expected), improved the talent (and hoping for a bit more production from Rory and Weston than last season having a yr under their belt with Archie), the mish-mash that is the A10 outside of the top 3-4 teams and the motivation of the coaching staff to do better than last season, I am thinking we can scrape out 9 more wins out of the schedule if we stay healthy.

But, even if we don’t and finish at .500, I will be disappointed but happy we are moving in the right direction.

Game 1 tomorrow night! Let’s goooooooo

[PeterRamTime]

I believe it's important for some of us to take a step back and avoid overreacting to our performance against an inferior opponent like Assumption. I understand that some of our players were injured, but let's not forget that we lost to Harvard by 7 points. I heard that Harvard had a strong start and built a substantial lead, and although we made a few comebacks, the outcome was never really in doubt. Personally, I don't consider Harvard to be a strong team, but I don't think we should read too much into that game either.

Had we killed Harvard and dominated against Assumption I would be more excited. Right now I think it's way too early to know. I think we need to see what this team looks like against some D1 opponents, and it starts tomorrow.

Personally, I believe there's a lot to be excited about. I see this year as the first step in a challenging rebuilding process, and I expect our team to maintain around a .500 record throughout the year. I'll be happy if we achieve that

Why did it take so long for any scrimmage Intel to come out?