11/9 | Fairfield | 7:00PM (ESPN+)

[spookydog]

University of Rhode Island vs Fairfield University
Ryan Center, Kingston, RI
Thursday, November 9, 2023
7:00PM

Media
TV: N/A
Online: ESPN +
Radio: Tune In Radio
App: Varsity Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Previews
Fairfield Fan Forum
GoRhody Game Notes


After disposing of a team from the middle of Connecticut, the Rams welcome a team from western Connecticut to the Ryan Center for game 2 of the season Thursday night. After losing their first game of the season to Boston College, the Fairfield Stags travel 2 hours east to take on the Rams in Kingston. The college basketball season just started & there already has been some turmoil in Fairfield. A couple weeks ago, Fairfield’s coach Jay Young unexpectedly stepped down seemingly out of the blue. Assistant coach Chris Casey is now serving as Interim Head Coach.

Preseason polls picked Fairfield to finish in the middle of the pack at sixth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Guard Caleb Fields was a preseason second team award winner while forward Alexis Yetna was a preseason third team award winner. Both players did not play in the opening game against Boston College, so I am assuming they both are dinged up. It is definitely a safe assumption that Alexis Yetna is hurt since he has missed three full seasons due injuries & I think he is one of the oldest players in the league. Hell, he is almost as old as URI QB Kasim Hill & that is saying something.

After the first game, the Stags leading scorer former Friar Brycen Goodine, who poured in 22 in Chestnut Hill. Goodine also had a team high 3 assists in that game along with Jasper Floyd. Floyd did commit 5 turnovers, so hopefully URI can apply some pressure on him & get some easy baskets of turnovers. They have some height downlow with freshman Peyton Smith, who is 6’ 10” tall. Smith went for 12 & 6 in his first collegiate game.

For the Rams, they come into this contest 1-0 after easily taking down Central Connecticut State. They took the lead 4 and a half minutes in & never looked back. They had a great six-minute stretch where they went on a 15-0 run early on the second half. Rhody got a little sloppy allowing the Blue Devils to cut the 25-point lead by more than half. Another positive was the efficiency from the floor. The bigs shot a combined 9 for 15. The Rams will need to clean up the free throw shooting a bit as they shot an abysmal 12 for 23.

The Rams have never lost to Fairfield & look for that trend to continue Thursday night. I am looking for more of the same from the Rams. Hopefully Kortright will get some more touches & the shots fall. Other than that, more of the same please. I think this game will be a little bit more competitive with Rhody pulling away late for the win & cover. My prediction, URI 75 – Fairfield 63. Go Rhody!!


Opponent
Record:
0-1, 0-0 in the MAAC
15-15, 11-9 in the MAAC (Last Season)

Rankings (URI):
NCAA NET: 262 (263)*
RPI: 251 (278)
KenPom: 260 (194)
BPI: 324 (268)*
Sagarin: 260 (229)*
Barttovik: 267 (178)
*Denotes Last Season Rankings

Leaders:
Points – Brycen Goodine 22.0 (Sr., G)
Rebounds – Louis Bleechmore/Jasper Floyd/Peyton Smith 6.0 (Sr., G / Jr., G / Fr., F)
Assists – Jasper Floyd 3.0 (Jr., G) (5.0 TO per game), Brycen Goodine 3.0 (Sr., G) (2.0 TO per game)

Historical
Series: 5-0
H: 3-0, A: 1-0, N: 1-0
Most Recent Matchup: 12/20/09 89-84 W at URI
Most Recent Win Streak: 5 - URI
Match-up Predictor: 75.9% Chance of URI Winning

[RhowdyRam02]

KenPom gives us a 74% chance of winning and forecasts a 74-67 win

[section(105)]

FWIW…..Team Rankings now has the #200th ranked, #14 A-10 Rams with 77% win over their #297th ranked Stags…..

[SGreenwell]

Fairfield kind of seems like a god damn mess, from the outside looking in, and I think any team with a competent coach is probably going to dismantle them.

[bigappleram]

Sometimes traumatic events like losing your coach 2 weeks before the season can rally a team. Sometimes it can break them. Remains to be seen. Is there a chance Yetna didn’t play bc he’s a multi time transfer? Same for Fields? Yetna has some skills and size if he does suit up.

Look for Luke Murray to be the HC there next season.

[Jersey77]

As noted above, Alexis Yetna their best big didn't play against BC.
He is a Seton Hall transfer who missed last season with knee surgery.
The year prior averaged about 8 pts/8 rebs in the BE.

Not sure of his status if he will be activated against us.

[Billyboy78]

I saw Brycen Goodine in high school at St. Andrew's. He didn't get much time at PC, but he's a good player, very athletic.

[RhowdyRam02]

Injury potentially lingering
Yetna (knee) did not appear in Monday's 89-70 season-opening loss to Boston College.
Impact A late-September report suggested that Yetna was still rehabbing a knee injury, and his absence from the opener suggests that may still be the case. The next chance for the third-team preseason all-MAAC selection to take the court will be Thursday at Rhode Island.
18 HOURS AGO
•
ROTOWIRE

[Jdrums#3]

I like us in this game by around 10 being at home. I would like to see the D improve, however, and see us have less unforced turnovers.

As an aside, I would like to see Rory come along if he is cleared to play. We have multiple scoring options and if Rory can come along and give us 2-3 three’s a game in key moments then, that would be icing on the O cake for me and bode well for a winning season.

There is no pressure on him. We do not desperately need him to do it like we did least season so I think that will help him; help his mindset.

Go Rhody!

[bigappleram]

I like us in this game by around 10 being at home. I would like to see the D improve, however, and see us have less unforced turnovers.

As an aside, I would like to see Rory come along if he is cleared to play. We have multiple scoring options and if Rory can come along and give us 2-3 three’s a game in key moments then, that would be icing on the O cake for me and bode well for a winning season.

There is no pressure on him. We do not desperately need him to do it like we did least season so I think that will help him; help his mindset.

Go Rhody!

Rory is going to struggle to find playing time on this team. And that's a good thing.

If Green were cleared he would have no chance but I think at best you see some matchup based minutes for him in some games but he is going to be way way down on the rotation.

[KeaneyBluBallz]

Rams by 14

[Rhody15]

I like us in this game by around 10 being at home. I would like to see the D improve, however, and see us have less unforced turnovers.

As an aside, I would like to see Rory come along if he is cleared to play. We have multiple scoring options and if Rory can come along and give us 2-3 three’s a game in key moments then, that would be icing on the O cake for me and bode well for a winning season.

There is no pressure on him. We do not desperately need him to do it like we did least season so I think that will help him; help his mindset.

Go Rhody!

I don't think you realize that averaging 2-3 three's a game is a very, very high amount.

Jimmy Baron averaged between 1.7 - 3.5 threes a game in his four seasons.

You're basically asking Rory to average the same amount of three's per game as Jimmy did.

And if he's playing that much to shoot than many times, there's a problem with the team.

[Ramfan22]

Let’s Fuch them up

[Jdrums#3]

I like us in this game by around 10 being at home. I would like to see the D improve, however, and see us have less unforced turnovers.

As an aside, I would like to see Rory come along if he is cleared to play. We have multiple scoring options and if Rory can come along and give us 2-3 three’s a game in key moments then, that would be icing on the O cake for me and bode well for a winning season.

There is no pressure on him. We do not desperately need him to do it like we did least season so I think that will help him; help his mindset.

Go Rhody!

Rory is going to struggle to find playing time on this team. And that's a good thing.

If Green were cleared he would have no chance but I think at best you see some matchup based minutes for him in some games but he is going to be way way down on the rotation.

Likely, Bar, if Green is eligible. If Green isn’t eligible then I think Rory has a role IF he can consistently hit the three. If he can give us 2-3 timely 3’s a game that would help us - especially without Green.

[Jdrums#3]

I like us in this game by around 10 being at home. I would like to see the D improve, however, and see us have less unforced turnovers.

As an aside, I would like to see Rory come along if he is cleared to play. We have multiple scoring options and if Rory can come along and give us 2-3 three’s a game in key moments then, that would be icing on the O cake for me and bode well for a winning season.

There is no pressure on him. We do not desperately need him to do it like we did least season so I think that will help him; help his mindset.

Go Rhody!

I don't think you realize that averaging 2-3 three's a game is a very, very high amount.

Jimmy Baron averaged between 1.7 - 3.5 threes a game in his four seasons.

You're basically asking Rory to average the same amount of three's per game as Jimmy did.

And if he's playing that much to shoot than many times, there's a problem with the team.

Okay then, if he can give us 1-2, I’ll take it. You can never have enough 3 point threats in today’s game.

[PeterRamTime]

If Yetna plays then Fairfield might be a challenge, otherwise they are pretty bad.

What will be interesting is what we do on D. If Archie can get anything out of Cam and Connor. If Rory plays. Can Luis get going.

He said in the post-game press conference he wanted to build depth behind House with Cam and Connor, so I suspect he'll see if they can get going.

He also claimed Kortright is one of our better players, so I think you want him to make more of an impact in a game like this. If he struggles scoring against the likes of CCSU, Fairfield and Wagner then that would be concerning. We'll need him to give us something, especially if Cam and Connor can't spell House don't the road.

[theblueram]

If Yetna plays then Fairfield might be a challenge, otherwise they are pretty bad.

What will be interesting is what we do on D. If Archie can get anything out of Cam and Connor. If Rory plays. Can Luis get going.

He said in the post-game press conference he wanted to build depth behind House with Cam and Connor, so I suspect he'll see if they can get going.

He also claimed Kortright is one of our better players, so I think you want him to make more of an impact in a game like this. If he struggles scoring against the likes of CCSU, Fairfield and Wagner then that would be concerning. We'll need him to give us something, especially if Cam and Connor can't spell House don't the road.

Based on the game Monday, the only thing spelling House is if he's in foul trouble. He tweaked his ankle and called off Archie for a sub. He recovered fine. House is a 30+ minute player all year.

[PeterRamTime]

If Yetna plays then Fairfield might be a challenge, otherwise they are pretty bad.

What will be interesting is what we do on D. If Archie can get anything out of Cam and Connor. If Rory plays. Can Luis get going.

He said in the post-game press conference he wanted to build depth behind House with Cam and Connor, so I suspect he'll see if they can get going.

He also claimed Kortright is one of our better players, so I think you want him to make more of an impact in a game like this. If he struggles scoring against the likes of CCSU, Fairfield and Wagner then that would be concerning. We'll need him to give us something, especially if Cam and Connor can't spell House don't the road.

Based on the game Monday, the only thing spelling House is if he's in foul trouble. He tweaked his ankle and called off Archie for a sub. He recovered fine. House is a 30+ minute player all year.

I only said that because Archie wants to be able to spell him and not have to rely on him for the entire game. Probably what's gonna have to happen though.

[theblueram]

If Yetna plays then Fairfield might be a challenge, otherwise they are pretty bad.

What will be interesting is what we do on D. If Archie can get anything out of Cam and Connor. If Rory plays. Can Luis get going.

He said in the post-game press conference he wanted to build depth behind House with Cam and Connor, so I suspect he'll see if they can get going.

He also claimed Kortright is one of our better players, so I think you want him to make more of an impact in a game like this. If he struggles scoring against the likes of CCSU, Fairfield and Wagner then that would be concerning. We'll need him to give us something, especially if Cam and Connor can't spell House don't the road.

Based on the game Monday, the only thing spelling House is if he's in foul trouble. He tweaked his ankle and called off Archie for a sub. He recovered fine. House is a 30+ minute player all year.

I only said that because Archie wants to be able to spell him and not have to rely on him for the entire game. Probably what's gonna have to happen though.

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

[KingstonLane]

Based on the game Monday, the only thing spelling House is if he's in foul trouble. He tweaked his ankle and called off Archie for a sub. He recovered fine. House is a 30+ minute player all year.

I only said that because Archie wants to be able to spell him and not have to rely on him for the entire game. Probably what's gonna have to happen though.

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

[hrstrat57]

I think Kortwright only took 3 shots?

[rhodylaw]

I only said that because Archie wants to be able to spell him and not have to rely on him for the entire game. Probably what's gonna have to happen though.

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Sure depth is good - but the best players need to play. Terrell, EC and Dowtin all averaged over 30 mins a game in our best years. House will be over 30 (assuming he keeps playing like he did last night) and I would be surprised if anyone else is over 26 or 27 mins (outside shot on Zek).

[reef]

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Sure depth is good - but the best players need to play. Terrell, EC and Dowtin all averaged over 30 mins a game in our best years. House will be over 30 (assuming he keeps playing like he did last night) and I would be surprised if anyone else is over 26 or 27 mins (outside shot on Zek).

Sounds reasonable , House played 33 minutes yesterday so I would expect him over 30 most nights except if he gets into early foul trouble

[PeterRamTime]

Based on the game Monday, the only thing spelling House is if he's in foul trouble. He tweaked his ankle and called off Archie for a sub. He recovered fine. House is a 30+ minute player all year.

I only said that because Archie wants to be able to spell him and not have to rely on him for the entire game. Probably what's gonna have to happen though.

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Umm yeah of course he is. I'm just literally quoting Archie.

[adam914]

I think the thing I'll be most curious to see as the season progresses for House will be his consistency. Obviously he is going to play a ton of minutes and sure looks to be our biggest offensive threat so he'll get his shots. I know he won't be shooting 55% from the field every night, but it'll be interesting to see how prone he is to those 3-15, 5-16 type shooting nights. And how it'll affect our overall chances in those games with other guys stepping up as needed. That's where Zek will probably be key as well as developing other scoring threats (Weston, the front court guys etc.). It's going to be fun to see how this plays out throughout the year.

[RI_Bred]

I only said that because Archie wants to be able to spell him and not have to rely on him for the entire game. Probably what's gonna have to happen though.

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Coach in his presser said something to the effect of "we can't play 11-13 guys every week, but we do want to still develop our younger guys..." so you know he is thinking about it all the time. But he's not going to the Cox rotation strategy anytime soon.

[KingstonLane]

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Sure depth is good - but the best players need to play. Terrell, EC and Dowtin all averaged over 30 mins a game in our best years. House will be over 30 (assuming he keeps playing like he did last night) and I would be surprised if anyone else is over 26 or 27 mins (outside shot on Zek).

You’re probably right. But I think even Archie acknowledged he needs to find a way to get his backup guards more minutes. I trust he’ll figure out how

[KingstonLane]

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Coach in his presser said something to the effect of "we can't play 11-13 guys every week, but we do want to still develop our younger guys..." so you know he is thinking about it all the time. But he's not going to the Cox rotation strategy anytime soon.

Totally. I hope the bench is short for big games. Let your best players win them.

But CCSU is not and should not be a “big game”. Same with Fairfield and others. Those are the opportunities for reps

[Rhody15]

House is more than capable of playing 30+ minutes. It's his game. House wants to play. Let him. That's like saying let's rest EC or Terrell or Hassan. Maybe for a minute or two but that's it.

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Coach in his presser said something to the effect of "we can't play 11-13 guys every week, but we do want to still develop our younger guys..." so you know he is thinking about it all the time. But he's not going to the Cox rotation strategy anytime soon.

He did use the “Cox timeout after a made basket” strategy though!

[theblueram]

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Coach in his presser said something to the effect of "we can't play 11-13 guys every week, but we do want to still develop our younger guys..." so you know he is thinking about it all the time. But he's not going to the Cox rotation strategy anytime soon.

Totally. I hope the bench is short for big games. Let your best players win them.

But CCSU is not and should not be a “big game”. Same with Fairfield and others. Those are the opportunities for reps

The time for reps are gone. We saw just about every player on Monday.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Playing devils advocate here. It’s a long season. In these games against lesser opponents give your younger guys run to see what they have and let them develop.

Depth is important for many reasons. Foul trouble being a big one.

Coach in his presser said something to the effect of "we can't play 11-13 guys every week, but we do want to still develop our younger guys..." so you know he is thinking about it all the time. But he's not going to the Cox rotation strategy anytime soon.

He did use the “Cox timeout after a made basket” strategy though!

Yes. It was after a 3, too, wasn't it? Love Arch. Still hate those.

[PeterRamTime]

Coach in his presser said something to the effect of "we can't play 11-13 guys every week, but we do want to still develop our younger guys..." so you know he is thinking about it all the time. But he's not going to the Cox rotation strategy anytime soon.

He did use the “Cox timeout after a made basket” strategy though!

Yes. It was after a 3, too, wasn't it? Love Arch. Still hate those.

Well it was still after a CCSU run where we were looking terrible. That 3 felt fortunate.

[jcru]

Trying to "spell" House would be as futile as when Eric Foreman tried to "spell" Greggory House on Dr. House M.D.

[NYGFan_Section208]

He did use the “Cox timeout after a made basket” strategy though!

Yes. It was after a 3, too, wasn't it? Love Arch. Still hate those.

Well it was still after a CCSU run where we were looking terrible. That 3 felt fortunate.

I still hate it, but maybe unnecessarily...gonna have to start tracking late game situations where we "wish we had another time out" (actually, probably not, too lazy). Could be the coaches have already figured out...there aren't any.

[PeterRamTime]

Yes. It was after a 3, too, wasn't it? Love Arch. Still hate those.

Well it was still after a CCSU run where we were looking terrible. That 3 felt fortunate.

I still hate it, but maybe unnecessarily...gonna have to start tracking late game situations where we "wish we had another time out" (actually, probably not, too lazy). Could be the coaches have already figured out...there aren't any.

Well I think he wanted to call it once they brought the ball back up the court, but Weston shot that three immediately so that's why he still called the timeout.

What Cox would do is always wait too long.

[Ramfan22]

Something to monitor is the status on Caleb Fields, and Jalen Leach. Didn’t play against Boston college, don’t know how serious their injuries are. Alexis Yetna who would be their best player hasn’t been cleared to return yet, probably will be back in January.

[steveystuds06]

I thought Archie coached a very good game the other night. The timeouts seemed fine to me....IDK if any of you watched Archie's press conference today, but he broke down every little detail about Fairfield.. It's impressive listening to him break down our opponents. Cox didn't even know when our opponent's best player was injured.. It's awesome having a great head coach again.

[PeterRamTime]

[ramster]

Fairfield URI Game Thread

https://fairfieldstags.proboards.com/th ... game-notes

[ramster]

At 5 minute mark he talked about lack of post presence then he mentioned again at 7:45 mark the absence of a post game offensively. He also mentioned the lack of defensive rebounding.

We only out rebounded CCSU 35-34 and we got out rebounded on the offensive glass 15-10.

Interesting at 20 minute mark in discussing David Fuchs he mentioned players like to be coached by the coaches that spent time recruiting them. He said they don't want to show up and say who is that guy over there talking to me now (I'm paraphrasing here). So interesting Austin Carroll plays a big role having been the lead recruiter for David Fuchs who is clearly a key part of this team stepping right into a starting role as a big, only a freshman when bigs normally come along more slowly at the college level.

Great detail in Millers responses to questions.

[ramster]

Stats from 1st game of season

House and Montgomery with the best +/- performance

Archie brought up lack of post presence, defense and defensive rebounding in his press briefing.

He said performance must improve for Fairfield, even with the injuries impacting Fairfield's team right now

[RI_Bred]

I love listening to Miller, the detail and thoughtfulness of his answers clearly shows his superior basketball / coaching acumen.

[reef]

I love listening to Miller, the detail and thoughtfulness of his answers clearly shows his superior basketball / coaching acumen.

Agree, guys like him I just want to succeed so badly

[ElmCityRhody]

lets gooooo !

[theblueram]

Heading out. IT'S GAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[reef]

Ok just turned it on let’s go Rhody !!

[Rhodymob05]

Better at threes than layups. CMON!

[adam914]

Jaden House is fun!

I'm concerned about our rebounding right now though...

[Rhody15]

Rebounding NEEDS to improve if we want to do anything this season.

[jcru]

House: 13 pts in the first 5 mins. Barely 5 mins, he got his last basket right as the clock was going to 15:00.

No big D