The Lets Be Realistic (and for some get off the damn ledge) Thread

[Da_Process_Survivor]

Look, in reading the different threads so far this year and seeing some of the negativity and responses, its clear that a portion of the fanbase needs to wake up and come back to reality.

I get that the past 2 seasons raised expectations and some built this idea in their heads that NCAA Tourney was the baseline no matter what. We got used to 2 years of very good basketball and players, and unfortunately some purged the memories of the growing pains and failures that built that success.

Freshmen make mistakes. Freshmen look lost. The learning curve for a freshman is a painful thing to watch at times. This is reality (outside of the 1 and done crowd). Get used to it.

How someone could've expected the team to look anything close to the last 2 seasons right out of the gate is curious to say the least.

Look at things objectively:

4 Seniors gone
4 of the top 5 scorers
4 of the top 5 rebounders
3 of the top 4 in assists

A team that has only 3 regular contributors back from the prior year
A team that is integrating 4 Freshmen into the mix
A team that is learning a new coach and system at the same time

That is a huge amount of leadership gone. Everyone is learning a new role this year. Whether its players suddenly going from role players to focal points, players having to learn how to be leaders in the locker room, and frankly you need to build chemistry from square one. With so many new pieces it takes time for everyone to get on court familiarity to the point of just reacting and trusting vs taking that extra second to think.

This is going to be a frustrating year while the freshmen, Fatts/Jeff/Cyril and Coach Cox all learn their roles and how it all meshes together. And quite frankly, even if Hurley was still here, we'd still look as lost. Its a fact of roster turnover this large.

[Taylor Swift]

Some people are acting like this is Baron coming back. Not even close. Thank you for posting this.

[adam914]

Ah, the irony of this coming from the author of the Baron 2.0 thread two years ago.

[section(105)]

.....OK, I will bite......all the points made are fine, and on point.....which were included in my thinking toward a prediction of 15-15 season.......however, I am know leaning less that record as the freshmen develop slower than I thought......have at it......

[TruePoint]

I agree with the OP, except that it isn’t a certainty to me that this will be a frustrating year - it depends on what your expectations are and how much enjoyment you take from watching something start as a mess and gradually come together into something organized and good (think of it like reverse entropy, which is a rare enough phenomenon in the universe to be worth appreciating on its own terms).

[adam914]

I think it is possible, and pretty fair, to understand that this year was going to include some growing pains and take time for everyone to adjust to new roles and still be concerned with the what we have seen so far. It doesn't mean I am giving up on anyone or the team in general, and I didn't expect us to be undefeated right now, but I also didn't expect us to look THIS bad so far.

[steviep123]

I'm steviep123 and I approve this thread.

[Da_Process_Survivor]

Ah, the irony of this coming from the author of the Baron 2.0 thread two years ago.

dont fret buttercup, if they look like this in year 4 you'll get a Baron 3.0 thread

[adam914]

Ah, the irony of this coming from the author of the Baron 2.0 thread two years ago.

dont fret buttercup, if they look like this in year 4 you'll get a Baron 3.0 thread

Good, I hope it works out the same way the other one did.

[Da_Process_Survivor]

Here's the results from 2013-14 (EC and Hass freshman year) for reference:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html

"highlights" include:

-losing to Detroit Mercy
-squeaking by Metropolitan by 3
-scoring 49 against PC
-sqeaking by McNeese St by 5
-losing to Fordham

ended up 14-18. 9-6 in the OOC and 5-12 in conference play. Expect similar to this

[rjsuperfly66]

Things will straighten out.
The key is continuing to do the little things right -- play tough defense (to stay in games), get good shots.
My only caution would be that not all open shots are good shots, but it's too early to know that.
I.E - Just because a player gets an open 3 does not make it a high quality shot for that player.
The coach and the players to continue to learn the spots guys need to be in to be successful.
It's impossible to know that after a few games -- Too early for sweeping judgement, just not for careers but for the season.
Guys are not going to get by on pure strength or athleticism anymore.
It's a brand new ball game.
It's possible they wake up on one morning in February and it all clicks from that point forward.
I think the starting 5 has a ton of talent (even if it hasn't really flashed yet).
Depth & development is probably the most important thing going forward.

[RhowdyRam02]

Some people are acting like this is Baron coming back. Not even close. Thank you for posting this.

But how can you say this? Cox has zero record as a college head coach before this year. All we really know is that his team didn't bother to show up in the fourth game of the year and they can't put the right person in at point guard.

People who are sure Cox is going to be a success are just projecting their hopes and dreams for the program into him. He's pretty much an empty vessel as a head coach so far.

[RhowdyRam02]

Here's the results from 2013-14 (EC and Hass freshman year) for reference:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html

"highlights" include:

-losing to Detroit Mercy
-squeaking by Metropolitan by 3
-scoring 49 against PC
-sqeaking by McNeese St by 5
-losing to Fordham

ended up 14-18. 9-6 in the OOC and 5-12 in conference play. Expect similar to this

Cool, now compare the rosters next. One should have one of the best point guards in the league, if not the best, and a junior double double machine inside and the other had a guy that ended up playing for our baseball team. And this freshman class is supposed to be better than that one.

[rjsuperfly66]

Here's the results from 2013-14 (EC and Hass freshman year) for reference:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html

"highlights" include:

-losing to Detroit Mercy
-squeaking by Metropolitan by 3
-scoring 49 against PC
-sqeaking by McNeese St by 5
-losing to Fordham

ended up 14-18. 9-6 in the OOC and 5-12 in conference play. Expect similar to this

It's true, but the key for those guys as much as their individual development was the guys brought in to play with them.
The staff had nailed several recruits and transfers who filled roles perfectly, led by Terrell who became a star.
It would appear from the outside that URI has far more talent/potential on the existing roster than that team did in 13-14.
That 13-14 roster desperately needed reinforcements from the outside.
This roster will hopefully get the development to improve from within.

[Da_Process_Survivor]

Here's the results from 2013-14 (EC and Hass freshman year) for reference:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html

"highlights" include:

-losing to Detroit Mercy
-squeaking by Metropolitan by 3
-scoring 49 against PC
-sqeaking by McNeese St by 5
-losing to Fordham

ended up 14-18. 9-6 in the OOC and 5-12 in conference play. Expect similar to this

It's true, but the key for those guys as much as their individual development was the guys brought in to play with them.
The staff had nailed several recruits and transfers who filled roles perfectly, led by Terrell who became a star.
It would appear from the outside that URI has far more talent/potential on the existing roster than that team did in 13-14.
That 13-14 roster desperately needed reinforcements from the outside.
This roster will hopefully get the development to improve from within.

Exactly.

and they do appear to have the reinforcements coming in the top A10 class (Mading, Long, Hammond) and a strong P5 transfer in Walker.

No reason why this year's and next year's classes wont recreate what EC/Hass/Terrell/Iverson did

[Rhody83]

I will bite also. Put the freshmen aside for a minute. Fatts’ performance is a major disappointment. Thompson’s performance on offense is a disappointment. We need more consistent top of the league play from Jeff every game.

Now to the freshmen. We had the #1 class in the A10. None of URI’s freshmen are in the top 10 freshmen in our league. That is comparing to other freshmen. Saying we were unrealistic to think one of our freshmen (Harris or Martin) would be in the top 5 in the league seems a little over the top. I have the patience - if Harris and Martin are playing at the level of a top 10-15 freshmen in our league by the end of the year, that would be great.

[section(105)]

......I was wondering what would fill this week with no game........we’ve got a winner in this thread......looking forward to the second and third shift KBers to weigh in here......

[bigappleram]

Here's the results from 2013-14 (EC and Hass freshman year) for reference:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html

"highlights" include:

-losing to Detroit Mercy
-squeaking by Metropolitan by 3
-scoring 49 against PC
-sqeaking by McNeese St by 5
-losing to Fordham

ended up 14-18. 9-6 in the OOC and 5-12 in conference play. Expect similar to this

So you are comparing a program coming off back to back NCAAs and conference titles, with an All League PG, potential All League PF, Top recruiting class in the league to a team that could barely field 10 bodies to practice? I'm with Adam in that you can be patient, and recognize the growing pains of a young team, while still calling out some red flags or things that concern you. Only the most irrational fan is either calling for DCs head, or glossing over some of the issues and saying everything will work themselves out.

[RhowdyRam02]

Now to the freshmen. We had the #1 class in the A10. None of URI’s freshmen are in the top 10 freshmen in our league. That is comparing to other freshmen. Saying we were unrealistic to think one of our freshmen (Harris or Martin) would be in the top 5 in the league seems a little over the top. I have the patience - if Harris and Martin are playing at the level of a top 10-15 freshmen in our league by the end of the year, that would be great.

This is a great point. People keep acting like we're expecting the freshmen to play like last year's seniors. No, we're expecting them to play better than the other freshmen in the A10 and so far they haven't been. Why not?

[Seawrightspostgame]

I don't think they have developed an identity. I don't think the previous HC was developing a multiyear identity so it's entirely on these current guys.

It was an all or nothing. Get URI to the dance and jump ship. Looking back I am more surprised that he stayed another year. Likely because the writing was on the wall with UConn. He just had to do a victory lap with a bunch of seniors and then move down the road.

[rjsuperfly66]

This is a great point. People keep acting like we're expecting the freshmen to play like last year's seniors. No, we're expecting them to play better than the other freshmen in the A10 and so far they haven't been. Why not?

I think this is something that is often lost in recruiting rankings.
Some recruits are guys that come in with solid numbers and rankings, but really need to develop their bodies to the size and speed of the college game.
I feel a lot of times, you might find recruit #225 being some 5'10, 165 pound player who comes in and lights the world on fire but four years from now, that player is pretty much the same guy, maybe even a little worse as they face the attention from other teams.
Often we expect recruits to come in and play at a high-level because of the number next to their name, but that's not always the case.
It's the potential they have which can make them a dynamic player down the road which makes them a better player than the guy who comes in more polished but doesn't have the size, length, or athleticism.

[ace]

Here's the results from 2013-14 (EC and Hass freshman year) for reference:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... edule.html

"highlights" include:

-losing to Detroit Mercy
-squeaking by Metropolitan by 3
-scoring 49 against PC
-sqeaking by McNeese St by 5
-losing to Fordham

ended up 14-18. 9-6 in the OOC and 5-12 in conference play. Expect similar to this

So you are comparing a program coming off back to back NCAAs and conference titles, with an All League PG, potential All League PF, Top recruiting class in the league to a team that could barely field 10 bodies to practice? I'm with Adam in that you can be patient, and recognize the growing pains of a young team, while still calling out some red flags or things that concern you. Only the most irrational fan is either calling for DCs head, or glossing over some of the issues and saying everything will work themselves out.

And just for fun, let’s reset the simulation to make this season equal to that one... little fan support except for diehards, add in an NCAA drought and APR restrictions, take away the facility upgrades. Calls for a measured approach to this season are kind of undercut by making such a false comparison.

After the Stony Brook game: “We have to get back to Rhode Island basketball, which has always been hustling and playing hard basketball.”

Before the Brown game: “Defense is part of us, part of our culture, and defense travels. That’s a phrase Dan [Hurley] always used to use. At home, on the road, we always have our defense. Offensively, you might have those days where shots aren’t falling, but what you can always count on is defensive intensity, integrity and effort.”

After the Brown game: "That was Rhode Island basketball. That’s the type of effort Rhody fans have been used to. And that's the type of effort we need to have every day, every game."

Cox seems to be rallying around a familiar team identity- a multi year and program one.

[bigappleram]

I don't think they have developed an identity. I don't think the previous HC was developing a multiyear identity so it's entirely on these current guys.

It was an all or nothing. Get URI to the dance and jump ship. Looking back I am more surprised that he stayed another year. Likely because the writing was on the wall with UConn. He just had to do a victory lap with a bunch of seniors and then move down the road.

This is such a bad and erroneous take, but by all means keep repeating it.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Cox seems to be rallying around a familiar team identity- a multi year and program one.

I'm talking about scoring. This team cant score. Like UNC runs Roy Williams' system. Michign Beilein's. Kansas Self's. The team scores the same every year regardless of who is out there. URI over the last 6 years hasn't developed any type of system to score the ball without heroics.

[ace]

Cox seems to be rallying around a familiar team identity- a multi year and program one.

I'm talking about scoring. This team cant score. Like UNC runs Roy Williams' system. Michign Beilein's. Kansas Self's. The team scores the same every year regardless of who is out there. URI over the last 6 years hasn't developed any type of system to score the ball without heroics.

Nah, man.

[bigappleram]

No one has a 'system' to score the ball. Coaches have their philosophies and strategies and general offensive sets they prefer. Dan had his, and Cox I presume has his. As does Williams, Self and every other coach of organized basketball. The best offensive system is intended to create an advantage somewhere, not to literally score points. Create a small advantage whether its through spacing, or mismatches, or movement that scrambles the defense...and then players have to read/react and hit shots.

[rjsuperfly66]

No one has a 'system' to score the ball. Coaches have their philosophies and strategies and general offensive sets they prefer. Dan had his, and Cox I presume has his. As does Williams, Self and every other coach of organized basketball. The best offensive system is intended to create an advantage somewhere, not to literally score points. Create a small advantage whether its through spacing, or mismatches, or movement that scrambles the defense...and then players have to read/react and hit shots.

It's also easier to look great when you are replacing 4&5 star recruits with 4&5 star recruits.
Calipari's teams always score the basketball as well, but I think his system blows and often gets exposed by a better "team" in the tournament.
It's not always about the total points you put up, but how you can control the tempo, and if you can stop the opponent more than they can stop you.
I'm not sure if Tony Bennett and Virginia even practice offense, but his teams (last year aside) always tend to be flirting with the Top 10 and the Sweet 16. I think their achilles heel is always not enough offensive fire power, but they still have very good seasons all things considered.

[bigappleram]

Agreed RJ, and it's also easier to run a 'system' when you have the pick of the litter in recruiting and can build your roster to fit your system. That's not possible at Rhody, nor probably at PC. Some things Cooley has done over the years that really impress me in terms of his coaching:

1.) Inverting the offense - he did this with Dunn a lot, and he did it with Duke when Fatts was on him. He flips the offense and has his big PG create a mismatch inside with an undersized guy playing him.

2.) Going to the Flex when you need a bucket and to get people moving - he does this a lot too when his offense is stagnant, the Flex is something i think Rhody should run with the current roster bc we don't have a ton of guys who can create their own offense. Against URI out of timeout when PC was a bit out of sorts they ran the flex, someone got an easy bucket (I think Reeves) and then they went back to their normal offense. It's great for getting guys back to moving off the ball and generally if you run it long enough you will get an easy look.

3.) Coaching to his roster - over the years Cooley has showed Zone defense when his bodies were depleted, and then extended man D when he had more horses. Against us on Saturday PC showed a half court trapping look which I had not seen from them in years past. At URI, and PC, you have to scheme to the roster you have because like I said earlier you really can't recruit to the system and have to take the best player available in most cases. I think Cooley has done a great job through the years in building his strategies around the skill sets of the players he has on roster.

[steviep123]

To play Devil's advocate, remember, Terrell initially committed to Oklahoma State, then changed his mind and it was between us and BC for a bit. If we don't land the JT (and didn't find a suitable replacement), the past two seasons would have looked quite different.

I agree with Process_Survivor in many ways of his comparison with EC and Hassan's first year. They had Xavier Munford as their best player and only senior (and a Ram that I feel sorry never saw post season play in a URI uniform). A young team that needed game experience. Maybe this team is better on paper. Time will tell. Remember, EC's first season saw a 6 game losing streak and two 3 game losing streaks, many of which were close games (under 10 points) that could have gone either way. They haven't learned to win yet. While I don't remember shooting specifics, one common theme over Hurley's entire tenure was lack of good free throw shooting. I don't remember if EC's first season or two had chronic bad shooting like this team, but free throws left a lot to be desired.

I predicted (in the prediction thread) 20-11 (12-6 A10 record and 8-4 OOC). I don't remember specifics, but I think I was a bit optimistic and/or didn't give enough credit to some teams. Looking at the schedule I probably picked it like this for OOC:

Wins: Bryant, Harvard, Stony Brook, Brown, Holy Cross, Bucknell, 1 out of 2 against the other 2 Hawaii games, Middle Tennessee.
Loses: CoC, Providence (sorry), West Virgina, and 1 game in Hawaii.

I won't go through the A10 (Unless anyone really cares that much), thinking 12 seemed about right for this team...They'll probably lose a couple they should win and win a couple they will be heavy underdogs to, as young teams do. If I had to do it over again, knowing what I know now, I would probably revise it to 7-5 or maybe 6-6 in OOC, and 10-8 in A-10. Just slightly better than .500. That said, and while I'd rather be right with my record prediction (even if how we get there is different than how I would have thought), if they get better as a team over the course of the season, I'll be happy. And if struggling this year turns into learning to win in future years, even better.

[steviep123]

I don't think they have developed an identity. I don't think the previous HC was developing a multiyear identity so it's entirely on these current guys.

It was an all or nothing. Get URI to the dance and jump ship. Looking back I am more surprised that he stayed another year. Likely because the writing was on the wall with UConn. He just had to do a victory lap with a bunch of seniors and then move down the road.

This is such a bad and erroneous take, but by all means keep repeating it.

BAR this is a fabulous quote and I'm going to use it religiously!

[Taylor Swift]

Some people are acting like this is Baron coming back. Not even close. Thank you for posting this.

But how can you say this? Cox has zero record as a college head coach before this year. All we really know is that his team didn't bother to show up in the fourth game of the year and they can't put the right person in at point guard.

People who are sure Cox is going to be a success are just projecting their hopes and dreams for the program into him. He's pretty much an empty vessel as a head coach so far.

Did you not read the first post? Baron's last year the team was in shambles, Dave is not walking into a team that is in shambles watching VHS and from what I recall there were Academic Progress Rate issues that needed to be addressed. Dan came in and turned these things around that CFL left.

We also have to remember Dave was ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH for a number of seasons. It's not like Thor and the Hiring Search Committee picked a DIII coach off the street who was looking to make himself a DI coach overnight. I also vividly remember conversations I had with people that the plan was for DC to step in as HC if/when Dan stepped into another role.

I am not projecting my hopes and dreams, I am facing the reality of the 2018-2019 roster. Calling him an "empty vessel" is a fairly low blow.

[RhowdyRam02]

I took the Baron not coming back part as you saying Cox will be superior to Baron's time. Unfortunately, as much as he fell below expectations and as bad as the last year was, we don't know that Cox will even match or be better than that and like it or not, Baron had a better resume when he took over than Cox has now.

I didn't mean it as a low blow, I feel what I said is a fair statement, but I can see why you'd take it the way you did. I didn't mean as a person he's an empty vessel, but his record as a head coach most certainly is. What are Cox' offensive tendencies? What are his defensive tendencies? Outside of taking a timeout in the middle of the second half after making a basket, how does he use timeouts? How does he close the deal with recruits as the head coach? How successful is he balancing what recruits to take when two assistants are advocating for different guys for one spot? How does he do a host of other things expected to be a successful head coach?

Anyone saying Cox will be a success are saying that off of their feelings for him as a person and how he was as an assistant, but that assures nothing. The floor could be between Baron and Jerry D. The ceiling could be higher than Dan Hurley's. But if we're doing an honest assessment of him as a head coach, and only as a head coach, we only have these 6 games to go on, and he's been underwhelming. The good news is he has plenty of time to improve, but that doesn't mean we stop discussing URI basketball in the meantime.

[Rhody15]

I have a very very VERY hard time believing this freshman class will / was suppose to be better than EC and Hassan’s class.

What they accomplished both individually and as a team will be extremely hard to match or exceed.

If we’re expecting that from these 4, we most likely will be disappointed.

[Taylor Swift]

I took the Baron not coming back part as you saying Cox will be superior to Baron's time. Unfortunately, as much as he fell below expectations and as bad as the last year was, we don't know that Cox will even match or be better than that and like it or not, Baron had a better resume when he took over than Cox has now.

I didn't mean it as a low blow, I feel what I said is a fair statement, but I can see why you'd take it the way you did. I didn't mean as a person he's an empty vessel, but his record as a head coach most certainly is. What are Cox' offensive tendencies? What are his defensive tendencies? Outside of taking a timeout in the middle of the second half after making a basket, how does he use timeouts? How does he close the deal with recruits as the head coach? How successful is he balancing what recruits to take when two assistants are advocating for different guys for one spot? How does he do a host of other things expected to be a successful head coach?

Anyone saying Cox will be a success are saying that off of their feelings for him as a person and how he was as an assistant, but that assures nothing. The floor could be between Baron and Jerry D. The ceiling could be higher than Dan Hurley's. But if we're doing an honest assessment of him as a head coach, and only as a head coach, we only have these 6 games to go on, and he's been underwhelming. The good news is he has plenty of time to improve, but that doesn't mean we stop discussing URI basketball in the meantime.

Maybe you should write him an email and ask him what his coaching and recruiting strategies are? I certainly don't have the answers to any of that because I'm pretty sure none of us here are inside the huddle during his timeouts or a fly on the wall during team meetings.

Your post didn't specify, "he's an empty vessel, but it's his coaching is, not his personality". Without specifying that it doesn't give the reader of the post much to go by other than the literal meaning.

Looking at a 3-3 record with all we know that this year has brought, I am not underwhelmed at this current moment.

[section(105)]

I have a very very VERY hard time believing this freshman class will / was suppose to be better than EC and Hassan’s class.

What they accomplished both individually and as a team will be extremely hard to match or exceed.

If we’re expecting that from these 4, we most likely will be disappointed.

......for me it is not comparing the current freshmen to any previous class or anything else or than my misguided and apparent flawed expectations that their collective impacts would have been more than what they have demonstrated thus far......

[steviep123]

I took the Baron not coming back part as you saying Cox will be superior to Baron's time. Unfortunately, as much as he fell below expectations and as bad as the last year was, we don't know that Cox will even match or be better than that and like it or not, Baron had a better resume when he took over than Cox has now.

I didn't mean it as a low blow, I feel what I said is a fair statement, but I can see why you'd take it the way you did. I didn't mean as a person he's an empty vessel, but his record as a head coach most certainly is. What are Cox' offensive tendencies? What are his defensive tendencies? Outside of taking a timeout in the middle of the second half after making a basket, how does he use timeouts? How does he close the deal with recruits as the head coach? How successful is he balancing what recruits to take when two assistants are advocating for different guys for one spot? How does he do a host of other things expected to be a successful head coach?

Anyone saying Cox will be a success are saying that off of their feelings for him as a person and how he was as an assistant, but that assures nothing. The floor could be between Baron and Jerry D. The ceiling could be higher than Dan Hurley's. But if we're doing an honest assessment of him as a head coach, and only as a head coach, we only have these 6 games to go on, and he's been underwhelming. The good news is he has plenty of time to improve, but that doesn't mean we stop discussing URI basketball in the meantime.

I mainly agree with your last paragraph. We don't know much yet about how good of a HC he will be. We know neither his ceiling nor his floor. For that matter, we will never know Hurley's ceiling at Rhody either because he may have left before reaching it. Cox is unknown in that he (other than 3 games filling in as a head coach a few years ago) has never been a head coach before, but he is familiar with this program and has been instrumental in helping the program improve over the past few years. To say Baron had a better resume is a bit disingenuous. Baron had a long pre URI career who's ceiling was basically NIT. 14 years as head coach at St. Francis and SBU with 3 NITs (1 win) and 2 NCAAs (zero wins). His floor/ceiling was well established and was what we got. You're right that Cox has not been established, but I'm thinking his ceiling is higher than Baron's. If I'm wrong I'm wrong, but I certainly want much higher than the Baron error. I have faith that Cox with the support of the AD and everyone involved will not allow us to slide that far back.

[bigappleram]

Jahvon Quiverly and Cole Swider, two guys rated much higher than any of our guys have made even less impact than our FR. Quiverly is a 5 star and literally has 3 DNPs this year already. Net net, not all FR are created equal, and the improvement curve isn't linear. I am confident that either Harris or Martin will have a game soon where we see the potential, they seem to be the most comfortable and closest to having the game slow down for them. Tate still seems a bit confused out there at times, and you can tell Omar when he is in there is just trying to play D and protect the ball and not looking to score.

[reef]

We have to let the season play out and see how we end up

95 or so of us predicted .500 or better so if we fall short of that then red flags should be raised

[ramfan85]

This is a great point. People keep acting like we're expecting the freshmen to play like last year's seniors. No, we're expecting them to play better than the other freshmen in the A10 and so far they haven't been. Why not?

I think this is something that is often lost in recruiting rankings.
Some recruits are guys that come in with solid numbers and rankings, but really need to develop their bodies to the size and speed of the college game.
I feel a lot of times, you might find recruit #225 being some 5'10, 165 pound player who comes in and lights the world on fire but four years from now, that player is pretty much the same guy, maybe even a little worse as they face the attention from other teams.
Often we expect recruits to come in and play at a high-level because of the number next to their name, but that's not always the case.
It's the potential they have which can make them a dynamic player down the road which makes them a better player than the guy who comes in more polished but doesn't have the size, length, or athleticism.

Whenever I hear the word "potential," I think of one of Harrick's favorite sayings:
"Potential simply means you haven't done anything yet."

[steviep123]

We have to let the season play out and see how we end up

95 or so of us predicted .500 or better so if we fall short of that then red flags should be raised

reef, but red flags where? On the coaching staff, the players, or our expectations? Perhaps ours are too high.

[Taylor Swift]

[Billyboy78]

Speaking of Fatts, remember when we had that guy Justin Su'a working for us? He's kind of a motivational speaker/sports psychologist type of guy. I know he was helping mentally with the team's free throw shooting, among other things. I think Fatts and maybe a few others (the frosh?) could use a guy like that, especially with the confidence department.

[DeanDome88]

In my version of reality, if come A-10 tournament time teams rather not play us then this season will have been a success. I did not enter the prediction contest this year.

[Taylor Swift]

[luke]

What I have seen so far is a team missing easy layups and put backs as well as about every jumper and 3 point shot. I am
certain these players can make these shots more often than not . They are anxious because the shots haven't been falling.
I am sure everyone realizes this. We have seen on video martin, Silverio and Tate hit these shots. Harris has already shown
that he has begun to relax and his shots are falling. Right now including Fatts, the others are still tight . Martin
settled down near the midpoint of the second half of the PC game . He looks like he may be okay. Fatts will start hitting
and Sillverio and Tate will too , and soon, probably on Saturday. They are playing decent defense already and are not turning
the ball over at a high rate . I expect them to get on a roll leading up to conference play and all of the panic on this board
will subside. I believe they will still approach the 20-10 record I predicted . It isn't like they can't find a good shot , continually give up
easy baskets or turn the ball over at a high rate or don't hit the boards at all . That would be alarming , but it just isn't the case .
The losses have all come via poor shooting and poor free throw shooting and not because they can't shoot. They just need to have
some shots fall. Is 1-6 from the free throw line any example of the type of free throw shooter Fatts is ? Don't think so. It's not like
we haven't seen the team go through a few games shooting slump even when they were NCAA caliber teams . Look for it to change
beginning Saturday . Now we need to relax as fans and support these guys . So go relax.

[TruePoint]

I took the Baron not coming back part as you saying Cox will be superior to Baron's time. Unfortunately, as much as he fell below expectations and as bad as the last year was, we don't know that Cox will even match or be better than that and like it or not, Baron had a better resume when he took over than Cox has now.

I didn't mean it as a low blow, I feel what I said is a fair statement, but I can see why you'd take it the way you did. I didn't mean as a person he's an empty vessel, but his record as a head coach most certainly is. What are Cox' offensive tendencies? What are his defensive tendencies? Outside of taking a timeout in the middle of the second half after making a basket, how does he use timeouts? How does he close the deal with recruits as the head coach? How successful is he balancing what recruits to take when two assistants are advocating for different guys for one spot? How does he do a host of other things expected to be a successful head coach?

Anyone saying Cox will be a success are saying that off of their feelings for him as a person and how he was as an assistant, but that assures nothing. The floor could be between Baron and Jerry D. The ceiling could be higher than Dan Hurley's. But if we're doing an honest assessment of him as a head coach, and only as a head coach, we only have these 6 games to go on, and he's been underwhelming. The good news is he has plenty of time to improve, but that doesn't mean we stop discussing URI basketball in the meantime.

I think this is a little unfair. Not wrong, necessarily, but also definitely not right.

I would be shocked if David Cox isn’t a better, more successful coach than Jim Baron. Not only does he just seem like a much more competent and, idk, tuned in human being, he’s got a huge advantage in terms of the condition of the program he is overseeing compared to Baron. If Cox were exactly as capable as Baron, he’d be way more likely to succeed because of all of the institutional advantages he has. And for whatever my ability to assess character and competency is from afar, I think he is also much more capable.

The problem, as you acknowledge, is that you have an unbelievably small sample size that you’re going off of. How would we assess your career if we only looked at the first six assignments you managed, and you did them having to utilize a bunch of new hires? To me, to make an analogy to an election, we are at “too early to call” with 1% of the vote in.

You can call it “feelings” if you want, I’d prefer to think of it as intuition or instinct, but you definitely aren’t wrong that there isn’t a huge body of work to support the idea that Cox is going to be successful. There wouldn’t be even if he was 6-0 right now. It’s also fair to point out that he has room for improvement as a coach, both on the “managing the personalities” and on the “managing the game” aspects, but it also strikes me as wildly unrealistic to think that was all going to click in and he’d be a fully matured coach at the peak of his ability a few weeks into his tenure.

I just think the only responsible way to think about the situation is to recognize we just don’t have enough evidence in yet to make a determination, and so I will trust my instinct for now and revert to what my thoughts were before these six games. I’m willing to change my opinion, I just need to see a LOT more from this team and this coach before I’m willing to do that.

[UCH21377]

I don't consider myself on the ledge, but I see things that concern me, long term. Not necessary coaching, but the construction of the team. Specifically, where is our scoring coming from, this year, and going forward? But the season is pretty young so let's see how it plays out. This schedule with a week between every damn game sure doesn't help! We've played less games than our competition for the most part. This hurts IMO; we need the game experience.

[reef]

You never know it's possible our recruiting class was just overranked and may turn out to be just average rather than best in the A10

Obviously it's early but rankings are just that nobody knows how these kids are going to turn out .

[UCH21377]

Reeves has sure hit the ground running and the other freshmen contributing also. Probably an unfair comparison but hard not to notice

[reef]

Agree Reeves looks really good and will be a thorn in our sides for years to come