Gordon is now gone. He fouled out in his last game for SLU in only 11 minutes of PT
Stu Dunardo discussses who is most likely to pick up Gordon’s minutes in this article.
Based on today's ProJo story, It's nice to hear that URI players are showing confidence, but the lackluster play in their last four games is not encouraging and given the comparative scores of the last several days, I have a achy feeling that the Rams are just a .500 team.
Saint Louis is in many respects similar to URI - great defensive intensity, crappy offense - poor shooting on threes (though slightly better than URI), bad FT shooting (slightly worse than URI). SLU also turns the ball over a bit more. So the winner will be the team that breaks out of that mold in this one. URI has beaten Saint Louis five straight and ten out of the last eleven games, so the Billikens will be primed to end that streak and confirm their pick as top dog in the A-10. Should be a good game.
I don't have high expectations for today's game given the inconsistent play YTD of Rhody. I would just be happy getting at least one win on this two game A-10 road trip (@ Richmond on Wednesday). It will have been a brutal 9 game scheduling stretch to have played just one game at home. A win at either SLU or UR this week would mean URI came out of it ahead with a 5-4 record. Given all the new roles as well as pieces, that would be a decent accomplishment for this team.
I can tell you one thing we will see today is a new starting lineup. I can’t tell you why as I promised my source, but can only say that we will see a lot of time out of the younger guys today. The news will come out in probably another 3 hours. It will be very interesting to see this team today.
RamStock wrote: ↑5 years ago
I can tell you one thing we will see today is a new starting lineup. I can’t tell you why as I promised my source, but can only say that we will see a lot of time out of the younger guys today. The news will come out in probably another 3 hours. It will be very interesting to see this team today.
Interesting news. Who is not starting? Will he still be playing in the game off the bench? You seem to indicate that there is a reason with the implication that it is not for performance. If it is for some other reason, it makes one wonder if there was a suspension, injury, academic qualification issue, or transfer that nobody knows about.
Rhody15 wrote: ↑5 years ago
If there is a new starting 5, my guess would be Tyrese for Thompson.
I would agree that would seem to make sense based on performance to date. The post about a change however stated that they could not say WHY the change was being made which seems to indicate there may be something more.
I’ve been hoping, and said a couple weeks ago, would like Dowtin back at point guard with Fatts off the bench. Plus I’ve wanted Martin starting from back last May. He’s too good to be on the bench.
Dowtin PG
Tate G
Martin G
Harris F
Langevine F
Fatts and Thompson off the bench.
I think that’s our best line up today and for A10 playoffs
Fatts and Thompson get a good number of steals but I’ve seen both having their men go by them too often
I am surprised to hear of a change though, since the starters have been the same for 12 straight games.
I like starting 3 Freshmen with two experienced guys coming off the bench.
Martins rebounding and defense has been good and improving, Tate 3 point shooting has picked up as has his rebounding.
The Gordon news is certainly not good for the conference as a hole, but this feels a lot like a trap game. Don't let us get hot from 3 or we might steal one in the Chaifetz Arena!!!
Strange I thought the OOC schedule is where you may want to make line-up changes based on outcomes not so much at the start of conference play. Is someone leaving the team to transfer???
My guess is Fatts based on the "it'll be very interesting to see this team today". Makes it sound like it'll be a major piece that is out, so I am guessing him or Cyril. Assuming nothing big like a transfer and more that someone is just hurt. I know Fatts is in St. Louis with the team based on social posts.
Koch has nothing about a change on his twitter account. Did he go out to SLU or will this be the fifth (out of thirteen) URI game that the Projo sent no one to cover?
ATPTourFan wrote: ↑5 years ago
5th? Wasn't he in Hawaii? His byline for the pre-game article was St Louis.
Koch was not at Charleston or any of the three games in HI. Not sure if he is in St Louis based on his twitter account. He often has posts about his travels but nothing yet regarding St Louis. That is why I asked.
Conversely, the Projo sent McNamara to the only games PC played outside of New England in Annapolis-MD and Austin-TX. The Projo had coverage for PC's two games at Mohegan Sun (covered URI's one game there) and game at BC (Projo had Koch at URI game at Holy Cross). By my count, there has not been a single Friar game yet that the Projo did not have an employee at to cover PC.
My highly official and top notch social media detective work leads me to predict Cyril sits today with an injury, Tate starts is my guess, and we see a lot of small ball 4 guard lineups.
DC_Rams wrote: ↑5 years ago
Fatts isn’t leaving, nor did he lose his starting spot past today, unless Tyrese scores 20+, but the news will come out shortly. Minor injury related.
Damn so it is Fatts. I guess I need to hang up my Instagram detective hat and move on to a new profession.
Hopefully Fatts gets well soon. Concussions are really tricky things and are different per person and per instance. I would hate to see this affect him for any lengthy amount of time.
Big opportunity for Martin and Tate. It will be interesting to see what they miss the most from Fatts. We know how bad his shooting has been, but it is still someone with experience that has played in big games on the road who can penetrate the defense.
RamStock wrote: ↑5 years ago
Big opportunity for Martin and Tate. It will be interesting to see what they miss the most from Fatts. We know how bad his shooting has been, but it is still someone with experience that has played in big games on the road who can penetrate the defense.
Omar has to play some to give Dowtin a rest. Jeff can’t play 40 minutes. I also expect Omar to give Tyrese a break at the SG. Dana can’t play SG. He should get more time at SF backing up Thompson.
Fatts is averaging 34 minutes. A lot of minutes to split up.
RamStock wrote: ↑5 years ago
Big opportunity for Martin and Tate. It will be interesting to see what they miss the most from Fatts. We know how bad his shooting has been, but it is still someone with experience that has played in big games on the road who can penetrate the defense.
Omar has to play some to give Dowtin a rest. Jeff can’t play 40 minutes. I also expect Omar to give Tyrese a break at the SG. Dana can’t play SG. He should get more time at SF backing up Thompson.
It would be nice to see Omar knock down some shots. Best shooter on the team possibly
ATPTourFan wrote: ↑5 years ago
5th? Wasn't he in Hawaii? His byline for the pre-game article was St Louis.
Koch was not at Charleston or any of the three games in HI. Not sure if he is in St Louis based on his twitter account. He often has posts about his travels but nothing yet regarding St Louis. That is why I asked.
Conversely, the Projo sent McNamara to the only games PC played outside of New England in Annapolis-MD and Austin-TX. The Projo had coverage for PC's two games at Mohegan Sun (covered URI's one game there) and game at BC (Projo had Koch at URI game at Holy Cross). By my count, there has not been a single Friar game yet that the Projo did not have an employee at to cover PC.
I think they’ll miss Fatts ability to penetrate. I hope Cox is in Martin’s ear to drive more. We know he can be a great slasher. He showed it in hs. Would love to see him, Tate and Harris step up their aggressiveness this game.
Go Rhody!
“The greatest things in life are invisible to the eye”
- Mr. Rogers
So this TCU/Oklahoma St women’s game is still on. Moving at snail’s pace and the ESPN app is telling me the Rhody game is an “unknown event”. Radio it is for now.