11/24 | Stony Brook Seawolves | 2PM (ESPN+)

[bigappleram]

To conclude I think teams take the character of their coach. And right now our coach and team look timid and lacking confidence.

[RhodyRam86]

"4) the low post sets are killing us. CL starts too low on the block and has little room to do anything but bowl people over, shoot from almost behind the backboard, or throw it away whe pressured on a double team. Bring back the high post that Andre used so well last year (CL too). It helps with freeing up shots on the wings and allows quicker screen help up top. This will help offer some better shot selection"

you do this and you take CL out of any chance to score. He doesn't have near the touch that Andre Berry had and I don't want him taking jumpers. And he's a turnover machine if he puts the ball on the floor from there.

I agree with both of these statements. I don’t think moving Cyril further away from basket will help, he doesn’t have great ball skills and is not a threat outside of 5 feet from hoop. But I also don’t think a winning formula is continual pounding of the ball to him on low post. He isn’t a great passer, he is prone to committing charging fouls especially the way guys flop now, and he can be a black hole at times. I’m ok with him getting a few touches there but his points should come from offensive rebounds and dump offs down low from penetrating guards. Fatts, my man, that means drawing and dishing when u draw bigs not trying to gyrate and make the hardest layup of all time.

agree with you BAR. a few set plays for CL in the post is enough. I'm not comfortable with him catching the ball away from the basket or with his back to the basket. Give him a couple of those per game, otherwise, like you said, he should be scoring on dump offs and rebounds. And by doing that he should still easily score in double digits.

[section(105)]

To conclude I think teams take the character of their coach. And right now our coach and team look timid and lacking
.......amen......onto prep for Brown coming to town.....

[RhodyRam86]

To conclude I think teams take the character of their coach. And right now our coach and team look timid and lacking confidence.

agree with this too...not as much based on the play on the floor, but more so on the coach's comments. i'm not sure if Fatts was reprimanded for his disregard of the play call in the Harvard game, but any penalty sure didn't come in the form of reduced playing time. Heck, i may have even had him sit out the first four minutes today to send a message. When you don't send a message, you give the player carte blanche (i think i'm using that phrase correctly) to do whatever he wants. Also didn't like Cox giving Amaker credit for a great play call on Harvard's final shot when I think it was poor defensive design that allowed the Harvard player to break free to begin with.

I guess as with being patient with the freshman, we need to be patient with the 1st year head coach...

[Rhody72]

I didn't expect much from URI this year as can be seen from my 15-15 prediction and sub .500 in the A10. In the last 20 years I have not seen a single URI assistant coach who is capable of becoming the next URI head coach except perhaps Bobby Hurley. It is not David Cox's fault that URI hired him. It is difficult to change the coach-player relationship when an assistant coach is elevated to the top job. URI needed to step up and hire someone at Dan Hurley's level or above using the money the program earned the last two years. The players are not executing as a team.

[RhodyRams12]

I didn't expect much from URI this year as can be seen from my 15-15 prediction and sub .500 in the A10. In the last 20 years I have not seen a single URI assistant coach who is capable of becoming the next URI head coach except perhaps Bobby Hurley. It is not David Cox's fault that URI hired him. It is difficult to change the coach-player relationship when an assistant coach is elevated to the top job. URI needed to step up and hire someone at Dan Hurley's level or above using the money the program earned the last two years. The players are not executing as a team.

Why did you wait until now to say this? Where was this when the hire was announced seven months ago?

The overreaction by some of you is disgustingly embarrassing and this is a perfect example.

[Rhody83]

I didn't expect much from URI this year as can be seen from my 15-15 prediction and sub .500 in the A10. In the last 20 years I have not seen a single URI assistant coach who is capable of becoming the next URI head coach except perhaps Bobby Hurley. It is not David Cox's fault that URI hired him. It is difficult to change the coach-player relationship when an assistant coach is elevated to the top job. URI needed to step up and hire someone at Dan Hurley's level or above using the money the program earned the last two years. The players are not executing as a team.

Why did you wait until now to say this? Where was this when the hire was announced seven months ago?

The overreaction by some of you is disgustingly embarrassing and this is a perfect example.

I agree with you 12. Used my first block ever.
Edit: up to three blocks just off this thred

[josephski]

Fatt’s needs to play better, plain and simple. Over the past three games he’s 11-48 (~23%) from the field and 3-26 (~12%) from 3.

At the end of the day we don’t have many scoring options. Like everyone else, I’d like to see more out of the freshmen but it’s still early in the season so expectations should be low in terms of what they’ll give us on a game to game basis.

Probably some of it is on Cox and the other coaches for not having a better offensive game plan but bottom line is if Fatts and Dowtin can’t combine for at least 30 we’ll probably lose.

[bigappleram]

That's just 72 being 72. We are 4 games into DC's tenure, growing pains are to be expected. Young team, young coach. Key is to see adjustments, modifications and development. I am confident we will.

[603RunninRams]

A few thoughts from a lurker
- Freshmen: It’s evident to me these guys aren’t fully up to speed yet. Whether it’s double pumping (hesitating) on jumpers or on passes, there’s just no feel for the speed of the game yet. I “play” hoops still, some pickup or men’s league up here in NH, I’ve never been a good player and I’m not comparing my crappy capabilities straight up to D1 level players, but, I definitely feel the anxiety of playing in situations where I feel like I need to rush myself to make decisions and it never turns out well. JUST GIVE THEM SOME TIME. Once they start feeling the flow of the game, everything will become more fluid and it’ll feel more natural. I know, I know, it’s already game 4... So what?!? It’s early and our weird NFL, one game a week schedule isn’t helping anyone.

- Langevine is a beast, but the guy at this point is not a polished post player like Berry last year or Martin prior to that. He’s decent with the dribble on the post and creating position to score, but like a previous poster stated, he’s getting the ball much too low on the block. It’s leading to travels, charges and forced passes and shots. His bread and butter is offensive rebounds, and work off the pick and roll. He will get better on the block but we can’t afford to force feed him down there. It’s like a 25% success rate right now. It’s gotta be a quick entry pass when he has position early or we need to work the ball back around the perimeter and Cyril need to try and reestablish position on the swing side, medium high.

- Fatts is frustrating as hell right now, but we know what he can do when he’s right. His penetration against seemingly the whole defense theee straight possessions was ugly and needs to stop but was clearly frustration.

- I was expecting much more this season, but at the same time , college hoops is a shit show right now. This SB team beat South Carolina already. The schedule has been real crappy so far, I expect once we get into a more regimented situation game wise, we will see drastic improvement from the freshman and shooters.

- I’m not ready to totally call out Cox yet. If our guys shoot anywhere near the norm, we wouldn’t be hearing much chatter about his coaching....but... if the shooting woes continue...

- love ya guys, keep talking! It’s the only way I get Rhody updates here in the (prematurely) snowy north.

[RhowdyRam02]

In the second half I never remotely felt like we were going to get back in the game. No intensity or discipline at either end of the court. We looked so much better against a good Harvard team it's hard to believe this is the same team.

I liked this, but then I remembered Harvard was playing without their two best players. We have a long way to go

[Taylor Swift]

Team is on to focus on Brown come tomorrow's practice.

[RhowdyRam02]

I don’t remember seeing a Hurley team play this all around bad. Embarrassing.

Hurley teams might not have had as much talent as the other team or they might have had terrible shooting nights, but I can't remember them losing 50/50 battles the way this team did today. You combine the way we were outworked with message board poster level shooting from three and you get today's ugly result.

[Rhodymob05]

Patience for all of us is running thin but there’s still time to turn this around.

[RhowdyRam02]

Fatts is a horrendous shooter - always has been

Off the bench it didn’t show as much but wow / horrible shooter

It's not that he's horrendous, it's that he's ridiculously streaky. Last year if he had it Hurley would let him go, if he didn't we were deep enough that Hurley could sit him and give the extra minutes to someone else. We all love Fatts' big game performances and hot streaks, but consistency is important and we need more of it from Fatts

[TruePoint]

Patience for all of us is running thin but there’s still time to turn this around.

I will agree with this post two months from now.

You guys are honestly crazy. I was as frustrated as anyone else watching the game today. But considering that everyone involved with the basketball program except for Jeff and Ty are either brand new or in brand new roles, it’s wild that people are drawing conclusion about the players, the coach and the collective team based on this today, or even on the first four games.

I 100% expected them to win this game, and even in looking so bad losing it I wasn’t really impressed with Stony Brook. That is a roster that our roster should beat. But the overreactions here would be dumbfounding if I hadn’t been posting here for more than a decade. We are going to lose more games this year, and in some of them we may not look appreciably better than we did today. Brace yourselves for that or your heads are going to explode. What I want to see this year is the progression of specific players and of the group as a whole from where we are to where we’ll be in mid/late February. By the time we get there, it’ll be hard for most posters here to remember anything about this Stony Brook game other than we lost it.

[DanInAZ]

No player in any sport plays for the 'fans'. They play for themselves, their teammates, their families, and their coaches. They may like the 'love' they get when fans are cheering but please don't think they care one bit about how upset any of you are right now that they played so poorly.

Some of you behaving like the world revolves around you.

[DC_Rams]

Patience for all of us is running thin but there’s still time to turn this around.

I will agree with this post two months from now.

You guys are honestly crazy. I was as frustrated as anyone else watching the game today. But considering that everyone involved with the basketball program except for Jeff and Ty are either brand new or in brand new roles, it’s wild that people are drawing conclusion about the players, the coach and the collective team based on this today, or even on the first four games.

I 100% expected them to win this game, and even in looking so bad losing it I wasn’t really impressed with Stony Brook. That is a roster that our roster should beat. But the overreactions here would be dumbfounding if I hadn’t been posting here for more than a decade. We are going to lose more games this year, and in some of them we may not look appreciably better than we did today. Brace yourselves for that or your heads are going to explode. What I want to see this year is the progression of specific players and of the group as a whole from where we are to where we’ll be in mid/late February. By the time we get there, it’ll be hard for most posters here to remember anything about this Stony Brook game other than we lost it.

+1

[RhodyRamFan69]

I didn't expect much from URI this year as can be seen from my 15-15 prediction and sub .500 in the A10. In the last 20 years I have not seen a single URI assistant coach who is capable of becoming the next URI head coach except perhaps Bobby Hurley. It is not David Cox's fault that URI hired him. It is difficult to change the coach-player relationship when an assistant coach is elevated to the top job. URI needed to step up and hire someone at Dan Hurley's level or above using the money the program earned the last two years. The players are not executing as a team.

4 games into the season with a very young team and you're already calling for a new coach? Let's pump the brakes a little bit buddy.

[cRAM4finals]

"4) the low post sets are killing us. CL starts too low on the block and has little room to do anything but bowl people over, shoot from almost behind the backboard, or throw it away whe pressured on a double team. Bring back the high post that Andre used so well last year (CL too). It helps with freeing up shots on the wings and allows quicker screen help up top. This will help offer some better shot selection"

you do this and you take CL out of any chance to score. He doesn't have near the touch that Andre Berry had and I don't want him taking jumpers. And he's a turnover machine if he puts the ball on the floor from there.

I agree with both of these statements. I don’t think moving Cyril further away from basket will help, he doesn’t have great ball skills and is not a threat outside of 5 feet from hoop. But I also don’t think a winning formula is continual pounding of the ball to him on low post. He isn’t a great passer, he is prone to committing charging fouls especially the way guys flop now, and he can be a black hole at times. I’m ok with him getting a few touches there but his points should come from offensive rebounds and dump offs down low from penetrating guards. Fatts, my man, that means drawing and dishing when u draw bigs not trying to gyrate and make the hardest layup of all time.

Agree with your points. I didn’t mean he should run high post as a primary scoring option where he would receive and shoot or penetrate. Staying high allows him to help create better spacing for shooters, providing quick screens up top, drawing defenders away from the basket, and resetting offense as a high pass option. They ran this with CL very successfully last year. Worked great for him on short slip screens receiving the ball in the middle of the lane about 10 feet from the hoop. Scored successfully from there many times. Also puts him in a better position to rebound.

[NC_Ram]

To conclude I think teams take the character of their coach. And right now our coach and team look timid and lacking confidence.

hoping someone can explain the coaching dynamic to me. In the game that I saw, Sutton was the one standing and yelling to players while DC quietly did "crouching tiger" at scorers table. Has this changed? No video here, just Steve and Don.

[section(105)]

To conclude I think teams take the character of their coach. And right now our coach and team look timid and lacking confidence.

hoping someone can explain the coaching dynamic to me. In the game that I saw, Sutton was the one standing and yelling to players while DC quietly did "crouching tiger" at scorers table. Has this changed? No video here, just Steve and Don.

.......my observations of the coaches coaching are these, BTW my vantage point is pretty good.....Boswell appears to feeling is way to inject himself, on his feet a lot giving certain players instructions......Sutton is quite often in Cox’s ear with what, who knows?......Carroll seems play the elder statesman role, subtle but active......Cox positioned often in crouch in front of scorers table often looking toward bench.......the gaggle of coaches at the time outs appears to be the classic Digger Phelps patterned grouping/disusiion before Cox enters the huddle......I clearly have no clue as to whether one assistant watches defense, another offense, still another making recommendations on subs......with all this said, the move to head coach for Cox looks to be a steep learning curve trying to balance the inputs to decisions......I spend way too much time watching coaches.......always have

[rhodyrudder]

The truth is, that game 2 of the season, the first time Fatts threw up a playground 3, he would have yanked him. If he had to sit him until he learned he would--- really disappointed that the coaching staff is not having the team improve from game to game.

Could this be the new definition of one and done!!!!

Their shot selection is horrendous. Not every trip, of course...but Jeff needs to be the point. If he is in charge, the offense has more structure. Then Fatts and Cyril and CT will get better looks.

Remember the outside shot by one of the big guys that missed so badly in the first half...it caromed off the board and in? The guys on the bench were all hooting and hollering. That play right there is the epitome of what's wrong with this team right now.

[RhowdyRam02]

Fatts shooting from the field is killing this team right now. Making matters even worse, is that he has made more attempts than any other player. Even Dowtin who has logged more minutes (20m more YTD thus far) has less shot attempts.

Fatts Shooting:
17-63 FGA .270
6-31 3FGA .194
18-21 FTA .857

The problems are however bigger than just Russell. The only player that has performed well thus far is Dowtin. Every other player on the team has been a disappointment. Langevine may have a good FG % but he turns the ball over far too much, shoots free throws poorly, and gives too many fouls. Thompson has not gotten anything going yet. Freshmen are all too green and make the expected mistakes with none really breaking out.

Stony Brook in my opinion was not just a better team on this day, they are a better team overall thus far this season. This was their third road win as they have registered victories at GW, South Carolina, and now URI. This Rhody team will probably not reach that many OOC wins away from Kingston. With just two more OOC games at home, maintaining a .500 record before league play probably will not be attained. Looks like this team has a fairly low ceiling.

For the most part I disagree with your assessment on Cyril. He's practically averaging a double double with 13.5 points per game and 9.8 rebounds. He's only averaging 2.5 fouls per game, that feels reasonable for an interior guy averaging 30 minutes per game. His foul shooting isn't great, but he's improved from 50.6 percent last year to 63.2 this year, so he's clearly been working on it. Yes the turnovers are an issue, but they're so out of line with the rest of his career that I have to assume it's a product of him and Jeff being the only two effective players so far for the most part. I just don't see how Cyril can be considered a disappointment so far and have to wonder what you expected from him to feel that way

[ace]

It’s a cliche, but teams are rarely as good as they look when they win or as bad as they look when they lose. As for the coaches, to answer NC_Ram, Cox doesn’t have a chair on that end of the bench, so he’s either up or crouched in front of the scoring table. Sutton is a very active assistant. In the off-season, Cox talked a lot about moving away from sets on offense, because of their relative youth and inexperience, and letting them run more. I wonder if we’ll see a shift there.

Dowtin is a good coach on the floor. You see the frustration on his face, but he talks to and instructs his teammates. Some guys take that better than others. I try not to interpret too much from body language, because people express themselves differently, but there was a play in the second half- Cyril took a charge in what I think was a 7 point game at the time. It was huge, but he got kind of a lackluster response from his teammates as they helped him up.

I keep thinking back to the 15-16 season, and I think those struggles helped to make JT the player he is. It seemed like he thought he would just step in and carry the team, and success would come. The talent and drive was always there for him, but he got called out after the Bona game because he just kind of showed up for that one. I think the experience of that season focused his intensity and purpose. Hopefully some of the current guys respond similarly.

Christion is the only one who gets minutes on the current team who has been through more than just success with this program. The freshmen class came in with a lot of, “we’re next,” but it doesn’t just happen. Cox gets that, and I think that’s the message he was sending with not having them out there for the banner reveal. Not sure if that’s what Dowtin was hinting at with his “get in the gym” comment or not, or if he was just giving a kind of generic response in a tough situation.

[steveystuds06]

I don’t remember seeing a Hurley team play this all around bad. Embarrassing.

Hurley teams might not have had as much talent as the other team or they might have had terrible shooting nights, but I can't remember them losing 50/50 battles the way this team did today. You combine the way we were outworked with message board poster level shooting from three and you get today's ugly result.

We didn’t have more talent than St Joes last year? We lost by freaking 30! How about when we were fighting for a bid and looked like we didn’t give a shit against Fordham at home? This idea that Hurley never had games like this is hilarious. When Fatts and Jeff have bad games we are going to lose right now. Once our freshman develop and improve we should have more opportunities to win. We played horrible and If this continues I’ll start to think what some have already concluded.. This is a learning experience for our young guys. I still have faith in this team and Cox. This board is embarrassing sometimes.

[NYGFan_Section208]

All teams are going to throw out a stinker now and then. But, the Sr nite and fordham games were slightly more tolerable the last couple years, because by that point in the season, we had seen them play well enough to KNOW it was an aberration. Not sure we've seen that yet this year? Hopefully it is a one-off, unfortunately, just don't have any way to know yet.

[RhowdyRam02]

St. Joe's was a horrible shooting display, it had nothing to do with effort. The Fordham and La Salle game were the only two I can think of that looked like yesterday. Two in six years is a hell of a lot better than one in four games. A lot of these players said they only wanted to play for Cox, they need to start showing it. Getting outworked on your home court when you've had a week off is inexcusable

[ram1980]

Hey doomsayers... Its early!!!! 4 games does not a season make.. Would like to see some steps forward but waiting aat least until the end of non conference schedule to think about throwing in the towel.. Wish we had an a j reeves type freshman that just had it from day one but we don't so now we need to see some flashes from our freshmen to get some hope..hoping Tate martin and Harris start getting it.. I think Omar may be a little slow afoot to cover opposing point guards.. Time will tell.. Cut these guys some slack and hope for improvement

[rhodylaw]

Kids on this team need to learn that any team can beat you any night - they need to be hungrier. They can get there but they better get there quickly.

This slow start to the season has not helped. Another tune-up game would have been helpful. Charlston and Stonybrook while not big names are probably as good as a lower tier A10 team. We need to learn to compete in these games or it will be a long year.

[15 Year Lurker]

Hey doomsayers... Its early!!!! 4 games does not a season make.. Would like to see some steps forward but waiting aat least until the end of non conference schedule to think about throwing in the towel.. Wish we had an a j reeves type freshman that just had it from day one but we don't so now we need to see some flashes from our freshmen to get some hope..hoping Tate martin and Harris start getting it.. I think Omar may be a little slow afoot to cover opposing point guards.. Time will tell.. Cut these guys some slack and hope for improvement

I'm staying positive.

But that was scary.

Onto the next

[ramster]

It’s a cliche, but teams are rarely as good as they look when they win or as bad as they look when they lose. As for the coaches, to answer NC_Ram, Cox doesn’t have a chair on that end of the bench, so he’s either up or crouched in front of the scoring table. Sutton is a very active assistant. In the off-season, Cox talked a lot about moving away from sets on offense, because of their relative youth and inexperience, and letting them run more. I wonder if we’ll see a shift there.

Dowtin is a good coach on the floor. You see the frustration on his face, but he talks to and instructs his teammates. Some guys take that better than others. I try not to interpret too much from body language, because people express themselves differently, but there was a play in the second half- Cyril took a charge in what I think was a 7 point game at the time. It was huge, but he got kind of a lackluster response from his teammates as they helped him up.

I keep thinking back to the 15-16 season, and I think those struggles helped to make JT the player he is. It seemed like he thought he would just step in and carry the team, and success would come. The talent and drive was always there for him, but he got called out after the Bona game because he just kind of showed up for that one. I think the experience of that season focused his intensity and purpose. Hopefully some of the current guys respond similarly.

Christion is the only one who gets minutes on the current team who has been through more than just success with this program. The freshmen class came in with a lot of, “we’re next,” but it doesn’t just happen. Cox gets that, and I think that’s the message he was sending with not having them out there for the banner reveal. Not sure if that’s what Dowtin was hinting at with his “get in the gym” comment or not, or if he was just giving a kind of generic response in a tough situation.

Ace,
When was the Jeff comment "get in the gym"? I missed this.

[ace]

Post-game

[section(105)]

.........me thinks COC and SB are better than lower tier A-10 teams......

[ace]

.........me thinks COC and SB are better than lower tier A-10 teams......

Charleston definitely is. Not sure where Stony Brook without Olaniyi falls.

[RamStock]

.........me thinks COC and SB are better than lower tier A-10 teams......

Charleston definitely is. Not sure where Stony Brook without Olaniyi falls.

We played Stony Brook without one of its top 2 players and Harvard without their two All-Ivy league players. This is not a good start. I think we need to develop the freshman and incorporate additional scoring options hopefully from Harris and Martin. Fatts need to find a way to get the others involved as a point guard or the Ryan Center will be very empty come this winter. We need to find a way to get easier shots instead of rushed jump shots. How many games have we had more fouls than our opponents. It isn’t the refs

[NYGFan_Section208]

I missed this: "Cox talked a lot about moving away from sets on offense, because of their relative youth and inexperience, and letting them run more." I'm no coach, but that seems counter-intuitive...unless you've got otherworldly studs like Z Williamson or RJ Barrett that can score on any-one... It seems like it would make sense to have MORE sets? Not less?

[RamIt!]

In regards to Fatts.... I think you need to get him off sharing the point, give it back to Dowtin full time (was he not always regarded as one of the top PG’S in the country last year). I believe Fatts feels the need to lead when the offense is slipping and this pressure is affecting his performance. He also needs to stop trying to force fouls and worry more about decent shot selection, never seen someone on the floor more than him this year!

[section(105)]

......Fatts......is it just me that sees most of his jumpers are heaved off balance, often landing on floor expecting a foul called, and his French pastry drives to hoop end in him on the floor.....misses with no fouls......no?

[Rhody15]

How can people get mad if Hurley gets brought up when Baron still gets talked about every now and then?

Hurley will be getting mentioned for many years to come, that’s just the nature of it.

[Obadiah]

......Fatts......is it just me that sees most of his jumpers are heaved off balance, often landing on floor expecting a foul called, and his French pastry drives to hoop end in him on the floor.....misses with no fouls......no?

He did draw fouls in Harvard (8-8) and Bryant (6-7) games. The Stony Brook coach was savvy as he keyed his players on containing Dowtin and Russell which left lots of other guys free, but he took that chance since he knew they couldn't hit the shot. We out rebounded Stony Brook but only because we had so many missed shots. Stony Brook had 11 steals compared to the Rams' 7. I don't recall a stat like that all last season.

[RamStock]

How can people get mad if Hurley gets brought up when Baron still gets talked about every now and then?

Hurley will be getting mentioned for many years to come, that’s just the nature of it.

If Cox and URI win games people will not be talking about Hurley. That is the nature of sports. Hurley brought two NCAA tournaments to URI and fantastic seasons. When we get back to the tourney or compete this will not be brought up.

[Seawrightspostgame]

It's disheartening to watch Fatts not get back on defense. College basketball isn't a game where you give your opponent anything let alone back to back possessions where you're already down.

We went small and couldn't rebound. They just overpowered URI on the glass and won the game.

[Rhody15]

Jeff Dowtin has been the starting point guard for two teams that have won an NCAA tournament game in back to back years. So what happens in his junior year?

He gets moved off the ball.

Doesn’t seem like a recipe for success.

[Rhodymob05]

We’re getting killed in the paint yet langevine has been a monster, guards needs to do more.

[R.Kelly150]

It’s probably already been mentioned, (I didn’t read the entire thread) but I’d say the layoff between games provide a decided disadvantage to Rhody. Stoney Brook was more battle tested and Rhody right now is searching for a leader. Sorry but Dowtin isn’t the leader until Fatts stops taking silly shots without passing it to the teams leader and letting him decide wether he has the shoot or not. Again anther thing that has most likely already been said but needs more attention was the lack of hustle. The level of player enthusiasm favored Stony Brook by far. That’s all about the coach, but I again I feel the long layoff, especially after an emotional win, didn’t help matters.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

New coach, old problem: We still have no clue against a zone. That's what causes the lousy shot selection, the pointless drives into traffic and the forced passes that become turnovers.

[hrstrat57]

I missed this: "Cox talked a lot about moving away from sets on offense, because of their relative youth and inexperience, and letting them run more." I'm no coach, but that seems counter-intuitive...unless you've got otherworldly studs like Z Williamson or RJ Barrett that can score on any-one... It seems like it would make sense to have MORE sets? Not less?

Yep. I expect things to get better. Cox was going nuts when we tossed the ball around vs St Joes zone last year. Nuts.

I'll take isolation/ dribble drive over that garbage we saw more of yesterday.

Not sure this group is strong enough at filling the lanes and driving layups to run. I'll admit I am very confused about what this team is at the moment.

In the worst case scenario it will turn out that we got a lot of pieces that really don't fit together. Cox has a very tough task in front of him but he is a good, smart basketball man. He's read Coach Smith's book too I bet....there is a play in there for every situation. I know I used em all....



Go Rhody!

[89er]

I recently posted that Fatts isn’t emotionally ready to lead. I am more convinced after this game. If anything he needs to be reigned in. He was beaten on defense a number of times due to his offensive struggles and then showed a lack of hustle getting back. Fatts is the main reason for the offensive discord right now. Lack of maturity has him heaving shots at will. Btw, not sure I ever remember a player disregarding the coaches final play (Harvard) and doing what he wants! And then being publicly lauded bc he is is a warrior, a champion.
At this point in the season, most teams defense are ahead of the offense. Not sure which one is ahead of which on this team.

[ramster]