Message to Coach Cox

[CTRamfan]

Thanks Coach.......An enjoyable year. Thanks to the players as well. Our future is bright.

This thread showed utter disrespect for you and the team. I played in H.S and college, and you had to believed in the coaches.............I'd like to know why the posters thought they knew more than you, what with your experience, and the fact that you were in the middle 24/7. In view of the departures from the 17/18 team, and the youth and inexperience in the rotation, a good job!

[ramster]

Thanks Coach.......An enjoyable year. Thanks to the players as well. Our future is bright.

This thread showed utter disrespect for you and the team. I played in H.S and college, and you had to believed in the coaches.............I'd like to know why the posters thought they knew more than you, what with your experience, and the fact that you were in the middle 24/7. In view of the departures from the 17/18 team, and the youth and inexperience in the rotation, a good job!

CTRamfan,
Pretty tough words for posters on this thread
Just looking back at the Prediction Contest you had 16-14 (10-8), much closer than me to the actual results, and you just about nailed it as we finished 16-14 (9-9)

Of 96 KB Posters who predicted the final WL Record your 16-14 had only 6 posters predicts worse. 5 predicted 15-15 and one poster predicted 14-16.
Fair to say you were among the most pessimistic predictors so your expectations were basically met. Naturally then, with much lower expectations than 95% of KB Posters, that you would be more satisfied than all the rest. Just trying to show that maybe your words are a bit too harsh?

To say posters "had utter disrespect for you and the team" is unfair at least to me.

Many posters here thought Thompson was going to have a big year after having sat out last season and having Matthews, Terrell and Robinson moving on. The opportunity was there to fill the void for 3-point shooting left especially by Matthews and Terrell. Thompson only shot 27-105 for 25.7% which was 2nd worst in the A10 to Fatts Russell. Thompson only shot 26.3% as a Soph and 32.8% as a Freshmen so not sure why we would expect all of a sudden good 3 point shooting from him to be fair. My complaint was that I thought Martin should be starting. I wanted a starting line up even before the season started of Harris, Langevine, Martin, Dowtin and Russell. What frustrated me about Cox was that he waited too long to insert Martin into the starting line up. Once he did Martin stayed in. This is simply opinions on who should start or not- but do I see myself as smarter than Cox? Do I see myself as knowing more than he does? Of course not. At least not yet. If I begin to see Jim Baron tendencies or Jerry Degregorio tendencies or I do not see improvement over the next several years as we observed with the Womens Basketball team I reserve the right to change my mind on that

1st half of season, posters commented on Cox showing little or no emotion on the sideline, some referred to him having a deer in the headlights look at times. He certainly changed as the 2nd half and A10 Tournament showed. He became much more animated and was sweating profusely at times keeping a hand towel handy. Which way is better? I don't know, it depends on the team and the coach but he did change

Many question his calling of time outs and not calling them. I don't see this as utter disrespect but just normal fan behavior that has existed since sports were invented. One of the great things about baseball is how fans can and do question a Manager's decision making from Starting line ups, to who to pinch hit for, when to pull a starting pitcher, when to pull a reliever and on and on. Not being disrespectful but it is part of the game

Atlantic 10 Head Coaches predicted URI to finish 5th this season. We finished 8th, having to win our last 4 games to accomplish this. So prior to winning those last 4 games we were headed to 10th place or worse finish so you can imagine KB Posters being frustrated early and middle of the season and then happier when the 4 game win streak occurred.

My biggest challenge with Cox is the use of Fatts Russell. If I were HC I would have played Jeff Dowtin much more at PG, in fact going into next year Jeff would be my PG in his Senior year. Nothing against Russell, just that I think Dowtin is the best PG in the A10, passes the ball beautifully, is totally unselfish, seems to take more pleasure in making a great pass than in making a great shot, has leadership qualities and has proven his Freshmen and Sophomore years that he is top 5 in the Nation with Assist/Turnover Ratio

I would start Harris, Langevine, Dowtin, Martin and a 5th guy to be named at the 3. Dowtin at PG, martin on wing and player TBD on the other wing. Could be Thompson, could be Russell, could be Tate, could be Gregory Hammond, Long, Mading or Antwan Walker
Russell was the worst 3 point shooter in the Nation yet he continued to launch 3 pointers despite other players on the team with proven higher percentages. Cox seemed to give Russell the green light all season long and Russell took it. In the last two losses of the season in the A10 playoffs Russell went 0-4 and 0-7 on 3FGs. Not surprising he missed like that and not surprising that Cox kept letting him take 3FGs as he did all season long.
I get having confidence in players and Russell certainly showed what he is capable of with his 41 point phenom performance, problem is the 41 point phenom performance does not make the poor games disappear - they still exist in the record book.
I would like to see Cox sit Russell down more and give the other players a chance. I would make Jeff Dowtin the undisputed leader of next year's offense and I would make Jeff and Cyril the Team Captains and let Jeff and Cyril take this team as far as they can in their Senior year.

We want the same things CTRamfan, some are more patient than others

[rambone 78]

One thing's for sure...we won't beat good teams when Fatts goes 0-7 from 3.

That's a concern for next season.

Fatts is way too streaky. Really hope he can somehow gain a little more consistency.

[Ram96]

My message to Coach Cox is good first season as HC, way to respond to adversities and adjust. I'm proud of the way you all pulled through and did not fold, good late season push. Totally respectable results for a first year HC and a team that graduated 4 starters and it's 6th man.

Late season push saved from being a disaster, but I woul hardly call it a “good season”. I’m less of a believer in Cox after the season than I was before.

[Rhody15]

How are some posters getting pissed at some of us (me included) who were angry at how the team was performing??

Awful shot selection, freelancing, players bickering at each other on the court, ignoring coaches orders, lack of effort, communication.

Like I’ve said many times already, anyone who bitched about the season was justified in doing so because it was so so painful to watch.

[ramster]

How are some posters getting pissed at some of us (me included) who were angry at how the team was performing??

Awful shot selection, freelancing, players bickering at each other on the court, ignoring coaches orders, lack of effort, communication.

Like I’ve said many times already, anyone who bitched about the season was justified in doing so because it was so so painful to watch.

I think the same people who are saying we lost 4 starters and 5 Seniors being the reason for this seasons performance is seeing things with blinders on.

Some of my greatest concerns you already hit on:

• Players taking bad shots. Sometimes off balance, sometimes contested by the defense or both

• The lowest percentage shooters taking the most shots or more then they should be taking - Russell took far too many shots

• Lack of effort on defense or consistency of defensive pressure and energy

For those who are so happy that's great
I have more concerns and questions now than before the season began
I am less confident for next year than I was before this season started
Cautiously optimistic about Walker, Mading, Hammond and Long. Long may be better than I originally expected based on the 2nd half of his Senior year
More cautious because I thought the group of Harris, Martin, Tate and Silverio would have been better - but it is only year 1

As I watch the NCAA Tournament and have thought this earlier this year, I see teams like North Carolina, Texas Tech, Duke, etc take 3 point shots with a lot of arc. Much more arc than our shooters use. I love Jeff Dowtin and think he is a good shooter, but could this team use a Jimmy Baron or Tyson Wheeler to be a shooting coach? 3 point shooting efficiency is much more important than 5, 10 or 15 years ago. The 10' to 15' mid range jumper is a dinosaur. We need to improve our 3 point shooting more than anything else for next season. It is critical in today's game. Our 3 point shooting this season rates a D-

[Seawrightspostgame]

I think this is a very exciting offseason. Cox/the players had this test run of a season where they took a lot of lumps. It was a rough ride for us, but they obviously needed it to learn. Not a leap to expect them to go back to the drawing board this offseason and prepare to contend.

[reef]

Next season is an important one with JD and CL being seniors and the hopeful improvements of our frosh
I really hope we don’t underachieve

[ramster]

Bill Reynolds on Cox......

https://www.providencejournal.com/sport ... ving-dream

[Rhody74]

Bill Reynolds on Cox......

https://www.providencejournal.com/sport ... ving-dream

What a hack. This column tells us absolutely nothing new.

[mjg13x]

Bill Reynolds on Cox......

https://www.providencejournal.com/sport ... ving-dream

What a hack. This column tells us absolutely nothing new.

Did you see where he referred to an 8-seed as the "highest" to win the tournament in his Saturday quiz?

[ATPTourFan]

Still wondering what this is. Editors?

“It was an up-and-season for sure”

[Rhody74]

Still wondering what this is. Editors?

“It was an up-and-season for sure”

Editors? The publishers had to cut back somewhere.

[Taylor Swift]

Still wondering what this is. Editors?

“It was an up-and-season for sure”

Editors? The publishers had to cut back somewhere.

Hah! I wonder how many full time employees they even have now?

[Running Ram]

Most of their full timers are probably working in Texas where the company is based...