2021-22 Schedule (top post is current)

[ramster]

Does anyone have any idea where I can find URI PC tickets that aren't like $200 each?

Steveystuds06,

There are tons of tickets available in StubHub with the lowest now $84. This is a high price because it’s preseason

Athlon Sports has URI picked #7 in A10 and PC #7 in the Big Least. Mediocre, middle to below seasons projected for both teams.

PC had their recruiting class ranked by Athlon 11th of 11 BE Teams.

In addition the game is at a crappy noon tip off.

I’d suggest waiting it out as costs will come way down by the week and days before the game. Plus you will be able to get much better seats. The dunk is loaded with crappy seats because it was designed for hockey.

I always wait til days before to buy but this year I’m passing as I won’t give $4 million a year, highly overrated and coward Ed Cooley a nickel after last years debacle.

But for sure I’d wait it out. Even buying morning of game or Friday night before game could work best.

https://www.stubhub.com/providence-fria ... 104940440/

[Jersey77]

Eh, I think you're backpedaling here a bit. Like the AD's role, as I understand it in most programs, is basically just to serve as more of an administrative sign-off on a schedule. As in, "Yes, you have the budget to fly to Florida, and then hit up X, Y and Z later in the year." Your initial post made it sound more like Dave and Thorr are in the same room, bouncing ideas to one another about who to schedule.

That being said - I do agree with you that if Cox wins 18+ games, then I think he'll almost certainly be back for 2022-23, baring some off-the-court issues. I don't think there is going to be the stomach to fire him and rebuild at that point, and he'll got one more year. (I'm not even sure if I'd disagree with it, depending on how the season unfolded.) If he manages to make the NCAA tournament at some point, then he'll get some more years added on. Otherwise, I think he's probably gone once the team is worse than .500, depending on the circumstances.

I apologize if I didn’t make myself perfectly clear, that was not my intent. The AD is involved in an administrative capacity and of course to sign off, finalizing approvals. As far as what goes on behind the scene between Cox and Thorr we don’t know. On the other hand, if the AD has some serious questions or objections I am sure that would be discussed with the HC. Very doubtful that would ever be the case with Cox.

As for 02's comment that Cox purposely botched the OOC schedule for his own selfish purposes to the detriment of our program is complete BS.
I am glad you are so in tune with what went on in scheduling these games and yes we know your dislike for Cox.
I guess you are also blaming Cox for the Seton Hall game being postponed this season and probably for the PC game being cancelled last year.
Do you give him any credit for the last minute scheduling of national ranked Wisconsin 20-21?

The bigger point is I just don't get the relentless bashing of Cox, he hasn't even been given a fair chance yet.
I actually find these posts somewhat disgusting.
It's certainly not like the Jerry D disaster, give this guy a break already.

By the way on some occasions the AD will provide some additional input in the scheduling process.
Below is a quote from The Good Five Cent Cigar on the PC game cancelled and rescheduling for 2021.

“It is obviously disappointing to not be able to play the game, given its significance to both programs,” Bjorn said in the press conference. “We explored all possibilities of making it work, but the lack of schedule flexibility and challenges created by the pandemic prevented it. We look forward to resuming the rivalry in 2021.”

As I said before, I would not be surprised if Thorr has used his connections and influence on other occasions to try and get things finalized.

Cox has been here 3 years, and we were 10-15 last year. Nuff said. The roster turnover is so much that I don't even know who is on this team. I'm giving him this year. But the schedule says even if he wins 25 games, he's not getting a bid. So he needs to win the A10 tourney. Good luck. Hope he does.

Maybe 3 calendar years but certainly not 3 normal seasons.
Actually our roster turnover was quite minimal this past year compared to other programs and you also got to see Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts receive their degrees. Not a bad thing.

[theblueram]

I apologize if I didn’t make myself perfectly clear, that was not my intent. The AD is involved in an administrative capacity and of course to sign off, finalizing approvals. As far as what goes on behind the scene between Cox and Thorr we don’t know. On the other hand, if the AD has some serious questions or objections I am sure that would be discussed with the HC. Very doubtful that would ever be the case with Cox.

As for 02's comment that Cox purposely botched the OOC schedule for his own selfish purposes to the detriment of our program is complete BS.
I am glad you are so in tune with what went on in scheduling these games and yes we know your dislike for Cox.
I guess you are also blaming Cox for the Seton Hall game being postponed this season and probably for the PC game being cancelled last year.
Do you give him any credit for the last minute scheduling of national ranked Wisconsin 20-21?

The bigger point is I just don't get the relentless bashing of Cox, he hasn't even been given a fair chance yet.
I actually find these posts somewhat disgusting.
It's certainly not like the Jerry D disaster, give this guy a break already.

By the way on some occasions the AD will provide some additional input in the scheduling process.
Below is a quote from The Good Five Cent Cigar on the PC game cancelled and rescheduling for 2021.

“It is obviously disappointing to not be able to play the game, given its significance to both programs,” Bjorn said in the press conference. “We explored all possibilities of making it work, but the lack of schedule flexibility and challenges created by the pandemic prevented it. We look forward to resuming the rivalry in 2021.”

As I said before, I would not be surprised if Thorr has used his connections and influence on other occasions to try and get things finalized.

Cox has been here 3 years, and we were 10-15 last year. Nuff said. The roster turnover is so much that I don't even know who is on this team. I'm giving him this year. But the schedule says even if he wins 25 games, he's not getting a bid. So he needs to win the A10 tourney. Good luck. Hope he does.

Maybe 3 calendar years but certainly not 3 normal seasons.
Actually our roster turnover was quite minimal this past year compared to other programs and you also got to see Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts receive their degrees. Not a bad thing.

Are you feckin kidding me? I'm not paying money on season tix to see people graduate. I'm paying to see them win.

[Ramulous]

I think the way teams perform in the out of conference games will determine which Quad they fall into. Too soon to speculate

[Jersey77]

Cox has been here 3 years, and we were 10-15 last year. Nuff said. The roster turnover is so much that I don't even know who is on this team. I'm giving him this year. But the schedule says even if he wins 25 games, he's not getting a bid. So he needs to win the A10 tourney. Good luck. Hope he does.

Maybe 3 calendar years but certainly not 3 normal seasons.
Actually our roster turnover was quite minimal this past year compared to other programs and you also got to see Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts receive their degrees. Not a bad thing.

Are you feckin kidding me? I'm not paying money on season tix to see people graduate. I'm paying to see them win.

The point is they stayed here for 4 years, and you said that you can't even remember the names on our roster these past few years.
Yeah there is roster turnover get used to it, especially if we bring in a new coach.

[theblueram]

Maybe 3 calendar years but certainly not 3 normal seasons.
Actually our roster turnover was quite minimal this past year compared to other programs and you also got to see Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts receive their degrees. Not a bad thing.

Are you feckin kidding me? I'm not paying money on season tix to see people graduate. I'm paying to see them win.

The point is they stayed here for 4 years, and you said that you can't even remember the names on our roster these past few years.
Yeah there is roster turnover get used to it, especially if we bring in a new coach.

Yes they stayed here for 4 years. Tell me everyone who is being honored on senior night this year.

[Jersey77]

Are you feckin kidding me? I'm not paying money on season tix to see people graduate. I'm paying to see them win.

The point is they stayed here for 4 years, and you said that you can't even remember the names on our roster these past few years.
Yeah there is roster turnover get used to it, especially if we bring in a new coach.

Yes they stayed here for 4 years. Tell me everyone who is being honored on senior night this year.

We don't know yet if Walker and Martin will return, but both should graduate this spring.

[reef]

That’s about where I think we finish 20-11 and no I don’t think that’s close to an NIT invite just cuz the SOS won’t be there we may need something like 22-9 then a win in the A10 tournament to get a look

[Jersey77]

This is in response to RhowdyRams02 claim about Cox botching the schedule for his own purposes.
Below are Thorr's thoughts on scheduling back in Dec. and Cox in general.

From GoRhody 12/7/2020.
"We knew going into the year that this season would be unlike any other," Rhode Island Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn said. "This is a fantastic opportunity that came together quickly, and we are grateful to Wisconsin for its willingness to work together to make it happen. Our basketball and administrative staffs are continuing to work tirelessly to explore every possibility, and it shows in the strength of our schedule."

"The University of Rhode Island cares about its fans and about the state of Rhode Island. We have a responsibility to play as competitive a schedule as possible. I continue to be impressed with David Cox and his desire to play the best teams in the country any time, any place. He is not afraid to play anyone. His approach and belief in the program is allowing us to build something special here."

This is very telling about how Thorr feels about Cox's character. This has nothing to do with whether or not he will be a successful coach here, but rather him as a person.

Maybe you feel they should also fire Thorr who has been the sitting chair of all the A10 AD's.

Like I posted before:
I am glad you are so in tune with what went on in scheduling these games and yes we know your dislike for Cox.
I guess you are also blaming Cox for the Seton Hall game being postponed this season and probably for the PC game being cancelled last year.
Do you give him any credit for the last minute scheduling of national ranked Wisconsin 20-21?

[Blue Man]

As previously stated , I expect us to be much improved this season and Thorr will give him a short term extension (probably 2 years)
If we exceed all expectations and do "Dance" then he will be rewarded with a much longer contract extension, that is if he decides to stay.
If by chance we a have lousy year, they will probably move on from Cox.
Either way I doubt very much he will go into next season as a lame duck coach in his final year of the contract.

Yes because Thorr’s track record shows how all of his coaches have been given “short term” extensions.

Oh wait, that happened once when he was new to the job 14 years ago. And it was Baron. And then he fired him.

This is a do or die year. Period.

The worst thing for this program would be 20-11. Suck and start over or reach your potential and dance. We did the mediocre thing. It sucked.

Blue Man I totally disagree, the worst thing would be to fire him after going 20-11 and start all over.
But no way would that happen, so you can forget that scenario. IMO

I agree with you, I don't think he would get fired after a 20-11 season. That would be purgatory. That's what Baron did. I think he should, though.

You can't fire a coach after 3 years barring some Jerry D/Mike Rice type issues. So throw out the "covid" argument because again, EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY had to deal with it. Do you think Dayton looks at Anthony Grant and says "you suck because we haven't been to the tournament" - or do you think they say, you had a #1 seed going into the tournament that didn't happen, we know you can get it done?

Besides the 3 year thing, Cox is being given a chance to prove he can coach a team because there's the possibility he just sold his soul to keep Fatts and hoped Fatts would be better than he was. The chance would be this one season.

I don't know why we have to keep rehashing this - but David Cox was given a turn-key championship program with an elite PG. He decided to move that PG off the ball. He decided to give a streaky scorer the keys to the kingdom and let him shoot as much as he wanted, even though he was a terrible 3 point shooter. That team was good enough to dance and they faltered down the stretch. The 2nd season team was the same roster. They faltered down the stretch and would not have made the post season.

Both of those teams were clearly good enough to make the post season. They both faltered down the stretch due to poor coaching, poor preparation, and an inability to make adjustments when other coaches could. What did Jim Baron and Dave Cox's teams have in common? What did Al Skinner, Jim Harrick, and Dan Hurley's teams have in common? Their performance in Feb/March.

The 3rd season was the most normal it could've been, as no practice time was affected due to Covid like other teams. That team was terrible.

Throughout his tenure the entire program - from the lack of talent retention, to the lack of talent identification, and now to the lack of a schedule that provides opportunities to go to an NCAA tournament - has gone downhill.

The coaching decisions have been marred on this board and if you go back three years, they are the same. exact. issues. Time outs. Lineups. Player minutes. Strategy. Lack of adjustments. Poor scouting. Poor gameplanning.

Just like anything else, you usually can tell you have the right guy pretty fast. Anyone with a brain knew Hurley was the right guy from day one. The record didn't matter. That's what I don't understand here - stop pinning it on the record and use your eyes. You've been following the team a long time. You know what good basketball is. We haven't seen it in 3 years. Dance or move on.

[SGreenwell]

Reminder that swearing at and directly attacking other posters isn't allowed, and posts will either be deleted or edited out, as I just did to one. People quoting and arguing one another isn't grounds to respond to them with a bunch of profanity. Further attempts at it in this topic will be met with timeouts and suspensions. Thanks.

[Blue Man]

*it’s nothing personal. No one should be so offended by objective facts that they need to go that route. Dave Cox and his family are phenomenal human beings. Very easy to root for. Most importantly they are an asset to the URI community. He is a phenomenal ambassador for the program. I want him to win here, be here forever, and bring us success no one else has.

He has not been a good head coach to this point and this is the weakest schedule we’ve had in potentially 2 decades.

Both paragraphs are true.

[steveystuds06]

I think this was a great conversation to have, and Blueman brought up some valid points. I also understand where Jersey is coming from.. But, unfortunately, we have one person who continues to swear at and insult other posters. It's rude and disrespectful, and I appreciate you taking it off SG

[Jersey77]

Yes because Thorr’s track record shows how all of his coaches have been given “short term” extensions.

Oh wait, that happened once when he was new to the job 14 years ago. And it was Baron. And then he fired him.

This is a do or die year. Period.

The worst thing for this program would be 20-11. Suck and start over or reach your potential and dance. We did the mediocre thing. It sucked.

Blue Man I totally disagree, the worst thing would be to fire him after going 20-11 and start all over.
But no way would that happen, so you can forget that scenario. IMO

I agree with you, I don't think he would get fired after a 20-11 season. That would be purgatory. That's what Baron did. I think he should, though.

You can't fire a coach after 3 years barring some Jerry D/Mike Rice type issues. So throw out the "covid" argument because again, EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY had to deal with it. Do you think Dayton looks at Anthony Grant and says "you suck because we haven't been to the tournament" - or do you think they say, you had a #1 seed going into the tournament that didn't happen, we know you can get it done?

Besides the 3 year thing, Cox is being given a chance to prove he can coach a team because there's the possibility he just sold his soul to keep Fatts and hoped Fatts would be better than he was. The chance would be this one season.

I don't know why we have to keep rehashing this - but David Cox was given a turn-key championship program with an elite PG. He decided to move that PG off the ball. He decided to give a streaky scorer the keys to the kingdom and let him shoot as much as he wanted, even though he was a terrible 3 point shooter. That team was good enough to dance and they faltered down the stretch. The 2nd season team was the same roster. They faltered down the stretch and would not have made the post season.

Both of those teams were clearly good enough to make the post season. They both faltered down the stretch due to poor coaching, poor preparation, and an inability to make adjustments when other coaches could. What did Jim Baron and Dave Cox's teams have in common? What did Al Skinner, Jim Harrick, and Dan Hurley's teams have in common? Their performance in Feb/March.

The 3rd season was the most normal it could've been, as no practice time was affected due to Covid like other teams. That team was terrible.

Throughout his tenure the entire program - from the lack of talent retention, to the lack of talent identification, and now to the lack of a schedule that provides opportunities to go to an NCAA tournament - has gone downhill.

The coaching decisions have been marred on this board and if you go back three years, they are the same. exact. issues. Time outs. Lineups. Player minutes. Strategy. Lack of adjustments. Poor scouting. Poor gameplanning.

Just like anything else, you usually can tell you have the right guy pretty fast. Anyone with a brain knew Hurley was the right guy from day one. The record didn't matter. That's what I don't understand here - stop pinning it on the record and use your eyes. You've been following the team a long time. You know what good basketball is. We haven't seen it in 3 years. Dance or move on.

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

[steveystuds06]

Blue Man I totally disagree, the worst thing would be to fire him after going 20-11 and start all over.
But no way would that happen, so you can forget that scenario. IMO

I agree with you, I don't think he would get fired after a 20-11 season. That would be purgatory. That's what Baron did. I think he should, though.

You can't fire a coach after 3 years barring some Jerry D/Mike Rice type issues. So throw out the "covid" argument because again, EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY had to deal with it. Do you think Dayton looks at Anthony Grant and says "you suck because we haven't been to the tournament" - or do you think they say, you had a #1 seed going into the tournament that didn't happen, we know you can get it done?

Besides the 3 year thing, Cox is being given a chance to prove he can coach a team because there's the possibility he just sold his soul to keep Fatts and hoped Fatts would be better than he was. The chance would be this one season.

I don't know why we have to keep rehashing this - but David Cox was given a turn-key championship program with an elite PG. He decided to move that PG off the ball. He decided to give a streaky scorer the keys to the kingdom and let him shoot as much as he wanted, even though he was a terrible 3 point shooter. That team was good enough to dance and they faltered down the stretch. The 2nd season team was the same roster. They faltered down the stretch and would not have made the post season.

Both of those teams were clearly good enough to make the post season. They both faltered down the stretch due to poor coaching, poor preparation, and an inability to make adjustments when other coaches could. What did Jim Baron and Dave Cox's teams have in common? What did Al Skinner, Jim Harrick, and Dan Hurley's teams have in common? Their performance in Feb/March.

The 3rd season was the most normal it could've been, as no practice time was affected due to Covid like other teams. That team was terrible.

Throughout his tenure the entire program - from the lack of talent retention, to the lack of talent identification, and now to the lack of a schedule that provides opportunities to go to an NCAA tournament - has gone downhill.

The coaching decisions have been marred on this board and if you go back three years, they are the same. exact. issues. Time outs. Lineups. Player minutes. Strategy. Lack of adjustments. Poor scouting. Poor gameplanning.

Just like anything else, you usually can tell you have the right guy pretty fast. Anyone with a brain knew Hurley was the right guy from day one. The record didn't matter. That's what I don't understand here - stop pinning it on the record and use your eyes. You've been following the team a long time. You know what good basketball is. We haven't seen it in 3 years. Dance or move on.

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

In year 2, we should have been a tournament team. Postseason or not, we had 30 games. It's ridiculous to give him a pass because we didn't have a tournament. If we were a tournament team after those 30 games Cox would have had an extension already.

I think most people felt the same way that Koch did.

[Jersey77]

I agree with you, I don't think he would get fired after a 20-11 season. That would be purgatory. That's what Baron did. I think he should, though.

You can't fire a coach after 3 years barring some Jerry D/Mike Rice type issues. So throw out the "covid" argument because again, EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY had to deal with it. Do you think Dayton looks at Anthony Grant and says "you suck because we haven't been to the tournament" - or do you think they say, you had a #1 seed going into the tournament that didn't happen, we know you can get it done?

Besides the 3 year thing, Cox is being given a chance to prove he can coach a team because there's the possibility he just sold his soul to keep Fatts and hoped Fatts would be better than he was. The chance would be this one season.

I don't know why we have to keep rehashing this - but David Cox was given a turn-key championship program with an elite PG. He decided to move that PG off the ball. He decided to give a streaky scorer the keys to the kingdom and let him shoot as much as he wanted, even though he was a terrible 3 point shooter. That team was good enough to dance and they faltered down the stretch. The 2nd season team was the same roster. They faltered down the stretch and would not have made the post season.

Both of those teams were clearly good enough to make the post season. They both faltered down the stretch due to poor coaching, poor preparation, and an inability to make adjustments when other coaches could. What did Jim Baron and Dave Cox's teams have in common? What did Al Skinner, Jim Harrick, and Dan Hurley's teams have in common? Their performance in Feb/March.


The 3rd season was the most normal it could've been, as no practice time was affected due to Covid like other teams. That team was terrible.

Throughout his tenure the entire program - from the lack of talent retention, to the lack of talent identification, and now to the lack of a schedule that provides opportunities to go to an NCAA tournament - has gone downhill.

The coaching decisions have been marred on this board and if you go back three years, they are the same. exact. issues. Time outs. Lineups. Player minutes. Strategy. Lack of adjustments. Poor scouting. Poor gameplanning.

Just like anything else, you usually can tell you have the right guy pretty fast. Anyone with a brain knew Hurley was the right guy from day one. The record didn't matter. That's what I don't understand here - stop pinning it on the record and use your eyes. You've been following the team a long time. You know what good basketball is. We haven't seen it in 3 years. Dance or move on.

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

In year 2, we should have been a tournament team. Postseason or not, we had 30 games. It's ridiculous to give him a pass because we didn't have a tournament. If we were a tournament team after those 30 games Cox would have had an extension already.

I think most people felt the same way that Koch did.

Stevey you shouldn't speculate about this, in the end it didn't make any difference.
If we had a terrible season that is one thing, but we were respectable at 21-9 (13-5 A10)

The A10 preview for 2019-20 had us in the 2nd tier with Richmond below VCU, Dayton, and Davidson.
Most of the publications and analysts also had us around 4th and 5th.
Also in the KB prediction thread for 19-20, 21-9 was on the higher side.

Of course Bill Koch will say that he is a little biased being a local sports guy.

Below are some of the 19-20 record predictions from our own experts:
TP- 20-10
Reef- 19-11
Sect105- 21-9 Congratulations
BAR- 21-10
Rambone78 - 19-11
NYG Fan- 18-12
Rhody15- 18-12
Superfly66-21-9 Congratulations
SteveyStuds - 21-9 Congratulations
BillyBoy78 - 16-14
Ramster - 15-15

[Billyboy78]

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

In year 2, we should have been a tournament team. Postseason or not, we had 30 games. It's ridiculous to give him a pass because we didn't have a tournament. If we were a tournament team after those 30 games Cox would have had an extension already.

I think most people felt the same way that Koch did.

Stevey you shouldn't speculate about this, in the end it didn't make any difference.
If we had a terrible season that is one thing, but we were respectable at 21-9 (13-5 A10)

The A10 preview for 2019-20 had us in the 2nd tier with Richmond below VCU, Dayton, and Davidson.
Most of the publications and analysts also had us around 4th and 5th.
Also in the KB prediction thread for 19-20, 21-9 was on the higher side.

Of course Bill Koch will say that he is a little biased being a local sports guy.

Below are some of the 19-20 record predictions from our own experts:
TP- 20-10
Reef- 19-11
Sect105- 21-9 Congratulations
BAR- 21-10
Rambone78 - 19-11
NYG Fan- 18-12
Rhody15- 18-12
Superfly66-21-9 Congratulations
SteveyStuds - 21-9 Congratultions
BilliyBoy78 - 16-14

Obviously, I'm a pessimist.

[Jersey77]

In year 2, we should have been a tournament team. Postseason or not, we had 30 games. It's ridiculous to give him a pass because we didn't have a tournament. If we were a tournament team after those 30 games Cox would have had an extension already.

I think most people felt the same way that Koch did.

Stevey you shouldn't speculate about this, in the end it didn't make any difference.
If we had a terrible season that is one thing, but we were respectable at 21-9 (13-5 A10)

The A10 preview for 2019-20 had us in the 2nd tier with Richmond below VCU, Dayton, and Davidson.
Most of the publications and analysts also had us around 4th and 5th.
Also in the KB prediction thread for 19-20, 21-9 was on the higher side.

Of course Bill Koch will say that he is a little biased being a local sports guy.

Below are some of the 19-20 record predictions from our own experts:
TP- 20-10
Reef- 19-11
Sect105- 21-9 Congratulations
BAR- 21-10
Rambone78 - 19-11
NYG Fan- 18-12
Rhody15- 18-12
Superfly66-21-9 Congratulations
SteveyStuds - 21-9 Bingo Stevey
BillyBoy78 - 16-14
Ramster - 15-15
BlueMan - 21-9 finished exactly where you predicted

Obviously, I'm a pessimist.

That's okay, I just added our own Ramster at 15-15
I hope you all realize I am just joking around, having a little fun on a non golfing day.

[Blue Man]

Blue Man I totally disagree, the worst thing would be to fire him after going 20-11 and start all over.
But no way would that happen, so you can forget that scenario. IMO

I agree with you, I don't think he would get fired after a 20-11 season. That would be purgatory. That's what Baron did. I think he should, though.

You can't fire a coach after 3 years barring some Jerry D/Mike Rice type issues. So throw out the "covid" argument because again, EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY had to deal with it. Do you think Dayton looks at Anthony Grant and says "you suck because we haven't been to the tournament" - or do you think they say, you had a #1 seed going into the tournament that didn't happen, we know you can get it done?

Besides the 3 year thing, Cox is being given a chance to prove he can coach a team because there's the possibility he just sold his soul to keep Fatts and hoped Fatts would be better than he was. The chance would be this one season.

I don't know why we have to keep rehashing this - but David Cox was given a turn-key championship program with an elite PG. He decided to move that PG off the ball. He decided to give a streaky scorer the keys to the kingdom and let him shoot as much as he wanted, even though he was a terrible 3 point shooter. That team was good enough to dance and they faltered down the stretch. The 2nd season team was the same roster. They faltered down the stretch and would not have made the post season.

Both of those teams were clearly good enough to make the post season. They both faltered down the stretch due to poor coaching, poor preparation, and an inability to make adjustments when other coaches could. What did Jim Baron and Dave Cox's teams have in common? What did Al Skinner, Jim Harrick, and Dan Hurley's teams have in common? Their performance in Feb/March.

The 3rd season was the most normal it could've been, as no practice time was affected due to Covid like other teams. That team was terrible.

Throughout his tenure the entire program - from the lack of talent retention, to the lack of talent identification, and now to the lack of a schedule that provides opportunities to go to an NCAA tournament - has gone downhill.

The coaching decisions have been marred on this board and if you go back three years, they are the same. exact. issues. Time outs. Lineups. Player minutes. Strategy. Lack of adjustments. Poor scouting. Poor gameplanning.

Just like anything else, you usually can tell you have the right guy pretty fast. Anyone with a brain knew Hurley was the right guy from day one. The record didn't matter. That's what I don't understand here - stop pinning it on the record and use your eyes. You've been following the team a long time. You know what good basketball is. We haven't seen it in 3 years. Dance or move on.

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

1) That all-new starting lineup had the best true PG in this programs history, certainly top 2. That's most important in basketball at this level. You had a budding star in Fatts Russell, you had an elite presence in the paint in Cyril Langevine. You had young talent around them, including the #1 recruiting class in the A10 and in URI history - the main reason everyone wanted Cox in the first place. You had a team who had only known winning at the highest levels of college basketball, something that Dan Hurley said was the toughest thing to instill in a program and took him 4 years to do.

2) Who cares, so we didn't make the tournament on a technicality. We were not a tournament team and playing DREADFUL basketball including losing 4-7, 2 of those 3 wins were lucky with a no-call against a terrible UMass team, and a buzzer beater against Fordham.

3) Who cares? Everyone had the same situation, and URI never had covid affect anything.

4) Who's fault was the basically new roster - every. single. year. Dave Cox is yet to have a kid he recruited play for him for more than 2 seasons. WE'RE IN YEAR 4. Of 10 recruits, 2 are left and about to start their 2nd seasons. That was BEFORE the transfer rule.

Again, 2018's team was talented enough to beat the hell out of West Virginia and had a 2 bid A-10 ahead of them. One of the weakest A-10's in the last decade. They lost 7 out of 8 in Jan/Feb, including Fordham. That A10 had one top 50 team and two top 100 teams.

They were also UP BY FIFTEEN on the Bonnies in the A-10 semifinals first half and we let the Bonnies go on a 13-0 run to close the half without so much as a time out. We had a lead at the under 12 timeout in the 2nd half and gave up a 15-1 run ATO to put the game away. Similar theme ATO for 3 years now. That's coaching. Don't tell me that team wasn't talented enough to win that A-10 tournament and dance, despite the regular season. That team was good, and Dan Hurley brings them back to the NCAA's.

I don't find the negativity on this board disturbing at all, I find it inspiring that there are still fans here who would like to see a winning basketball program, and not just be happy to have a team that plays basketball for their school.

If you asked Dave Cox, I'm sure he would say he's done a very poor job coaching, because he's not dumb. If you asked Dave Cox at his presser where he said the bar was championships and NCAA appearances, he'd say someone who couldn't get it done here in 4 years shouldn't be the head coach either.

[theblueram]

Cox is in his fourth year and he will not have 1 senior who played four years at this school.

[Jersey77]

I agree with you, I don't think he would get fired after a 20-11 season. That would be purgatory. That's what Baron did. I think he should, though.

You can't fire a coach after 3 years barring some Jerry D/Mike Rice type issues. So throw out the "covid" argument because again, EVERY SINGLE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY had to deal with it. Do you think Dayton looks at Anthony Grant and says "you suck because we haven't been to the tournament" - or do you think they say, you had a #1 seed going into the tournament that didn't happen, we know you can get it done?

Besides the 3 year thing, Cox is being given a chance to prove he can coach a team because there's the possibility he just sold his soul to keep Fatts and hoped Fatts would be better than he was. The chance would be this one season.

I don't know why we have to keep rehashing this - but David Cox was given a turn-key championship program with an elite PG. He decided to move that PG off the ball. He decided to give a streaky scorer the keys to the kingdom and let him shoot as much as he wanted, even though he was a terrible 3 point shooter. That team was good enough to dance and they faltered down the stretch. The 2nd season team was the same roster. They faltered down the stretch and would not have made the post season.

Both of those teams were clearly good enough to make the post season. They both faltered down the stretch due to poor coaching, poor preparation, and an inability to make adjustments when other coaches could. What did Jim Baron and Dave Cox's teams have in common? What did Al Skinner, Jim Harrick, and Dan Hurley's teams have in common? Their performance in Feb/March.

The 3rd season was the most normal it could've been, as no practice time was affected due to Covid like other teams. That team was terrible.

Throughout his tenure the entire program - from the lack of talent retention, to the lack of talent identification, and now to the lack of a schedule that provides opportunities to go to an NCAA tournament - has gone downhill.

The coaching decisions have been marred on this board and if you go back three years, they are the same. exact. issues. Time outs. Lineups. Player minutes. Strategy. Lack of adjustments. Poor scouting. Poor gameplanning.

Just like anything else, you usually can tell you have the right guy pretty fast. Anyone with a brain knew Hurley was the right guy from day one. The record didn't matter. That's what I don't understand here - stop pinning it on the record and use your eyes. You've been following the team a long time. You know what good basketball is. We haven't seen it in 3 years. Dance or move on.

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

1) That all-new starting lineup had the best true PG in this programs history, certainly top 2. That's most important in basketball at this level. You had a budding star in Fatts Russell, you had an elite presence in the paint in Cyril Langevine. You had young talent around them, including the #1 recruiting class in the A10 and in URI history - the main reason everyone wanted Cox in the first place. You had a team who had only known winning at the highest levels of college basketball, something that Dan Hurley said was the toughest thing to instill in a program and took him 4 years to do.

2) Who cares, so we didn't make the tournament on a technicality. We were not a tournament team and playing DREADFUL basketball including losing 4-7, 2 of those 3 wins were lucky with a no-call against a terrible UMass team, and a buzzer beater against Fordham.

3) Who cares? Everyone had the same situation, and URI never had covid affect anything.

4) Who's fault was the basically new roster - every. single. year. Dave Cox is yet to have a kid he recruited play for him for more than 2 seasons. WE'RE IN YEAR 4. Of 10 recruits, 2 are left and about to start their 2nd seasons. That was BEFORE the transfer rule.

Again, 2018's team was talented enough to beat the hell out of West Virginia and had a 2 bid A-10 ahead of them. One of the weakest A-10's in the last decade. They lost 7 out of 8 in Jan/Feb, including Fordham. That A10 had one top 50 team and two top 100 teams.

They were also UP BY FIFTEEN on the Bonnies in the A-10 semifinals first half and we let the Bonnies go on a 13-0 run to close the half without so much as a time out. We had a lead at the under 12 timeout in the 2nd half and gave up a 15-1 run ATO to put the game away. Similar theme ATO for 3 years now. That's coaching. Don't tell me that team wasn't talented enough to win that A-10 tournament and dance, despite the regular season. That team was good, and Dan Hurley brings them back to the NCAA's.

I don't find the negativity on this board disturbing at all, I find it inspiring that there are still fans here who would like to see a winning basketball program, and not just be happy to have a team that plays basketball for their school.

If you asked Dave Cox, I'm sure he would say he's done a very poor job coaching, because he's not dumb. If you asked Dave Cox at his presser where he said the bar was championships and NCAA appearances, he'd say someone who couldn't get it done here in 4 years shouldn't be the head coach either.

Of course Cox was disappointed, we all feel we can do better.
The point is Cox was going through all this as a relatively new Div. 1 HC, it does take time to grow into your job. He certainly faced a lot of challenges during his brief time so far in this position.

By the way BlueMan your 19-20 record prediction was 21-9, right where we finished. Imagine that.

[steveystuds06]

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

In year 2, we should have been a tournament team. Postseason or not, we had 30 games. It's ridiculous to give him a pass because we didn't have a tournament. If we were a tournament team after those 30 games Cox would have had an extension already.

I think most people felt the same way that Koch did.

Stevey you shouldn't speculate about this, in the end it didn't make any difference.
If we had a terrible season that is one thing, but we were respectable at 21-9 (13-5 A10)

The A10 preview for 2019-20 had us in the 2nd tier with Richmond below VCU, Dayton, and Davidson.
Most of the publications and analysts also had us around 4th and 5th.
Also in the KB prediction thread for 19-20, 21-9 was on the higher side.

Of course Bill Koch will say that he is a little biased being a local sports guy.

Below are some of the 19-20 record predictions from our own experts:
TP- 20-10
Reef- 19-11
Sect105- 21-9 Congratulations
BAR- 21-10
Rambone78 - 19-11
NYG Fan- 18-12
Rhody15- 18-12
Superfly66-21-9 Congratulations
SteveyStuds - 21-9 Congratultions
BillyBoy78 - 16-14
Ramster - 15-15

Honestly, I don't think preseason predictions matter. If we were projected to finish 10th and then totally overachieved, that's one thing. Most programs in the A10 that have a top 4 team on paper should want a bid, right? My prediction of 21 wins was based on a lot of unknowns, just like this season. I didn't expect Fatts to explode and have a much better season. If you told us Fatts would drop 19 a game while shooting 35% from 3, I guarantee you'd see a lot more projected wins. We were going off of a player that shot 22% from 3 the year before... I didn't know what type of impact Toppin or Long would make...I wasn't sure if Tyrese would make the jump we needed him to make in his second year. I wasn't sure if Cox was going to make a jump as a 2nd-year coach. Again, my prediction was with a lot of unknowns.

Once I saw our guys play a few games I thought we had a tournament team. Cox was a big part of that and I think he had his best coaching year that season. Unfortunately, we got worse as the season went on and he had the same mistakes he had in year 1 and once again in year 3. That's a bad sign.

Anyways we aren't going to agree on this. I think Cox should have 1 bid in his first 3 years, and you don't. I hope he gets it this year, but I think that's very unlikely.

[Blue Man]

BlueMan.

Do we need to keep rehashing this about Cox's first year and the turn key roster. Really
We were no way an NCAAT team. There were too many A10 teams better than us.

His second year, yeah we were better but most pre-season predictions had us picked around 4-5 in the A10.
All of a sudden Cox has us on a 10 game winning streak and everybody thinks we are world beaters.
All post-season play cancelled, end of that discussion.

Last year was ugly for me it felt like every game was a scrimmage, no attendance and hard to get engaged in the season.

Let's see what challenges Cox has faced in his first 3 years of being a Div. 1 HC.
1. Basically an all new starting line-up in 18-19, almost all the scoring gone.
2. All post-season cancelled (19-20), when has this ever happened before?
3. The challenges of trying to navigate a basketball season, through the country's worst pandemic in 100 years.
The NCAA understood this difficult situation, so they gave all the players an additional year of eligibility. Again when has this ever happened before?
4. Playing with no fans in attendance and very limited practice time with basically a new roster. Once again when was the last time fans weren't allowed in the arenas?
5. Plus significant NCAA rule changes, transfer policy.

All this happening to a relatively new HC in just his first 3 years, ever.

Yes, I question many of the same things most of you do and have been very critical at times.
Do I think he will be successful here? I don't know yet.

But I think this relatively young staff is learning and feel that the Bozeman hire was a great addition.
At least Cox was aware of that and made the needed change, which I give him credit for.

All the negativity on this board is a little disturbing.

We will have our ups and we will have are downs and it has been that way ever since I can remember.

1) That all-new starting lineup had the best true PG in this programs history, certainly top 2. That's most important in basketball at this level. You had a budding star in Fatts Russell, you had an elite presence in the paint in Cyril Langevine. You had young talent around them, including the #1 recruiting class in the A10 and in URI history - the main reason everyone wanted Cox in the first place. You had a team who had only known winning at the highest levels of college basketball, something that Dan Hurley said was the toughest thing to instill in a program and took him 4 years to do.

2) Who cares, so we didn't make the tournament on a technicality. We were not a tournament team and playing DREADFUL basketball including losing 4-7, 2 of those 3 wins were lucky with a no-call against a terrible UMass team, and a buzzer beater against Fordham.

3) Who cares? Everyone had the same situation, and URI never had covid affect anything.

4) Who's fault was the basically new roster - every. single. year. Dave Cox is yet to have a kid he recruited play for him for more than 2 seasons. WE'RE IN YEAR 4. Of 10 recruits, 2 are left and about to start their 2nd seasons. That was BEFORE the transfer rule.

Again, 2018's team was talented enough to beat the hell out of West Virginia and had a 2 bid A-10 ahead of them. One of the weakest A-10's in the last decade. They lost 7 out of 8 in Jan/Feb, including Fordham. That A10 had one top 50 team and two top 100 teams.

They were also UP BY FIFTEEN on the Bonnies in the A-10 semifinals first half and we let the Bonnies go on a 13-0 run to close the half without so much as a time out. We had a lead at the under 12 timeout in the 2nd half and gave up a 15-1 run ATO to put the game away. Similar theme ATO for 3 years now. That's coaching. Don't tell me that team wasn't talented enough to win that A-10 tournament and dance, despite the regular season. That team was good, and Dan Hurley brings them back to the NCAA's.

I don't find the negativity on this board disturbing at all, I find it inspiring that there are still fans here who would like to see a winning basketball program, and not just be happy to have a team that plays basketball for their school.

If you asked Dave Cox, I'm sure he would say he's done a very poor job coaching, because he's not dumb. If you asked Dave Cox at his presser where he said the bar was championships and NCAA appearances, he'd say someone who couldn't get it done here in 4 years shouldn't be the head coach either.

Of course Cox was disappointed, we all feel we can do better.
The point is Cox was going through all this as a relatively new Div. 1 HC, it does take time to grow into your job. He certainly faced a lot of challenges during his brief time so far in this position.

By the way BlueMan your 19-20 record prediction was 21-9, right where we finished. Imagine that.

Exactly, I'm right all the time - just like now

But seriously I hope I'm wrong. I would want nothing more than to have these posts thrown back in my face. I miss winning basketball.

[Jersey77]

1) That all-new starting lineup had the best true PG in this programs history, certainly top 2. That's most important in basketball at this level. You had a budding star in Fatts Russell, you had an elite presence in the paint in Cyril Langevine. You had young talent around them, including the #1 recruiting class in the A10 and in URI history - the main reason everyone wanted Cox in the first place. You had a team who had only known winning at the highest levels of college basketball, something that Dan Hurley said was the toughest thing to instill in a program and took him 4 years to do.

2) Who cares, so we didn't make the tournament on a technicality. We were not a tournament team and playing DREADFUL basketball including losing 4-7, 2 of those 3 wins were lucky with a no-call against a terrible UMass team, and a buzzer beater against Fordham.

3) Who cares? Everyone had the same situation, and URI never had covid affect anything.

4) Who's fault was the basically new roster - every. single. year. Dave Cox is yet to have a kid he recruited play for him for more than 2 seasons. WE'RE IN YEAR 4. Of 10 recruits, 2 are left and about to start their 2nd seasons. That was BEFORE the transfer rule.

Again, 2018's team was talented enough to beat the hell out of West Virginia and had a 2 bid A-10 ahead of them. One of the weakest A-10's in the last decade. They lost 7 out of 8 in Jan/Feb, including Fordham. That A10 had one top 50 team and two top 100 teams.

They were also UP BY FIFTEEN on the Bonnies in the A-10 semifinals first half and we let the Bonnies go on a 13-0 run to close the half without so much as a time out. We had a lead at the under 12 timeout in the 2nd half and gave up a 15-1 run ATO to put the game away. Similar theme ATO for 3 years now. That's coaching. Don't tell me that team wasn't talented enough to win that A-10 tournament and dance, despite the regular season. That team was good, and Dan Hurley brings them back to the NCAA's.

I don't find the negativity on this board disturbing at all, I find it inspiring that there are still fans here who would like to see a winning basketball program, and not just be happy to have a team that plays basketball for their school.

If you asked Dave Cox, I'm sure he would say he's done a very poor job coaching, because he's not dumb. If you asked Dave Cox at his presser where he said the bar was championships and NCAA appearances, he'd say someone who couldn't get it done here in 4 years shouldn't be the head coach either.

Of course Cox was disappointed, we all feel we can do better.
The point is Cox was going through all this as a relatively new Div. 1 HC, it does take time to grow into your job. He certainly faced a lot of challenges during his brief time so far in this position.

By the way BlueMan your 19-20 record prediction was 21-9, right where we finished. Imagine that.

Exactly, I'm right all the time - just like now

But seriously I hope I'm wrong. I would want nothing more than to have these posts thrown back in my face. I miss winning basketball.

Except on your thread about our roster last year, that one even had me scratching my head.

[theblueram]

With the schedule we have with so many bad teams, the in game threads are gonna be great.

[Jersey77]

In year 2, we should have been a tournament team. Postseason or not, we had 30 games. It's ridiculous to give him a pass because we didn't have a tournament. If we were a tournament team after those 30 games Cox would have had an extension already.

I think most people felt the same way that Koch did.

Stevey you shouldn't speculate about this, in the end it didn't make any difference.
If we had a terrible season that is one thing, but we were respectable at 21-9 (13-5 A10)

The A10 preview for 2019-20 had us in the 2nd tier with Richmond below VCU, Dayton, and Davidson.
Most of the publications and analysts also had us around 4th and 5th.
Also in the KB prediction thread for 19-20, 21-9 was on the higher side.

Of course Bill Koch will say that he is a little biased being a local sports guy.

Below are some of the 19-20 record predictions from our own experts:
TP- 20-10
Reef- 19-11
Sect105- 21-9 Congratulations
BAR- 21-10
Rambone78 - 19-11
NYG Fan- 18-12
Rhody15- 18-12
Superfly66-21-9 Congratulations
SteveyStuds - 21-9 Congratultions
BillyBoy78 - 16-14
Ramster - 15-15

Honestly, I don't think preseason predictions matter. If we were projected to finish 10th and then totally overachieved, that's one thing. Most programs in the A10 that have a top 4 team on paper should want a bid, right? My prediction of 21 wins was based on a lot of unknowns, just like this season. I didn't expect Fatts to explode and have a much better season. If you told us Fatts would drop 19 a game while shooting 35% from 3, I guarantee you'd see a lot more projected wins. We were going off of a player that shot 22% from 3 the year before... I didn't know what type of impact Toppin or Long would make...I wasn't sure if Tyrese would make the jump we needed him to make in his second year. I wasn't sure if Cox was going to make a jump as a 2nd-year coach. Again, my prediction was with a lot of unknowns.

Once I saw our guys play a few games I thought we had a tournament team. Cox was a big part of that and I think he had his best coaching year that season. Unfortunately, we got worse as the season went on and he had the same mistakes he had in year 1 and once again in year 3. That's a bad sign.

Anyways we aren't going to agree on this. I think Cox should have 1 bid in his first 3 years, and you don't. I hope he gets it this year, but I think that's very unlikely.

I agree that an NCAAT bid this year is also very unlikely. I think we will have a good team and should play well but Richmond and the Bonnies are extremely strong. The injuries to VCU have certainly hurt their chances. Dayton is a good matchup with us, both having solid frontcourts.
Perkins is the difference maker for SLU, probably the favorite for A10 POY.
I keep saying, next season might be our best opportunity depending on how our young guards play and subtraction from the other top A10 teams.

[theblueram]

Stevey you shouldn't speculate about this, in the end it didn't make any difference.
If we had a terrible season that is one thing, but we were respectable at 21-9 (13-5 A10)

The A10 preview for 2019-20 had us in the 2nd tier with Richmond below VCU, Dayton, and Davidson.
Most of the publications and analysts also had us around 4th and 5th.
Also in the KB prediction thread for 19-20, 21-9 was on the higher side.

Of course Bill Koch will say that he is a little biased being a local sports guy.

Below are some of the 19-20 record predictions from our own experts:
TP- 20-10
Reef- 19-11
Sect105- 21-9 Congratulations
BAR- 21-10
Rambone78 - 19-11
NYG Fan- 18-12
Rhody15- 18-12
Superfly66-21-9 Congratulations
SteveyStuds - 21-9 Congratultions
BillyBoy78 - 16-14
Ramster - 15-15

Honestly, I don't think preseason predictions matter. If we were projected to finish 10th and then totally overachieved, that's one thing. Most programs in the A10 that have a top 4 team on paper should want a bid, right? My prediction of 21 wins was based on a lot of unknowns, just like this season. I didn't expect Fatts to explode and have a much better season. If you told us Fatts would drop 19 a game while shooting 35% from 3, I guarantee you'd see a lot more projected wins. We were going off of a player that shot 22% from 3 the year before... I didn't know what type of impact Toppin or Long would make...I wasn't sure if Tyrese would make the jump we needed him to make in his second year. I wasn't sure if Cox was going to make a jump as a 2nd-year coach. Again, my prediction was with a lot of unknowns.

Once I saw our guys play a few games I thought we had a tournament team. Cox was a big part of that and I think he had his best coaching year that season. Unfortunately, we got worse as the season went on and he had the same mistakes he had in year 1 and once again in year 3. That's a bad sign.

Anyways we aren't going to agree on this. I think Cox should have 1 bid in his first 3 years, and you don't. I hope he gets it this year, but I think that's very unlikely.

I agree that an NCAAT bid this year is also very unlikely. I think we will have a good team and should play well but Richmond and the Bonnies are extremely strong. The injuries to VCU have certainly hurt their chances. Dayton is a good matchup with us, both having solid frontcourts.
Perkins is the difference maker for SLU, probably the favorite for A10 POY.
I keep saying, next season might be our best opportunity depending on how our young guards play and subtraction from the other top A10 teams.

Next year may be Cox's last attempt. Could be Thorr just lets the contract expire next year.

[Jersey77]

Honestly, I don't think preseason predictions matter. If we were projected to finish 10th and then totally overachieved, that's one thing. Most programs in the A10 that have a top 4 team on paper should want a bid, right? My prediction of 21 wins was based on a lot of unknowns, just like this season. I didn't expect Fatts to explode and have a much better season. If you told us Fatts would drop 19 a game while shooting 35% from 3, I guarantee you'd see a lot more projected wins. We were going off of a player that shot 22% from 3 the year before... I didn't know what type of impact Toppin or Long would make...I wasn't sure if Tyrese would make the jump we needed him to make in his second year. I wasn't sure if Cox was going to make a jump as a 2nd-year coach. Again, my prediction was with a lot of unknowns.

Once I saw our guys play a few games I thought we had a tournament team. Cox was a big part of that and I think he had his best coaching year that season. Unfortunately, we got worse as the season went on and he had the same mistakes he had in year 1 and once again in year 3. That's a bad sign.

Anyways we aren't going to agree on this. I think Cox should have 1 bid in his first 3 years, and you don't. I hope he gets it this year, but I think that's very unlikely.

I agree that an NCAAT bid this year is also very unlikely. I think we will have a good team and should play well but Richmond and the Bonnies are extremely strong. The injuries to VCU have certainly hurt their chances. Dayton is a good matchup with us, both having solid frontcourts.
Perkins is the difference maker for SLU, probably the favorite for A10 POY.
I keep saying, next season might be our best opportunity depending on how our young guards play and subtraction from the other top A10 teams.

Next year may be Cox's last attempt. Could be Thorr just lets the contract expire next year.

I don't think Thorr would do that, very rarely would an AD let a HC's contract run out.
That is typically frowned upon in the coaching community and wouldn't look good when he has to hire a replacement.
Also probably not beneficial to the program regarding any hope for recruiting.
Just my thoughts on this.

[RamStock]

I agree that an NCAAT bid this year is also very unlikely. I think we will have a good team and should play well but Richmond and the Bonnies are extremely strong. The injuries to VCU have certainly hurt their chances. Dayton is a good matchup with us, both having solid frontcourts.
Perkins is the difference maker for SLU, probably the favorite for A10 POY.
I keep saying, next season might be our best opportunity depending on how our young guards play and subtraction from the other top A10 teams.

Next year may be Cox's last attempt. Could be Thorr just lets the contract expire next year.

I don't think Thorr would do that, very rarely would an AD let a HC's contract run out.
That is typically frowned upon in the coaching community and wouldn't look good when he has to hire a replacement.
Also probably not beneficial to the program regarding any hope for recruiting.
Just my thoughts on this.

Why do you continue to say this?? Why would URI feel obligated to give Cox an extension if he doesn't make the tourney? I think they are being more than fair by letting him comeback again if he fails to be successful this year. Who cares about the coaching community! Cox is making big money per year and has expectations tied to his contract. I think because the school doesn't want to pay any extra salary commitments they will keep Cox for 2022-23 unless they are below .500 again and than it depends how bad the season was.

[Jersey77]

Next year may be Cox's last attempt. Could be Thorr just lets the contract expire next year.

I don't think Thorr would do that, very rarely would an AD let a HC's contract run out.
That is typically frowned upon in the coaching community and wouldn't look good when he has to hire a replacement.
Also probably not beneficial to the program regarding any hope for recruiting.
Just my thoughts on this.

Why do you continue to say this?? Why would URI feel obligated to give Cox an extension if he doesn't make the tourney? I think they are being more than fair by letting him comeback again if he fails to be successful this year. Who cares about the coaching community! Cox is making big money per year and has expectations tied to his contract. I think because the school doesn't want to pay any extra salary commitments they will keep Cox for 2022-23 unless they are below .500 again and than it depends how bad the season was.

Actually AD's care very much how their school is perceived in the coaching community, especially if they want to hire quality coaches while competing with other universities.
Do you think every coach must reach the NCAAT before receiving some sort of an extension, we are far from a blueblood program?

Also by retaining Cox (seeing improvement) and not giving him an extension is almost like setting him up for failure the following season.
Some of our promising young players may be more apt to test the waters in the portal, knowing they may have an entirely new staff the following season.
It is very tough for a coach to perform well if there is a lot of tension between him and the administration and those dynamics are bad.
Another thing to consider is if Walker and Martin (having graduated) decide not to return. We currently have 1 open scholarship and that can possibly leave us with 3 holes to fill. It would be very difficult for him to attract quality transfers or recruits, with players knowing this is a lame duck staff. Cox wouldn't be competing on an even playing field with other schools, and this would put him at a significant disadvantage.

Anyway I am just going by common practice in this business.

I guess we will know if I am wrong after this season, it wouldn't be the first time.

[Jersey77]

NM

[KevanBoyles]

For some reason I’m optimistic. Don’t ask me why. Not a big fan of Cox. I feel something in my bones watching social media. We’ll see.

[NYGFan_Section208]

For some reason I’m optimistic. Don’t ask me why. Not a big fan of Cox. I feel something in my bones watching social media. We’ll see.

Is what you're watching on social media related to sports?

[section(105)]

For some reason I’m optimistic. Don’t ask me why. Not a big fan of Cox. I feel something in my bones watching social media. We’ll see.

Is what you're watching on social media related to sports?

……..I will be using my eyeballs today(through the foggy lens glasses)to verify my early optimism of a 10-8 conference prediction………

[Jersey77]

For some reason I’m optimistic. Don’t ask me why. Not a big fan of Cox. I feel something in my bones watching social media. We’ll see.

Is what you're watching on social media related to sports?

……..I will be using my eyeballs today(through the foggy lens glasses)to verify my early optimism of a 10-8 conference prediction………

105
Since many of us live out of state and won't be there, I will be very curious as to your (along with others) impression and take at this first glance of our team. Again it is only a practice but you may have some thoughts on how some of the player's look:
EA and the 3 freshman - What do you think?
Makhi - Coming back from injury, how was he moving?
Ish - Hope to see him continue to be an impact player.
AB - I know he is scheduled to RS, but did he participate in any drills?
I am expecting Shep to take a lead role and probably be the starting PG. We also desperately need his outside shooting.
I expect Walker and Martin to be steady contributors, and Makhel to continue to be a force inside.

Thanks

[rambone 78]

Unfortunately, playing against each other in a scrimmage doesn't equate to playing against an opponent, but at least it's an opportunity to see the team.

I'm with Blue Man on this point: Either have a really good season, or crap their pants totally, as to make the decision to keep or fire Cox easy.

A small to medium improvement to 18-20 wins, with no postseason, only prolongs the agony another year.

I'm not sure Thorr has learned his lesson from what happened with Baron, despite all the talk.

[section(105)]

Is what you're watching on social media related to sports?

……..I will be using my eyeballs today(through the foggy lens glasses)to verify my early optimism of a 10-8 conference prediction………

105
Since many of us live out of state and won't be there, I will be very curious as to your (along with others) impression and take at this first glance of our team. Again it is only a practice but you may have some thoughts on how some of the player's look:
EA and the 3 freshman - What do you think?
Makhi - Coming back from injury, how was he moving?
Ish - Hope to see him continue to be an impact player.
AB - I know he is scheduled to RS, but did he participate in any drills?
I am expecting Shep to take a lead role and probably be the starting PG. We also desperately need his outside shooting.
I expect Walker and Martin to be steady contributors, and Makhel to continue to be a force inside.

Thanks

…….love it!!……..I took notes on what to look for, and will report accordingly…….I will add to the list the coaches, who runs the group the HC doesn’t run…….any other assignments?……..

[Jersey77]

……..I will be using my eyeballs today(through the foggy lens glasses)to verify my early optimism of a 10-8 conference prediction………

105
Since many of us live out of state and won't be there, I will be very curious as to your (along with others) impression and take at this first glance of our team. Again it is only a practice but you may have some thoughts on how some of the player's look:
EA and the 3 freshman - What do you think?
Makhi - Coming back from injury, how was he moving?
Ish - Hope to see him continue to be an impact player.
AB - I know he is scheduled to RS, but did he participate in any drills?
I am expecting Shep to take a lead role and probably be the starting PG. We also desperately need his outside shooting.
I expect Walker and Martin to be steady contributors, and Makhel to continue to be a force inside.

Thanks

…….love it!!……..I took notes on what to look for, and will report accordingly…….I will add to the list the coaches, who runs the group the HC doesn’t run…….any other assignments?……..

[ramster]

……..I will be using my eyeballs today(through the foggy lens glasses)to verify my early optimism of a 10-8 conference prediction………

105
Since many of us live out of state and won't be there, I will be very curious as to your (along with others) impression and take at this first glance of our team. Again it is only a practice but you may have some thoughts on how some of the player's look:
EA and the 3 freshman - What do you think?
Makhi - Coming back from injury, how was he moving?
Ish - Hope to see him continue to be an impact player.
AB - I know he is scheduled to RS, but did he participate in any drills?
I am expecting Shep to take a lead role and probably be the starting PG. We also desperately need his outside shooting.
I expect Walker and Martin to be steady contributors, and Makhel to continue to be a force inside.

Thanks

…….love it!!……..I took notes on what to look for, and will report accordingly…….I will add to the list the coaches, who runs the group the HC doesn’t run…….any other assignments?……..

I can’t make it today but will be at the football game so my assignments

- Might be Cox doesn’t coach either team and two assistants coach - so who are they?
- Who is in each team?
- How do the coaches do in calling time outs just kidding
- How does El-Amin look as a potential SG?
- Are the twins on different teams? If in the same team do they play together and how does that look?
- Any recruits in the house today? Prather?
- Ang improvement in the Wi-Fi after two years away?

Thanks

[ramster]

Stevey you shouldn't speculate about this, in the end it didn't make any difference.
If we had a terrible season that is one thing, but we were respectable at 21-9 (13-5 A10)

The A10 preview for 2019-20 had us in the 2nd tier with Richmond below VCU, Dayton, and Davidson.
Most of the publications and analysts also had us around 4th and 5th.
Also in the KB prediction thread for 19-20, 21-9 was on the higher side.

Of course Bill Koch will say that he is a little biased being a local sports guy.

Below are some of the 19-20 record predictions from our own experts:
TP- 20-10
Reef- 19-11
Sect105- 21-9 Congratulations
BAR- 21-10
Rambone78 - 19-11
NYG Fan- 18-12
Rhody15- 18-12
Superfly66-21-9 Congratulations
SteveyStuds - 21-9 Bingo Stevey
BillyBoy78 - 16-14
Ramster - 15-15
BlueMan - 21-9 finished exactly where you predicted

Obviously, I'm a pessimist.

That's okay, I just added our own Ramster at 15-15
I hope you all realize I am just joking around, having a little fun on a non golfing day.

So I was off a year, ahead of time as I would have won with the 10-15 record of 2020-21.

[ramster]

Looking at the overall schedule, This team can surprise and win 20+ games and still not get an NIT invite.

Rhodyram don't get too carried away, we win 20+ games and we will definitely get an NIT bid.
Our schedule isn't that ridiculous and the A10 is a respectable conference.
Last year in an abbreviated season with only 16 NIT invites (out of 32) the A10 got 4 teams in: SLU, Richmond, Dayton, and Davidson.
Dayton also lost to Fordham, Duquesne, St. Joe's, and us.

Unfortunately, Rhodyram could be right. With our schedule, it's going to be very hard. You have to have a few good wins to go to the NIT, never mind the NCAA's.

Anything can happen and these are only my projections for next season,.. We could go undefeated in Quad 3/4 games and have 21 wins.

Quad 1 opportunities- 2 games
Quad 2 opportunities- 8 games
Quad 3 opportunities- 9 games
Quad 4 opportunities- 12 games

vs Boston University (Q4)
vs Bryant (Q3)
vs Boston College (Q4)
vs. Tulsa (Q3)
vs. Boston College or Utah (Q4) or (Q2)
at Florida Gulf Coast (Q4)
vs. Georgia St (Q3)
at Harvard (Q2)
at Providence (Q2)- This could be a Quad 1 game.
vs Sacred Heart (Q4)
at Milwaukee (Q3)- I think they will be close to a Q2 game.
vs College of Charleston (Q4)
vs Brown (Q4)
vs Dayton (Q3)
vs LaSalle (Q4)
at George Mason (Q3)
at Davidson (Q2)
vs St. Joes (Q4)
at Umass (Q2)
vs GW (Q4)
vs Richmond (Q2) Could be Quad 1
at Dayton (Q2)
at Fordham (Q4)
vs Umass (Q3)
at VCU (Q1)
vs Davidson (Q3)
at GW (Q4)
at Bonnies (Q1)
vs Duquense (Q4)
vs St. Louis (Q2)
at St. Joes (Q3)

Rankings from CBS preseason ranking all 358 teams. Teams ranked 200-358 are out. We play 8 of the teams ranked higher than 200.

205-Milwaukee
228-Florida Gulf Coast
229-LaSalle
245-George Washington
253-Charleston
260-Boston University
290-Fordham
309-Sacred Heart

[spookydog]

290-Fordham

I know Fordham is bad...but 290 bad?!?

[ramster]

290-Fordham

I know Fordham is bad...but 290 bad?!?

Yep, but a new Head Coach at least who was an excellent choice imho.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Rhodyram don't get too carried away, we win 20+ games and we will definitely get an NIT bid.
Our schedule isn't that ridiculous and the A10 is a respectable conference.
Last year in an abbreviated season with only 16 NIT invites (out of 32) the A10 got 4 teams in: SLU, Richmond, Dayton, and Davidson.
Dayton also lost to Fordham, Duquesne, St. Joe's, and us.

Unfortunately, Rhodyram could be right. With our schedule, it's going to be very hard. You have to have a few good wins to go to the NIT, never mind the NCAA's.

Anything can happen and these are only my projections for next season,.. We could go undefeated in Quad 3/4 games and have 21 wins.

Quad 1 opportunities- 2 games
Quad 2 opportunities- 8 games
Quad 3 opportunities- 9 games
Quad 4 opportunities- 12 games

vs Boston University (Q4)
vs Bryant (Q3)
vs Boston College (Q4)
vs. Tulsa (Q3)
vs. Boston College or Utah (Q4) or (Q2)
at Florida Gulf Coast (Q4)
vs. Georgia St (Q3)
at Harvard (Q2)
at Providence (Q2)- This could be a Quad 1 game.
vs Sacred Heart (Q4)
at Milwaukee (Q3)- I think they will be close to a Q2 game.
vs College of Charleston (Q4)
vs Brown (Q4)
vs Dayton (Q3)
vs LaSalle (Q4)
at George Mason (Q3)
at Davidson (Q2)
vs St. Joes (Q4)
at Umass (Q2)
vs GW (Q4)
vs Richmond (Q2) Could be Quad 1
at Dayton (Q2)
at Fordham (Q4)
vs Umass (Q3)
at VCU (Q1)
vs Davidson (Q3)
at GW (Q4)
at Bonnies (Q1)
vs Duquense (Q4)
vs St. Louis (Q2)
at St. Joes (Q3)

Rankings from CBS preseason ranking all 358 teams. Teams ranked 200-358 are out. We play 8 of the teams ranked higher than 200.

205-Milwaukee
228-Florida Gulf Coast
229-LaSalle
245-George Washington
253-Charleston
260-Boston University
290-Fordham
309-Sacred Heart

Look, that's all we could get. I'm sure we would've had more if we could?

[theblueram]

Norlander has us at 93. Not sure I agree about Carey though:

93. Rhode Island: Look for Jalen Carey to have the kind of season he was expected to have last season (but did not), since Fatts Russell has moved on. URI isn't likely to be an NCAA Tournament team, but this program is still maintaining a healthy pulse under fourth-year coach David Cox.

[Rhody74]

Norlander has us at 93. Not sure I agree about Carey though:

93. Rhode Island: Look for Jalen Carey to have the kind of season he was expected to have last season (but did not), since Fatts Russell has moved on. URI isn't likely to be an NCAA Tournament team, but this program is still maintaining a healthy pulse under fourth-year coach David Cox.

Of all people to pick out to highlight Carey is an interesting choice.

[Jersey77]

Norlander has us at 93. Not sure I agree about Carey though:

93. Rhode Island: Look for Jalen Carey to have the kind of season he was expected to have last season (but did not), since Fatts Russell has moved on. URI isn't likely to be an NCAA Tournament team, but this program is still maintaining a healthy pulse under fourth-year coach David Cox.

Of all people to pick out to highlight Carey is an interesting choice.

Maybe because he was a top 50 recruit and much was expected of him.

[ramster]

Norlander has us at 93. Not sure I agree about Carey though:

93. Rhode Island: Look for Jalen Carey to have the kind of season he was expected to have last season (but did not), since Fatts Russell has moved on. URI isn't likely to be an NCAA Tournament team, but this program is still maintaining a healthy pulse under fourth-year coach David Cox.

Of all people to pick out to highlight Carey is an interesting choice.

Maybe because he was a top 50 recruit and much was expected of him.

Syracuse moved away from him due to the turnovers.
Same turnover issues were there last season with us. He started 1st two games then moved further down the bench
Not a good ball handler or passer.
Forget the Top 50 stuff because it makes for unrealistic expectations and pressures.

[Jersey77]

Of all people to pick out to highlight Carey is an interesting choice.

Maybe because he was a top 50 recruit and much was expected of him.

Syracuse moved away from him due to the turnovers
Same turnover issues were there last season
Not a good ball handler or passer.
Forget the Top 50 stuff

I have, and not overly impressed by rankings.
Just trying to understand why they would of highlighted Carey.

[ramster]

Maybe because he was a top 50 recruit and much was expected of him.

Syracuse moved away from him due to the turnovers
Same turnover issues were there last season
Not a good ball handler or passer.
Forget the Top 50 stuff

I have, and not overly impressed by rankings.
Just trying to understand why they would of highlighted Carey.

Maybe because they have never seen him play?