What are your expectations for next year?

[plydogg]

I love optimism and I know it is a really important thing in sports. But I have to say that there's no way to know how we'll do next year until we know how the redshirts and Sal look. If they aren't able to contribute immediately then we will be in the same situation as last year with only 2 players off the bench which don't inspire huge confidence.

There's really no way any of us can know how the bench will play and I think until we know that there's no reason for us to legitimately believe that we can win even 20 games

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

It will end with a loss.

 

[plydogg]

It will end with a loss.

This is true for all but what, around 5-6 teams? The 4 tournament winners and the teams that don't make their conference tourneys but win their last conference game.

 

[fan2011]

Right now I am expecting a double bye in the A10 tournament and to finish ahead of VCU. Depending on what happens with our 2 open roster spots I my expectations may change.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

This is true for all but what, around 5-6 teams? The 4 tournament winners and the teams that don't make their conference tourneys but win their last conference game.

 

[plydogg]

Man this guy posted that comment just to do this and I took the bait.smh

 

[SpiderRick]

[QUOTE="plydogg,

There's really no way any of us can know how the bench will play and I think until we know that there's no reason for us to legitimately believe that we can win even 20 games[/QUOTE]

There's no way we can know how the bench will play, if they don't play....

 

[plydogg]

I think the bench not playing speaks volumes as to whether or not they're ready. This year they weren't and we had multiple redshirts. Will those players be able to contribute next year? I'm not sure. But some of the predictions in here are a win total we could only reach if we get about 3 more contributors off the bench

 

[SpiderK]

[QUOTE="plydogg,

There's really no way any of us can know how the bench will play and I think until we know that there's no reason for us to legitimately believe that we can win even 20 games

There's no way we can know how the bench will play, if they don't play....[/QUOTE]


We have to wait and see who is on the bench first. Could be very good or could be nothing again.

 

[nathanw19]

There's no way we can know how the bench will play, if they don't play....

I feel like we saw the bench play this year (at least 9 deep), and 8-9 showed they shouldn’t be seeing time in any type of a close game. Granted, that ultimately falls on Mooney for not building a quality bench through recruiting, but I’m of the belief that him not going further than 7 players in competitive games was the correct basketball decision after seeing what was there beyond those 7.

 

[Eight Legger]

The reality at this point is that anyone who believes we will win significantly more games than we did this year is flying blindly into that assumption. It's possible, like anything is, but unlikely based on years of history.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Man this guy posted that comment just to do this and I took the bait.smh

All in good fun, man. I really didn't think anyone would try to elaborate on my expectation.

 

[urfan1]

If we get Bryce it will be a game changer. Our top 7 players are all coming back. Many of them are already very good and should be even better next year. I am especially optimistic on Cayo's continual improvement. With the addition of Sal and possibly a couple of red shirts we might go from the smallest team in the A10 to one of the biggest. We may also go from a week bench to struggling to find enough minutes for all the great player we have.

With Bryce I think we win 24 games next year and 27 games the following year with 2 NCAA appearances.

If we sign Bryce I hope Mooney will play 2 bigs at once. Listening to the talking heads today talking bout how hard it is to beat a team with 2 quality bigs on the floor at the same time

 

[MrTbone]

If we sign Bryce I hope Mooney will play 2 bigs at once. Listening to the talking heads today talking bout how hard it is to beat a team with 2 quality bigs on the floor at the same time

I think the two big scenario has been limited less by intent than it has by talent.

 

[urfan1]

I think the two big scenario has been limited less by intent than it has by talent.

I agree next year we could have Grant, Cayo, Phoenix, Sal, and Bryce -- plenty of opportunity to play 2 bigs at once

 

[fan2011]

If we sign Bryce I hope Mooney will play 2 bigs at once. Listening to the talking heads today talking bout how hard it is to beat a team with 2 quality bigs on the floor at the same time

Mooney has no qualms playing 2 bigs simultaneously if they are the best options. This is another one of those weird Mooney theories that just doesn't hold water upon inspection. The other weird theory was that he doesn't play freshmen, which thankfully people have stopped pushing recently.

Bryce is 6'9. Wood, who is 6'8, played almost exclusively at the 3 and 4 with TJ at the 5 under Mooney. TA, who is 6'8, played almost exclusively at the 4 with TJ or ANO at the 5. When TJ, TA and ANO were on the team, Mooney even put all 3 on the court for a few minutes every once in a while. We always had at least two of Harper, Geriot, and Garret on the floor, all of whom are at least as tall as Bryce.

Thinking that Mooney won't play Bryce and Grant at the same time, should he decide to come here, requires the complete disregard of Mooney's entire coaching career. It seems to be built upon the bizarre theory that Mooney didn't play PF/JMA and GG at the same time due to some mysterious fear of playing multiple bigs and not simply because PF/JMA just weren't very good players.

When Sal is ready I have no doubt he will see a lot of time on the court with Grant. If Bryce comes here, and when he is ready, I have no doubt he would play tons of time with Grant.

 

[Marley13]

"It seems to be built upon the bizarre theory that Mooney didn't play PF/JMA andGG at the same time due to some mysterious fear of playing multiple bigs and not simply because PF/JMA just weren't very good players."

Exactly right.

 

[MrTbone]

Mooney has no qualms playing 2 bigs simultaneously if they are the best options. This is another one of those weird Mooney theories that just doesn't hold water upon inspection. The other weird theory was that he doesn't play freshmen, which thankfully people have stopped pushing recently.

Bryce is 6'9. Wood, who is 6'8, played almost exclusively at the 3 and 4 with TJ at the 5 under Mooney. TA, who is 6'8, played almost exclusively at the 4 with TJ or ANO at the 5. When TJ, TA and ANO were on the team, Mooney even put all 3 on the court for a few minutes every once in a while. We always had at least two of Harper, Geriot, and Garret on the floor, all of whom are at least as tall as Bryce.

Thinking that Mooney won't play Bryce and Grant at the same time, should he decide to come here, requires the complete disregard of Mooney's entire coaching career. It seems to be built upon the bizarre theory that Mooney didn't play PF/JMA and GG at the same time due to some mysterious fear of playing multiple bigs and not simply because PF/JMA just weren't very good players.

When Sal is ready I have no doubt he will see a lot of time on the court with Grant. If Bryce comes here, and when he is ready, I have no doubt he would play tons of time with Grant.

This is just recency bias. We haven’t played two bigs in the last two years for the very reasons you mention. It really is remarkable how poorly we have done recruiting forwards the last few seasons. Sal looks like he could be legit. Bryce would be great too if he opts to look at us again.

 

[ur2K]

The not playing 2 bigs was really only when he wouldn’t play TJ and ANO together. Early on TJ was in the Mooney dog house for whatever reason.

 

[spiderman]

Mooney won't play 2 bigs together unless both have the ability to play inside and out. he doesn't want to clog the middle up. for that reason, I think a guy like Phoenix could only sub for Grant but not play with him until his outside game improves.

but Grant, Sal and Bryce have perimeter skills. they can work together.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

I expect Dayton, Mason, Richmond, UMass, and St. Joe's to get better due to returning cores. I expect VCU, URI, Bonnies, Davidson, LaSalle and GW to be worse due to senior attrition. I expect Fordham to continue to suck. I'm not sure about Duquesne, but would lean towards improvement. Also not sure about St. Louis, because I have no idea who is back and who isn't.

I think we will be right in the mix for the 3-4 seed in our conference tournament, and hope to hell we can win 8 games in the non-con.

I also know that I really enjoy watching our starting 5 plus Cayo play, and am already counting down the days. If Bryce Golden spurns what is sure to be significant high-major interest to come to UR, I'll be over the moon. (As opposed to "over the 'Moon'" like the rest you minus a stalwart few.)

 

[Ulla1]

Mooney won't play 2 bigs together unless both have the ability to play inside and out. he doesn't want to clog the middle up. for that reason, I think a guy like Phoenix could only sub for Grant but not play with him until his outside game improves.

but Grant, Sal and Bryce have perimeter skills. they can work together.

spiderman, think you are on target here. One could imagine UR going "big" against certain teams with a lineup which included three bigs, Grant, Bryce and Sal/Nathan at the same time. I was told a few days ago that Sal is 6'9", extremely long and handles the ball like a guard. Whoa!

 

[SouthJerseySpiderFan]

An NCAA bid. if not, new coach. And if Bryce comes aboard, even more so. And if CM is asked the question ..... no more "I expect to see improvement with the team". I want specific season ending goals for the team coming out of his mouth.

 

[SpiderK]

Mooney has no qualms playing 2 bigs simultaneously if they are the best options. This is another one of those weird Mooney theories that just doesn't hold water upon inspection. The other weird theory was that he doesn't play freshmen, which thankfully people have stopped pushing recently.

Bryce is 6'9. Wood, who is 6'8, played almost exclusively at the 3 and 4 with TJ at the 5 under Mooney. TA, who is 6'8, played almost exclusively at the 4 with TJ or ANO at the 5. When TJ, TA and ANO were on the team, Mooney even put all 3 on the court for a few minutes every once in a while. We always had at least two of Harper, Geriot, and Garret on the floor, all of whom are at least as tall as Bryce.

Thinking that Mooney won't play Bryce and Grant at the same time, should he decide to come here, requires the complete disregard of Mooney's entire coaching career. It seems to be built upon the bizarre theory that Mooney didn't play PF/JMA and GG at the same time due to some mysterious fear of playing multiple bigs and not simply because PF/JMA just weren't very good players.

When Sal is ready I have no doubt he will see a lot of time on the court with Grant. If Bryce comes here, and when he is ready, I have no doubt he would play tons of time with Grant.

I agree with you. I have no doubt Mooney would play Bryce as the 4 and Grant as the 5. In our offense they are all over the place anyway. The switches on defense would be much better at not leaving Khwan or Jake on a 6’6” plus guy. I see Bryce as being a true power forward, Sal probably will be too. Looks like JJ would have a lot less minutes if Bryce decides to be a spider. We would be rotating DMB, Nick, Jake and Khwan at the 1,2,3 positions. Could be a very solid 8-9 man rotation. Bonuses would be AJ, Schneider and Tomas.

 

[fan2011]

I agree with you. I have no doubt Mooney would play Bryce as the 4 and Grant as the 5. In our offense they are all over the place anyway. The switches on defense would be much better at not leaving Khwan or Jake on a 6’6” plus guy. I see Bryce as being a true power forward, Sal probably will be too. Looks like JJ would have a lot less minutes if Bryce decides to be a spider. We would be rotating DMB, Nick, Jake and Khwan at the 1,2,3 positions. Could be a very solid 8-9 man rotation. Bonuses would be AJ, Schneider and Tomas.

I agree. If we have Buck at the 3 instead of the 4 and we have a talented, 6'8+ player at the 4 we become a much better team on both ends of the court. In my wildest dreams I see....

1: Gilyard 30 minutes, Fore 10 minutes
2: Fore 20 minutes, Sherod 20 minutes
3: Sherod 10 minutes, Buck 30 minutes
4: Bryce/Sal/Cayo 40 minutes
5: Grant 30 minutes, Bryce/Sal/Cayo 10 minutes

Solid 8 man rotation, more bench player time. Much taller, which should improve our interior defense when our players don't have to constantly guard people who are 4+ inches taller than them. More post play to make our offense more dynamic.