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Next Year Roster

I haven't heard anyone say he can't or won't play. It's not so much looking for negatives, just not ready to give him a guaranteed starting spot. I gave him an estimated 28 minutes a game in an earlier post.
 
if he can't defend or get shots up in the A10, then he'll come off the bench or not even play.
but while Missouri, K State and Pitt aren't dominant by any means, they are in high major conferences and and play against high major athletes. their eyes told them Roche can play.

we saw the highlights. are we looking for negatives now that just aren't there? it's not like we only saw a few shots. he hit a hundered and freaking 10. didn't look like he had trouble getting shots off, or that he was sitting still wide open all day. he moves well and has a quick, high release.

yes, when any shooter isn't hitting it sucks. but on average he hit 40%. that's equivalent to 60% from 2. and he did it on high volume. I wouldn't necessarily trust 40% if he hit 16. but he hit 110.
I'm simply saying for me...I'm not going by stats alone. I like to see guys play an entire game or games. Highlights are great but a entire game is going to give you a better idea of what type of player he is and what he does against different levels of competition. I'm not saying he won't play and I'm not looking at negatives here and I'm certainly not saying he can't play... I'm just stating things that I look for. If we think he isn't going to be high on the scout list then we are fooling ourselves. How is he or anyone of our unproven guys going to handle someone getting up in your face for 40 mins? The A10 is a better conf from where he came from. Shooters shoot, but if you can't do other things you are a one dimentional player...sorry and ultimately you are what you can defend in todays game. That doesn't mean you can't be successful it just may limit your time and you become a situational type guy...nothing wrong with that either.
 
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I haven't heard anyone say he can't or won't play. It's not so much looking for negatives, just not ready to give him a guaranteed starting spot. I gave him an estimated 28 minutes a game in an earlier post.
Exactly...def agree
 
The only thing I am certain about is that the day 1 starting lineup is not the same as the A10 tournament starting lineup. I think Mooney will start the season with the most experienced players just like he did this year with Nick starting. My guess would be that even as the season develops that Roche is a 6th man. To me the 6th man is a very important spot as that person can really change the game flow.

The only way I would be able to speculate further with any degree of accuracy would be if I could sit Court side and watch practice. It is really going to come down to team chemistry and I don’t see how any of us could have an educated guess since basically no lineup that you could see this Summer has ever operated in that capacity in the past.
 
I'm simply saying for me...I'm not going by stats alone. I like to see guys play an entire game or games. Highlights are great but a entire game is going to give you a better idea of what type of player he is and what he does against different levels of competition. I'm not saying he won't play and I'm not looking at negatives here and I'm certainly not saying he can't play... I'm just stating things that I look for. If we think he isn't going to be high on the scout list then we are fooling ourselves. How is he or anyone of our unproven guys going to handle someone getting up in your face for 40 mins? The A10 is a better conf from where he came from. Shooters shoot, but if you can't do other things you are a one dimentional player...sorry and ultimately you are what you can defend in todays game. That doesn't mean you can't be successful it just may limit your time and you become a situational type guy...nothing wrong with that either.
like I said, if he can't defend or get shots up in the A10 then he'll come off the bench or not even play.
we won't know his flaws until we see them. all we know is he can shoot. we don't know that he can't do anything else.
 
like I said, if he can't defend or get shots up in the A10 then he'll come off the bench or not even play.
we won't know his flaws until we see them. all we know is he can shoot. we don't know that he can't do anything else.
True for the 1st sentence. I know what I've seen 🤷‍♂️
 
I'm with Spiderman here, 110 makes is a 110 makes. Deion Taylor was a guy who went like 16-40 freshman year from 3 and we got excited about his ability to be that athletic shooting forward but obviously was not a sample size that told the story - he had mechanical flaws in his shot and wasn't ever close to that number IIRC.

But there are likely also plenty of guys who checked Roche last year who have A10 athleticism, let's not pretend that they played all D2 schools or anything or that A10 has only mega-athletic wings. The game highlights show a wide variety of shot makes and particularly those on the move around screens or in situations that you would not say were wide open (ie he's being decently guarded) are those that make me optimistic. Spiders offense can create open looks for guys as well, it's one of the features of the offense that works best (knocking them down has been the issue.)

As for defensively, I mean, Spiders ran Nick out there and he was essentially a 6'4" spot up shooter who hasn't had a defensive spot for 3-4 years now bc of the injuries. You make it work.

Again, as sman said, 110 made threes.
 
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I think some of yall are missing my point. No one here is saying the A10 has athletic wings locked in over everyone., lets be rational. I never said he couldn't shoot...never. I never said he couldn't beat people off the dribble, I said you need to be able too! I hope he can, that only benefits us. I've only seen a couple of complete games. Highlights do not show the whole picture and I'll die on that hill with ANY player. I clearly said I didn't know if he was anything more than a 3 pt shooter at this time. I know the film I watched and what "I" saw. As far as defense & Nick...how did that work out...he ended up losing his starting spot so that didn't work. Was Nick better off coming off the bench..yes and that did work, you make adjustments. This years team has the potential to be better defensively because the makeup is different and "could be" a little more athletic.."could be" If that's the case then IF Roche is nothing more than a 3pt shooter and we have 3-4 guys getting into you defensively and Roche isn't one of those players, then yeah he prob will be used only as a 3pt shooter. I'm not saying he isn't versatile, I'm saying I've only seen 2 games. If he hits 110 and shoots 40% for us...isn't that what we want? One last thing he took 277 3pt shots last season and made 110 that screams he can light it up, he's a shooter...NOT he's going to beat you off the dribble and drive. This kid is going to be good and help us tremendously and haven't said or meant anything other than that.
 
Sdad, to clarify I wasn't replying to you personally here or rebutting any of your points, more just agreeing with sman's point that good shooters are guys that will get minutes because you want and need shooting in the UR offense. He made 110 3s in a D-1 season as a freshman. I like that.

The Nick point was that he still got minutes despite being - honestly - one of the slowest players in D-1. If he was hitting, he stayed on the court and just tried to hope he didn't get exploited on the other end. It's not a like for like comparison of course and I certainly hope Roche is quicker and more athletic than Nick was at the end.
My main point was that in the limited game tape I've seen here, he makes a variety of shots that I think can translate to most games / competition because he has a quick and high release, which are both great attributes for a shooter. I also want this bc I want the team to have a sniper who makes 3-4 threes a game consistently. I have no rooting interest except the success of the team here.
 
We all want good shooters on the floor, and I have not heard anyone say he shouldn't get good minutes. And, I think we all like what we see as far as shooting 3s is concerned. I think by agreeing with Sman, you are saying he definitely starts? I could be wrong, but I think that is where he was going with this. Someone else mentioned play him 40 minutes. So, if a couple of us are saying let's not guarantee a starting spot and 40 minutes playing time just because he made 110 3s last year, that doesn't mean we don't agree that his 3s could be a huge weapon for us. And, as I said earlier, I still estimated 28 minutes for him even if he doesn't start.
 
Sdad, to clarify I wasn't replying to you personally here or rebutting any of your points, more just agreeing with sman's point that good shooters are guys that will get minutes because you want and need shooting in the UR offense. He made 110 3s in a D-1 season as a freshman. I like that.

The Nick point was that he still got minutes despite being - honestly - one of the slowest players in D-1. If he was hitting, he stayed on the court and just tried to hope he didn't get exploited on the other end. It's not a like for like comparison of course and I certainly hope Roche is quicker and more athletic than Nick was at the end.
My main point was that in the limited game tape I've seen here, he makes a variety of shots that I think can translate to most games / competition because he has a quick and high release, which are both great attributes for a shooter. I also want this bc I want the team to have a sniper who makes 3-4 threes a game consistently. I have no rooting interest except the success of the team here.
I get all that and I think we get that sniper in Roche that we desperately need esp as you mention for our type of offense…and if I came as a douche…my bad. We def all want the same ✊🏼😀🕷🏀
 
in my book Roche will be a locked in starter with Quinn and Burton. he can do something that nobody else on the roster can likely do ... and we need it.
the other spots can be fought for:
Nelson and Dji for the lead guard spot
Goose, Bigelow, Crabtree, Grace and Dji for the other spot.
regardless who wins starting spots, those are my projected 9 playing.

I don't mean to exclude Randolph, Dread, Noyes or Walz but it's going to be really tough to break in ahead of that group. maybe one can earn significant time. I wish them luck though.
Yep these are yours
I get all that and I think we get that sniper in Roche that we desperately need esp as you mention for our type of offense…and if I came as a douche…my bad. We def all want the same ✊🏼😀🕷🏀
i get you but you concerns area year down the road let’s enjoy our ride🎢
 
And, as I said earlier, I still estimated 28 minutes for him even if he doesn't start.
I'm not sure he gets that many even as a starter. we only had 2 guys playing 28 per game last year. nobody off the bench is getting 28.

if he can't defend and if he's not a great shooter at the A10 level then I don't need or want him starting.
I'm assuming what he did as a shooter as a freshman at the CItadel level translates to UR. we'll know more in the fall.
 
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I'm not sure he gets that many even as a starter. we only had 2 guys playing 28 per game last year. nobody off the bench is getting 28.

if he can't defend and if he's not a great shooter at the A10 level then I don't need or want him starting.
I'm assuming what he did as a shooter as a freshman at the CItadel level translates to UR. we'll know more in the fall.
I think that last sentence is something everyone can agree on about most of the team…
 
I'm not sure he gets that many even as a starter. we only had 2 guys playing 28 per game last year. nobody off the bench is getting 28.

if he can't defend and if he's not a great shooter at the A10 level then I don't need or want him starting.
I'm assuming what he did as a shooter as a freshman at the CItadel level translates to UR. we'll know more in the fall.
Last year is last year. This is a whole new team. But, fine to disagree. A lot will depend on how everyone else is shooting the 3. If he is the only one consistently hitting them, he will get a lot of minutes, whether he starts or not. There are 120 minutes to go around at the non PG, non big spots, so I could definitely see him getting high 20s. I wouldn't get too wrapped up in starters minutes and bench minutes. We have some depth, and there could be a lot of games where the minutes vary. One game he could play 32, the next 24, and the next 20 or less.
 
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After watching Mooney for his entire UR 17 years, he is predictable and diverges little from his patterns. We have discussed aspects of how he coaches, his decision making, and for the most part a reluctance to change. I said “for the most part”.

Offense, defensive scheme, rebounding philosophy, short bench, loyalty to returning players (sometimes to a fault), and very good success with 6 foot and under point guards.

Who here expects significant change next year? I don’t believe Mooney is a coach that adapts his system and philosophy to fit the team makeup and skills. Instead, it is the opposite - recruit players and use them to fit the system and philosophy. History speaks loudly and pattern perpetuates.
 
There are a lot of quality players still left in the transfer portal and I expects us to land one more, who potentially might start. With that said, I think the only 2 guaranteed starters are:

1. Burton who is going to take his play to a higher level next year. He should shoot more consistently from the 3 and also drive more effectively to the basket. I would not be surprised if he leads the league in scoring.

2. Quinn, not only will he start, but I also think he has a good chance of joining Burton on the all conference team.

Outside of those 2 it is hard to forecast, because of how much talent this team has. I would not be surprised if at least one other red shirted freshman besides Nelson makes a meaningful contributions to the team. I see us playing a lot of guys equal time the first half of the season and not sure it matters who starts. If I had to guess on the other 3 based on my limited knowledge of the players, I would pick:

3. Grace, he has really improved his skills and will be a valuable member of the team regardless of starting.

4. Nelson, for Mooney to let Wilson transfer he has to have a very high opinion of Nelson and others on the team to back him up

5. Goose, no more needs to be said about Goose. He brings a 100% every game.

I look at this as our worst case starting line-up, which is pretty darn good and includes a very high quality deep bench. With that said, I would not be surprised if 2 of these guys were not starting at some point this upcoming season.

What is even more exciting is most of this team will be together for the next 2 years.

Go Spiders!
I am updating the post above to reflect our last 2 recruits. Everything remains the same with the exception that Roche and Bigelow will also be battling it out for starting positions. It is unclear to me if we will go with 2 or 3 guards, which could change game by game based on the matchup. What is clear is that a lot of people will get playing time in the beginning of the season and those that do well will ultimately start the 2nd half of the year. It is also clear that none of us in this board will have any impact on players playing time, so no one should have strong opinions.
 
In this case, please delete all of your posts.
Why would I do that when my post are so good? Also, I like countering all your negative comments about the program players, administration. With that said the board has become more positive, which means I will probably post less until we get closer to the season.
 
You are not very perceptive. I made that comment to expose the stupidity of saying "no one should have strong opinions" because we are not the coaches. And coming from you. Really hope you are not a professor at UR. So if no one is allowed to have opinions on here, and they have to be positive when we endured mooniocrity for years, I guess fan1 should delete the board.
 
I'm not sure he gets that many even as a starter. we only had 2 guys playing 28 per game last year. nobody off the bench is getting 28.

if he can't defend and if he's not a great shooter at the A10 level then I don't need or want him starting.
I'm assuming what he did as a shooter as a freshman at the CItadel level translates to UR. we'll know more in the fall.
Right. If he is getting 28 minutes per game, he most certainly is starting? I don't know if he starts or not, but he is an accomplished D-1 player and he will get significant minutes. If I were to project, I would start at 20 minutes for him next year and he will get more if he can defend adequately.

I see very similar to the role we thought Sherod would play last year and a significant upgrade to the role Sherod actually played last year, once it was apparent that all of Sherod's injuries had left him without much of a role.
 
Good problem to have that we have competition for minutes. I see some combination of these 9 players getting most of the time at least early in the season. Maybe another 1-2 from the list after that. I’m not on the coaching staff so all this is conjecture at this point.

Bailey
Bigelow
Burton
Crabtree
Grace
Gustavson
Nelson
Quinn
Roche


Dread
Noyes
Randolph
Walz
 
Good problem to have that we have competition for minutes. I see some combination of these 9 players getting most of the time at least early in the season. Maybe another 1-2 from the list after that. I’m not on the coaching staff so all this is conjecture at this point.

Bailey
Bigelow
Burton
Crabtree
Grace
Gustavson
Nelson
Quinn
Roche


Dread
Noyes
Randolph
Walz
This seems logical and would be my best guess as well. We will find out soon. Dji has to be back on the 15th for first round of summer classes and workouts should start soon after. Big summer for all the guys. I haven't heard when the transfers would be in.
 
This seems logical and would be my best guess as well. We will find out soon. Dji has to be back on the 15th for first round of summer classes and workouts should start soon after. Big summer for all the guys. I haven't heard when the transfers would be in.
ah May term .. good memories but only time I did it was a pretty cool 4 week poli sci course/trip on the European Union before sophomore year ..
 
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I'm coming around to the possibility of Bigelow starting at the 3 or 4 with Burton, and then Grace backing up the 4 and 5 with 20 minutes a game or so. I like that we have a ton of options, though, regardless.
 
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I'm coming around to the possibility of Bigelow starting at the 3 or 4 with Burton, and then Grace backing up the 4 and 5 with 20 minutes a game or so. I like that we have a ton of options, though, regardless.
woo hoo!
 
PG - Dji / Nelson
SG - Goose /Crabtree/Roche/Dread
SF - Burton/ Randolph
PF - Grace/Bigelow/Noyes
C - Quinn/ Walz

OK, so roster remains static since April. Good offseason, other than adding some athleticism and defense, very good offseason for Mooney and the staff. The topper is obviously Burton coming back. This gives us the opportunity to challenge the top of the A10, and for an NCAA bid potentially.

Key Concerns:
1) Defense. I think Bigelow is a good addition. Goose coming back is big. If Burton got feedback on this and improves, he has room to improve and be very good on that end. Need Grace to keep improving - overall he was a weak defender at times last year, but had some huge blocks and looked solid at end of year. If Dji can get minutes I think he can be a positive on this end of the floor. Roche and Quinn, I do not see as plus defenders - hopefully they can be solid. Crab - solid. Nelson, will be interesting to see - seems like a very heady player. Had a year guarding Gilly in practice. Have high hopes.
2) Shooting - Goose is going to play big minutes. That is a given in my mind. Will need him to shoot better and more consistent from deep in that case. Again, hoping Nelson can be a consistent threat. If so, between Burton, Bigelow and Roche do have the ability to shoot it even if Goose is not improved.
3) Chemistry - We have guys like Crab, Dji, even Randolph that have to be chomping at the bit to get big minutes. Add Roche and Bigelow. Mooney's public commentary to JOC indicates this is Nelson's show if he can handle it. I understand sman's affinity for Burton at the 4 (guarding the 4) but I think he needs to be able to show he can guard perimeter players - don't see him coming back and Mooney stuffing him on the interior. So there are going to be some guys unhappy with their roles. That is OK and we typically don't have chemistry issues. But with our portal additions at the wing, there should be more competition than most any other year I can remember in the moon era, and that is something new for Mooney. Is Mooney good with new and change????

Great opportunity for Richmond and Mooney this year, should be an exciting year.
 
PG - Dji / Nelson
SG - Goose /Crabtree/Roche/Dread
SF - Burton/ Randolph
PF - Grace/Bigelow/Noyes
C - Quinn/ Walz

OK, so roster remains static since April. Good offseason, other than adding some athleticism and defense, very good offseason for Mooney and the staff. The topper is obviously Burton coming back. This gives us the opportunity to challenge the top of the A10, and for an NCAA bid potentially.

Key Concerns:
1) Defense. I think Bigelow is a good addition. Goose coming back is big. If Burton got feedback on this and improves, he has room to improve and be very good on that end. Need Grace to keep improving - overall he was a weak defender at times last year, but had some huge blocks and looked solid at end of year. If Dji can get minutes I think he can be a positive on this end of the floor. Roche and Quinn, I do not see as plus defenders - hopefully they can be solid. Crab - solid. Nelson, will be interesting to see - seems like a very heady player. Had a year guarding Gilly in practice. Have high hopes.
2) Shooting - Goose is going to play big minutes. That is a given in my mind. Will need him to shoot better and more consistent from deep in that case. Again, hoping Nelson can be a consistent threat. If so, between Burton, Bigelow and Roche do have the ability to shoot it even if Goose is not improved.
3) Chemistry - We have guys like Crab, Dji, even Randolph that have to be chomping at the bit to get big minutes. Add Roche and Bigelow. Mooney's public commentary to JOC indicates this is Nelson's show if he can handle it. I understand sman's affinity for Burton at the 4 (guarding the 4) but I think he needs to be able to show he can guard perimeter players - don't see him coming back and Mooney stuffing him on the interior. So there are going to be some guys unhappy with their roles. That is OK and we typically don't have chemistry issues. But with our portal additions at the wing, there should be more competition than most any other year I can remember in the moon era, and that is something new for Mooney. Is Mooney good with new and change????

Great opportunity for Richmond and Mooney this year, should be an exciting year.
We have known for the last 4 years exactly what we had. This year will be exciting because we have no idea what we will have.
 
With Burton back (yeah!) I think a logical way to setup the roster is to start Burton/Bigelow/Quinn in the front court and Goose/Nelson in the back court.

- Grace/Crabtree can sub in at the 3/4/5
- Roche/Bailey at the 1/2

Others can win spots at well - Randolph, Noyes, Dread, Walz based on their development.

Why Bigelow and not Grace? He gives us a bit more scoring potential and was second in defensive rebounding % in the Southern Conference. This also allows Grace to spell Quinn at the 5 in a role he has played before when needed due to fouls and rest.

A lot of nice combos with Nelson/Goose/Roche/Bailey at the 1/2. Have some good ball handling, defense, three point shooting and athleticism. Can mix and match when needed.

Just my armchair head coach thoughts on a Sunday morning in June.
 
With Burton back (yeah!) I think a logical way to setup the roster is to start Burton/Bigelow/Quinn in the front court and Goose/Nelson in the back court.

- Grace/Crabtree can sub in at the 3/4/5
- Roche/Bailey at the 1/2

Others can win spots at well - Randolph, Noyes, Dread, Walz based on their development.

Why Bigelow and not Grace? He gives us a bit more scoring potential and was second in defensive rebounding % in the Southern Conference. This also allows Grace to spell Quinn at the 5 in a role he has played before when needed due to fouls and rest.

A lot of nice combos with Nelson/Goose/Roche/Bailey at the 1/2. Have some good ball handling, defense, three point shooting and athleticism. Can mix and match when needed.

Just my armchair head coach thoughts on a Sunday morning in June.
Great analysis 95. That’s the rotation yet!
 
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