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Ryan Soulis - 2023 Signee

I stand corrected. Memory was off. But I’ll stick to the other points - namely that Harper wasn’t really a wing in the UR offense (with resulting shots from that position) and that KA was still the alpha.

To bring it all together, I’d assert that no one was saying that team had an over reliance on KA and Harp.
 
Interesting side note - Harp was also first team all conference that year. Burton 2nd team this past season.
 
Interesting side note - Harp was also first team all conference that year. Burton 2nd team this past season.
Not really that interesting. We went 29-8 when Harp was 1st team and 15-18 last year. Harp was 77-172 from 3 (44.8%), Tyler was 55-188 (29.3%).
 
Do we have any chance of being good this year??
Absolutely. I feel real good about King, Bigs, and Quinn. They will each have a lot of real good, solid games this year. If healthy, I think Roche will be a huge weapon from 3, and maybe score more from 2 as well. How good will the others be? Can Hunt hit 3s and be an above average A-10 guard? Is Noyes ready to play a lot more, hit 3s, and be a factor offensively? Can Tanner and Smith show they can hit the 3 and be scoring guards? We need a couple others besides Roche to step up and be weapons from 3.
 
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Absolutely. I feel real good about King, Bigs, and Quinn. They will each have a lot of real good, solid games this year. If healthy, I think Roche will be a huge weapon from 3, and maybe score more from 2 as well. How good will the others be? Can Hunt hit 3s and be an above average A-10 guard? Is Noyes ready to play a lot more, hit 3s, and be a factor offensively? Can Tanner and Smith show they can hit the 3 and be scoring guards? We need a couple others besides Roche to step up and be weapons from 3.
I do believe that we have an excellent chance of a dynamic season!
 
Absolutely. I feel real good about King, Bigs, and Quinn. They will each have a lot of real good, solid games this year. If healthy, I think Roche will be a huge weapon from 3, and maybe score more from 2 as well. How good will the others be? Can Hunt hit 3s and be an above average A-10 guard? Is Noyes ready to play a lot more, hit 3s, and be a factor offensively? Can Tanner and Smith show they can hit the 3 and be scoring guards? We need a couple others besides Roche to step up and be weapons from 3.
Thanks.

It’s too bad Mooney doesn’t see certain things.

Roche needs to play big minutes and get 10+ shots per game.
 
Absolutely. I feel real good about King, Bigs, and Quinn. They will each have a lot of real good, solid games this year. If healthy, I think Roche will be a huge weapon from 3, and maybe score more from 2 as well. How good will the others be? Can Hunt hit 3s and be an above average A-10 guard? Is Noyes ready to play a lot more, hit 3s, and be a factor offensively? Can Tanner and Smith show they can hit the 3 and be scoring guards? We need a couple others besides Roche to step up and be weapons from 3.
certainly have a chance to be good. just so many question marks. 8 new faces. we'll have to wait to see how the pieces fit. we can be good, bad, or anything in between.

it's been said before, but with so many new faces it sure would have been a good year for an overseas trip.
 
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Everyone has a chance to be good. But in reality - I think if this team finishes .500 or better - that would be better than my expectations, which is sad. I thought last year was a very good shot at NCAA bid and we were not even close, so with all that we lost and the new faces - not feeling great about this season. But sure - we got a chance to be good. If Roche becomes the best shooter in the A10, and Quinn becomes an all-league player - and then we get double digits each night from Bigelow and solid guard play at PG - we got a chance. But that is a lot of things happening all at once.
 
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At this point, you have to bank on the argument that last year we were bad enough that whatever we have this year is an upgrade. It’s not a great theory,

We should be better at PG and maybe we end up a bit better overall from 3. That latter is more wishful than trend based.

My starting lineup is king, roche, Noyes, Bigelow, Quinn. I think Hunt and Bailey probably get a lot of minutes as well. That’s 7. No clue who’ll show for the 8-9 depth but hope one of them is Tanner, kid looks like he can hoop.
 
At this point, you have to bank on the argument that last year we were bad enough that whatever we have this year is an upgrade. It’s not a great theory,

We should be better at PG and maybe we end up a bit better overall from 3. That latter is more wishful than trend based.

My starting lineup is king, roche, Noyes, Bigelow, Quinn. I think Hunt and Bailey probably get a lot of minutes as well. That’s 7. No clue who’ll show for the 8-9 depth but hope one of them is Tanner, kid looks like he can hoop.
I don't disagree with that lineup. And I think with that lineup - we need King and Quinn to be all-league performers. That is the recipe for success under Mooney. The PG must be our best player, and has a big guy to compliment him. After that - we need Roche to shoot 40% from 3 and we need Bigelow to be a beast on the boards and do a little bit of everything. Think Cayo, but can also shoot. Noyes at this point is a bonus - not expecting much, and if we get production from the other 4 spots - we don't need much.
If that happens - then your scenario might be right.
 
Hey is Soulis in school? No picture on website yet. On podcast with Big Al yesterday he mentioned the
quality of the two freshmen they signed but we signed 4 freshmen.
 
Hey is Soulis in school? No picture on website yet. On podcast with Big Al yesterday he mentioned the
quality of the two freshmen they signed but we signed 4 freshmen.
Big Al’s podcast was tape delay from Memorial Day weekend… ;)
 
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I can't believe that people still listen to that loser.
What you don't like your sport's radio guy reading to you box scores and the entire RTD sports page on air. Dude is such a dinosaur as to what sports radio was probably 30 years ago. Can't believe they give him a show still, but maybe he appeals to a certain (i.e. very old) demographic.
 
hope springs eternal in August for Richmond basketball ALWAYS!
It's like the Commander in August, trying to talk up Sam Howell, a leaky O-line, a bunch of tight ends no one has heard of, a coach whose time has passed him by as being a contender and trying to get excited. And then you look at a team in their conference like the Eagles, who has an MVP caliber Hurts as their QB, a stout offensive line, an array of WR, TE and RB weapons.

So for us, our best players are King, a dude who has never played at this level, Quinn, a slow footed 7 footer, and Bigelow a transfer from Wofford, who was basically their 6th man when he was there and of course Mooney, a slow to adapt to the modern game coach. And then comparing this to rosters that Dayton and VCU have and recognizing that all of our pieces are going to have to overachieve massively and gel behind a coach who has shown that he underperforms even when he has good talent.

It could happen, just like Howell could be the next Montana, a bunch of non descript players suddenly ball out, a team like the Eagles has a Super Bowl hangover and get hit with a bunch of injuries but if you look at it soberly right now, I don't see how you can sit back and say, yeah, I like our odds.
 
97, you just got me pumped up and I just tried to run through a brick wall - OUCH.
Yeah, sorry. I wish I could be pumped but looking at the roster realistically and comparing it to other A-10 roster, which obviously I haven't done, but other A-10 reporters have, is probably why we are ranked near the bottom of the A-10 right now.

Agree with Trap, a .500 season seems like a realistic outcome with this roster and certainly we know Mooney and Hardt would try to sell that as a huge accomplishment, because we all know we have no realistic goals for our MBB program other than to try to compete.
 
hope springs eternal in August for Richmond basketball ALWAYS!
Your profile picture is childish. Being the coach of a D-1 program is a tough job. Putting up
a picture of a billboard, that was put up years ago, shows absolutely no appreciation of
the A-10 Championship, or what other people thought was an immature college prank
when it was put up.
You’ve never said anything positive on the board. You must live a very sad life.
 
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Yeah, sorry. I wish I could be pumped but looking at the roster realistically and comparing it to other A-10 roster, which obviously I haven't done, but other A-10 reporters have, is probably why we are ranked near the bottom of the A-10 right now.

Agree with Trap, a .500 season seems like a realistic outcome with this roster and certainly we know Mooney and Hardt would try to sell that as a huge accomplishment, because we all know we have no realistic goals for our MBB program other than to try to compete.
Trolls!
 
Being the coach of a D-1 program is a tough job
You could say that. You could also say that it is a fun job, where you get to work on a sport you love every day. Be in a gym with college students and players every day. Get paid very well, and if you invested wisely have already built generational wealth. All for being mediocre to underachieving most years. So yep, in addition to all the perks and fun, I agree - it is too much to expect Mooney to be criticized ever for being mediocre. I am with you on this Annap, what an ungrateful fan base we have!
 
It's like the Commander in August, trying to talk up Sam Howell, a leaky O-line, a bunch of tight ends no one has heard of, a coach whose time has passed him by as being a contender and trying to get excited. And then you look at a team in their conference like the Eagles, who has an MVP caliber Hurts as their QB, a stout offensive line, an array of WR, TE and RB weapons.

So for us, our best players are King, a dude who has never played at this level, Quinn, a slow footed 7 footer, and Bigelow a transfer from Wofford, who was basically their 6th man when he was there and of course Mooney, a slow to adapt to the modern game coach. And then comparing this to rosters that Dayton and VCU have and recognizing that all of our pieces are going to have to overachieve massively and gel behind a coach who has shown that he underperforms even when he has good talent.

It could happen, just like Howell could be the next Montana, a bunch of non descript players suddenly ball out, a team like the Eagles has a Super Bowl hangover and get hit with a bunch of injuries but if you look at it soberly right now, I don't see how you can sit back and say, yeah, I like our odds.

it's just reality, some don't operate in reality which is where the friction comes in on the board.

When your chances for a "successful season" (which some on here consider .500 successful, a whole other discussion) are reliant on a formula like below that is just not realistic, these daydreams and fantasies don't profit anyone besides the guy who is actually getting paid to run the show here.

if highly improbable thing A happens
AND
if highly improbable thing B happens
AND
if highly improbable thing C happens
AND
if highly improbable thing D happens
AND
if highly improbable thing E happens
THEN
we could have a great season!
 
How do we move from Ryan Soulis to how the season is going to go? By the way
I have been through 7 Basketball coaches if my finger counting don't let me down and all have their own unique styles. Yea Beilein and Tarrant would be my favorites but respect
all. Also realism is the name of the game. How many times have we had average talent that has lead to overachievers as a result of good coaching. That is where I think Beilein and Tarrant have done a better job then any of those other coaches I have followed. This year requires a lot of meshing together and overachieving and after 17 years at UR does Chris Mooney have that ability to do it quickly for this may become the norm due to NIL and the portal.
 
Completely agree that Beilein and Tarrant had unique abilities to over acheive with lessor talent. Both guys had some talented teams, but always felt like we could beat the top teams with them at the helm. I think JB's first year in the A10 really over acheived with a guy Jon Collins, who was not his type of stretch 4/5 type, and a recruited back up PG and had us in the A10 championship game.
 
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Your profile picture is childish. Being the coach of a D-1 program is a tough job. Putting up
a picture of a billboard, that was put up years ago, shows absolutely no appreciation of
the A-10 Championship, or what other people thought was an immature college prank
when it was put up.
You’ve never said anything positive on the board. You must live a very sad life.

you feel better now that you got that off your chest for the tenth time?
 
I know the landscape has changed and we'll have to fill in as needed with transfers, but I still think for UR our best chance for success will come from 4 year kids.

we've landed decent transfer talent from lower level conferences on a 1 or 2 year rental basis but we're not going to land monsters. and it's a short term replacement. it's not an equal trade from someone we develop like Burton to what we can land in the transsfer portal.

we need to land the right guys, and then we need to keep them. part will be the family fell we have and the quality of out school and program. but that's also where we need to use NIL ... in retention more than in acquisition.
 
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What you don't like your sport's radio guy reading to you box scores and the entire RTD sports page on air. Dude is such a dinosaur as to what sports radio was probably 30 years ago. Can't believe they give him a show still, but maybe he appeals to a certain (i.e. very old) demographic.
I somewhat agree here, hard to listen to these days....but we should be forever grateful to that dinosaur, as a young Ferrum Spider(Intern), Ray Tate, and Big Al hosted an open roast on Cooper and the BOT that kept us from making the foolish move to the patriot league for football. I'm sure some posters here called into that show to voice their frustration. We got that intel from reading JOC article in the RTD that morning and hit the airwaves at 7am before most people had woken up. What a different time.
 
sman, tending to agree more and more with you on this. I just don't see us outbidding the P6 on NIL dollars. Even if we are in the same ballpark, it would come down to the usual factors - and strength of conference is not a good one for us at present. Heck, who knows PQ may have made similar offer to Villanova for Burton, but an opportunity to play for a name brand (yes even with Jay Wright gone), ready made top 25 team in a league that will have multiple pro scouts likely would win out anyway.
I do agree that if we can build the loyalty with top 250 type players (Smith is 199 in 24/7 rankings) and have them turn into 3 and 4 year guys are best bet. As you noted we will likely be better served using NIL dollars to match/retain for guys that like it here, and would mostly be leaving for the money. We do need to be active and find the Jordan King, or Bigelow to fill in.
I really like our incoming class on paper - but we have said that in the past. If they do pan out, will be interesting to see how many get poached.
 
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