Up Next - UMASS

[spiderman]

I have no answers for last night. I'd have to rewatch and focus just on the defense ... and I'm not up for that. but a couple comments:

1) from the above comments I doubt many will agree, but I really liked the way Nelson played offensively. he reminded me more than ever of Gilly. he pushed tempo without forcing shots. he made probing drives and then accurately kicked out to open guys (like some of us have been looking for). he was very solid with no turnovers until the one in the last minute. he missed some floaters, but he played well.

2) we were bad (11-27) from 2 (41%). we missed a lot of shots at the rim, but I thought Quinn in particular played a really good game.

3) it's easy to see 85 and say our defense was awful but they were only 14-35 from 2 (40%). maybe we gave up too many looks from outside? a guy like Diggins isn't supposed to hit 4 of 5. and we clearly put them on the line too much. I guess too many offensive rebounds, but they only had 2 more than us. we didn't turn it over much. I don't know. I can't put my finger on how they scored 85.

 

[SpiderGuy]

This argument might make sense if we actually had a productive player getting minutes at the point. Nelson has had less than 1 assist per game in A10 play and he is averaging 30 minutes per game! He is also averaging 2.5 turnovers per game. He is also shooting poorly. I just don't understand why he is getting so many minutes when from what I have seen Dji is a better passer, defender, and rebounder.

I think the answer why he’s staying with Nelson is that Mooney sees Nelson as our current and future PG for the next several years. He’s gonna stick with the ups and downs this season that Nelson does.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

let your opponent go 14-3 last 4 mins and score the last 12 pts you cannot win many.

17-5 after the rally-killing post-bucket timeout.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

In a second half where we are getting killed on the boards, Roche is out injured, and we can't figure out a way to stop UMass' offense, I need an explanation from Mooney for the following (I fully realize it ain't coming):

- How do we make our last substitution with 8:21 left in the game? Bigelow had 4 fouls but was playing a great overall game last night. Randolph made some nice contributions earlier in the game. Maybe we could've held it together the last 2 minutes of the game if our guys had gotten some rest?

- Why did Dji stay glued to the bench? You're telling me that in a half where we gave up over 50 points he couldn't have made a difference, especially on Diggins who was toasting us. I know his length could have made a difference but we didn't even get to see it tried.

- What is your timeout strategy exactly? We called one after a 7-0 run with 4:27 left when we had just gotten on a little roll. From that point on we got outscored 17-5 the remainder of the game, with some of our best defensive players riding the pine. Your next timeout after 4:27 was not until under 1:00 to go when we had lost control of the game. And of course the obligatory unused timeouts.

UMass was a team on the ropes - missing key players, coach feuding with fanbase, struggling in conference play. We let a bad team hang around and they gained confidence and embarrassed us down the stretch. We should see a postgame press conference with Mooney furious with himself at how this one went down, but we won't.

All. of. this.

 

[whampas]

And if we would have done great in the regular season and lost in the A-10 tourney last year, you would be on here talking about how the regular season means nothing and it's all about the tourney.

Well, it's all about the tourney THIS year for sure. We're right on schedule. Look out Iowa, we're coming.

 

[97spiderfan]

This argument might make sense if we actually had a productive player getting minutes at the point. Nelson has had less than 1 assist per game in A10 play and he is averaging 30 minutes per game! He is also averaging 2.5 turnovers per game. He is also shooting poorly. I just don't understand why he is getting so many minutes when from what I have seen Dji is a better passer, defender, and rebounder.

Why is Nelson getting minutes and not Dji? Nelson fits Mooney's prototypical role for a PG, which is a small quick offensively orientied PG, who can shoot, and have a good assist to TO ratio..

What Mooney doesn't realize is that while Nelson fits his profile, his results recently are exactly the opposite of what Mooney requires from his PG.

Umass: 5 pts, 2 assists, 1 turnover
VCU: 5 pts, 0 assists, 3 turnovers
Rhody: 9 points, 0 assists, 1 turnover
St. Bonnie: 6 points, 2 assists, 4 turnovers

Over the last 4 games, our starting PG, has had a total of 4 assists and more than double the number of turnovers, while averaging 6 points per game. You want to know why we are struggling so much right, PG play. Nelson is really struggling. And no one would say Nelson is some lockdown defender as justification for him either, cause he isn't. He's OK.

So, when we have another PG, albeit a different mold of one, one is who tall, lanky, and more defensively minded, who is attached to the bench, this is like Exhibit 1000 at this point, as to Mooney's inflexibility as a coach and being able to proactively address issues that are readily visible to everyone. He is not doing the team, Nelson. or Bailey any favors by continuing to ram the same rotation that isn't working out game after game. But yet, this is how Mooney operates.

I'm not saying bench Nelson and start Bailey, what I am saying is you have to see this patten and you have to see our offense just stagnating because of it and to me, you have to give Bailey a good run to see if he can provide the spark that Nelson isn't providing right now.

 

[whamilton19]

And if we would have done great in the regular season and lost in the A-10 tourney last year, you would be on here talking about how the regular season means nothing and it's all about the tourney.

For me its consistency. I'm not asking much, just to be competitive in the conference and make the Tourney more often. One thing Mooney lacks is consistency (Example of that is making the tournament every 10 years) if Richmond won 10+ a10 games in the last 3 years and were competing at the top I’d be okay with it, but you’ll never know what you’ll get with cm and history shows he’s more unreliable than reliable.

 

[SpiderDad75]

Why is Nelson getting minutes and not Dji? Nelson fits Mooney's prototypical role for a PG, which is a small quick offensively orientied PG, who can shoot, and have a good assist to TO ratio..

What Mooney doesn't realize is that while Nelson fits his profile, his results recently are exactly the opposite of what Mooney requires from his PG.

Umass: 5 pts, 2 assists, 1 turnover
VCU: 5 pts, 0 assists, 3 turnovers
Rhody: 9 points, 0 assists, 1 turnover
St. Bonnie: 6 points, 2 assists, 4 turnovers

Over the last 4 games, our starting PG, has had a total of 4 assists and more than double the number of turnovers, while averaging 6 points per game. You want to know why we are struggling so much right, PG play. Nelson is really struggling. And no one would say Nelson is some lockdown defender as justification for him either, cause he isn't. He's OK.

So, when we have another PG, albeit a different mold of one, one is who tall, lanky, and more defensively minded, who is attached to the bench, this is like Exhibit 1000 at this point, as to Mooney's inflexibility as a coach and being able to proactively address issues that are readily visible to everyone. He is not doing the team, Nelson. or Bailey any favors by continuing to ram the same rotation that isn't working out game after game. But yet, this is how Mooney operates.

I'm not saying bench Nelson and start Bailey, what I am saying is you have to see this patten and you have to see our offense just stagnating because of it and to me, you have to give Bailey a good run to see if he can provide the spark that Nelson isn't providing right now.

Great points and I think you nailed it.

 

[spiderman]

Over the last 4 games, our starting PG, has had a total of 4 assists and more than double the number of turnovers, while averaging 6 points per game.

he should have had more assists yesterday. he made plays getting guys open shots and didn't turn it over.

 

[urmite]

no damnit. sorry ulla. It was a ranch, wasn't it? I'd take a ranch over a farm all day every day btw.

I was going with the book, being the other side of Gestapo...

 

[97spiderfan]

he should have had more assists yesterday. he made plays getting guys open shots and didn't turn it over.

In fairness, I didn't watch the game last night, so just went off of the box score. But the VCU game which I was at was really bad in terms of getting the offense set up and running. Just think Dji needs a chance to show us if he can give us something different. Would really like to see him get more than 2-3 minutes at a time to prove it. I think it is really tough to come in for just a few minutes and get in the flow of the game, particularly as a PG.

Also, think by not playing him, we may be pushing him closer to portal, which would be a shame. The season is for all intents and purposes coming down to doing well in March, so lets see what we got with different players/combos till then.

I would say the same about Noyes, let him show us what he can do. We will need him next year, so minutes this year will be really valuable for him too.

 

[spiderman]

as a fan, I'd love to see Dji, Noyes, Walz, etc ... get time to show us.
but I can see it from (any) coach's perspective, too. they see these guys every day. then they make decisions to try to win every game.

if Roche misses games, we'll certainly see more of Randolph and maybe Dji.
I don't see a path for Noyes this year, though. Burton's our #1 and he's in great shape. he's not coming out in a close game, and we're not going to blow anyone out.

 

[VT4700]

In fairness, I didn't watch the game last night, so just went off of the box score. But the VCU game which I was at was really bad in terms of getting the offense set up and running. Just think Dji needs a chance to show us if he can give us something different. Would really like to see him get more than 2-3 minutes at a time to prove it. I think it is really tough to come in for just a few minutes and get in the flow of the game, particularly as a PG.

Also, think by not playing him, we may be pushing him closer to portal, which would be a shame. The season is for all intents and purposes coming down to doing well in March, so lets see what we got with different players/combos till then.

I would say the same about Noyes, let him show us what he can do. We will need him next year, so minutes this year will be really valuable for him too.

Everyone knows my opinion on this so I am trying not to just respond to every post and say the same thing. But, I would like to comment on your post here though.

1. I think Dji has had plenty of chances. It seems like SDad mentions he needs more than a few minutes to show what he can do and everyone just agrees without looking at the facts. Dji has been here 3 years now. In year 1, he had 4 games with 10+ minutes. Year 2, 6 games with 10+ minutes. This year, 7 of these games, getting 21, 18, 17, 15, 14, 14, and 13 minutes. That seems like decent minutes to me, especially this year. Can anyone maybe consider Mooney has already done what many of you have asked, and found out his answer? The coaches have seen him in practice and in games for 3 years now. If he were the answer, don't you think he would be playing more? I mean, Mooney wants to win, and he is going to play the guys that give him the best chance to win.

2. Dji hasn't gotten many minutes at PG. That should tell you what you need to know. Just because a guy plays PG in high school doesn't mean his game translates to PG in college, especially at this level. Remember the JOC article? It mentioned Goose as the back up PG. I think when he did play some point in the FDU game, FDU took the ball away from him 3 times. Also, in 327 career minutes, he is 2-17 from 3. How many college guards have played 300+ minutes with only 2 made 3s? Sorry, but this has to be a factor when discussing playing time at our level. Allow me to ask a fair question. If SDad didn't build him up pre season, would we be seeing the same comments on here? I was a little guilty of buying what I heard. I went from thinking not part of the rotation to backing up Nelson based on SDad's comments. Then, after seeing the first few games this year, I went back to what I had felt all along. I would like to ask what people have seen in the 327 career minutes to have such a different opinion that I have?

3. Wilson and Sal went to the portal. Was that a shame? And, Wilson beat out Dji last year, so doesn't that tell you anything? It seems to me if a guy in year 3 is still frustrated with playing time, and his dad obviously is frustrated, maybe the portal would be the right move to make.

4. I wouldn't mind seeing Noyes, but I also coach to win every game, and don't like a big rotation, so I'm just not sure where and when I would play Noyes right now. So, I get it if people want us to play more guys because we aren't doing great right now, but I still think we have our 8 guys, and that is still who I am riding into the tourney. That could change at some point, but as of now, I am holding onto hope that we can go on a run with the top 8.

 

[POMSpidur]

ok so let's throw the players under the bus to protect the coach. Burton sucks, he will never sniff the NBA and Quinn should have downgraded from the Patriot League instead of upgrading to the A10 because he is also pitiful. That better?

And wow if either player scores a bucket we only lose by 7 instead of 9.

#M4L

You don’t know how basketball works clearly.

 

[VT4700]

I have no answers for last night. I'd have to rewatch and focus just on the defense ... and I'm not up for that. but a couple comments:

1) from the above comments I doubt many will agree, but I really liked the way Nelson played offensively. he reminded me more than ever of Gilly. he pushed tempo without forcing shots. he made probing drives and then accurately kicked out to open guys (like some of us have been looking for). he was very solid with no turnovers until the one in the last minute. he missed some floaters, but he played well.

2) we were bad (11-27) from 2 (41%). we missed a lot of shots at the rim, but I thought Quinn in particular played a really good game.

3) it's easy to see 85 and say our defense was awful but they were only 14-35 from 2 (40%). maybe we gave up too many looks from outside? a guy like Diggins isn't supposed to hit 4 of 5. and we clearly put them on the line too much. I guess too many offensive rebounds, but they only had 2 more than us. we didn't turn it over much. I don't know. I can't put my finger on how they scored 85.

11-23 from 3 and 24-28 from the FT line. You just don't see that very often. If a team makes 10+ 3s, they usually aren't getting to the line that much. They called A LOT of fouls last night. Both teams had 20 fouls, and both went to the line a lot. Getting in the bonus early and making FTs leads to a high scoring game. But, we need to do a lot better defensively than what we saw last night. I still think we are a good defensive team. We have had too many real good defensive games to think otherwise.

 

[POMSpidur]

How many games have we lost in the last 5 minutes this year when we winning? I've lost count. (last year too)

How many have we won in the last 5 minutes when we were losing?

It's a disgusting pattern POM. That's coaching.

With 2 minutes left it’s a tied game though? If you’re blaming the whole game on the coach for 1/8 of the game, I guess the rational confuses me…
But nevertheless. It’s a tie game with 2 minutes left, and you get a layup from your best player on one position and a wide open three from him on the next possession… I’m not sure you can ask for much better offensively!

 

[POMSpidur]

😂😂nah you cut it out. He played 6 min in 1st half RI and last 4 min 2nd half of VCU. There are some guys in the rotation that don’t make much happen but hey…

We were up 3 with 3 minutes left. You guys have been harping up and down how well we played and scored most of the game… so why after a bad 3 min stretch, do we need to put him in?

yeah why would we need to give another solid player an opportunity when other guys aren’t playing well and esp when one of our guys got cooked for 23 pts last night 🤷🏼‍♂️

What has been proven to be solid? What numbers or justification can you show me that has been proven?
I agree 1000% one of those guys, maybe two in the starting line up should be playing less. But it’s hard to think that it should be Dji over Randolph. Especially fresh off an injury.

 

[SpiderDad75]

Year 1 Roster - Gilly, Blake, Grant, Nate, Goose, Matt, Nick, Tyler, Zay, Dji ---- If someone thinks Dji was able to show him self as Fr with this roster you may be on the crack pipe! Those guys didn't come out

Year 2 SAME Roster minus Blake - Years 1 &2 If you think Dji was given fair shot at what he could do last year----You may still be on the crack pipe...Those guys didn't come out

Year 3 Roster - Goose, Matt, Tyler - These guys don't come out...before his injury about 11 min a game. 3 games back and fully healthy who is the guy who didn't get his spot back like another player on the team did?? SEE A PATTERN?

So spew that garbage of he's "had plenty of time for 3 years"...to your family and friends not to most up here that understand how the game works. 2 min here, 3 min there isn't how most players play esp one that is NOT one demential and can effect the game in multiple ways. But yeah he's had plenty of time.

 

[8legs1dream]

You don’t know how basketball works clearly.

I'm not in love with a losing coach like you are, so I know enough about how basketball works to avoid that mistake at least 🤷‍♂️

 

[SpiderDad75]

What has been proven to be solid? What numbers or justification can you show me that has been proven?
I agree 1000% one of those guys, maybe two in the starting line up should be playing less. But it’s hard to think that it should be Dji over Randolph. Especially fresh off an injury.

Interesting bc they were both getting the same minutes...pre injury...But maybe there is a different reason he didn't get his spot back like one of our super Srs. who didn't even do practice and still was brought back 🤔 Dude what numbers are you going to have if you keep getting yanked after 2-3 min IF you played & maybe you did & it was here idk & idc, you should know players can't play like that. NO ONE on here can say that Dji can't help this team.. Yeah I'm dad and biased but I know his game and I see guys making more mistakes than him. We just lost to UMASS with 3 of their starters out and our best defender got cooked for 23...but yeah Dji couldn't have helped there.

 

[Eight Legger]

With 2 minutes left it’s a tied game though? If you’re blaming the whole game on the coach for 1/8 of the game, I guess the rational confuses me…
But nevertheless. It’s a tie game with 2 minutes left, and you get a layup from your best player on one position and a wide open three from him on the next possession… I’m not sure you can ask for much better offensively!

Under no circumstances should we have been tied with a team like UMass -- one that was in total disarray, missing its best player and another starter -- with 2 minutes to go in the game. Inexcusable. THAT was the problem.

 

[97spiderfan]

Everyone knows my opinion on this so I am trying not to just respond to every post and say the same thing. But, I would like to comment on your post here though.

If he were the answer, don't you think he would be playing more? I mean, Mooney wants to win, and he is going to play the guys that give him the best chance to win.

How's that working? We are 11-10. We've won 1 road game all year. 0-6 against Quad 1 and 2 teams. All of our wins are against Quad 3 and Quad 4 teams.

So are we really playing the guys that give us the best chance to win? Cause if we are, you would think we would be winning more and maybe actually beating a quality team every once in a while.

 

[VT4700]

Year 1 Roster - Gilly, Blake, Grant, Nate, Goose, Matt, Nick, Tyler, Zay, Dji ---- If someone thinks Dji was able to show him self as Fr with this roster you may be on the crack pipe! Those guys didn't come out

Year 2 SAME Roster minus Blake - Years 1 &2 If you think Dji was given fair shot at what he could do last year----You may still be on the crack pipe...Those guys didn't come out

Year 3 Roster - Goose, Matt, Tyler - These guys don't come out...before his injury about 11 min a game. 3 games back and fully healthy who is the guy who didn't get his spot back like another player on the team did?? SEE A PATTERN?

So spew that garbage of he's "had plenty of time for 3 years"...to your family and friends not to most up here that understand how the game works. 2 min here, 3 min there isn't how most players play esp one that is NOT one demential and can effect the game in multiple ways. But yeah he's had plenty of time.

Wow, you are something else. Yes, I see a pattern. A player isn't good enough to crack a rotation. Happens at every school, but it is our school and our coach who doesn't give him a fair shot? Are Dread, Noyes, and Walz not getting a "fair shot" either? Maybe try to make an impact in the numerous double digit minute games?? Wilson played a lot last year. Maybe beat him out pre injury and that would have meant more minutes. I mean, you are asking why a, what, 10th or 11th?, guy in the rotation last year and 9th this year didn't play more instead of saying maybe he didn't he do enough to play more. What guy so far down in the rotation plays more than the 21, 18, 17, 15, 14, 14, and 13 minutes he has gotten in some games? Wow, that really makes sense....lets give a guy 9th in the rotation 25 minutes. But, hey, you keep being you and make your excuses and think just a few more minutes (maybe 350 instead of 327???) would make any difference.

 

[Spiders4ever]

Un effing believable.

 

[Eight Legger]

Taking victory laps after we got our asses handed to us by a horribly depleted and poorly coached UMass team is... something.

 

[VT4700]

How's that working? We are 11-10. We've won 1 road game all year. 0-6 against Quad 1 and 2 teams. All of our wins are against Quad 3 and Quad 4 teams.

So are we really playing the guys that give us the best chance to win? Cause if we are, you would think we would be winning more and maybe actually beating a quality team every once in a while.

So, should Dread play too? Walz? Very very very few teams do what you are asking. Teams have their rotations and you are asking to forget practice, forget games, forget 3 years of evidence and just play certain guys that have been beaten out by others because we are 11-10? Who does that?

 

[VT4700]

Taking victory laps after we got our asses handed to us by a horribly depleted and poorly coached UMass team is... something.

Who did that?

 

[VT4700]

Interesting bc they were both getting the same minutes...pre injury...But maybe there is a different reason he didn't get his spot back like one of our super Srs. who didn't even do practice and still was brought back 🤔 Dude what numbers are you going to have if you keep getting yanked after 2-3 min IF you played & maybe you did & it was here idk & idc, you should know players can't play like that. NO ONE on here can say that Dji can't help this team.. Yeah I'm dad and biased but I know his game and I see guys making more mistakes than him. We just lost to UMASS with 3 of their starters out and our best defender got cooked for 23...but yeah Dji couldn't have helped there. VT and his incredibly stupid reasoning is prob the only one that believes opposite...and maybe you idk 🤷‍♂️

Stupid reasoning? The only one? Looks like the coaches agree with me. You love throwing the insults, don't you? Clown, stupid, don't know basketball...class act. If you would just stop, I wouldn't have to respond with any negative comments that upset you so much. Was I the one that said 20/20 split at PG? Looks like I have been proven right here. The sooner you realize this the better, for everyone involved. Yes, you are biased. Very very biased. And, you just don't get it. Randolph has come in and provided a spark RIGHT AWAY in numerous games. But, our coach is supposed be like no other coach out there and cater to our 9th guy in the rotation and just leave him out there for a long time so he can finally get settled in after his what, 10th or 12th minute in a row?

 

[VT4700]

You guys can attack me all you want, but there was nothing wrong with my reply to 97. Nothing. Disagree all you want, and that is fine, but you know there was nothing wrong with what I said.

 

[Spiders10]

I mean, Mooney wants to win, and he is going to play the guys that give him the best chance to win.

Is this true?

 

[SpiderAlways]

Is this true?

Oh yeah, we winning baby!! 55%

 

[Spiders10]

I hop on this board a couple times a year. I guess I do it for confirmation that nothing has changed. Same recycled BAU bullshit

 

[VT4700]

Is this true?

Well, apparently someone on here thinks he doesn't.

 

[GKiller]

Who was the player who reclaimed his role…Grace right? Long season tho still time I don’t want to take it for granted either. Kinda forgot he was out at all. But I didn’t get the comparison. Of course he’ll get back in there quickly. Grace was out less games I think, is the more valuable player, has had a more established consistent mins role thru career, and most importantly plays a position w only 1 other player at his spot. Unless we go small which I’m not opposed to.

 

[MrTbone]

I did say with good PG play we could win 20 games. PG was an unknown going in..

Would you concede that our PG play isn’t very good?

 

[RichmondNative]

Went back and watched most of the second half again.

Roche got fallen on by another player around the 14 minute mark, but he continued to play for about 3 more minutes. However you could tell his knee was bothering him. Hopefully it is a sprain and he didn’t mess himself up by continuing to play.

Looked like UMass mostly scored on switches that were in their favor and I didn’t see any one player who was getting constantly beaten, but no one was playing good D. Cross especially wanted the ball more and got some critical rebounds. The turning point was really when Cross went hard to the basket and basically knocked Burton down and Burton was looking for a call and instead got out of position leading to the dunk. So the griping hurt.

On offense, the story was that Burton missed the shots he was making to keep the Spiders in the game in the second half. Had two wide open looks from 3 that he missed. UMass kept hitting all its foul shots giving UR no chance of catching up. Then of course it was finishing the game with a bad turnover.

A review of the starting 5:

Nelson: As @spiderman mentioned, JayNel was driving into the lane which was “new”, but he missed any shots he took lowering the effectiveness. Looked about half a step slower than he needs to be, as he is not big enough to shot over anyone. No turnovers until the terrible one at the end. Definitely a weaker performance on D.

Goose: Did the usual scoring early in the game and then nothing although he did take more 3s as some have wanted. Did not make more though. Not as effective on D, but UMass was really spreading it out scoring wise.

Burton:A double double, but not enough and as mentioned he didn’t come through in crunch time. Obviously he is pulling the load for the team, but being “the man” is why he returned. Unfortunately, did not deliver.

Quinn: Great game from Quinn and delivered what everyone has been wanting to see from the post player. Incredible improvement from FT line and great energy including a follow on dunk on a missed Goose 3. He had a number of ghost fouls called on him, which of course led to UMass points. Also saw the “Golden 3“ from top of key that I can live without, but obviously he was coached up on that shot.

Grace: Disappearing act from Matt, but I suppose partly because of focus on getting Quinn more involved. A weak defensive effort. As many have said all year, do not understand why Grace/Quinn pairing is used so much and especially at the start of the game.

Have to highlight one bench player as well. Saw a solid game from Bigelow on the offensive end, but he was getting somewhat schooled on D leading to 4 fouls in second half alone. I guess Mooney did not want to have anyone foul out in the game, since as noted by many he came out with 8 minutes to go and never returned.

 

[VT4700]

Would you concede that our PG play isn’t very good?

At times, it hasn't been. I would say Nelson has had above average, average, and below average games. Maybe that should be expected with a freshman PG, but I was hoping for a few more above average games and a few less below average games. He's a keeper, though, and I still want him out there a lot.

 

[Spiders05]

Went back and watched most of the second half again.

Roche got fallen on by another player around the 14 minute mark, but he continued to play for about 3 more minutes. However you could tell his knee was bothering him. Hopefully it is a sprain and he didn’t mess himself up by continuing to play.

Looked like UMass mostly scored on switches that were in their favor and I didn’t see any one player who was getting constantly beaten, but no one was playing good D. Cross especially wanted the ball more and got some critical rebounds. The turning point was really when Cross went hard to the basket and basically knocked Burton down and Burton was looking for a call and instead got out of position leading to the dunk. So the griping hurt.

On offense, the story was that Burton missed the shots he was making to keep the Spiders in the game in the second half. Had two wide open looks from 3 that he missed. UMass kept hitting all its foul shots giving UR no chance of catching up. Then of course it was finishing the game with a bad turnover.

A review of the starting 5:

Nelson: As @spiderman mentioned, JayNel was driving into the lane which was “new”, but he missed any shots he took lowering the effectiveness. Looked about half a step slower than he needs to be, as he is not big enough to shot over anyone. No turnovers until the terrible one at the end. Definitely a weaker performance on D.

Goose: Did the usual scoring early in the game and then nothing although he did take more 3s as some have wanted. Did not make more though. Not as effective on D, but UMass was really spreading it out scoring wise.

Burton:A double double, but not enough and as mentioned he didn’t come through in crunch time. Obviously he is pulling the load for the team, but being “the man” is why he returned. Unfortunately, did not deliver.

Quinn: Great game from Quinn and delivered what everyone has been wanting to see from the post player. Incredible improvement from FT line and great energy including a follow on dunk on a missed Goose 3. He had a number of ghost fouls called on him, which of course led to UMass points. Also saw the “Golden 3“ from top of key that I can live without, but obviously he was coached up on that shot.

Grace: Disappearing act from Matt, but I suppose partly because of focus on getting Quinn more involved. A weak defensive effort. As many have said all year, do not understand why Grace/Quinn pairing is used so much and especially at the start of the game.

Have to highlight one bench player as well. Saw a solid game from Bigelow on the offensive end, but he was getting somewhat schooled on D leading to 4 fouls in second half alone. I guess Mooney did not want to have anyone foul out in the game, since as noted by many he came out with 8 minutes to go and never returned.

Appreciate the time you put into this.

 

[MrTbone]

At times, it hasn't been. I would say Nelson has had above average, average, and below average games. Maybe that should be expected with a freshman PG, but I was hoping for a few more above average games and a few less below average games. He's a keeper, though, and I still want him out there a lot.

So I’m not heavily down on JayNel but will say that the continued preponderance of time he gets points to a few things:

1. “Best players play” - If he is our best PG, we have failed to develop him to be average to better than average. I think this is objectively true both statistically and in terms of results.
2. If we have failed to develop him, why? Gave 1.66 seasons away to Isaiah Wilson only to determine he didn’t have a future here? That seems like a pretty big talent evaluation miss. We should have had a more ready PG behind Gilyard developing the last two years.
3. Alternately, If he’s not our best, why are we not evaluating all the options (Goose, Randolph, and yes, Dji) in a more balanced way? I find it hard to believe that there isn’t some merit to this given we are not ultra competitive and are only playing for tournament seeding.

It just feels like a stubborn insistence on sticking to a game plan that doesn’t seem to be working.

 

[Eight Legger]

As usual with this coach, there is zero sense of urgency. The season is two-thirds over and he's acting like we have 60 games left to figure it out. No.. We pissed it away already.