(07-01-2021 04:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I saw a tweet yesterday of Sydne Wiggins in an SMU uniform that said something like committed. She's gone.

BTW, the men's roster was updated today with the new additions. We have 16 players on the roster (13 scholarship players, 3 walk-ons), which is a ton.

https://riceowls.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

The newcomers are Jaden Geron and Damion McDowell (the freshmen from California we signed back in the fall), the grad transfers Carl Pierre and Terrance McBride) and the walk-on Jackson Peakes. I can't recall the PG's name from Houston that elw kept talking about but he's not on the roster, sorry. You'll have to find out where he ended up.

Is by any chance Adam Peakes son?

(07-01-2021 05:42 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 04:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I saw a tweet yesterday of Sydne Wiggins in an SMU uniform that said something like committed. She's gone.

BTW, the men's roster was updated today with the new additions. We have 16 players on the roster (13 scholarship players, 3 walk-ons), which is a ton.

https://riceowls.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

The newcomers are Jaden Geron and Damion McDowell (the freshmen from California we signed back in the fall), the grad transfers Carl Pierre and Terrance McBride) and the walk-on Jackson Peakes. I can't recall the PG's name from Houston that elw kept talking about but he's not on the roster, sorry. You'll have to find out where he ended up.

Damn, a sad end to the Elijah Lawrence saga. I honestly have no clue how Pera is going to manage minutes while keeping everybody happy. That's not a bad problem to have, but it can also be a quick route to disaster if things don't go as smoothly as we all hope. The fun questions for me are about Sheffield, Hutchins, McDowell, and Geron. Do we see McDowell and Geron redshirt (McDowell is supposedly a plus defender, something we could use)? Does McBride coming in relegate Hutchins to the end of the bench? Does Sheffield get enough minutes to continue his development? Same for Poteat? I know we won't know in full what the answers are until the first exhibition (save for any insider tidbits), but I do hope the social media accounts anticipate the relative excitement surrounding the program this year and give us some decent content.

Pera and the coaching staff are scheduled to give a zoom update to members of the 3-point Club on July 22nd.

(07-01-2021 06:39 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 04:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I saw a tweet yesterday of Sydne Wiggins in an SMU uniform that said something like committed. She's gone.

BTW, the men's roster was updated today with the new additions. We have 16 players on the roster (13 scholarship players, 3 walk-ons), which is a ton.

https://riceowls.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

The newcomers are Jaden Geron and Damion McDowell (the freshmen from California we signed back in the fall), the grad transfers Carl Pierre and Terrance McBride) and the walk-on Jackson Peakes. I can't recall the PG's name from Houston that elw kept talking about but he's not on the roster, sorry. You'll have to find out where he ended up.

Is by any chance Adam Peakes son?

Yes

(07-01-2021 08:25 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 06:39 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 04:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I saw a tweet yesterday of Sydne Wiggins in an SMU uniform that said something like committed. She's gone.

BTW, the men's roster was updated today with the new additions. We have 16 players on the roster (13 scholarship players, 3 walk-ons), which is a ton.

https://riceowls.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

The newcomers are Jaden Geron and Damion McDowell (the freshmen from California we signed back in the fall), the grad transfers Carl Pierre and Terrance McBride) and the walk-on Jackson Peakes. I can't recall the PG's name from Houston that elw kept talking about but he's not on the roster, sorry. You'll have to find out where he ended up.

Is by any chance Adam Peakes son?

Yes

Seems I remember Adam was a walk-on also

(07-01-2021 08:57 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 08:25 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 06:39 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 04:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I saw a tweet yesterday of Sydne Wiggins in an SMU uniform that said something like committed. She's gone.

BTW, the men's roster was updated today with the new additions. We have 16 players on the roster (13 scholarship players, 3 walk-ons), which is a ton.

https://riceowls.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

The newcomers are Jaden Geron and Damion McDowell (the freshmen from California we signed back in the fall), the grad transfers Carl Pierre and Terrance McBride) and the walk-on Jackson Peakes. I can't recall the PG's name from Houston that elw kept talking about but he's not on the roster, sorry. You'll have to find out where he ended up.

Is by any chance Adam Peakes son?

Yes

Seems I remember Adam was a walk-on also

Jackson appeared to be quite the 3 pt shooter at St. Johns.

(07-01-2021 05:42 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 04:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I saw a tweet yesterday of Sydne Wiggins in an SMU uniform that said something like committed. She's gone.

BTW, the men's roster was updated today with the new additions. We have 16 players on the roster (13 scholarship players, 3 walk-ons), which is a ton.

https://riceowls.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

... I can't recall the PG's name from Houston that elw kept talking about but he's not on the roster, sorry. You'll have to find out where he ended up.

Damn, a sad end to the Elijah Lawrence saga. ...

What happened?

(07-01-2021 11:41 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 05:42 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 04:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I saw a tweet yesterday of Sydne Wiggins in an SMU uniform that said something like committed. She's gone.

BTW, the men's roster was updated today with the new additions. We have 16 players on the roster (13 scholarship players, 3 walk-ons), which is a ton.

https://riceowls.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

... I can't recall the PG's name from Houston that elw kept talking about but he's not on the roster, sorry. You'll have to find out where he ended up.

Damn, a sad end to the Elijah Lawrence saga. ...

What happened?

Could be a number of things. He just decommitted, academic issues, Pera asked him not to sign, etc. Most likely the first but we'll probably never know.

(07-02-2021 08:30 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 11:41 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 05:42 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Damn, a sad end to the Elijah Lawrence saga. ...

What happened?

Could be a number of things. He just decommitted, academic issues, Pera asked him not to sign, etc. Most likely the first but we'll probably never know.

"Rather than focusing on the past," today he committed to Oral Roberts: https://twitter.com/elithepg1/status/141...3191467014

(07-02-2021 02:41 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(07-02-2021 08:30 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 11:41 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(07-01-2021 05:42 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Damn, a sad end to the Elijah Lawrence saga. ...

What happened?

Could be a number of things. He just decommitted, academic issues, Pera asked him not to sign, etc. Most likely the first but we'll probably never know.

"Rather than focusing on the past," today he committed to Oral Roberts: https://twitter.com/elithepg1/status/141...3191467014

Wow, good timing. I swear, if he turns into the next Max Abmas...

Jordan Majewski, who I consider to be by far the most knowledgeable mid-major basketball writer in America, predicts Rice to finish 8th in CUSA. Full predictions below:

https://staringatthefloorboards.wordpres...n-preview/

Essentially, he has the same picture that many of us do. We know Pera's offense will thrive, but we need evidence that he can coach a top-4 conference defense. I don't fully agree with some of what he writes. I don't agree, for example, that McBride is similar to Evee and Olivari. Around 30% of McBride's shots are 3s versus about 60-65% for Evee and Olivari. I'd imagine McBride will play more of an attacking role, which in turn will help us break down defenses that hug us tight on the perimeter (ideally so will Hutchins). He doesn't think Pierre's addition will be too impactful (which I can understand). No insight into either McDowell or Geron, not unsurprising considering they were not too heavily recruited.

(07-23-2021 09:42 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Jordan Majewski, who I consider to be by far the most knowledgeable mid-major basketball writer in America, predicts Rice to finish 8th in CUSA. Full predictions below:

https://staringatthefloorboards.wordpres...n-preview/

Essentially, he has the same picture that many of us do. We know Pera's offense will thrive, but we need evidence that he can coach a top-4 conference defense. I don't fully agree with some of what he writes. I don't agree, for example, that McBride is similar to Evee and Olivari. Around 30% of McBride's shots are 3s versus about 60-65% for Evee and Olivari. I'd imagine McBride will play more of an attacking role, which in turn will help us break down defenses that hug us tight on the perimeter (ideally so will Hutchins). He doesn't think Pierre's addition will be too impactful (which I can understand). No insight into either McDowell or Geron, not unsurprising considering they were not too heavily recruited.

I think Pierre will be the 6th or 7th player off the bench, to spell either Evee or Olivari. I can't see the three of them on the court at the same time. Will Pera go with a 4 guard rotation? Or have Abercrombe and/or Poteat developed sufficiently to be starting power forwards? (From a defensive perspective, we really need to hope this is the case.) Pera raved about McDowell's defensive ability at last night's 3-point Club zoom call. He and Mullins will likely be our two best perimeter defenders. I think we'll match up VERY well against small teams, but with us being so guard-heavy (Evee, Oliveri, Sheffield, McBride, Mullins, Lieppert), with Sheffield being the only one with height and length, we're going to be at a major disadvantage defensively unless Abercrombie and/or Poteat have improved significantly to earn starter minutes.

Having said all that, we have the depth this year to play much more aggressively on defense than we did last year, when we played much of the year with just 8 active players. And where I disagree with Majewski is that I think our inside - outside offense (with Fiedler's superior passing skills) will keep us in games against just about everyone (save for perhaps UH and UT).

BTW, in that Thanksgiving tournament, we drew Evansville in the first round. Pera said the final schedule should be release shortly (as he expect the last outstanding contract to be signed within a day or two).

(07-23-2021 10:05 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 09:42 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Jordan Majewski, who I consider to be by far the most knowledgeable mid-major basketball writer in America, predicts Rice to finish 8th in CUSA. Full predictions below:

https://staringatthefloorboards.wordpres...n-preview/

Essentially, he has the same picture that many of us do. We know Pera's offense will thrive, but we need evidence that he can coach a top-4 conference defense. I don't fully agree with some of what he writes. I don't agree, for example, that McBride is similar to Evee and Olivari. Around 30% of McBride's shots are 3s versus about 60-65% for Evee and Olivari. I'd imagine McBride will play more of an attacking role, which in turn will help us break down defenses that hug us tight on the perimeter (ideally so will Hutchins). He doesn't think Pierre's addition will be too impactful (which I can understand). No insight into either McDowell or Geron, not unsurprising considering they were not too heavily recruited.

I think Pierre will be the 6th or 7th player off the bench, to spell either Evee or Olivari. I can't see the three of them on the court at the same time. Will Pera go with a 4 guard rotation? Or have Abercrombe and/or Poteat developed sufficiently to be starting power forwards? (From a defensive perspective, we really need to hope this is the case.) Pera raved about McDowell's defensive ability at last night's 3-point Club zoom call. He and Mullins will likely be our two best perimeter defenders. I think we'll match up VERY well against small teams, but with us being so guard-heavy (Evee, Oliveri, Sheffield, McBride, Mullins, Lieppert), with Sheffield being the only one with height and length, we're going to be at a major disadvantage defensively unless Abercrombie and/or Poteat have improved significantly to earn starter minutes.

Having said all that, we have the depth this year to play much more aggressively on defense than we did last year, when we played much of the year with just 8 active players. And where I disagree with Majewski is that I think our inside - outside offense (with Fiedler's superior passing skills) will keep us in games against just about everyone (save for perhaps UH and UT).

BTW, in that Thanksgiving tournament, we drew Evansville in the first round. Pera said the final schedule should be release shortly (as he expect the last outstanding contract to be signed within a day or two).

Good to hear that the HS scouting about McDowell is true. With that being the case, it wouldn't shock me to see him take some minutes from Abercrombie and Sheffield.

Any other non-scheduling insight from the call?

(07-23-2021 10:11 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 10:05 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 09:42 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Jordan Majewski, who I consider to be by far the most knowledgeable mid-major basketball writer in America, predicts Rice to finish 8th in CUSA. Full predictions below:

https://staringatthefloorboards.wordpres...n-preview/

Essentially, he has the same picture that many of us do. We know Pera's offense will thrive, but we need evidence that he can coach a top-4 conference defense. I don't fully agree with some of what he writes. I don't agree, for example, that McBride is similar to Evee and Olivari. Around 30% of McBride's shots are 3s versus about 60-65% for Evee and Olivari. I'd imagine McBride will play more of an attacking role, which in turn will help us break down defenses that hug us tight on the perimeter (ideally so will Hutchins). He doesn't think Pierre's addition will be too impactful (which I can understand). No insight into either McDowell or Geron, not unsurprising considering they were not too heavily recruited.

I think Pierre will be the 6th or 7th player off the bench, to spell either Evee or Olivari. I can't see the three of them on the court at the same time. Will Pera go with a 4 guard rotation? Or have Abercrombe and/or Poteat developed sufficiently to be starting power forwards? (From a defensive perspective, we really need to hope this is the case.) Pera raved about McDowell's defensive ability at last night's 3-point Club zoom call. He and Mullins will likely be our two best perimeter defenders. I think we'll match up VERY well against small teams, but with us being so guard-heavy (Evee, Oliveri, Sheffield, McBride, Mullins, Lieppert), with Sheffield being the only one with height and length, we're going to be at a major disadvantage defensively unless Abercrombie and/or Poteat have improved significantly to earn starter minutes.

Having said all that, we have the depth this year to play much more aggressively on defense than we did last year, when we played much of the year with just 8 active players. And where I disagree with Majewski is that I think our inside - outside offense (with Fiedler's superior passing skills) will keep us in games against just about everyone (save for perhaps UH and UT).

BTW, in that Thanksgiving tournament, we drew Evansville in the first round. Pera said the final schedule should be release shortly (as he expect the last outstanding contract to be signed within a day or two).

Good to hear that the HS scouting about McDowell is true. With that being the case, it wouldn't shock me to see him take some minutes from Abercrombie and Sheffield.

Any other non-scheduling insight from the call?

No really, aside from announcing the UH and UT games. Spent most of the time introducing the new players (with videos of their play). He said the newcomers have already been fully integrated into the team, and in all his years of coaching he has never been around an entire team that truly like each other this much. The chemistry, coupled with the return of almost all of last year's team, should be a key strength.

(07-23-2021 10:11 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 10:05 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 09:42 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Jordan Majewski, who I consider to be by far the most knowledgeable mid-major basketball writer in America, predicts Rice to finish 8th in CUSA. Full predictions below:

https://staringatthefloorboards.wordpres...n-preview/

Essentially, he has the same picture that many of us do. We know Pera's offense will thrive, but we need evidence that he can coach a top-4 conference defense. I don't fully agree with some of what he writes. I don't agree, for example, that McBride is similar to Evee and Olivari. Around 30% of McBride's shots are 3s versus about 60-65% for Evee and Olivari. I'd imagine McBride will play more of an attacking role, which in turn will help us break down defenses that hug us tight on the perimeter (ideally so will Hutchins). He doesn't think Pierre's addition will be too impactful (which I can understand). No insight into either McDowell or Geron, not unsurprising considering they were not too heavily recruited.

I think Pierre will be the 6th or 7th player off the bench, to spell either Evee or Olivari. I can't see the three of them on the court at the same time. Will Pera go with a 4 guard rotation? Or have Abercrombe and/or Poteat developed sufficiently to be starting power forwards? (From a defensive perspective, we really need to hope this is the case.) Pera raved about McDowell's defensive ability at last night's 3-point Club zoom call. He and Mullins will likely be our two best perimeter defenders. I think we'll match up VERY well against small teams, but with us being so guard-heavy (Evee, Oliveri, Sheffield, McBride, Mullins, Lieppert), with Sheffield being the only one with height and length, we're going to be at a major disadvantage defensively unless Abercrombie and/or Poteat have improved significantly to earn starter minutes.

Having said all that, we have the depth this year to play much more aggressively on defense than we did last year, when we played much of the year with just 8 active players. And where I disagree with Majewski is that I think our inside - outside offense (with Fiedler's superior passing skills) will keep us in games against just about everyone (save for perhaps UH and UT).

BTW, in that Thanksgiving tournament, we drew Evansville in the first round. Pera said the final schedule should be release shortly (as he expect the last outstanding contract to be signed within a day or two).

Good to hear that the HS scouting about McDowell is true. With that being the case, it wouldn't shock me to see him take some minutes from Abercrombie and Sheffield.

Any other non-scheduling insight from the call?

I agree that it's possible that Pierre (and likely McBride) will be our 6th/7th men. But-what's not say that one of them replaces Mullins in the lineup. Elw-do you have any data on Pierre and McBride's defensive efficiency #'s as compared to Mullins?

(07-23-2021 10:23 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 10:11 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 10:05 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(07-23-2021 09:42 AM)elw4796 Wrote:  Jordan Majewski, who I consider to be by far the most knowledgeable mid-major basketball writer in America, predicts Rice to finish 8th in CUSA. Full predictions below:

https://staringatthefloorboards.wordpres...n-preview/

Essentially, he has the same picture that many of us do. We know Pera's offense will thrive, but we need evidence that he can coach a top-4 conference defense. I don't fully agree with some of what he writes. I don't agree, for example, that McBride is similar to Evee and Olivari. Around 30% of McBride's shots are 3s versus about 60-65% for Evee and Olivari. I'd imagine McBride will play more of an attacking role, which in turn will help us break down defenses that hug us tight on the perimeter (ideally so will Hutchins). He doesn't think Pierre's addition will be too impactful (which I can understand). No insight into either McDowell or Geron, not unsurprising considering they were not too heavily recruited.

I think Pierre will be the 6th or 7th player off the bench, to spell either Evee or Olivari. I can't see the three of them on the court at the same time. Will Pera go with a 4 guard rotation? Or have Abercrombe and/or Poteat developed sufficiently to be starting power forwards? (From a defensive perspective, we really need to hope this is the case.) Pera raved about McDowell's defensive ability at last night's 3-point Club zoom call. He and Mullins will likely be our two best perimeter defenders. I think we'll match up VERY well against small teams, but with us being so guard-heavy (Evee, Oliveri, Sheffield, McBride, Mullins, Lieppert), with Sheffield being the only one with height and length, we're going to be at a major disadvantage defensively unless Abercrombie and/or Poteat have improved significantly to earn starter minutes.

Having said all that, we have the depth this year to play much more aggressively on defense than we did last year, when we played much of the year with just 8 active players. And where I disagree with Majewski is that I think our inside - outside offense (with Fiedler's superior passing skills) will keep us in games against just about everyone (save for perhaps UH and UT).

BTW, in that Thanksgiving tournament, we drew Evansville in the first round. Pera said the final schedule should be release shortly (as he expect the last outstanding contract to be signed within a day or two).

Good to hear that the HS scouting about McDowell is true. With that being the case, it wouldn't shock me to see him take some minutes from Abercrombie and Sheffield.

Any other non-scheduling insight from the call?

I agree that it's possible that Pierre (and likely McBride) will be our 6th/7th men. But-what's not say that one of them replaces Mullins in the lineup. Elw-do you have any data on Pierre and McBride's defensive efficiency #'s as compared to Mullins?

Here's what I have on McBride and Pierre (these are all points per 100 possessions):

McBride: When he was on the floor for Cornell in 19-20, their defensive rating was 3.9 points worse (their offensive rating was 10.3 points worse when he was off the floor).

Pierre: UMass were a massive 12.8 points better defensively when Pierre was off the court in 20-21, 6.4 points better defensively in 19-20 when he was off the floor, and 8.8 points worse defensively in 18-19 when he was off the floor.

I don't believe there's any metric (above included) that can properly quantify a player's defense, so take the stats with a grain of salt.

Unrelated to the question at hand, but the same website I use has data for the women too. Rice without Mulkey on the floor last year: 19.6 points worse offensively, 18.2 points worse defensively. And I would recommend the below website for anybody who loves data. Free trial until the next season starts.

https://cbbanalytics.com/team-scatter

https://www.thehrr.com/Rice_Owls/mens_ba...Pg.twitter

Podcast with Scott Pera. He mentions a NC game with Houston (which we expected), the Florida multi-team tournament, and then a NC game at Texas (that's new info). Those three games (or more like 5 games) should make this year's NC schedule much more competitive than recent seasons.

(07-23-2021 03:43 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  https://www.thehrr.com/Rice_Owls/mens_ba...Pg.twitter

Podcast with Scott Pera. He mentions a NC game with Houston (which we expected), the Florida multi-team tournament, and then a NC game at Texas (that's new info). Those three games (or more like 5 games) should make this year's NC schedule much more competitive than recent seasons.

As I mentioned in my above post, we open the Florida tournament against Evansville with an 11:00am start time. It's an 8-team, single elimination tournament. If we lose the first game, we only play 2 games (as the losers in the first round play consolation games).

I think I'll stick with the Rice release on the tournament

As I mentioned, it's 3 games in Florida regardless of how we do the first two games. Evansville on Nov. 22, then either Oakland or Vermont on Nov. 23, and then either Akron, Appalachian State, Delaware or Fordham on Nov. 24th. I want to say Evansville was also in the 2019 tournament we played in the Bahamas, but we didn't play them that weekend?

https://riceowls.com/news/2021/7/29/mens...wcase.aspx

First men's practice was today. From the pictures on Twitter, looks like either everybody was dressed or 15/16 guys were dressed with the exception of Olivari. Either way, good to get through the summer fully or mostly uninjured.

(09-28-2021 04:27 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  First men's practice was today. From the pictures on Twitter, looks like either everybody was dressed or 15/16 guys were dressed with the exception of Olivari. Either way, good to get through the summer fully or mostly uninjured.

Any idea if his injury is serious?

He's the last guy we can afford to lose (because he's our best player-though we do have good guard depth).