My one reaction to the highlight reel is that I hope they don't fall in love with blocking three-point shots, because while it worked against Alabama A&M, the reality is that it's a sucker's bet more often than not and can often lead to fouls and sending them to the line. Those blocks were decent attempts, but my fear is with continued success, some players will try for it more and more in cases where it doesn't work (because the shot wind-up isn't as long as these), and that's when you start fouling.

But reading this, I could have sworn that A&M must have been scoring 80+, because Rice was constantly giving up easy buckets (according to the occasional post). I was surprised to see the final held them under 60. So credit to the team - holding anyone under 60 should be applauded in a game with (by my rough count in the PBP) 72 possessions for Rice. (I'm not sure if offensive rebounds team rebounds off a missed Rice field goal are supposed to count as an extra possession or not - in my count, I did not. With A&M's offensive rebounding, they created additional opportunities for themselves.)

(11-13-2018 09:43 AM)gsloth Wrote:  . (I'm not sure if offensive rebounds team rebounds off a missed Rice field goal are supposed to count as an extra possession or not - in my count, I did not.

I would count them as a new possession.

(11-12-2018 09:48 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  73-59 final.

Color me unconvinced by this team.

I have no idea whether to be convinced or not. Better to be 2-1 than 0-3, so things could certainly be worse. 41% of Rice's minutes were played by true freshman, all 5 of them getting at least 11 minutes. So at least there is some growth potential there.

(11-12-2018 09:51 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Negatives:
- 18 turnovers, 59% from the line. No commentary needed

The poor FT shooting is definitely a concern (only 65% after 3 games). 15 turnovers/game is also a problem. That said, 56% of the turnovers have been by the true freshman, so hopefully they improve as they continue to adjust to the college game.

(11-12-2018 10:30 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I'm sorry but Rob Martin needs to be starting for Tim Harrison. Bring Harrison off the bench.

I don't get the complaints about Harrison. He played 8 minutes yesterday, 10 mins against Penn, and 5 mins against St. Leo. He's played the fewest minutes on the team (7 mins less than Trey Murphy and 8 mins less than Payton Moore). I think people are putting too much emphasis on calling him a "starter". Obviously, the coaching staff likes something about the rotation of letting him start but having a pretty quick hook with him when rotating in other players. He's a junior and hasn't transferred, so I will not complain. Harrison had some good offers coming out of of HS, he chose Rice, and he stuck with Rice.

I haven't watched enough, but from the glimpses I've seen thus far, I'm encouraged. We have a chance to be clearly better than last year's team. I like what I'm seeing from the freshmen, and really like the potential for some solid backcourt defense. Disappointed Harrison hasn't had more of an impact. He was our top recruit at one point and one of the few that didn't transfer, but he hasn't really panned out. This team seems to have more depth than previous seasons. Let's see if it can develop into the base for years to come.

I've been to the first two home games and am happy with the effort and talent level our guys are showing. I think we are definitely better than last year's team. Coach Pera has done a good job bringing in several talented Freshmen. This is a team that could really be exciting to watch over the next couple years if they stay and grow together. For me personally, the true success of this team (and Pera's recruiting of the Freshmen) will not be judged until next May, when we find out whether any of them are transferring.

(11-13-2018 12:32 PM)Minnewaska Owl Wrote:  I've been to the first two home games and am happy with the effort and talent level our guys are showing. I think we are definitely better than last year's team. Coach Pera has done a good job bringing in several talented Freshmen. This is a team that could really be exciting to watch over the next couple years if they stay and grow together. For me personally, the true success of this team (and Pera's recruiting of the Freshmen) will not be judged until next May, when we find out whether any of them are transferring.

IMO, it's a forgone conclusion that at least one of them will transfer based on the current trends in MBB. That should be a baked in assumption. I'd even go so far to say that it wouldn't necessarily bad for one of them to transfer (hopefully the lowest performing player) so that we can maintain class balance.

The key is limiting the transfers to anything more than that.

(11-12-2018 08:55 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Just saw the GIF of the dunk. Nice looking but there might be 40 people in the stands?

Does our marketing department just collect a paycheck? I mean we’re a bad team, they’re a really bad team, etc, but *** ****.

The panoramic shot I took during the game counts out at about 130 heads, without the students, the band, the junior high choir kids who sang the National Anthem (they were the best kids choir I've ever heard do this; Pearland West Jr High). I tried not to count the other beings who were working the game, and I couldn't see who might have been near center on the other end. I was directly behind the student-end basket.

The students and the band are quite vocal in their support.

Do they post the official gate?

Official attendance: 1103

(11-13-2018 03:58 PM)Grungy Wrote:  

(11-12-2018 08:55 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Just saw the GIF of the dunk. Nice looking but there might be 40 people in the stands?

Does our marketing department just collect a paycheck? I mean we’re a bad team, they’re a really bad team, etc, but *** ****.

The panoramic shot I took during the game counts out at about 130 heads, without the students, the band, the junior high choir kids who sang the National Anthem (they were the best kids choir I've ever heard do this; Pearland West Jr High). I tried not to count the other beings who were working the game, and I couldn't see who might have been near center on the other end. I was directly behind the student-end basket.

The students and the band are quite vocal in their support.

Do they post the official gate?

Yeah, it was announced as 1,103.

So assuming 150 in the normal stands (let's generously assume 20 were at the concessions, bathrooms, etc)... 150+200 students+30 band/choir members... That puts us just short of 400 attendees.

For those who have said Pera isn’t a good coach we now have the improvement in Martin to go along with the improvement shown by Hunter and Osborne during the season last year. At the end of the year if we are near 175 in RPI (roughly the midpoint in DI) I will consider this year a big step forward.

It's going to be an interesting year. Early season stats, and all, but right now, Massey has Rice favored in only 4 more games all season, and in no CUSA games is Rice favored. Expected Wins is 7.9 (and that doesn't include the new CUSA block scheduling games). But let's get a few more games under Rice's belt before knowing for sure. But at least so far, Rice is top 300 (instead of sub-300 like last year) in that ratings pool.

In only 3 seasons (2010-11, 2011-12, 2016-17) in the last 10 seasons has Rice been a top 200 squad, per Massey. (I'm sure there's an RPI repository somewhere, but I'm not up for looking for it right now.) So expecting this young squad to suddenly be top half may be a bit much, but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised. Make me pleasantly surprised (doesn't even have to be a top 200 squad), and I'll travel to that ODU away game.

(11-13-2018 05:06 PM)gsloth Wrote:  Massey has Rice favored in only 4 more games all season, and in no CUSA games is Rice favored. Expected Wins is 7.9 (and that doesn't include the new CUSA block scheduling games).

This seems about right to me. I would not bet on either the over or the under. So far, I like the freshman and I hope to see clear improvement as the season progresses. But I wouldn't bet on it.

(11-13-2018 10:35 AM)mrbig Wrote:  I don't get the complaints about Harrison. He played 8 minutes yesterday, 10 mins against Penn, and 5 mins against St. Leo. He's played the fewest minutes on the team (7 mins less than Trey Murphy and 8 mins less than Payton Moore). I think people are putting too much emphasis on calling him a "starter". Obviously, the coaching staff likes something about the rotation of letting him start but having a pretty quick hook with him when rotating in other players. He's a junior and hasn't transferred, so I will not complain. Harrison had some good offers coming out of of HS, he chose Rice, and he stuck with Rice.

I still believe in Harrison's potential, and to his credit, he looks stronger this year so I'm guessing he's put in quite a bit of work in the weight room during the offseason.

He's never been able to get significant playing time, so obviously the coaches (Rhoades and now Pera) just don't believe in him enough to give him a decent amount of minutes. But the reason I think we need to start Martin is two-fold.

First, I think we're going to be a better team if we go slightly smaller at times (even if that means decreasing Peterson's playing time in favor of Mullins). So Martin for Harrison means we give up an inch or two, but definitely are a little more mobile on the outside and have a better outside shooting threat (although Harrison has a nice shot for a big guy). But secondly and more importantly, we just seem to start out flat in the 1st and 2nd halves. Maybe that's not Harrison's fault, but I'd rather try Martin in there and see if that helps out start out stronger at the beginning of a half.

Harrison is going to get his 10 minutes whether he starts or comes in off the bench. And hopefully he'll have some strong double digit scoring games where he gets 20-minutes-plus.

(11-13-2018 08:49 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(11-13-2018 10:35 AM)mrbig Wrote:  I don't get the complaints about Harrison. He played 8 minutes yesterday, 10 mins against Penn, and 5 mins against St. Leo. He's played the fewest minutes on the team (7 mins less than Trey Murphy and 8 mins less than Payton Moore). I think people are putting too much emphasis on calling him a "starter". Obviously, the coaching staff likes something about the rotation of letting him start but having a pretty quick hook with him when rotating in other players. He's a junior and hasn't transferred, so I will not complain. Harrison had some good offers coming out of of HS, he chose Rice, and he stuck with Rice.

I still believe in Harrison's potential, and to his credit, he looks stronger this year so I'm guessing he's put in quite a bit of work in the weight room during the offseason.

He's never been able to get significant playing time, so obviously the coaches (Rhoades and now Pera) just don't believe in him enough to give him a decent amount of minutes. But the reason I think we need to start Martin is two-fold.

First, I think we're going to be a better team if we go slightly smaller at times (even if that means decreasing Peterson's playing time in favor of Mullins). So Martin for Harrison means we give up an inch or two, but definitely are a little more mobile on the outside and have a better outside shooting threat (although Harrison has a nice shot for a big guy). But secondly and more importantly, we just seem to start out flat in the 1st and 2nd halves. Maybe that's not Harrison's fault, but I'd rather try Martin in there and see if that helps out start out stronger at the beginning of a half.

Harrison is going to get his 10 minutes whether he starts or comes in off the bench. And hopefully he'll have some strong double digit scoring games where he gets 20-minutes-plus.

In fairness, Harrison has picked up two quick fouls in each of his last two starts. It's unclear why he was hardly used after he was pulled early.

Here's my random thought of the night: why don't we play more Ivy/Patriot/Colonial teams? I'd have to imagine a game against Bucknell or Lehigh or Cornell or the like would draw more interest (especially students, I'd think) than just playing the Lamars and UTRGVs every year. I know teams generally like to stay in their geographical bubbles, but I'm sure we could get one or two of those east coast teams to play us.

In fact, the last time we hosted one of "those schools" was William & Mary back in 2014, which ended up being a really good game (shout out Dan Peera). The year before that we actually hosted both Harvard and Princeton. I'd love to see those schools in our OOC schedule. I'd bet money they'd outdraw our games against the Texas schools.

(11-13-2018 11:26 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Here's my random thought of the night: why don't we play more Ivy/Patriot/Colonial teams? I'd have to imagine a game against Bucknell or Lehigh or Cornell or the like would draw more interest (especially students, I'd think) than just playing the Lamars and UTRGVs every year. I know teams generally like to stay in their geographical bubbles, but I'm sure we could get one or two of those east coast teams to play us.

In fact, the last time we hosted one of "those schools" was William & Mary back in 2014, which ended up being a really good game (shout out Dan Peera). The year before that we actually hosted both Harvard and Princeton. I'd love to see those schools in our OOC schedule. I'd bet money they'd outdraw our games against the Texas schools.

I like the "like-minded schools" scheduling. See if Rice can host an early-season tournament with just a few of the ivy's. With Houston's size (sufficient Ivy alumni) and the national recruiting profile of Ivy programs, a trip to Houston makes sense for them. Come up with a catchy name and invite 3 Ivy schools every year for a round-robin tournament. Battle of the Brains, or something. Although if the Ivy school want to avoid playing each other in a OOC game, it would probably have to be 2 Ivy schools, Rice, and another good academic school (maybe a D III school like Emory, Wash U, Univ of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, etc.).

(11-13-2018 05:06 PM)gsloth Wrote:  It's going to be an interesting year. Early season stats, and all, but right now, Massey has Rice favored in only 4 more games all season, and in no CUSA games is Rice favored. Expected Wins is 7.9 (and that doesn't include the new CUSA block scheduling games). But let's get a few more games under Rice's belt before knowing for sure. But at least so far, Rice is top 300 (instead of sub-300 like last year) in that ratings pool.

In only 3 seasons (2010-11, 2011-12, 2016-17) in the last 10 seasons has Rice been a top 200 squad, per Massey. (I'm sure there's an RPI repository somewhere, but I'm not up for looking for it right now.) So expecting this young squad to suddenly be top half may be a bit much, but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised. Make me pleasantly surprised (doesn't even have to be a top 200 squad), and I'll travel to that ODU away game.

Past 18 years of MBB RPI in the top 200:
173 - 2016/17
164 - 2011/12
183 - 2010/11
156 - 2006/07
68 - 2004/05
67 - 2003/04
103 - 2002/03
157 - 2000/01

Worst year - 2012/13 RPI 323

https://extra.ncaa.org/solutions/rpi/default.aspx