Now that the dust of rescheduling has settled, ASU is set to tip-off the 2020-21 season still at the original location of Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino, but facing a different squad than planned in Rhode Island. Rams beat writer and BustingBrackets.com contributor Dave Ascoli (@RhodyRampage on Twitter) provides his insight on the Sun Devils’ upcoming opponent.
DevilsDigest: It’s been a wild couple of days when it came to establishing the season opening contests for both Rhode Island and Arizona State. What was your reaction when you heard of the sudden schedule change?
Dave Ascoli: “There’s a lot of weird stuff happening. Still not 100 percent sure what (Rhode Island’s) schedule is at this point other than Arizona State on Wednesday and then playing either Villanova or Boston College on Thursday. They were supposed to play Stephen F. Austin, and I think Towson is a part of another tournament, but then Baylor backed out of what is this? The 2K Classic now? So, URI (University of Rhode Island), they were already playing in Mohegan Sun in this sort of ‘bubbleville’ environment, and they jumped on the opportunity. Playing Arizona State and a chance to play potentially Villanova…Stephen F. Austin is a decent team, but obviously, that’s at least one and potentially two preseason ranked teams. That’s huge for them. Especially since they’re a non-high major conference team. And they’re going to need to try to build a potential NCAA Tournament résumé. And I don’t think there’s any better way to do that than by starting off with two really tough games.
“Generally, scheduling, especially non-conference scheduling, has been just incredibly challenging this year. And David Cox, who is URI’s head coach, has talked about it on podcasts and in interviews and any chance he can get just how unbelievably challenging this is. So, if anything, I would imagine that URI would be super excited. This almost fell in their lap in a way. They were already there. Two, three-team slate all from high major conferences has an open slot, and they can slide right in. And that’s kind of a best-case scenario for them.”
DevilsDigest: Do you think Rhode Island being picked sixth in the media’s preseason poll in the 14-team Atlantic 10 was justified?
Dave Ascoli: “URI underwent some insane roster turnover. They had two of their better players graduate. They had two other really good pieces transfer in Jeff Dowtin and Cyril Langevine. They had two other really good pieces transfer in Tyrese Martin and Jacob Toppin, who is the younger brother of Obi Toppin, who just went No. 8 to the Knicks. Jacob Toppin did transfer to Kentucky. They also lost Dana Tate and Mekhi Long, but they also transferred out. So, seven guys that were on the team in some capacity that are now gone.
“They have filled those roles with a bunch. They landed the Mitchell twins (Makhi and Makhel) from Maryland who are both bigs. They landed Jalen Carey from Syracuse. They landed Malik Martin, who is the younger brother of Hassan Martin, who also played for URI. So, they’ve restocked with some pretty good on paper players. The question is, they’re basically bringing back one starter from last year, and that’s Fatts Russell, who’s their point guard. They’ll go as far as he can take them, but they certainly have a lot of new pieces around him.
“The talent on paper, like I said, is very, very good. Can they gel as pretty much a brand new team? If they can, I think they’ll finish higher than six. If they can’t, I think they could finish sixth or lower. So, it’s all about how quickly these new pieces can integrate, and obviously, opening the season with Arizona State and another tough game immediately following, I think we’re going to learn a lot right away about how well these guys can click.”
DevilsDigest: Senior guard Fatts Russell was both an Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference and a member of the league’s All-Defensive Team. What, in your opinion, makes him such a special player?
Dave Ascoli: “Well, he is 5’10, but he is lightning fast. He can get by virtually any defender and get into the lane and create his own shot. He’s also a tremendous passer, which sometimes gets lost in the shuffle because they rely on him to do a lot of scoring, and he does do a lot of one-on-one type stuff. But he is a great passer. He’s also a tremendous defender. Very quick hands, and if he takes the ball from you in the backcourt, he’s gone in a blur to the basket. So, shooting initially had been a problem for him. In his sophomore year, he improved on all of his shooting percentages, especially from three-point range, and the confidence from this kid just listening to him talk and watching his swagger…he definitely does not act like he’s 5’10. He acts like the biggest guy in the gym, so he’s what definitely makes this team go.”
DevilsDigest: Which player is the Robin to Batman (Fatts Russell) on this team?
Dave Ascoli: “I think it has to be one of the bigs. One of the guys I mentioned that they lost last year, Cyril Langevine, he was the big man in the middle. Cleaned up on the offensive glass for some easy buckets. Tremendous rebounder. Toppin was a bigger guy; Tyrese Martin, who they also lost, was more of a wing but could definitely mix it up down low. So, they need, I would say one of the Mitchell twins probably to assert themselves and because they really need their frontcourt. And it’s pretty much all new faces this year, so they would really need one of those guys to step in sooner rather than later for them to be successful.”
DevilsDigest: I know there a lot of newcomers on this team, but how what do you expect schematically from Rhode Island on both ends of the court?
Dave Ascoli: “Well, one thing that Cox has said is that they want to play fast. They have more depth than last year, and thanks to the NCAA for that for approving all those transfers to play immediately, they’re going to be able to go pretty deep. Cox has mentioned that he’s going to want to press more, so we could see some full-court press potentially right out of the gate. He’s going to because there’s so much depth and so many moving parts that I’m sure he hasn’t figured out how he’s going to use them all yet. I could definitely see a lot of different lineups, going nine, ten deep potentially on Wednesday. Playing fast. Playing aggressive. That’s kind of been his style. I think they’ve been a top-100 KenPom (ratings) defense ever since Cox has been there, so certainly, they’re going to want to play tough, physical, defensively as well.”
DevilsDigest: If Rhode Island were to come out on top against the Sun Devils, what are the keys for that scenario?
Dave Ascoli: “Knowing Bobby Hurley like I kind of got to know him (Hurley was previously an assistant coach at URI) and certainly I don’t think he’s that much different than Dan Hurley (former URI’s head coach) in terms of he’s very intense and aggressive and tenacious and much like Dan, I’m going to assume that his team’s take on his personality. I think this could be fun. This could be a physical, very aggressive, fast-paced but also a very well-played defensive game on both sides.
“I know Fatts is going to have his hands full with Remy Martin. So, I think we could see a shootout between those two guys. We could see kind of a duel between those two, or it could come down to some other players. And if it comes down to some other players, I think Arizona State has the advantage there. I’m not saying Fatts is better than Remy. I wouldn’t say that, but a lot of these pieces for URI are very new. So, if Arizona State wants to challenge them, URI’s going to have to be up to that challenge right away.”
(Jesse Morrison contributed to this article)
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