Spiders Sound Off Podcast

[RichmondNative]

2 Spider alums have started a new podcast discussing Spider basketball primarily. Give it a listen.

Apple podcast : Apple podcast link
Spotify podcast: Spotify link

Episode 1 - Intro with 35 yr memory lane and “goals for the program” discussion

Episode 2 - NCAA settlement and raising revenues, Alums coaching, Maggie Dugan, and message board chaos

Episode 3 - Practice drop-in Part 1. Coach Mooney conversation summary, Focus on 1st impressions of transfers.

Episode 4 - Practice drop-in Part 2. First impressions on returning players and freshmen. 1st starting lineup debate.

The “Bonus” episode - Tom goes solo as he tests the mixology talents. Not sports related, so not getting 2 shots the rest of the way….

Episode 5 - Bonus episode fallout, Forum shout out, Season ticket costs, the Canadian connection, and best UR point guard ever discussion.

Episode 6 - Women’s program discussion with some insight from Coach Radice. The Big 3, expectations, and bumper car practice.

 

[*23*]

Looking forward to the next one - I believe it will give some feedback on practice specific to Robinson, McGlothin, and the freshman.

 

[Spider17]

Podcast has been excellent so far. Have really enjoyed listening to them. Hope this continues to be a thing!

 

[Spidey]

Episode 4 is out!

 

[*23*]

1) Great job by our podcasters. Really appreciate the guys getting out to practice and giving some feedback and having this podcast, good stuff for mid summer doldrums.
2) Loved hearing about JRob and his impact in the 5 on 5. And Daughtry's energy and enthusiasm. Liking the 4 spot and hoping JRob can get big minutes - maybe together with Daughtry.
3) McGlothin - while this was mostly positive, I am just getting the vibe that Mooney is still playing long game here. Harper comparison. Harp - great player - but did not put up huge numbers until senior year. As podcasters noted, its a different environment now. Hopefully just had a bad shooting practice. I did not come away from this thinking he will be a starter type contributor. Hoping to be proven wrong.
4) Tyne / Johnston back court. While I am not ruling out that Tyne may have improved a lot and taken the next step - still don't like the thought of this being a heavy minutes back court. I know, we have had success with two small guards in the past. But the large sample size does not necessarily work - just too easy to shoot over and take advantage of switches. I know our podcasters are just providing feedback, but this back court seems to be the Mooney preference.

 

[*23*]

Another positive note was the feedback on Homenick. Hard to tell much from his highlight video, but at least sounds like he has size, build and athleticism to develop. As others have indicated, I agree that we should be a good landing spot for a transfer 5 following this season. Would be nice if Dylan could develop enough to be a solid back up next year.

 

[RichmondNative]

Definitely love the podcast and its production quality too. Very happy that the guys get some access to practice to give us fans insight into what is happening especially in the new era of basketball with so much transfer activity.

I did a multitasking listen, so may have missed some things. Practice update part 2 seems a bit less enthusiastic than part 1 especially when it comes to McGlothin. Still sounds like he can make a contribution, but did not shine through in the 5 v 5 portion. Only true surprise seems to be that Homenick is more college ready, which is good news bc the Spiders definitely don’t have a couple of years for this guy to get ready physically.

The main thing that I latched onto is the need for this team to roll some teams early, which I think Porter mentioned in the grading session. We know the OOC schedule is weak (again) and what we need to see is a team that is playing together and dominating. If we don’t, then we are all in for another long year. This team needs to come out firing and not searching for an identity. I have heard multiple times about the acceleration of the process, so I hope we see it.

 

[UR Fan 2]

Thanks for listening everybody. We plan on doing 1 release a week on Monday mornings for the rest of the offseason and probably moving it to 2 episodes a week once the season starts. Let us know if there are special topics you want us to cover. We have plenty of content planned but can branch out and touch on other things as time marches on.

Porter

 

[Section9_RowD]

Thanks for listening everybody. We plan on doing 1 release a week on Monday mornings for the rest of the offseason and probably moving it to 2 episodes a week once the season starts. Let us know if there are special topics you want us to cover. We have plenty of content planned but can branch out and touch on other things as time marches on.

Porter

Excellent - enjoyed your perspective on what Bryson can bring to the table .. realizing it may be some good and some challenges this season. Can't wait to see Robinson play in a game as well .. then we all can debate once more about how the redshirting played out last year.

 

[Spider17]

Thanks for listening everybody. We plan on doing 1 release a week on Monday mornings for the rest of the offseason and probably moving it to 2 episodes a week once the season starts. Let us know if there are special topics you want us to cover. We have plenty of content planned but can branch out and touch on other things as time marches on.

Porter

Excellent podcast and thanks for doing this! I have enjoyed listening every week. The intro is fantastic.

Not a criticism but more my own perspective/discussion piece I wanted to bring up. You started off the series talking about how winning is the most important metric for a coach (I agree). The third episode, after meeting with Mooney, I noticed how it was brought up that winning isn’t everything. There is the game of life and the important of players going into college to develop into human beings. I 100% agree that there are things more important in life than basketball like you alluded to.

However, the context of this - at least how I interpret it - is Mooney as a coach. Him running a good program and recruiting good kids should be the expectation. In my opinion, winning basketball games should be the only metric he is based on. He is ultimately their basketball coach at the end of the day and not their life coach or parent.

I mention this nuance because I think the administration has factored in other non-basketball related factors as well when keeping him as a coach, which is wonderful to have in a coach, but should not be the key metric in whether a coach is retained or not.

Anyway, I don’t mean much by this but wanted to share my 2 cents. Glad you’re on the forum as well to further engage in conversation from the podcast!

—
As far as other topics to discuss. Would love to hear your thoughts on the following:
- I know you’re planning on focusing on the women’s team but hearing from Roussell about expectations, his thoughts on program. Interview with players would be nice too
- Men’s and women’s basketball schedule (women will be in Cancun with excellent MTE)
- I don’t know if you’re able to meet with others from administration like you did with Mooney, but would love to learn more about how UR is going to handle the house settlement. If they are going to create perks and fan interactions with donors to help incentivize/encourage people to give.
- Lastly, perhaps mentioning this new message board on your podcast to help spread the word. I’m sure there’s a lot of overlap between listeners and members in this forum already, but perhaps the outreach can help bring a few more people who aren’t aware of the new forum yet.

 

[UR Fan 2]

Excellent podcast and thanks for doing this! I have enjoyed listening every week. The intro is fantastic.

Not a criticism but more my own perspective/discussion piece I wanted to bring up. You started off the series talking about how winning is the most important metric for a coach (I agree). The third episode, after meeting with Mooney, I noticed how it was brought up that winning isn’t everything. There is the game of life and the important of players going into college to develop into human beings. I 100% agree that there are things more important in life than basketball like you alluded to.

However, the context of this - at least how I interpret it - is Mooney as a coach. Him running a good program and recruiting good kids should be the expectation. In my opinion, winning basketball games should be the only metric he is based on. He is ultimately their basketball coach at the end of the day and not their life coach or parent.

I mention this nuance because I think the administration has factored in other non-basketball related factors as well when keeping him as a coach, which is wonderful to have in a coach, but should not be the key metric in whether a coach is retained or not.

Anyway, I don’t mean much by this but wanted to share my 2 cents. Glad you’re on the forum as well to further engage in conversation from the podcast!

—
As far as other topics to discuss. Would love to hear your thoughts on the following:
- I know you’re planning on focusing on the women’s team but hearing from Roussell about expectations, his thoughts on program. Interview with players would be nice too
- Men’s and women’s basketball schedule (women will be in Cancun with excellent MTE)
- I don’t know if you’re able to meet with others from administration like you did with Mooney, but would love to learn more about how UR is going to handle the house settlement. If they are going to create perks and fan interactions with donors to help incentivize/encourage people to give.
- Lastly, perhaps mentioning this new message board on your podcast to help spread the word. I’m sure there’s a lot of overlap between listeners and members in this forum already, but perhaps the outreach can help bring a few more people who aren’t aware of the new forum yet.

Thanks for the thoughtful post.

It is a balancing act in some ways. Winning is the metric fans care about for sure. And winning is the most important metric. But winning at all costs if you sacrifice playing by fair competition rules, your reputation, your integrity....I don't think that is the way I want to get it. And I am not suggesting you are saying that btw.

My point in talking about the broader issues Mooney and perhaps the administration think about is just to offer it up as a perspective to be thought about or perhaps debated here or later on the podcast if we go there. There was a lot we talked with Mooney about that did not make it into the episode as we thought it to be off the record. But suffice it to say, I had more of an appreciation for his job after the conversation. That does not change my goal of winning a National Championship however. And I was encouraged he feels he can win any game in the NCAA tourney. The power of belief will take one far.

As for your other questions, we are trying to schedule some time to watch a women's practice but we will have a lot more content on the ladies in future episodes. I will definitely keep your question about house settlements in mind for future conversations and yes we will definitely plug this new board on Episode 5.

 

[URFan1]

My feeling running a clean program with good kids that progress in class and graduate is only the floor, not the ceiling. All other programs appear to be able to run clean programs and some win big.

 

[Spidey]

Agree

 

[UR Fan 2]

Just back from recording episode 5 in our Henrico studio which includes a lengthy plug of the message board. Will drop Monday am.

 

[Spider17]

Thanks for giving the forum a shoutout. Hopefully helps bring in a few more people. Good discussion on best Canadian player for Richmond and PG too. My vote is Kevin Anderson.

 

[Section9_RowD]

Thanks for giving the forum a shoutout. Hopefully helps bring in a few more people. Good discussion on best Canadian player for Richmond and PG too. My vote is Kevin Anderson.

great episode - for now, I would have put MFG over Tyne .. but could change imo if Tyne ends up starting the final 2 years.

 

[UR Fan 2]

Tom and I just finished an informative conversation with Coach Radice, we begin recording tomorrow for Episode 6 which will be the Ladies Roster and Early Expectations episode. Hope you guys give it a listen on Monday.

 

[RichmondNative]

Tom and I just finished an informative conversation with Coach Radice, we begin recording tomorrow for Episode 6 which will be the Ladies Roster and Early Expectations episode. Hope you guys give it a listen on Monday.

The biggest question is what will you two take opposing views on this week? Will I be on Team Tom or Team Porter?

 

[MrTbone]

Thanks for doing the podcast Tom/Porter. I’m enjoying it, in particular that yall are my generation at UR and have similar memories to mine.

 

[UR Fan 2]

Hi folks, we need some help. It did not make it into episode 6 because we are looking for more information. Apparently Fordham women played Richmond women in November of 1988 at a tournament in Atlanta. This would have put Coach Radice (probably the greatest female pg of all time at Fordham) in direct competition w Pam Bryant who we talked about in episode 5.

Coach Radice remembered the tournament but did not remember playing Richmond. Can any of you super sleuths find us a box score, or better yet a write up of what happened in the game.

Thanks,
Porter