SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Anyone who is looking for neat, orderly, predictable basketball would do well to stay away from the University of Rhode Island this season. On the other hand, fans who enjoy scrambling, exciting, hard-to-predict games likely will find the Ryan Center a perfect place to spend the winter.

Rarely has a URI season begun with less knowledge on how the Rams will fare. There are questions almost everywhere, questions that are not easy to answer.

How will the Rams make up for the loss of three key players, Will Daniels, Parfait Bitee and Joe Mbang? Among other attributes, they were three of the team’s top four 3-point shooters.

How will URI adjust to another change in playing style, one in which the team plans to play defense the same way it has played offense the last two years? That is, as fast as possible, with full-court pressure the norm rather than the exception.

What will the team’s rotation be? Will the Rams go small and use three guards, as they often did in their two preseason games, or will they go bigger as the competition gets tougher?

Where will the Rams fit in the Atlantic 10, which figures to be as evenly balanced as at any time in recent years?

Can Rhody forget the frustrations built up with losses in eight or its last nine games last season and instead play more like the team that won 14 of its first 15 and earned a spot in the Top 25?

Questions, questions, questions. They make it tough to predict how the team will do.

“We’ve got a lot of unknowns, that’s why they’ve picked us ninth in the league,” coach Jim Baron acknowledged.

The season begins Friday against Brown, with the Rams still trying to figure themselves out. For the second time in three years, Baron is making a major change in playing style. Unlike some coaches who recruit players to fit a particular system, Baron is doing the opposite. He is changing his system to fit the players he has brought in. The hard-nosed, bang-’em style the Rams used for a few years is long gone.

Now, the Rams prefer to outrun opponents rather than run over them.

“We’re building on what we’ve done the last two years,” Baron said. “We’ve got more athletes than we’ve ever had. We’ve got a lot of guys who can play. We’re going to need all of them.”

Seniors Kahiem Seawright and Jimmy Baron, the coach’s son, return as the foundation. It is the players around them who have caused Baron to add full-court defensive pressure to the fast-break attack that produced 80 points a game last season.

Delroy James, a long, lean 6-foot-7 forward, will be a key. He is being counted on to step into Daniels’ forward position. He is not the perimeter shooter Daniels was. But he is a scorer with loads of potential. How he adjusts to being one of the team leaders will be a major key.

James can run. So can Keith Cothran and Lamonte Ulmer, juniors who have steadily progressed and now become key cogs. Sophomore Marquis Jones will be asked to go from back-up to starting point guard.

Ben Eaves, a 6-7 junior transfer from Connecticut, has an NBA body and athleticism, but is still trying to figure out where he best fits on the court. Three freshmen — Stevie Mejia, a 5-8 point guard who has drawn raves in preseason work; lanky 6-4 guard Jamal Wilson, and 6-9 forward Orion Outerbridge all are players who fit best in a fast-paced game. Seven-foot sophomore Will Martell has returned stronger and has shown the ability to run well, too.

It all adds up to a team that will be a favorite to lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring. Baron is prepared to mix and match his lineup.

“It will depend on what happens every day in practice,” he said. “We’re going to need numbers, that’s for sure. Each game may be different depending on [whether the opponent] is bigger or quicker or stronger.”

The challenge will be stopping opponents.

The defense has not looked good in the two preseason games. Baron feels that almost is to be expected with the changes he is making.

“We’ve got to get better at it as we go along,” he said.

The other factor that makes the season so unpredictable is the conference the team plays in. The Atlantic 10 is loaded with teams just like the Rams. That is, teams that look solid, teams that could be good. Except perhaps for Xavier, though, no one is sure to be good.

How teams do in close games will make the difference; last year, that killed the Rams’ season. In the tailspin that brought the disappointing end to last season, seven of the eight games the Rams lost in their final nine came in single digits. The Rams are likely to have plenty of close games again. They will need to learn to finish better than they did last season.

If the team follows Seawright, that could happen. Seawright has been one of the more vocal players on the team for a while. Now, as a senior, he is happy to step into the lead as the emotional leader. He is not shy about expressing his feelings.

“If you can pick eight or nine teams that are better than us in the A-10, you’re crazy. I mean, you’re crazy,” Seawright said.

pkenyon@projo.com