This team keeps getting better

[Blue Man]

The biggest difference I can see over every single game, is that we keep getting better. Jim Carr said the toughest thing with this team was teaching them how to win because they only knew how to lose.

Game 1: great first half, wore themselves out and lost the 2nd half bad.

Game 2: awful shooting period. any good that they may have had was overshadowed by that.

Game 3: controlled the game against a superior opponent for most of the game, let it slip away in the final 5.

Game 4: down a senior leader and scorer, they beat a power conference team for 39:15, learn that you have to play a full 40.

Game 5: control a game against a solid team, have some TERRIBLE calls go against you, snakebitten at the foul line, go to OT, lose a heartbreaker. Your highly touted freshman emerges in a big way.

Game 6: long plane ride a day after after a tough loss, on the road at a power conference arena, getting down by 11, being down the entire game until the last 4 mins. Scrapping, clawing, fighting and seeing the game slip away TWICE and somehow finding a way to win in 2OT.

We certainly have problems, but a win like this may start to solve some of them.

I'd look out if i were Mason.

[TruePoint]

Yeah, I think the thing to me is that they have been close in every game but the VT game. I believe that winning is something you have to learn how to do, and it was great to see them break through tonight. I don't know that we're in the clear now. I think it will be a struggle at times for the rest of the year, but I do think we have shown we can play with just about everyone on our schedule and now our guys know they can win these games. I think everyone we play this year should be on notice. We will win a few games this year that nobody expects us to.

[rodfromcranston]

Nice post, Blue Man!
You know, a couple of made free throws in
the NSU, Seton Hall, and Loyola, and
we'd be talking about a totally different outlook.
With Hare coming on, it gives the team another
dimension.

[Blue Man]

I know Rod, in all honesty this could very well be a 3-3, 4-2 team right now. Never felt so good about a 1-5 team before.

[twisted3829]

absolutely, we should be 3-3 and could be 4-2. Two blown leads prior to tonight's game and a tired team at the end of the first game. My goal for the season was to see improvement game to game and we've already seen big leaps game to game

[ramfan85]

24-5?

[reef]

We should be in a lot of close games, wins may be hard to come by but this team will fight to the end

[Blue Man]

I gotta say, under Baron - you never knew what you were going to get night in or night out. Performance game-to-game was a complete mystery.

This team under Hurley got closer and closer and closer to winning every game. It'll be very interesting to see how we look on Wednesday and see if the trend continues

[Rhody72]

It is the little things that accumulate and determine winning or losing in close games. Better teams don't throw away in-bound passes and they make more of their free throws. To make a close, competitive game you need the talent and play hard and smart, we are improving in the former and we do the latter for 40 minutes or longer each game.

I really disliked KMacs article on why URI was doing poorly. DH had introduced an entirely different style of basketball to returnees and eligible newcomers alike. It takes time for the new system to produce results. Billy Baron's departure had zero to do with how we play and it is very doubtful that he would fit into the new system anyways - he's much too slow. The tough OOC schedule has helped URI get better faster, not hurt them. Did URI get better playing CG or Ohio State? Playing NCAA caliber talent shows them how they have to play to get there themselves.

[jro44]

What I really like are the scores, the offense always takes a while to get in any new system. I like the fact that they are holding some pretty good teams to lower scores. It's not like they've played terrible teams, or lost to Bryant. They are just very inconsistent on the offensive end and that will work itself out. The committment to playing better D is very refreshing. No more stupid presses to give easy baskets until your down 20!

[Blue Man]

What I really like are the scores, the offense always takes a while to get in any new system. I like the fact that they are holding some pretty good teams to lower scores. It's not like they've played terrible teams, or lost to Bryant. They are just very inconsistent on the offensive end and that will work itself out. The committment to playing better D is very refreshing. No more stupid presses to give easy baskets until your down 20!

Agreed. Every team they've lost to is most likely an NCAA team this year. And 72, Kmac is a moron. He's writing about URI because he has to, not because he pays attention to them. 90% of the posters on this board could write better Rhody articles than Kmac because they actually watch the games, instead of just making shit up after they see the box score or AP wire.

[rodfromcranston]

KMac was there Friday, as was Bunky.
KMac is one very smart basketball guy.
I don't always agree with his POV, but
you can't question his basketball IQ.

[Blue Man]

Moron in regards to URI basketball, not his overall IQ.
Did he miss the starting lineups? Because he said Hare came into the game 4 mins in.

He writes like he doesn't follow and certainly doesn't care about URI hoops.

[rodfromcranston]

Maybe he got there late and heard the buffoon PA
guy saying, "Jordan Hare into the game for the first time"
around that 4 minute mark.

[ace]

Nice article, gets at a lot of what is mentioned on this board

http://collegechalktalk.com/?p=4028

[SGreenwell]

Maybe he got there late and heard the buffoon PA
guy saying, "Jordan Hare into the game for the first time"
around that 4 minute mark.

K-Mac was there on time. But like anyone else, he's human. I know earlier this year, I put in a caption on a video about "Ohio State coach Tad Motta." It happens to pretty much everyone now, whereas in the past, media corporations were big enough to have copy editors with some familiarity with the product. Nowadays, you might have one, maybe two people look at something before it's "live" on the Internet or going into the paper. (Or, in my case, nobody looks at something before I post it.)

[ATPTourFan]

That said, Steve, you do a pretty good job policing yourself! I know I use the edit feature on this board heavily! LOL

[URIGONZO]

Yeah I can't knock on K-mac. I'll knock on Jim Donaldson until they're covering me with dirt but not K-mac. We are lucky that he write locally. He could just as easily be writing college hoops for espn.com or si.com

[rodfromcranston]

Steve does a nice job on The Patch.
I have the Cranston Patch on my favorites, and I saw where he posted a story and video
of last night's win.

[SGreenwell]

Steve does a nice job on The Patch.
I have the Cranston Patch on my favorites, and I saw where he posted a story and video
of last night's win.

Thanks Rod! To be honest, it was mostly just information from the box and the athletic department. However, one thing I've learned from the popularity of, say, The Huffington Post, is that a lot of people just want information, and having a site that parcels and filters things out can be helpful. One of the silliest things I think newspapers still do is the ordering of "catch up" articles, i.e. Paper X had the article on Thursday, so Paper Y makes sure they have an article on Friday. It's 2012, it's hard to pretend that your competition doesn't exist...

[ace]

[ATPTourFan]

Still, at times, can't believe that we have Dan Hurley and Bobby Hurley, Preston Murphy and Jim Carr running our Rams now. Unbelievably Great!

[Blue Man]

Still, at times, can't believe that we have Dan Hurley and Bobby Hurley, Preston Murphy and Jim Carr running our Rams now. Unbelievably Great!

Hah, that made me smile. I probably won't sleep waiting for tomorrow night.

[The Dude]

The biggest difference I can see over every single game, is that we keep getting better. Jim Carr said the toughest thing with this team was teaching them how to win because they only knew how to lose.

Game 1: great first half, wore themselves out and lost the 2nd half bad.

Game 2: awful shooting period. any good that they may have had was overshadowed by that.

Game 3: controlled the game against a superior opponent for most of the game, let it slip away in the final 5.

Game 4: down a senior leader and scorer, they beat a power conference team for 39:15, learn that you have to play a full 40.

Game 5: control a game against a solid team, have some TERRIBLE calls go against you, snakebitten at the foul line, go to OT, lose a heartbreaker. Your highly touted freshman emerges in a big way.

Game 6: long plane ride a day after after a tough loss, on the road at a power conference arena, getting down by 11, being down the entire game until the last 4 mins. Scrapping, clawing, fighting and seeing the game slip away TWICE and somehow finding a way to win in 2OT.

We certainly have problems, but a win like this may start to solve some of them.

I'd look out if i were Mason.

Very well said. I agree completely. This is exactly what I have seen as well. The only thing I would add to Game 5 is that the Hurley's themselves had a learning experience about coaching in the late minutes of a game....and how to instruct the players not to leave the only 3 point shooter on the floor open for a shot. haha. ;-P
They are improving and actually at a faster pace than I anticipated...especially Jordan Hare as of recently.

[reef]

I love our coaching staff and will love them even more when they coach us in the dance !!