Game Thread - Southern Methodist vs. URI

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 11 years ago

43 second half points... not sure I would have thought that possible with this team.

49, 43.5, 85.7 (FG, 3PT, FT) shooting percentages

17 team assists- love seeing that ball movement

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

I loved that the offense was spread out today between everyone and we had 17 assist

Mike had 18, Malone had 15, Nik had 12, X had 11, Hare had 9, Brooks had 4, Mike had 3

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 11 years ago

The second Brown video is now up: http://patch.com/A-0wHs

STC · Unread post by **STC** » 11 years ago

So I went to the game today and here is my take...

On the court:
-Great team win today, Malone was great from 3 point land. Best shooting performance by the entire team today and a definite confidence booster going forward.
-I gotta say it was pretty cool seeing Larry Brown coach against URI today and even cooler seeing Brown and SMU get run off the court.

Off the Court:
-Good Lord! John Vanner and his on court nonsense during timeouts has worn real thin. Hes annoying as hell. I remember at the Vermont game he started yelling 'look at the scoreboard!!!' When there was like ten minutes left and needless to say UVM used it as motivation and made a nice run. Regardless, he's just obnoxious.
-The new PA guy is a trainwreck. He repeats himself and screams into the mic. Idk if anyone was at the game today but at one point his voice cracked as he was yelling 'malone' into the mic. Bring back Mancuso!!! Btw what is Mancuso doing these days now that hes on to other endeavors? But seriously, at least 75% of this board could be better than Yorke on the PA.
-the crowd continues to be atrocious and it really puts into perspective how beaten down the fanbase really is.
-lastly, meant to post this after the PC game but our band blows. We play the same crap year after year! How about some new stuff? PC's band was tremendous! Total nitpick, I know but it goes along with my notion that the Ryan Center environment is stale.
-speaking of stale, can we please re-surface the court!!! The yellow lettering plus the buffed out womens 3 point line it all looks tacky and small time. Lets step it up.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 11 years ago

OK, isn't really good to talk about hoops again; where we are, and where this program is headed, from where we/ve been in last few years is a huge turn around. Let me say again, going back to the darker days of the recent season(s) past, if someone said, at this point beating SMU at home, by big numbers in year 1 of the Hurley force......YES, I would/ve signed up for that............and we gots that!!......first semster grades are to follow.........early grade on Jordan Hare; A+. ( and earlier I had my doubts)

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 11 years ago

STC wrote: Btw what is Mancuso doing these days now that hes on to other endeavors?.

Mancuso was doing the sideline reporting for the TV/Internet broadcast.

Rhody72 · Unread post by **Rhody72** » 11 years ago

STC, I had similar comments about the court a few weeks back.

The constant with this team is defense. When we also get offense and make foul shots we are a very good team. I got to the game today and stayed until the very end. Where were the students? Why do fans leave early and not stay around to cheer the team when we win against a good opponent? I can understand leaving when we are getting blown our by 20.

Chicken and egg. When we get a lot of assists we score a lot of point; when we score a lot of points we get a lot of assists. My take is that i have to see how we score points and make assists to get too excited over assists. Today our shooting opened up the defense.

Mike Powell had a good all around game but sometimes this kid does something dumb. Late in today's game with URI holding a comfortable lead he drives to the hoop and travels with 17 seconds on the shot clock. Then again, he hasn't had much experience nursing a big lead since coming to URI. later in the game he made better decisions.

I'd give Andre Malone one game ball as well as one for the entire team for their tenacious defense. Andre kept us in the game early.

neil · Unread post by **neil** » 11 years ago

The view from 205
1. Might have been the best overall game in awhile, both offense and defense.
2. Andre, took over the offense in the first half when we had players in foul trouble.
3. Powell - outstanding
4. Although X struggled from the outside, penetration to the hoop got us going in the second half.
5. Great team defense against a much bigger, and athletic opponent.
6. Loved the drives to the basket with dishes to the line, 18 assists, great way to share the ball.
7. Kudos to the walk ons. NO ONE is more enthusiastic than them on the bench. Coach could have called time with a minute left to get them in. They practice everyday along with the others knowing that they are basically practice players.
8. Okay fans, if you don't want to stand when the players come on the court, that's your choice, but not to clap/applaud. Give me a break, and you know who you are in 205.
9. Yes Rod, people left early - too much traffic to handle for a crowd of 3000?
10. The team seems to be "getting it".
11. Shook Milan's hand on the way out - great way to end an afternoon in Kingston!
12. Agree with Rod again, there are certain pseudo fans on this board who might break out in a rash if they posted on this thread.
13. Have not and will not...

EZBuckets · Unread post by **EZBuckets** » 11 years ago

STC wrote:So I went to the game today and here is my take...

Off the Court:
-Good Lord! John Vanner and his on court nonsense during timeouts has worn real thin. Hes annoying as hell. I remember at the Vermont game he started yelling 'look at the scoreboard!!!' When there was like ten minutes left and needless to say UVM used it as motivation and made a nice run. Regardless, he's just obnoxious.

I don't post much on here and haven't announced my presence, but I felt the need to respond to this post.

My job is to create some excitement and entertain the crowd a bit during timeouts, which over the past few seasons has been an increasingly difficult task with shrinking attendance and a constant string of ugly losses.

I always welcome any constructive criticism from fans and can definitely accept if you just don't like me, to each his own. But to insinuate that my telling the crowd to look at a scoreboard directly lead to another team making a run is absolutely ridiculous and the epitome of grasping at straws.

-John

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Oh, and one more thing.
Obviously ,Hurley's pizza giveaway was a waste of time and money.
I think the band, cheerleaders and Ramettes outnumbered to students
at the game, by a lot.
Go back and look at the video of Hurley handing out pizza. He may as well have been from Domino's
I doubt most had a clue who he was.
There was no feedback at all from the students.
Amazing apathy.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

My two cents....

....team played very well against a bigger team....rebounding was a weak point however...

...our kids played hard all the time....

....kudos to Larry Brown.....he is not one of my favorite sports people....but to watch him in the post-game handshake line was a treat...most coaches just give the perfunctory hand shake with the good game comment...but Coach Brown stopped to each of players shook their hands, patted them on the back or put his hand around the back of their necks while engaging them in conversation about their performances (I will assume)...

....I think I saw HMartin in the section behind our bench in the second half....

....got to see many legends today....Rod, Neil, Milan, the Koussa's, Dave Talan, Bob and Charlene Terino, and finally coaches Drennan and Tom Penders on my way out of the Ryan Center....

....and I stayed at least a half an hour after the game....clearly not an early leaver....

...to John from B105... try to figure out a way to get some of those T-shirts into the upper deck....maybe someday we will get 6000 screaming fans into the Ryan Center to support our team and make your job easier....

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Oh, and one more thing.
Obviously ,Hurley's pizza giveaway was a waste of time and money.
I think the band, cheerleaders and Ramettes outnumbered to students
at the game, by a lot.
Go back and look at the video of Hurley handing out pizza. He may as well have been from Domino's
I doubt most had a clue who he was.
There was no feedback at all from the students.
Amazing apathy.

It was a 2-7 team playing a team the students have never heard of on a weekend that most college students have gone home for the semester. The impact of things like the pizza giveaway can only be measured over time.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

On the post game, they said exams continue next week.
Maybe if the game was on XBox, some of these students would know about it.
Sad.

The Dude · Unread post by **The Dude** » 11 years ago

Mike Powell and Andre Malone were lighting the basket on fire in this game! It was nice to see the confidence building for Mike throughout the game. He had a tremendous game...nice assists, great shooting, limited turnovers...everything you want from a good point guard.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:On the post game, they said exams continue next week.
Maybe if the game was on XBox, some of these students would know about it.
Sad.

Technically there may be exams next week, but every student I know is home.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

Great win indeed

I guess we now know what to expect when DH has 9 days to prepare his team

Great effort

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:On the post game, they said exams continue next week.
Maybe if the game was on XBox, some of these students would know about it.
Sad.

The team was 2-7, as TP pointed out. If attendance is still in the three and four thousand range after a 20-win NCAA season, then yeah, there is officially a problem. But the team hasn't been good for a while now, and I think if you look at programs in similar situations, the capacity percentage (i.e. how much of the arena is full) is probably similar from program to program. That goes for whatever portion of the crowd you want to talk about - the lack of students, the lack of alums, the lack of active crowd participants vs. casual people who sit on their hands, etc.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 11 years ago

SGreenwell wrote:
rodfromcranston wrote:On the post game, they said exams continue next week.
Maybe if the game was on XBox, some of these students would know about it.
Sad.
The team was 2-7, as TP pointed out. If attendance is still in the three and four thousand range after a 20-win NCAA season, then yeah, there is officially a problem. But the team hasn't been good for a while now, and I think if you look at programs in similar situations, the capacity percentage (i.e. how much of the arena is full) is probably similar from program to program. That goes for whatever portion of the crowd you want to talk about - the lack of students, the lack of alums, the lack of active crowd participants vs. casual people who sit on their hands, etc.

My wife was too busy with Christmas errands, so i took my son-in-law to the game (not a URI alum; he's from Boston and his family are BC fans). I think he was impressed by the Ryan Center but then asked "what would it take to fill the place". I said, playing PC or maybe a top 10 team.

Let's face it, I went into the game expecting a loss or, at best, a close win. Casual fans seeing the 2-7 record probably felt the same way and figured they had better things to do (exams, preparing for Christmas, etc.) Yeah, I was disappointed with the crowd, but I think with continued progress on the floor and the routine of the second semester, you'll see more students at the games.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Students and the casual fans will come back when we start winning.

It's really that simple.

I mean, we were 2-7, and played poorly last game. That didn't help, along with the other factors like opponent and semester break.

The regulars and die hards know what's happening. We have good coaching for the first time in many years, and the team is playing much more disciplined and fundamentally sound basketball as a result.

If by this time next year, the crowds haven't increased, then there's a problem. It's going to take time to fill the place, though. Except for the PC game!

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

While a crowd of 3,822 is not great, this is not the norm for most years. We all know the lack of success on the court by the team the last few years has caused this. Our small crowd today however was better than two other A-10 programs that have done much better the last two seasons. Defending A-10 Champion and 2012 NCAA participant St. Bonaventure only had 3,223 for their home game with Cleveland State. 2012 NIT semi-finalist UMass drew just 3,085 to Springfield for Elon. As you see, things could be worse.

EZBuckets · Unread post by **EZBuckets** » 11 years ago

Ramulous wrote:My two cents....

...to John... try to figure out a way to get some of those T-shirts into the upper deck....maybe someday we will get 6000 screaming fans into the Ryan Center to support our team and make your job easier....

Ramulous, we can't hit the 300 level with t-shirts as there's safety concerns about them coming too close the ledge, leading to fans leaning over railings to grab them. So unfortunately, it is by design that we always aim low.

I also definitely look forward to having a packed Ryan Center in the near future, it makes my life easier and more importantly, would mean we are winning again!

EricRueb · Unread post by **EricRueb** » 11 years ago

I think we can all agree on two things:
1) The best play of the game was when Ryan Brooks hedged a screen up top, stole the ball from SMU's guard and went all the way in for a dunk. Vegas would have never given odds on that.
2) Walkons needed to get in; when they do, they need to go bombs away because there are few things better than deep 3s from walkons.

My take from yesterday.
http://ricentral.com/content/rams-belie ... hey-saw-tv

CTRamfan · Unread post by **CTRamfan** » 11 years ago

The most satisfying win in a while. No nervousness in the last five minutes. Our guys looked like a really good team.
.....Congrats to the coaches as well.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

EZBuckets wrote:Ramulous, we can't hit the 300 level with t-shirts as there's safety concerns about them coming too close the ledge, leading to fans leaning over railings to grab them. So unfortunately, it is by design that we always aim low.

I also definitely look forward to having a packed Ryan Center in the near future, it makes my life easier and more importantly, would mean we are winning again!

John, your comment about the "shorter than usual" Rhody cracked me up yesterday!

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

John maybe you can send a couple of the cheerleaders up to the 300 sections to hand out t-shirts or toss them lightly so that the little kids up there have a shot to catch one...they probably need the free tossed ones more than those kids in the pricey

lower bowl.

Native · Unread post by **Native** » 11 years ago

EZBuckets wrote:My job is to create some excitement and entertain the crowd a bit during timeouts.

I always welcome any constructive criticism from fans

John - while you imply that you are open to feedback and are willing to adjust your performance accordingly, it is unclear that you are hearing the intrinsic comment that is being made; namely, that some fans are of the opinion that you may want to consider raising the level of your individual in-game performance.

On a related matter, perhaps you could also carry to the responsible individual the feedback regarding the PA announcer, in the hope that PA announcer will attempt to raise the level of his own in-game performance. You might want to point out that raising one's performance level often has nothing to do with increasing one's decibel level.

giovanni · Unread post by **giovanni** » 11 years ago

neil wrote:The view from 205
1. Might have been the best overall game in awhile, both offense and defense.
2. Andre, took over the offense in the first half when we had players in foul trouble.
3. Powell - outstanding
4. Although X struggled from the outside, penetration to the hoop got us going in the second half.
5. Great team defense against a much bigger, and athletic opponent.
6. Loved the drives to the basket with dishes to the line, 18 assists, great way to share the ball.
7. Kudos to the walk ons. NO ONE is more enthusiastic than them on the bench. Coach could have called time with a minute left to get them in. They practice everyday along with the others knowing that they are basically practice players.
8. Okay fans, if you don't want to stand when the players come on the court, that's your choice, but not to clap/applaud. Give me a break, and you know who you are in 205.
9. Yes Rod, people left early - too much traffic to handle for a crowd of 3000?
10. The team seems to be "getting it".
11. Shook Milan's hand on the way out - great way to end an afternoon in Kingston!
12. Agree with Rod again, there are certain pseudo fans on this board who might break out in a rash if they posted on this thread.
13. Have not and will not...

Good post, agree totally. Powell played one of the best games as a pure pg that we have seen in sometime and continues to improve and gain confidence every game. Not bad for a guy most people wrote off after 2 games. Nik played much better too, more under control, good d and made a couple of excellent passes. No. 10 comment, "teams seems to be getting in", is so true. This team is shorthanded and void of the talent necessary to win constantly at this level, but they have made incredible progress since Norfolk St. A team, and players that actually improve as the season goes on? What a nice concept, one we haven't seen in Kingston in so time. Like The legendary Larry Brown said, this team makes shots like they did tonight, they are going to beat quite a few teams. Bobby Hurley also referred to the fact that he has seen this team shoot the ball like this in practice. Great effort all around.

I was one of the ones who left with about 2 mins to go, but only to assure that I was back in the Providence area for my young son's birthday party (who was at the game with me) at 5:00. And at that was torn. Usually never leave to completion.

EZBuckets · Unread post by **EZBuckets** » 11 years ago

Native wrote:
EZBuckets wrote:My job is to create some excitement and entertain the crowd a bit during timeouts.

I always welcome any constructive criticism from fans
John - while you imply that you are open to feedback and are willing to adjust your performance accordingly, it is unclear that you are hearing the intrinsic comment that is being made; namely, that some fans are of the opinion that you may want to consider raising the level of your individual in-game performance.

On a related matter, perhaps you could also carry to the responsible individual the feedback regarding the PA announcer, in the hope that PA announcer will attempt to raise the level of his own in-game performance. You might want to point out that raising one's performance level often has nothing to do with increasing one's decibel level.

Native- I am open to any and all feedback and have already gotten some great comments and suggestions in both the thread and via private message. However the original commenter's sole complaint was that I am "annoying" and told the crowd to take a look at the scoreboard, which is far from what I'd define as constructive and really provides me no guidance as to what he thinks I could adjust.

Again, I realize it's impossible to please everyone. But I figured I'd step out of the shadows here to maybe get an idea of what you guys think could be done better.

As far as the PA announcer is concerned, I can assure you that many people in the Athletic Department are lurking and read this board regularly. So your comments will be heard regardless of me carrying the message.

ATP- I had to say something! our usual Rhody is about a full foot and a half taller than the one yesterday!

Ramulous- I will definitely take your suggestion to the powers that be and see if we can get some shirts and prizes up to the 300's.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Ramulous wrote:John maybe you can send a couple of the cheerleaders up to the 300 sections to hand out t-shirts or toss them lightly so that the little kids up there have a shot to catch one...they probably need the free tossed ones more than those kids in the pricey lower bowl.

ABSOLUTELY! No excuse for this not to happen next game. We have an army of cheerleaders and ramettes, so we could have a representative from either in all the upper sections where there is a decent crowd with young kids.

GansettSummer · Unread post by **GansettSummer** » 11 years ago

Ramulous wrote:John maybe you can send a couple of the cheerleaders up to the 300 sections to hand out t-shirts or toss them lightly so that the little kids up there have a shot to catch one...they probably need the free tossed ones more than those kids in the pricey lower bowl.

They do that already. The Rammette's take shirt's up to the 300's.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Great to know. They have it covered then!

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

Evidently John doesn't know that as well as me not ever remember seeing it done....I know one time in my memory they gave either pizzas or sandwiches to some row in the 300s....I don't remember anything else.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 11 years ago

GansettSummer wrote:
Ramulous wrote:John maybe you can send a couple of the cheerleaders up to the 300 sections to hand out t-shirts or toss them lightly so that the little kids up there have a shot to catch one...they probably need the free tossed ones more than those kids in the pricey lower bowl.
They do that already. The Rammette's take shirt's up to the 300's.

I sit in 312 and the Ramettes throw 1 t-shirt each .... no where near the number that are thrown into the lower levels. The last thing I need is another collar-less shirt, but the kids that sit up there with their families sure would be thrilled. (However, I do appreciate seeing the Ramettes up close and personal.)

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

I along with 74 don't want a little rubber ball or another t-shirt.....they all should be for children under the age of 12....they should target that demographic.....and target the upper arena better.....some day it will be more crowded up there and we want them to keep coming back...

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Some day, hopefully, those kids will be season tix holders. I'm already very worried about having lost a whole generation of students who may have missed a chance to really become a life-long fan of Rhody Basketball. The first decade of the Ryan Center was supposed to ensure that a high level of basketball raised the profile and fan support of the program, but we were stuck with the wrong guys leading the way.

STC · Unread post by **STC** » 11 years ago

@EZbuckets

I do apologize, my comments were unnecessary and not well thought out. It's a tough gig trying to pump up the crowd given the current status of the program. Certainly I could never get out there and it is certainly a tough spot when the crowd is so sparse.

Keep up the good work and don't mind buffoons like me posting on a message board.

Rhody72 · Unread post by **Rhody72** » 11 years ago

John, focus on getting URI students to the game, involving URI students in the give-aways and organizing URI students as a group to support the team during games in a clever and appropriate way (no u $uck cheers please). One of the great enjoyments of attending college basketball games is seeing the students support their classmates. That is my constructive suggestion. Coordinate with cheerleaders and ramettes in getting students to the game. Your goal is to get students to become long-term supporters and fans of URI.

EZBuckets · Unread post by **EZBuckets** » 11 years ago

STC wrote:@EZbuckets

I do apologize, my comments were unnecessary and not well thought out. It's a tough gig trying to pump up the crowd given the current status of the program. Certainly I could never get out there and it is certainly a tough spot when the crowd is so sparse.

Keep up the good work and don't mind buffoons like me posting on a message board.

No problem STC! I didn't mean to run out of the shadows like a WWF wrestler and put you on the spot, I just wanted to speak up to see if I could open a conversation to see if there's anything I can do to help make everyone's experience better at the RC.

Rhody72- Believe me, as a 20-something year old lifelong fan of URI (I've missed MAYBE a handful of home games since the early 90's) there is nothing more that I'd like to see than more students and young fans come out to games and become lifelong fans. But as hard it is to accept, until this program can re-establish itself and begin winning consistently again, it's going to be difficult to reel kids in.

Luckily, I'm old enough to fondly recall the magic of our late 90's teams which really solidified my dedication to the program. Those memories keep me coming back, holding onto the hope that I'll see magic happen once again. But the kids attending school now were probably in 2nd grade the last time we danced. As hard as it is to admit, if I were in their shoes, you'd be hard pressed to get me to consistently show up to games.

But once we rise again, I'm sure we will once again have kids camping outside the RC desperate to grab a ticket to see their beloved Rams in action.

Also, just to clarify, I'm not a full-time employee or student of URI. I graduated quite a few years back, have a regular job, and come in strictly to MC the games, so unfortunately I have little to do with the marketing to students around campus. URI has a great Marketing staff that are extremely proactive and are always trying to engage the students, but it's just a tough draw right now.

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 11 years ago

EZBuckets wrote:
STC wrote:So I went to the game today and here is my take...

Off the Court:
-Good Lord! John Vanner and his on court nonsense during timeouts has worn real thin. Hes annoying as hell. I remember at the Vermont game he started yelling 'look at the scoreboard!!!' When there was like ten minutes left and needless to say UVM used it as motivation and made a nice run. Regardless, he's just obnoxious.
I don't post much on here and haven't announced my presence, but I felt the need to respond to this post.

My job is to create some excitement and entertain the crowd a bit during timeouts, which over the past few seasons has been an increasingly difficult task with shrinking attendance and a constant string of ugly losses.

I always welcome any constructive criticism from fans and can definitely accept if you just don't like me, to each his own. But to insinuate that my telling the crowd to look at a scoreboard directly lead to another team making a run is absolutely ridiculous and the epitome of grasping at straws.

-John

Winning creates excitement in the stands. This inane "let's make some noi-oiiiiise" only generates noise as long as the toys or shirts are being thrown into the stands. When the giveaway stops, so does the NOI-OIIIIIIIIISE. So what does that accomplish? (BTW, we do read the scoreboard when it works properly.) The "game presentation" nonsense actually stifles the crowd--what's the point of starting a "let's go Rho-dy" when no one can hear you well enough to join in?

Optimistic · Unread post by **Optimistic** » 11 years ago

My god I've never seen so much complaining in one thread. What do people want the marketing department to do? Nationwide basketball attendance is way down and this is a clear rebuilding year for our program. Casual fans don't come to games against opponents like SMU, Vermont and George Mason when they know our team isn't all that good. Attendance figures will rise starting next year when the wins start piling up. You can whine about the promotions and the apathetic students all you want but just know it makes you sound like old men shooing children off his lawn.

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 11 years ago

Turning every game into Short Attention-Span Theater isn't going to get people to games, though it is turning off some of us few remaining ticket-buyers.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

When we crack the top 25 in early 2015 then I am sure the crowds will be over 6 k all the time

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