Week #2 - Games of Interest

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 7 years ago

We begin the second and first full week of the college basketball season. URI gets a #21 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll. Duke remains #1 and Cincinnati is #24. In the USA Today poll, URI stands at #22. Other A-10 teams getting votes -Dayton gets the top vote in the others category in both polls. VCU also gets some votes in the USA Today poll.

In Sunday results:

Unfortunately, Duquesne was not able to duplicate what Albany had achieved on Friday as the Dukes fell to Penn State, 82-74. It was a nip and tuck game most of the way, but PSU broke it open in the last five minutes.

Also, Brown defeated Niagara, 88-79, on the performance of Steven Spieth who had a career high 27 points. Brown had a good lead for most of the game. Niagara is picked to finish last in the Metro Atlantic.

Holy Cross was routed at South Carolina, 81-49. This was not a contest from the get-go.

In Monday night action in the A-10:

Marist at URI. 7 PM.

UMass at Ole Miss. 7 PM. On SECN.

Fordham in its home opener meets NY Institute of Technology. 7 PM.

Old Dominion at Richmond. 7 PM.

Columbia at Saint Joseph's. 7 PM.

Southern Utah at Saint Louis. 8 PM. This is a campus round game in the MGM Grand Main Event basketball tourney.

In Monday night games involving URI OOC opponents:

Albany at #24 Cincinnati. 7 PM. On ESPNU.

Vermont at PC. 7 PM. On FS2.

Coppin State at Valparaiso. 8 PM. This is another campus round game in the MGM Grand Main Event basketball tourney.

Other games:
Binghamton at St. John's. 6:30 PM. On FS1. This is a campus game of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

Section104 · Unread post by **Section104** » 7 years ago

Albany took down Penn St. Will be interesting to see how Cincinnati does against them.

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 7 years ago

UMass just blew it against Ole Miss.
they were up 88-79 with 3:48 to go and lost 90-88.
They are so baronesque under Kellogg it's not even funny.....well it kinda is

They even have a Canisius transfer on their team.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 7 years ago

I enjoyed watching UConn lose on my phone while walking back to the car. Northeastern dropped them to 0-2 on the young season.

Mongo · Unread post by **Mongo** » 7 years ago

Cincy looked solid in the second half. Saturday is going to be a fun one.

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 7 years ago

Cinci can definitely play some D. I was able to see a little bit of that game during timeouts of the Rhody game.
I think we are a little quicker than they are, but they are some stout guys and scoring against them is gonna be tough.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 7 years ago

New Hampshire wins at Tenple 57-52 say it ain't so Franny Dunphy !!

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 7 years ago

So UNH is better than La Salle by Transitive Property of Sports.

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 7 years ago

PeterRamTime wrote:Cinci can definitely play some D. I was able to see a little bit of that game during timeouts of the Rhody game.
I think we are a little quicker than they are, but they are some stout guys and scoring against them is gonna be tough.

yup, knocking down the mid and long range shots early is going to be key. get the big guys away from the key and man'd up in space. that happens, no doubt EC, Terrell and Iverson can beat them on the dribble

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

For those who think that the coverage of this team by local media will change when we win or we're better than PC, all you have to do is look at the front page of today's Projo sports section. It's hilarious. And no, I'm not whining or complaining. I'm stating a fact. It's been this way for 50 years, even when we won and were better than PC. But at least we know what Emmitt Holt looks like now!

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Here in UConn land where I live, the natives are not happy.......wah wah

Even the UConn women could be mortal this season.......

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

Billyboy78 wrote:For those who think that the coverage of this team by local media will change when we win or we're better than PC, all you have to do is look at the front page of today's Projo sports section. It's hilarious. And no, I'm not whining or complaining. I'm stating a fact. It's been this way for 50 years, even when we won and were better than PC. But at least we know what Emmitt Holt looks like now!

From the unbiased journalist perspective - we have a ranking on paper but haven't beat anyone worth noting yet. PC has a growing fan base thanks to 3 years of NCAA tournament appearances. Each team beat a crap team very handily last night. I'm not sure why everyone does this after any win - but this happened during the Baron years too. Get some big wins and then people notice. Ranking or not beating Marist or Dartmouth isn't going to get you anywhere.

If we beat Cincinnati this weekend, and the paper leads with PC/Grambling Sunday morning instead of a URI/Duke preview I'd start to agree - but this goes back to everyone who refuses to click on a Bill Koch URI article because there's some "conspiracy" against Rhody.

Clicks = eyeballs, eyeballs = ad revenue, ad revenue drives content.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 7 years ago

Last night, URI drew 4,100 fans. Top 25 team, huge expectations, 4,100 fans.
PC played at the same time, under much less expectations as a team projected in the bottom half of the Big East and in a "rebuilding" year, and drew 8,300 fans.

The results needed to determine story location and quality of story isn't just based on the results on the scoreboard, but also results in the seats.

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 7 years ago

rjsuperfly66 wrote:Last night, URI drew 4,100 fans. Top 25 team, huge expectations, 4,100 fans.
PC played at the same time, under much less expectations as a team projected in the bottom half of the Big East and in a "rebuilding" year, and drew 8,300 fans.

The results needed to determine story location and quality of story isn't just based on the results on the scoreboard, but also results in the seats.

well, i mean the sewer is right there, so its a short crawl to the Dump.

Good thing it isnt on campus, no fans would find it then

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Kingston is a long haul for most RI'ers you know.......URI will almost always draw less because of where it is......if we average 6000 a game, that's as good as it's going to get, like it or not.....last night's attendance should be the lowest of the season baring weather......

RoadyJay · Unread post by **RoadyJay** » 7 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:Kingston is a long haul for most RI'ers you know.

Sad excuse

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 7 years ago

That's not totally unfair, but there is some chicken-and-egg component to that, as well.

The other thing to consider is that PC plays in the state capital, and many hundreds of thousands of people work or live in the city or just outside it. URI is the exact opposite. So it isn't strange to me that PC would see a much larger attendance figure for a weeknight game. They're also riding a residual high regardless of expectations for this season. I don't think a 1:1 comp on attendance is the best way to gauge relative interest.

ramswin · Unread post by **ramswin** » 7 years ago

Stupid argument. PC has a fan base 3 or 4 times greater than URI.

josephski · Unread post by **josephski** » 7 years ago

If you take the general area, South County has a population of about 126,000 and Providence County is about 626,000 with Providence alone being 178,000. Not very surprising they're averaging more fans.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 7 years ago

.....I see no point in comparing our attendance to anyone's else's actually.....my focus is on growing and fertilizing our fan base to make the RC a dynamic, strong, home court that the South County population supports more than they do now....

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 7 years ago

RoadyJay wrote:
rambone 78 wrote:Kingston is a long haul for most RI'ers you know.
Sad excuse

On a Saturday? Sure. On a weeknight, I'm not even sure it is an excuse as much as it is a frustrating reality.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

PC has a much bigger fan base partly because of the coverage by local media for the past 50 years. We had some great teams in the 70s, in the 80s and in the 90s. It has NEVER mattered as to how good we are as to who gets better local coverage. Why should this year be different? I don't know if PC is playing on Sunday, but we could beat Duke and PC would still be the top story. Like I've said, I know URI grads who are PC fans. A large % of PC fans did not attend that school. When local media is telling generation after generation that PC is the team to follow, it's hard to build a local fan base. I know most disagree with this, but I've lived it for 50 years.

RoadyJay · Unread post by **RoadyJay** » 7 years ago

TruePoint wrote:
RoadyJay wrote:
rambone 78 wrote:Kingston is a long haul for most RI'ers you know.
Sad excuse
On a Saturday? Sure. On a weeknight, I'm not even sure it is an excuse as much as it is a frustrating reality.

How can anyone say driving 30-45 minutes is a "frustrating reality"? This is just typical Rhode Island thinking. Like people down in South Kingstown and Narragansett that don't drive north of The Tower, or driving into the big city of Providence is some kind of out of the way journey, greater than sailing across an ocean.

Spare me. Weekend or weeknight, if you're a fan, get to Kingston.

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 7 years ago

RoadyJay wrote:
TruePoint wrote:
RoadyJay wrote:
Sad excuse
On a Saturday? Sure. On a weeknight, I'm not even sure it is an excuse as much as it is a frustrating reality.
How can anyone say driving 30-45 minutes is a "frustrating reality"? This is just typical Rhode Island thinking. Like people down in South Kingstown and Narragansett that don't drive north of The Tower, or driving into the big city of Providence is some kind of out of the way journey, greater than sailing across an ocean.

Spare me. Weekend or weeknight, if you're a fan, get to Kingston.

reality is, weeknight does matter.

most people in the Providence area...leave work at 5, get home between 530-6, eat dinner and youre already looking at 630 or later. 45-60 to Kingston (if youre lucky on traffic) = getting there at best 715-730 for a 7 o'clock tip

and thats with zero family time.

and all that to see them play Marist...sorry, you dont have to like it but its a valid factor

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

Who cares.
PC has more fans than URI. So what. It's just the way it is.....accept is because it's not going to change

What has changed is out program, Coaching staff, playing personnel, recruiting prowess.....excitement is building.

Enjoy this season, every game of it, ebpvery article written about it, enjoy this message board.

This team has arrrived and if you don't believe that then I don't know what to tell you.

PC can only envy right now where we are as a team. And to top that off this weekend we will be playing in a tournament in nearby Connecticut with 3 of the top 25 ranked teams in it. One team is the Number 1 ranked team in the Nation and another one is our very own, beloved University of Rhode Island Rams. It doesn't get any better than this. Will be the best Tournament going this weekend.

If you have not made plans to go I highly, highly recommend going. I don't care what the prices are on StubHub..... GO. It is going to be great.

And win or lose to Cincinnati, and I of course will be crushed if we lose, the season is still going to be a very memorable one. No need to hang your hear, just keep moving.

It's exciting times for URI. The depressing talk about attendance just brings people down, the attendance will pick up, just may take longer than many want or expect it too.

GO RHODY!!!

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 7 years ago

Some Dayton Hoops this afternoon on ESPN2/WatchESPN

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

In terms of the "long drive" to Kingston, I was being sarcastic........but it's actually true for people in Providence, in their minds anyway.....

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 7 years ago

ramster wrote: PC can only envy right now where we are as a team.

The rest of your remark is true, but I'm going to going to have to ask you to settle down on that one.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
ramster wrote: PC can only envy right now where we are as a team.
The rest of your remark is true, but I'm going to going to have to ask you to settle down on that one.

Ok, maybe I did get a little carried away

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
RoadyJay wrote:
TruePoint wrote:
On a Saturday? Sure. On a weeknight, I'm not even sure it is an excuse as much as it is a frustrating reality.
How can anyone say driving 30-45 minutes is a "frustrating reality"? This is just typical Rhode Island thinking. Like people down in South Kingstown and Narragansett that don't drive north of The Tower, or driving into the big city of Providence is some kind of out of the way journey, greater than sailing across an ocean.

Spare me. Weekend or weeknight, if you're a fan, get to Kingston.
reality is, weeknight does matter.

most people in the Providence area...leave work at 5, get home between 530-6, eat dinner and youre already looking at 630 or later. 45-60 to Kingston (if youre lucky on traffic) = getting there at best 715-730 for a 7 o'clock tip

and thats with zero family time.

and all that to see them play Marist...sorry, you dont have to like it but its a valid factor

I have to agree with this part of it. I work til 6 and am about an hour from Kingston, and that's not considering traffic. If starting time was 8:00 or even 7:30, I would go to more weeknight games. I'm leaving work early to go to the Dayton game, which is on a Friday night. Unfortunately I can't do that often.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

The reason I care how many fans attend our games vs. how many attend PC games is Dan Hurley. He cares about attendance. .......a lot! I'm he knows they got 8000 compared to our 4000. He cant be happy about that. I want him here for many years. Maybe I'm selfish.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

I agree that Hurley cares about attendance, just don't know what can be done about it. 4000 for last nights game did not surprise me knowing the history of attendance at our games. It was not lower than I expected.
It will take a fairly long time for URI to get well above 4000 for a weeknight and weak opponent.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 7 years ago

I don't even buy into the Projo conspiracy theories against URI, but I did voice my displeasure with today's treatment of the two games. And I agree with Blue Man: if we all read the URI stories online, the powers that be will notice!
I think the Projo will give URI strong play this year. If they don't, I'll get the sports editor's email (URI grad) and we can all complain.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 7 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote:I don't even buy into the Projo conspiracy theories against URI, but I did voice my displeasure with today's treatment of the two games. And I agree with Blue Man: if we all read the URI stories online, the powers that be will notice!
I think the Projo will give URI strong play this year. If they don't, I'll get the sports editor's email (URI grad) and we can all complain.

I just don't think you guys can have it both ways ... You can't defend attendance comparisons above with things like "PC draws more on average because they have 3-4x the interest in this state" and then complain when Projo headlines PC. Projo is going to cater to those who view and if PC is getting significantly more clicks on the Projo website (which I think has been mentioned here in the past), that's the audience they are going to push the stories to. It's still a business, regardless of on-court results.

Ultimately what I think will happen is as the season begins to shake out towards January and February, you might see that shift from Projo seeing a potential postseason run on the horizon, they just have to hope people haven't tuned them out by then.

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 7 years ago

Billyboy78 wrote:The reason I care how many fans attend our games vs. how many attend PC games is Dan Hurley. He cares about attendance. .......a lot! I'm he knows they got 8000 compared to our 4000. He cant be happy about that. I want him here for many years. Maybe I'm selfish.

true, but in the interest of fairness it was their season opener.

regarding how Hurley feels, Im betting he cares more about how full the building is and how much energy the crowd has vs raw numbers. I think student support goes a long way. They've showed up in droves so far and have been loud

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

Dayton playing Alabama and leading right now

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Iggy1979 wrote:I don't even buy into the Projo conspiracy theories against URI, but I did voice my displeasure with today's treatment of the two games. And I agree with Blue Man: if we all read the URI stories online, the powers that be will notice!
I think the Projo will give URI strong play this year. If they don't, I'll get the sports editor's email (URI grad) and we can all complain.
I just don't think you guys can have it both ways ... You can't defend attendance comparisons above with things like "PC draws more on average because they have 3-4x the interest in this state" and then complain when Projo headlines PC. Projo is going to cater to those who view and if PC is getting significantly more clicks on the Projo website (which I think has been mentioned here in the past), that's the audience they are going to push the stories to. It's still a business, regardless of on-court results.

Ultimately what I think will happen is as the season begins to shake out towards January and February, you might see that shift from Projo seeing a potential postseason run on the horizon, they just have to hope people haven't tuned them out by then.

And if PC fans outnumber URI fans by 80% to 20%, who is going to get more clicks? That's another reason why it won't change, even if we're great and you guys suck.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 7 years ago

The Dayton-Alabama game is part of the ESPN Tip Off Marathon that URI played in last year when withe Rams hosted Valparaiso. The game is early in second half with Alabama leading, 42-38. Last year Dayton beat Alabama, 80-58.

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 7 years ago

80-48 actually Obadiah.

Definitely want to see Dayton win this. The better they are the better it is for us.
Kendall Pollard isn't playing.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

I'm not watching but I heard that Pollard is still out.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 7 years ago

Yep, he's out. Too bad cuz Dayton needs to take this. They're still within a bucket.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 7 years ago

Tuesday action in the A-10 in addition to Dayton game underway are:

Siena at GW. 7 PM.

VCU at Liberty. 7 PM

Lebanon Valley at George Mason, 7 PM. This is a campus round game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Delaware at La Salle. 7 PM. Game is the Explorers home opener.

In games involving OOC opponents:

Grand Canyon at Penn State. 7 PM.

Holy Cross at Syracuse. 7 PM. On ACCN.

Fairfield at Dartmouth. 7 PM.

Belmont at Vanderbilt. 9 PM. On SECN.

#1 Duke vs. #4 Kansas in the State Farms Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. 9:30 PM. On ESPN.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 7 years ago

Start scouting Duke!

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 7 years ago

The PC envy by some of the old timers is so tired and lame at this point. Give it up. We get it, everyone knows the story from 1978. Its freakin 40 years ago. Did it have a residual effect that increased their fan base, maybe. But Rhode Island is an ass backwards state and this is no different, a small private school gets more billing than the state school. Only in Rhode Island - but it is what it is. Whining about it does nothing. Winning is the only thing that will change it. The casual fan, the younger fans - they are all there for the taking. They want to follow a winner. Win games, they will follow.

PC is coming off 3 straight NCAAs and has their hometown hero as coach - things are looking great - UNTIL we advance to the second weekend in March this year and do what they couldnt do the last 3 tries, then ramster is right, they will be green with envy. Earn it.

sf2010 · Unread post by **sf2010** » 7 years ago

Dayton looking like they'll get a big win on the road vs Alabama, but Josh Cunningham goes down with a gruesome looking leg injury coming down from an exclamation point dunk being fouled on a breakaway with four seconds left.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 7 years ago

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
Iggy1979 wrote:I don't even buy into the Projo conspiracy theories against URI, but I did voice my displeasure with today's treatment of the two games. And I agree with Blue Man: if we all read the URI stories online, the powers that be will notice!
I think the Projo will give URI strong play this year. If they don't, I'll get the sports editor's email (URI grad) and we can all complain.
I just don't think you guys can have it both ways ... You can't defend attendance comparisons above with things like "PC draws more on average because they have 3-4x the interest in this state" and then complain when Projo headlines PC. Projo is going to cater to those who view and if PC is getting significantly more clicks on the Projo website (which I think has been mentioned here in the past), that's the audience they are going to push the stories to. It's still a business, regardless of on-court results.

Ultimately what I think will happen is as the season begins to shake out towards January and February, you might see that shift from Projo seeing a potential postseason run on the horizon, they just have to hope people haven't tuned them out by then.

Attendance and clicks equal interest so of course those are factors. But I think Top 25 should be a big factor.
And I don't think anyone is complaining about play online; it was the play in print. So clicks don't come into play there.
I say give the better team the better play. That's simple and defensible.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

I don't want to get ahead of ourselves because Cincy is a very tough game and probably a toss up. But just a little bit. ...Duke's top 3 freshmen are all hurt. They're all projected top 10 picks in next year's draft....1,3 and 8 or something crazy like that. I don't know what their statuses are for the weekend but we'll have a better chance if a couple of them are still out. And they don't have a true PG. They're still loaded but, Jared and Stan could harrass Allen all night. I guess we'll know more tonight on where they stand.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 7 years ago

bigappleram wrote:The PC envy by some of the old timers is so tired and lame at this point. Give it up. We get it, everyone knows the story from 1978. Its freakin 40 years ago. Did it have a residual effect that increased their fan base, maybe. But Rhode Island is an ass backwards state and this is no different, a small private school gets more billing than the state school. Only in Rhode Island - but it is what it is. Whining about it does nothing. Winning is the only thing that will change it. The casual fan, the younger fans - they are all there for the taking. They want to follow a winner. Win games, they will follow.

PC is coming off 3 straight NCAAs and has their hometown hero as coach - things are looking great - UNTIL we advance to the second weekend in March this year and do what they couldnt do the last 3 tries, then ramster is right, they will be green with envy. Earn it.

I'm an old timer who doesn't have PC envy. But I don't agree with everything you said BAR. If things go as expected, this is our year, our time, our turn. As fans we should complain if we don't think the statewide daily is giving the team its due.
Don't whine. Don't get into conspiracy theories. Don't bring up 78. But hold them accountable.
My email to the projo was well received. They're interested in what readers think.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 7 years ago

Iggy, your point about being nationally ranked and thus a bigger and more relevant story is a good one and I agree.

NYGFan_Section208 · Unread post by **NYGFan_Section208** » 7 years ago

sf2010 wrote:Dayton looking like they'll get a big win on the road vs Alabama, but Josh Cunningham goes down with a gruesome looking leg injury coming down from an exclamation point dunk being fouled on a breakaway with four seconds left.

Gruesome is an understatement...looked just awful....

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