Game 14: vs. St. Joe's Tuesday, January 3rd at 7

[rambone 78]

In the attendance thread.....3880. Not good, but no students........probably around 5000 if classes were in session.

The 3 OOC losses have probably cost about 1000 per game imo........

[ATPTourFan]

Post game show on-demand featuring Dan Hurley's press conference (with Hass and JT) and Chris DiSano:
http://920whjj.iheart.com/media/play/27584817/

[URIGONZO]

I was at the game last night, and I think they had a lot of the same open looks they have had all season...this time the difference was the shots were going in.

I noticed they passed the ball more, and I especially noticed EC, before he scored 10 points in a minute, made some incredible passes for very easy buckets.

Hass is a man among children, I hope he stays healthy.

How about Cy Langevine's drop step in the paint at the end of the first half (twice). Amazing!!

[Da_Process_Survivor]

I was at the game last night, and I think they had a lot of the same open looks they have had all season...this time the difference was the shots were going in.

I noticed they passed the ball more, and I especially noticed EC, before he scored 10 points in a minute, made some incredible passes for very easy buckets.

Hass is a man among children, I hope he stays healthy.

How about Cy Langevine's drop step in the paint at the end of the first half (twice). Amazing!!

yup, Cy is gonna be scary in a year or so. Already has a man body, knows how to play tough strong D and rebounding. Just give ARD some time with him teaching post play, and watch out. Can see the pieces are there...he's just raw

[Blue Man]

Dan talked about the offense opening up like they had planned. Nice to see it working in consecutive games.

I will say in dans years here that the team starts to show more depth in terms of sets and advanced ball movement as the season goes on.

He let's his guys off the leash slowly...like jarvis in his freshman year as with dowtin now.

Hopefully we see the same on Friday night.

[RhowdyRam02]

Which is another thing that shows that the Baron thread is dumb. Baron's teams got worse/got exposed in A10 play, Dan's teams get better.

[ATPTourFan]

Which is another thing that shows that the Baron thread is dumb. Baron's teams got worse/got exposed in A10 play, Dan's teams get better.

DING DING DING! WINNER!!

[RIFan]

Another nice win. Way to crush St Joe's...couldn't have happened to a better team. While theses 2 games make me feel better, and I am cautiously optimistic we have turned the corner... St Louis sucks, and St Joe's was playing without their leading scorer...so we do need some perspective. Once again, our FT shooting will come back to bite us against better competition. (disclaimer...I have not read most of the posts, I apologize if this is redundant).

[TruePoint]

Not an attack on RIFan, but I do think it's interesting that, to some of the people on this board, other teams losing their best player totally explains why we blew them out but cannot possibly explain why we lost several close games last year.

[RIFan]

We all know that losing EC, then Hass was a major reason for last seasons record...at least I thought we all knew that...I would not dispute that fact. Just like St Joe's is not as good as they were before losing their player.

[Blue Man]

Another nice win. Way to crush St Joe's...couldn't have happened to a better team. While theses 2 games make me feel better, and I am cautiously optimistic we have turned the corner... St Louis sucks and St Joes was playing without their leading scorer...so we do need some perspective. Once again, our FT shooting will come back to bite us against better competition. (disclaimer...I have not read most of the posts, I apologize if this is redundant).

I agree with the former points - SLU being what they were, bad but a true road game, however, St Joes even without Newkirk is on the level of W&M or Holy Cross. If you average SLU and SJU together I think you're right around the level of HC or W&M.

With that in mind, the Rhody we've seen the last 2 games has been vastly improved, taking competition out of it, especially on offense. Pushing the ball, extra passes, open shots, breaking up the zone, etc...as well as more minutes for players who have earned it (robinson, dowtin).

If this team plays the way it has the past 2 games, regardless of the competition, we will run roughshod through the league.

As for the FT shooting aspect - I just don't think any basketball team can ever play a "perfect" game. As in football, if you win 2 of the 3 (offense, defense, special teams) you win the game most of the time.

To oversimplify, if we win 2 of the 3 (offense, defense, free throws) we'll win the game. Either way tough to be focused on the importance of free throws when a game isn't close.

[Blue Man]

Not an attack on RIFan, but I do think it's interesting that, to some of the people on this board, other teams losing their best player totally explains why we blew them out but cannot possibly explain why we lost several close games last year.

Or this year...

[RIFan]

Agreed, Blue Man. Their overall play has certainly been elevated and I particularly like the improved passing.

[TruePoint]

We all know that losing EC, then Hass was a major reason for last seasons record...at least I thought we all knew that...I would not dispute that fact. Just like St Joe's is not as good as they were before losing their player.

Yes, 100% you did not say that losing EC didn't matter. I just had the idea reading your post about Joe's (and SLU for that matter) being down a guy hurt them and thought back to the arguments we had here last season. Didn't mean to implicate you in that.

[RIFan]

No worries...

[URIGONZO]

I think Friday's game against Dayton will settle a lot of the arguments and points being made in this thread! Big game coming up!!

[bigappleram]

Not sure it will settle anything, Dayton is a very saavy and battle tested team, playing at home and they were the preseason #1 team in the league. If we lose it doesn't mean we aren't getting better necessarily. Now if we lose and revert back to one-on-one play, lack of movement, not sharing the ball, lack of intensity on defense, etc then yes it can be cause for concern and fear that the better play was more due to the opponent than improvement. But if we play well and lose a tough road game it can also be seen for what it is, a good team losing to another good team on their home court.

[UCH21377]

Not sure it will settle anything, Dayton is a very saavy and battle tested team, playing at home and they were the preseason #1 team in the league. If we lose it doesn't mean we aren't getting better necessarily. Now if we lose and revert back to one-on-one play, lack of movement, not sharing the ball, lack of intensity on defense, etc then yes it can be cause for concern and fear that the better play was more due to the opponent than improvement. But if we play well and lose a tough road game it can also be seen for what it is, a good team losing to another good team on their home court.

Agree 100% with this. It's not just the W/L but how we are playing. Hope we keep up this pace and style of play!

[Rhody72]

I agree that the UD game will reveal how good we are.

I'm not a big KI fan.

I thought Hassan looked rusty as I expected.

Cyril getting 10 RBs off the bench was impressive. I think Cyril ahould get more court time with Hassan in the game.

The trapping defense against SJU was terrible and gave up many easy baskets. You can't let the trapped player pass over the top. Martelli is a good coach for which many here do not give him credit. Against the trap, the open man went right to the basket.

URI is not good at recognizing that the shot clock is expiring.

Inconsistency at the FT line is a problem. I'm not sure who I want to handle the ball at the end of a close game.

The Baron teams faded during the second half of the conference schedule. Usually, they started out OK.

Blowouts are not good games to judge the winning team. So far, this team hasn't played well in close games.

EC is still not 100%.

[ramster]

I agree that the UD game will reveal how good we are. I disagree. I already think we have proven we are one of the top 2 teams in the conference. Likely to be 4 point underdogs based on rpi, could be higher. If we have a cold shooting game it does not necessarily mean to charge on over to the Baron 2.0 thread

I'm not a big KI fan. Well he only played 15 minutes anyway having picked up 3 quick fouls. 4 bench players got more minutes than KI. He has had some good games, but sporadic for sure

I thought Hassan looked rusty as I expected. I think everyone would expect a degree of rustiness but could also be a tentativeness due to the injury. I was surprised how physical he did play - stronger than I expected. Yet still 3-6 FG, 4-6 FT, 5 rebounds, Zero TOs and a nice 4 Blocks in only 20 minutes - not too shabby

Cyril getting 10 RBs off the bench was impressive. I think Cyril should get more court time with Hassan in the game. I think you will see this. You don't want to see anyone get hurt, but Martin's injury opened the door for Langevine to get more playing time. He developed confidence in himself, teammates and coaching staff, he learned in OOC games, now he adds another dimension and an very solid option if KI gets in foul trouble or is not having a strong game

The trapping defense against SJU was terrible and gave up many easy baskets. You can't let the trapped player pass over the top. Martelli is a good coach for which many here do not give him credit. Against the trap, the open man went right to the basket. We were favored by 12 and won by 30!! Defensively we had more steals 13-3; fewer turnovers 7-17;more assists 22-9 with many assists coming off of steals and/or turnovers forced by our defense. So while we did give up some easy baskets we got a lot more easy baskets than they did courtesy of our defense. Hurley will have the team watching the tapes multiple times to see where they can improve - as always. If "Martell is a good coach for which many here do not give credit" doesn't that make our 30 point victory even more impressive

URI is not good at recognizing that the shot clock is expiring. I remember this happening to EC last night after a time out or stop in play - he had no idea the shot clock was low - a mental mistake

Inconsistency at the FT line is a problem. I'm not sure who I want to handle the ball at the end of a close game. We shot 50%; St Joe shot 48% so we won at the line I'd want Martin at the Line as he is shooting 84%

The Baron teams faded during the second half of the conference schedule. Usually, they started out OK. It was pretty commonly said on our boards that the other teams would make adjustments for URI after the 1st game but URI would make no adjustments

Blowouts are not good games to judge the winning team. So far, this team hasn't played well in close games. Maybe we can just blow everyone out in all 18 games then we won't have to worry

EC is still not 100%. No he isn't. But consider how much better he can still be? He was the 2nd highest scorer in the game. 27 minutes he went 7-12 FG; 5-8 on three pointers; 4 rebounds, 5 assists with some excellent passes (the entire St Joe team only had 9); 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 1 foul for 20 points.

So with all these issues (opportunities) imagine how much better we can become - and we won by 30 while being favored by 12!!

[reef]

One thing I notice when I watch the games is how DH does a nice job of coaching the big guy showing on defense far from the basket when the opposing player sets a screen in a 2 man game. Akele and Cyril seem to do a good job of it without fouling the ball handler, KI seems to get touch fouls on that play

Does anybody else notice this ??

[rambone 78]

reef, if that happens against Pollard and Dayton, KI will be on the pine in no time.......

[bigappleram]

Yes Hassan has come a long way in defending away from the hoop - he too used to pick up a bunch of dumb fouls hedging on the high pick, he has learned to use angles to position himself in a way where avoids the cheap foul on a rub from the PG. Cyril seems to be grasping this as well.

In terms of playing Hass and Cyril together - nice message board fodder but tough in execution. Neither can put the ball on the floor or is an adept passer. Who plays high post vs low post? - do you want Hassan playing 12-15 feet from the hoop bc he has more ball skills of the 2? I don't. Our best lineup is KI at the 4 playing smart, distributing, grabbing boards and doing a little bit of everything. Most of Cyril's time will likely come from Hass minutes due to foul trouble or needed rest.

[Blue Man]

Yes Hassan has come a long way in defending away from the hoop - he too used to pick up a bunch of dumb fouls hedging on the high pick, he has learned to use angles to position himself in a way where avoids the cheap foul on a rub from the PG. Cyril seems to be grasping this as well.

In terms of playing Hass and Cyril together - nice message board fodder but tough in execution. Neither can put the ball on the floor or is an adept passer. Who plays high post vs low post? - do you want Hassan playing 12-15 feet from the hoop bc he has more ball skills of the 2? I don't. Our best lineup is KI at the 4 playing smart, distributing, grabbing boards and doing a little bit of everything. Most of Cyril's time will likely come from Hass minutes due to foul trouble or needed rest.

I agree for the most part, but I think there may come a time or team (maybe only in an NCAA matchup *knocks on wood*, certainly not in the A10) where the matchup could dictate it defensively.

I agree that while it would be fun to watch on the defensive end with Cyril playing a true 5 and Hass at a more natural 4, I think you limit us offensively because where does Hass go to work? He's a 10 foot and in guy, even though he's shown an increasing range to hit the elbow jumper. He will take it if he's given it, but certainly isn't going to put the ball down and create a jump shot. Cyril still has a long way to go with his offensive game from a scoring perspective outside of 5 feet.

The other factor is depth. If you're running both Langevine and Hass out at the same time, assuming you're against a lineup that would require that height, the drop-off to a true 5 is pretty substantial.

I think we can all be happy that the increased time for #10 has yielded a superior rebounder and rim protector in a true freshman who can come and at least hold up Hass' abilities in the defensive post while he gets a breather.

KI playing well in the middle of our offense has been the reason for these last 2 blowouts. Hopefully we see more tomorrow night.

[ATPTourFan]

[RoadyJay]

Dan can say there was no revenge factor, that they think of their opponents as faceless, etc... But I think they liked beating this team maybe a litttle bit more than some others

[Rhody Guy]

I am surprised that a team with Jimmy on it never hit more than 16 3's to be honest. There were some games where he hit 8-9 by himself.

[Blue Man]

I am surprised that a team with Jimmy on it never hit more than 16 3's to be honest. There were some games where he hit 8-9 by himself.

Well you usually have to actually run an offense for that to happen. Jimmy on this team would be so damn dangerous.