Game #19: Virginia Commonwealth University - GameDay!

sf2010 · Unread post by **sf2010** » 11 years ago

Definitely would have lost money tonight, good fight by Rhody against a very tough team.

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

Agree, students get an A+ on this night. They actually got a pretty good game as well, helluva effort from the undermanned Rams.

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

Another "almost" against a very good team. Proud of the effort tonight, just didnt have the man power.

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

This team is in almost every game. Just can't finish.

Probably will remain that way the rest of the season, except for maybe the next game against Butler.

Just when you've about given up on their chances, they play well. Then after a good game, they regress.

They will get 2 or 3 more, or they should. Other than a few bad finishes, Hurley is maxing out this team's potential.

I think the rest of the league is starting to find out what's coming, starting next year.

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

Great job students and team and coach Hurley tonight

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 11 years ago

Hard team to blow out for sure

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

Great effort by the team, good showing by the students. One of the loudest crowds in recent memory.

Thought the team got contributions from a wide range of guys. Bigby gave them great energy, defense and even some scoring off the bench. Hare played well on offense but was abused in the paint, I lost track of how many lay-ups he gave up. Any word on Mike Aaman? Why did he only play 2 minutes in a game where we really could have used his rebounding and defense?

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

I doubt he's fully recovered from his concussion. Maybe he was dizzy, so they held him out.

If he had played more, this game could have gone either way.

They should keep him out until he's fully OK. Why risk anything?

runninrams5 · Unread post by **runninrams5** » 11 years ago

Real gritty effort tonight by the guys against a quality team, we just don't have the horses this year. I though in particular TJ played an outstanding game. He played tight physical D and fought through screens all night to stay with his man, and hit his open shots on O. He could be a very valuable guy next year playing a more minor role off the bench

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

He played last game and looked fine in warmups so I don't think it was injury related. More likely to be because of his ankle than the concussion anyway. They wouldn't have played him at all if he was still suffering from post-concussion syndrome.

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

Awesome game tonight. Wish the outcome was different but it was one of the first URI games I have been to that I have felt the energy a college basketball arena should bring every night. I am extremely excited to see what the future has in store for this program.

gorhody89 · Unread post by **gorhody89** » 11 years ago

bigappleram wrote:Agree, students get an A+ on this night. They actually got a pretty good game as well, helluva effort from the undermanned Rams.

No I expect better, once again the attendance was good but 90% were sitting down...it was an improvement but thats still not a student section

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

We're witnessing a rebirth of a once proud program.

Baby steps at first, but Hurley can now see what can and will soon happen here in terms of the fan base.

About freakin' time!

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

89, I think Hurley's going to at least try to get URI to change where the students sit next year. Ya think Bobby might have some input also, seeing from where he came from, Duke and Cameron Indoor?

As for sitting down, well they came, but the standing up part will happen when they start to win.

Results, man, results. It's coming. Who knows, if the students really start getting into it, it might even wake up the old folks!

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

Yeah I think the student's are getting a bad rap here. At least they make noise. Take the students out of the equation and its more like a wake than a basketball game.

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

The announcers mentioned Aaman was still coming back from that ankle injury so I'm pretty sure thats what it was.

BH06 · Unread post by **BH06** » 11 years ago

Great game to watch, I enjoyed the entire effort beginning to end. VCU is a though team to beat, especially with only 3.5 players on the bench, URI just ran out of gas at the end but still gave it everything they had.

Happy with the student turnout, wish they were a bit mor involved and stayed until the end. We could have used them going nuts behind the hoop when we were fouling down the stretch.

Where were the season ticket holders??????? Why buy tickets if you're not going to show up?????? Come support this team you pink hats!!!!!

GO RHODY!!!!!!!!

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

Just back from the game.
Well, we never quit. If Munford and Powell had decent shooting nights, we win.
It was scary at first, with VCU loooking like the old 40 Minutes of Hell Arkansas teams.
Once we got used to the pressure, it wasn't a factor.
Rebounding was, however. We were one and done so often, and they killed us inside.
TJ played his best game in a Ram uniform.
Hare was better than he has been lately.
Nik just didn't have the quickness for this type of game.
Bigby did well in his time on the floor.
VCU has some very nice players.
I liked the way Hurley coached this one. Lots of substitutions early on, to
keep up with the HAVOC VCU likes to bring.
Not a bad game. VCU knows they were in one, for sure.
On a side note, I didn't get booed, anyway.
I'll be at Mews with the tribe tomorrow.
Nice letter from Dan Hurley, who I'll get a chance to sit down an talk some
basketball with, and have a terrible picture taken with him.
Very nice gift from URI. I got Charlotte the Ham on the Jumbotron with me.
A good night overall, but not a win.

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

adam914 wrote:The announcers mentioned Aaman was still coming back from that ankle injury so I'm pretty sure thats what it was.

Ankle injury, plus, it didn't really seem like a great game to use Aaman in. Of the big men on URI's roster, Hare is the best to use in an uptempo game, even taking into account some of the errors he makes as a freshman. (Brooks was the second option, although he only played 8 minutes, IIRC.)

rhodyfan3 · Unread post by **rhodyfan3** » 11 years ago

T.J played a really good game tonight. He is a good ball handler and a good defender. I like seeing him come around as a scorer.

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

Every one of my rotten tomatoes were confiscated by the Security Gestapo, along with my signs criticizing Rod, and the case of beer I had under my jacket....

......it just isn't any fun going to the Ryan Center any f*****g more !!!!

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

In the first half, was the first time all year that I saw us
attack pressure and go right to the basket.
Usually, we slow it up, but tonight was much more aggressive.

Ryan was not fun at all, without boozed up louts peeing their pants and
swearing at old ladies.
I'll ask Hurley to bring in strippers, and have lap dances given away instead of T shirts.
Have to think of prizes for the women.
Any ideas?
I think I saw some of those security goons in that Hitler film about the Big East.

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

They played well tonight but at times Powell hurt us pounding the ball into the floor or dribbling backwards on the press. He needs to either pass and break the press or dribble aggressively and when the trap coming pass away from the trap.

I believe we had 3 10 second violations on us tonight, had to use 3 or 4 time outs (hurt us in the end) and had probably 3 or 4 more violations that weren't called

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

Second bad game by both Powell and Munford, our two steadiest players.
Still, we made it a close game.
Can't wait to see when Hurley gets his players.
What a difference when the students are out in force!

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

In reality, Ryan is a great place when the students come and make noise like they did tonight....it is we oldsters who need to pick up our games....starting by coming to the games if we are season ticket holders......standing during intros...standing coming into or out of timeouts....and letting the refs know when they make a bad call....

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

Post game video stuff is now up: http://patch.com/A-15wR

RAM67 · Unread post by **RAM67** » 11 years ago

I thought it was a great game by our shorthanded team. As much as Dan subbed to keep us fresh, it was hard to keep up with VCU, as it seemed like they were playing with 15 guys against our 7 or 8. All in all a fun game with a somewhat energetic crowd. I sit on the opposite side from Rod, and at times we were the only ones standing in our sections. I thought the refs were a lot better than the last couple of games, but two calls where the ball looked like it clearly went off of the VCU player resulted in a 6 point swing. Not complaining, just saying.

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

The refs were pretty good, some questionable continuations and non-continuation calls to start the second half but overall much better than the last 2 games

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

'67. yelling and making noise at a game is great!
I don't get people who sit on their hands, no matter
what's happening on the floor.
Rooting for your team is letting them hear you.
As I've said, I don't get our crowd.
Arrive late. Leave early. Season ticket holders who I'll bet some haven't been to a single game,
judging by the same rows of empty seats in the prime areas.
Big difference with all the students there, though.

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

Great effort

URI plus 12.5 easy money !!

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

I kept being amazed that VCU wasn't blowing us out. There is real fight is our dogs. VCU was bigger,quicker and had more depth.

I began to think that MkeP is not quick enough or a good enough ball-handler for his size to be a starting PG on an NCAA tournament team. He was abused by VCU all game.

Toughness mattered against VCU which played into Andre's, TJ's and Bigbee's game. We missed not having MikeA at 100%.

VCU made a great adjustment to URI bringing Hare down to take the pass in-bound. They doubled Powell when hare passed to him leaving MikeP nowhere to go and no one to whom he could pass the ball except Hare. Beating the 10 second clock to bring the ball across was a problem all night.

Andre was URI's most effective player.

No defensive help inside once VCU broke down an outside defender.

Was it MikeP he took that ridiculous shot when URI should have been holding the ball for the final shot of the first half?

MikeP only rarely beat his defender in the half-court and was then swallowed up. His excess dribbling while backing-up with the shot clock expiring was repeated far too many times.

Again, boys playing against men. But, there was no quit in the boys.

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

I taped the game so I watched it after having been at the game as well. The announcers talked about how Treveon Graham was having his way with Nik playing him on defense. It was obvious that VCU came out in the 2nd half with that mismatch in mind as they went to Graham often with the same result, either an inside score or a foul inside. He was too strong and too quick for Nik.
Once again the difference in the game proved to be rebounding - outrebounded by 9 or 35 to 26.
TJ led us in offensive rebounds with 4.
Judging from TJ's playing time tonight, especially down the stretch, I'd expect his minutes to continue to climb. Would like to see a starting line up of TJ, Powell, Munford, Hare and Malone. Nik only 4 points, seems to be a liability on defense. TJ is strong, plays good defense and never stops hustling. Even after he scored tonight, when most guys tend to celebrate their score with a smile or some sign of contentment, TJ turns and hustles himself back on defense. Hurley is clearly liking what he sees in TJ.

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

reef wrote:Great effort

URI plus 12.5 easy money !!

Reef,

Have you ever posted your gambling knowledge BEFORE a game?
You seem to nail every big upset AFTER the fact.
One time I'd like to see where your money lies before the ball goes up.

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

I don't think it fair to get on season ticketholders that are not coming to games this year. Their purchase of the seats is what financially supports this program right now. This Rhody team may play hard but it isn't very good and the odds are usually against them in most every game. Some people don't want to come out for that. I think they are holding their seats and waiting until the product on the court improves. Once that happens, you will see them again.

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

i think they would call that fairweather fans!

some big mouths on here who bitched for years about Baron have vanished, and I am sure are not at the games as they said they would be.

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

seanmc94 wrote:
reef wrote:Great effort

URI plus 12.5 easy money !!
Reef,

Have you ever posted your gambling knowledge BEFORE a game?
You seem to nail every big upset AFTER the fact.
One time I'd like to see where your money lies before the ball goes up.

He did: http://keaneyblue.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=855#p24187

Ryan Rowdy · Unread post by **Ryan Rowdy** » 11 years ago

SGreenwell wrote:
adam914 wrote:The announcers mentioned Aaman was still coming back from that ankle injury so I'm pretty sure thats what it was.
Ankle injury, plus, it didn't really seem like a great game to use Aaman in. Of the big men on URI's roster, Hare is the best to use in an uptempo game, even taking into account some of the errors he makes as a freshman. (Brooks was the second option, although he only played 8 minutes, IIRC.)

Bingo.

My buddy and I said the same thing. He wouldn't have been able to hang with that crazy pace that VCU set on the defensive end.

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

I realize that VCU brought one of the most tenacious defenses we've ever seen at the Ryan Center. However, after watching thousands of college basketball games I don't ever recall a team using up all its second half time outs with four minutes left on the clock. Dan’s frustration with inbounding and breaking VCU’s press was evident, but on two occasions he called time out after the ball had cleared half court (barely) and the ten second clock was no longer an issue.
All and all a great effort by an undermanned squad. Kudos to Alwayne Biggy who gave us game last night and not just minutes. Its efforts like last night’s that breed optimism in the future of this program.

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

I stand corrrected

sf2010 · Unread post by **sf2010** » 11 years ago

seanmc94 wrote:I stand corrrected

Actually Sean, you don't.

Check the timestamp on that post, reef made it at about 6:00am Thursday morning!

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

I think a thorough review of reef's posts is in order!!

In seriousness, I think reef has stated his policy regarding betting on Hurley's Rams earlier in this season.

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

Hey gang,
since I'll be sitting down with Dan Hurley tonight,
any questions you think I should ask him?
I will be asking him about recruiting, in generalities,
knowing he can't be specific.

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

rodfromcranston wrote:Hey gang,
since I'll be sitting down with Dan Hurley tonight,
any questions you think I should ask him?
I will be asking him about recruiting, in generalities,
knowing he can't be specific.

I'd love to hear some specifics about the Big O and his game, since I think he should be allowed to talk about him. He seems to be the one guy sitting out that we know the least about.

RIhoopz14 · Unread post by **RIhoopz14** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Hey gang,
since I'll be sitting down with Dan Hurley tonight,
any questions you think I should ask him?
I will be asking him about recruiting, in generalities,
knowing he can't be specific.

Yeah, I have a couple of questions I've been wondering, most regarding next years team, but feel free to ask about any of them.

1) I would like to hear what he has to say about Powell's role for next year, knowing that EC will be a strong competitor for starting PG.

2) With 5 guards (Powell, Munford, TJ, EC, Biggie) what does he see Biggie's "role" to be? Will he be a 3 at times? I feel like he'll knock TJ to bottom of depth chart.

3) What style offense does he plan to use? 3 guards? Lots of options.

4) Does he classify Big O as a 4 or 5 to this team? What sticks out as differences between Onyekaba's and Biruta's game? Once again, I feel like Aaman will be knocked to bottom of the depth chart w LIMITED minutes

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

Yes! Great idea. I think I'd like to know how high an upside Hurley thinks Oneykaba has,
and how far along he is.
The PG/guards question is another good one. I've wondered that, too. I wouldn't expect any
definite answers on that one, though.

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

rodfromcranston wrote:Hey gang,
since I'll be sitting down with Dan Hurley tonight,
any questions you think I should ask him?
I will be asking him about recruiting, in generalities,
knowing he can't be specific.

Why did Jordan Hare only get five shots against a team who has an effective height less than the national average? Especially since he was 5-5 and the two shots that he took that were not dunks/putbacks were very nice moves? Will he be trying to get him more shots over the next ten games?

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Hey gang,
since I'll be sitting down with Dan Hurley tonight,
any questions you think I should ask him?
I will be asking him about recruiting, in generalities,
knowing he can't be specific.

1.Knowing that he can't name names, what is he looking for in the two available scholarships for next year? And is it possible that he holds one back for 2014?
2.If he has 13 scholarships players available, how many players does he like to have in his rotation?
3. Non basketball question...Having lived in RI for almost a year now, what are his favorite places, such as restaurants?

sf2010 · Unread post by **sf2010** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Hey gang,
since I'll be sitting down with Dan Hurley tonight,
any questions you think I should ask him?
I will be asking him about recruiting, in generalities,
knowing he can't be specific.

1) What has been his biggest pleasant surprise since taking the job at URI?

2) Excluding family members, what coaches does he consider as mentors?

3) What are some important aspects of his leadership style?

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

All super questions.
Ever think about the life these guys have?
Do they ever see their families?
It's not like the old days, where it was seasonal, and some recruiting.
Now, it's summer camps, AAU tournaments everyhwhere, personal appearences, meet and greets, and tons of travel.
Like cops have a high divorce rate, I wonder what the divorce rate is among NCAA head coaches?

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

Rod

1. How is the leap in talent next year going to change the style that the Rams will play?
2. How long does he realistically think it will take until we are dancing?
3. Given unlimited resources what is the 1 thing he would like the program to have that it currently doesnt have?

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