BubbleWatch and Top 25 Polls

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 9 years ago

With a team that shoots free throws the way ours does, and with our half-court offense, we could just as easily go 2-6 as 7-1 the rest of the way. Our margin of error is still razor-thin.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 9 years ago

I am with TP. How about ordering the uniforms we wore in '99 for the A-10 Tournament now..........

McRam · Unread post by **McRam** » 9 years ago

I really think we are victims of our past in much of our thinking. "Could only win 2 more" more likely to lose 2 or three" etc. The reality is that we will be favored in all of the remaining games except Dayton; so in other words the professional bettors think more of us, than many of us on the board.

This is a good team, one that is still improving, It has learned how to win; at this time of year, there are no freshman on the team; it seems to me that right now, we could credibly argue that we are laying the best ball in the A10.

OK, right now we are probably on the bubble to be in the bubble, but I remain confident that we will pick up the other 10 spots in the RPI that we need to (ed Note Last year, the last at large team was #50 ranked by the committee-Middle Tenn State).

I still believe that losing one more and winning one A!) game will put us in the dance, I am more concerned that we will b ranked as one of the last 4 at large's that get in and have to play that additional game.

theblueram · Unread post by **theblueram** » 9 years ago

12 points this week in the AP Poll!

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

theblueram wrote:12 points this week in the AP Poll!

"ranked" 33rd via 6 voters. Crazy what win streaks will do.

#20 by Elton Alexander
#24 by John Feinstein
#25 by Cormac Gordon, Dave Borges (Again), Fletcher Mackel, Jon Wilner

Bookmark this awesome site:
http://www.collegepolltracker.com/baske ... m/uri/2014

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... top-25.ece

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

What happened to our navy blue uniforms?

Ram1019 · Unread post by **Ram1019** » 9 years ago

Maybe they burned them after wearing them at the Georgia Tech game...

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 9 years ago

Hahah they may have. We'll probably wear them for the Dayton game.

Ram1019 · Unread post by **Ram1019** » 9 years ago

I think we wore them against Dayton last year, correct? And won....maybe they're saving them for that game!

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 9 years ago

Yeah man! We should also get the ol flyer killer, Marquis Jones to go to the game.
Bring in the Voodoo to UD arena!
Hassan should have a HASSNESS MONSTER game against them.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 9 years ago

Unless we win the conference tournament, we'll have to go at least 7-1, providing the loss is at Dayton. Any other loss will be bad.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

5 points in the ESPN/Coaches Poll this week, just 1 place and 2 points behind Dayton, strangely enough.

Would put us #40 in the eyes of the Coaches.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Yeah, the pundits on the Dayton board predicted we would be ahead of them in that poll.

They were almost right.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

SI's Seth Davis has an excellent write-up on the Syracuse investigation, but Rhody fans may enjoy a very late mention (Scroll waaaaaaay down to end) of Rhode Island as one of the teams he also considered in this week's Top 25 AP ballot (along with Dayton, of course).

Davis left VCU out of his top 25 this week.

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/20 ... -penalties

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

CampusInsiders with a video segment on RI as the college hoop state getting no respect this season:

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 9 years ago

I can understand us not getting respect yet, but Providence has really been disrespected. Of course ESPN only really cares about teams who are on their network.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:Yeah, the pundits on the Dayton board predicted we would be ahead of them in that poll.

They were almost right.

The Dayton board has pundits?

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

PeterRamTime wrote:I can understand us not getting respect yet, but Providence has really been disrespected. Of course ESPN only really cares about teams who are on their network.

I disrespect PC all the time. I don't see anything wrong with it.

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

Billyboy78 wrote:
PeterRamTime wrote:I can understand us not getting respect yet, but Providence has really been disrespected. Of course ESPN only really cares about teams who are on their network.
I disrespect PC all the time. I don't see anything wrong with it.

Billyboy works for NBCSN and NAHPC (National Always Hated PC)….

kal-65 · Unread post by **kal-65** » 9 years ago

THE LATEST BLEACHER REPORT LISTS URI AS THE 3RD TO LAST TEAM OUT OF THE DANCE .1ST OUUT WAS PURDUE,2ND OUT WAS MIAMI.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

All this recognition is great.

Keep winning, and we'll get more.

Just can't get too excited yet. Agree with Blue Man here.

If we get to March, and we're still on the bubble, then we're talking.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bubblewatch

Rhode Island [16-5 (8-2), RPI: 57, SOS: 160] Judging solely by our Twitter feed, Rhode Island had the most popular support of the teams that failed to land on the Bubble Watch page last week. Rams fans are fired up, and understandably so: After a couple years in the post-Jim Baron wilderness, URI has a top-10 adjusted efficiency defense nationally and sits at 8-2 in league play. The offense leaves much to be desired. The Rams may have the A-10's stingiest defense, but only La Salle and Fordham are less efficient on the offensive end. Even so, the worst of URI's five defeats was to Georgia Tech on a neutral court back on Nov. 30. Its only conference defeats, to VCU and UMass, came by a combined nine points. A few close calls in the other direction (like single-digit wins over Duquesne, GW, Richmond, Fordham and St. Bonaventure), and we wouldn't be talking about URI at all. And yet, here we are. The schedule numbers make the margin for error awfully slim going forward, and Rhode Island needs a marquee win or two with few regular-season opportunities remaining. But Dan Hurley has a team worth watching, and an awfully fun story to boot.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

I think that ESPN blurb has it about right.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

adam914 wrote:http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bubblewatch

Rhode Island [16-5 (8-2), RPI: 57, SOS: 160] Judging solely by our Twitter feed, Rhode Island had the most popular support of the teams that failed to land on the Bubble Watch page last week. Rams fans are fired up, and understandably so: After a couple years in the post-Jim Baron wilderness, URI has a top-10 adjusted efficiency defense nationally and sits at 8-2 in league play. The offense leaves much to be desired. The Rams may have the A-10's stingiest defense, but only La Salle and Fordham are less efficient on the offensive end. Even so, the worst of URI's five defeats was to Georgia Tech on a neutral court back on Nov. 30. Its only conference defeats, to VCU and UMass, came by a combined nine points. A few close calls in the other direction (like single-digit wins over Duquesne, GW, Richmond, Fordham and St. Bonaventure), and we wouldn't be talking about URI at all. And yet, here we are. The schedule numbers make the margin for error awfully slim going forward, and Rhode Island needs a marquee win or two with few regular-season opportunities remaining. But Dan Hurley has a team worth watching, and an awfully fun story to boot.

That first line reminds me of when people tell me they've just seen my cousins out, and my first response is, "I'm sorry, what did they do?"

Accurate write-up, though. The offense is about a year behind the defense. Next year should yield a more balanced team.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Yeah hard to argue with too much they have to say there.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

The post-Jim Baron wilderness sounds like the worst vacation spot ever.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 9 years ago

Billyboy78 wrote:
PeterRamTime wrote:I can understand us not getting respect yet, but Providence has really been disrespected. Of course ESPN only really cares about teams who are on their network.
I disrespect PC all the time. I don't see anything wrong with it.

Well done as always re the friars

Encouraging to see ESPN do such a thorough job researching URI.

We still have time to improve offensively folks don't write this team off yet.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

The offense is what it is. It's not going to improve much.
Maybe Jarvis starts hitting more shots, but unless Gil comes
out of his injury/funk, I think what you see now,
is what you'll get.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 9 years ago

hrstrat57 wrote:Encouraging to see ESPN do such a thorough job researching URI.

There are a lot of ESPN writers / personalities that deserve to be ripped, but Eamonn Brennan isn't one of them.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

ace wrote:The post-Jim Baron wilderness sounds like the worst vacation spot ever.

Wonder how many frequent flyer points and hotel points one has to use to go there?
BresslerSouth can you provide a picture or video of the Jim Baron Wilderness?

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 9 years ago

We have to win out because our RPI can not get good enough.......there is some history for teams who get hot down the stretch....we must stay hot....

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

ramster wrote:
ace wrote:The post-Jim Baron wilderness sounds like the worst vacation spot ever.

BresslerSouth can you provide a picture or video of the Jim Baron Wilderness?

Not Bressler, but someone sent me a postcard once from the post-Jim Baron Wilderness:

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 9 years ago

that looks better than I would have thought it would

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Here's CFL's Siberian wilderness after the 1908
meteor crash.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

adam914 wrote:http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bubblewatch

Rhode Island [16-5 (8-2), RPI: 57, SOS: 160] Judging solely by our Twitter feed, Rhode Island had the most popular support of the teams that failed to land on the Bubble Watch page last week. Rams fans are fired up, and understandably so: After a couple years in the post-Jim Baron wilderness, URI has a top-10 adjusted efficiency defense nationally and sits at 8-2 in league play. The offense leaves much to be desired. The Rams may have the A-10's stingiest defense, but only La Salle and Fordham are less efficient on the offensive end. Even so, the worst of URI's five defeats was to Georgia Tech on a neutral court back on Nov. 30. Its only conference defeats, to VCU and UMass, came by a combined nine points. A few close calls in the other direction (like single-digit wins over Duquesne, GW, Richmond, Fordham and St. Bonaventure), and we wouldn't be talking about URI at all. And yet, here we are. The schedule numbers make the margin for error awfully slim going forward, and Rhode Island needs a marquee win or two with few regular-season opportunities remaining. But Dan Hurley has a team worth watching, and an awfully fun story to boot.

Agree with the write up. The key point there is the "marquee win or two" that we need. We have a chance, maybe, for 1 marquee game remaining. We better pray that Dayton goes on a win streak through to our matchup. If we go 8-0 the rest of the way, we will be 23-5, with a very high SOS, and an RPI probably in the mid to high 30s. I just don't see that being good enough with only 1 top 50 win (I am assuming GW and Mass fall out of that top 50 category). We need 8-0 and a win or two in Brooklyn if we want to entertain an at-large.

We have a razor thin margin for error as everyone has pointed out, but everyone is getting too carried away with this talk right now. Why hasn't a bigger deal been made of the fact that we already have more wins this year than we did all of last season? JUST ENJOY THIS TIME!!!

Otherwise, buckle up down the stretch for what will be fun - and let's go win Brooklyn!!

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Rod, that's the picture of the state of our program from post Harrick to when Hurley got here.

Siberia or Chernobyl, take your pick.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 9 years ago

I think the thing for URI is that they really hold their fate in their hands. 7-1 seems daunting on paper, but they should be favorites (significant in most cases) in all but one game, at Dayton. Hurley has done a great job of keeping them focused, not looking ahead, and beating everyone in front of them. In the end, it's not how much you win by, but making sure you win. If they can avoid the "bad" losses on the schedule (St. Joe's x2, St. Louis, George Mason), and take even 2-2 from UMASS, Davidson, LaSalle, and Dayton, they should be in the conversation entering the A10 tournament. Just being on the bubble is a great accomplishment. The resume might not be there at this point, but it's a great, promising step for the program.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

What's odd is, we seem to play to the level of our competition,
with the exception of the Kansas game.
I think we go 6-2 the rest of the way. This game tomorrow with
St. Joe's is worrisome, because of the three additional St. Joe's
players, who always show up in Philly.
We're good at home, so nobody really scares me. We've had great luck at Dayton
over the years.
8-0 is possible, but given the youth and mediocre offense, not likely.
Still, we've come so far from even last year's team.
This is fun to even speculate on an NCAA.
We just have to take each game as the most important game of the season,
and focus only on the opponent in front of us.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Rhode Island (16-5, RPI: 55, SOS: 115) -- The Rams had a great week with wins over George Washington and Richmond. They’ve now won five straight games, and the victory over the Colonials was their first against a top-50 team. They’re just 3-5 against the top 100, but they’ve put themselves within striking distance of an at-large bid. However, they have just one remaining game against a team ranked in the top 50 in RPI (Dayton). They may have to win out in the regular season to have a chance for an invite.

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/20 ... eams-watch

TexRam · Unread post by **TexRam** » 9 years ago

To echo the general sentiment, work still to be done.
To emphasize the small margin of error at this point, consider that last year SMU beat tourney teams UConn (2x), Memphis and Cincinnati and were ranked in the top 25 and still did not get invited. The reason? Weak ooc schedule... Including beating the pants off us. They certainly had the look of a tourney team.

Should be a very fun next several weeks.

kal-65 · Unread post by **kal-65** » 9 years ago

blue man ,going 8-0 gives us 2 top 50 wins.

Dayton is currently # 37 in rpi

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 9 years ago

Let's get real--we are not going 8-0. 6-2 is quite realistic and then getting to the tournament finals...................

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

So funny that we have been so down we are worried about this team looking ahead to post season and not sticking to the game-to-game mentality they have held all year.

With the blurbs popping up all over the internet, I don't think the media's small amount of acknowledgement qualifies as the hype that dooms teams like ours.

Not saying anyone has said that, but just pointing out that I don't think these guys look past anyone because they think they have arrived in some way.

I get the feeling that all the players and Dan himself relish each opportunity to get a win and rack up good stuff.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Do you remember Dan going ballistic after the UMass
game, saying some players were being very casual in practice,
and they thought they were better than they were?
It's happened already this season, so yes, we worry that it
could happen again.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

We're just being fans. It's natural to play the "what if" game.

As a group, this board ranges from the wildly optimistic to morbidly pessimistic, and everything in between.

And it varies from game to game, minute to minute sometimes.

Just the nature of the beast. All boards that I've read, are no different.

P.S. Despite what some of you might think, I'm not always that "chicken little" guy either. I have my moments.

jmck · Unread post by **jmck** » 9 years ago

Blue Man wrote:
adam914 wrote:http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bubblewatch

Rhode Island [16-5 (8-2), RPI: 57, SOS: 160] Judging solely by our Twitter feed, Rhode Island had the most popular support of the teams that failed to land on the Bubble Watch page last week. Rams fans are fired up, and understandably so: After a couple years in the post-Jim Baron wilderness, URI has a top-10 adjusted efficiency defense nationally and sits at 8-2 in league play. The offense leaves much to be desired. The Rams may have the A-10's stingiest defense, but only La Salle and Fordham are less efficient on the offensive end. Even so, the worst of URI's five defeats was to Georgia Tech on a neutral court back on Nov. 30. Its only conference defeats, to VCU and UMass, came by a combined nine points. A few close calls in the other direction (like single-digit wins over Duquesne, GW, Richmond, Fordham and St. Bonaventure), and we wouldn't be talking about URI at all. And yet, here we are. The schedule numbers make the margin for error awfully slim going forward, and Rhode Island needs a marquee win or two with few regular-season opportunities remaining. But Dan Hurley has a team worth watching, and an awfully fun story to boot.
Agree with the write up. The key point there is the "marquee win or two" that we need. We have a chance, maybe, for 1 marquee game remaining. We better pray that Dayton goes on a win streak through to our matchup. If we go 8-0 the rest of the way, we will be 23-5, with a very high SOS, and an RPI probably in the mid to high 30s. I just don't see that being good enough with only 1 top 50 win (I am assuming GW and Mass fall out of that top 50 category). We need 8-0 and a win or two in Brooklyn if we want to entertain an at-large.

We have a razor thin margin for error as everyone has pointed out, but everyone is getting too carried away with this talk right now. Why hasn't a bigger deal been made of the fact that we already have more wins this year than we did all of last season? JUST ENJOY THIS TIME!!!

Otherwise, buckle up down the stretch for what will be fun - and let's go win Brooklyn!!

8-0 the rest of the way and we are in. When was the last time the outright regular season A10 champ didn't make the tourney?

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

Yeah Rod absolutely. Also Georgia Tech they were flat.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Rod, I doubt Dan will let that happen again. He's all over it.

If guys loaf, they won't play. We need everybody on the same page though.

There's no margin for error with this team. Can't win without our best effort, every night.

8-0 is unrealistic. Everybody here should know that. 7-1 should win the league. 6-2 will get a bye.

Anything less, and we're fighting for an NIT berth in NY.

Win tomorrow night, or it'll be the latter, for sure. One stumble, and the bubble goes "POP!"

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Not to start another topic, with TP telling us about his glory days, but......
Geno Auriemma took the National Player of The Year out after five
minutes of their prior game to last night, and never put her back in.
Said he didn't like her demeanor.
Jack Kraft suspended Sly a few times for some minor things.
Sometimes coaches need to resort to tough love.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:The offense is what it is. It's not going to improve much.
Maybe Jarvis starts hitting more shots, but unless Gil comes
out of his injury/funk, I think what you see now,
is what you'll get.

Rod I still think we have time to put in 3/4 set plays in practice we especially need to do a better job attacking the bucket from the baseline.... Both Terrell and Martin have the skill set to do that.

I have no inside info on what goes on in practice but I suspect the goal of this staff was to teach and execute a top 10 level defense. I think we can agree this has been accomplished and it is no small feat!

A few set plays that emphasize our strengths ( and mask our weaknesses ) can still be put in and I suspect that occurred during this break in the schedule.

Looking forward to seeing what the team has accomplished during this very fortunate break in the schedule. We need 5 more field goals per game, with the right set plays this is doable. Add about 10 extra points to the defensive effort and URI is a very, very dangerous team.