3/15 | Oklahoma Sooners | 12:15PM | CBS (NCAA 1st Rd.)

[PeteRI]

If you guys want to run, we will run. And that could be to our advantage. Like our football team, we have to be able to outscore you to win.

Welcome, Sir! I'm with you on what makes college basketball so much fun - PARITY. You'll NEVER see small schools like ours -- and many much smaller than ours - be able to compete on a national level in football.

[steviep123]

If you guys want to run, we will run. And that could be to our advantage. Like our football team, we have to be able to outscore you to win.

Welcome OUradu. Good discussion! My downstairs neighbors are both OU alums (married couple that met at OU) and are really good people and are both excited for the game (though truth be told, he's more into football, which I'm assuming is par for the course). I was hoping the game was at night so I could watch with my neighbors (they did get me to be a fan of OU football this season - along with Michigan - my wife is a Michigan alum).

In response to you saying that URI wanting to run could be an advantage for OU, I'd say, maybe yes, maybe no. It would be an advantage if URI didn't like to run as well and weren't used to it, but since both teams do like to run when they can, I'm not certain if it's necessarily an advantage to either. (If OU was playing someone like Davidson who is more methodical, then it would probably be more of an advantage).

I think the game is going to most likely come down to if we can hold off Young from scoring at a high percentage while also stopping him from getting others involved. If he scores 30 but takes a million shots to do it and no one else does anything, then Rhody will probably win. But if Young can score in the 30s at a high clip, plus get others good looks, it could be a long day for the boys in Keaney Blue. Not that it means that much now, the last time (if my ancient memory serves) URI played against a team in the NCAA Tourney with such a high profile player was 1993 vs. Purdue and Big Dog Glenn Robinson. Robinson pretty much scored at will (30 something points), but no one else did much, and URI won 74-68. Of course, that was 25 years ago, so probably isn't that relevant other than that might be one way to stop OU.

By advantage, I don't mean we have the advantage in that part of the game, I mean that if you guys slow it down and make us work in the halfcourt you'd certainly have the advantage with your defense. I guess I should have said it would be our best chance.

Based on my reading and what was posted above I feel like this may be our most favorable matchup. I'm sure every team when they saw us in the field were hoping we'd show up as their first round matchup. Guess you guys won that lottery. But, given that McNeace might have a chance to have a big impact against a thin frontcourt for you guys, maybe RI was as good a matchup as we could hope for. McNeace has been feast or famine. He's at times really developed some nice post moves, and has been a big go to when Trae gets in the paint. But then at other times, halves, whole games, he looks lost. If McNeace can exploit your bigs and Trae can get him and Lattin involved, we have a good chance.

Fair enough. These days really if you are seeded anywhere in the top 11 to 12 (and even some 13s and 14s), it's typically a game. Anyone can beat about anyone in the top 12 seeds, that's for sure. I'd be surprised if the game doesn't go down to the last few minutes. I don't think either of our fan bases would be surprised by a loss by either side. Disappointed, yet, surprised no. Either side has a good chance in this matchup. That said, in looking at all the 10 seeds, (NC State, Florida St, Oklahoma, and Texas), Oklahoma seems to be the best matchup for us (on paper). I certainly didn't want NC State. I don't know as much about Fl St or Texas, though I don't think Fl St has been playing well of late lately. It's really all about matchups. URI or OU are both more than capable of making a deep run in this tournament with the right seed/bracket matchups. However, having to face Duke in round 2 will likely end that run real quick.

[RF1]

Rhody hits road, rather than fly, to Pittsburgh
http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... pittsburgh

[Rhody_JAM]

Rhody hits road, rather than fly, to Pittsburgh
http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... pittsburgh

Looks like I will be doing the same thing, as I have some stuff to get done at work tomorrow afternoon which makes it nearly impossible to catch a flight early for the game. I wasn't able to convince anyone from the group of 15 that went down for the A10 tournament to join me on the Trip. Hopefully the trip is worth the effort of driving through the night tomorrow. At least its not all the way in Sacramento this year haha. I plan on going to the Alumni event before the game, so I'm sure I will see some of you there. Those events were a blast in DC. Go Rhody!

[mstyles22]

They got to the hotel about an hour ago, nice reception waiting for them. Rhody fight song playing when they checked-in, lobby decked out with Rhody colors.

Looks like it's already snowing too. This is courtesy of JT's Instagram.

[theblueram]

nm

[NJRhodyFan]

Welcome OUradu. Good discussion! My downstairs neighbors are both OU alums (married couple that met at OU) and are really good people and are both excited for the game (though truth be told, he's more into football, which I'm assuming is par for the course). I was hoping the game was at night so I could watch with my neighbors (they did get me to be a fan of OU football this season - along with Michigan - my wife is a Michigan alum).

In response to you saying that URI wanting to run could be an advantage for OU, I'd say, maybe yes, maybe no. It would be an advantage if URI didn't like to run as well and weren't used to it, but since both teams do like to run when they can, I'm not certain if it's necessarily an advantage to either. (If OU was playing someone like Davidson who is more methodical, then it would probably be more of an advantage).

I think the game is going to most likely come down to if we can hold off Young from scoring at a high percentage while also stopping him from getting others involved. If he scores 30 but takes a million shots to do it and no one else does anything, then Rhody will probably win. But if Young can score in the 30s at a high clip, plus get others good looks, it could be a long day for the boys in Keaney Blue. Not that it means that much now, the last time (if my ancient memory serves) URI played against a team in the NCAA Tourney with such a high profile player was 1993 vs. Purdue and Big Dog Glenn Robinson. Robinson pretty much scored at will (30 something points), but no one else did much, and URI won 74-68. Of course, that was 25 years ago, so probably isn't that relevant other than that might be one way to stop OU.

By advantage, I don't mean we have the advantage in that part of the game, I mean that if you guys slow it down and make us work in the halfcourt you'd certainly have the advantage with your defense. I guess I should have said it would be our best chance.

Based on my reading and what was posted above I feel like this may be our most favorable matchup. I'm sure every team when they saw us in the field were hoping we'd show up as their first round matchup. Guess you guys won that lottery. But, given that McNeace might have a chance to have a big impact against a thin frontcourt for you guys, maybe RI was as good a matchup as we could hope for. McNeace has been feast or famine. He's at times really developed some nice post moves, and has been a big go to when Trae gets in the paint. But then at other times, halves, whole games, he looks lost. If McNeace can exploit your bigs and Trae can get him and Lattin involved, we have a good chance.

Fair enough. These days really if you are seeded anywhere in the top 11 to 12 (and even some 13s and 14s), it's typically a game. Anyone can beat about anyone in the top 12 seeds, that's for sure. I'd be surprised if the game doesn't go down to the last few minutes. I don't think either of our fan bases would be surprised by a loss by either side. Disappointed, yet, surprised no. Either side has a good chance in this matchup. That said, in looking at all the 10 seeds, (NC State, Florida St, Oklahoma, and Texas), Oklahoma seems to be the best matchup for us (on paper). I certainly didn't want NC State. I don't know as much about Fl St or Texas, though I don't think Fl St has been playing well of late lately. It's really all about matchups. URI or OU are both more than capable of making a deep run in this tournament with the right seed/bracket matchups. However, having to face Duke in round 2 will likely end that run real quick.

Huh?? The 10 seeds are Oklahoma, Texas, Butler and Providence. NC State and Florida State are 9 seeds. But I do agree that Oklahoma appears to be our best matchup based on player size and style of play. Butler and especially Texas have some bigger (taller) players that get regular minutes which could cause problems for our smaller frontcourt. And even though we already beat PC this year, they're playing great right now and would not be a desirable first round matchup.

[steviep123]

By advantage, I don't mean we have the advantage in that part of the game, I mean that if you guys slow it down and make us work in the halfcourt you'd certainly have the advantage with your defense. I guess I should have said it would be our best chance.

Based on my reading and what was posted above I feel like this may be our most favorable matchup. I'm sure every team when they saw us in the field were hoping we'd show up as their first round matchup. Guess you guys won that lottery. But, given that McNeace might have a chance to have a big impact against a thin frontcourt for you guys, maybe RI was as good a matchup as we could hope for. McNeace has been feast or famine. He's at times really developed some nice post moves, and has been a big go to when Trae gets in the paint. But then at other times, halves, whole games, he looks lost. If McNeace can exploit your bigs and Trae can get him and Lattin involved, we have a good chance.

Fair enough. These days really if you are seeded anywhere in the top 11 to 12 (and even some 13s and 14s), it's typically a game. Anyone can beat about anyone in the top 12 seeds, that's for sure. I'd be surprised if the game doesn't go down to the last few minutes. I don't think either of our fan bases would be surprised by a loss by either side. Disappointed, yet, surprised no. Either side has a good chance in this matchup. That said, in looking at all the 10 seeds, (NC State, Florida St, Oklahoma, and Texas), Oklahoma seems to be the best matchup for us (on paper). I certainly didn't want NC State. I don't know as much about Fl St or Texas, though I don't think Fl St has been playing well of late lately. It's really all about matchups. URI or OU are both more than capable of making a deep run in this tournament with the right seed/bracket matchups. However, having to face Duke in round 2 will likely end that run real quick.

Huh?? The 10 seeds are Oklahoma, Texas, Butler and Providence. NC State and Florida State are 9 seeds. But I do agree that Oklahoma appears to be our best matchup based on player size and style of play. Butler and especially Texas have some bigger (taller) players that get regular minutes which could cause problems for our smaller frontcourt. And even though we already beat PC this year, they're playing great right now and would not be a desirable first round matchup.

I was going by the actual seedlist (1 thru 68) before any movement.



In this list, NC State is # 37 (the best 10 seed), FSU is 38 (2nd best 10), while Butler (33) is the best 9 and Providence (35) the 3rd best 9. But since Seton Hall and Creighton (29 and 30) are 8 seeds in their respective regions and Villanova and Xavier are 1 seeds in 2 other regions, the committee had to move 2 of the 4 8/9 Big East teams to a different seed otherwise they'd be playing a conference foe too early. PC and Butler where moved from a 9 to a 10 and replaced by what would have otherwise been 10 seeds FSU and NC State.

So using the actual tournament seeds (which I should have done in the first place), the 10s are OU, Texas, Butler, and Providence. We can't play Providence in round 1, so that's not an option (can't repeat a non conference opponent in the first round). Out of Texas, Butler, and Oklahoma, I think Texas would be the worst match up of the 3.

[ATPTourFan]

Yeah, Bill Koch and Kevin McNamara spoke to this in the podcast they posted this week. There was a post-selection media conference call where lots of these details were flushed out.

BTW, I cleaned up the posts about the site slowdown now that we have a global announcement posted. This is our NCAA game thread.

[Seawrightspostgame]

I really like that Projo article about Bob Hurley commenting on Langevine/Berry's minutes. Kudos to projo for publishing such great wisdom.

[theblueram]

Last few games we came out flat. I want to see them get out quick and get a lead.

[RhodyRam86]

Fair enough. These days really if you are seeded anywhere in the top 11 to 12 (and even some 13s and 14s), it's typically a game. Anyone can beat about anyone in the top 12 seeds, that's for sure. I'd be surprised if the game doesn't go down to the last few minutes. I don't think either of our fan bases would be surprised by a loss by either side. Disappointed, yet, surprised no. Either side has a good chance in this matchup. That said, in looking at all the 10 seeds, (NC State, Florida St, Oklahoma, and Texas), Oklahoma seems to be the best matchup for us (on paper). I certainly didn't want NC State. I don't know as much about Fl St or Texas, though I don't think Fl St has been playing well of late lately. It's really all about matchups. URI or OU are both more than capable of making a deep run in this tournament with the right seed/bracket matchups. However, having to face Duke in round 2 will likely end that run real quick.

Huh?? The 10 seeds are Oklahoma, Texas, Butler and Providence. NC State and Florida State are 9 seeds. But I do agree that Oklahoma appears to be our best matchup based on player size and style of play. Butler and especially Texas have some bigger (taller) players that get regular minutes which could cause problems for our smaller frontcourt. And even though we already beat PC this year, they're playing great right now and would not be a desirable first round matchup.

I was going by the actual seedlist (1 thru 68) before any movement.



In this list, NC State is # 37 (the best 10 seed), FSU is 38 (2nd best 10), while Butler (33) is the best 9 and Providence (35) the 3rd best 9. But since Seton Hall and Creighton (29 and 30) are 8 seeds in their respective regions and Villanova and Xavier are 1 seeds in 2 other regions, the committee had to move 2 of the 4 8/9 Big East teams to a different seed otherwise they'd be playing a conference foe too early. PC and Butler where moved from a 9 to a 10 and replaced by what would have otherwise been 10 seeds FSU and NC State.

So using the actual tournament seeds (which I should have done in the first place), the 10s are OU, Texas, Butler, and Providence. We can't play Providence in round 1, so that's not an option (can't repeat a non conference opponent in the first round). Out of Texas, Butler, and Oklahoma, I think Texas would be the worst match up of the 3.

sorry to nitpick, but while the committee tries to avoid first round rematches of non conference opponents, it is not a rule it has happened 4 times in the last 8 years. 2017 USC vs SMU (though I believe USC got in through the play in game), 2014 Oregon vs BYU, 2013 Cal vs UNLV, and 2009 Louisville vs. Morehead St.

[rhodylaw]

I am finding it harder to enjoy the tourney this year - last year I was just so happy they were in, this year I want them to go a few more rounds and I am nervous wreck!

I love this team - let’s go boys kick some ass!

[rambone 78]

I want to see us play well and see what happens. And if games come down to the wire, execute.

And put the ball in Jeff's hands. He gives us the best chance to win.

[PeterRamTime]

I want to see us play well and see what happens. And if games come down to the wire, execute.

And put the ball in Jeff's hands. He gives us the best chance to win.

And if he wants to pass the ball

Pass it to JT. Or maybe Stan.

[Rhody83]

I want to see us play well and see what happens. And if games come down to the wire, execute.

And put the ball in Jeff's hands. He gives us the best chance to win.

And if he wants to pass the ball

Pass it to JT. Or maybe Stan.

Pass to whoever is open. I notice you left EC off your list.
EC scored 20 points Sunday. JT and Stan combined for 2-12 FG.
JT has struggled since the Dayton game.

[TruePoint]

I really like that Projo article about Bob Hurley commenting on Langevine/Berry's minutes. Kudos to projo for publishing such great wisdom.

Ha I don't know if that was intended snark or just an ironic oversight, but that piece was written by Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post and reprinted/re-posted by the Projo.

[adam914]

[TruePoint]

The "you can't trust EC at the end of games" thing is overplayed, tired nonsense. The kid missed a few shots early in his career, and the narrative was largely popularized by the late, great rodfromcranston. But it was never really fair and he has as good of a chance to create his own shot in that situation as anyone on the team.

[TruePoint]

I have my eye on DiSano right now to see if he steals the turnover narrative from my preview lol.

[TruePoint]

I want to see us play well and see what happens. And if games come down to the wire, execute.

And put the ball in Jeff's hands. He gives us the best chance to win.

And if he wants to pass the ball

Pass it to JT. Or maybe Stan.

Pass to whoever is open. I notice you left EC off your list.
EC scored 20 points Sunday. JT and Stan combined for 2-12 FG.
JT has struggled since the Dayton game.

Agree with the rest of you post, but not the bolded. He was our only good player during Hell Week, with 19 against Joes and 22 against Davidson. Was pretty good against VCU and not bad against Joes #2. He was not great in Davidson #2.

[rambone 78]

JT and Stan look tired. Hopefully the few days off will help. If they're back to their old selves, we're in good shape.

[Rhodymob05]

EC berry Jarvis and Dowtin all made great strides lately , now we need JT and Stanimal!

[reef]

Really hope we come out Thursday with great intensity and get out to an early lead play ahead and with confidence

The A10 tournament games were all dog fights and we played a lot of those games from behind let's reverse that trend !!

[Not Mike Powell]

I really suggest playing a 1-3-1 zone or some variety of that against this team. Avoid putting Trae Young in a pick and roll scenario vs. Berry at all costs. We will get eaten alive off of that. Last time we played zone was against VCU in the A10 championship last season. Worked very well. I think we can have success with keeping these guys on the perimeter and having Fatts/Jarvis dedicated to hounding Young 90 feet and chasing him on the perimeter. After watching this video, there is no shot we can go man to man for extended periods of time.

[section(105)]

.......did a zone get us to where we are......?

[Seawrightspostgame]

IDK about haggling over what defense to play.

Make Young guard one of our guys all day. Whoever he guards has to exploit him. Should try and be able to do that possession #1.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I really suggest playing a 1-3-1 zone or some variety of that against this team. Avoid putting Trae Young in a pick and roll scenario vs. Berry at all costs. We will get eaten alive off of that. Last time we played zone was against VCU in the A10 championship last season. Worked very well. I think we can have success with keeping these guys on the perimeter and having Fatts/Jarvis dedicated to hounding Young 90 feet and chasing him on the perimeter. After watching this video, there is no shot we can go man to man for extended periods of time.

^ #silly....

[TruePoint]

It is a fair point about being careful with Andre on ball screens. If you switch under with Young, the shot will go up and he has the ability to make it from just about anywhere. But you can coach around that without having to totally change your identity. My assumption is that Young is going to be chased full court, with or without the ball, for 40 minutes. And to do this, the guy assigned to him will change rather frequently to keep the person stuck to him fresh. I think that could wear him down, limit his clean looks and hopefully the pressure will result in some turnovers (which he is prone to).

[Rhodymob05]

OU fans acting like we (URI and the A10) never existed before this week. I hope the disrespect is a driver for Rhody.

[Not Mike Powell]

It's silly to suggest playing a defense that hides our weaknesses in the pick and roll? Look at the Bonnies last night. They played zone in just 14% of their possessions this season (mostly against us) but switched it up against UCLA to confuse them. It worked. Kellan Grady and Shavar Newkirk absolutely shredded us this past weekend off pick and rolls and isolation plays. Why couldn't Trae Young do the same? All I'm saying is I think it's worth a shot to change it up. We'll see.

[DC_Rams]

Link to their message board?

[PeterRamTime]

If we play a zone they might rain threes on us.

I'm sure they will carve us up a time or two on pick and rolls, but if we stay true to our aggressive man then we will force a lot of turnovers on them. Trae tries to make about a thousand highlight reel passes a game and we will eat those.

[josephski]

Link to their message board?

http://www.landthieves.com/board/forumd ... Basketball

[URI'21]

Link to their message board?

http://www.landthieves.com/board/forumd ... Basketball

I lost some serious brain cells from reading a bit of their forum

[RhowdyRam02]

It's silly to suggest playing a defense that hides our weaknesses in the pick and roll? Look at the Bonnies last night. They played zone in just 14% of their possessions this season (mostly against us) but switched it up against UCLA to confuse them. It worked. Kellan Grady and Shavar Newkirk absolutely shredded us this past weekend off pick and rolls and isolation plays. Why couldn't Trae Young do the same? All I'm saying is I think it's worth a shot to change it up. We'll see.

Again, Davidson scored 58 points, that's not exactly carving. And the defense you suggest we play hides our strengths and makes it more likely we get carved up by Young, but then again as long as you say the word zone on this board you get to act like some kind of basketball savant.

[PeteRI]

^ Thanks for the link.

They don't think much of their team, do they?

[Not Mike Powell]

It's silly to suggest playing a defense that hides our weaknesses in the pick and roll? Look at the Bonnies last night. They played zone in just 14% of their possessions this season (mostly against us) but switched it up against UCLA to confuse them. It worked. Kellan Grady and Shavar Newkirk absolutely shredded us this past weekend off pick and rolls and isolation plays. Why couldn't Trae Young do the same? All I'm saying is I think it's worth a shot to change it up. We'll see.

Again, Davidson scored 58 points, that's not exactly carving. And the defense you suggest we play hides our strengths and makes it more likely we get carved up by Young, but then again as long as you say the word zone on this board you get to act like some kind of basketball savant.

What exactly are our defensive strengths?

[reef]

Very rarely will we play zone maybe for a possession or 2 or to hide someone in foul trouble

I like the aggressive man to man wreak havoc on TY make him take bad shots and turn it over

Pray Berry doesn't kill us on defense

[PeterRamTime]

Disano's thoughts on the game.

https://www.yurview.com/all-ball/uri-ra ... rae-young/

Nice nuanced point about transition defense.
Hero ball ruins all.

[rhodysurf]

It's silly to suggest playing a defense that hides our weaknesses in the pick and roll? Look at the Bonnies last night. They played zone in just 14% of their possessions this season (mostly against us) but switched it up against UCLA to confuse them. It worked. Kellan Grady and Shavar Newkirk absolutely shredded us this past weekend off pick and rolls and isolation plays. Why couldn't Trae Young do the same? All I'm saying is I think it's worth a shot to change it up. We'll see.

Again, Davidson scored 58 points, that's not exactly carving. And the defense you suggest we play hides our strengths and makes it more likely we get carved up by Young, but then again as long as you say the word zone on this board you get to act like some kind of basketball savant.

What exactly are our defensive strengths?

Turnovers and gang rebounding.

[rhodysurf]

Tons of quotes here: https://twitter.com/CodyStavenhagen

[bigappleram]

I think our defensive philosophy and strengths are pretty well documented at this point - pressure defense on perimeter and try to cause disruption of offense and TOS. Maybe we will fall into a zone for a key possession or 2 but our entire identity is our perimeter defense so why neuter that in the biggest game of the season and drop into a zone defense that doesn’t play to our strengths.

[Seawrightspostgame]

I don't think you give the defense much thought. In terms of tweaks.

Young doesn't play defense and hampers their whole team. You go at that point and you score at will. Get fouled. Be aggressive.

Then our defense seems 10x better when they feel the urgency to score to keep up.

[TruePoint]

It's silly to suggest playing a defense that hides our weaknesses in the pick and roll? Look at the Bonnies last night. They played zone in just 14% of their possessions this season (mostly against us) but switched it up against UCLA to confuse them. It worked. Kellan Grady and Shavar Newkirk absolutely shredded us this past weekend off pick and rolls and isolation plays. Why couldn't Trae Young do the same? All I'm saying is I think it's worth a shot to change it up. We'll see.

Again, Davidson scored 58 points, that's not exactly carving. And the defense you suggest we play hides our strengths and makes it more likely we get carved up by Young, but then again as long as you say the word zone on this board you get to act like some kind of basketball savant.

What exactly are our defensive strengths?

We are generally a pretty solid defensive team, but we are elite nationally in two areas: turning the opponent over and in limiting FG attempts, particularly three point attempts, and three point makes. Much of that is a result of playing relentless, tenacious man-to-man defense - if not full court, certainly extended pressure compared to how many other teams play.

[RamIt!]

I think our defensive philosophy and strengths are pretty well documented at this point - pressure defense on perimeter and try to cause disruption of offense and TOS. Maybe we will fall into a zone for a key possession or 2 but our entire identity is our perimeter defense so why neuter that in the biggest game of the season and drop into a zone defense that doesn’t play to our strengths.

it it ain't broke, don't fix it... I can't think of a game where our defense lost us a win? We lost at the line, or we beat ourselves.

[section(105)]

......plus defense like ours tends to travel good......just wonder what sorta offense attack goodies we packed......?

[Da_Process_Survivor]

......plus defense like ours tends to travel good......just wonder what sorta offense attack goodies we packed......?

especially against teams that havent seen it before. One thing about the A10 games people forget is they see/scout us all the time, so our defensive intensity isnt a shock to them. And they've had enough time to develop ways to attack it.

OOC teams dont get that luxury

[steviep123]

Ton of Tweets from Koch from the presser/practice. Too many to link, but here's his Twitter feed:

https://twitter.com/BillKoch25

[rhodysurf]

Really good in depth preview http://three-man-weave.com/3mw/2018/3/1 ... 844207_539