Week #7 - Games of Interest

[ramster]

I still am not sold on Duquesne as I think they are a mirage until proven otherwise. Have played just ONE true road game. Lost to all the name teams. Loss at 8-3 Notre Dame with an NET rank of 52 was totally expected. Would think, if they were really a decent team, they could get at least one versus a 5-5 Penn State (NET-86) or a 8-3 Pitt (NET-99 but easily beat by WVU) with the games right across the street from their campus. Their resume is basically all wins at home over lower level teams. This season, to me, is looking like last year again. A gaudy w/l record versus a relatively easy OOC schedule followed by a losing record in A-10 play with a #10 seed in the A-10 tournament with first game exit.

FWIW: Attendance tonight at the 19,100 seat PPG Arena for Duquesne and mega sized Penn State (located just 130 miles away but with many alumni that live in metro Pittsburgh) was 2,537.

They were picked pre-season #11 in the conference. Only Dambrot's 2nd year. I'd put money on Dambrot finishing higher than 11th

Atlantic 10 preseason poll:
1.Saint Louis (15)
2.Saint Joseph’s (4)
3.Davidson (6)
4.George Mason (1)
5.Rhode Island
6.Dayton
7.VCU
8.Massachusetts
9.St. Bonaventure
10.Richmond
11.Duquesne
12.La Salle
13.George Washington
14.Fordham

[ramster]

As has been said on this board by many, and RJ in particular, you don't make that call in the last 10 seconds of a game. If anything, Michael Hughes was trying to draw the offensive foul, it did not look like a foul to me after watching many times

As Dambrot explains in the post game presser, there were 3 similar calls in the 2nd half and all 3 went against his team.

The point by Dambrot was that with the ref having made that call 3 times in Penn State's favor he should have known Dambrot would react. The Ref was far away from Dambrot when he called the Tech which was strange. The 2nd Tech did not matter - the 1st Tech ended the game

So if a Ref should let that foul go in the last 10 seconds he should also let the Tech go. I did not see where the 1st Tech was warranted
In watching this video from ESPN it does not even seem to make sense when the whistle is blown for the 1st or the 2nd tech - it's not like it looks like Dambrot should have even gotten the technical fouls - not the reaction after the tech is different and wild but that was not what got the tech in the first place
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/undefined

At any rate, the Duquesne players love that Dambrot fights for them and said so, lots of publicity for Duquesne and the Atlantic 10 as Lebron James is into the twitter now too. Dambrot coached Lebron in HS and Duquesne played a game this year at the High School.

It's obviously a loss, but publicity that can pull a team together, get publicity for the school, get a team fired up heading into A10 play.

I liked the A10 getting Dambrot, Dayton absolutely should have taken him when they had the chance instead of Anthony Grant. He benched his best player, Eric Williams, for 4 games then started him again for this Penn State game. He is a tough coach but his players respect him.

[ramster]

Penny Hardaway interview yesterday.
Memphis - Tennessee rivalry temperature is rising
Memphis is a team to watch now and in the future

Tigers coach Penny Hardaway took multiple shots at Volunteers coach Rick Barnes during a news conference Tuesday, finishing it with "Rick Barnes, get the [expletive] out of here," according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... volunteers

[RhodyKyle]

I want to say that I loved Dambrot's meltdown. He is an absolute loose cannon and I am 100% all-in for this ride for however long he is coaching in the A10.

[RhodyRamFan69]

I thought the refs were 100% out of line calling those T's on Dambrot, the first T came within 2 seconds of the original foul call. Literally every coach in America is gonna get upset at a foul call against their team in a tie game with 5 seconds to go. Those refs should be ashamed of themselves for taking the game out of the players hands!

[ace]

Penny Hardaway interview yesterday.
Memphis - Tennessee rivalry temperature is rising
Memphis is a team to watch now and in the future

Tigers coach Penny Hardaway took multiple shots at Volunteers coach Rick Barnes during a news conference Tuesday, finishing it with "Rick Barnes, get the [expletive] out of here," according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... volunteers

Penny has Memphis leading the nation in flops, and Barnes was not a fan-



http://sports.yahoo.com/video-memphis-h ... rc=fauxdal

[rjsuperfly66]

I thought the refs were 100% out of line calling those T's on Dambrot, the first T came within 2 seconds of the original foul call. Literally every coach in America is gonna get upset at a foul call against their team in a tie game with 5 seconds to go. Those refs should be ashamed of themselves for taking the game out of the players hands!

I agree with this, the one cavaet I may interject was had they already given Dambrot warnings on his behavior? It’s possible that the refs had told him numerous times to chill out and he was on his last strike, and seeing him fly of the handlebars again at them was the last straw. It’s speculation on my part, but I would be surprised to see refs get involved in this way without probable cause.

[Da_Process_Survivor]

I thought the refs were 100% out of line calling those T's on Dambrot, the first T came within 2 seconds of the original foul call. Literally every coach in America is gonna get upset at a foul call against their team in a tie game with 5 seconds to go. Those refs should be ashamed of themselves for taking the game out of the players hands!

I agree with this, the one cavaet I may interject was had they already given Dambrot warnings on his behavior? It’s possible that the refs had told him numerous times to chill out and he was on his last strike, and seeing him fly of the handlebars again at them was the last straw. It’s speculation on my part, but I would be surprised to see refs get involved in this way without probable cause.

I mean that could be the case, but as a ref you have to have an awareness for the situation too.

How can you not expect a strong reaction from a coach there. And its not like Dambrot was doing it to show him up. It was a natural reaction to the play. He didnt wait 20 seconds then start jawing at the ref or go over the top.

If that's Roy Williams/Bill Self/Coach K there isnt a chance in hell the ref T's them up in that situation

[rjsuperfly66]

I think it was a little more than that. I just watched the video again, the first T came 13 seconds after the foul was missed and 11 seconds after the block was called. You can see Dambrot stomping his feet, practically on the court, throwing his arms, etc. He was engaging the ref announcing the foul to the scores table. It’s not like he stomped his feet once and yelled “this is BS” and turned to the bench and started mouthing off. If that ref is smartly officiating, he’s giving the warning “stop or I’ll have to T you.” If the coach keeps mouthing, he deserves that T. But that assumes no prior warnings.

[ramster]

I thought the refs were 100% out of line calling those T's on Dambrot, the first T came within 2 seconds of the original foul call. Literally every coach in America is gonna get upset at a foul call against their team in a tie game with 5 seconds to go. Those refs should be ashamed of themselves for taking the game out of the players hands!

I agree with this, the one cavaet I may interject was had they already given Dambrot warnings on his behavior? It’s possible that the refs had told him numerous times to chill out and he was on his last strike, and seeing him fly of the handlebars again at them was the last straw. It’s speculation on my part, but I would be surprised to see refs get involved in this way without probable cause.

I mean that could be the case, but as a ref you have to have an awareness for the situation too.

How can you not expect a strong reaction from a coach there. And its not like Dambrot was doing it to show him up. It was a natural reaction to the play. He didnt wait 20 seconds then start jawing at the ref or go over the top.

If that's Roy Williams/Bill Self/Coach K there isnt a chance in hell the ref T's them up in that situation

Or Ed Cooley

[Obadiah]

Slim pickings in Thursday night action. In the A-10, only one game:

James Madison at Fordham, 7 PM. On ESPN+. Coumple of observations; James Madison Basketball is a whole different scene than JMU football. Also, this is Fordham's ninth home game in their OOC schedule and they have one more to go to make it an even 10.

In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Canisius at Holy Cross, 2PM. This is the first game for the Cross after their 79-63 loss to URI and a 12 day break for exams. HC is favored by 7 in this one.

[RF1]

Slim pickings in Thursday night action. In the A-10, only one game:

James Madison at Fordham, 7 PM. On ESPN+. Couple of observations; James Madison Basketball is a whole different scene than JMU football. Also, this is Fordham's ninth home game in their OOC schedule and they have one more to go to make it an even 10.

Fordham will have twice as many OOC home games as URI. How is that?

[Obadiah]

Holy Cross today snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in beating Canisius, 65-63. Tied at 32 at the half, Canisius took the lead early in the second half building it to a 10 margin at 63-53 with about five minutes remaining when HC revived and the Crusaders scored 12 unanswered points to close out game.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Penny Hardaway interview yesterday.
Memphis - Tennessee rivalry temperature is rising
Memphis is a team to watch now and in the future

Tigers coach Penny Hardaway took multiple shots at Volunteers coach Rick Barnes during a news conference Tuesday, finishing it with "Rick Barnes, get the [expletive] out of here," according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... volunteers

This is good stuff. I like Rick and Penny both.

[Rhody83]

Slim pickings in Thursday night action. In the A-10, only one game:

James Madison at Fordham, 7 PM. On ESPN+. Couple of observations; James Madison Basketball is a whole different scene than JMU football. Also, this is Fordham's ninth home game in their OOC schedule and they have one more to go to make it an even 10.

Fordham will have twice as many OOC home games as URI. How is that?

Because Fordham plays crappy teams.

[KevanBoyles]

Duke now 0 for 11 from 3 against Texas Tech.

[KevanBoyles]

For what it’s worth, we now have an RPI of 50 and a Real Time RPI of 49

[Obadiah]

Fordham pummeled James Madsion from beginning to end to win easily, 75-48.

[PeterRamTime]

Nice job Fordham!

[TruePoint]

Slim pickings in Thursday night action. In the A-10, only one game:

James Madison at Fordham, 7 PM. On ESPN+. Couple of observations; James Madison Basketball is a whole different scene than JMU football. Also, this is Fordham's ninth home game in their OOC schedule and they have one more to go to make it an even 10.

Fordham will have twice as many OOC home games as URI. How is that?

Because Fordham plays crappy teams.

Right. I didn’t know the goal of scheduling is just to play as many home games as possible.

[reef]

I like Dambrot and think he is good for Duquesne and the A10 though I do think he should have stayed a bit more composed at the end. They will finish a lot better than 11 th in conf

Those were quite the flops by the Memphis players and looks like that will be quite the rivalry going forward like a Xavier Cinci type

[TruePoint]

Holy Cross today snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in beating Canisius, 65-63. Tied at 32 at the half, Canisius took the lead early in the second half building it to a 10 margin at 63-53 with about five minutes remaining when HC revived and the Crusaders scored 12 unanswered points to close out game.

It’s easy to identify clutch offense, like hitting a game winner or making two FTs up 2 with seconds left, but usually we don’t think of defense as “clutch.” I’d say shutting out the opponent over the final 5 minutes, which you started down 10, and eventually pulling out a one possession win would qualify.

[Obadiah]

A bit more action on Friday. In the A-10:

St. Bonaventure at Northeastern, 12 Noon.

Fairleigh Dickinson at UMass, 3:30PM. On ESPN+.

Navy at George Mason, 7 PM. On ESPN+.

La Salle versus Alabama A&M in the Battle of the Boardwalk, Atlantic City, 7:30 PM.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Dartmouth at Bryant, 11 AM.

Coastal Carolina at Charleston, 7 PM.

Ole Miss versus Middle Tennessee in the Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, 8 PM.

PC at Texas, 9 PM. ESPN2.

[Obadiah]

First results of the day are in:

In a tale of two halves, Bryant edges Dartmouth, 68-67. Dartmouth dominated the first half building a margin that maxed out at 15 points, but Bryant closed out the first stanza on a run to cut margin to 8 and came out strong in the second half to take the lead. Dartmouth did regain lead at 7 with 3+ minutes left, but Bryant again fought back. Dartmouth had one last chance when the Bulldogs missed consecutive free throws with 5 ticks left, but their three point attempt went awry.

St. Bonaventure's record fell to 4-8 as the Bonnies lost a close one to Northeastern, 64-59. The Bonnies trailed most of the game, but a Lofton three pointer brought them to a 55-55 tie with 3 minutes left in game, but Northeastern from that point got separation buoyed by the contribution of Vasa Pusica who returned to action after missing six games due to a wrist injury. Look for Northeastern to live up to their pre season pick to win the CAA in another battle with Charleston.

[RF1]

Good win for Bryant over a decent Dartmouth.

Bonnies are in the midst of a tough four game stretch to end their OOC schedule. Hosted nationally ranked Buffalo followed by games at Vermont and at Northeastern. Lost all three and now close out at Syracuse.

[rambone 78]

UMass almost embarrasses itself and the A10, but squeaks by Fairly Ridiculous by a point.

LaSalle is going to win their 1st game of the year by beating someone even worse than they are.

[Rhody83]

Oregon scored 16 points in the first half at Baylor. They have dropped off significantly from 2 years ago.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Paladins fall from the ranks of the unbeaten...losing to LSU in Baton Rouge...

[ramster]

Buffalo losses to Marquette. Markus Howard had only 5 points at the half but then scored an astounding 40 points in the 2nd half to beat Nate Oats and Buffalo

[Rhody83]

Buffalo losses to Marquette. Markus Howard had only 5 points at the half but then scored an astounding 40 points in the 2nd half to beat Nate Oats and Buffalo

Buffalo's run comes to a crashing halt giving up 64 points in the SECOND half . Shouldn't happen in a college game.

[Obadiah]

Wrapping up some of Friday results.

UMass survived to beat Fairleigh Dickinson, 85-84. UMass trailed most of game with FDU holding a 15 point advantage at one point. The game was attended by 2,276 fans as the Minutemen completed its home OOC schedule at 8 games, all eight games drew less than 3000 fans. Please remember that in the history of the Ryan Center, some 240 games, URI has drawn less than 3000 on three occasions, so never take any BS from UMass fans re the size and loyalty of our URI fan base.

George Mason in a romp over Navy, 84-63.

La Salle finally wins one, beating Alabama A&M, 80-57.

Charleston edged Coastal Carolina, 73-71, on the strength of a Jarrell Brantley 3 pointer with 11 seconds remaining. Charleston moves its record to 11-2.

Middle Tennessee got the game's first basket, but thereafter it was all Ole Miss as the Rebels routed the Blue Raiders, 74-56. MT will sport a 3-9 record when they visit the Ryan Center on the 30th.

PC got a nice road win at Texas, 71-65.

[rambone 78]

Texas isn't very good this year, and hasn't been really that good since Shaka took over. Losses to VCU and PC while aren't bad, are games that they should have won at home.

Of course they will probably go 8-10 [or is it 9-11 now] in conference and still get an NCAA bid.

[Rhody83]

How long does Shaka go before feeling the heat? Their offense is pathetic. They now have three OOC loses at home to Radford, VCU and PC.

Texas fans wishing they didn’t force Rick Barnes out because he couldn’t get them to a Final Four.

[Obadiah]

The Marquette win was their seventh in a row, but before you get excited about them, realize they have played one true road game which they lost and two neutral site games, one of which they lost and in the other one they needed overtime to win. Their seven win streak has occurred on their home court. First real test will come when they play at St. John's on January 1.

[rambone 78]

Yeah Shaka's star has dimmed considerably.

[Obadiah]

Lots of Saturday Action. In the A-10, besides URI game in Hawaii:

Central Pennsylvania at Davidson, 12 Noon. On ESPN+.

Presbyterian at Dayton, 2 PM. On ESPN+.

Eastern Kentucky at Duquesne, 2 PM. On ESPN+.

George Washington at Harvard, 2 PM. On ESPN+.

Saint Louis versus #11 Florida State in the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL,
2:30 PM. On FS2.

High Point versus Richmond, in the Holiday Hoops Fest being held in the newly opened 4,200 seat St. Elizabeths East Entertainment & Sports Arena built for the DC WNBA team and the local NBA G league team, 2:30 PM.

Wichita State at VCU , 4 PM. On ESPN2.

Loyola-Chicago at Saint Joseph's, 5 PM. On CBSSN.


In games involving URI OOC opponents:

Jacksonville State at West Virginia, 12 Noon.

Siena at Holy Cross, 12 Noon.

Brown at Marist, 1 PM. On ESPN+.

Stony Brook at Quinnipiac, 2 PM. On ESPN3.

[ramster]

The Marquette win was their seventh in a row, but before you get excited about them, realize they have played one true road game which they lost and two neutral site games, one of which they lost and in the other one they needed overtime to win. Their seven win streak has occurred on their home court. First real test will come when they play at St. John's on January 1.

Obadiah,
Big East teams have always stayed away from Raod Games OOC. Nothing new,they always have.
This season they have played 112 total games with only 16 as Road Games.
Marquette, PC, St John’s, Seton Hall and Butler have only played 1 each. Villanova the most with 3
Big East has only 4 wins and 12 losses in those road games

In contrast the A10 has played 30 road games and won 8 losing 22

[rjsuperfly66]

The Marquette win was their seventh in a row, but before you get excited about them, realize they have played one true road game which they lost and two neutral site games, one of which they lost and in the other one they needed overtime to win. Their seven win streak has occurred on their home court. First real test will come when they play at St. John's on January 1.

Obadiah,
Big East teams have always stayed away from Raod Games OOC. Nothing new,they always have.
This season they have played 112 total games with only 16 as Road Games.
Marquette, PC, St John’s, Seton Hall and Butler have only played 1 each. Villanova the most with 3
Big East has only 4 wins and 12 losses in those road games

In contrast the A10 has played 30 road games and won 8 losing 22

And that should always be the case as long as the Big East is a strong conference. Right now I believe PC will play 9 Q1 games and 6 Q2 games in conference (as of the beginning of the week anyway). I believe when I checked St. Louis at the same time, they only had 5 Q2 games, meaning they would have 13 “landmine” games while PC would have just 3. So should Big East teams go schedule ultra-aggressive schedules to make everyone else happy? The NCAA committee has long said it’s about the full-body of work and not individual segments of the season. By tournament time, PC will have around 10 Q1 games and 10 Q2 games. I’d say that would indicate they, like most Big East teams, played some pretty tough opponents.

[ram1980]

And that should always be the case as long as the Big East is a strong conference. Right now I believe PC will play 9 Q1 games and 6 Q2 games in conference (as of the beginning of the week anyway). I believe when I checked St. Louis at the same time, they only had 5 Q2 games, meaning they would have 13 “landmine” games while PC would have just 3. So should Big East teams go schedule ultra-aggressive schedules to make everyone else happy? The NCAA committee has long said it’s about the full-body of work and not individual segments of the season. By tournament time, PC will have around 10 Q1 games and 10 Q2 games. I’d say that would indicate they, like most Big East teams, played some pretty tough opponents.
[/quote

Blah blah blah almighty friars and big east.. Hopefully it leads to another early failure in the tournament.. Sick of the arrogance of PC fans.. Need to prove it outside of your exalted conference

[Obadiah]

First Saturday results:

Holy Cross came back from a 10 point deficit to edge Siena, 60-57.

Davidson in a romp over D2 Central Pennsylvania, 88-54.

West Virginia in a close call against Jacksonville State as the Mountaineers pulled out a 74-72 win. Actually JSU is not a bad team having won seven of their last eight games with their only loss in that stretch to Wichita State by four points.

[rjsuperfly66]

It’s not arrogance - Every team needs to put together the schedule they need to get to the tournament. You can’t do shit in the tournament if you don’t make it. Of course teams who have 13 potential “bad” opponents in conference want more quality chances during the OOC, but teams who have 15 potential “quality” opponents don’t owe it to them just because they don’t like their conference schedule.

[The Dude]

Dan Hurley's boys are taking one on the chin against 'Nova. Almost a 20pt blow out at this point.

[RhodyKyle]

I don't recall a Hurley-led URI team flopping like this UConn team...some of those flops even made Marcus Smart blush.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Dan Hurley's boys are taking one on the chin against 'Nova. Almost a 20pt blow out at this point.

26....

[Obadiah]

Midway in the first half, Brown took control of the game against Marist as the Bears romped to a impressive 78-53 road win. Marist had already logged two wins over Ivy League this season, so this bodes well for the Bears when they open Ivy League play.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Yeah Shaka's star has dimmed considerably.

Someone still seems willing to invest

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... -longhorns

[reef]

Shaka definitely feeling the heat in Austin

[PeterRamTime]

Shaka has gone too conservative with Texas.

His Texas teams dont play at all like his VCU teams.

I wonder if he had pressure against him playing that havoc style that made him great at VCU.

I thought Texas would be scary with the elite athletes he could recruit there and playing with havoc.

Instead they're just Vanilla.

[ATPTourFan]

Poor Pat Skerry and his Towson team gave 2pts to LaSalle in today's loss to the explorers:

[ATPTourFan]

This is also happening now on ESPN2: