11/24 | LSU | 2:30PM (CBSSN)

[steveystuds06]

So we are still not an at large candidate.

We are 6 games into the season...

[bigappleram]

So we are still not an at large candidate.

The season is 6 games old.

[theblueram]

Just saying we are not an at large team yet.

[Rhodymob05]

NEED to beat PC and or WVU. Fact

[luke]

wow, I must have been watching a different game . BAR seems to have been watching it with me. URi was not able to stay with the pure athleticism of LSU today when they were playing their best game of the year . for a stretch in the second half they must have made every shot practically for five minutes and any misses were tipped back in . I thought URI may have had about its best game of the year minus the sub par free throw shooting . It
probably would have been good enough to go to the wire with Maryland and would have been a rout over everyone else. LSU had shot 67% from
three during the second half with a few minutes left in the game and 60% overall . Pretty tough to beat those numbers . Yes, Martin did not have a good game offensively or defensively and contributed 4 mostly unforced turnovers , but I think everyone else played well. Jeff did not have one of his best games either, but he was okay . If they duplicate this performance over the next 6 OOC games I think they will win them all , especially if they could just make two or three more free throws . They faced a more talented team today that was absolutely on fire in the second half . It happens . Nothing to be ashamed of here. This was an expected loss for me in pre season , but I had hoped that LSU might continue to under perform today. They did not .
So the Rams sit at 4-2, just where I had them in my prediction at this point in the season . i had them going 5-1 the rest of OOC to finish 9-3 . I still think they have a very good chance to make that come true , but they must beat either PC or WVU . Beating PC is the more likely since it is at home.

[Roz]

I don’t see any part of Toppin’s game that’s worse than Martin’s. And he brings a LOT more energy. He should be starting.

Shooting

[TruePoint]

Kind of view this one the same way as the Maryland game - it’s a missed opportunity but I’m not going to be mad about it. We knew before the season started those were the two games on the schedule we were least likely to win. Even though the score wasn’t that different, I thought we were a little more competitive today.

Just a couple real quick thoughts, partially based on this game but also the season to date:

- Jeff has to do more. He hasn’t been bad, really, but he has to impact the game more.

- Martin sane thing. For him, he really just needs to find more ways to score. That’s how he’s going to influence the game.

- Fatts is the best player on the team right now. We would be in huge trouble without him.

- Toppin is ready for minutes in the biggest games. He looks like he belongs out there and isn’t afraid at all. Long and Hammond are not there yet. I like them both and think they’ll be good but neither are ready.

- I think Tate has improved from last year and is giving us good minutes. Next step for him to be a little more assertive offensively. That will come. I like what I’ve seen to this point.

- I think the coaching has been pretty good. I think the rotations are about right, we’ve seen some good designed action coming out of timeouts and stuff to get easy baskets, the team has been competitive and responded to adversity. These are all areas where I felt we weren’t always great last year. But still some things I’d like to see improve at a team level and that is ultimately on the coaches. The biggest thing is that we cannot keep having prolonged lulls and scoring droughts in these games. We have to recognize when those are becoming a problem make sure we are being thoughtful about our shot selection, and trying to get to the rim and/or the line. If the guys on the floor aren’t recognizing it, the coaches have to and maybe take a timeout. We can’t have lapses like the last minute of the first half tonight when it looked like we had no clue what we were doing or what the situation was. We will keep improving in these areas, I’m sure.

[bigappleram]

I think the growth of Cox as a HC has also been tangible and a nice development this first part of the season. Agree with TP, have seen a lot of good ATO sets that have gotten us buckets. The alley oop to Toppin the other night, and the one to Cyril today, are just 2 examples.
Today we ran a real nice pin down stagger to get Tyrese an open 3 look to start half, and then when we really needed a basket and only Fatts could score we ran a nice flare screen for him to get an open 3.
Cox also seems more comfortable and composed on the sideline and finding his own identity in the lead chair.

Also agree on Jeff. He just isn't performing to his potential right now, that needs to change for this team to win big games.

[theblueram]

I guess I'm still sour that Sheppard, walker and Johnson are either ineligible or can't play D1 basketball.

[DC_Rams]

Long season, lots of games left to play. It’s nowhere near the end of the world. Deep breath and GO RHODY!

Jeff is in a rut but we know he is capable of more. He knows it too.

Tyrese will find it. I just believe it.

Fatts. Wow. Help is on the way.

Cyril is still a manchild.

Our freshman getting national exposure. Toppin showing HEART.

Just relax people, LSU was super efficient today from the field. They arguably played their best game of the season today. We enabled some but not all of it. College basketball is an inexact science. You all love to listen to the pundits and bettors but forget that game must be PLAYED!!!

[bigappleram]

I guess I'm still sour that Sheppard, walker and Johnson are either ineligible or can't play D1 basketball.

Not sure what you think a lanky wing shooter (DJ) would have done to change that outcome. Walker would have definitely been a huge help against a team like that, we needed to have 2 big men in at all times. Got killed on the board when Harris and Cyril weren’t both in. And obviously another guard in sheppard would be a help right now but we gotta go with what we got. Like DC said the season is young and we are exactly where most thought we would be at this point, 4-2.

[Rhody83]

Luke, defense is half of the game. URI didn’t play any defense. Watch how many times they got beat off the dribble causing a complete defensive breakdown. Layups and wide open threes.

TP, LSU isn’t close to Maryland. VCU beat them. URI shouldn’t lose to them by 13 points on a neutral court.

If we end up the OOC schedule “where most people think we should” (8-4), we aren’t heading towards an NCAA birth.

[DC_Rams]

Even with a less than stellar effort, I think we are going to be a helluva team. We can win the A10. Cox has been coaching his ass off. The team just has to follow through!

It’s coming, and when Walker returns, we become even deeper. I can guarantee he will average 9 & 5.

[theblueram]

I think we want this team to be an at large team. Not an A10 qualifier.

[rhodyblue12]

Tyrese will get his Mojo back.
In this offense his role seems to be to spot up.
They need to add a few wrinkles to get him going toward the basket.

He seems to be intimidated a bit by super athletic teams.
He shouldn't be - as some have said - NBA body - just has to figure out how to put it to use.

[DC_Rams]

Luke, defense is half of the game. URI didn’t play any defense. Watch how many times they got beat off the dribble causing a complete defensive breakdown. Layups and wide open threes.

TP, LSU isn’t close to Maryland. VCU beat them. URI shouldn’t lose to them by 13 points on a neutral court.

If we end up the OOC schedule “where most people think we should” (8-4), we aren’t heading towards an NCAA birth.

I hate when people say that 83. Because a team loses to another does not mean the team they lost too is exactly better. VCU is in the Top 25 btw. Nothing to sneeze at. We are ranked in the Top 80.

Virginia lost to UMBC in the tournament. Does that mean UMBC is better?

I’ll wait.

[section(105)]

.......I am guardedly optimistic on the Walker production......

[DC_Rams]

WE LOST TO AN SEC SCHOOL. We are going to lose more games this season. When it happens, we act surprised. There is no elegant way to lose. It’s a LOSS. No moral victories. Take the good with the bad and keep rolling.

GO RHODY!!

[bigappleram]

Luke, defense is half of the game. URI didn’t play any defense. Watch how many times they got beat off the dribble causing a complete defensive breakdown. Layups and wide open threes.

TP, LSU isn’t close to Maryland. VCU beat them. URI shouldn’t lose to them by 13 points on a neutral court.

If we end up the OOC schedule “where most people think we should” (8-4), we aren’t heading towards an NCAA birth.

If those 8 include wins over Alabama, PC and Western Kentucky and we get 1 each from dayton and VCU in league we will be pretty close to an at large. Obvi depends on a million other factors.

Also if you don’t think that LSU team is very good I don’t know what to tell u. They have a great experienced back court, a 5 star PF (Watford) and a jumping jack PF/C in. Williams that plays above the rim. That is the 2nd best team we will play this year besides Maryland.

I’m not discounting the fact that yes we allowed too much dribble penetration but it’s more than that as to why they beat us. Give us Walker and that’s a different game.

[JimSidd]

I think we all need to have realistic expectations of Walker’s immediate contributions. It’s unreasonable to expect big things from the get go because he hasn’t played a meaningful game in some time, and it’s not like he played big minutes for Georgetown. I think if he simply hustles, plays solid D, boxes out and gets a few key rebounds in his first few games back, that’s good and it’s something to build on.

[bigappleram]

All I’m counting on from walker are good interior defense and rebounds. We don’t need scoring but if he does anything there even some garbage buckets it’s gravy. This team can win a lot of games if Tyrese steps into the 4th scorer role night in and night out. He can’t disappear or simply float around the perimeter.

[section(105)]

I think we all need to have realistic expectations of Walker’s immediate contributions. It’s unreasonable to expect big things from the get go because he hasn’t played a meaningful game in some time, and it’s not like he played big minutes for Georgetown. I think if he simply hustles, plays solid D, boxes out and gets a few key rebounds in his first few games back, that’s good and it’s something to build on.

........this is basically where I am at........

[TruePoint]

Luke, defense is half of the game. URI didn’t play any defense. Watch how many times they got beat off the dribble causing a complete defensive breakdown. Layups and wide open threes.

TP, LSU isn’t close to Maryland. VCU beat them. URI shouldn’t lose to them by 13 points on a neutral court.

If we end up the OOC schedule “where most people think we should” (8-4), we aren’t heading towards an NCAA birth.

Overall you might be right about LSU being better than Maryland, but I don’t think there is as big of a difference between them as there is between them and anyone else on our schedule. I know VCU beat them (at home), but I’m not sure that tells you that much. Evansville beat Kentucky. Sometimes teams play better or worse, so what happens on any given night doesn’t necessarily answer all the questions. My sense watching the two games is if the LSU team we played today played the Maryland team we played earlier, on that night LSU would beat Maryland. On other nights, maybe Maryland would handle them. Either way, I don’t think it matters much or changes much about what I said or what I think.

I also disagree pretty strongly with you that an 8-4 OOC record wouldn’t put us on target for a bid. I do think that we probably wouldn’t be in the field on New Year’s Day at 8-4, but we won’t have disqualified ourselves. I expect that we will make our hay in the conference, racking up wins and getting plenty of cracks at quality wins. 8-4 is actually better than I expected and I still expected them to challenge for a bid. I didn’t come into the season thinking we had to beat Maryland or LSU to make the tournament, and I still don’t think that.

[DC_Rams]

Luke, defense is half of the game. URI didn’t play any defense. Watch how many times they got beat off the dribble causing a complete defensive breakdown. Layups and wide open threes.

TP, LSU isn’t close to Maryland. VCU beat them. URI shouldn’t lose to them by 13 points on a neutral court.

If we end up the OOC schedule “where most people think we should” (8-4), we aren’t heading towards an NCAA birth.

Overall you might be right about LSU being better than Maryland, but I don’t think there is as big of a difference between them as there is between them and anyone else on our schedule. I know VCU beat them (at home), but I’m not sure that tells you that much. Evansville beat Kentucky. Sometimes teams play better or worse, so what happens on any given night doesn’t necessarily answer all the questions. My sense watching the two games is if the LSU team we played today played the Maryland team we played earlier, on that night LSU would beat Maryland. On other nights, maybe Maryland would handle them. Either way, I don’t think it matters much or changes much about what I said or what I think.

I also disagree pretty strongly with you that an 8-4 OOC record wouldn’t put us on target for a bid. I do think that we probably wouldn’t be in the field on New Year’s Day at 8-4, but we won’t have disqualified ourselves. I expect that we will make our hay in the conference, racking up wins and getting plenty of cracks at quality wins. 8-4 is actually better than I expected and I still expected them to challenge for a bid. I didn’t come into the season thinking we had to beat Maryland or LSU to make the tournament, and I still don’t think that.

EXACTLY! Well said TP.

[theblueram]

So TP, who in fact do we need to win against to make the tournament as an at large?

[NYGFan_Section208]

I’m not even mad about this lost.
I think this early in the season something positive can come away from this game.
Fatts,dowtin, CL are who we e petted to be.

Very very disappointed in Martin. It’s almost like he needs a slap in the face to wake up. He is sleep walking out there.

Topping hustles to say the least. Not a great jump shot but will rebound and defend and still working.

Tate is up and down. Had moments against Alabama but nothing seem to build on bc last few games he has no where to be seen.

Harris needs something i don’t know. More has been expected out of him.

LSU was very long and athletic and without the depth would of been a tough game to win.

Good time for rhody to look itself in the mirror and fix things.
Sorry for the long rant. It’s sunday and the beers are flowing!

Look on the bright side...you could be sitting in that lovely weather in Foxboro...

[bigappleram]

Or have lost to the worst P5 team in the country and an Ivy not named Harvard.

[Seawrightspostgame]

It’s ok to lose and there are a lot of encouraging things on the team. It’s just frustrating that Dowtin has taken a step back this year when he should be at his best and then Martin’s effort doesn’t match the rest of the team.

I understand why VCU is held in higher regard nationally but on this board people should remember Uri beat them 2/3 last year and we have the same team, which should actually be better.

Hopefully they continue to play well and improve.

[rhodysurf]

So TP, who in fact do we need to win against to make the tournament as an at large?

VCU didn’t beat anyone elite last year and got a fucking 9 seed. They just won a lot of games

[RamStock]

Anyone thinking that Walker is coming in and making a huge difference is going to be disappointed. What did he accomplish at Georgetown? He could be a serviceable guy off the bench down low, but hardly circling my calendar for his arrival. The more pressing issue is Martin and Tate.

[bigappleram]

Walker is going to take minutes from Tate. Thus far Tate has had a few good minutes against Alabama and not done much else. We need more out of him.

[DC_Rams]

Walker is going to take minutes from Tate. Thus far Tate has had a few good minutes against Alabama and not done much else. We need more out of him.

Exactly.

Walker is what the doctor ordered. 9 & 5, mark my words.

[Rhody15]

Walker is going to take minutes from Tate. Thus far Tate has had a few good minutes against Alabama and not done much else. We need more out of him.

Exactly.

Walker is what the doctor ordered. 9 & 5, mark my words.

There is no way Walker comes in and averages 9 and 5.

Only way that potentially could happen is a serious injury to Cyril or Jermaine.

[eli#10]

North Texas up by 2 over Utah State at 8 minute mark. We would have been much better off playing Utah State than LSU.

[DC_Rams]

Walker is going to take minutes from Tate. Thus far Tate has had a few good minutes against Alabama and not done much else. We need more out of him.

Exactly.

Walker is what the doctor ordered. 9 & 5, mark my words.

There is no way Walker comes in and averages 9 and 5.

Only way that potentially could happen is a serious injury to Cyril or Jermaine.

He’s going to eat up some of Harris, Cyril and Dana’s minutes. He will get 15-20 minutes a game.

[Rhody83]

Tyrese will get his Mojo back.
In this offense his role seems to be to spot up.
They need to add a few wrinkles to get him going toward the basket.

He seems to be intimidated a bit by super athletic teams.
He shouldn't be - as some have said - NBA body - just has to figure out how to put it to use.

No excuses for Tyrese. He has sucked most of the games. No energy. We should get off the NBA body. He is very slow. He can’t cover a good player in college. No way he covers an NBA SG. I am surprised by how slow motion he is. He turns it over with his passing.

[Rhody83]

Anyone thinking that Walker is coming in and making a huge difference is going to be disappointed. What did he accomplish at Georgetown? He could be a serviceable guy off the bench down low, but hardly circling my calendar for his arrival. The more pressing issue is Martin and Tate.

I would add Jeff to the Martin and Tate list. Jeff has had one good game (Alabama).

Rhody isn’t going to beat good teams if only 2 out of 5 starters play well in the game.

[RhodyRams916]

Anyone thinking that Walker is coming in and making a huge difference is going to be disappointed. What did he accomplish at Georgetown? He could be a serviceable guy off the bench down low, but hardly circling my calendar for his arrival. The more pressing issue is Martin and Tate.

I would add Jeff to the Martin and Tate list. Jeff has had one good game (Alabama).

Rhody isn’t going to beat good teams if only 2 out of 5 starters play well in the game.

Tate also had a good game against Alabama. I really don't know what happened today but the only guys playing really well were Fatts and Cyril.
The next 3 games really need to be wins if we want to get an at large bid. I think we can beat Manhattan and then WVU is gonna be a challenge. Then we've got PC after those which I also think we can win.

[Urifan91]

I was hoping we might pull off a shocker and beat Maryland or LSU but no such luck. Hopefully we can get one or both vs PC and WVU.

[URIGradDad]

I agree with the thought that URI now needs to win at WVU and PC or an at large bid at this point is unlikely. Downtin & Martin need to bring more to the table. Fatts can't do it all. More Toppin, that dude is a player1

[TruePoint]

So TP, who in fact do we need to win against to make the tournament as an at large?

Until we get to March, there probably isn’t one specific game we HAVE to win. It’s about accumulating a body of work. As far as that goes, we aren’t off track thru 6 games.

[Shinze88]

Today's game went exactly as I thought it would, we'd stay close and briefly hold a first half lead and eventually fade due to the depth, strength and athleticism of LSU. I watched their game vs LSU and you could see why they are picked near the top of the SEC, just to big and strong for us. We will not see another team like that this year and LSU will likely be the highest ranked team come year end (yes, ahead of Maryland). My biggest concern is with Martin and Tate, more so Martin... he's regressed from what he showed late last year, especially in the A10 tournament, I had very high expectations for him this year on both sides of the ball, but he's been anything but what I'd hoped for, he's actually regressed and he's making horrendous decisions with his passing. He certainly has the skills and size to be an all league caliber player but he's been a disappointment so far. Tate at least gives hustle and energy whenever he's on the court, but I expected him to contribute more in the offense. At this rate I would not be surprised to see Toppin in the starting lineup by conference play, he's proven he belongs on the floor and has earned minutes.

Even though we are only 6 games in, an at large would likely have required us to beat a Maryland, LSU or WVU to get any real attention, I'm not sold that even if we beat PC that ends up a quad 1 victory and its a home game so we should be favored. At large is not out of the question, but winning one of those 3 games would've helped, really need to stay away from the bad losses and we'll be fine. Onto Manhattan....

[RhodyRams916]

So TP, who in fact do we need to win against to make the tournament as an at large?

Until we get to March, there probably isn’t one specific game we HAVE to win. It’s about accumulating a body of work. As far as that goes, we aren’t off track thru 6 games.

Yeah that's the thing. I feel more confident about beating WVU and PC (with our home support), then they can focus on winning most or all of their A-10 games.

[eli#10]

Walker hardly played his freshman year at Georgetown. When he starts playing here just before Xmas it would have been almost 2 years from his last appearance at Georgetown. I expect he will be a better player and playing against lesser competition.
Tate has not done much outside of Alabama where he made 3 lay ups. His minutes are at risk when Walker starts playing.

[JimSidd]

I’m not automatically counting Western Kentucky as a win. If Rhody can take two out of three versus West Virginia, PC and Western Kentucky, though, that’s an acceptable OOC performance for me, as long as they don’t get tripped up in the other three games. Then work towards a top two finish in the A10 regular season and make it to the tournament final.

[PeterRamTime]

Luke, defense is half of the game. URI didn’t play any defense. Watch how many times they got beat off the dribble causing a complete defensive breakdown. Layups and wide open threes.

TP, LSU isn’t close to Maryland. VCU beat them. URI shouldn’t lose to them by 13 points on a neutral court.

If we end up the OOC schedule “where most people think we should” (8-4), we aren’t heading towards an NCAA birth.

I hate when people say that 83. Because a team loses to another does not mean the team they lost too is exactly better. VCU is in the Top 25 btw. Nothing to sneeze at. We are ranked in the Top 80.

Virginia lost to UMBC in the tournament. Does that mean UMBC is better?

I’ll wait.

VCU was also at home which gives them an incredible amount of energy and was LSU's first road game.

[Rhody83]

Go watch Martin’s live IG

[NYGFan_Section208]

Go watch Martin’s live IG

What's up with it? (I'll never see it) Is he sad?

[RhodyRams916]

Go watch Martin’s live IG

What about it?

[RhodyRams916]

Wait a minute... On Jermaine's insta story it looks like him and Cyril are doing Hookah or something....