1/22 | Duquesne | 7:00PM (ESPN+/YurView)

[rambone 78]

I know it's fun to look ahead, but we just have to take it one game at a time.

I agree we really need to keep the winning streak going.

Can't afford another bad loss.

[RhodyKyle]

You know it's almost March when Dickie V has 76 teams in the field of 68.

[Blue Man]

The "must win" piece came out from me after the Brown loss.

We were squarely an at large bubble team before Brown. No "great" wins, but no bad losses. Plenty of chances to poke and prod our way through the schedule to finish in a bubble/at large position.

After the Brown loss literally every game except Dayton away gets the must win tag. We have 1 good win. 1 BAD loss. That completely took away our margin for error. Had we beat Brown and still lost to Richmond, no one would be freaking out - we'd have still been in that "no great win, no bad loss" territory.

As of right now we're not a bubble team, so the most important thing we can do is be a top 3 team in Brooklyn (being 4 and potentially playing a very tough 5 seed, then Dayton before the championship would be ideal to avoid).

We won't enter the bubble conversation again unless we beat Dayton and avoid another Q3/Q4 loss.

So for now, beating Duquesne is "must win" because we need to jump them in the A10 standings. Everyone underestimated Richmond, and the Dukes are in that same boat. With how tight the top 7 is (Dayton, Duquesne, Bonnies, Richmond, URI, SLU, VCU) there is a chance that this game is the difference between a Thursday game or a Friday game with a preferential matchup.

Considering we have 2 guards who will need to play a lot of minutes - the double bye is imperative this year.

What do you consider a bubble team? Right now bracketville, the best predictor over the last five years, has us ninth out. To me that makes us a bubble team

9th out is like the bubble to be on the bubble. 9th out isn't even a top 2 seed in the NIT. And if we're 9th out right now - where do you think we go if we lose to Duquesne?

Hence the must win.

As has been discussed on here numerous times - yes, technically with a loss on Wednesday, we could run the table, beat Dayton twice, and make it in.

By the same token - this year there will be so many bid stealers thanks to a closer-than-normal talent gap. Some of these "bubble teams" will be autobids, and those presumptive conference champs will end up taking bubble spots.

I'd just prefer we took care of business on our home floor.

[Rhody15]

We can lose once, maybe twice more in the regular season to get an at large in my opinion.

[bigappleram]

Finish in 2nd in the league and we are in. Whether that’s 15-3 or 14-4. Regardless SLU, Duquesne, VCU (and UR) are the teams we are competing with for that spot. So ideally we sweep all of those games (sans Richmond which we already lost to).

[Rhody15]

At Bonnies going to be extremely difficult along with at Davidson. We’re not nearly good / consistent enough to mark those games off as wins.

[URI2006_Andy]

Finish in 2nd in the league and we are in. Whether that’s 15-3 or 14-4. Regardless SLU, Duquesne, VCU (and UR) are the teams we are competing with for that spot. So ideally we sweep all of those games (sans Richmond which we already lost to).

I agree. But I see 2nd place finishing 14-4 or 13-5. Dayton may not even get to 15-3.

[RhowdyRam02]

The "must win" piece came out from me after the Brown loss.

We were squarely an at large bubble team before Brown. No "great" wins, but no bad losses. Plenty of chances to poke and prod our way through the schedule to finish in a bubble/at large position.

After the Brown loss literally every game except Dayton away gets the must win tag. We have 1 good win. 1 BAD loss. That completely took away our margin for error. Had we beat Brown and still lost to Richmond, no one would be freaking out - we'd have still been in that "no great win, no bad loss" territory.

As of right now we're not a bubble team, so the most important thing we can do is be a top 3 team in Brooklyn (being 4 and potentially playing a very tough 5 seed, then Dayton before the championship would be ideal to avoid).

We won't enter the bubble conversation again unless we beat Dayton and avoid another Q3/Q4 loss.

So for now, beating Duquesne is "must win" because we need to jump them in the A10 standings. Everyone underestimated Richmond, and the Dukes are in that same boat. With how tight the top 7 is (Dayton, Duquesne, Bonnies, Richmond, URI, SLU, VCU) there is a chance that this game is the difference between a Thursday game or a Friday game with a preferential matchup.

Considering we have 2 guards who will need to play a lot of minutes - the double bye is imperative this year.

What do you consider a bubble team? Right now bracketville, the best predictor over the last five years, has us ninth out. To me that makes us a bubble team

9th out is like the bubble to be on the bubble. 9th out isn't even a top 2 seed in the NIT. And if we're 9th out right now - where do you think we go if we lose to Duquesne?

Hence the must win.

As has been discussed on here numerous times - yes, technically with a loss on Wednesday, we could run the table, beat Dayton twice, and make it in.

By the same token - this year there will be so many bid stealers thanks to a closer-than-normal talent gap. Some of these "bubble teams" will be autobids, and those presumptive conference champs will end up taking bubble spots.

I'd just prefer we took care of business on our home floor.

We disagree on the bubble but we agree on the importance of the game. Win and we have another quadrant two victory and a stronger resume. Even though it wouldn't be a bad loss, lose and we're back off the bubble for a while

[McRam]

Suggest making a few modifications to clear up an individual game.

For example, do you think a Big Must win is more important than a must win-win game.

Other ideas?

[Obadiah]

There are many reasons behind why I have been skeptical about this team on tourney worthiness. One aspect is the lack of any consistency in team performance. The Rams have a poor shooting resume and the shooting stats have deteriorated further in the five A-10 games versus the OOC portion. Particularly troubling is the 30% drop off in assists. Also, in the 12 URI wins, seven have seen the evaporation of large leads in the second half, in two games the Rams fell behind. I will believe this team is tournament worthy if they can beat Duquesne and follow that with road wins over SBU and GMU. I will be happy to eat crow at that juncture. In the meantime GO RHODY!

[theblueram]

There are many reasons behind why I have been skeptical about this team on tourney worthiness. One aspect is the lack of any consistency in team performance. The Rams have a poor shooting resume and the shooting stats have deteriorated further in the five A-10 games versus the OOC portion. Particularly troubling is the 30% drop off in assists. Also, in the 12 URI wins, seven have seen the evaporation of large leads in the second half, in two games the Rams fell behind. I will believe this team is tournament worthy if they can beat Duquesne and follow that with road wins over SBU and GMU. I will be happy to eat crow at that juncture. In the meantime GO RHODY!

I agree Obes. If we can win on Wednesday, then two on the road and make a statement win against VCU at home on ESPN then I will believe also.

[reef]

We are way too inconsistent to finish 15-3 in this conf not going to happen

I would say it’s unlikely we finish 14-4 but if we do I think it’s over 80 % we dance unless we lose in the quarters

13-5 I would think we most likely are out except if we lose in the finals which maybe puts us squarely on bubble

[theblueram]

I think 1,2 and 3 are dancing from the A10 this year.

[SmartyBarrett]

[eli#10]

Newsflash: assists are way down since other than Fatts' 2nd half performance vs St Joes we have not been able to throw the ball in the ocean the last 4 -5 games.

[RhodyRam86]

We need to beat everyone at home......

We need to beat everyone not named Dayton on the road....

Every game is the biggest game on the schedule until we lose one more at home or until we lose one on the road to non-Dayton.....

Then I join TruePoint.....

agree with a caveat...if we beat Dayton home and away we can afford another stumble.

[theblueram]

Newsflash: assists are way down since other than Fatts' 2nd half performance vs St Joes we have not been able to throw the ball in the ocean the last 4 -5 games.

Sheesh, good thing we are 4-0 in the last 4 games. Maybe if they play better, they might win some games.

[TruePoint]

There are many reasons behind why I have been skeptical about this team on tourney worthiness. One aspect is the lack of any consistency in team performance. The Rams have a poor shooting resume and the shooting stats have deteriorated further in the five A-10 games versus the OOC portion. Particularly troubling is the 30% drop off in assists. Also, in the 12 URI wins, seven have seen the evaporation of large leads in the second half, in two games the Rams fell behind. I will believe this team is tournament worthy if they can beat Duquesne and follow that with road wins over SBU and GMU. I will be happy to eat crow at that juncture. In the meantime GO RHODY!

I agree with the lack of consistency looming as a potential killer and the reason why the Brown/Richmond week really hurt in my eyes was that it not only blemished the resume a bit but also portended more similar efforts over the two months to follow. I will say that the longer they can “survive” the inconsistency, which they’ve done since the Richmond game, they are buying themselves time to figure it out. But it’s a dangerous game they are playing.

[PeterRamTime]

There are many reasons behind why I have been skeptical about this team on tourney worthiness. One aspect is the lack of any consistency in team performance. The Rams have a poor shooting resume and the shooting stats have deteriorated further in the five A-10 games versus the OOC portion. Particularly troubling is the 30% drop off in assists. Also, in the 12 URI wins, seven have seen the evaporation of large leads in the second half, in two games the Rams fell behind. I will believe this team is tournament worthy if they can beat Duquesne and follow that with road wins over SBU and GMU. I will be happy to eat crow at that juncture. In the meantime GO RHODY!

I agree with the lack of consistency looming as a potential killer and the reason why the Brown/Richmond week really hurt in my eyes was that it not only blemished the resume a bit but also portended more similar efforts over the two months to follow. But I will say that the longer they can “survive” the inconsistency, which they’ve done since the Richmond game, then they are buying themselves time to figure it out. But it’s a dangerous game they are playing.

Considering all of this, it is hard to imagine us keeping ourselves from slipping too many times over the next month and a half. It feels like there's an inevitable stupid game. Although the improvement on defense has been an encouraging development.

[Blue Man]

What do you consider a bubble team? Right now bracketville, the best predictor over the last five years, has us ninth out. To me that makes us a bubble team

9th out is like the bubble to be on the bubble. 9th out isn't even a top 2 seed in the NIT. And if we're 9th out right now - where do you think we go if we lose to Duquesne?

Hence the must win.

As has been discussed on here numerous times - yes, technically with a loss on Wednesday, we could run the table, beat Dayton twice, and make it in.

By the same token - this year there will be so many bid stealers thanks to a closer-than-normal talent gap. Some of these "bubble teams" will be autobids, and those presumptive conference champs will end up taking bubble spots.

I'd just prefer we took care of business on our home floor.

We disagree on the bubble but we agree on the importance of the game. Win and we have another quadrant two victory and a stronger resume. Even though it wouldn't be a bad loss, lose and we're back off the bubble for a while

I think that’s fair. Many years of missed bubbles have given me a healthy skepticism there.

[TruePoint]

There are many reasons behind why I have been skeptical about this team on tourney worthiness. One aspect is the lack of any consistency in team performance. The Rams have a poor shooting resume and the shooting stats have deteriorated further in the five A-10 games versus the OOC portion. Particularly troubling is the 30% drop off in assists. Also, in the 12 URI wins, seven have seen the evaporation of large leads in the second half, in two games the Rams fell behind. I will believe this team is tournament worthy if they can beat Duquesne and follow that with road wins over SBU and GMU. I will be happy to eat crow at that juncture. In the meantime GO RHODY!

I agree with the lack of consistency looming as a potential killer and the reason why the Brown/Richmond week really hurt in my eyes was that it not only blemished the resume a bit but also portended more similar efforts over the two months to follow. But I will say that the longer they can “survive” the inconsistency, which they’ve done since the Richmond game, then they are buying themselves time to figure it out. But it’s a dangerous game they are playing.

Considering all of this, it is hard to imagine us keeping ourselves from slipping too many times over the next month and a half. It feels like there's an inevitable stupid game. Although the improvement on defense has been an encouraging development.

Totally agree. You have to assume a clunker is going to come sometime in the next dozen games. Almost nobody goes that many games without one. Which is why this one is so important. The longer you put it off, the less chance there is of getting two of them. Plus they just need this game in the standings. It’s in your house.

I just feel like the talent level on this team is not perfect by any stretch, but it should be enough so that if they come out focused and hungry they should not lose to this Duquesne team.

[PeterRamTime]

I agree with the lack of consistency looming as a potential killer and the reason why the Brown/Richmond week really hurt in my eyes was that it not only blemished the resume a bit but also portended more similar efforts over the two months to follow. But I will say that the longer they can “survive” the inconsistency, which they’ve done since the Richmond game, then they are buying themselves time to figure it out. But it’s a dangerous game they are playing.

Considering all of this, it is hard to imagine us keeping ourselves from slipping too many times over the next month and a half. It feels like there's an inevitable stupid game. Although the improvement on defense has been an encouraging development.

Totally agree. You have to assume a clunker is going to come sometime in the next dozen games. Almost nobody goes that many games without one. Which is why this one is so important. The longer you put it off, the less chance there is of getting two of them. Plus they just need this game in the standings. It’s in your house.

I just feel like the talent level on this team is not perfect by any stretch, but it should be enough so that if they come out focused and hungry they should not lose to this Duquesne team.

Absolutely.

We come in focused and play hard we definitely win against anybody except Dayton.

Just gotta give it our all for two hours!

Q2 wins also help a good deal and they aren't all that plentiful in this league either. Just three or four opportunities including this one.

[RhodysRelevant]

I agree with the lack of consistency looming as a potential killer and the reason why the Brown/Richmond week really hurt in my eyes was that it not only blemished the resume a bit but also portended more similar efforts over the two months to follow. But I will say that the longer they can “survive” the inconsistency, which they’ve done since the Richmond game, then they are buying themselves time to figure it out. But it’s a dangerous game they are playing.

Considering all of this, it is hard to imagine us keeping ourselves from slipping too many times over the next month and a half. It feels like there's an inevitable stupid game. Although the improvement on defense has been an encouraging development.

Totally agree. You have to assume a clunker is going to come sometime in the next dozen games. Almost nobody goes that many games without one. Which is why this one is so important. The longer you put it off, the less chance there is of getting two of them. Plus they just need this game in the standings. It’s in your house.

I just feel like the talent level on this team is not perfect by any stretch, but it should be enough so that if they come out focused and hungry they should not lose to this Duquesne team.

Certainly not at home

[ElmCityRhody]

Can’t wait for this game - go Rhody !

[Rhody83]

Great shirt. This One Means More!

[rhodyfan3000]

I don't care if you have to win by one in double OT, and give half the Q-Tips in attendance a Myocardial Infarction in the process.

Just win, whatever it takes. That's the goal.

#JustKeepWinning

[Rhody Sody]

We still have a couple games before George Mason but is anyone going to the game? My buddy and I will be there and would love to meet up with some Keany Blue before or after.

My plan is to be at the game

Will be there as well

[Rhodymob05]

That t shirt just got me pumped

[The Dude]

The fact that Duquesne is getting votes in the Top 25 poll over other teams in the conference like Rhody, Richmond, & St. Louis is an absolute joke. Don't get me wrong, Duquesne is likely a good team and Rhody should show up with their "A" game if they want to beat them, but they're by no means Top 25 caliber. They'd be lucky to be Top 50. They haven't won against anyone good. Rhody will be the best team they've played all season thus far.
This is what Rhody needs to do on Wednesday! Dunk face baby! ALL DAY! ALLLLLLL DAY!

[PeterRamTime]

The fact that Duquesne is getting votes in the Top 25 poll over other teams in the conference like Rhody, Richmond, & St. Louis is an absolute joke. Don't get me wrong, Duquesne is likely a good team and Rhody should show up with their "A" game if they want to beat them, but they're by no means Top 25 caliber. They'd be lucky to be Top 50. They haven't won against anyone good. Rhody will be the best team they've played all season thus far.
This is what Rhody needs to do on Wednesday! Dunk face baby! ALL DAY! ALLLLLLL DAY!

They did beat Saint Louis by 14... so they have that ability.

We are going to show them that we are better than Saint Louis!

Just shoot better than 58 percent from the foul line

[Rhode_Island_Red]

The fact that Duquesne is getting votes in the Top 25 poll over other teams in the conference like Rhody, Richmond, & St. Louis is an absolute joke. Don't get me wrong, Duquesne is likely a good team and Rhody should show up with their "A" game if they want to beat them, but they're by no means Top 25 caliber. They'd be lucky to be Top 50. They haven't won against anyone good. Rhody will be the best team they've played all season thus far.
This is what Rhody needs to do on Wednesday! Dunk face baby! ALL DAY! ALLLLLLL DAY!

Many voters are ill-informed, so they just look quickly at win-loss records. That's why you shouldn't put too much stock in polls.

[ramster]

Bench play from Long, Toppin and Walker cited by David Cox. Could be key to Duquesne and @ St Bonaventure games this week

[SmartyBarrett]

The fact that Duquesne is getting votes in the Top 25 poll over other teams in the conference like Rhody, Richmond, & St. Louis is an absolute joke. Don't get me wrong, Duquesne is likely a good team and Rhody should show up with their "A" game if they want to beat them, but they're by no means Top 25 caliber. They'd be lucky to be Top 50. They haven't won against anyone good. Rhody will be the best team they've played all season thus far.
This is what Rhody needs to do on Wednesday! Dunk face baby! ALL DAY! ALLLLLLL DAY!

Celtics only used an 8-man rotation last night, too.

[Obadiah]

Rhody needs more scoring punch from its starting bigs, more from the bench and the return of Dowtin's mid-range shot from last year. And less three point attempts by Tyrese!!

[Taylor Swift]

Looking at my planner this morning and I can't believe that including tomorrow night, there are only 6 home games left this season. This season seems to have flown by!

[bigappleram]

Saw some highlights of last year's Duquesne game circulating on twitter and what immediately stood out were a few explosive dunks from Cyril. Even saw some of that in LIU and LSU game this year, but at some point in December something has happened that has limited his explosiveness. Whether it's in his knee or ankle he certainly isn't as explosive as he used to be and while that hasn't impacted his rebounding numbers I do believe his lack of lift is affecting his ability to finish at the rim amongst other bigs. And his FG% sorta bears that out.

[Obadiah]

Looking at the losses of each team

Duquesne: two losses, no bad losses

UAB (NET-181) by 9, neutral site
Marshall (NET-188) by 22, neutral site

URI: five losses, one bad loss

West Virginia (NET-7) by 5, road
Maryland (NET-15) by 18, road
LSU (NET-23) by 13, neutral site
Richmond (NET-56) by 8, home
Brown (NET-220) by 10, road

[Rhodymob05]

Losing to Marshall by 22 is bad.

[SmartyBarrett]

Looking at the losses of each team

Duquesne: two losses, no bad losses

UAB (NET-181) by 9, neutral site
Marshall (NET-188) by 22, neutral site

URI: five losses, one bad loss

West Virginia (NET-7) by 5, road
Maryland (NET-15) by 18, road
LSU (NET-23) by 13, neutral site
Richmond (NET-56) by 8, home
Brown (NET-220) by 10, road

For Duquesne, shouldn't it say two bad losses, not zero? Those are both Q3 losses, same as URI's loss to Brown.

[Obadiah]

My guideline on bad losses is anything in the 200+ NET range.

[ramster]

Duquesne was favored -9 vs UAB and -7 vs Marshall

Duquesne has been favored to win in all 17 games they have played

[Obadiah]

OK, let's now look and contrast the wins of both teams..

Duquesne quality wins:

Saint Louis (NET - 54) by 14
Austin Peay (NET-143) by 9
Radford (NET-148) by 22

Cupcake win performance

Princeton by 27
Lipscomb by 22
Loyola Marymount by 21
Columbia by 36
Saint Joseph's by 23
Fordham by 2 (OT)

URI quality wins:

Alabama (NET- 42) by 14
VCU (NET - 46) by 10
Providence (NET - 80) by 14
North Texas (NET - 92) by 13
Davidson (NET -107) by 11
W. Kentucky (NET - 118) by 3 (OT)

Cupcake win performance

Long Island U. by 11
Manhattan by 9
Middle Tennessee by 27
Saint Joseph's by 10

Again I am using NET of 200+ as the "cupcake" definition though some of the opponents
may have moved into better territory e.g. Princeton.

[ramster]

Another look:

NET: Duquesne 55, URI 61
RPI: URI 34, Duquesne 65
BPI: Duquesne 63, URI 74,
KenPom: URI 69, Duquesne 79

A10 Teams Below 100:
NET
5-Dayton
45-VCU
54-Saint Louis
55-Duquesne
56-Richmond
61-URI

RPI
12-Dayton
34-URI
37-Richmond
40-Saint Louis
55-VCU
65-Duquesne
96-St Bonaventure

BPI
7-Dayton
44-VCU
56-Richmond
63-Duquesne
73-Davidson
74-URI

Ken Pom
5-Dayton
48-VCU
69-URI
71-Richmond
79-Duquesne
85-Saint Louis
100-Davidson

Bottom Line:

• This is a Must Win for Both Teams

• Especially Important since URI-Duquesne play only once - therefore any ties for the A10 Tournament Seeding between URI and Duquesne will be broken first based on who wins this game

• Duquesne is not a team to be underestimated with a (15-2) overall record and (5-0) in A10 play

• Keith Dambrot is an excellent Coach

[Obadiah]

Agree on the importance of game.

In the Hurley/Cox era, URI has a 5-2 record against Duquesne, but ex the 2017 game, the Dukes have played us tough in all the games especially at the Ryan Center where one of their wins occurred. Last year was famous for the Rams blowing a 19 point lead at their place to lose, 75-72. Sound familiar. Cannot repeat that one.

[steviep123]

Agree on the importance of game.

In the Hurley/Cox era, URI has a 5-2 record against Duquesne, but ex the 2017 game, the Dukes have played us tough in all the games especially at the Ryan Center where one of their wins occurred. Last year was famous for the Rams blowing a 19 point lead at their place to lose, 75-72. Sound familiar. Cannot repeat that one.

What was particularly bothersome about that game was they had a 19 point halftime lead as Obadiah mentions. The first four plays coming out of halftime (Rhody had the ball first) resulted in turnovers with no shots. Instead of pushing the lead into the 20s and putting the game away early, the Dukes cut the lead to 12 quickly and it was a game. We were outscored 53-31 in the 2nd half. That simply should not happen and we can ill afford a similar result tomorrow. If we get ahead, then put them away!

[ramster]

URI will have the same starting line up as last year in the Duquesne Game

Duquesne has 3 of the same Starters as last year:
Marcus Weathers 6’5” 215 lb JR
Michael Hughes 6’8” 240 lb JR
Sincere Carry 6’1” 180 lb SOPH

Plus new starters this year:
Lamar Norman Jr 6’3” 180 lb SOPH
Maceo Austin 6’5” 190 lb FRESHMAN

They replace:
Frankie Hughes 6’4” 195 lb
Eric Williams 6’6” 205 lb

[bigappleram]

There is no way this team should beat us on our home court. Literally every guy on our roster was more highly ranked/regarded coming out of HS, and/or has more tangible accomplishments at the college level. Couple that with a packed house, and what should be a hungry URI team aware they have little margin of error and with the clock ticking on the careers of 2 great seniors...I'll be on the TP Bandwagon if we don't win this game.

[ramster]

Didn't the TP Bandwagon say the season was over after the Brown Game?

[bigappleram]

The modified TP Bandwagon...he seems to have relented on the hard line stance and is hanging on by a thread. That's where I'm at. I actually thought the UR game was a bigger blow bc we could end up tied with them and that would break the tie. Also was a squandered Q2 win. That said, if we lose this one I will be on the modified TP Bandwagon.

[ramster]

Thats clear. But it is going to be one ugly thread if we lose tomorrow night