2/22 | Davidson | 5:30PM (CBSSN)

[reef]

14-4 and then a loss in the quarters will be close I think we will get in but we are at the mercy of the bid stealers and then the committee screwing over the mid major ???

[rhodyfan3000]

If they win their next three, then they are in good shape with Dayton and UMass left. They can afford to lose two.

If they win their next two and lose at St. Louis, then it gets very dicey after that. It will come down to UMass in Amherst in the season finale, and that could go any possible way, they were the only team I have seen intimidate Dayton, if you watched that last game over the weekend. They were getting great help from the refs in their own building, and expect that when URI visits them too.

The students started heckling Obi Toppin at the free throw line at the end of the game "Overrated!" and he missed both, you never see that. Tre actually did a good job on him, shows you what is possible if you take it to them in the paint and fight for every rebound.

[DC_Rams]

Agreed. Look at any game they have won, they have hit a plethora of threes. I don’t want to rely on them having an off shooting night since they did that in Kingston and it’s unlikely to be the same in their home gym.

They’ve had more bad shooting nights than good this year.

It’s cool though man, we can agree to disagree. We both want the same result in the end.

Not True. I consider 33% to be the magic number on trey shooting. Using that standard, in their 24 games to date Davidson has hit threes above 33% in 17 games. They did not meet that standard in seven games - versus Charlotte (32%), Wake Forest (28%), Marquette (0%), Temple (24%), URI (17%), Richmond (24%), VCU (26%) - all losses. You can make a similar comment on their overall FG% - keep them below 40%, they lose.

It’s not that it isn’t true, it just doesn’t align with your OPINION and that arbitrary 33%.

[Obadiah]

I was just answering your statement and let quote you again "they have had more bad shooting nights than good this year". Not true and that is based on what is accepted as good shooting % and has nothing to do with my arbitrary 33%. On overall shooting % Davidson has exceeded 40% in 19 games and their three point shooting has exceeded 33% in 17 games. That data simply doesn't fit with your assertion. Let's hope URI can replicate the first game when their defensive efforts held Davidson to 36% FG, and 17% on treys. At least I hope you agree with me on that.

P. S. The 33% is not an arbitrary number I use, but is based on accepted basketball statistical analysis which shows that if a team cannot make at least 33% of their three point shots, then they should not be talking them. In other words, below 33% is evidence of an inefficient offense on three point shooting.

[McRam]

Someone help me on this one, of the last "bunch" of games it seems as if the opponents best player was not available against us.

Assuming we are in a streak of "it was meant to be", most likely Gudmonson will get injured in the St.Joes game,

GO HAWKS!!!

[PeterRamTime]

Someone help me on this one, of the last "bunch" of games it seems as if the opponents best player was not available against us.

Assuming we are in a streak of "it was meant to be", most likely Gudmonson will get injured in the St.Joes game,

GO HAWKS!!!

While I wouldn't really mind if Gudmunsson didnt play, we dont want Davidson to lose to St Joe's. We want them in that Q1/Q2 range.

[Ramulous]

Nightmare scenario for the A10.....Davidson predicted to be a top 4 A10 team....shits the bed OOC...ruins chance for high NET...decides to play well late in the season.... beating our teams with at-large chances...knocking them off the bubble....the big east would never allow that to happen....Davidson is fucking the A10.

That said......biggest game of the year

[RamStock]

If they win their next three, then they are in good shape with Dayton and UMass left. They can afford to lose two.

If they win their next two and lose at St. Louis, then it gets very dicey after that. It will come down to UMass in Amherst in the season finale, and that could go any possible way, they were the only team I have seen intimidate Dayton, if you watched that last game over the weekend. They were getting great help from the refs in their own building, and expect that when URI visits them too.

The students started heckling Obi Toppin at the free throw line at the end of the game "Overrated!" and he missed both, you never see that. Tre actually did a good job on him, shows you what is possible if you take it to them in the paint and fight for every rebound.

The St.Louis game is at home. I’m not sure losing that game is an option unless we are going to beat Dayton. Umass has one of the worst home crowds in college basketball. Despite them playing better lately if we are going to lose that game we aren’t going to the tourney unless that is the only game we lose. I think having a close game against Umass at home should have us focused. Not worried about anything other than Davidson

[Obadiah]

Davidson went 6-6 in its OOC schedule which in strength did not compare to URI's OOC. Their highest rated opponent was Auburn who they lost to in their first game of season on neutral site. In most of their OOC losses, the Wildcats shot poorly, committed turnovers in double digits, and lost the battle on the glass. For example, against Marquette they went 0-15 beyond the arc and committed 17 turnovers. Davidson shows excellent ball movement designed to get a player free for an uncontested 3 pointer or set-up a backdoor cut for an easy lay-up. Disrupting their passing lanes is an essential ingredient to beating them.

[TruePoint]

Nightmare scenario for the A10.....Davidson predicted to be a top 4 A10 team....shits the bed OOC...ruins chance for high NET...decides to play well late in the season.... beating our teams with at-large chances...knocking them off the bubble....the big east would never allow that to happen....Davidson is fucking the A10.

That said......biggest game of the year

I called this in November when they came out of the gate stumbling. They actually call it “the Davidson.”

[Section104]

Nightmare scenario for the A10.....Davidson predicted to be a top 4 A10 team....shits the bed OOC...ruins chance for high NET...decides to play well late in the season.... beating our teams with at-large chances...knocking them off the bubble....the big east would never allow that to happen....Davidson is fucking the A10.

That said......biggest game of the year

I think I read on the Bonnies board that Davidson is something like 0-9 against P5 teams the last 3 years. I've done zero research to confirm. All 3 of those Davidson teams have been good...just brutal for the league.

[steveystuds06]

Can someone explain to me why Jermaine Harris still starts? I still have faith he’ll figure it out but right now he’s not ready.

Do we want to continue letting teams have a couple easy baskets early and then bring in Long,Toppin, or Walker*. Start one of those three and let’s be locked in defensively from the opening tip.

The LAST thing we need is Davidson coming out red hot.

[Rhody15]

Can someone explain to me why Jermaine Harris still starts? I still have faith he’ll figure it out but right now he’s not ready.

Do we want to continue letting teams have a couple easy baskets early and then bring in Long,Toppin, or Preston. Start one of those three and let’s be locked in defensively from the opening tip.

The LAST thing we need is Davidson coming out red hot.

I swear I didn’t change my user name!

But I’m assuming he still starts solely based on continuity, he’s started every game last year and we’re 19-6 this year with him starting every game.

Toppin and Walker play similar minutes to him, so I personally don’t see the issue to change up the rotation this late in the season.

What gets me going is 99% of people on this board praising him like he’s an A10 player, when in reality he’s a Below average A10 player as of now, nothing says otherwise.

[RhodyKyle]

Can someone explain to me why Jermaine Harris still starts? I still have faith he’ll figure it out but right now he’s not ready.

Do we want to continue letting teams have a couple easy baskets early and then bring in Long,Toppin, or Preston. Start one of those three and let’s be locked in defensively from the opening tip.

The LAST thing we need is Davidson coming out red hot.

Guessing you mean Walker and not Preston.

Harris starts because he wins the opening tip like 99/100 times.

[TruePoint]

Harris’s minutes are more comparable to the three guys coming off the bench than they are to the other four starters. To me, bring him off the bench, start him, I don’t particularly care. The minutes distribution overall seems right so whatever the coaches determine is the best for team cohesion is fine with me. If you brought him off the bench but played him the same number of minutes, that doesn’t really have any impact on the outcome of games.

[PeterRamTime]

Ya shouldn't worry too much about who starts, but rather how the minutes are distributed.

This is a game where Harris could really help us perhaps.


The backdoor cuts are a little difficult to deal with for inexperienced players, but offensively he could be able to put a dent in them.

[TruePoint]

What gets me going is 99% of people on this board praising him like he’s an A10 player, when in reality he’s a Below average A10 player as of now, nothing says otherwise.

I don’t think this is correct. He averages 5.6 pts and 3.2 rebs in 18 minutes, and is a reliable one-on-one interior defender and free throw shooter. I’d agree he isn’t an all-A10 player, but I think it’s absurd to say he isn’t an A10 caliber (league average-ish) player. He clearly is.

Every program in the conference would have Harris in their rotation except for probably Dayton:

Richmond he would be 6th in scoring and 5th in rebounding
Bonnies he would be 7th in scoring and 5th in rebounding
Duquesne he’d be 7th and 6th
SLU he’d be 6th and 4th
Etc... and in almost every case the guys ahead of him in scoring and rebounds are playing significantly more minutes than he is. On a per minute production basis, he’s even more competitive.

This is not a full-throated defense of Harris as a player, really. He needs to be better, especially if this team is going to have any kind of a ceiling next year. If a few more of his minutes were spread around to the three guys coming off the bench the rest of the way, I wouldn’t go nuts about that. But I think our fans are unusually tough on the kid. I don’t know exactly why but I’m sure it’s not totally unrelated to his high school ranking. We need to get minutes from him, and his minutes are not a total disaster. He’s good enough for the role he’s in, and hopefully offseason work allows him to take a jump next year.

[RamsRamsRams]

According to "PeterRamTime"; "If we are only an 11 according to the most accurate bracket projection site (bracketville) then a loss to Davidson will likely knock us out. Or put us dangerously close to being out."

Why is "Bracketville" the most accurate? Based on what evidence?

[Rhody15]

He is a very good FT shooter yes, but his one on one defense for the most part this year has been awful.

Burned in multiple possessions against St Joes, crushed @ Dayton (obviously everybody has been this year), and then abused at home against Mitchell who was similarly ranked coming out of high school as Harris.

There has been times where it doesn’t even look like he is trying.

No more Harris bashing in this thread from me though, onto Davidson!

(And for the record I do want him to continue starting, no need to change what’s been working this season, just wish he would show at least some sort of progress.)

Also for the love of God, stop shooting 3s.

[RF1]

There are a few reasons for Davidson's early season struggles. A lot of Davidson's early losses were the result of unexpected personnel issues. They lost David Czerapowicz, Luke Frampton and KiShawn Pritchett. Czerapowicz, a backup guard, had hip surgery and is out for the rest of the year. Pritchett, a senior guard, has struggled with knee injuries throughout his career and could be heading for a medical redshirt. Frampton, Davidson’s top returning three-point shooter, is on a personal leave of absence and will not return this season. Its remaining players had to take on new roles and mesh. It is not surprising that it has taken them much of the season to put it together.

Another factor in their lack of wins in the OOC was the shortage of home games. Davidson only scheduled THREE true home games. They had four true road games and five neutral site games. That type of schedule would be difficult for an experienced well established rotation. It was certainly not a good slate for a team missing players.

[Obadiah]

Yes, Davidson was hurt by player transitions, but they did play a relatively weaker schedule than URI. Their four true road games were Charlotte, Northeastern, Loyola Chicago and Vanderbilt, not exactly a murderers row and they went 2-2. They also played Coppin State a team far worse (Coppin has recorded single digit wins in the last five seasons) than URI's worst in Middle Tenn.

However, Davidson does seem to have turned a corner. In their last three of last four they have shot the lights out on threes - against UMass 72% FG, 65% 3-PTs. But against VCU, their shooting faltered and they committed 21 TO's. Since we play them at Belk, advantage goes to Davidson.

[TruePoint]

URI played the 49th hardest OOC schedule; Davidson the 68th hardest. So URI’s OOC was definitely better than Davidson’s but theirs was not terrible, either, as was the case for many A10 teams. (Of the other contending A10 teams, SLU played the 243rd hardest, Richmond the 210th, VCU the 199th, Dayton the 183rd, Bonnies the 216th, and Duquesne played the 327th (!!) hardest OOC schedule.)

URI played the toughest OOC in the A10; Davidson played the second toughest, and there is a much bigger spread between them and the third toughest than between us and them.

[ramster]

What is your source for the schedule rankings?

[Section104]

What is your source for the schedule rankings?

Ken Pom

[PeterRamTime]

According to "PeterRamTime"; "If we are only an 11 according to the most accurate bracket projection site (bracketville) then a loss to Davidson will likely knock us out. Or put us dangerously close to being out."

Why is "Bracketville" the most accurate? Based on what evidence?

Because over time it has been the most accurate since brakctematrix.com has tracked reputable sites which list an NCAA tournament projection.

I should have rather said that it *could* knock us out.

[josephski]

What gets me going is 99% of people on this board praising him like he’s an A10 player, when in reality he’s a Below average A10 player as of now, nothing says otherwise.

But I think our fans are unusually tough on the kid. I don’t know exactly why but I’m sure it’s not totally unrelated to his high school ranking. We need to get minutes from him, and his minutes are not a total disaster. He’s good enough for the role he’s in, and hopefully offseason work allows him to take a jump next year.

This isn't specifically directed at you but people should go back and read what was said in his recruiting thread. Things like "a program changer" and "the A10 rarely gets players like Harris" were some of the things said.

Obviously expectations need to be adjusted and it's not Jermaine's fault he was overrated coming out of high school but it's easy to understand the frustration given the hype surrounding him. Although people also need to remember this isn't professional sports so it's not like he was some big free agent signing taking up a bunch of cap space, it's one roster spot.

[TruePoint]

I think that is all correct, except I couldn’t possibly disagree more that it is “easy to understand” people being “frustrated”, to the extent that the frustration manifests in relentlessly bashing the kid here and on twitter or in fans very vocally expressing that “frustration” in the Ryan Center during the games. It is not easy at all for me to understand that type of “frustration” (and to be honest I think the word ‘frustration’ is doing a ton of work in your construction). People need to get a fucking grip. As you said, it’s not his fault how the recruiting services ranked him or how people here (probably myself included) hyped him up. Maybe our fans should go on twitter and yell at the 247 staff every time they get “frustrated”. Hell, yell at me about it. I’m just tired of supposed adults going after a college student online and during games. It’s pathetic.

(This is not all directed at you, obviously. As I said, I agree with most of what you said here but your phrasing in that one sentence gave me a jumping off point for something I wanted to say.)

[adam914]

According to "PeterRamTime"; "If we are only an 11 according to the most accurate bracket projection site (bracketville) then a loss to Davidson will likely knock us out. Or put us dangerously close to being out."

Why is "Bracketville" the most accurate? Based on what evidence?

Here are the rankings based on the last 5 years of tracking.

http://www.bracketmatrix.com/rankings.html

[RamsRamsRams]

Thank you. Here’s hoping Bracketville has an off year.

[PeterRamTime]

Some people just can't understand the correct way to asses the Jermaine Harris dilemma.

He was obviously not as ready as some thought he was. That is unfortunate. I accepted that fact a year ago and just chalked him into the "big man needs development category" therefore my expectations have been tame in regards to his play ever since.

We all want him to be great and being overly critical is not going to help at all.

Why continue being overly frustrated at this point? He isn't going to magically become a monster in the paint and dominate. He is probably going to gradually get better from this point on, as he has done thus far. His play hasn't digressed at all. He has been better in every way this year compared to last. Hes had a few really good games this year scoring and on defense or both.

He plays solid one on one defense. Great free throw shooter, he has good touch around the basket. Gets lost sometimes on D, but otherwise hustles his ass off. Sometimes we get a lot more than we expect. If he is struggling with match ups then we take him out and he is used sparingly.

[SandorClegane]

Shut down Grady and make JAG try to beat us on his own.

Harris guards the best post player in the beginning of games. We need this. It keeps CL our of foul trouble and he’s better with help defense as is. Let Cox coach the team. He knows what he’s doing.

[Rhody83]

Shut down Grady and make JAG try to beat us on his own.

Harris guards the best post player in the beginning of games. We need this. It keeps CL our of foul trouble and he’s better with help defense as is. Let Cox coach the team. He knows what he’s doing.

Agree with all of this. Especially make JAG beat us; Harris keeping Cyril out of foul trouble; and let Cox coach the team he knows what he’s doing.

Support the players.

[Rhody83]

The team’s theme is “Attack the Week”

[KevanBoyles]

Davidson starts 5-6 from 3 and lead St. Joes 19-2 in first 6 1/2 minutes.

[NYGFan_Section208]

He is a very good FT shooter yes, but his one on one defense for the most part this year has been awful.

Burned in multiple possessions against St Joes, crushed @ Dayton (obviously everybody has been this year), and then abused at home against Mitchell who was similarly ranked coming out of high school as Harris.

There has been times where it doesn’t even look like he is trying.

No more Harris bashing in this thread from me though, onto Davidson!

(And for the record I do want him to continue starting, no need to change what’s been working this season, just wish he would show at least some sort of progress.)

Also for the love of God, stop shooting 3s.

Poster bashes Harris and closes with 'no more Harris bashing.' Sweet.

[RamFaninSF]

Some interesting nuggets in regards to Davidson's 3-pt shooting prowess. (I only looked at conference games.)

- They average 26 attempts per game in their 7 wins AND their 5 losses. Win or lose; they're pretty consistent in getting over 25 attempts up per game.
- In wins, Davidson averages 11 made 3's a game, but in losses, that number dips to 7 made 3's a game. They are 5-0 in games where they hit at least 11 3's, and 2-5 when they make less than 11.
- When they outscore opponents from the 3pt line, they are 5-1, compared with 2-4 when getting outscored from 3. They average 13 more points from 3 than their opponents in their 7 wins.

My takeaway from all this would be while it's definitely going to be critical to keep them off the 3pt line, it will be just as crucial for us to make some. Keep them under 10 made 3's, make 6 ourselves (which we've done 7x in conference), and I think we'll walk out with a W.

[adam914]

Davidson can be scary because they can get hot in any game. But our 3 point defense should certainly be better than any of the teams Davidson has beaten lately. Here are the ranks in the country for 3 point defense.

St. Bonaventure - 213
Fordham - 79 (this one actually surprised me)
UMass - 200
St. Joe's - 333

Rhode Island - 9

Other than that win at St. Bonaventure which was pretty good (but see 3pt fg defense above), they really haven't played a good team in 6 weeks. I'm hoping we don't try to turn it into too much of a 3 point shooting contest because we should be better then them at just about every other aspect of the game.

[ramster]

He is a very good FT shooter yes, but his one on one defense for the most part this year has been awful.

Burned in multiple possessions against St Joes, crushed @ Dayton (obviously everybody has been this year), and then abused at home against Mitchell who was similarly ranked coming out of high school as Harris.

There has been times where it doesn’t even look like he is trying.

No more Harris bashing in this thread from me though, onto Davidson!

(And for the record I do want him to continue starting, no need to change what’s been working this season, just wish he would show at least some sort of progress.)

Also for the love of God, stop shooting 3s.

Poster bashes Harris and closes with 'no more Harris bashing.' Sweet.

Note 208, he only said no more bashing in “this” thread. And even after saying no more bashing he bashed him some more

[theblueram]

Davidson can be scary because they can get hot in any game. But our 3 point defense should certainly be better than any of the teams Davidson has beaten lately. Here are the ranks in the country for 3 point defense.

St. Bonaventure - 213
Fordham - 79 (this one actually surprised me)
UMass - 200
St. Joe's - 333

Rhode Island - 9

Other than that win at St. Bonaventure which was pretty good (but see 3pt fg defense above), they really haven't played a good team in 6 weeks. I'm hoping we don't try to turn it into too much of a 3 point shooting contest because we should be better then them at just about every other aspect of the game.

We need to play our game and just defend the 3 really strong. No need for us to change how we play. Just take away their strength. No need for us to jack 3s

[RamsRamsRams]

So much for Davidson.

[steveystuds06]

Can someone explain to me why Jermaine Harris still starts? I still have faith he’ll figure it out but right now he’s not ready.

Do we want to continue letting teams have a couple easy baskets early and then bring in Long,Toppin, or Preston. Start one of those three and let’s be locked in defensively from the opening tip.

The LAST thing we need is Davidson coming out red hot.

Guessing you mean Walker and not Preston.

Harris starts because he wins the opening tip like 99/100 times.

Yeah I have no idea why I said Preston.

I can’t believe Davidson lost that game... Crazy

[RamsRamsRams]

I’m guessing Coach Cox is already breaking down the film. St. Joe’s provided a blueprint to victory.

[SandorClegane]

Wow. This just turned into a must win.

[Rhody74]

Damn I hate facing a team on the rebound.

[DC_Rams]

Damn I hate facing a team on the rebound.

Def don’t want to play them when they are HOT. I prefer the latter.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Damn I hate facing a team on the rebound a winning streak.

Or...fify.....

[Rhodymob05]

Richmond got us post Brown, similar situation.

[TruePoint]

I’m guessing Coach Cox is already breaking down the film. St. Joe’s provided a blueprint to victory.

The blueprint to victory for St Joes was they made like 9-14 threes in the second half and Davidson was 0-11. Tough to draw that up but the key to the game for URI is the same as it ever was: give them as few clean three point looks as humanly possible.

[steviep123]

I’m guessing Coach Cox is already breaking down the film. St. Joe’s provided a blueprint to victory.

The blueprint to victory for St Joes was they made like 9-14 threes in the second half and Davidson was 0-11. Tough to draw that up but the key to the game for URI is the same as it ever was: give them as few clean three point looks as humanly possible.

St. Joe’s also played much better defense in the second half.

[PeterRamTime]

Whether Davidson is hot or not we shouldn't be losing to them period.