3/1 | Loyola Chicago | 9:00PM (CBSSN)

[PeterRamTime]

You're right, and I think a lot of people are forgetting how bad some of our teams were. The Jerry D years were worse, a couple of the Baron years were very bad, hell I'd say the last two years under Cox were worse than this. At least I feel like we have the right coach and an administration that gets it. That wasn't the case in some of those years. For that reason alone I'd say this year isn't the worst, record be damned

If we’re talking strictly team on the court though, the last two Cox’s teams would beat this current team.

Maybe. They certainly would have the talent to beat this team, but the coaching edge on this team could be decisive in that theoretical matchup

Oh we could beat last years team. They'd come out not giving a fuck and we'd beat them.

[RIFan]

Fighting for last place this late in the season in a 1 bid A10 means this is probably the worst team in close to 40 years. All our other bad teams played against legit teams when we were getting 3-5 bids. This is so bad in terms of us and the A10 we can’t even compare apple to apples. New uncharted territory in a bad way.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

The Claude English years were pretty depressing, too.

[PeterRamTime]

Fighting for last place this late in the season in a 1 bid A10 means this is probably the worst team in close to 40 years. All our other bad teams played against legit teams when we were getting 3-5 bids. This is so bad in terms of us and the A10 we can’t even compare apple to apples. New uncharted territory in a bad way.

I mean there's not much of a difference at all between this team, the 11-12 team the 12-13

This team has also performed about the same as those teams with the Bray stuff, Ant never being eligible, Bilau only playing a handful of games and other injury issues early on.

[SGreenwell]

I equate this more to the first Hurley year, which was a "take your medicine" kind of year. In some ways, it's easier to think you're going to suck, and then suck, then going through what St. Louis is going through this year, or how we had false hope for the first few Cox years.

[Jdrums#3]

“Take your medicine year”. Good way of describing the current season, SG.

[PeterRamTime]

I equate this more to the first Hurley year, which was a "take your medicine" kind of year. In some ways, it's easier to think you're going to suck, and then suck, then going through what St. Louis is going through this year, or how we had false hope for the first few Cox years.

I just keep thinking about how this season hasn't been that much of an anomaly.

Seasons like this happen all the time in college basketball. We've had several seasons like this in the past.

Only to double and triple the win total the next year. Plenty of freshman improve dramatically, older players get better, transfers make teams drastically better every year.

This is a fairly normal rebuild season especially when you think about where Cox left it. Then you factor in our injuries and the other things that have hurt our roster.

[RI_Bred]

Blueram, I think you will be disapponted then.

I believe only 3 of the top 150 recruits ('23) haven't committed and they aren't on our radar and out of our geographic comfort zone.

Ouch.

[reef]

I'm not even going to watch this game. It's an affront to our fans how bad this team is. Never thought it would be this bad. This is just plain horrible. In the worst A10 conference maybe ever, we are in last place. I don't think I can ever remember a URI team being this bad.

The Jerry D years were much much worse than this.

At least the A10 was a legit conference when Jerry D was here. We are the worst in the worst A10 in 40 years. That makes this possibility the worst URI team in 40 years

Agree those Jerry D teams were worse than our team this year , I agree with those who think this season is comparable to DH 1st year

[theblueram]

Blueram, I think you will be disapponted then.

I believe only 3 of the top 150 recruits ('23) haven't committed and they aren't on our radar and out of our geographic comfort zone.

Ouch.

I was asking about '24 recruits who will sign early next October. The '23 recruits we already have and will suit up for us this summer. Archie has had a year to work on those '24 recruits. Are we on anyone of significance?

[SGreenwell]

Blueram, I think you will be disapponted then.

I believe only 3 of the top 150 recruits ('23) haven't committed and they aren't on our radar and out of our geographic comfort zone.

Ouch.

I was asking about '24 recruits who will sign early next October. The '23 recruits we already have and will suit up for us this summer. Archie has had a year to work on those '24 recruits. Are we on anyone of significance?

With this staff in particular, I think its hard to say. As of late, we barely have anything on a recruit, and then they commit. And amusingly, anyone we get a longer thread on, they don't seem to commit. I don't know if they'll be 4 star or 3 star or whatever, but I do think the quality of recruit of the 23 class (Dubsky, Estevez, whoever else) will be higher than the 22 recruits, and the 24 recruits will likely be better than them both. We still have plenty of starting lineup minutes in play for recruits, and ultimately that's really important to recruits.

[steviep123]

The Jerry D years were much much worse than this.

At least the A10 was a legit conference when Jerry D was here. We are the worst in the worst A10 in 40 years. That makes this possibility the worst URI team in 40 years

Agree those Jerry D teams were worse than our team this year , I agree with those who think this season is comparable to DH 1st year

I agree - his two years were as bad as I've ever seen. We didn't have a hope in many games. Just to check myself and there were many many double digit losses in those two years, some by as many as 30 or 40 points! Those two years for me were the worst in my watching history.

[RF1]

Doesn't matter what happens tonight. Once the final buzzer goes off, there will thankfully be just one week left in this putrid season. It cannot end soon enough.

[section(105)]

Doesn't matter what happens tonight. Once the final buzzer goes off, there will thankfully be just one week left in this putrid season. It cannot end soon enough.

Well, as much as I have talked about being at the A-10 bottom, lots of real estate to climb over etc etc, I suppose there is something to at least say, we finished with a team below us. Ouch. Who would ever thought that with the Miller era being ushered in with hope, this is where we are. Get it over with, early dismissal from Brooklyn, get on with roster management and scheduling some cupcakes for next season? Go Rhody

[ramster]

Tonight is Senior Night for Loyola

Preview of tonight's game from Loyola Message Board......


Wednesday, March 1, 2023 8:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.


Loyola plays the University of Rhode Island for the first time Wednesday night in the final home game of the inaugural season in the A-10. The game will be senior night for two players: grad transfers Bryce Golden, and Jeameril Wilson. It’s also potentially the last time Rambler fans might see some seniors who have the option of ending their college careers or moving on for grad transfer opportunities.

The Ramblers came into the season having never played any of the state schools in the A-10: George Mason, UMass, Rhode Island, and VCU. A win over URI on Wednesday could give the Ramblers a winning record (3-2) against the A-10's public universities. Loyola comes in ranked at 255 in KenPom, while Rhode Island is 239. The winner of this game will likely be the 14th seed at the A-10 Tournament beginning next Tuesday. The loser will almost certainly be the 15th seed.

It’s been a rough year for URI. The Rams had lowered expectations because they lost so much to graduation and transfer after last year, but also deservedly encouraging expectations because of Archie Miller’s return to the A-10. In Miller’s six years at Dayton, he took the Flyers to four NCAA Tournaments and one NIT before stepping up to Indiana. After a year off from coaching as a media commentator, he took the Rhode Island gig.

Rhody's defense is pretty good. The Rams rank in the middle of the pack in defensive efficiency. They hold opposing teams to 43.3% field goal percentage, and they are very good rebounders. I think Rhode Island might be the only team besides VCU thus far to beat both Fordham AND Dayton (two of the top four seeds in the A-10 Tournament)… Even when they lose, it's often by a close margin-- in URI's current seven-game losing streak, they took George Washington to overtime, got nipped by one point on a VCU buzzer-beater, lost at Saint Louis by five, and last time out lost at Fordham by three.

But URI has a lot of problems on offense. They have no real, consistent offensive force near the basket; they are among the worst in D-I hoops in shooting the three; their second-leading scorer was kicked off the team two weeks ago; and only eight teams in D-I have a lower overall field goal percentage. On the plus side, they earn the third-most trips to the free throw line in the A-10, and they have the second-highest percentage from the line. They seem to play the top teams really well, but they’ve lost two games to UMass by 10 and 24 points, and lost to St. Joe’s by 14. They’ve dropped home non-con games to Brown and Texas State.

Coach Miller’s likely starters on Wednesday night are 6'1" sophomore Sebastian Thomas, 6'3" junior Jalen Carey, 6'3" sophomore Ishmael Leggett, 6'6" senior forward Malik Martin, and 6'11" sophomore Alex Tchikou. Leggett leads the team in scoring at 16.6 per game. Thomas (5.6 points, 2.8 assists) is now the main playmaker since sophomore Brayon Freeman (a transfer from GW who averaged 14.3 points and led the team in assists) was cut from the roster. Wichita State transfer Josephat Bilau was supposed to be their starting big man, but he went down to season-ending surgery in the 8th game of the year. Martin is the leading rebounder at 6.4, but Leggett at 6’3” pulls in 5.8 boards per game, Carey 5.1, and Tchikou 3.5.

The two bench players currently playing double-digit minutes are 6'8" freshman Rory Stewart (2.2 points) and 6'5" freshman Brandon Weston. Six-eight freshman forward Abdou Samb got his first DNP of the season in the loss to Fordham. Another freshman, 6'7" Louis Hutchinson might get a few minutes. But there's not much depth-- especially at guard-- after losing a 29.1 minute per game player in Freeman.

Since losing Freeman, the Rams have a much shorter bench. But was it addition by subtraction? Three of the four games since Freeman was cut have ended with the score differential at regulation between zero and three points. Maybe the Rams are pulling together in the face of adversity.

But you know who really needs to pull together and win their senior night home finale to have a chance at finishing just off the bottom for the regular season? The Ramblers. A win would give Loyola the tiebreaker over URI if they both finish 4-14. It would equal their conference win total from their first year in the MVC, and help provide a tiny bit of hope for the conference tournament and the future. A win would ensure double-digit overall wins, and a big win could help boost the KenPom numbers a bit—possibly enough to maybe climb over Rhody and out of the basement in that metric. “Don’t Finish Last” isn’t the optimum mission statement, but it’s an achievable goal.

[SGreenwell]

The post is here, if anyone wants to follow along. It looks like they post before and during games, similar to how we do over here.

[Rhody15]

It is not addition by subtraction by losing Freeman. The guy is giving us credit for ALMOST winning?

We haven’t won a game since Freeman left.

We won games with him.

Enough with this “well we’ve lost close games, we tried hard” bullshit.

Who knows what the team will look like in the future, but for THIS season, strictly on the court, nobody in their right mind can say it’s been addition by subtraction.

[ramster]

The post is here, if anyone wants to follow along. It looks like they post before and during games, similar to how we do over here.

Or just go to Spookydog's great page where he puts all the pertinent info together.
I find it very helpful that Spookydog lists the opponents message board link to click on because it's often time consuming to find the opponents best message board. Sometimes several are listed but not all are necessarily popular or active.

[bigappleram]

Yes we were a juggernaut with him

Personally find the team easier to root for without him and long term think it's for the better

[ramster]

It is not addition by subtraction by losing Freeman. The guy is giving us credit for ALMOST winning?

We haven’t won a game since Freeman left.

We won games with him.

Enough with this “well we’ve lost close games, we tried hard” bullshit.

Who knows what the team will look like in the future, but for THIS season, strictly on the court, nobody in their right mind can say it’s been addition by subtraction.

So go on the Loyola Message Board and tell him that. I'm sure they would love to have ya.
I don't think the Loyola poster is giving credit so much as he/she is providing a preview of their opponent tonight, no different than Spookydog does so wonderfully for KB.
Loyola is in 15th place and URI is in 14th place so kind of odd you would get so offended from an opponent pregame write up.

[Jdrums#3]

To my surprise, Rhody has played better offensively than I expected. I see that as a good thing however, probably not good enough for a road win tonight as per the Loyola board post above as it is Senior Night, they will likely be playing also for a rowdy full house and trying to avoid last place in front of said crowd.

I think we keep it close ( in single digits) and I wouldn’t be stunned if we steal a win because LU plays much of the first half too hyped up with all that is at stake for them tonight.

Game day! Go Rhody!

[adam914]

No idea what to expect from this one. I haven't seen Loyola play at all this year, but I don't think we'll learn too much from this game other than whether we're the worst team in the conference or the second worst team in the conference.

[TruePoint]

Yes we were a juggernaut with him

Personally find the team easier to root for without him and long term think it's for the better

100%.

I’d also say that if we looked like we did against UMass all four games since Freeman was dismissed then I’d say losing him probably made us worse. But I think when you’ve barely won any games all year you can look at “how you lost” to get a sense of whether things are getting better or worse. If we were on the bubble then losing in OT on the road would be just as bad as getting blown out at home, but we’re not so we can analyze performance outside of just did we win or lose. It’s been apparent since November that this season was about a lot of things but the W-L record was maybe least among them. “Will we compete?” is closer to the top of my list and, UMass debacle aside, the answer has been pretty encouraging. It’s easy to lose your willingness to compete in a lost season but for the most part we haven’t.

[reef]

Same with me similar to those Twins who were so tough to pull for

Better times ahead Rhody nation Arch will do ever he can to get us on the right path soon

[RF1]

Who would have thought we would be tonight seeking our only true road game win for the entire season and first since January 15th, 2022?

[theblueram]

Who would have thought we would be tonight seeking our only true road game win for the entire season and first since January 15th, 2022?

Not me, that's for damn sure.

[ramster]

Who would have thought we would be tonight seeking our only true road game win for the entire season and first since January 15th, 2022?

Not me, that's for damn sure.

DC_Rams

[ramster]

Since Archie Miller dismissed Freeman 4 games ago these are the key stats for the 3 Guards combining the 4 games including VCU, UMASS, GW and @ Fordham:

Minutes per game:
Carey - 32.8
Leggett - 39.0
Thomas - 35.0

FG%:
Carey - 16-51= 31.4%
Leggett - 25-64= 39.0%
Thomas - 13-33 = 39.4%

3FG%:
Carey - 1-11= 9.1%........(since Jan 11 Carey is 3-31=9.7%)
Leggett - 8-23= 34.8%
Thomas - 6-18= 33.3%

FT%:
Carey - 10-12 = 83.3%
Leggett - 25-28 = 89.3%
Thomas - 7-9 = 77.8%

Assists:
Carey - 8
Leggett - 7
Thomas - 17

Turnovers:
Carey - 14
Leggett - 13
Thomas - 7

Assist/Turnover Ratio:
Carey - .57
Leggett - .54
Thomas - 2.43

Rebounds:
Carey - 16
Leggett - 23
Thomas - 12

Steals:
Carey - 6
Leggett - 10
Thomas - 5

Points per Game:
Carey - 10.8
Leggett - 20.8
Thomas - 9.8

Personal Fouls:
Carey - 9
Leggett - 12
Thomas - 12

[ElmCityRhody]

Same with me similar to those Twins who were so tough to pull for

Better times ahead Rhody nation Arch will do ever he can to get us on the right path soon

I hear ya reef !

Go Rhody !

[rhodysurf]

Oh shit Rory starting

[adam914]

[RhodyRams916]

I'm not mad about this. Please tell me he's not playing the 5...

[NYGFan_Section208]

If we’re talking strictly team on the court though, the last two Cox’s teams would beat this current team.

Maybe. They certainly would have the talent to beat this team, but the coaching edge on this team could be decisive in that theoretical matchup

Oh we could beat last years team. They'd come out not giving a fuck and we'd beat them.

but...they'd have fun tho

[NYGFan_Section208]

I equate this more to the first Hurley year, which was a "take your medicine" kind of year. In some ways, it's easier to think you're going to suck, and then suck, then going through what St. Louis is going through this year, or how we had false hope for the first few Cox years.

We had hope for the first few Cox years? Pretty sure everyone always has hope, the different thing, is realistic expectations of success. Can't say I ever felt that during the Cox era.

[DeanDome88]

We need to end the road losing streak tonight. I'm tired of hearing about it.

[Rhody15]

Two worst teams in the league and Loyola has students standing and chanting.

Don’t wanna hear “students will come when we’re good” excuse.

Figure out a way to get the kids to the games.

[Blue Man]

For all the crap people on here give our student broadcasters - these “pros” are absolutely terrible.

[adam914]

These Loyola dudes look slow. I don't think they can guard us for the most part.

[Rhodysk]

Carey why point? You have 8 wins. Please just play the game.

[RIFan]

0 second half leads in the last 5 games…yep we have sure improved.

[RIFan]

Loyola has students in the seats because they have been good in the last 5 years and these kids remember. No kids at URI know what it’s like to have a good team.

[Jdrums#3]

I'm not mad about this. Please tell me he's not playing the 5...

I briefly watched LU play a couples of times; they didn’t strike me as athletic.But, I could be wrong.Anyway, maybe one of the reasons why Archie is giving him the start.

[Blue Man]

Two worst teams in the league and Loyola has students standing and chanting.

Don’t wanna hear “students will come when we’re good” excuse.

Figure out a way to get the kids to the games.

To be fair we had these fans Cox’s first 2 years until he drove them all away.

Loyola has been to 2 tournaments in the last 3 years. Plus they very recently went to the final four. Their students have nothing but good memories.

As those kids graduate, like ours who saw the 2 Hurley teams, their fans will fade as well.

No student at URI has any idea what any type of winning looks like when it comes to basketball right now.

[CaptainRon]

Ish for 3.

[Rhody15]

For all the crap people on here give our student broadcasters - these “pros” are absolutely terrible.

Texted my buddy saying they must’ve picked these guys outta the crowd

Definitely got the bottom of the CBS barrel for this rock fight.

[rhodysurf]

They don’t have any that can play with ish

[RhodyRam86]

Has Martin in his life ever passed the ball when he's out on a fast break?

[Rhodysk]

Loyola looks like they could be a tough team in the A-10 in a couple years once they recruit A-10 level.
Students sitting in the “PRIME” seats. Say it ain’t so.

[Blue Man]

I’m ok if we start doing the Lob Williams/Alex Tchikou offense

[RhodyRams916]

Can we throw more lobs to Tchikou?!?!