2013 Exhibition: Southern Connecticut - Friday Nov 1

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 10 years ago

my thoughts exactly...us scoring 41 in a half...not bad. Giving up 42 to a d2 team...bad.

The 2nd half seems to be going much better.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

Dan earns a TECH!!

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 10 years ago

So, Biruta's ok, right? RIGHT?!

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 10 years ago

what happened?

BFC · Unread post by **BFC** » 10 years ago

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 10 years ago

oh...thanks.

that sucks

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 10 years ago

I hate basketball.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

sprained ankle or knee, if that's all it is, is OK.

If it's more than that, not good.

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 10 years ago

Hope Gil is OK. Can't wait to hear some firsthand accounts.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

I'd be surprised if Gilvydas is seriously hurt in a way that puts next Friday in jeopardy.

He dove over the uri bench and knocked over both gatorade jugs!

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

UPDATE: Biruta is getting X-Rays on his shin/ankle. Could be 2wks to more. We'll see.

Info via Blue Man.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 10 years ago

Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 10 years ago

Well the reason for lack of students was do to a Halloween bus trip with hundreds and hundreds of students

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 10 years ago

No break please.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote:UPDATE: Biruta is getting X-Rays on his shin/ankle. Could be 2wks to more. We'll see.

Info via Blue Man.

If they don't have the xrays back how would he know how long he'll be out.

luke · Unread post by **luke** » 10 years ago

So what's the word on the game for those who attended? On face value it doesn't sound like an impressive performance given what UCONN did against them. I realize it was the first game for the Rams, while Southern Connecticut had already played once, and Rhody did pull away in the second half outscoring them 52-35. So did they appear to get it rolling in the second half? 35 points in the second half still way too much for a D2 team. did Rhody press them hard on D or forego that against a D2 team?
Have we got some reports for us out of staters?

Bos8 · Unread post by **Bos8** » 10 years ago

Bill Koch ‏@BillKoch25 3m
Hurley calls Biruta's status day-to-day, said the junior forward would likely be back to practice by midweek. #URI #Rams

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

What I saw:
The new guys
Matthews is going to be incredible once his shot gets a little better.
Reischel: really liked what I saw. Rebounds, passes, defends, hustles.
Minnis: Jury's out for me. Didn't expect a ton of offense but expected better D. If the refs continue to call things tight he'll be in foul trouble a lot.
Iffy: Works hard underneath. Athletic but raw.
Hassan: Also works hard and hustled. Missed a couple of jumpers. Will be very good at some point.
Butler: end of the bench this year. came in and hit a 3.
Gil: as avertised; lunch pail kind of player. Rebounds, defends, passes well. Hopefully just a sprain!
Returnees
Powell: Has so far held onto his starting job. Played pretty well. some nice assists. Still can be over powered by bigger guards.
Munford: do I need to even bother....
TJ: Great D. Very strong when going to the basket.
Aaman: Another hard worker in the paint but, yes, Hare was missed.

Bos8 · Unread post by **Bos8** » 10 years ago

Don't put too much into the scrimmage, especially considering what we have. Miami lost one last year and won the conference. Not being there, I'm sure Hurley did some mixing and matching line up wise and also didn't show much defensively or too many of our sets on offense. I would expect him to slowly ramp up the complexity of the schemes, and to tighten the rotation over the first game or three. I will be interested to hear how the new guys looked.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 10 years ago

Bos8 wrote:Bill Koch ‏@BillKoch25 3m
Hurley calls Biruta's status day-to-day, said the junior forward would likely be back to practice by midweek. #URI #Rams

Glad Dr. Blue Man was wrong.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 10 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote:
Bos8 wrote:Bill Koch ‏@BillKoch25 3m
Hurley calls Biruta's status day-to-day, said the junior forward would likely be back to practice by midweek. #URI #Rams
Glad Dr. Blue Man was wrong.

He's getting X-Rays. Sounds like they're precautionary now. Info was obtained from people with direct knowledge before Hurley spoke to press.

I'm very glad they have higher confidence that it won't be broken. That matches my initial feeling (see above) seeing it happen live.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 10 years ago

Just back; yes, lots of rust, looked like a team that did not have the summer trip to jell etc; HITS; Britua moves nice, great quick first step to get by defenders, he and Onyekbaba are relentless on glass, Ony posts well, EC nice size at the point, MISSES; students were??, refs calling lots of fouls, the hand checks and close defense gets called often, took us into the second 1/2 to get going, untracked and some of the athletism started to show as we worn them down.
Over all, a win is a win......Bruita gotta make more free throws, he's gonna get to line a lot....no evidence yet of running sets to get Butler to toe the 3 pt line.....lots of players to get into the mix, and see what the rotations and combos will click, that still going to take time.....they all seemed a bit tight.....martin gonna be an impact player in open space......I was looking for more pressure defense, end to end but.....??...X is still X and looks to score the ball on each touch......others gotta get some touches and scores to open things up.....3 pt threat not evident yet.....

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 10 years ago

Biruta looked like he was in some serious pain right after slipping on the towel going after the loose ball. Glad to hear it's only a sprain.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 10 years ago

Gil in pain big time, crashed into the power aid jugs station, knocked it over, at end of bench going for loose ball, looked like he hit foot on bad angle of chair(s) of the bench area. Hopped on one foot off to locker room, took a while for med staff to make decision on handling him......

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 10 years ago

My thoughts (sorry if some are repetitive):
Are these A10 refs? If so, expect a loooooong season unless we adjust. They called a LOT more handchecking, tickytack fouls. Two Owls fouled out and at least 4-5 others on both teams had 4 fouls by the end. They did call a couple of obvious charges.
So. Conn. had some talented players. They could score the three and hustled on defense. Looked like a well coached team.
We have so many more options on offense this year. Biruta (until his injury) really gets off the floor for rebounds; Iffy has good low post moves and Aaman is combining his hustle last year with more offense this year. If Biruta recovers quickly, our front court will be fine, once Martin settles in.
I was very impressed with Reischle. He's a true glue guy; he may only score 6-8 points a night, but always seems to be there for the big rebound, makes the right pass or picks up the loose ball. I can see why he's starting.
Mathews and Martin both showed 1st half jitters, especially EC. He was wide open for a three and hesitated before taking it, missing badly. Both looked much better in the 2nd half. EC's not ready to start, but doesn't need to since Mike Powell is picking up where he left off last year. I really think we underrate him; he's a steadying influence.
Even with ragged passing, our rebounding will keep us in games. Not sure I get the complaint about Birta's free throws. I didn't think he missed more than a couple. He'll be fine. Aaman looks MUCH better on the line. You can tell he's worked on his stroke.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Wish I'd been there.
As I've said since last year,shaking off rust and getting cohesiveness isn't happening overnight.
It's going to be a work in progress for a while.
Hope Biruta is OK, because it would be a sin after waiting for so long, to be out for
a play in an exhibition game.
If X is looking for his shot, it's because that's what he's being told to do.
Aaman shot 69% FT last year, which was 15% better than Hare.
Powell needs to better his 29% FG shooting to keep defenses honest.
Be patient and don't expect the Showtime LA Lakers anytime soon
On to Maine next week, hopefully with Biruta at full strength.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 10 years ago

HITS; new floor, new LED lighting, all bright new looking, floor design and not just cause its new, its amazing, the RI logo at center court is huge and really stands out, I thought I would miss the Ram somewhere on the floor......NOT

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 10 years ago

This is worth noting

And I'm not relaxing until Biruta is back playing.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 10 years ago

Dan, who got a T, isn't happy with all the fouls either:

Roz · Unread post by **Roz** » 10 years ago

This is why we have a somewhat reasonable schedule upfront...looking more like a smart move as we need to develop cohesion from so many new pieces

UCH21377 · Unread post by **UCH21377** » 10 years ago

They made their second half run with EC and Hassan on the floor, which was good to see. Once those two got going their talent showed. Gotta play them both big minutes. I'm guessing EC will play more 2 guard or even 3rd guard, than point, and Hassan more at the 4. If the fouls get called like tonight we will need the entire roster to get thru games, and I can see both Baruta and O getting in foul trouble routinely. I agree with those that did not see much out of Biggie; maybe first game jitters. I think he may have picked up a couple quick fouls and maybe he got timid on D. Late in the first half they were blowing the whistle every 10 seconds. it was crazy.

eli#10 · Unread post by **eli#10** » 10 years ago

We now have not 1, not 2, but 3 point guards who cannot make a jump shot. I think Powell missed all his (about 6) jump shots. For him to get a lot of minutes with his size he needs to make his jump shots. I don't think Minnis or TJ really looked to take a jump shot. In summary our point guard play tonight was not good.

The new rules really hurt a team like ours that would probably do a lot of pressure defense. Even with our depth the number of fouls would result in too many free throws. There had to be 50 fouls (if not more) called in the game. Mathews can really get to the rim. Minnis plays great D but the new rules are really going to hurt him. It looks like he really has to work on his free throws--I think he was only 1 out of 4 with the misses being ugly. Martin played much better in the 2nd half and no question that he is a player and will get a lot of minutes especially with Hare out.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 10 years ago

X, Mike Powell and Biggie were all bitchin' about the fouls. Can't say I blame them.

Essam · Unread post by **Essam** » 10 years ago

the game was ruined by the refs. at one point they had 37 whistles in 6 minutes. I feel that if this is going to be how refs call the game it will be my last year as a season ticket holder. The fouls were called accurate for the most part.Defense was much better than in Italy. Offense showed improvement too. Hare will be missed.
The crowd was sparse probably 50 students if you don;t count the band and cheerleaders. I did not see any signiicant changes that wii effect the old people in 205. DH does not seem to have the substitution patterns down yet.

ram1980 · Unread post by **ram1980** » 10 years ago

lots of kinks to work out for team and ryan center experience
Dan Yorke was poor.
Stat board was either not on or inaccurate all night with wrong players on floor and stats not updated.
Poor crowd.. Exhibition game good excuse.
Biruta getting hurt. He looked to be in serious pain. He may be the guy they can't afford to lose. Tons of energy. Very active on offensive glass. Will be a fan favorite.
Defense was horrible!!!!!!!!! No press. Guards constantly getting beaten one on one. Lots of offensive rebounds by smaller opponents. Needs to improve big time. Minnis is very slow looking.
Martin & Matthews much better in 2nd half. Definitely had first half jitters. Both smooth and athletic. Will be fun to watch them grow.
Oneyakaba some solid moves under hoop. This team will be much better offensively.
Rams looked to push the ball more, which will lead to more easy buckets..
Officiating not fun to watch. Way too many ticky tack fouls both ways. Hurley whining way too much. Finally got hit with the inevitable "T".
Reischel ok... Had problems with his man going by him defensively a number of times. He is a tweener so may be tough for him defensively.
Definitely shook off the cobwebs in 2nd half.. Defense makes me nervous. Believe it or not Hare would help this team immensely with his shot blocking ability. All 3 big men work hard but are not able to be that back line eraser that Hare could be..

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

Here's the box....

http://gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/2013 ... 1_evc9.xml

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 10 years ago

The stat that jumps out at me is 25 offensive rebounds for us. Does this look like a true strength of our team, or did we have a huge size advantage?

ram1980 · Unread post by **ram1980** » 10 years ago

huge size advantage.. I think most of offensive rebounds came in 2nd half when they turned up the intensity after a really lackluster first half. Stat a little misleading as a few trips there were multiple offensive rebounds because of multiple misses.. Biruta, "O" and I think Martin will be pretty active on the offensive boards all year, the first 2 because of relentlessness and Martin is an athlete.

Stop! Rammer Time · Unread post by **Stop! Rammer Time** » 10 years ago

I would go with size advantage, the thing though is a lot of rebounds came from misses in close that got tapped around way too long. I think the offensive rebound stat does more to point out the lack of ability to finish around the basket at times tonight.

luke · Unread post by **luke** » 10 years ago

I think you will see the whistles less as the players adjust. Good defensive players actually commit fewer fouls. Hurley will be teaching them how to play defense properly and they will learn. Eventually the new rules emphasis will favor them.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

You don't need a big shot blocker to win in college basketball.
I doubt Michigan's center could jump over a phone book, last year.
Louisville had leapers, but I don't recall a lot of shots being altered or blocked.
Blocked shots are overated. Good defensive positioning is more
effective than trying to block everything and having your man go by you.
Hare used to get undressed every game, by coming out too far,
jumping, and having his man blow by him.
The films, the practices and scrimages I've seen, all indicate that Hassan
Martin is VERY aggressive on the boards. He has a nose for getting to the ball.

ram1980 · Unread post by **ram1980** » 10 years ago

My biggest concern with defense is how easily there guards beat ours at the top of the key to the hoop. Defense really needs work. Offense should be OK. Huge difference in post game compared to last year even though that's not saying much. Biruta and "O" give them a post presence. Outside shooting may be the weakness. Ball movement and running are key.. I hear you Rod, But guards all consistently got beat tonight be it because of new rules, nerves or whatever. They gave up a lot of points too a lot of open men!!

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Hmmm....thinking the same thing about our outside shooting, I asked Dan the other night if he had enough perimeter shooting,
He said he did.
I think the forwards don't present much of a perimeter threat. You really don't want
Biruta doing a Johnathan Holton impression.
I'm surprised our guards got smoked. Munford was solid last year, and Minnis was advertised as a defensive stopper,
and we've seen TJ's defense.
Looks like we're in for a season of ugly, ref dominated games. That will make the games longer and less interesting.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 10 years ago

my view from Rod's seats:
-first, I hope the ncaa does sonething about this new enforcement on hand checking, there were over 50 fouls valled in the game and Dan said after the game the scrimmage was worse, yikes. The game got hard to watch at times since there was no flow at all.
- hope Gilvydas is ok, looks like he twisted his ankle on the play. The trainer grabbed his ankle lightly (don't know if it was to get his shoe off) and he almost jumped off the bench. When he was in there he was almost as advertised, you could tell there was rust.
- big O was impressive to me, had good moves and footwork. used his size well and had goid rebounding position and boxing out
- saw flashes from Mathews and Martin, liked that Dan played them a lot the second half, it's what this game is for.
- Powell looked like he normally does, controlled the offense well, still needs to work on that runner inside.
- saw some good defensive stands in the latter half of the second half.
- Hare would help inside on defense as a rim protector and that I believe is where his absense will show up the most

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 10 years ago

Twisted, how about a scouting report on the seats?
Could you hear Hurley yelling? Are there people sitting nearby
that look like they thought it was still Halloween?
Did anyone from Johnston come by and glare at you?
Did Blue Man shock the old folks in nearby 205?
Was there a gas attack from those Cajun sandwich eaters that
made the players a bit off?
Inquiring minds want to know!

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 10 years ago

the seats are good, right over the tunnel, couldn't hear blueman from the seats but it was only an exhibition. No one from Johnson that I saw. You can hear Hurley, ask blue man his opinion he had those seats or very similar seats last year

Unread post by **SGreenwell** » 10 years ago

To borrow some terminology from a more frequent poster than I, the view from 211:

- The final score probably made this seem closer than it really was, but I felt like Hurley was using most of the first half as a way to experiment with different lineups. Look at the minutes played for Munford - Unless he's in foul trouble, I doubt he's going to play only 21 in a regular season game. Powell and Biruta are also likely to get more run in the future. IIRC, after playing the first five minutes of the game, I don't think the trio checked back in until there were five minutes left in the half.

- Southern CT was definitely undersized, but it was encouraging to see the Rams beat the snot out of them on the boards anyway. I did think that they were using positioning more than size anyway though; it's not like they ended up with an abnormal amount of blocks (3) for the game.

- He didn't shoot great, but the offense really bogged down when Powell wasn't in the game. Minnis looked rusty to start - I think he had two fouls in 30 seconds - but looked OK by game's end. Matthews got to the line more than Powell, and by the stat line had the best game of the three PG candidates on the roster, but only had one assist.

- I don't think Buchanan got a single minute at the point, so he's probably (correctly) slotted more as a 2 or 3 going forward. He and Reischel had solid "fill up the state sheet" games to me, although I'm not sure how Reischel had four turnovers.

- Martin has a nose for the ball, at least judging him solely on this one game. Depending on Hare's status, it wouldn't surprise me if Martin eventually is either the second or third big man, supplanting Onyekaba. And while Aaman was really needed last year, he's probably a "break glass in case of emergency" type this year. (Then again, as last year proved, you really do need five OK frontcourt options, given the wear-and-tear that various players go through.)

- The Munford and Biruta pick-and-roll was really good the two times they ran it. IIRC, one time it ended up in a layup for Munford, and the other time was an open 3 for Biruta. Nothing really new to report on Munford, at least from one game. He had 18 points in 23 minutes, which is around 25ish points in a normal game for him. Again, it's only Southern CT, but he got a lot more open looks, and it's tough to believe that he'll get less looks than he did last year, since the surrounding talent is better.

- ATP knows that I'm horrible at guessing the attendance, and they don't have one on the box score, but I'd say around 2,000ish. It's an exhibition game though, and the team has been bad the past two years, so I wouldn't expect a big number unless they reel off a bunch of early season wins. I thought the band sounded pretty solid. Oddest miscellaneous thing - The cheerleaders spent about 5 minutes bringing out a bunch of mats for their halftime routine, which then was maybe 2 minutes long.

Rhody72 · Unread post by **Rhody72** » 10 years ago

Went to the game.

In the first 10 minutes of half two, 20 fouls were called. I'm serious. At 9PM there was 8 minutes to play in half two.

Don't recall any charges taken by URI, numerous breakaways for SCSU and a matador defense reminiscent of the baron years.

Aaman looks even stronger than last year. This kid must live in the weight room.

X looks good.

Best performance award goes to the Ramettes.

Worst performance award goes to Biggie Minnis.

First exhibition game with everyone playing between frequent whistles. Boring.

Player roles have not been established.

jcru · Unread post by **jcru** » 10 years ago

Great reports, guys.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 10 years ago

I won't feel better about Biruta's injury until he's back playing in a game. Also, defense will get you minutes on this team, and there's enough depth this year that performance can impact playing time in a more meaningful way.

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... une-up.ece

Hurley agrees:

“I was really disappointed with our guard defense,” Hurley said. “I thought the only guys who really guarded on the perimeter for us were Jarelle (Reischel) and T.J. (Buchanan). The other guys gave us a sub-par effort defensively and that’s not going to be good enough to change the narrative of 15 wins in two years around here.”

And as for player roles:

Hurley said he spread minutes much more evenly than he would in a regular-season game and that “we probably did about five or 10 percent of what we’d do offensively.”

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