1/27 | UMass Minutemen | 2 PM (Stadium Network)

[theblueram]

I’m already over it. Expected it, shit happens, on to Duquesne.

Agreed - had a feeling we would lose this game. UMass can get hot from 3 and beat a lot of teams. Need Dowtin to get back to his average shooting from 3. Add that to what we are getting from Tyrese and we will be very good. Stop it with the sky is falling crap people. We are still young.

Exactly, someone posted earlier about being crappy next year. Way to keep the faith!

They are young, and with young teams there can be issues with effort. I’m not excusing it but this team does have really good potential. Today’s showing was garbage, but they are honestly a .500 team. What were some of you expecting this year

NIT at least

[wpbrown8267]

@theblueram I think that expectation is fair for this year, but some on here thought we were a NCAA tourney team this year

[luke]

VERY VERY disappointing loss . UMASS played a great game , URI didn't . way too many silly unforced turnovers and too many
wide open threes for UMASS . They desreve credit for making them . Game had similarities to VCU game , but no surge at the end to win.
Could not get any stops in the second half to catch up. Also similar to the George Mason game in that there were so many open threes shot
due to so much doubling, and again they drained them the same as George Mason did . Players are going to have to do a better job of
containment on their own man or rotating quicker to the open man which is easier said than done. I saw Fatts start to go to pick up an
open shooter from three but retreated a step toward another player allowing the open shooter an uncontested three which of course he hit.
Well that negated the VCU win . Doesn't look like they have much of a chance to be top four anymore now , so not likely to win the A 10
tournament either now. A very discouraging loss . A shame to waste a great game from Martin , the only one having a particularly good game.
i think i better go calm down now and try to become more positive and look to next season . This season is somewhat like the season before URI
won the A10 tournament in Pittsburgh , so I will have to take some solace from that . I will try to enjoy the rest of the season game by game
without any other expectations . I can see my 20-10 prediction was overly optimistic and very unlikely of being achieved anymore . Hope they
can win the next game at Duquesne which may be even tougher to do than today should have been.

[RF1]

Agreed - had a feeling we would lose this game. UMass can get hot from 3 and beat a lot of teams. Need Dowtin to get back to his average shooting from 3. Add that to what we are getting from Tyrese and we will be very good. Stop it with the sky is falling crap people. We are still young.

Exactly, someone posted earlier about being crappy next year. Way to keep the faith!

They are young, and with young teams there can be issues with effort. I’m not excusing it but this team does have really good potential. Today’s showing was garbage, but they are honestly a .500 team. What were some of you expecting this year

NIT at least

There will be no postseason for URI this year. Inconsistency will prevent that from happening. This Rhody team's season will likely be over in Brooklyn by Friday night.

[Rhody15]

Langevine should’ve gone right back outside to an open Martin.

This is atrocious.

David Cox puts another one in the L column.

No coaching or reigning in of Cyril and his 7 turnovers and 2 blocked shots.

No coaching or reigning in of Fatts and his god knows how many missed shots and turnovers.

Harris buried on the bench again.

Omar comes in to hit a 3. Is taken out.

Hell of a job coach. Hell of a job.

This one is in Jeff as much as Cox. Jeff is playing with his head down looking to score and it doesn’t work as a winning strategy... as evidenced by the entire season to date. He should not be looking to score. He is not a consistent scorer. Period. He needs to be looking to pass. Cox can certainly make that change.

Martin scored every time he was fed the ball in rhythm. Why we aren’t running offense for him at this point is definitely on Cox.

But Jeff continues to force the ball at the rim. It doesn’t work. Cyril is also not a scorer. Blocked on a bunny layup trying to claw back into it under 2 mins and that officially closed the door. He has virtually zero offensive awareness. We need to look elsewhere.

Fatts needs his minutes cut under 15 until he earns them back. He’s played like shit all year and clearly nothing else will get through. Cox can stand tall here.

Harris was in foul trouble all game, that’s not on Cox.

Silviero hit a 3, sure, but as we were getting close after that 3 he took an absolutely terrible shot 2 possessions later that led to a runout bucket. Back to the bench is where he should have gone. Agree with Cox there.

Jeff needs to be a leader. He’s the only one on the floor that can run an offense, and he needs to stop trying to BE the offense.

This one is embarrassing. Coaching staff definitely takes a big share of the blame here but Jeff needs to make his teammates better, not worse. Point blank.

This is a bad take.

If you don’t want Dowtin to score, who the hell should?

Jeff is by far the best player on the team, he needs to be looking to score and him not looking to score shouldn’t even be mentioned.

[steviep123]

I had a bad feeling about this game all week. I wish they had proved me wrong. Of no consolation but I want to share this exchange between me and a friend of mine:

F523EDC8-9EDF-494A-B1B2-9F68FDF9CD4F.jpeg

Hope you get a laugh.

[section(105)]

Exactly, someone posted earlier about being crappy next year. Way to keep the faith!

They are young, and with young teams there can be issues with effort. I’m not excusing it but this team does have really good potential. Today’s showing was garbage, but they are honestly a .500 team. What were some of you expecting this year

NIT at least

There will be no postseason for URI this year. Inconsistency will prevent that from happening. This Rhody team's season will likely be over in Brooklyn by Friday night.

.......cancelling my hotel for Brooklyn, just don’t see us getting the bye nor advancing at all, care not to watch a kid with a crew cut fill up the score sheet carrying his or watch other teams cut down the nets.......sad, but realistic for me.......

[PeteRI]

Boy am I glad I dvr'd this game so I could fast-forward through this shitshow. Good Lord where to begin?

So frustrating after how good we looked the last few games, but I guess that's how the rest of the season will go. Sigh ...

[SmartyBarrett]

It was UMass' Super Bowl (Cox's words, not mine). You could tell by the way they were reacting to... well, basically every positive play. Rhody needed to approach with the same urgency and didn't.

[theblueram]

NIT at least

There will be no postseason for URI this year. Inconsistency will prevent that from happening. This Rhody team's season will likely be over in Brooklyn by Friday night.

.......cancelling my hotel for Brooklyn, just don’t see us getting the bye nor advancing at all, care not to watch a kid with a crew cut fill up the score sheet carrying his or watch other teams cut down the nets.......sad, but realistic for me.......

You were really flying up from Florida to go to the tournament? Have you seen a game this year?

[section(105)]

There will be no postseason for URI this year. Inconsistency will prevent that from happening. This Rhody team's season will likely be over in Brooklyn by Friday night.

.......cancelling my hotel for Brooklyn, just don’t see us getting the bye nor advancing at all, care not to watch a kid with a crew cut fill up the score sheet carrying his or watch other teams cut down the nets.......sad, but realistic for me.......

You were really flying up from Florida to go to the tournament? Have you seen a game this year?

........no driving from Gansett, I will be home by then......

[the_one_mike]

This is a bad take.

If you don’t want Dowtin to score, who the hell should?

Jeff is by far the best player on the team, he needs to be looking to score and him not looking to score shouldn’t even be mentioned.

I agree with you wholeheartedly, that’s why he’s easy to name.

He’s our best player. Not our best scorer.

Maybe a I’m a bit too macro here but being the best player means you have to assume the role that leads your team to wins. He can lead the offense to more scoring by not looking to score himself.

He is not a natural iso scorer. He just uses mismatches (which is most of the time with his length) as an advantage to score. There is a difference there... that’s not a consistent offensive strategy. We need him running half court set again.

Call it a bad take if you want, but it’s not. Your best 1 should not be your primary scorer. Point blank.

[theblueram]

this one is on Cox. Just a turrible game plan.

[section(105)]

.......we have half court sets?.....oh, you mean four players spread out and standing watching to ball handler pound the ball to either get it to CL for a turnover or make late pass to burp up a three and pray that player is TM......no movement off the ball.....except JD pointing to the pick spot......you mean those sets?

[Rhodymob05]

Losing to a 7-11 team always hurts. Thank god it’s not costing us too much.

[RI_Bred]

I will try to enjoy the rest of the season game by game without any other expectations .

I think this is a good plan. I'm going to try and do the same.

[RF1]

Losing to a 7-11 team always hurts. Thank god it’s not costing us too much.

Could be far worse for us. Just imagine being a UMass fan watching their team headed toward a fourth straight losing season.

[Rhodymob05]

Losing to a 7-11 team always hurts. Thank god it’s not costing us too much.

Could be far worse for us. Just imagine being a UMass fan watching their team headed toward a fourth straight losing season.

Ryan center half full type of attitude, I like it.

[TruePoint]

I will try to enjoy the rest of the season game by game without any other expectations .

I think this is a good plan. I'm going to try and do the same.

This has been my approach since Stony Brook. Trust me - doesn’t make ones like this today any easier to stomach. It isn’t about costing us a bid or anything, it’s just embarrassing to have your school get on TV and put up that kind of effort. It sucks when you care more sitting on your couch than the guys on the court.

[DC_Rams]

One minute the world is on fire, the next it’s rainbows and roses, the next it’s Armageddon. How the fuck do you people sleep at night?! Tyrese had 23 points today, we played horribly, the coach has acknowledged and accepted the blame, the future is still bright. Take a chill pill and buckle the fuck up. Growing pains are exactly as described....PAINS!!

[TruePoint]

One minute the world is on fire, the next it’s rainbows and roses, the next it’s Armageddon. How the fuck do you people sleep at night?! Tyrese had 23 points today, we played horribly, the coach has acknowledged and accepted the blame, the future is still bright. Take a chill pill and buckle the fuck up. Growing pains are exactly as described....PAINS!!

After just about every loss I am pretty insistent on keeping perspective, and that has been even easier this year than most. But it seems like every year we have a game that I just can’t get my head around. Fordham two years ago, St Joe last year. This year it is UMass. I don’t think people here have a good appreciation for just how bad that UMass team is. The whole program is a dumpster fire. Calling it their Super Bowl isn’t helpful...they do not have the firepower to make our inability to stop them on critical possession after critical possession due to anything but our lack of engagement in that effort. That I can’t abide.

[section(105)]

......if one thinks we are rebuilding, this is what happens, ups/downs, glimpses of the future, set backs from inconsistent young players, new coach......growing pains for sure, but if we are not rebuilding, then this one must really, really sting......I would not call it shit show, mainly cause of TM......but shit show can be seen from here.....

[Billyboy78]

A large percentage of defense is effort. Yes, there are other things to it. But, lack of effort is unacceptable. If the effort isn't there, it's up to the coach to light a fire under their asses. Sit them on the bench if they're not willing. Put the walk-ons in to see if they'll give any defensive effort. I don't care. We're not going to beat anybody with a lack of defensive effort by the starters anyway.

[theblueram]

One minute the world is on fire, the next it’s rainbows and roses, the next it’s Armageddon. How the fuck do you people sleep at night?! Tyrese had 23 points today, we played horribly, the coach has acknowledged and accepted the blame, the future is still bright. Take a chill pill and buckle the fuck up. Growing pains are exactly as described....PAINS!!

We are looking for progress. Losing to this shit ass umass team just set us back and has shown we have a long way to go. I sleep well, coach...not so much tonight.

[DC_Rams]

One minute the world is on fire, the next it’s rainbows and roses, the next it’s Armageddon. How the fuck do you people sleep at night?! Tyrese had 23 points today, we played horribly, the coach has acknowledged and accepted the blame, the future is still bright. Take a chill pill and buckle the fuck up. Growing pains are exactly as described....PAINS!!

We are looking for progress. Losing to this shit ass umass team just set us back and has shown we have a long way to go. I sleep well, coach...not so much tonight.

We were just praising this team about progress 3-4 nights ago, selective memory much???

[PCFriars]

At least y’all didn’t lose to these shitbags at home

[Rhodymob05]

The inconsistency is unbearable this season.

[Rhody15]

With how inconsistent we are on a game by game basis, I wouldn’t be shocked if we won 4 out of our next 5, or lost all 5.

[section(105)]

At least y’all didn’t lose to these shitbags at home

.......easy there my Padre friend......we host them on senior nite......

[DC_Rams]

One minute the world is on fire, the next it’s rainbows and roses, the next it’s Armageddon. How the fuck do you people sleep at night?! Tyrese had 23 points today, we played horribly, the coach has acknowledged and accepted the blame, the future is still bright. Take a chill pill and buckle the fuck up. Growing pains are exactly as described....PAINS!!

After just about every loss I am pretty insistent on keeping perspective, and that has been even easier this year than most. But it seems like every year we have a game that I just can’t get my head around. Fordham two years ago, St Joe last year. This year it is UMass. I don’t think people here have a good appreciation for just how bad that UMass team is. The whole program is a dumpster fire. Calling it their Super Bowl isn’t helpful...they do not have the firepower to make our inability to stop them on critical possession after critical possession due to anything but our lack of engagement in that effort. That I can’t abide.

Sounds like those are personal demons only YOU can overcome. A loss is a loss is a loss in my book. Yeah, this was bad, but UMASS played a solid game, and we played motivated offensively....defensively, not so much. It. Fucking. Happens.

[rhodylaw]

this one is on Cox. Just a turrible game plan.

I think there is still a question as to which assistant is getting the scout for each game - with a complete staff turnover perhaps one of these guys is not meeting the standard

[rhodylaw]

At least y’all didn’t lose to these shitbags at home

Haha - agreed

[Shinze88]

Exactly, someone posted earlier about being crappy next year. Way to keep the faith!

They are young, and with young teams there can be issues with effort. I’m not excusing it but this team does have really good potential. Today’s showing was garbage, but they are honestly a .500 team. What were some of you expecting this year

NIT at least

There will be no postseason for URI this year. Inconsistency will prevent that from happening. This Rhody team's season will likely be over in Brooklyn by Friday night.

I’m holding out hope we can secure a spot in the Coach Baron Invitational ( CBI Baby !!!!! )

[Rhody83]

URI First half 25 points on 30 possessions. Second half 45 points on 32 possessions.
UMass second half 46 points on 30 possessions.
Too many turnovers (I have bean hopping on this all year) and poor defense in the second half.
Rhody had 22 FG attempts in the first half and UMass had 29 attempts.

The high turnovers aren’t from pushing the ball up the court. Rhody isn’t getting a lot of fastbreak baskets or layups.
I thought they fixed their defensive issue after the Mason game. Apparently they didn’t because 1.53 points per possession in the second half to UMass is a weak defense.

Several times when they cut it to 4 points they followed it up with multiple turnover possessions.
9:33 Harris defensive rebound down 4
Dowtin turnover
UMass scores 3
Fatts turnover
UMass hits 2 FTs - lead back to 9

Or the lack of defense stop
6:56 Martin hit 3 to bring it to 4
UMass Pierre wide open 3
Omar hits 3
Pipkins uncontested layup
Cyril scores 2
Pipkins layup and one - UMass up 7 with 4:24 left

Cyril shot 5-9 FG and hit 5-5 FTs (2 possessions). When you add in 7 turnovers and blocked twice. Then deduct the 3 offensive rebounds where they shot again (not an extra posssesion). You come out with 15 points on 17 possessions. Btw, Cyril scored the first 5 points of the game and then didn’t score the remaining 16 minutes of the half.

[TruePoint]

One minute the world is on fire, the next it’s rainbows and roses, the next it’s Armageddon. How the fuck do you people sleep at night?! Tyrese had 23 points today, we played horribly, the coach has acknowledged and accepted the blame, the future is still bright. Take a chill pill and buckle the fuck up. Growing pains are exactly as described....PAINS!!

After just about every loss I am pretty insistent on keeping perspective, and that has been even easier this year than most. But it seems like every year we have a game that I just can’t get my head around. Fordham two years ago, St Joe last year. This year it is UMass. I don’t think people here have a good appreciation for just how bad that UMass team is. The whole program is a dumpster fire. Calling it their Super Bowl isn’t helpful...they do not have the firepower to make our inability to stop them on critical possession after critical possession due to anything but our lack of engagement in that effort. That I can’t abide.

Sounds like those are personal demons only YOU can overcome. A loss is a loss is a loss in my book. Yeah, this was bad, but UMASS played a solid game, and we played motivated offensively....defensively, not so much. It. Fucking. Happens.

Demons? What are we talking about?

[Obadiah]

Turnovers were 17-10, and points in paint 36-26, both favoring UMass. In the last few years those stats in most games favored URI. And that turnaround is one factor why we already have 8 losses in a season about 60% complete.

[rhodyrudder]

Only thing worse than watching this game at home on my tv would have been making the two hour trek out to Amherst to see live. So glad I did not do that after having given it some consideration.

How bout driving out here yesterday, going to a black-and-white subtitled film about nothing, not being able to work out today, and laying 3 points while sitting in the stands?

[NYGFan_Section208]

Only thing worse than watching this game at home on my tv would have been making the two hour trek out to Amherst to see live. So glad I did not do that after having given it some consideration.

How bout driving out here yesterday, going to a black-and-white subtitled film about nothing, not being able to work out today, and laying 3 points while sitting in the stands?

That...does not sound like a good time.

[rambone 78]

We have a freshman [Martin] who is rapidly becoming the best player on the team....not yet, but he could be before the end of the season, if not next season for sure.

He certainly isn't the problem....we are limited offensively, and when we take a half off on defense like we did the 2nd half today, we lose.

We will not win a lot of games when the defensive intensity isn't there....that can be fixed and will at some point. At least that's the hope.

See, even a lousy team like UMass can occasionally light it up from 3...we on the other hand almost never. We don't have enough outside shooters.

That puts a lot of pressure on our inside game...we have to share the ball and not play the iso game...we don't have many that can play that way either...not like last year.

If Harris could ever stay on the floor and have plays run for him, he can make that 10-12 footer where Cyril either can't or won't.....

Our opponents see that we can't shoot 3's....they will pack it in and dare us to shoot...and when we get it inside Cyril forces things and turns it over.

So, forget what I said about winning 20 and maybe getting the double bye....18 is our max...we simply are not consistent enough to do that.

Cox does not have enough options yet either on defense or offense to make up for guys slacking off or generally playing poorly.

We need shooters...we are missing what most teams have, the 3 pt. shooting option.

[DC_Rams]

After just about every loss I am pretty insistent on keeping perspective, and that has been even easier this year than most. But it seems like every year we have a game that I just can’t get my head around. Fordham two years ago, St Joe last year. This year it is UMass. I don’t think people here have a good appreciation for just how bad that UMass team is. The whole program is a dumpster fire. Calling it their Super Bowl isn’t helpful...they do not have the firepower to make our inability to stop them on critical possession after critical possession due to anything but our lack of engagement in that effort. That I can’t abide.

Sounds like those are personal demons only YOU can overcome. A loss is a loss is a loss in my book. Yeah, this was bad, but UMASS played a solid game, and we played motivated offensively....defensively, not so much. It. Fucking. Happens.

Demons? What are we talking about?

You said YOU couldn’t wrap your head around. That’s a Personal demon if you can’t shake it. Maybe demon is the wrong word...but you get my point.

[section(105)]

.......I really hope Omar does not become among the Matthew Butler/Akeem Richmond/Four McGween etc type player.......

[RamStock]

One minute the world is on fire, the next it’s rainbows and roses, the next it’s Armageddon. How the fuck do you people sleep at night?! Tyrese had 23 points today, we played horribly, the coach has acknowledged and accepted the blame, the future is still bright. Take a chill pill and buckle the fuck up. Growing pains are exactly as described....PAINS!!

After just about every loss I am pretty insistent on keeping perspective, and that has been even easier this year than most. But it seems like every year we have a game that I just can’t get my head around. Fordham two years ago, St Joe last year. This year it is UMass. I don’t think people here have a good appreciation for just how bad that UMass team is. The whole program is a dumpster fire. Calling it their Super Bowl isn’t helpful...they do not have the firepower to make our inability to stop them on critical possession after critical possession due to anything but our lack of engagement in that effort. That I can’t abide.

Sounds like those are personal demons only YOU can overcome. A loss is a loss is a loss in my book. Yeah, this was bad, but UMASS played a solid game, and we played motivated offensively....defensively, not so much. It. Fucking. Happens.

A loss is just a loss this year because it doesn’t mean a thing for their tournament chances if they win 10 in a row or lose 10 in a row. If a team like St. Bonaventure lost a game like this last year in February they would have been on the other side of the bubble. They were played with great effort against VCU and it was a game that built to the future, but we just can’t shoot. How is that going to change? Martin is the only guy I see improving to the point of making a difference next year in terms of outside shooting.

[rambone 78]

I think both Harris and Tate will become consistently good shooters...they've shown that already at times....we know Martin is getting there fast.

We need Hammond to join that club too....otherwise we've got problems that can only be solved by bringing in a grad transfer or other transfer who can fill it up. That means Tertsea or Thompson or both need to go.

You can only go so far without outside shooting these days.....

[TruePoint]

Sounds like those are personal demons only YOU can overcome. A loss is a loss is a loss in my book. Yeah, this was bad, but UMASS played a solid game, and we played motivated offensively....defensively, not so much. It. Fucking. Happens.

Demons? What are we talking about?

You said YOU couldn’t wrap your head around. That’s a Personal demon if you can’t shake it. Maybe demon is the wrong word...but you get my point.

I don’t, actually. I have no idea what your point is. Why don’t you go yell at the people hammering the coach rather than arguing with me about seemingly nothing.

[Rhody83]

[rambone 78]

I don't put much blame on Cox for today.

He is showing that he can make some nice second half offensive adjustments both today and in the VCU game.

Just that the defense gave it back in the 2nd half against UMass. Last time I checked DC can't play defense out there...…that was on the players.

He can ride the wild pony all he wants, but the guys have to give the effort no matter what he does.

[TruePoint]

After just about every loss I am pretty insistent on keeping perspective, and that has been even easier this year than most. But it seems like every year we have a game that I just can’t get my head around. Fordham two years ago, St Joe last year. This year it is UMass. I don’t think people here have a good appreciation for just how bad that UMass team is. The whole program is a dumpster fire. Calling it their Super Bowl isn’t helpful...they do not have the firepower to make our inability to stop them on critical possession after critical possession due to anything but our lack of engagement in that effort. That I can’t abide.

Sounds like those are personal demons only YOU can overcome. A loss is a loss is a loss in my book. Yeah, this was bad, but UMASS played a solid game, and we played motivated offensively....defensively, not so much. It. Fucking. Happens.

A loss is just a loss this year because it doesn’t mean a thing for their tournament chances if they win 10 in a row or lose 10 in a row. If a team like St. Bonaventure lost a game like this last year in February they would have been on the other side of the bubble. They were played with great effort against VCU and it was a game that built to the future, but we just can’t shoot. How is that going to change? Martin is the only guy I see improving to the point of making a difference next year in terms of outside shooting.

You’re falling victim to the moment if you think that a team that returns all players getting minutes and plays freshmen 60+ minutes per game isn’t going to be better next year. It would be one thing if this team were 4-14 or something, in which case I wouldn’t be enthusiastic about what we are building. But this team is, today aside, pretty damn competitive for where they are in the rebuild cycle.

They probably won’t ever be one of the best perimeter shooting teams in the country, but there are lots of ways to be a good team. I don’t think they are far away from being a good team THIS YEAR, but their youth and inexperience make it hard for them to string together long stretches where they are playing to their potential even within individual games, never mind for stretches of games in a row. That is something that veteran teams tend to do. This shouldn’t be a mystery to fans of this program because we literally just went thru this cycle all the way to completion.

I am pissed about the effort today, but it’s not because now I suddenly think this is a talentless team. It’s actually for the exact opposite reason. Sometimes you’re going to struggle even when you are engaged, but if you show up to the game seemingly disinterested you give yourself no chance. And that’s what URI had today, and i find that infuriating as a fan.

[Rhody83]

Koch article:

The Rams managed just six points over the next 12:11, and a 17-0 UMass run put the visitors into a 31-18 hole. Rashaan Holloway's hook from the left block capped the burst, and URI looked in deep trouble.

The Rams piled up more turnovers (10) than field goals (9) in the opening 20 minutes, profligacy that ultimately set the tone for the rest of a disappointing outing.

[DC_Rams]

Demons? What are we talking about?

You said YOU couldn’t wrap your head around. That’s a Personal demon if you can’t shake it. Maybe demon is the wrong word...but you get my point.

I don’t, actually. I have no idea what your point is. Why don’t you go yell at the people hammering the coach rather than arguing with me about seemingly nothing.

TP, get out of your feelings dude. I wasn’t even arguing with you, your whole post was about not being able to get past us losing to UMASS....because it’s UMASS. it wasn’t a knock or a slight....geezus.

[rambone 78]

TP, Cox has to ride them without letup, and even then that might not be enough at this point.

But it's not just about youth and inexperience....what's CT's problem? He doesn't have that excuse, and frankly no one else on the team has an excuse either.

It's a team effort win or lose. Some are playing hard on both ends, but others are not.

If Cox sits guys due to lack of defensive effort, who's left? Some players have that inner desire to play 100% at all times, and some do not...do we have a few that just play hard when they feel like it?