KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Are those Heart Over Hype shirts standard issue by Adidas? I remember Nebraska wearing them last season and look at how that worked out. I think either way just to be safe they should be burned and we should find a new shirt.

Yes. Wisconsin and Louisville have worn them as well.

Now that we know Iverson is eligible, is the starting 5 penciled in?

Would certainly have to imagine so. I don't see how anybody else is going to crack that 5.

Height of our potential starting 5 below, assuming Iverson starts....while we dont have a center we dont have a small team either. I am hopeful that we can finally dictate tempo and the way we want the game to be played, and teams have to worry about matching up with us versus the other way around.

6'0
6'3
6'5
6'9
6'7

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that line up would be made up of 3 Four star recruits and 2 Three star recruits. Man, how times have changed...

If only Iffy and Berry can become serviceable low post defenders, competent scorers and rebounders, thereby allowing more flexibility to use Iverson and Martin away from the basket.......

Iverson will play away from the basket, that is his game. But before Hassan is pushed away fr the basket shouldn't he show the ability to put the ball on the floor and hit a consistent 15 footer? Even if we had a seven footer that wouldn't help Hassan's ability to dribble, pass and shoot which all are pretty critical for a guy to play outside the paint.

of all players, I am most excited about seeing how Jarvis transitions from freshman to sophomore. He was really feeling it towards the end of the season. If he continues on his path, and becomes a great pg, we are gonna have a fun year.

Anyone else just get an email asking to donate to be entered to win certain prizes for this upcoming year?

Also, who knows how much we have to donate in order to be entered to win? I'd assume it's $100 minimum, but anyone know for sure?

theblueram wrote:of all players, I am most excited about seeing how Jarvis transitions from freshman to sophomore. He was really feeling it towards the end of the season. If he continues on his path, and becomes a great pg, we are gonna have a fun year.

I agree with this blueram, would put Jared Terrell in same camp...that kid oozes potential, if he gets more consistency in his jump shot and learns to finish at the rim better he is going to be very hard to guard. We should easily have 4 if not 5 guys averaging in double figures.

I think people will be pleasantly surprised with Four a little this year as well. Not saying he is going to come out and score 20 all that often, but he'll bring a totally different dimension off the bench from what our starting guards have to offer.

Oh yeah, and Jared and Jarvis are going to be on another level this year. Totally agree with you guys there.

adam914 wrote:I think people will be pleasantly surprised with Four a little this year as well. Not saying he is going to come out and score 20 all that often, but he'll bring a totally different dimension off the bench from what our starting guards have to offer.

Oh yeah, and Jared and Jarvis are going to be on another level this year. Totally agree with you guys there.

can easily see Four being a microwave

It would also be great for us if EC is healthy and starts to actually look something like an NBA player.
If that happens and everyone else improves we will kick some serious ass. But ya know, they gotta gel as a team first. I say if we could get our offense going and average at least somewhere around 75 points per game, and continue playing top notch defense, we will rape and pillage the A-10.

I would be happy with 70-72 a game after the last couple of years.

75 points per game would be a top 25 scoring offense in the country. I get your overall point, but I don't know if we ever get to 75. Unless the rule changes have a huge effect.

Yeah it probably would be top 25. It would've last year, but not two years ago. Just looked at the top 40 scoring teams from the last 8 or so years on ESPN and not too long ago you'd need to score about 77 per game to be in the top 25 in scoring.
I do kinda feel like if we averaged that many points we'd be sacrificing some D along the way and I don't know how Hurley would feel about that.

We probably won't be able to do much worse on O.
There just hasn't been any flow to it

I am hearing from a great source that Four can really shoot it.

This could be the year.

theblueram wrote:This could be the year.

The Year of the Ram…...

Very exciting to read an informed discussion about what to expect from Iverson, since I have never seenhim except
in high School tapes. 10-12 points a game would fill Biruta's points. If they can score at least in the low seventies
they should win most games.

Skill-wise, we are way up there and based on that alone we should beat the lower two-thirds to three-quarters of teams in DI. What I want to see this season and what will take us to the tourney and beyond is smarter situational basketball. Some are weaknesses of the current players, but these are also attributes the coaching staff and holdovers need to instill in the newcomers. These include:

- Guards anticipating the shot clock getting low and making the extra passes for an open shot, rather than dribbling 30 feet away between seconds 8 to 1 then jacking up a long three.
- Committing our fouls in an aggressive fashion due to pressing the point guard or contesting an otherwise easy shot, and not committing so many reach in fouls like we did last year.
- We did a good job making the opposition take contested perimeter shots, however the guys need to tighten up their boxing out the guards on those long rebounds. Our interior rebounding seemed to be impeccable, but when the opposition put up bricks the body position and footwork of our guards/forwards positioned on the perimeter seemed to be lacking at times.
- Mix up the offense. Instead of building the offense from EC or the point guard inward 100% of the time (and get him gassed out as we saw last season), decrease the predictability and instead run the offense a large portion of the time from Hassan outward. Get Hassan the ball early in the shot clock and let him either operate one on one with a post move, or let the opposition double team then swing the ball to an open player. Then once this becomes predictable and he is being guarded tight, give Hassan the ball up high and let him find a guard driving to the open slashing lanes.

Just my two cents from the armchair.

I am aligned with most of that except the notion of running our offense through Hassan. Hassan has not proven to be an effective passer nor shown the ability to consistently hit a 10-15 footer. He is not Halil Kanacevic (from St Joe's) or the type of PF that has shown exceptional ball skills to run the offense through. Thats a good notion on a message board, and may sound good in theory, but that is asking a lot based on zero evidence that he can handle that role.

Bigappleram I agree with you not sure Hassan is the guy. Iverson on the other hand seems to be the perfect guy to be able to run offense through. Especially in the high post, he height and wingspan alone make him capable of better passing angles than most. Supposedly he was the best passer on the team last year in practice. Certainly excited to see how he is used this season!

As I speculated earlier Iverson will be super effective for us against a zone. He will take TJ's spot on the free throw line and will do a much better (not that TJ was not effective) job due to his length and versatility. I think his ability to pass or shoot from there will really help our offense. I expect us to lead the league in team blocked shots and break the school record if anyone keeps those stats.

I agree that Iverson's skill set would seem to make him the ideal zone killer from the FT line position. Knock down the foul shot, drive to the rim/drop it down to Hassan or kick out to an open shooter. I really hope we have some Lob plays in our playbook this year, versus just those that come in the flow of action.

Love it!

Lob plays and back door cuts also..................

I guess what I was projecting for Hassan was more of a development track to diversify our team and make him a more well-rounded player, not that he handles the ball in important situations from day one. With ARD on board and his development to this point, I think there is definitely room to stretch Hassan's game. As long as he can keep the baseline established in terms of defense and rebounding.

The idea that Martin's game can be stretched out has been talked about since before he even arrived on campus. As much as I love Hassan (and believe he's capable of more offensively), I don't want the offense running through him. However, can he be more aggressive and take that 10-12 foot shot? Sure.

I really think that there are enough scoring threats on this team that one guy primarily doing all the work does a disservice to everyone else. EC (obviously), Terrell, Garrett can all hit 10+ on any given night. Hass gets his 10 without any designed plays. If Iverson is as good as advertised, then he should bring a dimension we haven't had in ages.

ace wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KSiyaqnZYs

Well, as long as they can rebound…..

It's called rationalizing, because they didn't recruit a big..
Ask Hurley if he'd take Tristan Thompson on this team.
Let me know if he says, "No!".
Koch reminds me of the Boston writers parroting
the Sox front office, "They don't need an ace." mantra.
Oh, they need one. They just didn't get one.

rodfromcranston wrote:It's called rationalizing, because they didn't recruit a big..
Ask Hurley if he'd take Tristan Thompson on this team.
Let me know if he says, "No!".
Koch reminds me of the Boston writers parroting
the Sox front office, "They don't need an ace." mantra.
Oh, they need one. They just didn't get one.

100% agree, we'll play small with Hassan at the 5 out of necessity, not because we had a grand plan to do so

I'm sure they are still out there trying to recruits bigs, too.

Maybe not true 5's, but PF's for sure. Would really like for us to land Tyrique Jones.

More guys like Hassan, maybe an inch or 2 taller would be ideal.

I like how Koch mentioned GS's game plan last night.
Guaranteed if they lost, he wouldn't have.
They also had series where they gave Cleveland three and four shots
at the basket.
I am rooting for the Warriors, because I've always liked Curry and can't
stomach Lebran's drama show.

Whether it's rationalizing it or not is a moot point, ask Steve Kerr if he would take Dwight Howard on his team and I am sure he would have the same answer. Doesn't diminish the fact that teams at all levels are evolving with a more perimeter based game, even "big men" who largely float 10-15 feet from the basket. The true big man is almost a dinosaur with very few teams having true Centers. No one would ever argue the fact that they would love a 4 star guy 6'10 or taller on this team. The debate is whether you can win big without it, I think there is plenty of proof that you can.

Positional flexibility, which leads to the ability to switch on nearly all pick and roll situations) is a key component of the tough on-ball defense that we played so effectively last year. We'll be even better this year. Our interior players may be undersized, but we will have size advantages at the guard spot.

Floor spacing in the half-court offense will be much improved, given the improvement overall on the team related to shooting.

Koch's point was that undersized starting lineups can still win big, even when the opponent is starting Timofey Mozgov (7'1"), Tristan Thompson (6'10"), and Lebron James (6'8"). I realize that Jarvis isn't Steph Curry, EC isn't Klay Thompson, and Jared isn't Andre Iguodala, but then neither will our opponents be as good as the frontcourt mentioned above.

I wish we had a serviceable player who was 6'10". We all do. But we don't. We can still win big.

Just don't tell that to Duke, Kentucky, Wisconsin, or Gonzaga.
URI can compete in the smallish A-10, as currently
constituted.
I highly doubt they can do much damage in the NCAAs,
unless they run into teams that don't pound it inside.
As for the NBA, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler,
and Howard are traditional centers. Who wouldn't want Anthony Davis,
or Noel Nerlens?
They'll be joined by Okafor and Towes next season.
By the way, a traditional Euro center for the Cavs, drove GS crazy and was
nearly unstoppable with their small lineup.

rodfromcranston wrote:Just don't tell that to Duke, Kentucky, Wisconsin, or Gonzaga.

You always mention those teams. We will never be those teams. It does nothing to help your argument. This doesn't mean I'm not thinking big (pun recognized but not intended). I don't think its unreasonable to expect that we can bring in a useful 6'10" player every 2-ish recruiting cycles. Hurley hasn't done that yet. I agree with you - would've loved to see Silva, Enoch, or Aflakpui on the roster for next year. I hope we get some during the 2016 cycle. But we're never going to be able to recruit blue-chip front courts like the schools you mentioned, so I'm not sure what the point is in even making that argument.

rodfromcranston wrote:I highly doubt they can do much damage in the NCAAs,
unless they run into teams that don't pound it inside.

Respectfully disagree. Any teams that have an advantage in the post, we will have just as big of an advantage on the perimeter, and as you and others always say, good guard play is what wins in college basketball.

rodfromcranston wrote: As for the NBA, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler,
and Howard are traditional centers. Who wouldn't want Anthony Davis,
or Noel Nerlens?
They'll be joined by Okafor and Towes next season.
By the way, a traditional Euro center for the Cavs, drove GS crazy and was
nearly unstoppable with their small lineup.

Yep, there are some traditional centers in the NBA. No argument. Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel are about as far from traditional post players as you will find in the NBA. Towns has much more ability as a "stretch" post player than Okafor, which is why he has overtaken him as the consensus #1. And as far as Mozgov driving GS crazy, yes, he had 28 pts/10 rebs, but was still a -5 while he was on the court, and GS won by 21 due to how much they shredded the Cavs on the perimeter. I think they're okay with that trade-off.

rodfromcranston wrote:Just don't tell that to Duke, Kentucky, Wisconsin, or Gonzaga.
URI can compete in the smallish A-10, as currently
constituted.
I highly doubt they can do much damage in the NCAAs,
unless they run into teams that don't pound it inside.
As for the NBA, DeAndre Jordan, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler,
and Howard are traditional centers. Who wouldn't want Anthony Davis,
or Noel Nerlens?

Just a thought---- Jordan, Gasol, Chandler and Howard spent a combined 1 year in college and combined to score an average of 7.9 ppg in college. Throw Noel and Davis in the mix and you still have less then 100 combined games played in college amongst the 6 examples you mentioned. ..

All I'm saying is you don't necessarily need an elite big man to have a great team. While they may be essential for a national championship, would you prefer Coach Hurley spend an excessive amount of time on a big man we can't get, or ruin his program for a chance to sign one. Didn't Keno/PC do extreme damage by hiring a snake oil salesman as an assistant coach in the hopes of getting Nerlens Noel? I'd prefer Coach Hurley hire someone he trusts to teach and recruit like ARD then bring in someone like Driscoll on the hope and prayer we sign a big man who would spend less then a year on campus.
As Hurley builds our brand, I have to imagine you will see us involved with some top level post players.

All this big-man talk aside, isn't it a fun situation to be in?

Summer of 2015: "Shit, how are we going to beat Maryland?"

Summer of 2012: "Shit, how are we going to beat UMass?"

Nice to think about how much we can accomplish this year.

It is fun, and we are in a good position to be relevant
outside of New England.
I like how everyone starts that we need a five star center and all this
over the top crapola.
Frank Kaminsky didn't start until his junior season.
In 1995 UCLA and Jim Harrick won it all with a servicable Euro at center.
You don't need a stud, but someone who can present some interior threat offensively,
rebound, make the outlet pass, and clog the middle on defense.
Not an impossible reach.
Nobody is asking Hurley to cheat or hire somebody's coach to get a one and done
player.
Just asking him to do what so many other schools have done.
Bring in someone in the middle over 6'7" ,who can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Like Mike Moten?

I just want post presence and Martin to be able to play the 4 and not the 5 out of necessity, sure the 5 in spurts as a match-up/line-up maneuver, when DH brought the guy in he commented that he envisioned Martin able to play the 3 in so many words, now he's going to be our main 5? If that was the plan all along then Martin got lied to and that I just don't believe. In my world DH is realizing the importance of having a career post guy as your post guy coach, and don't go telling me about other 'bigs' coaches that were undersized, those are outliers. Imo,The coach working with the post guys has to be able to identify with athletes from experience. Lets see how things shape up going forward.

When I talked to Dan after Hassan signed, he told me,
"He reminds me of Treveon Graham at VCU. He's going to
be a matchup nightmare." Exact words/
So, Dan, at the time felt Hassan was a perimeter player at least
part of the time.
I think Martin remained at the 5, because simply, there has been nobody else
during his time here.
Kind of a shame, because he will never get a chance to expand his game, because
his role is so limited on offense. Also, he's never had to guard guys
away from the basket, so his game suffers from that, in looking at the next level.

Rod, I like your new signature!