KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Difference between a month ago and now:

Last month if we were in a close game, but leading, I'd tell my son 'don't worry we'll find a way to lose'

The past two games felt different.

Last night one of the announcers said that Davidson had the game well in hand when they were only up SIX. I started yelling at the TV, and my son said 'well Dad I know it's only six but it feels like the Rams won't win'. I said URI will win by EIGHT! (half out of anger over everyone writing them off, half from actually believing it) and of course they won easily.

I think the reason this board is lighting up is that it isn't just the wins, it FEELS different. Of course we are still one bad loss from losing all faith lol but still...

Other changes, some due to DH, some player personnel, who knows or cares, just that they are here.....
Weave is basically gone on offense
Passing around the perimeter looking for a possible opening is greatly diminished
More penetration in the lane and sighing back out for open shots - sometimes with multiple quick passes to the most open guy
Rebounding inside from KI has been much improved
Offensive Rebounders passing outside for open shots
DH playing guys strategic minutes in 1st half after they pick up their 2nd foul - in past 2nd foul was automatic, permanent bench in 1st half
Steals have picked up - Dowtin picked Gibbs' pocket and went in for layup (how many times has that ever happened to Gibbs?), Robinson also has a steal and went for 2 on a breakaway - two easy buckets
Better boxing out, better rebounding, less reliance on blocking shots, better rebounding fundamentals
Less one on one play, more sharing of the ball
More driving to the hoop
Reduced 3 point shooting

DH had commented 6 games ago that they were going to drive to the hoop more, that we were shooting too many 3's. Has worked.

rambone 78 wrote:208, now you and your son are now required to go to all of our remaining road games.......

Totally down with that

ramster wrote: DH had commented 6 games ago that they were going to to the hoop more, that we were shooting too many 3's. Has worked.

I agree with half that strategy. I agree that passing it around the perimeter for a 3 is not a good strategy. But we should have the mindset of looking to shoot more 3s and it's going to the hoop and throwing it inside that opens up the good 3s. And even when we miss, shooting 3s when the defense is trying to rotate leads to offensive rebounds. Much better than trying to force up tough contested shots near the rim.

rhodyrudder wrote:Davidson made us wear the white unis, so we played like it was a home game

Rudder's KEY TO THE GAME! Brought to you by Del's Frozen Lemonade, a Rhode Island Delicacy since 1948!

so we agree things FEEL different over the last few games, and from the sounds of things most of us agree things FEEL better, therefor I submit that those of us who were willing to admit things were a little off are not the fans that need to eat crow. This is the kind of activity from this team that we were all hoping for, waiting for with baited breath. I wanted us to stay in the top 25 all season for all the reasons I expressed, but as I've also said if we finish up strong, take our battle scars, turn them into strengths and make our deep run I'll be just as pleased! Right the ship, put your strategic coaching prowess on display, make a nice run leading up to and in the post season and 'boom' the word "proven" becomes part of the KeaneyBlue lexicon. Great, great win last night for so many reasons, road game, a foe that has had our number, game won because of excellent awareness by players and coaches!! Awesome stuff! (I'll eat crow on one thing, I over-reacted saying I wouldn't go to another game until senior day, they sucked me back in lol)

RR got a seat on the bus for u....

Saving one for rambone78 too!

Ha ha ha!!!!

Let the bus of good times roll!!

Speaking of player development,
Langevne in the last 3 games has a total of
2 points and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
We lose Hass and Iverson for next year.
There's a need for developing front court players.
Langevine has digressed quite a bit since earlier
in the season.

rodfromcranston wrote:Speaking of player development,
Langevne in the last 3 games has a total of
2 points and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
We lose Hass and Iverson for next year.
There's a need for developing front court players.
Langevine has digressed quite a bit since earlier
in the season.

True. I hold out hope Tertsea can contribute next year. Finally have some height!

The past few teams we played have had front court players that play away from the basket. Could have something to do with Langevine's statistics.

The answer for next year has to be a combination of the 3 front court guys we have coming back getting better and a juco/5th year guy coming in at starter quality.

rodfromcranston wrote:Speaking of player development,
Langevne in the last 3 games has a total of
2 points and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
We lose Hass and Iverson for next year.
There's a need for developing front court players.
Langevine has digressed quite a bit since earlier
in the season.

not too worried about Langevine. Dont forget that coincides with both Hass playing like a beast (minus last night) and Iverson stepping up and staying out of foul trouble.

Im ok with his minutes reducing when Iverson is playing as good as he is.

Plus there's enough tape on him now that teams know Langevine more and can work around him.

rodfromcranston wrote:Speaking of player development,
Langevne in the last 3 games has a total of
2 points and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
We lose Hass and Iverson for next year.
There's a need for developing front court players.
Langevine has digressed quite a bit since earlier
in the season.

Yep. Agree Rod.

Problem is he has demonstrated that under pressure he has a hard time catching the ball.

Akele has turned into a more reliable sub ( kinda a 3/4 as good as iverson) CL would be helpful to spell Martin a bit more but I think the staff has lost confidence in his abil to contribute in our new 1/2 court sets especially in the low post.

Would be nice is to get a hefty lead Tuesday night and get him a lot of touches to build some skills under pressure.

I just think he was too much of a liability to run him out there last night.

How u feeling btw Rod?

......let's face it, we will need significant development of CL, and the others are total unknowns to us, maybe the coaches see where they can contribute next year, but they all will have to have some strong impact next year....

I STILL CANT BELIEVE A DAN HURLEY COACHED URI BASKETBALL TEAM WON THAT GAME.

I didn't breath from the first Jeff Dowtin floater to the last several clunked free throw shots.

hrstrat57 , thanks for asking.
Still need to sit down when walking more than 15 feet or
so. Feel like a dishrag.
Mornings are hell, but it gets better as the day goes on.
Surgeon said,"Look, you almost died, and all this is normal."
Got the staples out, but will need to be cat-scanned periodically
for the rest of my life.
Whenever I feel bad about things, I think back to
some of the people who were in the Critical Care Unit with me,
who had a lot worse things than I did.
Perspective!

I mean Cyril for the most part has only been able to dominate the boards.
Very seldom has he done much offensively.
To me he's just doing the same stuff he's been doing, just way less minutes.
Yet, he may be playing a little less aggressively.


Keep that good perspective on things Rod!

URI2006_Andy wrote:

ramster wrote: DH had commented 6 games ago that they were going to to the hoop more, that we were shooting too many 3's. Has worked.

I agree with half that strategy. I agree that passing it around the perimeter for a 3 is not a good strategy. But we should have the mindset of looking to shoot more 3s and it's going to the hoop and throwing it inside that opens up the good 3s. And even when we miss, shooting 3s when the defense is trying to rotate leads to offensive rebounds. Much better than trying to force up tough contested shots near the rim.

Agree. After the LaSalle game (loss) Dan said they looked at the stats and saw an imbalance. Not to eliminate 3's but there were too many. He said this a few times on his show and on post game shows. He said they wanted more driving to the hoop. They have reduced by 8.0 attempts per game last 6 games vs previous 6.

3 point attempts:
Previous 6 Games 11-16: 17,24,20,30,21,31= 143 = average of 23.8
Last 6 Games 17-22: 12,13,19,20,14,17 (and we have won 5 of these 6) = 95 = average of 15.8

So with how well Hassan and Kuran have been playing lately, you want to just throw Langevine in there for one of them? Sorry but that is absolutely ridiculous.

He played so much earlier in the year due to injuries / foul trouble.

Develop him in the offseason.

Cyril got the benefit of playing time because of injuries to Martin and Iverson, no different than Dowtin showing what he can do now. Benefit to having talent on the bench when injuries occur, has not been the case for the most part since the Harrick years.

Martin missed completely 5 Games: ODU, @ Houston, Holy Cross, William & Mary and @ Saint Louis plus limited minutes upon return
Iverson has had some limitations due to injury but has played in every game
Both Martin and Iverson have experienced Foul Trouble from time to time, but seem to be doing better at reducing fouls

So Langevine got big minutes once Martin went out as he started all 5 games but had only played 6,4 and 5 minutes in the 3 previous games to the injury

I agree with the comments about other teams scouting him. You can see players swiping at the ball as soon as he gets it whether from pass or rebound. He has gotten some valuable experience and is a good guy off the bench to spell Martin and Iverson

FWIW I hear good things about Tertsea and Layssard

rodfromcranston wrote:Speaking of player development,
Langevne in the last 3 games has a total of
2 points and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
We lose Hass and Iverson for next year.
There's a need for developing front court players.
Langevine has digressed quite a bit since earlier
in the season.

I think Langevine will be fine. When he was given the opportunity to play extended minutes he delivered above expectations. It's understandable that in a reduced role his production has slipped. I know people assume that if you average, say, 10/8 in 20 minutes that in 10 minutes you'll get 5/4, but my observation is that it doesn't always work that way. And it goes the other way, too - the same guy probably won't give you 20/16 in 40 minutes.

I think with an established role, Langevine will be good. I don't know if he'll ever be a plus offensive player but he can make a career out of dunking put backs and getting the occasional lob or dish off penetration. He doesn't need to have an Olajuwon post game to be a good A10 big. You never know, though. He also wouldn't be the first big guy to come in unpolished and turn into a decent offensive player if thats the way it turns out.

Ever hear of ROTATION?
Martin and Iverson don't play
every minute of every game.
Amazing lack of logic.
If Langevine was good enough to log major minutes when
Hassan was hurt, then he should be able to contribute
off the bench, more than 2 points and 3 rebounds in 3 games..
You develop nothing by not playing.
Period.
The bench production last night was almost non existant.
As for Laysard, we heard about how he was such a stud
after recruiting him.
I think you can find his picture on a milk carton, now.

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Nice to meet/hang out with Rhodyrudder...great game, great trip...and we somehow end up on the team flight home....great finish!

208,
How was the flight back? Were all the players and coaches visibly happy? Looking forward to the next game? Any superbowl talk?

Let's not forget we won a BIG game. I don't think this is the time to worry about who is not getting enough minutes. This may be the time to shorten minutes for a few guys. Let's leave that up to the coach as we enter the stretch drive. This is not the time to worry about getting guys ready for next year.

rodfromcranston wrote:Ever hear of ROTATION?
Martin and Iverson don't play
every minute of every game.
Amazing lack of logic.
If Langevine was good enough to log major minutes when
Hassan was hurt, then he should be able to contribute
off the bench, more than 2 points and 3 rebounds in 3 games..
You develop nothing by not playing.
Period.
The bench production last night was almost non existant.
As for Laysard, we heard about how he was such a stud
after recruiting him.
I think you can find his picture on a milk carton, now.

False, period.

Freshman develop in practice. Especially on deeper teams.

The best role for Langevine is getting spot minutes to give Hass and Iverson a spell. He has been good for a freshman, but let's be honest he is extremely 1 sided. His offense is non existent and needs developing off the court with ARD. The name of the game is winning. You do that by playing your best players, end of story.

Also, if he had Langevine out there when down last night in the interest of getting him minutes, you'd be the 1st one bitching

I've been wanting to see our bigs on the bench develop.
I've said it since the beginning of the season.
Practice? Oneykaba killed it in practices. So what?
I've seen guys in practice look like world beaters and
do nothing in games.
So, they beat a couple of mediocre teams since Richmond
and now the starters are the 1972 UCLA Bruins?
We got SIX whole points from our bench last night.
12 points in each of the two games before.
Does anyone think that's a formula for the rest of the season?

I assume those bench scoring numbers will improve when Jarvis comes back

Who the fuck cares what "formula" is needed to win games.

Dayton won with six guys and no bench, I couldn't care less who develops this season, as long as we win.

The best players play.

Hurley talked about the depth the team has this season
and his will to use his roster to wear down opponents.
What happened?
Was it hype? Did he overestimate how good his reserves were?
Some coaches prefer to play 7 players.
Villanova for instance.
If that's the case, fine.
It was just never expressed by Dan Hurley to do so.

ramster wrote:

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Nice to meet/hang out with Rhodyrudder...great game, great trip...and we somehow end up on the team flight home....great finish!

208,
How was the flight back? Were all the players and coaches visibly happy? Looking forward to the next game? Any superbowl talk?

Everyone was (understandably) in a good mood. Folks associated with the team were great - when they saw our Rhody gear they (Thorr, Dan, Steve, Don and some others) thanked us for the support and making the trip and then did the same again when we got to TF Green. Flight was at 7:55AM, so it was pretty quiet...as you can imagine, have to roll out of bed pretty early for that. Not a very full flight at all...the team and maybe a dozen/couple dozen other people...lots of room to stretch out and quiet a bit of 'resting' happening. Except, I think Dan spent the whole flight watching the game again on an iPad (or something like it).

So do we want to win the big games this year or not? We are too close to work for next year. We only have a few more games of Hass.

Thinking every win makes the next game even bigger...keep on building on...

WHY is there not a bus to UMass???

rodfromcranston wrote:Hurley talked about the depth the team has this season
and his will to use his roster to wear down opponents.
What happened?
Was it hype? Did he overestimate how good his reserves were?
Some coaches prefer to play 7 players.
Villanova for instance.
If that's the case, fine.
It was just never expressed by Dan Hurley to do so.

I think Hurley is changing his mind about a lot of things with this group and this entire situation around this particular group of players will remain fluid. It looks to me like part of that is shortening his rotation.

I need this group to win now. Unless we got the JUCO pipeline wide open or Fats Russell is the next Calvin Murphy my expectations for next year will be lower.

Maybe some one will ask him at the next coaches show or in the media if he is shortening the rotation.....

My 16/17 priority is win. With shifting EC off handling the ball and getting him shots off screens and moving Terrell to a pure dribble drive attacker coupled with moving Iverson from low block to predominantly high block has injected a lot of firepower into our offense. Dowtin fits in nicely with that and is great at calling for picks. Martin has plenty of room to operate and we now have multiple looks with multiple plays it appears in each set. The defense shifted constantly last night with help schemes. Slapping on what appears to be at least two different presses is a huge addition as well. Akele flourishes in that role.

If this continues I can see us winning out, tho VCU is a huge obstacle.

Which means 15-3 and solid at large.

Jarreau can of course knock our little bus off course singlehandedly Tuesday night.

Things are sure a lot more fun than blowing games to pc and Valpo in December. Right now this Ram team is very dangerous.

Go Rhody!

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Thinking every win makes the next game even bigger...keep on building on...

WHY is there not a bus to UMass???

There was...got an email that they canceled it today. No explanation why..

Rhody Dude wrote:

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Thinking every win makes the next game even bigger...keep on building on...

WHY is there not a bus to UMass???

There was...got an email that they canceled it today. No explanation why..

What the heck...was it a secret bus that got canceled because not enough people signed up?
Have season tix and had no idea...that suxx...

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:

Rhody Dude wrote:

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Thinking every win makes the next game even bigger...keep on building on...

WHY is there not a bus to UMass???

There was...got an email that they canceled it today. No explanation why..

What the heck...was it a secret bus that got canceled because not enough people signed up?
Have season tix and had no idea...that suxx...

It was originally for ruckus members but if they didn't get enough people to sign up, I have no idea why they didn't open it up to season ticket holders. It was only $10 for the tickets and free transportation...

Dang it...would have paid that several times over just to not have to drive two+ hours....

Maybe it got canceled due to weather. It's supposed to be worse up in the Amherst area Tuesday night

But we are exhibiting depth - Thomson, Robinson, Akele all get meaningful minutes every night. That's 8 guys, plus a 9th bench player who is now our starting PG out of necessity. So we are going 8 or 9 deep not sure there is an indication Dan is shortening the bench. I want Hassan and KI out there as much as possible right now, outside of foul trouble or being gassed.

I'm just happy they won and have won a couple games. They deserve to build up to this week. Play a rival and then play in front of a packed house. That is exciting for the kids. Biggest home match up so far this year? Am I wrong? Cant wait to watch Umass. Hope that sets up a big Friday.

Umass will be no walk in the park. Although I thought Dowtin outplayed Jarreau last time so that is something to watch.

Iverson didn't rebound like this all year. His defense is 12X better than it was 6 weeks ago and he is back to rebounding like he did last year.

The team is starting to have roles and specific go-to actions. I say build on it.

I would like to know exactly what is up with Jarvis Garret. If he was unhealthy most of the year then it obviously effected his defense. He ordinarily has been in ppl's shirt over the past 2 years. If we get a healthy Jarvis our defense becomes impossibly tough to deal with as a guard.

Missed every single second of this game because of my own obligations Norman Dale-ing my way through youth basketball this weekend. Maybe I should never watch! Great, great win. Tip of the cap to the players and staff. Thought this one was trouble, for sure.

It's available to virtually everyone here, assuming you have ESPN in your TV subscription. Just go to watchespn.com and search for the replay.

ATPTourFan wrote:It's available to virtually everyone here, assuming you have ESPN in your TV subscription. Just go to watchespn.com and search for the replay.

Definitely going to watch it. I looked on my phone when I had a second and saw it went from -7 to +5 or something pretty quickly. Looking forward to it.

Gonebarongone wrote:

ATPTourFan wrote:It's available to virtually everyone here, assuming you have ESPN in your TV subscription. Just go to watchespn.com and search for the replay.

Definitely going to watch it. I looked on my phone when I had a second and saw it went from -7 to +5 or something pretty quickly. Looking forward to it.

Its also on YouTube right here

ramster wrote:

PlayMikeMotenMore wrote:A pat on the back to URI for tonight's win. I turned on the game at start of 2nd half...watched team stand around...turn it over and miss jump shots...and watch Davidson run the court for dunks.

To see the team turn up the D...take and make good shots (EC took a bad one) and pull away ON THE ROAD...not what I expected. Job well done.

By the way, President Donald J. Trump has announced plans for building his security wall. "I am sending this URI basketball team to the US-Mexico border," Trump said. "They are tremendously bad at shooting free throws. With the bricks they are laying, that wall will be built in no time and at no cost to the taxpayers. It will be the best wall ever, believe me."

When asked if he still expected Mexico to ultimately pay for the wall, Trump stated "I never said Mexico will pay for the wall. The rigged media has it wrong."

Why can't you just leave it as a pat on the back? All the red is negativity that is not even necessary to say. A few positive words but really, this is one of the top wins in the Hurley era and you have 90% negatively in your positive post. Carry on.

Negativity?
First of all, I'm positive Trump is contacting URI. He's making America great again and this is how he's going to do it. URI's free throw brick-laying will build the wall. (I would be negative if URI went 18-for-20 on FT's and I complained about the 2 misses. )
Secondly, just because they won the game doesn't mean I can't offer OBSERVATIONS of the game. Are my observations not accurate of the beginning of the 2nd half? Should we ignore and pretend it didn't happen?
Thirdly, just because they won doesn't mean it was a perfect game. I said in my post "job well done."
Fourthly, where did you come up with the number 90% of my post is negative? My first paragraph referred to the first 4 minutes of the 2nd half. My second paragraph commented on improved, taking/making good shots, pulling away on the road, and "job well done."

Man, your 5th grade math teacher would be very disappointed in how you calculated 90%. Fuzzy math...

"I didn't bother watching half the game and expected to lose"...with friends like these...

Sorry Big Apple Ram...was busy coaching my 10-year old's youth basketball team. I apologize for spending time with my family. My priorities are all messed up.

With friends like you making assumptions like that...

But there is time for you to scrub through the game online in this case.

ATPTourFan wrote:But there is time for you to scrub through the game online in this case.

Really? You know my personal schedule and all the "free" time that I have? Wow. That's amazing, how did you know that? I wish I had your super-human powers to be able to do that.

I offered my commentary on the 2nd half that I watched. I didn't know the rules that you're only allowed to post observations if you've watched every second of every game. I'm sure you've done that, right?

You seem to have plenty of time considering how often you're posting here

I guess it's time for another pissing contest......