2014-15 Schedule

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Obes, with all due respect, that last paragraph is preposterous. You cannot extract anything from Umass vs AIC or URI vs Pace that has any real value moving fwd.

MegaRamFan2 · Unread post by **MegaRamFan2** » 9 years ago

However true these claims may be, everyone is focusing on the fact that we were trailing by 25 at half. How about trying to remain positive regarding a young team who actually was +13 in the second half. I see that as a very big plus that both DH and his players were able to make adjustments at the half and turn the tide in their favor. Again, what can you really take out of a closed door scrimmage? I'm certainly not reading into it too much, but these scrimmages are used to expose weaknesses and teach both the coaches and players what they need to work on before the season tips off.

Keep calm folks, keep calm!

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

BAR is right.
The transitive theory doesn't matter in basketball, or
any other sport.
It's all about matchups, not comparative scores.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

Hey Obie, maybe we could just wait until URI and UMass play to decide who is better? Seems that might be a slightly better indicator than how the teams performed against two different mediocre D2 programs in exhibition games (yes, the Pace game is an exhibition game).

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:BAR is right.
The transitive theory doesn't matter in basketball, or
any other sport.
It's all about matchups, not comparative scores.

bigappleram wrote:Obes, with all due respect, that last paragraph is preposterous. You cannot extract anything from Umass vs AIC or URI vs Pace that has any real value moving fwd.

Iffy went for 21 and 10 against Maine. By that transitive property he was going to rule the A10 and dominate everyone in the paint.

AIC dropped 71 on UMASS. That's not a game. That's a streetball offensive showcase. If we allowed a D2 team 71 points Hurley would literally sacrifice shotgun the cow on center court he'd be so pissed.

Every exhibition game in every sport means nothing.

Syracuse lost to LeMoyne at home in an exhibition game. That was an accurate prediction for their season. Started on an awful streak of winning 13 straight, and then only won 28 games and went to the sweet 16.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

We almost never beat Umass, even when we were considerably better for a while there a few years ago. (still feeling the sting of that loss that punched us out of tourney consideration)

If this is the season where we tie together a win over PC.... blow out Brown...... beat Martelli!!!! sweep Umass... legit cruise past Fordham with no stress....

Those games would be dream come true on top of any others that would be part of it.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

I'm about to quit this thread before it forces me to set myself on fire, but I really hope everyone panics and picks 13 wins in the prediction contest based on the supposed results of this scrimmage. Setting aside the fact that scrimmages don't tell you anything real about the respective teams even if you see them with your own eyes, the same thing is happening here as happens in recruiting all the time: some guys tweets something or some poster on another board posts something and around here that suddenly turns into gospel when in actuality those are probably the two least reliable sources of information imaginable. Anybody can just say anything they want on the internet. Some of you guys give it way too much credence. Like people keep says "down by 25 at half" - I'm sorry but was there a box score in the newspaper that I haven't seen yet or did someone just say that on the internet?

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

I thought I saw somewhere that Manhattan sat in a zone, it was probably good to see a zone defense

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

From what I understand, that city wrote the book on zoning

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 9 years ago

Sorry BAR, I don't think the analogy was preposterous. It's weak point is that Pace and AIC are different teams as opposed to my comparison of the URI and UConn games versus S. Conn. I agree game conditions and match ups are different that is why you can't take one comparative score and make a definitive assessment.

S. Conn was a NCAA player last year, they were ranked in the top 5 in that Division. Pace is a different animal and they have not had a winning season in six years. I don't know about your feeling, but if we open with a weak D2 team like Pace and struggle and get an unimpressive win, I will not be a happy camper.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

twisted3829 wrote:I thought I saw somewhere that Manhattan sat in a zone, it was probably good to see a zone defense

Bill Koch @BillKoch25 · 1h 1 hour ago

Some 2-3 zone work -- offense and defense -- at #URI practice today. #Rams figure to see plenty. Certainly did against Manhattan.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Ball and player movement against the zone is going to be paramount this season.

Hopefully Garrett will be the answer for that in time. URI hasn't been good against zones in like, forever.

Never happened under Baron's watch, that's for sure, since we never had a GOOD true PG then.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:Ball and player movement against the zone is going to be paramount this season.

Hopefully Garrett will be the answer for that in time. URI hasn't been good against zones in like, forever.

Never happened under Baron's watch, that's for sure, since we never had a GOOD true PG then.

I've said it before. Garrett's passes have zip on them. They get there in a hurry. No lazy passes with him.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 9 years ago

No one played a zone against us with Jimmy Baron in the game.....

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

That's not true. We saw plenty of zone, which resulted
in passes around the perimeter and someone taking a wild shot as the
buzzer went off.
The only shooter we added was Garrett. This could be a problem.
The best way to attack a zone is to have a good passing big man sit in the top of the key.
The offense goes through him, and he distributed to open shooters
or dumps it down low, or takes his own shot from the foul line.
We have the best passing big man in the A-10, in Biruta.
Hurley used this offense against UMass in the final game, and it
worked to a large degree, in a very winnable game.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

You're right about that, Rod, hopefully Dan will use that offense more this season.

With JG, our passing should also improve. We haven't had PG's who could handle the ball with their heads up seeing the court.

Could be a game changer. EC can also do that too.

There will be games against better opponents who will force us into more of a half court game. A good half court offense hasn't been seen around these parts in a long time. We will need that at the end of close games.

That's what we will need in order to win more close games. No more dribbling around and chucking up a prayer or not even getting a shot off.

Last year everybody, including our opponents, knew either X or EC was going to have the ball at the end. More options means less predictable.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Every team has a go-to guy at the end of shot clocks or game situations. The key is that guy being a playmaker, and that doesn't mean he takes the shot every time but initiates the play and either shoots himself or creates an open shot for someone else. There is no doubt EC will be that guy and everyone will know it this year, that isn't a bad thing. Just need better decision making. I hope DH gets away from the high ball screen in those situations, a good coach will double EC in the screen and force the ball out of his hands. I would much rather see them space the court and let EC create in a one on one situation, draw attention, and either finish or find a teammate.

We do not have great perimeter shooting, so we prob will struggle against zones at times. But we should have a few slashers (EC, JT) and a good rebounding team, both of those things cause problems for zone defenses and hopefully mitigate our lack of a bunch of great perimeter shooters.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

Supposedly Butler is much improved. He could be a zone breaker.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Agree billyboy, I think he will see time if he has improved his ball handling and ability to defend his position b/c point blank he is a much better shooter than anyone on the roster. Their should be a role for that in certain games/situations.

Rhode_Island_Red · Unread post by **Rhode_Island_Red** » 9 years ago

Do we know who was playing what positions? For all anyone knows, Dan could have been using Gil and Onyekaba to bring up the ball against the press.

ram12 · Unread post by **ram12** » 9 years ago

Rhode_Island_Red wrote:Do we know who was playing what positions? For all anyone knows, Dan could have been using Gil and Onyekaba to bring up the ball against the press.

Thats just a stupid thought. I promise you Dan was not testing Gil's and Onyekaba's guard talents.

Its going to take a couple of full speed games against competition other than themselves to really mesh together as a team playing together.

Gonebarongone · Unread post by **Gonebarongone** » 9 years ago

TruePoint wrote:I'm about to quit this thread before it forces me to set myself on fire, but I really hope everyone panics and picks 13 wins in the prediction contest based on the supposed results of this scrimmage. Setting aside the fact that scrimmages don't tell you anything real about the respective teams even if you see them with your own eyes, the same thing is happening here as happens in recruiting all the time: some guys tweets something or some poster on another board posts something and around here that suddenly turns into gospel when in actuality those are probably the two least reliable sources of information imaginable. Anybody can just say anything they want on the internet. Some of you guys give it way too much credence. Like people keep says "down by 25 at half" - I'm sorry but was there a box score in the newspaper that I haven't seen yet or did someone just say that on the internet?

Every single person in the contest predicted more wins than this team produced. Fans are generally optimists but, let's face it, dying for information of any kind and willing to dissect it even if it has no meaning. What I find ironic is NO ONE would be complaining about the talk if they were up (as reported by less than Woodward and Bernstein) by 25 points over a team like Georgetown. We would be fawning over the defense and the hustle. It would be meaningless but it would cause us to engage. Because there is nothing else right now.

RAM67 · Unread post by **RAM67** » 9 years ago

There is no conclusive evidence on the score, halftime or otherwise. It was mentioned on the A10 board, and until I get the details of what actually happened, (from a reliable source), I will not be moved one way or another.

BFC · Unread post by **BFC** » 9 years ago

“I’m not going to play URI just to play them. It would have to fit into our scheduling plan,” he said. “If the choice is to play UConn for $80,000 or URI for half that, that’s not a choice. We get much more out of playing those national programs than we would out of playing URI.”

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... og-cup.ece

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Tell Tim O' Shea to get lost.
Sounds pretty bitter in his comments on URI, and not
just in this article.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Agreed Rod. He sounds like we should be the ones coming to him to play them, not the other way around.

They can play us. In Kingston. Every year. Just like PC plays Brown every year at the Dunk.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

So, let him and his smug ass keep playing those "national programs"
and getting his butt kicked for money.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

What does their gym hold? Enough for friends and family? He ha.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

And all this time we thought it was our end that was holding up this game from happening.

I cordially invite you to go fuck yourself, Timmy, your gym couldn't hold the members of this board.

Also, am I being thin-skinned if I see the "providence ended up playing No.1 ranked Kentucky, URI has a home game with Delaware State," at a thinly veiled insult going our way?

#KMacGonnaKMac

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 9 years ago

I didn't have any problem with O'Shea's comments. All he said was he'd rather play at UConn than at URI because it's a lot more money and he'd rather play at home than be the warmup game for URI at the RC.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

I don't see why playing at Bryant is so far out of the question. Their gym holds pretty much the same as Brown's, 2800 at Brown, 2600 at Bryant. Playing at Brown and Bryant should be scheduled as a first road game of the year to get the players ready to go on the road but in a situation where travel would be easier and the gym can be packed with Rhody fans.

And let's look at some of our recent games. We got bought out by Saint Mary's to travel across the country in a 3500 seat gym in 2012-13. The year before we traveled to Georgia State to play a home and home with that nothing program that no one cares about. The year before we played at Northeastern and Quinnipiac, again two programs no one cares about. This idea that we only travel to programs more elite than Bryant just isn't factual and playing Bryant would generate significantly more buzz for our program than other games we've scheduled.

Finally URI and the athletic department just seem to want to cede the entire state from Providence to Woonsocket to PC. By holding events in the Northern half of the state where most of the population resides you connect with a large alumni base, possibly gain new fans to your program and create goodwill that could help you in traditionally weak areas when it comes time for ballot initiatives. Saying you're the flagship state university and ignoring half of the state, especially one as small as RI, is a dumb idea and a recipe for the problems we've had in terms of interest in the program and desire to see the university succeed.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

It would appear it is more Bryant's choice not to play URI. It is inferred in the article that URI is willing to pay and play Bryant on its court such as PC has done with the Bulldogs. URI just can't pay the same amount that the Friars do and Bryant feels it can do better elsewhere.

As I have written elsewhere, the situation with Bryant is not the same as those with Brown and PC for URI. Rhody has been playing those teams for some 100 years. If Bryant won't come to Kingston for a single buy game, I might be willing to play them at their campus in a 2-1 deal (no money) if that is what it takes. Perhaps Bryant assistant Al Skinner can explain the merits of such a deal to O'Shea.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

RR02 - can't really argue with that. Great post.

Agreed with RF1 that the inference of Bryant not wanting to play us smacks of them either a) thinking they're somehow "above" playing URI, or b) more likely they are whores who really don't care about anything but making money and taking what they can get.

BFC · Unread post by **BFC** » 9 years ago

I was actually thinking O'Shea's comment might put an end to the board's perpetual outcry for an annual Bryant game. Obviously, I was wrong. Now, we're saying we should just bend further (or completely over) so that we may have the privelage of doing Bryant favor.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

the bryant vs brown discussion is in the location of each gym, yhey are similar in size but a game in providence is much closer to alumni than travel to smithfield

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

Yeah I care not for Bryant and whatever their reputation is. I wouldn't give them the time of day. The Brown thing or the game we play to me seems to already exist so it will continue. Kind of a "THE PRIVATE SCHOOL IN RI" versus "THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN RI."

I don't think there is some secret fan base surrounding Bryant that cares for URI that we need to tap into. I think Brown and PC give the PVD fans a shot to see a game close to them.

Totally took the PC/Kentucky thing as a way to just push URI down by mentioning them with Delaware state. I don't get the reason he would choose De. State, even just considering the fact that we haven't played them yet. The rest of the teams mentioned already played the opponents.

Ramtastico · Unread post by **Ramtastico** » 9 years ago

As a Bryant grad also(MBA) part of me wants to see this game but I know Tim and agree he is a bitter person who has a grudge for some reason for us. His attitude sucked when he was here and always had a defeatist attitude, nothing positive like Bill C and others. Playing them does nothing for us I am forced to admit.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Ramtastico sees the truth.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

Kind of explains why URI hasn't wanted to hire him back since he left.

As an aside, did you know that Bryant now costs out of state students 64K a year?

Freaking ridiculous. That's more than some Ivys.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 9 years ago

The truth is that circumstances are different from Brown to PC to URI in playing Bryant and those circumstances currently work against a URI-Bryant agreement. RR makes good point in that we have played lesser know opponents who have small sized gyms before, but with Bryant, to RF1's point, you have a local school with no long term rivalry tradition. With low BB aspirations, Brown playing at Bryant makes no difference. PC with deep pockets can avoid Smithfield by offering Bryant a big guarantee. URI situation is in-between and the only way to play Bryant is a home and home agreement like Brown.

A glance at the Bryant OOC home schedule shows that condition. When you don't have a large subscriber base, you don't have to pander to them. Bryant already has trouble drawing fans in big numbers to Chace, just look at their home OOC schedule - UNH, Yale, and Dartmouth. If URI offered such a home schedule we would scoff at it, besides how would URI make money. Bryant can do this because they make their money by playing four guarantee games and they have a undemanding fan base.

I don't see a Bryant-URI game until these conditions change. Getting new agreements with schools at the level of Nebraska may be a pipe dream, but we must use home and home to attract teams who have a higher profile and BB tradition than Bryant. Do more like Southern Miss, for example.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 9 years ago

"I cordially invite you to go fuck yourself, Timmy, your gym couldn't hold the members of this board."

LOL. Best post of the day.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Yes, but then he cancels it out by agreeing with RR2 that we should play Bryant.

In the last year of the Skinner regime, they only recruited
two freshmen both named Jefferson. One played briefly and transferred
and the other never got into school.
O'Shea told people that it was almost impossible to recruit here.
He had that great basketball mind, Mary Ann Sorrentino pushing for him to
be our head coach after Al went to BC.
He was clearly the front runner, which I was appalled at.
Thankfully, Bob Terino told Jim Harrick where Rhode Island was, and
any idea of O'She being head coach was left in the dust.
I'm pretty sure that's where the bitterness comes from.

RoadyJay · Unread post by **RoadyJay** » 9 years ago

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but...

A four-team tournament would put the PC-URI match-up at risk every year, unless the first round games were always PC v URI and Bryant v Brown.

If PC and URI don't play each other in the first round, and one of us loses our first round game, then we would not play each other that year. I would not support a tournament like this for that reason alone. We need to play PC every year.

Whether or not we play Bryant is another question. But to me it seems very unlikely a 4-team, two-game, tournament is possible, or even a double-header.

The only way I could see this working is if each team plays each other once per season and the winner(s) determined similar to how the Philadelphia Big 5 winner is determined. This would also seem very difficult to get all schools to agree to.

sf2010 · Unread post by **sf2010** » 9 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:As an aside, did you know that Bryant now costs out of state students 64K a year?

Freaking ridiculous. That's more than some Ivys.

False. $52-53K/yr which includes room and board. Which is still expensive, don't get me wrong. Higher education period costs wayyyy too much money, but that's another discussion for another day.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

McNamara mentions the Big-5 in Philly as a model for local teams playing one another. He fails to mention however that they no longer always play at one location in a multi game format. In the old days the five Philly schools (Temple, St. Joes, LaSalle, Villanova, and Penn) played all their games vesus each other at the Palestra on the UPenn campus. Many of these games were part of doubleheaders. If the team was not playing Penn, it was truly a neutral site with tickets being equitably distributed. The teams decades ago also normally played each other twice per year (no longer done except if SJU-LaSalle have two A-10 league games). Now, Villanova and Temple never play their home game vs any of the others at the Plaestra. They only play them on their own campus. Furthermore, even schools such as St. Joe's have begun to follow suit even though it means less attendees.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

OK, you're probably right, I got my info from a Bryant MBA grad. He's been away too long I guess.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

The Friar board is having the same discussion. Some clown there is suggesting it is weak that URI will play at Brown but not at Bryant in an even home and home. He however seems to have no issue with the Friars playing neither school at their gyms.

PC fans don't seem to want a RI tournament very much either. Some however are suggesting a New England tournament with most excluding URI (PC, BC, UMass, UConn).

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

if you going to do a NE tourney open it to 8, URI, PC, BC, UConn, Umass, UNH, Vermont, Maine

theblueram · Unread post by **theblueram** » 9 years ago

We should never play Bryant at their gym reasons are :
1) They have an RPI over 250
2) Their conference currently has a combined OOC win pct of .308
3) Their current record is 1-5

Road games should be for teams that normally won't come to the RC (Duke, Syracuse etc) and provide a great challenge and opportunity for the team. Not for a crap team in a crap conference.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Yes, but then he cancels it out by agreeing with RR2 that we should play Bryant.

In the last year of the Skinner regime, they only recruited
two freshmen both named Jefferson. One played briefly and transferred
and the other never got into school.
O'Shea told people that it was almost impossible to recruit here.
He had that great basketball mind, Mary Ann Sorrentino pushing for him to
be our head coach after Al went to BC.
He was clearly the front runner, which I was appalled at.
Thankfully, Bob Terino told Jim Harrick where Rhode Island was, and
any idea of O'She being head coach was left in the dust.
I'm pretty sure that's where the bitterness comes from.

He was right: it was difficult to recruit to URI. The coaches offices were in a friggin trailer. The team played in Keaney Gym. The recruiting budget was minimal. Despite all that, Skinner, O'Shea and Coen brought in some good players, but it was very difficult.
My recollection was once Harrick's name was mentioned O'Shea said something to the affect: If you can get him, you have to do it. I don't remember him being bitter then.