KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Running Ram wrote:My honest take on it, is that we will be in the at-large conversation this year and that will be good enough to keep the ball rolling. As I alluded to though, anything is possible, maybe we get the A10 championship and advance in the NCAA's, we have enough talent, just not the consistency. If DH gets the team to put it all together right now, then boom he's "proven"

I dont see the at large talk unless we pull off a 1 loss run. at a minimum need to sweep the VCU/Dayton/Davidson games

the media is in 'once bitten' mode with us after buying the preseason hype only to have us fall on our faces. we need to do more to prove it

edit: broke the 20 seal

haha winner winner winner!!!! pg 20 goes to Da_Process_Survivor!

I think if we beat dayton and davidson, but lose to VCU we still get in the at-large convo. Cincy is like rpi 12 right now, if we finish strong with no loses above 150 rpi, we are def bubble fodder at least.

that would include a road loss at davidson and home win against davidson, allowing for two more losses with a loss against VCU and would put us at an RPI of around 30-32, with a record of 21 and 9 sos 56. if that doesn't get us in the convo then throw all these metrics out.

that wouldn't fulfill my expectations for this program, so no matter what in this fan's mind, there's still a lot of work to be done.

Running Ram wrote:that would include a road loss at davidson and home win against davidson, allowing for two more losses with a loss against VCU and would put us at an RPI of around 30-32, with a record of 21 and 9 sos 56. if that doesn't get us in the convo then throw all these metrics out.

it may get us in the bubble talk, but i can see us getting dismissed. a lot of bubble talk is about how you finished and 'what have you done for me lately'. in this scenario i can see them saying 'yeah the metrics are good, but look at how they finished. didnt beat anyone of note, beat up on conference fodder'

idk, the above just looks like a perfect scenario for the committee to Bonaventure us.

I think we need the Davidson, Dayton and VCU games because we dont have any stand out conference wins. We need something to match the Cincy W

You have to walk before you can run.

We haven't even done that yet.

Davidson would be our first win on the road against a decent team.....then of course UMass who has given us fits...and they have fallen on their face lately....the Kellogg effect.

When we start doing that, then we can talk at large or whatever....

Win the next 3 then get excited (aka prepared for a letdown) against Dayton.

Actually, if we were to win the next 3, I would get excited.....

But winning the next 3? That would be the surprise.

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:

Running Ram wrote:My honest take on it, is that we will be in the at-large conversation this year and that will be good enough to keep the ball rolling. As I alluded to though, anything is possible, maybe we get the A10 championship and advance in the NCAA's, we have enough talent, just not the consistency. If DH gets the team to put it all together right now, then boom he's "proven"

I dont see the at large talk unless we pull off a 1 loss run. at a minimum need to sweep the VCU/Dayton/Davidson games

the media is in 'once bitten' mode with us after buying the preseason hype only to have us fall on our faces. we need to do more to prove it

edit: broke the 20 seal

Congrats!! I guess

Next big milestone will be who gets to 1000 posts. Right now thread is at 958 posts for Baron = Hurley

Hurley won the game tonight with his decision to keep Iverson in with four fouls

RR2, that was good.....but KI still had to deliver, and he did.....

Even though Dan gets a load of grief from some of us, and justifyably so at times imo....it's not all his doing.....he can make what seems to be the right moves, and his players don't get it done...they still have to make the plays.

When they do, he looks great...when they don't...he sucks....the nature of the beast.

For example...the Richmond loss was mostly due to the guys missing layups and FT's.....Dan can't make them.......the blame for that loss imo resides more with his players than Dan....other games, Dan might seem more to blame.....

I agree wholeheartedly. It's seemed to me most losses people put almost all the blame on Hurley,even games like Richmond where it was mostly execution and La Salle which was mostly effort.

Reading through the GW thread I felt posters weren't giving enough credit to the decision and were skipping right to the performance. I wanted to bring more attention to the coaching. Tonight Hurley made the winning decision and his players executed.

RR2, Dan seems to be gradually learning from his mistakes....but it's more reaction than being proactive.....that's the hard part about becoming a really good floor coach.....it remains to be seen where he goes from here...

He also needs to start making those type of moves on the road where the game environment is quite different from being at home and having the crowd on your side....like tonight...a key moment was the tech on the GW coach....does the opposite happen on the road?

And do his players make the plays on the road, even if Dan makes adjustments? So far, no dice.

Knock! Knock! Anybody home?

ramster wrote:Knock! Knock! Anybody home?

Great, he managed to finally win a road game...break out the champagne

Before we tar and feather this thread, and then set it on fire, here's a thing. URI ranks #9 IN THE COUNTRY in point differential out of timeouts.

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men ... sf54346191

Anyone remember how Baron was at coaching out of timeout plays?

SmartyBarrett wrote:Before we tar and feather this thread, and then set it on fire, here's a thing. URI ranks #9 IN THE COUNTRY in point differential out of timeouts.

http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men ... sf54346191

Anyone remember how Baron was at coaching out of timeout plays?

Nice company to be with in that top 10. Interesting group,of schools and most all with good records too.

I don't ever recall seeing statistics of this type. My guess would be Baron was not too good in this category.

Post's on this thread are banned, err...I mean temporarily suspended. Its not a ban.

RIFan wrote:Post's on this thread are banned, err...I mean temporarily suspended. Its not a ban.

Which 7 people are temporarily suspended?

WHAT THE FUCK DID HE CALL THAT TIMEOUT FOR?!?!?
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FUCK.

URI loses a close big game late in the season under Dan Hurley ©

The ban is lifted by a 3-0 ruling.

I knew this thread was going to come alive again after this.

Again, it's on Dan for having dumb players....but how much blame can we put on him for his players' sucking at FT's?

And losing their man on defense in big situations every time? And making bad passes?

If the man had hair...he would be tearing it out in clumps after games like this.

RIFan wrote:The ban is lifted by a 3-0 ruling.

Same old shit. We are Charlie Brown kicking the football.

Yet more bad coaching decisions (why waste your last time out right before the game deciding inbounds?), lack of execution and lack of focus

rambone 78 wrote:I knew this thread was going to come alive again after this.

Again, it's on Dan for having dumb players....but how much blame can we put on him for his players' sucking at FT's?

And losing their man on defense in big situations every time? And making bad passes?

If the man had hair...he would be tearing it out in clumps after games like this.

He is the one who put the press on with under 40s to go freeing up Dayton to have wide the fuck open 3s

Some things never seem to change.
How many times are we going to have a big
crowd, psyched for a big game,
only to go home disappointed?
How many big games can we find ways to lose?
When will we live up to the hype?

rambone 78 wrote:I knew this thread was going to come alive again after this.

Again, it's on Dan for having dumb players....but how much blame can we put on him for his players' sucking at FT's?

And losing their man on defense in big situations every time? And making bad passes?

If the man had hair...he would be tearing it out in clumps after games like this.

Dumb players? Yeah , most of his players may have come in a bit raw, with talent. Good recruits, It then becomes the coaches job to make these young guys grow as players. Check out a team like Louisville. Yes, a much higher level, but many athletic , raw players there, for their level. But if you watch that team, the development of thees guys into basketball players, from being simply athletes, is amazing. Wonder why.

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:

RIFan wrote:The ban is lifted by a 3-0 ruling.

Same old shit. We are Charlie Brown kicking the football.

Yet more bad coaching decisions (why waste your last time out right before the game deciding inbounds?), lack of execution and lack of focus

Unfortunately true, we should have 3 bombproof inbound plays ready to go....call one and run it with the TO in pocket......

Terrible.

That's true DPS.....we should have focused on forcing them to take bad shots.....we didn't need to gamble on steals there...we're leading.

You gamble and lose....someone is wide open...and teams like Dayton will find the open man. And of course they will never miss.

yeah dumb move.....

gio, player development is a question here....I've been a critic on that subject too.

Bottom line folks.....no dance, no job....matter of time.

skwalk47 wrote:Win the next 3 then get excited (aka prepared for a letdown) against Dayton.

I wish the lottery was as predictable as this. Spot. On.

well BPR, we don't have to worry about that anymore....we could win the next 3 now, and here comes VCU.......and even if we were to win that, we're not getting an at large....that hope is gone. We're playing for NIT seeding now...ha ha.

And if anybody thinks we're going to beat both VCU and Dayton in Pittsburgh, I have a bridge to sell you.

I don't put the blame on DH in this one

I thought we played a solid game against a tough squad

As Belichick says they made a couple more plays than we did

A couple more plays? They executed...we "executed" ourselves.....we do it every time in a close game.

Poor D, bad O, and choking at the line. We have perfected it.

Dayton has a player [Smith] that sees the court with the ball in his hands...he doesn't panic and finds the open man.

We have guys who take the ball and either chuck up a contested 3, or drive into a double or triple team....while there are guys open in the corner waiting for passes that never come.

The one guy who we have that might change that is JD, but of course Dan is too loyal to his veterans like EC and Terrell who have zero mental discipline in close games......let Jeff take the ball up next time when we need a good look.....

You know, you can try to teach these things but if they can't perform under pressure, than what can you do? Are they being "coached up"? Or does it matter?

This shit happens in every close game.....the blame lies with all of them, coach included.

rambone 78 wrote:well BPR, we don't have to worry about that anymore....we could win the next 3 now, and here comes VCU.......and even if we were to win that, we're not getting an at large....that hope is gone. We're playing for NIT seeding now...ha ha.

And if anybody thinks we're going to beat both VCU and Dayton in Pittsburgh, I have a bridge to sell you.

That I don't agree with. I think if they go 5-1 to close the season they're smack on the bubble. The RPI will be around 32.

I think they need to go at least 5-1 the rest of the way and get to at least to the semi finals if not the finals of the A10 tournament to have a real shot at an at large berth.

scine, with all due respect, the RPI can go to hell.....who have we beaten?

We crap our pants against every good team......the committee is NOT picking us.....I don't think we're going to go 5-1 either.......

If we beat VCU and then beat them and Dayton in the A10T then maybe.....but how can anyone think we will do that?

Get new players who don't choke under pressure? Make plays at the end of games, on offense and defense?

Make FT's all of a sudden? Fantasy land still lives.......

We have very good physical talent and very poor mental talent...and a coach who for some reason or another can't "coach them up".

That spells a mid pack NIT team.......that's what we are. And next season looks no better.

There's a weak crop of teams on the bubble. That's all I'm saying. If their RPI is in the high 30's they'll have a legit shot. St. Bonaventure didn't get in last year because they had terrible losses and no top notch wins. URI beat Cincinnati on a neutral floor and really doesn't have any terrible losses. La Salle at home is the worst but I don't think that's a loss that will make a real difference.

I don't actually think they'll get in. I expect them to lose again to La Salle and probably VCU. Or maybe they'll beat VCU and lose to someone else that they're not expected to like St. Joseph's.

But I think that they still have a real shot if they can go 5-1 and get to at least the semis of the A-10 tournament.

The Bonnies did beat the other top teams in the conference...we haven't.

We have to beat VCU and at least Dayton in the A10T......just getting to the semis will not be good enough...even if we go 5-1 the rest of the way in conference.

I think we'll struggle Wednesday....they have to be down big time....although EC seems to be fine.....grinning at the FT line while he misses tells a lot about his mental state.....mental toughness my ass.

anyway...it's not happening....I'm not getting teased again by this team....even if we win our next 3 which I doubt.

last night was our last best chance to make a statement...instead our statement was...we're not good enough...again.

We can play with anybody...we just can't beat them.....there's a difference.

This isn't all Dan's fault...but the buck does stop with him. When EC had his three FT's and missed the first 2, all I could think of was Tyson vs Stanford in the Elite 8 game...EC hit the 3rd, but same outcome. It's been going on forever...

RIFan, your first line says it all.

Busted defense and FT's beat us....the last play could have gone either way but it never goes our way...it never should have come down to that anyway.

For the older folks....FT's were the reason we lost to Duke in 1978.....and it's never stopped since.

So many games where just ONE PLAY [or FT] makes the difference....and we never make that one play.

when it comes to Dan's job here, we are always so close that I can't see Thorr and Dooley giving him the hook for a while....even without a NCAAT bid....the worst of all worlds.....between a rock and a hard place.

How long will they wait...another year? Two years? Three?

RIFan wrote:This isn't all Dan's fault...but the buck does stop with him. When EC had his three FT's and missed the first 2, all I could think of was Tyson vs Stanford in the Elite 8 game...EC hit the 3rd, but same outcome. It's been going on forever...

I take exception with your comparison as I think it unfair to Wheeler. The Stanford game was an exception for Tyson. He didn't typically miss ft's and won URI many big games in crunch time. EC's performance last night was the norm for him. He has made mistakes down the stretch in many games that have cost us big wins

Tyson was absolutely gassed at that point.....he hardly reached the rim on all 3 shots......there's NO comparison between the two...

Tyson was a phenomenal player, leader, ball handler, defensive player, passer, but in all honesty he was not a lights out FT shooter
He shot 64.8% his senior year from the line. (70-108)

THERE IS GOOD INDIVIDUAL TALENT ON THIS TEAM
THE EXECUTION AND CHEMISTRY NEEDS TO IMPROVE

IMO 'THE TEAM IS NOT GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS'

RF1 wrote:

RIFan wrote:This isn't all Dan's fault...but the buck does stop with him. When EC had his three FT's and missed the first 2, all I could think of was Tyson vs Stanford in the Elite 8 game...EC hit the 3rd, but same outcome. It's been going on forever...

I take exception with your comparison as I think it unfair to Wheeler. The Stanford game was an exception for Tyson. He didn't typically miss ft's and won URI many big games in crunch time. EC's performance last night was the norm for him. He has made mistakes down the stretch in many games that have cost us big wins

It was obvious - unfortunately Harrick was in full meltdown and didn't see it!

Needed a TO there to get Wheeler on track .....

Most of us will never recover from that choke job.....

It wasn't a shot a Wheeler...Sorry that it reminded me of that! I'll never let missed FT's at the end of a close big game remind me of that game again...shame on me

Um, Tyson was only a 64% free throw shooter in his senior season.
He clearly choked.
How does anyone blame a coach for missed free throws in
clutch situations?
At some point, it's the players who perform.

I didn't hear the post game show. But, it's been said here that Dan stated that he told the team to guard for the 3 and they didn't do it. I believe that he said something similar after our last loss.
To me, that says "Hey, don't blame me They blew it." That kind of comment is very "Baronesque."

That last play of the first half pretty much sums up Dan's creativity. Same thing all the time.

So sick of seeing someone hit a 3 from pretty much the same spot on the floor in every big game.

As for the talk about firing Dan in the future, I don't see that happening. I doubt that the school will be willing to buy out two coaches in a row.
I am not impressed with the job Thorr has done as AD.

ramfan85 wrote:
As for the talk about firing Dan in the future, I don't see that happening. I doubt that the school will be willing to buy out two coaches in a row.
I am not impressed with the job Thorr has done as AD.

Strongly agree zero chance DH gets fired - none. AD will go.

CFL if he wants it.

This is gonna cost us $1m next year for this staff.

Hope we got some JUCO or D1 transfer bigs coming.

WIth the FT shooting, is it really a choke? Or is it just a team shooting to their expectations? This team is last in the A 10 in FT shooting. They are clearly terrible from the line. These guys miss FTs early in the game, middle of the game and end of the game. I think if anyone had any doubts before, we fully understand now that FT shooting wins or loses games.

Whether you like Thorr or not, tough to put any blame on him for the failure of this team for this season. Or not meeting our expectations. He hired Dan and was applauded. Not sure if there was anyone who didn't think Dan was a great and a splash hire. Many didn't think our program could get him. And then when others came calling, he did what most would have wanted and did what he had to do to retain Danny. If he would have gotten away, he would have been criticized by some for not being able to retain his services. To say Thorr should go or may go may have some legitimacy , but not based on Dan's hire or this disappointing season.