KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Serious question, when (not if) it comes to tourney time, who are the teams that we absolutely do NOT want to see? The top 5 teams have seemed so vulnerable throughout the year with so many upsets and losses. I mean, does anyone think that if we had EC and Langevine we couldn't have matched up with Virginia? Oh yeah, and Stan fouled out in 20 mins of play. Looking at other top teams, if PC can beat Xavier and Villanova, why can't we?

I would submit Arizona, who start two 7-footers, one who might be the number one pick in June in DeAndre Ayton. And holy crap as I write this I just saw THIS story break on ESPN.com (http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... estigation). Might not have to worry about Arizona after-all...

Curious to get people's take who watch a lot of non-A10 basketball.

A hurricane named Rhode Island Rams

I worry about every game and opponent.....

Ramulous wrote:I worry about every game and opponent.....

I’d be worried if you didn’t.

The team that scares me the most are the Villanova Wildcats do not want to be in their bracket

But we can definitely play with anybody in the country if we are playing well but there will be some matchups that become unfavorable to us

Any team that is exceptionally long. Nevada and Alabama were matchup problems for that reason.

I agree we can play with just about anyone - but a team with a couple of 6’7 wing types (there aren’t many) is or issue.

I love this team.

No one in the country wants to play us just like last year.


I’ve watched a lot of big east this year and I’d be confident against any team... It’s the big teams like Zona and Purdue that I would be worried about. I really want another crack at Virginia with a healthy EC and Cyril.

The team that scares me is Purdue. That center they have is just about automatic -- they should go to him every time until he runs out of gas.

steveystuds06 wrote:No one in the country wants to play us just like last year.


I’ve watched a lot of big east this year and I’d be confident against any team... It’s the big teams like Zona and Purdue that I would be worried about. I really want another crack at Virginia with a healthy EC and Cyril.

Will 'zona even be in? With what's out there, even if they don't get whacked pre-tourney, don't chances seem pretty good that, as their first act of mercy-seeking, they self-impose themselves out this year?

Nova would be tough. They're the 1 team that can match up in quality and depth of guards

Let’s be honest.

It’s march madness.

We could beat, or lose, to almost every team that will be in the tournament.

I wouldn’t want to see Arizona in the 4 vs 5 game. The two trees underneath would be unstoppable with Rhody’s lack of size.

Yeah really want no part of Auyton in a 4 v 5 matchup

How bout Wichita State they look tough too ??

reef wrote:How bout Wichita State they look tough too ??

One of the best teams money can buy, apparently.

I don’t want to face WVU. Tough to prepare for.

Blue Man wrote:Any team that is exceptionally long. Nevada and Alabama were matchup problems for that reason.

I agree we can play with just about anyone - but a team with a couple of 6’7 wing types (there aren’t many) is or issue.

I love this team.

Agree with all of that. I also think that this is what Rhody teams could look like in the next couple years. It’s all potential now, but guys like Tate and Martin and Harris along with Dowtin are designed to create match-up problems.


Some numbers:
13, 12, 14, 13, 13, 11
27, 22, 22, 26, 22, 23

Those are the minutes from the VCU through Dayton games for Berry (top line) and Langevine. I fully appreciate what Dre has done for this team this season. I love having his offense as an option, and his effort and ability on defense are markedly improved, which is a credit to him. I think their ceiling is higher, though, with a healthy and effective Cyril.

Berry needs to be matched with a traditional center to be successful, reslity is hes not quick enough to keep up with smaller fast centers. The last few games have not had that and most A10 teams don't really have one so Cyril has played and been very successful

twisted3829 wrote:Berry needs to be matched with a traditional center to be successful, reslity is hes not quick enough to keep up with smaller fast centers. The last few games have not had that and most A10 teams don't really have one so Cyril has played and been very successful

When looking at tournament teams, I’m curious to see who you think would be a good matchup for him. I can’t think of many at all.

The hedging on the screens is difficult for Andre....he lacks the quickness to jump out to assist the main defender and then get back in the paint to then cover the big man who cuts to the basket after the screen....

...Cyril has that quickness.....

...that being said I would still start Andre out of respect for him and the season he has had especially when Cyril couldn't go....

Ramulous wrote:The hedging on the screens is difficult for Andre....he lacks the quickness to jump out to assist the main defender and then get back in the paint to then cover the big man who cuts to the basket after the screen....

...Cyril has that quickness.....

...that being said I would still start Andre out of respect for him and the season he has had especially when Cyril couldn't go....

Oh, I agree. Other than senior night, don’t change a thing. It’s been working well to have Cyril warm up and then stay loose on the bike before coming in.

I think the two teams you want to avoid are (in no particular order):

Michigan State & Duke

ace wrote:

Ramulous wrote:The hedging on the screens is difficult for Andre....he lacks the quickness to jump out to assist the main defender and then get back in the paint to then cover the big man who cuts to the basket after the screen....

...Cyril has that quickness.....

...that being said I would still start Andre out of respect for him and the season he has had especially when Cyril couldn't go....

Oh, I agree. Other than senior night, don’t change a thing. It’s been working well to have Cyril warm up and then stay loose on the bike before coming in.

As a team we start slow. I would wager 75% of the points we score in the first few minutes come from Andre.

He’s an instant offensive spark plug.

Blue Man wrote:

ace wrote:

Ramulous wrote:The hedging on the screens is difficult for Andre....he lacks the quickness to jump out to assist the main defender and then get back in the paint to then cover the big man who cuts to the basket after the screen....

...Cyril has that quickness.....

...that being said I would still start Andre out of respect for him and the season he has had especially when Cyril couldn't go....

Oh, I agree. Other than senior night, don’t change a thing. It’s been working well to have Cyril warm up and then stay loose on the bike before coming in.

As a team we start slow. I would wager 75% of the points we score in the first few minutes come from Andre.

He’s an instant offensive spark plug.

They run a few of those specific offensive sets, he gets the lay-ups, and they’re off. Always good because their collective jump shot game seems to run on about a ten minute delay.

Ramulous wrote:The hedging on the screens is difficult for Andre....he lacks the quickness to jump out to assist the main defender and then get back in the paint to then cover the big man who cuts to the basket after the screen....

...Cyril has that quickness.....

...that being said I would still start Andre out of respect for him and the season he has had especially when Cyril couldn't go....

I was also really impressed with how quick Nikola looked on Friday night when he was getting back on his man after hedging. He didn’t have much of a stat line but he’s a nice change of pace from Andre and Cyril.

I've been thinking about the slow starts a little bit lately, and I have a theory that may be off base but I do think it holds some truth. First off, I do love how they get Berry involved early, I think it keeps the defense honest out of the gate when you know that they want to focus on stopping our guards for obvious reasons. But since we have so many solid guards, and it tends to be a different guy or couple of guys who get hot and carry us each game, there is a bit of a feeling out period for everybody to see who is going to be the guy(s) that game. Is it going to be Terrell and EC, maybe Dowtin, maybe Fatts or Jarvis come off the bench on fire. Stan might have one of those nights where he is just doing everything including scoring.

So once the dust settles a little I feel like everybody settles into their role better for that particular game based on who is taking over after a while. As opposed to many other teams who rely on one or two guys to be the guy, and if they are off that night they are just screwed.

I also like the fact that when Andre starts and plays the first 6 or so minutes of each half, it keeps Cyril out of early foul trouble. He can be very aggressive with a clean slate.

Ramulous wrote:The hedging on the screens is difficult for Andre....he lacks the quickness to jump out to assist the main defender and then get back in the paint to then cover the big man who cuts to the basket after the screen....

...Cyril has that quickness.....

...that being said I would still start Andre out of respect for him and the season he has had especially when Cyril couldn't go....

The hedging on screens can be difficult for AB, but last year, it seemed just about impossible for him.
He's way (WAY) better at it now then he was last year...(if he wasn't, not sure he'd be playing).
Huge kudos to him for doing what was necessary to improve there.

Justns11 wrote:

Ramulous wrote:The hedging on the screens is difficult for Andre....he lacks the quickness to jump out to assist the main defender and then get back in the paint to then cover the big man who cuts to the basket after the screen....

...Cyril has that quickness.....

...that being said I would still start Andre out of respect for him and the season he has had especially when Cyril couldn't go....

I was also really impressed with how quick Nikola looked on Friday night when he was getting back on his man after hedging. He didn’t have much of a stat line but he’s a nice change of pace from Andre and Cyril.

He also had at least two passes like this that saved the play and led to points-

I like the combination of Berry & Cyril. Berry has a great shot and it helps to start the game and the 2nd half. Rhody's outside shooting seems to struggle some at the beginning of the game. I think Berry does a pretty good hedging on the screens. I think his weakness is rebounding and being a rim protector. Our defense is so much better with Cyril protecting the rim. Nothing is easy for the other team underneath and our Gs can be more aggressive covering outside.

Berry provides offense and is ok on the defensive end. His minutes do help keep Cyril keep out of foul trouble. I don't see Cyril's minutes getting much higher than 25-26 per game so we need Berry for 13-15 minutes. The last six games (when Cyril's game took off) Cyril is averaging 23.7 minutes/game and Berry is averaging 12.7 minutes.

Using Bracketmatrix the order of the 4 & 5 seeds are:
(this has not been updated since Arizona lost last night)
Four seeds
1) Arizona
2) Wichita State
3) Clemson
4) WVU

Five Seeds
1) Ohio State
2) Gonzaga
3) Kentucky
4) Rhode Island

First, that is a really impressive group to be in. We are Gonzaga of the East!
My order of preference for opponents in a 4 v 5 match up would be - Clemson, Wichita State, WVU, Arizona.

Edit: order is unchanged for all 4 & 5 seeds in the updated bracketmatrix today.

If we did end up facing off against a team with a lot of tough size - would DH ever consider playing CL and AB together? Or stick to the bread and butter of 4 guards that has worked all season?

URI'21 wrote:If we did end up facing off against a team with a lot of tough size - would DH ever consider playing CL and AB together? Or stick to the bread and butter of 4 guards that has worked all season?

.......you dance with the girl you brought to the Dance.......

Of those potential teams above I think we matchup best with the Clemson Tigers

section(105) wrote:

URI'21 wrote:If we did end up facing off against a team with a lot of tough size - would DH ever consider playing CL and AB together? Or stick to the bread and butter of 4 guards that has worked all season?

.......you dance with the girl you brought to the Dance.......

Generally speaking yes... But what if another team's bigs are just burning us down low? Do we adjust.. or hope our guards pull a miracle