KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

At the start of Week #12, the two A-10 newcomers, Butler and VCU, continued to be ranked in the polls. Butler is #9 in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. VCU is ranked #19 in the AP and #16 in the coaches poll.

The A-10 RPI remains at #7 among the 31 conferences. The SOS for A-10 also ranks #7.

Here is the rankings of A-10 schools by RPI and includes SOS rank and overall record as of January 21. (Based on RealTimeRPI data.) No A-10 action tonight and a light schedule among URI OOC opponents:

Georgia State at Towson

Loyola (MD) at Fairfield

Morgan State at Norfolk State

Here's a chart of Rhody's current and predicted RPI rank including the win @ SLU, courtesy of my favorite truly FREE RPI site, Live-RPI.com from the good people who brought you RPIforecast.com:



Using Jeff Sagarin's PREDICTOR, they now predict the following regular season outcome probabilities for URI:

if you are nate lubick are you happy you went to Georgetown to pass the ball for 4 years? he's a tremendous passer for a big guy, but just sayin.....

11 teams top 100 RPI very impressive

The RPI's are impressive at first glance, but as of right now the A10 would probably only get 2 in the Dance.

I'm guessing by the end of the regular season, the A10 gets 4 in. Temple is Temple, they always find a way, and one more getting hot in the conference tourney gets in.

Temple is leaving, Butler is probably gone. That leaves VCU right now, as the only NCAA tournament team in the A10 that's likely to stay.

Enter Rhody, finally. We're going to be the new Butler, or Temple, or X of the A10. That's the plan anyway.

PC only game of interest tonight

not sure why Cooley does not play an uptempo, fast break and open game, especially given his current roster.

experience, talent and depth in the back court, athletic but not overly physical front court, and a few back ups merely to absorb fouls.

they are not built well for the half court on either end of the court IMO.

but dunn is a defensive menace, fortune can hit from deep, council runs the show and then cotton is the best of em all. the least heralded, lowest ranked recruit (of the back court) i believe. regardless they all would be better in an up and down game, not running the flex.
IMO they have talent and should win more, fire cooley!!
btw pitt can really pass the basketball, good on the eyes.

Last night URI OOC rivals took all three games. Tonight, they were 1-2, Ohio State won, PC and Vermont lost.

Through tonight's games, OOC opponents have a combined record of 138-88. A winning percentage of 0.61.

A thread of this sort is keyed to RPI status which is a big indicator for post season play. Since a post season is not in the cards for URI this year, you may wonder why I bother with this effort. For me, it's all about expectations and how the Rams are doing on that score, seeing them getting as many wins as possible, getting the RPI as high as it could be, seeing our OOC rivals doing well which in turn validates our wins and soothes our losses versus them, being knowledgeable about the strengths and weakness of our rivals leads to respect and fairness which is at the heart of all good college basketball fans. And finally, I just want the Hurleys to succeed so much and want to savor every win and say I was in full support of them from Day One.

bigappleram wrote:PC only game of interest tonight

not sure why Cooley does not play an uptempo, fast break and open game, especially given his current roster.

experience, talent and depth in the back court, athletic but not overly physical front court, and a few back ups merely to absorb fouls.

they are not built well for the half court on either end of the court IMO.

but dunn is a defensive menace, fortune can hit from deep, council runs the show and then cotton is the best of em all. the least heralded, lowest ranked recruit (of the back court) i believe. regardless they all would be better in an up and down game, not running the flex.
IMO they have talent and should win more, fire cooley!!
btw pitt can really pass the basketball, good on the eyes.

Please tell me you did not come up with that synopsis after watching the game ...

As PC has gotten more healthy, they have become significantly more up-tempo. They were a zone team early this year out of necessity (and played that way 75% of the URI game) because they had 7 scholarship players, and Cotton was very injured. Tonight, they played man to man for about 95% of the game, and pressed basically every inbounds except for about a 3 minute stretch in the first half where they dropped into zone as a result of foul trouble. With Henton out, they had no one to defend the #4. Henton is a terrible defender, but more athletic than anyone else on PC to play down low. Patterson was just crushing PC, and they didn't have an answer for his athleticism at 6'9.

The problem was, the PC press was virtually useless. Dunn was very sick for the game and is a huge part of the press, and Woodall is one of the best point guards in the conference. He was more than capable of handling the press, and did burn it a few times. They did not force quality turnovers tonight, and therefore had limited opportunity to run. Also, Pittsburgh shot 51%, so made shots also make it hard to run. PC only rebounded 15 off Pittsburghs' misses.

Where I do agree with you: As constituted, PC is not built for the halfcourt game. They don't have the athleticism to compete defensively, and don't have the quality to compete offensively. Ricky Ledo would have been a huge piece of the puzzle. Brandon Austin coming in will hopefully become a defensive spark at 6'6 being able to guard 1-3. And Harris 6'9 and Desroisiers 7'0 will at least give you length and athleticism, something PC doesn't have at all. However, they can't just abandon halfcourt. PC returns every player but 1, and plays in the Big East, so they can't just run over and through people.

Fire Cooley? You are kidding right?

PC lost to Syracuse by 6 points. PC lost to a good Pittsburgh team by 4 points. PC didn't play well at Georgetown but lost by 9. They have had some bad losses as they tried to get their sea legs under them, but are playing a better brand of basketball right now. Fire a coach who is an above average recruiter? Granted, the results aren't there yet, but neither are all the players.

Pitt is getting their act together, not a bad loss by PC

Superfly, the Fire Cooley was clearly meant in jest, since on this board for a decade we shouted Fire Baron for all sorts of reasons.

ATPTourFan wrote:Superfly, the Fire Cooley was clearly meant in jest, since on this board for a decade we shouted Fire Baron for all sorts of reasons.

Thanks for the clarification, ATP. Sometimes, it's hard to read between the smoke because just like I think their are ridiculous URI fans who will say/do/think everything anti-PC, there are PC fans who do the same and some of those battles of ridiculousness are too tough to decipher.

But don't worry, I'll be around these parts more that my brother will officially be a part of the URI class of 2015 as a member of the engineering program. Lucky for all of you

superfly take a joke, and thx ATP for helping him understand the obvious.

in the 5 PC games i have seen recently no one would classify their brand of basketball as uptempo. they have pressed out of necessity, and when they have it has appeared to work very well. maybe they got picked apart a bit by a good passing Pitt team, but i dont think anyone is confusing Cooley's Friars with Pitino's Friars. The latter style I believe would yield much greater success than the mid tempo game Cooley seems to employ now. you are 2-7 in your last 9 and have scored over 70 1 time. not sure where you see a team trying to force tempo and run. Perhaps Cooley doesn't think he has the guns to play that style, but I disagree.

per Bleacher Report:

Former Providence forward James Still has been sentenced to 15 years in prison with four to serve after being found guilty of assaulting a fellow student in 2010, leaving the victim with 16 facial fractures and a permanently altered appearance, the Providence Journal is reporting.

Still, who played one season at Providence in 2009-10 and is now 22 years old, was arrested after he and an accomplice committed felony assault against Yerkin Abdrakhmanov, a student at Providence. According to the report, Still and the accomplice had been drinking and while walking near campus decided that “for no good reason they would beat the first person they next encountered.”

Johnnie Lacy, Still’s accomplice, was sentenced to 15 years in prison with three to serve.

Both Still and Lacy were members of the Providence basketball team in 2009-10, with Still averaging one point per game in just under six minutes per game. He is a native of Detroit, Mich.

Still played in two games for Eastern Michigan this season, but was dismissed from the team on Nov. 16. To read more, click here.

Sickening. Soulless cretins, thinking random violence by beating up some little guy.
was just so much fun to do on a Friday night.
They didn't just rough the man up, the scum inflicted great damage on him.
Enjoy the ACI, you monsters.

Exactly, Rod. They didn't just give him a "standard" roughing-up, but rather a savage beat down with emphasis on smashing the victim's head and face.

bigappleram wrote:superfly take a joke, and thx ATP for helping him understand the obvious.

in the 5 PC games i have seen recently no one would classify their brand of basketball as uptempo. they have pressed out of necessity, and when they have it has appeared to work very well. maybe they got picked apart a bit by a good passing Pitt team, but i dont think anyone is confusing Cooley's Friars with Pitino's Friars. The latter style I believe would yield much greater success than the mid tempo game Cooley seems to employ now. you are 2-7 in your last 9 and have scored over 70 1 time. not sure where you see a team trying to force tempo and run. Perhaps Cooley doesn't think he has the guns to play that style, but I disagree.

Joke taken, well played.

Like I said, PC had played zone for a majority of their games out of necessity. They started game 1 in man, and Vincent Council gets injured. Then they go into Puerto Rico with 6 scholarship players, so they start playing more zone to stay rested. Because they had to play 6 scholarship guys for most of the season, they did play a TON of zone, and didn't play it really poorly outside of stretches in the URI game (and then went to man). Game 1 Council comes back, and Cotton is out with his knee from Mississippi St. So there have been a lot of injuries and a lot of moving pieces and they just are getting healthy now.

The game where it became apparent PC could not match up zone for long spurts was DePaul - but they also had Council, Cotton, and Dunn all collectively at about 80% in that game. Thank goodness, PC out of necessity being down 21 points went to the full-court man trap which worked, and they have played that mostly exclusive ever since. They crushed Seton Hall with it, as well as Villanova. Unfortunately, they couldn't turn Pitt over, but they played a full-court man most of the game. As PC has gotten healthy, thus has increased their ability to play a pressure defense and get out and run a little on offense. Unfortunately, when your opponent shoots 51%, you grab only 15 defensive rebounds, and you can't turn them over and good spots, it limits your ability to get out and run. Pitt is also a very good defensive team, FWIW.

As far as running, PC does honestly try to run all the time, just not enough weapons. They aren't "big" and the bigs aren't athletic down the court. Council, Cotton, and Dunn all provide the ability to get out and run, but they are patient and don't try to run it through some of the athletes the Big East has to offer. Not sure if you watched the 'Nova game, PC ran most of the game and forced a ton of turnovers, but they struggle finishing and hitting shots. That's a killer, and they don't force many turnovers in the halfcourt defense. When there is a seam though, they take it to the hole, they just don't force it, something I appreciate. However, I do agree that the half-court sets do need work, because of the lack of size inside for the most part they tend to go laterally too much. As Council has gotten healthy (and he's finally about 95%), he's been able to get to the hoop and create for others, as well as Dunn, so things have improved slowly on that end.

And for the record, those kids (Still and Lacy) deserved more, and thank goodness the Keno era is over.

I've got the Duke-UMiami game on in the background while streaming Rhody and #1 Duke is getting smacked... The U is up 35-15 with 3 mins left in first half.

The U on a 25-1 run.

STC wrote:I've got the Duke-UMiami game on in the background while streaming Rhody and #1 Duke is getting smacked... The U is up 35-15 with 3 mins left in first half.

The U on a 25-1 run.

I'm surprised by how much they're missing Kelly.

42-19 Miami at the half, Miami shooting 59% to Duke's 18%.

Love it, I don't think there is a college basketball team I dislike more than Duke.

Lasalle beats #9 Butler. 64-63

Previously winless in conference play, Dayton beats Fordham 96-51. We had a bad year last year and are rebuilding, HOW is Fordham so bad every single year!?!

Lasalle beats Butler??????????? Wow.
That trumps us and St. Louis, I guess.

i misread the score, it was 54-53. still lasalle

Hurry, invite LaSalle to the C7+....

Say it aint so Jimmy Still !!!

Way OT, but I watched New Mexico State vs. Denver last night. Don't ask why.
NM State had a 7'5" 360 lb center Sim Bhullar, from Canada.He was a McDonald AA and top 100 recruit in prep school.
I decided just to mainly watch him, out of curiosity.
He's a freshman. Looks heavy, even for his height. Slow. Could be with more
conditioning, he gains speed. He averages 19 minutes a game. 9.6 PPG and 5.2 REBS.
Good numbers for the time he's on the floor.
However, he was fundamentally sound. Very good post passer.
I'll be interested at seeing where he winds up in the future, if anywhere.

Hey Rod,

I don't know how familiar you are with the Bhullar family, but he also has a younger brother who is class of 2013, Tanveer.

Tanveer isn't the quality of prospect as Sim, but he still stands 7'3, 300 lbs. He has offers from Detroit and Seton hall and interest from a variety of other programs. He will probably end up being a steal for a mid-major program, as that height can't be taught.

Sim was originally supposed to go to Xavier, actually verballed there, before backing out and ending up with New Mexico St. In the 2011 Nike Global Challenge, Sim was a huge part of a Team Canada upset vs. the USA East team, a team that consisted of guys like Omar Calhoun (UCONN), Nerlens Noel (Kentucky), Brice Johnson (UNC), Chris Obekpa (St. John's), Jerami Grant (Syracuse), Ricky Ledo (Providence), James Robinson (Pitt). Bhullar finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and his brother Tanveer was also on the team.

Very cool story, and those kids are just monsters on the court.

Thanks supefly.
I wonder why Sim changed his mind to go to New Mexico State?
Probably playing time.
Right now, he's a detriment to any team that isn't willing to play half court offense.
Still, a very intriguing player.
URI signed some giant 7'4" overweight guy from Worcester, when Baron was here.
I don't think he wound up ever playing, anywhere.

VCU is learning why you foul up 3 in the last few seconds

And down goes VCU. They and Butler are finding out that road games against even the mid pack A10 teams is no picnic.

They are still the class of the league, but maybe by not so much as previously thought.

not only a league road game against a mid-level and well coached team, but also your bitter intra-city rivals and all that with a # before your name....i am sure Richmond and their fans were beyond fired up for this one

not that shocking, and doubt the ncaa looks down on this loss too much come ncaa time

The C7 will now invite Richmond to join them as well as LaSalle.....

We gave Richmond a game - what're the odds we upset VCU?

With a healthy Aaman and big O eligible, we might have a shot?

Otherwise, I doubt it. They will wear us down with that pressure. I can see us right there at halftime, but they pull away late.

This team really isn't that far from a .500 team in the league, the way they're playing. If we had the above, I think that's about where we'd end up.

Sometimes, when a team has a long winning streak, like VCU had, and loses a tough game,
they hit a downslide.
Let's hope this is the case with VCU, although I doubt Smart would let
anyone sulk very long.

Lots of action today. In A-10 games in addition to URI at Fordham:

Temple at Butler - 6 PM on ESPN2
La Salle at VCU
Charlotte at GW
Saint Louis at St. Bonaventure
Duquesne at Dayton
Xavier at St. Joseph’s

In action involving URI OOC opponents:

Ohio State at Penn State - Noon on ESPN2
Georgia State at Drexel
Brown at Yale
PC at Marquette
SMU at UCF
Hampton at Norfolk State
Pepperdine at St. Mary’s
Vermont at Albany
Ole Miss at Auburn

LaSalle beats VCU. Great day for Philly hoops!

As I said earlier this week, when a team has a streak like VCU had, and loses,
sometimes the bubble bursts and they have a downslide.
VCU losing to Lasalle at home? Wow!

Lasalle is much better than you'd think. Beat two ranked teams in 1 week for first time since 1952. Good back court and a 7 footer. They got blitzed in the 2nd half by the VCU "havoc" defense, withstood it and came roaring back to win.

That kid Ramon Galloway looks really good

A 10 is a tough conf

This means VCU will likely NOT Be ranked on Wednesday in Kingston. Those are the breaks for Rhody, as always... wtf.

ATPTourFan wrote:This means VCU will likely NOT Be ranked on Wednesday in Kingston. Those are the breaks for Rhody, as always... wtf.

Not ranked but looking to take out the frustration of two straight losses (same as our Rhody). It is a recipe for ugly things for URI.

I'll be honest here. Can't wait for this season to end. 11 more games.

Whatever happens, I think we've reached the bottom, and there's only one way to go.

bigappleram wrote:Lasalle is much better than you'd think. Beat two ranked teams in 1 week for first time since 1952. Good back court and a 7 footer. They got blitzed in the 2nd half by the VCU "havoc" defense, withstood it and came roaring back to win.

They have a legit shot at going to the dance.

RF1 wrote:

ATPTourFan wrote:This means VCU will likely NOT Be ranked on Wednesday in Kingston. Those are the breaks for Rhody, as always... wtf.

Not ranked but looking to take out the frustration of two straight losses (same as our Rhody). It is a recipe for ugly things for URI.

I think the Rams will control this game from the start and have a fairly easy time getting by the Rams.

I've seen Lasalle three times this year, and they have a lot of firepower
and are fun to watch.
I just thought VCU would always hold serve at home.
I saw VCU a few times before this week, and thought they were easily
the team on our schedule that was the worst matchup.

losing that late lead at Richmond could change their season

Shaka Smart has built a program around the word Havoc, and
plays mind games with his team and opponents.
This "Navy Seal" training program in the off season, run by former Seals, is
a prime example.
It's saying, "We're tougher than you are". That's fine, but when the bully gets beaten twice in a row,
where does that mindset go?
The aura of invincibility vanishes.
We don't have the talent to beat VCU, even at their nadir, but it will be interesting to
watch how long it is before they get their mojo back.

Action already in on this Sunday, last day of Week #12

In a battle of leaders in the MAAC, visiting Iona made a fast start and kept the lead all the way as the Gaels bested Loyola (MD), 79-71.

Seton Hall falls at St. John’s, 71-67.

In a key game in the CAA, George Mason is at Northeastern as the Patriots attempt to end the Huskies’ 7 game win streak. 4PM start.

In a A-10 game just underway, UMass has the lead over Richmond, 17-14.

UMass/Richmond can be seen on FirstRow Sports.

http://www.firstrow1.eu/watch/165783/1/ ... setts.html