12/1 | Harvard | 7:00PM (ESPN+)

[ramster]

The game marks Rhode Island's first visit to Lavietes Pavilion since 1928

[steveystuds06]

Harvard has the better coach. We have the better roster. I expect an ugly close game. But, as Jersey said, these are the games that we need to win...
Remember when we went on the epic winning streak after the Brown game? A lot of that was Fatts going wild, but still. Maybe the lousy loss to FGCU will light a fire under this team, and we go on a winning streak.!0

Let's gain some momentum going into the PC game!! Start Walker!

[Jersey77]

Yes Stevey a nice run would be great.
Even going 5 of 6 prior to conference play, would be okay with me.

[reef]

Interesting to see the spread should be close to even I would guess ??

[STC]

If Cox wants to salvage his job, this game would be a good place to start. URI has zero true road wins this season and is coming off a 2020-2021 season in which URI posted just two true road wins (VCU & LaSalle).

Cox' Rams are currently on a 6 game road losing streak dating back to last year, with their last road win coming at LaSalle on 1/27/2021.

[spookydog]

Interesting to see the spread should be close to even I would guess ??

URI -2.5

[ramster]

Salvaging his job is to win the A10 NCAA Bid. This is year 4. If not winning the A10 Tournament he would have to come very close to that achievement.

Talk of these single game wins and losses are minuscule in the big picture

[Rhody15]

Salvaging his job is to win the A10 NCAA Bid. This is year 4. If not winning the A10 Tournament he would have to come very close to that achievement.

Talk of these single game wins and losses are minuscule in the big picture

That last sentence may be the truest statement about Cox’s future with URI.

[ramster]

Salvaging his job is to win the A10 NCAA Bid. This is year 4. If not winning the A10 Tournament he would have to come very close to that achievement.

Talk of these single game wins and losses are minuscule in the big picture

That last sentence may be the truest statement about Cox’s future with URI.

Not it’s not. It’s how some of you view the games. We win a single game and it’s like we are building towards an at large bid and if we win a couple more and if these other teams lose we can be closer to an at large bid.

We lose a single game and it’s fire the coach. Criticize individual players.

[RF1]

If URI couldn't beat FGCU on its homecourt, I have little faith it can beat either Harvard tonight or PC on Saturday. I think the odds are that Rhody's record will be 5-4 by the end of the week.

[steveystuds06]

If URI couldn't beat FGCU on its homecourt, I have little faith it can beat either Harvard tonight or PC on Saturday. I think the odds are that Rhody's record will be 5-4 by the end of the week.

I think they took FGCU lightly in the second half. They should be laser-focused this entire game. I think we pull it out.

Go Rhody!!!!!!

[PeterRamTime]

If URI couldn't beat FGCU on its homecourt, I have little faith it can beat either Harvard tonight or PC on Saturday. I think the odds are that Rhody's record will be 5-4 by the end of the week.

Who knows. We could beat Harvard and PC and then lose to Milwaukee.

[ramster]

If URI couldn't beat FGCU on its homecourt, I have little faith it can beat either Harvard tonight or PC on Saturday. I think the odds are that Rhody's record will be 5-4 by the end of the week.

On the positive side playing FGSU away, Harvard away and PC away can be character building. Win or lose these away games are good for teams to experience.

First time playing Harvard on their home court since 1928 - 93 years ago. Historic building for our team to experience.

If you consider The A10 to be a 1 bid conference this year (which I do) then games like FGCU, Harvard and PC are good in the long run - even if we lose. They will not effect our seeding in the A10 Tournament.

[rhodylaw]

If URI couldn't beat FGCU on its homecourt, I have little faith it can beat either Harvard tonight or PC on Saturday. I think the odds are that Rhody's record will be 5-4 by the end of the week.

On the positive side playing FGSU away, Harvard away and PC away can be character building. Win or lose these away games are good for teams to experience.

First time playing Harvard on their home court since 1928 - 93 years ago. Historic building for our team to experience.

If you consider The A10 to be a 1 bid conference this year (which I do) then games like FGCU, Harvard and PC are good in the long run - even if we lose. They will not effect our seeding in the A10 Tournament.

This was my thought on the scheduling this year - it was not a great schedule for an NCAA tourney bid necessarily but it was a good schedule for preparing for the A10 slate. We did not have a pre-season NCAA tourney team, but we could have a team that by January be a force in the A10 if we can get our guards to start closing out close games.

I also do not take much from the FGCU game other then we were tired in the second half. Third game in four days, playing a team on several days rest on their home court. That is not an easy match-up given those circumstances. Plus I think that FGCU has a couple decent players on that squad and is close to a bottom 4 - A10 team.

[Blue Man]

If URI couldn't beat FGCU on its homecourt, I have little faith it can beat either Harvard tonight or PC on Saturday. I think the odds are that Rhody's record will be 5-4 by the end of the week.

On the positive side playing FGSU away, Harvard away and PC away can be character building. Win or lose these away games are good for teams to experience.

First time playing Harvard on their home court since 1928 - 93 years ago. Historic building for our team to experience.

If you consider The A10 to be a 1 bid conference this year (which I do) then games like FGCU, Harvard and PC are good in the long run - even if we lose. They will not effect our seeding in the A10 Tournament.

This was my thought on the scheduling this year - it was not a great schedule for an NCAA tourney bid necessarily but it was a good schedule for preparing for the A10 slate. We did not have a pre-season NCAA tourney team, but we could have a team that by January be a force in the A10 if we can get our guards to start closing out close games.

I also do not take much from the FGCU game other then we were tired in the second half. Third game in four days, playing a team on several days rest on their home court. That is not an easy match-up given those circumstances. Plus I think that FGCU has a couple decent players on that squad and is close to a bottom 4 - A10 team.

Problem a lot of us had with the FGCU game was that we blew a 3 possession 2nd half lead to start the weekend when we had fresh legs. And then many more games (Duquesne, St Bona, UMass, etc) where we’ve followed that same pattern over the past 3 seasons.

That said, a win tonight would make us feel a lot better going into Saturday. We’ll see how we handle a man-to-man with our love of outside shooting.

[jcru]

Could David Cox turn this around? sure. The potential is there.

However, decades from now, if you remember ONE thing about a David Cox coached team, often they were Superman in one half and Clark Kent in the other, and the order of which half was going to be which wasn't possible to predict either.

Sometimes they start the game with no focus. Sometimes they are doing great and lose focus in the locker room at half time.

The common denominator here after 4 seasons is Cox himself. Is he focused all the time? Because his team has serious issues in that dept.

[RIFan]

So true. for decent stretches of games they look like they could win the national championship (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least an NCAA team) and for others they look like a bunch of guys that just met at the playground. These strectches often happen in the same game! Will the real Rhody Rams please stand up?!

[Rhodymob05]

So true. for decent stretches of games they look like they could win the national championship (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least an NCAA team) and for others they look like a bunch of guys that just met at the playground. These strectches often happen in the same game! Will the real Rhody Rams please stand up?!

I think you nailed it. The mental breakdown is infuriating and is on the Skipper.

[theblueram]

This will be an interesting game. It has zero impact on our ranking or standing for an NCAAT, but it appears these games have huge impact on the perception of the coach by fans.

[Blue Man]

So true. for decent stretches of games they look like they could win the national championship (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least an NCAA team) and for others they look like a bunch of guys that just met at the playground. These strectches often happen in the same game! Will the real Rhody Rams please stand up?!

Common Baron theme too.

It's called coaching. We recruit high level guys. Cox is a good recruiter regardless of his coaching style.

Any group of high level D-1 athletes can look like world beaters for a stretch. The teams that go far have a coach that can get them to buy into a system, and adjust said system based on what other teams are doing.

Any decent coach can look at what certain players are doing and then adjust.

So for us tonight - I am sure Tommy Amaker is preparing to go aggressive man and press our guards per usual - since we don't really have a set PG. Force us to make basketball decisions and see how we handle it. Will be interesting to see how (or if) Cox counters since our style of basketball has devolved into shooting 3's ad naseum.

[ramster]

So true. for decent stretches of games they look like they could win the national championship (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least an NCAA team) and for others they look like a bunch of guys that just met at the playground. These strectches often happen in the same game! Will the real Rhody Rams please stand up?!

Common Baron theme too.

It's called coaching. We recruit high level guys. Cox is a good recruiter regardless of his coaching style.

Any group of high level D-1 athletes can look like world beaters for a stretch. The teams that go far have a coach that can get them to buy into a system, and adjust said system based on what other teams are doing.

Any decent coach can look at what certain players are doing and then adjust.

So for us tonight - I am sure Tommy Amaker is preparing to go aggressive man and press our guards per usual - since we don't really have a set PG. Force us to make basketball decisions and see how we handle it. Will be interesting to see how (or if) Cox counters since our style of basketball has devolved into shooting 3's ad naseum.

So URI is tied at #301 in NCAA Statistics in 3 Point attempts.

URI is ranked 10th out of 350 teams in 3 Point Percentage

Harvard is ranked 12th

This is not last years team.

[ramster]

URI is 3rd out of 350 Teams in Blocked Shots

[Blue Man]

So true. for decent stretches of games they look like they could win the national championship (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least an NCAA team) and for others they look like a bunch of guys that just met at the playground. These strectches often happen in the same game! Will the real Rhody Rams please stand up?!

Common Baron theme too.

It's called coaching. We recruit high level guys. Cox is a good recruiter regardless of his coaching style.

Any group of high level D-1 athletes can look like world beaters for a stretch. The teams that go far have a coach that can get them to buy into a system, and adjust said system based on what other teams are doing.

Any decent coach can look at what certain players are doing and then adjust.

So for us tonight - I am sure Tommy Amaker is preparing to go aggressive man and press our guards per usual - since we don't really have a set PG. Force us to make basketball decisions and see how we handle it. Will be interesting to see how (or if) Cox counters since our style of basketball has devolved into shooting 3's ad naseum.

So URI is tied at #301 in NCAA Statistics in 3 Point attempts.

URI is ranked 10th out of 350 teams in 3 Point Percentage

Harvard is ranked 12th

This is not last years team.

1266340A-751E-4C05-BDD8-033ABA25D332.jpeg

And I 100% hope you're right.

Just too small of a sample size and too soft of competition to know "who" we are with regards to shooting prowess.

Anyone can hit threes in a gym if open. My concern is we've been missing the "open" threes and hitting the circus shots. That just usually doesn't hold up for an entire season.

If those numbers hold - then yeah, Cox will have solved the equation, we'll dance and plenty of us will happily eat some crow.

I think it's fair to be skeptical though, even though the numbers so far are encouraging.

Shepp has gone from 33% to 39% to a near Baron 46% this year.
Ish went from 42% to 53% this year.
El Amin was a 35% shooter and is now hitting 43%.

Again - it's early, but if these numbers hold from our guards? Than this is a completely different team than any of us thought, and would be in contention for one of the best URI shooting teams ever.

I just am being overly skeptical because of who we've been playing against and I've had my heart stomped into one billion pieces by this team.

But looking at stats and metrics that we've compiled against a 7 game Q3/Q4 schedule and saying "this is who we are" doesn't really seem wise.

[ramster]

Common Baron theme too.

It's called coaching. We recruit high level guys. Cox is a good recruiter regardless of his coaching style.

Any group of high level D-1 athletes can look like world beaters for a stretch. The teams that go far have a coach that can get them to buy into a system, and adjust said system based on what other teams are doing.

Any decent coach can look at what certain players are doing and then adjust.

So for us tonight - I am sure Tommy Amaker is preparing to go aggressive man and press our guards per usual - since we don't really have a set PG. Force us to make basketball decisions and see how we handle it. Will be interesting to see how (or if) Cox counters since our style of basketball has devolved into shooting 3's ad naseum.

So URI is tied at #301 in NCAA Statistics in 3 Point attempts.

URI is ranked 10th out of 350 teams in 3 Point Percentage

Harvard is ranked 12th

This is not last years team.

1266340A-751E-4C05-BDD8-033ABA25D332.jpeg

And I 100% hope you're right.

Just too small of a sample size and too soft of competition to know "who" we are with regards to shooting prowess.

Anyone can hit threes in a gym if open. My concern is we've been missing the "open" threes and hitting the circus shots. That just usually doesn't hold up for an entire season.

If those numbers hold - then yeah, Cox will have solved the equation, we'll dance and plenty of us will happily eat some crow.

I think it's fair to be skeptical though, even though the numbers so far are encouraging.

Shepp has gone from 33% to 39% to a near Baron 46% this year.
Ish went from 42% to 53% this year.
El Amin was a 35% shooter and is now hitting 43%.

Again - it's early, but if these numbers hold from our guards? Than this is a completely different team than any of us thought, and would be in contention for one of the best URI shooting teams ever.

I just am being overly skeptical because of who we've been playing against and I've had my heart stomped into one billion pieces by this team.

But looking at stats and metrics that we've compiled against a 7 game Q3/Q4 schedule and saying "this is who we are" doesn't really seem wise.

But it is who I hoped we would be. Yes it’s early.

Watch our players pass unselfishly. Double digit Assists are spread across about 7 players

Watch the reduced dribbling and much more passing of the ball, short, quick passes

Watch passes getting to open men because of the quick passes and reduced dribbling

Watch almost zero 3 point shots being attempted with the shot clock winding down because we dribbled excessively

Watch players receiving the ball chest high and able to shoot the 3 ball under control

Watch no circus or out of control 3 balls being shot

Watch our big men passing the ball inside and out for open 3 balls

Too early to judge? I think not.

[Jersey77]

So URI is tied at #301 in NCAA Statistics in 3 Point attempts.

URI is ranked 10th out of 350 teams in 3 Point Percentage

Harvard is ranked 12th

This is not last years team.

1266340A-751E-4C05-BDD8-033ABA25D332.jpeg

And I 100% hope you're right.

Just too small of a sample size and too soft of competition to know "who" we are with regards to shooting prowess.

Anyone can hit threes in a gym if open. My concern is we've been missing the "open" threes and hitting the circus shots. That just usually doesn't hold up for an entire season.

If those numbers hold - then yeah, Cox will have solved the equation, we'll dance and plenty of us will happily eat some crow.

I think it's fair to be skeptical though, even though the numbers so far are encouraging.

Shepp has gone from 33% to 39% to a near Baron 46% this year.
Ish went from 42% to 53% this year.
El Amin was a 35% shooter and is now hitting 43%.

Again - it's early, but if these numbers hold from our guards? Than this is a completely different team than any of us thought, and would be in contention for one of the best URI shooting teams ever.

I just am being overly skeptical because of who we've been playing against and I've had my heart stomped into one billion pieces by this team.

But looking at stats and metrics that we've compiled against a 7 game Q3/Q4 schedule and saying "this is who we are" doesn't really seem wise.

But it is who I hoped we would be. Yes it’s early.

Watch our players pass unselfishly. Double digit Assists are spread across about 7 players

Watch the reduced dribbling and much more passing of the ball, short, quick passes

Watch passes getting to open men because of the quick passes and reduced dribbling

Watch almost zero 3 point shots being attempted with the shot clock winding down because we dribbled excessively

Watch players receiving the ball chest high and able to shoot the 3 ball under control

Watch no circus or out of control 3 balls being shot

Watch our big men passing the ball inside and out for open 3 balls

Too early to judge? I think not.

Let's hope it translates into a win tonight.

[steveystuds06]

We are playing better team basketball this year. The Fatts show is gone, which is excellent... So far this year, we have shown that we can beat mediocre teams like BU, BC, and Bryant. Then we played a more formidable opponent in Tulsa, and things looked similar to last year. Games like tonight can prove to our fan base that we have made a real jump.

If both teams play their best game tonight, we are the better team. We should win, and I expect us to. Let's go!!

[steviep123]

Just bought my ticket - section 1, row L, seat 13....hope to see some of you there.

[McRam]

I will say I think URI has the better talent and I do expect them to win , though it is a true road game , and they did lose their only true road game .
I'm looking for another improved shooting performance and size advantage to carry them . N too much double teaming and not allowing uncontested threes should be the way to go.

Luke -you are 100 percent right. Just cover the three and get their attempts at threes to 15. Force them to drive into trouble.

Really don’t understand why we could not do this at FGCU

[RI_Bred]

Just win Rhody. Let's go.

[RI_Bred]

Remind me again why either Mitchell is attempting dribble penetration?

[Blue Man]

So like. Mitchell’s are going to be primary ball handlers?

[section(105)]

Cause in a few situations it results in bucket?

[PeteRI]

Did Shep just pick up his second foul in first 4 minutes?

[RI_Bred]

Ugh.

[Joe95]

That was el Amin fouling on the 4 point play. This team playing very indisciplined defense, Harvard will be at the line for the last 12 min of the half at this rate

[Blue Man]

Cause in a few situations it results in bucket?

And in more it results in a TO

[reef]

Slow start again 8-6 H 1434

[Joe95]

5 fouls already at 4 min mark and refs probably could have called more on Rhody so far.

[RI_Bred]

URI's inside game is working. Pound it in there all night.

[Joe95]

Bassy & Malik Martin providing a spark and I love it!

[reef]

12-8 URI 1327

We have a big size advantage

[RI_Bred]

I will say this Harvard play by play guy is decent.

[Joe95]

BASSY takes the charge!

[reef]

14-11. U. 12

Let’s extend this lead !!

[PeteRI]

20-15 at 9:28

[PeteRI]

Makhi and Shep both have 2 fouls already.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Thought that was cool when the ball bounced off the back wall, but I guess that can happen when you run that Princeton offense.

[PeteRI]

Horrible 3 brick from Walker.

[reef]

20-15 URI u 8

Feels like we should be up a little more here

[RI_Bred]

Sloppy right now.