Game #22: @ Fordham - Sat Feb 1, 7pm

[ramster]

It all factors in. The whole package.

It's easy to see the stats, and when you brick 'em up like we do, in most close games, you can see the result.

Maybe when we get the talent we need, we can afford to have an off night shooting from the line, and get away with it. Right now we can't.

The only game this year we could afford that, was the Dayton game. We would have won that one shooting 35% from the line.

But that's a rarity right now.

BAR, stop torturing us with the ugly details of that game. I had almost forgotten about them.
Not really.

[And I agree, the FT misses by Tyson weren't the sole reason we lost]

Bottom line is that we are not a good shooting team.

[theblueram]

Dear God, now we lost to Stanford b/c Tyson missed 3 free throws. Were you at the game? Did the Arthur Lee 3 pointer, the strip of Cat, the 3 pt play by Madsen, the TO by ARD or JHs inability to calm our team have anything to do with it? You guys are proposing simple solutions to much more complex issues.

Ha, actually I blame it on my father in law who came to our apartment at the 2 minute mark and proceeded to give me a lecture on the finer points of a table saw. Loved the man but sheesh, bad timing.....

HA, and I blame my mother who at the 1 min mark turned to me and said "now we have to go to San Antonio"? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

It's all good BAR. We will get the players and have a team. EC and Hassan are going to be anchors.

[rodfromcranston]

Well, while we disagree as to the extent of free throws being a problem
at least we now know who's to blame for the Stanford loss.
Blue Ram's father-in law and BAR's mother.
Glad that was finally settled.

[Sweep The Leg]

I stated this in one of our 20 threads on our bad free throw shooting. Teams can play a more aggressive defense against us because they are not scared to foul us. I want teams to be scared as hell to put us in the bonus or foul us at the end of games. Case and point, the STL game. Tied and they foul us with 20 seconds left, aganist any other team you would say stupid, right? Not against us it isn't. It's genius.

[ramfan85]

I have to agree with BAR on the free throws. Even if we shot better, the game would play out differently. Instead of our opponents running out the clock with a lead, they'd be trying to score. Anyone trust our defense to stop them?
Another factor is WHEN we make/miss free throws.
How did the teams we beat shoot them? If poorly, couldn't they be saying the same things we are about missed ft's?
I think we would have won a few that we lost, however, if we made some more of them.
I wonder what our percentage is for layups?

As for the Stanford game, I wish I could get that "no call" on Cat's play out of my head. Everything after that is sort of a blur.

[rambone 78]

85, the play that I'll always remember actually wasn't a play, it was Lee's line drive 3 that started our downfall. If that doesn't go, and we get the rebound, it's over.

Things just snowballed from there.

[bigappleram]

i agree bone, that shot is often overlooked but started the downfall.

[ramfan85]

Who can ever forget another classy Stanford genius giving the choke sign? I haven't been able to watch any Stanford game (even football) ever since.

[luke]

One point about the free throw shooting that I don't think has been mentioned is the position the team is put in by missing free throws. There have been games where we would have been leading or tied in games near the end which changes the dynamic of the game. If you are tied or ahead in the last minute or two you don't have to foul to get possession. I remember many games where the other team's lead was expanded because they made free throws that would not have been taken. The Lasalle game was not a ten point deficit until the end, bolstered by free throws in the attempt to get possessions. so an additional five free throw makes would have changed the end of the game. URI was down 7 points with 56 seconds left having missed 11 of 21 fts up to that point. Lasalle made seven free throws in the remaining 56 seconds. If say URI had made 16 of 21 ( 76%) they would have only trailed by two with 56 seconds left and would not have needed to foul to gain possession. This is just an example of how poor free throw shooting can impact a game. And of course free throw misses lift the other team's psyche and bring your psyche down.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Tj Buchanan isn't really a pg, but he wasn't really slotted to be anything coming into this season. If he knows he is going to play pg next year, I bet he comes back and is better than he already is, which is to say he is more valuable than he is now.

I think with mental reps and direction, he can offer a guy that brings the ball up, rebounds his position, knocks down set shots, still takes it hard to the rack when needed, most of all does what the team needs the way he does now, just more effectively and Efficiently.

As much respect as we give him on this board. I don't think ppl respect that he has been injury plagued so long and really didn't have a position on the team and was really on the back burner. I think his ceiling is higher than people think and can provide the bridge we need to a Garrett or whatever "savior" we can find.

Not that he is Jordair Jett or will be, but anyone familiar with SLU can attest that he is a much improved player this year, and nobody saw him being basically one of the most dominant players in the league this year.

[Running Ram]

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/ci-exclus ... 17658.html

don't know if it was posted here yet, but here's the Bill Murray interview from the game...

[SmartyBarrett]

I can't stop watching this.
Also, here's the video of Steph Curry that he mentioned.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... aged-women

[Rhodymob05]

so on to VCU..

[Shinze88]

so on to VCU..

This VCU game has the makings of a real nightmare experience. There isnt 1 matchup that we have going for us. VCU obviously plays their "Havoc" defense and our lack of a point guard and lack of a half court offense will limit our ability to score. VCU will press from the first made basket like no other team we've faced this year, again, how will we react to this? Their guards excel at dribble penetration, something we havent been able to stop all year. Throw in the enormous home court advantage they have and it could make for a long night. We did manage to play them fairly tough last year, lets hope the coaching staff has us prepared.

[Rhody72]

For those still talking about the Stanford game. Is this the future of being a URI basketball fan?

[rodfromcranston]

Dan laments free throws, again:

Bill Koch ‏@BillKoch25 13m
Hurley -- 'We blew chances in the first half (against Fordham)...Obviously you can't continue to give away opportunities at the FT line.'

Bill Koch ‏@BillKoch25 1m
Hurley -- 'The players know we need to make (free throws). That's part of why we're missing them. At some point it's repetition.' #URI #Rams

[Obadiah]

Sorry coach, but you can continue to give away opportunities at the foul line and that is why you will lose more games. If you're a bad shooting team overall, especially under pressure, then why expect better at the line where even a simple one and one presents the need for clutch shooting. All teams have problems with this, but with URI it is consistent; the only consistent aspect to their game.

[bigappleram]

Obes, I think that is what he is saying....that we cant continue to give away freebie opportunities. I would say our coach agrees with you.

[ace]

And there are more free throw related quotes (and more) on the radio show thread.

[section(105)]

I am glad to known now the FT is not a moving shot attempt.....who knew......