Back to the games - Rhode Island

[spideroo]

Rhody's best win is against a not-so-impressive Houston team. They do have scorers both inside and outside; five players average double figures.

Spiders need to force their big men into turnovers and limit them to a handful of threes. In the end, I believe the team that shoots a higher percentage from inside the arc will win it.

 

[Eight Legger]

Certainly a game we can win and one that I hope we will feel extra urgency TO win, given Saturday's result. Gotta steal a road game to even things out when you lose at home.

 

[spider23]

URI is banged up, but they had a lot of guard depth to start with, and made a very smart move to pick up grad transfer Four McGlynn who has picked up for a lot of the scoring lost when EC Matthews went down. They still play defense, so this will be a battle. Hopefully SDJ is healthy. Need a big bounce back win here. Unfortunately have to miss this one as I have two sons starting for our high school team and they have a game Tuesday as well. Last one I missed at URI was the blizzard game in 2010, which the Spiders pulled out and helped boost us to an NCAA appearance.

 

[coachfezz]

Rhody's best win is against a not-so-impressive Houston team. They do have scorers both inside and outside; five players average double figures.

Spiders need to force their big men into turnovers and limit them to a handful of threes. In the end, I believe the team that shoots a higher percentage from inside the arc will win it.

Thank you .. I think I like to see more players even if only for 2 minutes. I think this is more important for the season. Those who have played understand the difference between practice and the feeling when you are in the game against players you have not played against. Our young players need this because for example when 2unit plays first unit 2 players on first unit little scoring and this is not always the real game so defense in game is difference. Also pivot offense moves is new in the real game so the defneder will be more surprised by them . In practice everyoneknows the moves. I think of Giddings, Garrett and Duinker when I think of this.

 

[ur2K]

They've had a ton of injuries. Matthews is out for the year, Iverson was out but played in the last game, Martin has been out the last 2 games but will probably be back against us.

This was the most physical team we played last year, hopefully our guys are ready to bang in a tough road game. This would be a great one to steal on the road.

 

[SpiderRick]

Free throws are crucial, especially in the last 5 minutes

 

[9Legs]

Need to keep Allen and Cline out of early foul trouble with all the physicality - we have had a tendency on the road for this to happen as with Texas Tech. I am sure that part of URI's game plan will be to go right at them. Dick Tarrant use to employ the same strategy against David Robinson and it worked. Agree that we also need to get to the free-throw line early and hit 75% of our attempts

 

[coachfezz]

i think when you play good teams you cant play players with no offense. this year defense doesnt have to plkay long and offense has to score in less time so it is double worse to have no offense payers with many muinutes

 

[SouthJerseySpiderFan]

Thought this matchup or even Fordham on road could end up a L, so like MM stated in other thread, just have to now win next 2 to be at 2-1 which most posters would have taken. Of course history might tell us getting 2 straight away wins isn't highly probable. Then change must occur and maybe it starts with some adjustments by the coach.

 

[MolivaManiac]

I watched most of their game on Saturday. This game is there for the taking.

 

[SpiderK]

i think when you play good teams you cant play players with no offense. this year defense doesnt have to plkay long and offense has to score in less time so it is double worse to have no offense payers with many muinutes

Our big guys need rest too!!! Tired of seeing their tongues hanging out while shooting free throw bricks. Like coach said, they need someone to play at least a few minutes

 

[whampas]

i think when you play good teams you cant play players with no offense. this year defense doesnt have to plkay long and offense has to score in less time so it is double worse to have no offense payers with many muinutes

Very insightful. Good explanation for premium on offense.

 

[urmite]

I watched most of their game on Saturday. This game is there for the taking.

Any word on Martin's recovery or lack of same? If this is his first game back, hoping he doesn't have full impact on the game.

 

[ur2K]

From a uri writer

 

[CoxHub]

We've got a preview of the game below. Martin was moving much better today, big improvement from the weekend.

http://www.coxhub.com/articles/uri-youngsters-stepping-up-as-rams-host-richmond

 

[sdspider]

Guys I hope everyone is feeling the mojo for beating RI. I don't have a good feeling so I hope it's just me. Physical team likes to rebound just read only three other teams have given up less threes than them in the country, is that right? They've had our number of late, I don't like their coach or style of play, but it seems to work against the finesse of the spiders.

Saw in the RTD online and Mooney interview on Spidertv the need for better D and they are working on it. I hope we see it because we will need to rebound to win this one on the road

 

[Spider B]

We need MW to shoot it better from 3 tonight. When he is hitting shots it makes our offense much more dynamic. Odds are URI will grab some offensive rebounds, so we have to counter those second chance points with 3s. Also need to create turnovers and get some easy baskets in transition. Oh, and of course make free throws when we have the opportunity.

 

[Hanca]

Talent-wise, UR 10 points better than URI, even away. NO reason to lose this game.

 

[spiders13]

“I don’t know exactly what it is overall, but I know we’re really working hard at it,” Mooney said. On what's causing our defense to be so woeful. That doesn't make me feel very good about our defense moving forward.

 

[97spiderfan]

Our offense is not the problem it is our defense giving up far too many easy open shots, particularly from 3.

 

[sdspider]

Talent-wise, UR 10 points better than URI, even away. NO reason to lose this game.

Hanca I hope ur right, I just know how we tend to play on the road against physical teams, and especially one who has shown they can take away the three. We will see tonight. Go Spiders

 

[kneepadmckinney]

I think I know what it is: TJ, Marshall, and ShawnDre are subpar defenders. If we're going to have them on the court, our defense won't be as good.

It would be nice if Trey Davis came back from Christmas Break in time for the game tonight. He's our most physical guy, and we'll need something more than 0 points and 1 rebound in 30 minutes of playing time.

 

[ur2K]

The system should work even with "subpar" individual defenders to a point. Opponents should always have a man on them based on our system - if the opponent hits a shot when covered, then that's either bad individual defense or a good shot by the offensive player. Bigger issue this year is bad communication and bad rotations and not knowing when to stay on your guy or let him go to the next guy leaving free looks for shooters. I can't remember as many open 3s taken against us as I've seen this year.

Watch our defense, there's a whole lot of scrambling to cover an open guy, jumping at a outside shooter and pointing and yelling as to where people should be - that's not supposed to happen within our system. There's got to be an element of cohesion and trust the way our defense works and its not there this year which is odd considering how many years collectively they have playing it.

 

[97spiderfan]

Watch our defense, there's a whole lot of scrambling to cover an open guy, jumping at a outside shooter and pointing and yelling as to where people should be - that's not supposed to happen within our system. .[/QUOTE]

Yep, all of the time. St. Joes is not a 3 point shooting team but they hit 11 against us, easy to make em when you are wide open.

 

[urmite]

Watch our defense, there's a whole lot of scrambling to cover an open guy, jumping at a outside shooter and pointing and yelling as to where people should be - that's not supposed to happen within our system. .

Yep, all of the time. St. Joes is not a 3 point shooting team but they hit 11 against us, easy to make em when you are wide open.[/QUOTE]

A good example was Papa (#12) on Saturday, were any of his 6 attempts contested? He made 9-20 the last seven games but before that hadn't played March 2014. Shot 41% from 3 in 2013-2014. I think his 3-6 was a big difference Saturday...

 

[32counter]

URI(-4.5) O/U 142

 

[urmite]

URI(-4.5) O/U 142

Yep, URI is supposed to beat UR by the same margin the UR beat SJU (on paper).

 

[spiderman]

Hanca already set the line at UR -10.

 

[LongTimeLurkerFirstTimePoster]

Tonights key, we need Marshall and Trey to score a combined 15 points.

 

[Spider B]

Tonights key, we need Marshall and Trey to score a combined 15 points.

So you are saying we need Marshall to have a big game. Can't count on Trey scoring. If he does, it's a bonus.

 

[fan2011]

So you are saying we need Marshall to have a big game. Can't count on Trey scoring. If he does, it's a bonus.

Trey outscored or tied Wood in scoring in 6 of our 13 games so far... Trey averages 6.1 points a game, Wood averages 9.1. They both score, Wood gets an extra basket or so over Trey a game on average.

 

[UR Fan 2]

Spiders win 80-68 tonight in a route. Wood flips the script and goes 5-7 from 3 pt land..... You heard it here first.

 

[spideroo]

I still believe this game is won based on shots attempted in and near the paint -- the team that shoots a better % with its 2-pt FGs will get the victory.

 

[fan2011]

I still believe this game is won based on shots attempted in and near the paint -- the team that shoots a better % with its 2-pt FGs will get the victory.

We shot a higher percentage from 2 against St. Joes and Texas Tech. We have the 26th highest 2FG% in the country.

 

[fan2011]

It's interesting to look at what people said about this game in retrospect.

Our offense is not the problem it is our defense giving up far too many easy open shots, particularly from 3.

This is our biggest problem this year, and was a huge problem again tonight.

Tonights key, we need Marshall and Trey to score a combined 15 points.

They combined for exactly 15 points. Wood scores 8, Trey scores 7.

I still believe this game is won based on shots attempted in and near the paint -- the team that shoots a better % with its 2-pt FGs will get the victory.

We won this battle by a lot, 56% to 41%. Our 2pt offense is one of the best in the country, has been for the past 1.5 seasons with Cline and Allen. Our 2pt defense hasn't been great this year, but was good today.

To me it seems that defensively there is a huge difference from last year which is very strange. Our increase in offensive performance is in my opinion smaller than our decrease in defensive performance. We lost K0, ANO and Josh Jones, and one or more of these guys apparently had a huge impact on our defense.

 

[fatherspider]

It's interesting to look at what people said about this game in retrospect.


This is our biggest problem this year, and was a huge problem again tonight.


They combined for exactly 15 points. Wood scores 8, Trey scores 7.


We won this battle by a lot, 56% to 41%. Our 2pt offense is one of the best in the country, has been for the past 1.5 seasons with Cline and Allen. Our 2pt defense hasn't been great this year, but was good today.

To me it seems that defensively there is a huge difference from last year which is very strange. Our increase in offensive performance is in my opinion smaller than our decrease in defensive performance. We lost K0, ANO and Josh Jones, and one or more of these guys apparently had a huge impact on our defense.

The two point d stats are misleading imo. Uri had many many easy inside baskets where the d was completely lost. If you watched the game yoi would not say our Interior D was good.

 

[urmite]

The two point d stats are misleading imo. Uri had many many easy inside baskets where the d was completely lost. If you watched the game yoi would not say our Interior D was good.

They can be misleading in isolation. If our opponent gets 3 shots from 2 feet each possession but only makes the last one, then 2 pt D will say we held them to 33%.

 

[urfan1]

If you are hitting 3's why take 2's

 

[SpiderRick]

Spiders win 80-68 tonight in a route. Wood flips the script and goes 5-7 from 3 pt land..... You heard it here first.

So what's your last word? Your always the optimist, time for some realism.

BIG KUDOS to TJ Cline, 28 points (13-17) filled the stat sheet, ZERO FOULS. also Terry Allen, 18 points even though he is now constantly double/triple teamed. Both hustled all game on both ends. S. Jones is obviously hurt. The rest of the team is playing just plain bad, at least away from the Robins Center

 

[Eight Legger]

Davis and Taylor combined to play 65 minutes last night (!) and accumulated the following combined stat line:

4-8 shooting, 10 points (1-2 FT), 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 5 fouls.

Not shown in the stats are the number of times they got torched on defense. If they are such defensive stars, then a) why are they contributing a total of ZERO steals per game and why is their assist/turnover ratio basically negligible, and b) why are they getting beaten on switches so often? As seniors and "defensive specialists," they should know the defensive scheme better than anyone else on the team.