Rhode Island
- Thread starter Eight Legger
- Start date
I haven't lived in SF for years, but still a bit of a hike up from Raleigh to get the fries.
If it was what I think it was Hurley took exception to Mooney clapping excessively. Could be thinking wrong part of the game.
#11 Dowtin on Rhode Island had one of the worst games I have ever seen someone have in the Robins Center, yet he still played 28 minutes. His line was 2-11 FG (0-3 from three), 0-5 FT, 4 points, 4 fouls. Granted he did have 5 rebounds and 4 steals, but man. He was awful. Glad he never got in foul trouble.
Guys, call it what you want but I intend to call it a victory! We played possibly the best D that we have all season, shot poorly, shot FT poorly, turned the ball over but never trailed in this game and when RI made a run it never got below an 8 point lead. That's GRIT! Nice win by the Spiders when they needed a win. If anyone had said, "we will be 6-2 after the first 8 games," I believe everyone on this board would have peed in their pants. Well, we are 6-2. I believe! Go SPIDERS!!! And go change your under britches!
Our guys didn't make them miss all those layups or foul shots or dribble the ball off themselves as many times as they did. Did our team put a lot of pressure on them? yes. Did they still miss at least ten layups and ten foul shots? yes. If you are a fundamentally poor shooting and passing team and you spend most of the game trying to dribble through four guys at a time and you keep missing easy shots and throwing the ball away, you will probably lose more games than you will win. I haven't seen Rhode Island play this year but I can't imagine that they have played any worse than they did tonight. We played a good game but our big lead was enhanced by how awful they were.
It is a victory and its a good thing. Its just amazing how bipolor this team is. But 6-2 is far better than anyone expected.
It seemed they were pointing at someone in the third row across the court from Hurley. Refs pointed, security sat court side, and someone from UR said something to him.
Maybe they thought he was going to charge Hurley?
There was a silver lining to this game, in addition to the "ugly" win. First, TJ, and most of our guys stayed out of foul trouble. If TJ gets early fouls, we have no back-up plan that works except the 5 "guard" line-up, and that will not work consistently.
Second, kudos to the coaches for keeping the rotation very short for the last 15 minutes or so, and for keeping MW, KA, and PF out of the rotation. If he is not in foul trouble, we need Mr. Cline on the floor. We do not benefit by playing more guys.
Third, I was impressed by the toughness shown by both Monte and JJ, who simply did not back down from a physical team.
Fourth, I hope we learned a lesson or two tonight about dealing with a full-court zone press. Our guys did not handle it very well, and tried to dribble out of double-teams rather than pass out of them. We need to learn to pass in these situations.
Finally, I felt we got some very favorable calls tonight. In an away game those calls might go the other way, and this W might not turn out the same way. Good win, but plenty to be learned from this one.....
Second, kudos to the coaches for keeping the rotation very short for the last 15 minutes or so, and for keeping MW, KA, and PF out of the rotation. If he is not in foul trouble, we need Mr. Cline on the floor. We do not benefit by playing more guys.
Third, I was impressed by the toughness shown by both Monte and JJ, who simply did not back down from a physical team.
Fourth, I hope we learned a lesson or two tonight about dealing with a full-court zone press. Our guys did not handle it very well, and tried to dribble out of double-teams rather than pass out of them. We need to learn to pass in these situations.
Finally, I felt we got some very favorable calls tonight. In an away game those calls might go the other way, and this W might not turn out the same way. Good win, but plenty to be learned from this one.....
+1, I thought Nick played well on defense and set the tone early with some nice plays. I actually saw Nick show a moment of emotion.
. He had a tough shooting night from outside and missed an easy lay up during their comeback, but scored 10 points on some nice plays at the rim. He and Buck work well and together. Kwesi also had a couple of nice defensive plays, just wish he could rebound better.Most of all, against a bigger team, I really like how we kept the ball alive at both ends and didn't just shoot and run. I know it looked ugly, but the guys were really going after the rebound tonight. Nice for a change.
Last thing, we have got to learn to break a press. That should not be a problem with 3 or 4 guards on the floor at all times. (18 turnovers) That's when we really need that true point guard. Anyway, get ready to see that press the rest of the year, we can't handle it yet and we can't shoot the free throws.
Btw props to SDJ. Not always a fan of his ball handling skills, but 11-14 from the charity stripe was nice. Considering how poor our fts were elsewhere, this was huge.
Kirby was also a key cog in the machine against the press when SDJ had to sit with foul trouble late. Big for him to step in there under some intense pressure and hold up pretty well.
He has a complete game. He can score, handle the ball and rebound but most of all he's tough and makes those around him tougher. He leads on the floor, so, the answer to your question is yes.
Mooney did a good job coaching up the kids to prevent the dribble and drive that decimated us against GMU. Defense played really well
Rhody missed some easy ones but we played hard man to man defense especially in
the first half. But I thought except for their 11-0 run in second half, we did not allow them
a good rhythm. Matthews on one leg is pretty darn good and Hasan Martin was on bench
at key times. But young center for them had 23 rebounds and we still were within 7.
the first half. But I thought except for their 11-0 run in second half, we did not allow them
a good rhythm. Matthews on one leg is pretty darn good and Hasan Martin was on bench
at key times. But young center for them had 23 rebounds and we still were within 7.
This brought out one concern for me concerning depth and for fact, we can not
rest key players long. The last 7 minutes we looked real tired. Opposing teams
with deep guard bench are going to press us more to wear us down. T j has got
to do a better job of foul shooting and not forcing the ball when the safe play is open.
rest key players long. The last 7 minutes we looked real tired. Opposing teams
with deep guard bench are going to press us more to wear us down. T j has got
to do a better job of foul shooting and not forcing the ball when the safe play is open.
I feel like we've historically been very good at beating the press, even so far this season until last night. I think their size/athleticism had a big impact on the effectiveness of their press since our primary ball handlers are short.
Really glad to see Shawndre hit most of his free throws down the stretch. But man TJ has been so inconsistent with his, I really think it's just a mental thing. No reason a player of his caliber should be 1-6 including barely grazing the rim on one attempt.
Some positive things to like about this performance, some things that need improvement. Bottom line = a good win at home against a team near the top of the conference standings.
I felt like we played two games last night because that one took so long. We got that huge lead and there were still 8 minutes left or something, both teams were in the bonus with more than 10 minutes to go, it was hard even for me to keep focused on the fact that it wasn't over yet. There was probably bound to be some letup, and Rhody sort of all of a sudden decided it should play hard for awhile.
Good thing about this season is that a) we've gotten 20-plus point leads a handful of times already in conference play and b) we've won all of those games, too. Winnings yesterday negates the Mason loss and puts us right back on the track we were on. Beat Duquesne and then the outcome of the Dayton-VCU game is particularly positive for us either way.
Good thing about this season is that a) we've gotten 20-plus point leads a handful of times already in conference play and b) we've won all of those games, too. Winnings yesterday negates the Mason loss and puts us right back on the track we were on. Beat Duquesne and then the outcome of the Dayton-VCU game is particularly positive for us either way.
You local fans got a good ringer to get you that pizza!
Although he had already been inconsistent, TJ FTs looked different last night, and it started after he banged the other shoulder on the floor. I wonder if he felt a twinge when he raised his arms too high?
My observations:
1. Sure, Rhody missed some layups, but our D intensity had a cumulative effect on them over the course of that game.
2. We played mostly man to man, and not surprisingly, it was fairly effective. CM Evolution takes one giant step forward.
3. Still unclear if we're a good shooting team. We are consistently inconsistent from 3 and the FT line.
4. Only 8 total fouls at the 5:30 mark in the first half; 40 more fouls over the remaining 25 or so minutes. Score a victory for restraint and then recall it when everything goes to hell.
5. Hurley waited long enough that the game was out of reach to get the technical. Strategory.
6. I'm putting free McD fries on my free pizza for lunch.
1. Sure, Rhody missed some layups, but our D intensity had a cumulative effect on them over the course of that game.
2. We played mostly man to man, and not surprisingly, it was fairly effective. CM Evolution takes one giant step forward.
3. Still unclear if we're a good shooting team. We are consistently inconsistent from 3 and the FT line.
4. Only 8 total fouls at the 5:30 mark in the first half; 40 more fouls over the remaining 25 or so minutes. Score a victory for restraint and then recall it when everything goes to hell.
5. Hurley waited long enough that the game was out of reach to get the technical. Strategory.
6. I'm putting free McD fries on my free pizza for lunch.
I think TJ motion is too fast now on freethrows. Also I think we are best team now with Ball on floor Body on floor with JJ and Buck leads the way. This says to other team I WANT IT MORE THAN YOU DO AND I NEVER QUIT !
very nice to watch
Yes, very nice to have tough guys on the floor. This was the game I was expecting the "toughness" brought by Buck, JJ, etc. would pay off. I think Monte's message to Hurley was " The Buck stops here!!". Sorry couldn't resist.
TJ's shoulder must have been OK since he was practicing FT's after the game, info thanks to Moliva:
Great to see it! I would have expected it early this morning. But as always TJ exceeds my expectations...
And I will continue to promote my motto of Monte's boundless energy, with "The Buck NEVER stops here!"
Yes yes yes on #2. Felt Like we got away from it and especially against GMU. I don't like the matchup only for a change of pace.
Mooney said we played 99% man to man in the post game. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
Good for him. That system has gotten figured out. Time to move on to simpler more effective schemes. M to M is most likely the D the freshman have olayed their whole careers. Maybe also get a zone going in case we are getting killed in the paint.
gogo during the last 6 minutes we were just a tired team, coupled with fact they were ratcheting up the pressure with 4 defenders over midcourt. Buck is not a great ball handler so a lot of the pressure fell on Fore and SDJ. We needed less dribbling and more quick passing and maybe attacked a few times before their defense got back and that could have taken the wind out of their sails.
Good for him. That system has gotten figured out. Time to move on to simpler more effective schemes. M to M is most likely the D the freshman have olayed their whole careers. Maybe also get a zone going in case we are getting killed in the paint.
+1
Not hard with a good passing big man. He starts at mid court. Ball is passed in, he breaks to top of key area and receives the ball. He turns up court and the break starts. A guard streaks by, 2 passes and a dunk or shooting foul on the other end. Enough of that and the press gets called off. Or you can pull it back out. Either way, the ball is advanced across halfcourt quickly and efficiently. The funny thing about it is that the player on the receiving end of all of those passes for dunks/layups scores a lot of points and gets recognition for having some kind of "breakout" game. The reality is that he/she didn't have to do much but catch the pass and make the layup!
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Cline was open on the press but they only threw it to him once or twice. Unfortunately he didn't turn and go to the foul line for an easy jumper or bounce pass to a cutter for a layup. If he turns and heads up the court we not only break the press but have a chance for an easy basket. Hope someone tells him that.
One of the times they got the ball to him breaking the press he tried to hit Buck in the lane for a layup, but somehow Buck was double covered and we turned it over. Really didn't like that decision...no need to force things like that when we're trying to run clock.
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