Four guys in double digits, three others with 8 & 9. Great balance.

Wonderful stuff.  ...This...This is feeling good.

OMG!  (as the kids would say).   Are we good?  I wouldn't say we are a better team withoiut Jun,but I will say that many of his teammates seemed to play better and do more these last 2 games.   I may have questoied Castro's ability to match up against A-10 quality bigs, but after 3 games I think the answer is he clearly can.  Jacoi puts up another statistical stinker, but I don't think we win the game without his play down the stretch, espeically being automatic in key FT situations (at least one of which was a one and one).    I did not know at the start of the game that Moss was out and assumed that it was just Autry starting instead.   Then Autry scored 8 quick points and I am thinking Caputo is a genius.  Actually I really don't know if I prefer Autry starting or off the bench.  Its nice having some scoring punch off the bench.  Likewise, I am not sure how I feel about Castro and Hanson on the court at the same time.   I was kinda MEH on it (again) as the kids would say) at first, because they are both somewhat limited offensively, but I like Henson at the high post and it seems to get Castro more in the offensive flow, and Henson is showing himself as a more versitle scorer than I had originally thought).

I really believe that the key to our improved play the last two games does have something to do with Jun not being available.   Specifically, CC cannot design his offense around Jun if Jun is in street clothes, so some other players must, perforce, play more minutes and assume more meaningful offensive roles.   Cases in point: Nessie and Bevins get some minutes on the court and do pretty well, the offense flows through Hansen - who moves the ball around  and distributes much more than Jun, Autry's playing time increases, Jones assumes a starting role, Drumgoole gets more shots within the new offensive scheme, and somehow the spacing improves for Castro who asserts himself more on the rebounding and inside defense.    All of which is to say that hopefully when Jun returns CC will tweak his role to fit in better with his newfound and more flexible offensive (and defensive) scheme, thus relieving Jun of the pressure of having the offense always flow through him.   I believe Jun might even raise his ppg average under such a newly tweaked scheme.

H&R..71 wrote:

Autry double double 10 pts and 10 effing Rebs!!!!
Jacoi 10 pts and 6 for 6 from foul line!
Team had 20 assists and 11 turnovers!!
Fun to watch and a happy return trip home.

The 20 assists are even more impressive with only four three-pointers, which are usually a big assist booster.

H&R..71 wrote:

The end of the TV coverage was weird.  Saw Caputo and Miller shake hands but then saw CC motion to the team to just go to locker room.  Did Rhode Island not participate in the handshake line?  Was the chippiness going to escalate?? There were definitely words exchanged after Ty got pushed in the back as he was airborne.  Just curious 

I believe the refs asked them to skip the handshake line in order to prevent any escalation 

Last edited by Florida Colonial (Yesterday 9:31 am)

What impressed me the most was as follows (in no particular order0

1.     After we blew a 15 point lead and URI charged back to take the lead, we kept our poise and controlled the final few minutes of the game.   Someone mentioned "maturity" (was that you, Wisconsin Colonial).   Absolutely.  
2.     The scoring balance.    We did not win the game because someone went off and had a career night, but rather we had balanced scoring, with our high being 16.  In fact, all of our starters scored between 8-16.
3.     Probably goes part and parcel with #2, but the 20 assists on 28 made baskets  shouts out at a "share the ball philosophy.
4.     The defense, the defense, the defense. We held one of the highest scoring teams in the -10 to 67 points.
5.    Our free throw shooting, especially late in the game.
 

Also want to give a shout out to Nessah.  He was really good off the bench with 8 points. 

Needs to improve his touch around the basket, but I’m really impressed with three things about him:

1) He is constantly cutting off the ball (I’ve gotten so used to seeing us stand around that it’s really noticeable when Nessah is constantly cutting to give someone a passing lane for a layup).

2) his ability to grab defensive rebounds and start the break is fantastic.  When he learns to better understand when to slow it down and how to finish a little better, he’s going to be an absolute beast with this ability.

3) He seems to compete really hard. Goes after boards, seems to be trying on defense (though still a freshman), is always looking to be aggressive on offense. 

Really like this kid.  He was deservedly +13 for the game (and Jacoi, who defended his ass off, was +15, which may help his confidence).

I love it! Back to back fantastic efforts, this time without the shots even falling from deep. For so many seasons, a lot of us could picture what a halfcourt offense should look like - a team that can moves the ball and finds a quality open shot. What we've seen the past two games is exactly that. Finishing with 20 assists in any A10 game is a massive success.

Rebounding was probably the only problem point, but Rhody is very aggressive there. Despite already being outrebounded, they were also missing two of their three best rebounders in Green and Fuchs so it could have been worse but the good news is only five players can take the court at a time.

Coming into the game, I thought that controlling pace would be critical, especially on the road. Most games you'll have me clamoring to have GW push the pace off misses and force teams to retreat. URI is probably one of the few exceptions, so I was pleasantly surprised to see us be able to match their frenetic pace and still come out on top. With Jun and Trey out, I thought fatigue might set in towards the end due to the fast pace but it did not. During the second half, Rhody's success often only came when they were able to get out in transition and have Thomas score or get fouled before GW could get set. I liked Diboundje's play and am surprised he wasn't playing much earlier in the year. Their halfcourt offense was pretty bad if I'm being honest but the Revs have really improved defensively this year and deserve credit. This year's defense has been really disruptive. Most importantly, it has helped GW keep pace when there are scoring droughts, preventing the other team from fully gaining the momentum. This was a pipe dream in previous years. If GW wasn't scoring, it was game over.

Another solid outing for Rafael. He tweeted "Get bacc fa da bros" after the game, and it was clear this game was personal for him from his time spent at Providence (and the fact the Friars lost to URI earlier in the year). He was probably overperforming with regards to his FTs earlier in the year and I would have hoped he pulled down a few more boards (just four yesterday, but foul trouble played a role) but his mobility down low is really a game-changer. How many bigs can intercept passes and start a one man fastbreak? Slim has done that all season.

I love seeing an aggressive Sean on offense. At this point, you can almost guarantee that he picks up a couple of steals and blocks every game. He really fought down low, although clearly undersized compared to Rhody's frontcourt. I honestly don't care if he misses a shot. With his efficiency, I'd take my chances. Hansen attempted 10 shots yesterday, which was only the third time he's done that in his entire college career.

I still find myself liking Trey off the bench. If I remember correctly, he actually wanted to be in contention for the sixth man of the year in the league so I'm not sure if starting yesterday jeopardized that. He's a great shooter, but there were two things I really liked from Tricky yesterday. 1) He helped take on some of the rebounding with Rafael in foul trouble and Trey out due to injury. On many possessions, he jumped over a bunch of players underneath to come down with a huge defensive rebound (especially down the stretch of the game). 2) Autry showed some of his passing ability. With Jacoi and CJ around he's not been able to show that part of his game as much but he's a pretty good passer, finding Castro and Hansen a couple times down low. He finished with three assists, which ties a career high I believe (he did that a few times last year).

CJ had an off game from 3 but he was fantastic as a passer yesterday. 6 assists to just 1 turnover. Surprisingly, all of those assists came before halftime but I think it once again helped GW to get off to a fast start. He was great with his on-ball defense again. Only credited for one steal, but I remember a play in the second half where Rhody turned it over because of his quick hands.

Gerald similarly had an off night shooting the ball (and occasionally forced the issue on his drives to the hoop) but in both rebounding and defense he really made his impact felt. The latter has been huge for the team. Coming into the year, defense wasn't a strength of Drumgoole, but perhaps some of that was playing on middling teams or maybe it's just realizing this is his last go-around. He's brought a lot more leadership to the table than I expected and that hasn't gone unnoticed.

Great minutes from Dayan again. Glad to see him get 18 minutes yesterday. Always looking to attack the rim, although his free throws looked like they were shot with some nerves. His tap-out rebounds tend to come at critical junctures of the game as well.

Ty's shot has been off the past several games when he's let it go, but I haven't yet felt that he's been a liability on the court by any means. He finished with three assists yesterday, executing some really nice passes in the halfcourt. Bevins made the extra pass to Nessah down low, and the pass to Rafael in the second half was not an easy one to make. Impressive stuff.

Finally, we come to Jacoi. Yet another inefficient shooting performance from him, and I wonder if Hutch is in his head a bit too much right now, thinking about the misses when he takes them. Still, I actually think CC made a great decision giving him significant run down the stretch. Coi can certainly manage a close game, and made his FTs at the end. I think there were a few plays in the game where CC tried running the off cut play with Sean initiating but the pass wasn't clean enough for Hutch to finish. Those kinds of plays can maybe help get him going.

The team gets a week off before Max and Duquesne arrive in DC. The Dukes have looked a lot better recently, so the team has to continue playing hard to hold serve at home. Kudos to CC and the players for really executing at a high level recently.

Gwmayhem wrote:

DMVPiranha, I can't thank you enough for these game previews.  They are always equal parts informative and well-written.  I don't know the amount of time you put into these but please know how appreciated your efforts are not by just myself but also by many others, I am sure.

That really means a lot - thanks!

gwstudent2024 wrote:

Someone posted DMVPiranha's preview on the Rhody board and this was a response:

"That game preview is from a fan whose commitment to their basketball program is the polar opposite of their school’s commitment to their basketball program.

Impressive."

Also multiple comments about how the preview was too long and they didn't read it, which maybe gives you an insight as to the quality of education at URI

Hahaha. Seeing comments about length is definitely a first!
 

moneybox wrote:

And the Post gives us one sentence and no box score! I guess we would have to win the national title to get an article. 

You're expecting a box score? It's 2025.