PistolPete wrote:

Mike R and Coffee, right on point regarding TDM.  That was a 4 point swing and being up double digits at half time would have helped.  Maybe not change the outcome given how we puked the bed the second half, but he needs to quit talking smack and just let his play do the talking.

Not that I disagree, but at that point in the game I was concerned about his turnovers.
 

Lamar has had only 1 really good shooting game and that is tough.  Jett and Aceuff (name) will be pushing for playing time next year and we can use the shooter and a 6'3" Pg with skills to keep SC focused and fresh.  I don't think EBuckley is the answer there.

We played a very good, very high level, first half, followed by the worst half of basketball we played all year.  This was a team loss.  Unlike some here, I will not pin the loss on any one or two players.  Everybody played poorly.  My biggest disappointment was with the coaching staff, and their inability to adjust, and control.

Bottom line, however, we are still a very good team, well capable of beating any team in this League. The coaches can not allow one half of basketball define this team.  We will hopefully lean from this, correct some issues, and get back on track.  Unlike some I am not giving up on the NCAA posibility.  We are 15-3 and the opportunities to achieve that goal are still ahead.  Hopefully the team and coaches feel the same way. 
 

I think we've seen over Dambrot's three seasons here we are pretty even with URI, but the runs have been crazy. In 2018, we jumped out to a 38-23 lead only to have them finish on a 38-20 run to win by 3. In 2019, they jumped out to a 41-22 lead only for us to finish on a 53-31 run to win by 3. Then last night we lead 40-30 before they finished on a 47-15 run to put us away.

This one was definitely a team loss. The only guy who played well at all was Weathers and he fouled out so you can't say he played great. The second half was brutal. It wasn't just that the shots weren't falling, we weren't getting good looks at all. Then we let the emotion in the building get to us and completely lost it. We need to put this one behind us and focus on UMass. That is a must win to get back on track. Then it will be big getting Dayton at home. Even if we don't win (they look like a buzzsaw right now) we need to compete for 40 minutes. We still have an opportunity to make the NCAAs and anything less than the NIT will be a disappointment. We can't have any more halves like that one though.

DennisC91 wrote:

PistolPete wrote:

I missed the first 5 or 6 minutes of the second half (dinner) so what did Hughes do to get the crowd and Rhody fired up.  He needs to manage his temper/emotions better.  Keep the fire, but lose the emphatic body language and constant chirping.  Same for TDM.

Early in the second half, with the Dukes still ahead, Hughes had the ball stripped by a URI defender along the baseline, out of bounds, possession stayed with Dukes. Seemed to be some chirping going on afterwards, Hughes gave the guy a shove, crowd went nuts calling for a T. Considering how quick they called one on TDM in the first half, I'm surprised they didn't T up Hughes as well. Just after that, Hughes went to the basket, pretty much took a dive, managed to draw a foul, crowd again went nuts. Hughes missed one of two free throws. You can say that wasn't necessarily a bad play but the arena really seemed energized at that point after the crowd hadn't been much of a factor in the first half. Rhode Island clearly fed off that energy. Dukes still led by 7 after Hughes' made FT. Rhode Island scores on its next position, Langevine strips the ball from Hughes next time down for the Dukes, then scores on a putback at the other end, crowd loving every minute of it. Dukes work it into Hughes again next time down, Langevine defends well, Hughes misses badly, easy layup for Martin at the other end, suddenly leads down to 1, Dukes need a timeout, crowd going nuts. Pretty much all downhill after that. 
 

Perfect recap, DennisC91. On the first play that you described, Hughes was frustrated because the URI player defended him perfectly and beat him to the spot (and at first glance, I incorrectly thought the ball went off of Hughes leg out of bounds). Hughes was not the only Duke frustrated by URI's defense; I was impressed with URI's individual ball and team defense.

In spite of all of this, I thought the Dukes had steadied themselves when Ashton Miller hit the 3 to tie the game at 46 with a little over 12 minutes to go.  Then, Sin had a couple of turnovers, a couple missed shots, a Hughes turnover and the Dukes were down by as much as 9.  Then Weathers had a layup and a couple of FT's to cut it to 6 with 8+ minutes left; they took another punch and were still in it.  But that was it; the wheels came completely off from that point forward.

One thing I think I noticed in this game and others. I think we're getting a pretty fair shake from the refs so far this season. Anyone else feel this way?

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

I didn't know that John Carroll and his son were URI assistants.  I also did not know about John's serious health scare.  
https://www.providencejournal.com/sports/20200123/fortunate-john-carroll-happy-to-still-be-on-uris-bench

Good for John. 
 

phil95 wrote:

Does anybody recall whether he became ill before or after they came to Palumbo last year?

We hosted URI last January 30. He got sick in Richmond for a game against VCU on February 19. So although I (and apparently most of this board it seems) didn't know it at the time he was at Palumbo last year.

I don't think Carroll was on the URI staff until last year, but even if he was earlier we only play URI once a year. So if it was a home game you were thinking of it had to have been last year.