Game Thread - URI @RC Wed 1/21 7p ESPN+

[brooklyn brownstone]

I think my favorite part of the game was when Ungerer kept pointing out that all the stats were in the favor of UR and asking how UR could be losing the game.

[slow camera pan to sideline]

 

[URFan1]

Just enjoy the journey and the fact we have players with Richmond across their chest and a coach who loves the University, graduates his players, and represent the University with class.

These are basic requirements, not to receive 'special" reward.

 

[Spiderguy]

Can we all agree that playing Argabright in the low post on defense down the stretch was just pure genius by Mooney?

But that was totally expected. No surprise.

 

[MrTbone]

I think my favorite part of the game was when Ungerer kept pointing out that all the stats were in the favor of UR and asking how UR could be losing the game.

[slow camera pan to sideline]

Except we got outrebounded by 10. Nothing real new there, but that and free throws pretty much made the difference.

 

[RichmondNative]

Sarcasm would answer why change anything ‘cause a broken clock is correct twice a day.

I’m liking the broken clock analogy, but to describe the Mooney tenure as a whole. His clock doesn’t have 12 hours, but the exact rules apply. Going to cycle through a bunch of bad times, to finally hit one that’s right. Then you get to hear how great everything is when nothing actually changed.

As @SpiderLaw said, I too go to games out of habit now. I definitely don’t go for the in game experience and know exactly what I am doing to see from the team. But I like live basketball, so I go. Of course, I did cut down on the tickets I purchased because the OOC home games were a joke.

The saddest thing is the A10 conference is not a tough league competition wise and UR is missing an opportunity. This year it is St Louis and Mason as the 2 best teams. The league is more or less wide open. I really feel like the broken clock could even win the championship. But it wouldn’t mean that UR had a great basketball program, it would mean time was on its side (again).

 

[Spiders4ever]

Sarcasm would answer why change anything ‘cause a broken clock is correct twice a day.

Change lineup, change tempo, maybe press, stop the weave, switch up the D, crash the boards, don’t pull players after one mistake, take a timeout to give a pep talk of encouragement emphasizing what is working, Anything …but then again I’m not even watching the game.

Still not sure of the Mooney Substitution pattern 2 minutes into the game. What's the point? Just start the subs.

 

[carolinaspider]

Because he's a good passer--being serious. That's what Bob Black said on SpiderTV

But you enter a guy who is stiff from sitting since the first half and expect his best
and you don’t have a second option? That is poor planning and coaching! The whole time he
was walking to the other end, he looked like a bear who just came out of hibernation.

 

[Spiders4ever]

Let’s not support a program that settles for mediocrity. Keep the ball rolling.

Remember- When Spiderwill was in town he supported VCU by going to their game instead of coming to the Spiders game.

There's some effing support for you.

 

[Spiders4ever]

Archie Miller- Coach in waiting

 

[Spiders4ever]

Can we all agree that playing Argabright in the low post on defense down the stretch was just pure genius by Mooney?

Luckily he has the hops for it

 

[*23*]

Archie Miller- Coach in waiting

With this masterpiece win, Coach Miller moves to 20-40 in A10 play. Congrats Coach Miller!

 

[Kneepad McKinney]

My takeaways:
1. I watched on ESPN+ replay and as soon as we got a 6 point lead and Bob said "the spiders can take their largest lead on this possession" and we ended up with an AP brick from three, I knew that we were going to lose.
2. I agree AA should be playing 35 mins a game. The difference between him and Tyne isn't close.
3. FT shooting lost the game. For all of whatever flaws we think Mooney had in the game, we had the ball and the lead with 25 seconds to go, only AA and WJ touched it, and WJ -- a 90% foul shooter -- missed the front end. We drew it up fine, had who we wanted at the line, and he missed it. And other than AA, the entire team was atrocious at the line.
4. I love J-Rob's athleticism, but man is he a terrible defender. He's unplayable in close games. Oh look, I just pump faked typing this sentence and J-Rob just flew past me...
5. Daughtry's TO problems are persistent and aggravating. It's the same one over and over -- turns his head to back down a man and doesn't see the second guy who easily takes the ball from him.
6. For all the defending of the switching on D in the STL game Mooney did, it sure looked like we tried a little harder to get through screens so that our midgets weren't guarding their big man. Which just irritates me more about the STL game now.
7. The refs were bad, and the play at the end where the ref blew his whistle for the sole purpose of having a few kids on the RI bench to sit down after Walz already had the ball and we started our play, is just unbelievably bad. I absolutely would have gotten 2 techs and an ejection as a coach.
8. I'm good with more Will Harper and less Colin Tanner. I think Harper has upside as a defender.

 

[Fatherspider]

Just a terrible outlook. And you call yourself a Spider?? SMH

Seriously, get lost. Im sick and tired of your type. Yes Im a Spider fan and I bet a far more passionate one than you. Mooney is horrendous and needs to be removed and whatever makes that happen I am all for it. The guy put this schedule together, not for the players to improve and be challenged but for his own self preservation. He has destroyed the program and the passion to be fans with his ineptitude and cowardice.
I know he is coach for life so being a Spider fan is a stupid waste of time and by the crowd size and enthusiasm I see that many other are feeling the same way.
So to you I say … get lost.

 

[Fatherspider]

It’s the only outlook. You said 13-5 as our conference record. Already got 4 and it’s not even February yet. And we’ve only played like 2 good teams. Mooney Hypebeast will claim we lost cause no big man but the guards cooked us.

If you are a REAL fan of the program and The Spiders, its the only outlook.

 

[97spiderfan]

My takeaways:
1. I watched on ESPN+ replay and as soon as we got a 6 point lead and Bob said "the spiders can take their largest lead on this possession" and we ended up with an AP brick from three, I knew that we were going to lose.
2. I agree AA should be playing 35 mins a game. The difference between him and Tyne isn't close.
3. FT shooting lost the game. For all of whatever flaws we think Mooney had in the game, we had the ball and the lead with 25 seconds to go, only AA and WJ touched it, and WJ -- a 90% foul shooter -- missed the front end. We drew it up fine, had who we wanted at the line, and he missed it. And other than AA, the entire team was atrocious at the line.
4. I love J-Rob's athleticism, but man is he a terrible defender. He's unplayable in close games. Oh look, I just pump faked typing this sentence and J-Rob just flew past me...
5. Daughtry's TO problems are persistent and aggravating. It's the same one over and over -- turns his head to back down a man and doesn't see the second guy who easily takes the ball from him.
6. For all the defending of the switching on D in the STL game Mooney did, it sure looked like we tried a little harder to get through screens so that our midgets weren't guarding their big man. Which just irritates me more about the STL game now.
7. The refs were bad, and the play at the end where the ref blew his whistle for the sole purpose of having a few kids on the RI bench to sit down after Walz already had the ball and we started our play, is just unbelievably bad. I absolutely would have gotten 2 techs and an ejection as a coach.
8. I'm good with more Will Harper and less Colin Tanner. I think Harper has upside as a defender.

Agree with all of this. And a couple addendums.

1. Colin Tanner is on such a short leash right now. One mistake and he is done. He is completely in his own head at this point, kind of sad to see. I'm no fan of CT's play but watching him go from starter to not even playing, you have to feel for him.
2. I want to see more of Harper for sure, he give us good minutes. He strikes me of having the same athletic limitations as Tanner does, but he has better basketball skills/IQ than CT.
3. Daughtry does have a TO problem, he has also a defense problem. He struggles to keep his man in front of him.
4. J-Rob. I love his athleticism, but where does he play. Too short to be a center, can't defend wing players.
5. After Johnston missed that FT, I knew almost 100% that RI was gonna go down and score. And when they did, they might have just ended the game. I can't not remember Mooney drawing up an end of game scenario that has resulted is in even getting a good look. Walz threw it at our own players feet resulting in an easy turnover. Just complete garbage end of game execution on both ends of the floor. That's largely on Mooney cause we see this year after year regardless of players.
6. What in hell is Tyne doing in the game at this point, other than just running around getting cardio. He is giving us nothing on either end of the floor.

 

[SensibleSpider]

Agree with everything that has been said above and just wanted to add a couple more observations:

1. AP seemed to be in the doghouse until almost the end of the first half. He didn't take his warmup off until it was clear that Beagle and Walz were ailing. For as much as people rag on his shooting, and rightfully so, he did an admirable job stepping in as the 5 man. For as complicated as the Mooney system supposedly is and for how little (if at all?) AP has played the 5 position, I think he did a nice job on both ends (minus the 3 pt shooting, please stop shooting..). He has a couple of nice assists, offensive rebound and defensive plays. Still think he deserves minutes but needs to be told to stop shooting unless at the end of the shotclock and is wide open.

2. I would love to know what type of offensive philosophy URI was running, I could not for the life of me figure out what they were trying to get into on offense. It was chaotic and they jacked up a ton of threes for a team that stinks at shooting. But they figured out they can drive on our small guards with little to no rim protection and exploited that over and over again. I would've liked to see more of a pack line defense in the second half, especially without our 2 centers, to force them to shoot from the outside.

3. If we are going to feed Daughtry in the post, which is clearly something we are making an effort to do, we should clear out that side of the floor to create more space for him to take on his man. On more than half the plays, he drops his head and doesn't see the double team coming and then turns the ball over. We need to make it easier for him to have a 1x1 matchup and ALSO have some offensive acting running on the other side of the court as either a decoy or passing option for him.

 

[*23*]

Excellent observations by all. Agree about AP, thought he did an admirable job filling in, and getting boards and on D. But he should not have a green light from 3. I get that it is hard to tell someone you can't shoot those in today's game, but they are so low percentage he needs to stop. in kenpom A10 stats u need 2 3pt shots per game to qualify, he is next to last for all A10 players.

 

[Plydogg]

Like others have said here, there was a point late in the second half where we all knew exactly how this game would end.

Question for those of you at the game. I noticed that on the broadcast that as soon as the game ended the band started playing and cheerleaders immediately ran out to dance. It was so quick that at first I wondered if the cheerleaders thought that we had won.

Is it always like that after a loss, especially a close loss? I haven’t noticed it before but maybe I just wasn’t looking for it. It reinforced to me that the administration is just happy to be playing basketball and the outcome isn’t as important as everybody being around the campfire singing kumbaya.

 

[Section9_RowD]

Like others have said here, there was a point late in the second half where we all knew exactly how this game would end.

Question for those of you at the game. I noticed that on the broadcast that as soon as the game ended the band started playing and cheerleaders immediately ran out to dance. It was so quick that at first I wondered if the cheerleaders thought that we had won.

Is it always like that after a loss, especially a close loss? I haven’t noticed it before but maybe I just wasn’t looking for it. It reinforced to me that the administration is just happy to be playing basketball and the outcome isn’t as important as everybody being around the campfire singing kumbaya.

hmm - didn't realize the cheerleaders ran out ... I don't think that is normally done after a loss

 

[Long Time UR Fan]

Like others have said here, there was a point late in the second half where we all knew exactly how this game would end.

Question for those of you at the game. I noticed that on the broadcast that as soon as the game ended the band started playing and cheerleaders immediately ran out to dance. It was so quick that at first I wondered if the cheerleaders thought that we had won.

Is it always like that after a loss, especially a close loss? I haven’t noticed it before but maybe I just wasn’t looking for it. It reinforced to me that the administration is just happy to be playing basketball and the outcome isn’t as important as everybody being around the campfire singing kumbaya.

I was at the game but can't answer your question. I was disgusted and focused on getting out of there as fast as I could.