SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I. – The Rhode Island Rams are not in a good place right now. That might be obvious if you see their record, but that doesn’t tell the entire story. Watching their 80-61 loss to Providence last Friday gives an illustration of how far this team has to go with three non-conference games left. And as if that’s not enough, things went from bad to worse right after Christmas.
“It’s not easy. It’s challenging right now,” said a subdued head coach Jim Baron after the loss.
Granted, the Rams started three freshmen and a transfer on Friday night. But this team doesn’t look much like the Runnin’ Rams of recent years, as even though they had their moments running they instead got run out of the Ryan Center by the Friars, who won there for the first time. While there is potential with some of the young players, it’s going to take time to get there and it’s hard to see this group being the leaders of a team that is as good as the Ram teams of two and three years ago.
Compounding that problem for this year’s team is leadership. The past few years, the leadership on the team has been tremendous, from Jimmy Baron and Kaheim Seawright to Keith Cothran and Lamonte Ulmer and then Delroy James and other classmates last year. This year’s senior leaders don’t appear to be of the same caliber. Orion Outerbridge is a nice player and nice young man, but doesn’t strike one as the leader type, and Jamal Wilson didn’t seem like that, either, before getting kicked off the team due to an unspecified violation of team rules.
While Wilson didn’t seem like the best leader, he was their leading scorer. He averaged over 16 points and five rebounds per game, and that production won’t be easily replaced. But at this point, it might be better that it opens up an opportunity for someone else to have an expanded role and perhaps earlier than one might have originally projected. Plenty of players could benefit, especially if Baron goes with small or big lineups at different times.
And at this point, it’s hard to imagine things getting much worse. This is a team that looks like they may have hit rock bottom.
“Guys are down, obviously,” said Outerbridge. “We’re down after every loss.”
Mike Powell and Jonathan Holton have shown potential among the freshmen, while guys like Dominique McKoy and T.J. Buchanan have to grow up faster if this team is to win more games. Nikola Malesevic will be out for some time with a broken hand, so that opens up more minutes and is also another hit to the team’s offense. The opportunity is clearly there for the young players.
The second half has been an Achilles heel for this team. The Rams have been outscored by 77 points in the second half on the season, an average of more than six per game. On three occasions, they have led at the half but lost. The loss against Providence showcased this problem, as the Friars started turning misses and turnovers into easy baskets at the other end in the second half, doing to the Rams what the Rams want to do to opponents.
Rhode Island has now lost eight straight, their longest losing streak since the 2004-05 season. Baron and his players seem subdued, and that’s not surprising considering that losing is tough on everyone.
“We’re trying hard not to let it affect the guys,” said Outerbridge. “1-11, that’s terrible. Some of these guys haven’t lost 12 games in their whole high school career. A lot of guys don’t know how to deal with it, but it’s just something we’re going to have to get through. It’s the reality. All we can do is try to get better.”
The Rams will take that streak south to the UCF Holiday Classic, where they open with James Madison on Thursday and then play either host UCF or Stetson on Friday. The Rams know things can get worse than they are now, and they aren’t prepared to let that happen without putting up a fight.
“We can lose every other game from here on out. That’s nobody’s mentality,” said Outerbridge. “We go into every game thinking we’re going to win. Everybody’s hyped before the game. The way we act before the game, you would think it’s the NBA Finals. We go out there and play hard, we’re just having a hard time playing a full game.”
