PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Last year, Rhode Island looked like they may have hit rock bottom when they played arch-rival Providence. In an 80-61 loss, the Rams were not very competitive and the game didn’t seem as close as the final score. This time around, the Rams looked better and were more competitive, but they lost to a Providence team that suited up six scholarship players, one of whom had a very gimpy knee. The Rams also looked like a team that has notable shortcomings and struggles.
Turnovers haven’t been a big problem all season, but they certainly were on Thursday night, especially in a key stretch. URI was staying close, but inside of ten minutes Providence scored ten unanswered points to open up a 52-39 lead. The Rams finished the night with a season-high 20 turnovers.
“We’ve been one of the best teams in the country at not turning the ball over, and it’s disappointing to turn the ball over 20 times against someone that was playing a zone defense in the halfcourt the majority of the game,” said head coach Dan Hurley.
The Rams’ biggest issue is the lack of a post player they can reliably dump the ball down low to for a basket. Ryan Brooks isn’t that guy, nor is freshman Mike Aaman. Freshman Jordan Hare could one day be that player, but he isn’t right now; he’s a defensive presence, illustrated in part by his 2.7 blocked shots per game, which paces the Atlantic 10. A good development on Thursday night was that they were able to get Hare a few easy baskets with ball movement, which can only help his confidence, but for all his upside, he’s not going to become a go-to post scorer right now.
“Jordan Hare is going to be a special player,” said Providence head coach Ed Cooley. “He has a ton of ability that he doesn’t even know about yet. He’s got a chance to be really, really special.”
With the lack of inside scoring, this team often has to live and die by the three-point shooting of Xavier Munford and point guard Mike Powell, as well as what Powell and a few others can create. That also means they tend to get sub-optimal shot attempts, and a look at their shooting percentages tells the story as Munford is shooting from below 30 percent from long range and Powell a respectable 35 percent, a number boosted by a 5-6 outing in the tough loss to Seton Hall. Munford was 0-8 from deep on Thursday night and 3-13 overall.
Nikola Malesevic has some ability from long range, as well as some other tools, but he doesn’t seem to mesh well with the new staff. He has been suspended once and has yet to get untracked, although his numbers are respectable. One number that isn’t, however, is at the defensive end: he has fouled out in four of eight games in which he has played.
Rhode Island has a lot of issues for this season’s team. They haven’t been a good defensive team and have been out-rebounded by more than six per game on the season. Hurley noted that in each of the last three games, they have been out-rebounded by at least 10. That’s something that could in theory be more easily corrected with their current personnel. Offensively, there appear to be bigger challenges. Hurley said the rebounding issue may be the one they can best correct in the short term, and that will have wider implications as this team would have fewer chances to run and get easy baskets.
“If we don’t close the gap on the backboard, then we have no chance to win a game the rest of the year,” said Hurley. “Your perimeter guys can’t stand in outlet spots when there’s a war going on under the basket.”
For the most part, Rhode Island has established that they won’t surrender a lot of possessions. That’s not a bad starting point, especially after last season’s team did give away possessions. Now they have to do more with the ones they have, and that will take some work to get around the lack of a post scorer. They also have to finish defensive possessions with more rebounds.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier, with SMU up after final exams and a trip to Saint Mary’s after Christmas. The Atlantic 10 won’t be any easier as this projects to be a very good year for the conference with good depth. In other words, wins may be hard to come by this time around for the Rams, unless they can nip some problems in the bud in between final exams.
