URI Basketball’s Key Issues - Jim Malachowski
Jim Malachowski, Sports Columnist
URI Basketball’s Key Issues - Jim Malachowski
Turnovers are also a major problem
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTURI’s other key weakness is a recent rash of turnovers. They had 17 turnovers against Providence College and 21 against McNeese State. URI now has more turnovers – 144, than assists – 129. Their turnover-to-assist ratio is a dismal 0.9.
Itejere is a gifted player. He is slim, athletic, and a great leaper. If URI was able to play Itejere in his natural position at forward, it would make the most of his talents and give the Rams additional offensive firepower. However, because there is no true center, he is being forced to play that position. Having to cover bigger, stronger, and taller players, Itejere has been foul-prone, and this exacerbates URI’s lack of a big man and depth inside.
URI thin underneath
When Itejere goes to the bench for a break or has to sit due to foul trouble, the best replacement is only 6’8” tall. URI has three players this height, but only one real option to replace Itejere. Redshirt senior, 6’8” Alex Crawford, plays soft and cannot take over the center position. Another 6’8 “ player is freshman Javon Perry, who is a wing. Perry has not received much playing time this season, and has not been used to date to fill in for Itejere.
That leaves 6’8” 220 lb. redshirt senior Drissa Traore as the only option. Traore has bulk and strength and the body of a power forward. But he is not equipped to cover opposing centers. He is not a shot blocker or has the ability to be a presence in the middle of the defense.
Opponents have taken notice.
After losing its two best players from last year, Brown basketball is rebuilding. It brought a young team to the Ryan Center, with URI being favored by 13.5 points. The game was a tightly fought battle. During the first half, Brown outscored URI 20-14 in points in the paint. URI pulled away late in the second half. With 8 ½ minutes to play, URI surged and won by 10. Brown is not a particularly strong rebounding team. However, they outrebounded the home team 43-39, gathering a remarkable 20 offensive rebounds.
After the game, Brown coach Mike Martin was asked about his team’s success inside. He said, “After looking at URI’s roster and their previous games, we emphasized rebounding and getting the ball inside.”
Providence goes big to win
With Providence College ahead by two, 55-53, with 11:56 left in the game, PC coach Kim English made substitutions to go with a taller lineup. Every PC player was taller than the URI player who was covering him. Over the next five minutes, PC went on a 13-2 run, effectively putting the game away.
PC dominated inside. They outrebounded URI 34 – 26, got 32 points in the paint, and blocked 8 shots. After the game, English was asked about preparing to play against URI and whether he emphasized rebounding and getting the ball into the paint. He emphatically said, “Yes,” then repeated the word “Yes,” and also said, “We emphasize rebounding and getting inside.”
After the PC game, Miller said, “It was very difficult for us when they went big. I thought that helped them, especially in the paint with the bigger bodies.” He also said, “their bigger lineup impacted their defense more than their offense.
McNeese State “Steals” the game
Looking at the stat sheet, URI’s 21 turnovers jump out and were a major factor in the Rams’ two-point loss to McNeese State. The final 30 seconds epitomize the situation. With the game tied at 64, URI had the ball with a chance to win. A McNeese defender poked the ball out of Jahmere Tripp’s hand for a potential steal, but the possession arrow after the tie-up went to URI, allowing the Rams a second chance to come away with a victory. URI never got a shot off as they turned the ball over again. McNeese went down the other end and hit the game-winning shot with 1.3 seconds left.
After the game, Miller said the obvious in talking about the 21 turnovers, saying, “We are turning it over way too many times by multiple players.” and “The turnovers were too much for us to overcome.”
Miller continued discussing specific reasons for the turnovers, such as not anticipating correctly, having to move the ball differently, failing to recognize opportunities to cleanly get the ball to players, and dribbling too much. Beyond technical explanations, there were just too many “What was he thinking?” passes by URI players.
URI - disaster on the glass
In addition to the turnovers, URI’s lack of height and depth also played a significant role in the loss.
Earlier in the year, after letting Albany get 18 offensive rebounds, Miller said the team was “a disaster on the glass” and needed to “find a harder edge rebounding.” He went on to say the team had to rebound “by committee on the boards.” And finally, in talking about what he told his players, he said, “If you are not going to box out, you are not going to play.”
6’4” guard Tyler Cochran has heard the message as he is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 5.5 per game. 6’6” guard/forward Jahmere Tripp is fourth at 4.3 rebounds per game. They and others are crashing the boards, particularly on the defensive end, to help limit opponents’ offensive rebounds. Despite this effort, McNeese State had 12 offensive rebounds to only 4 by URI.
This margin, along with the turnovers allowed, allowed McNeese to take 60 field goal shots to only 39 for URI. This is a significant differential in shots. In the PC game, the shots were PC 54, URI 56.
You can’t be in two places at the same time
The consequence of this all-out effort to rebound on the defensive side of the court is hurting URI’s offense. The team’s overall strategy is to play up-tempo, to fly down the court and create fast-break opportunities. To have defense lead to offense. If you are boxing out and crashing the boards, you can’t get out front, leading, or participating in the break.
The Rams had only 6 fast break points against McNeese. The fast break points over the past three games are significantly lower than the 25 they had against Yale and the 22 they had against Stonehill. This has created a problem for the URI offense, which is not particularly good in its half-court offense. After averaging 79 points a game, they are now down to 67 during their last three games.
Crashing the boards hurts the running game
When asked about the tradeoff of board crashing hurting the Rams' running game, Miller said, “If you can’t rebound on defense, you can’t run, and the speed of our team and transitions are the best thing we do. But the worst thing we do from the defensive side of the ball is defensive rebounding. So, when we struggle with defensive rebounding, and you give up offensive rebounds, it really eliminates your transition game. I think McNeese getting 12 offensive rebounds is probably a big factor in why you didn’t see a free flow of pace. It’s the biggest concern and the biggest weakness, and it's not a very big secret right now.”
The Rams have two more games before conference play begins and two major weaknesses to correct.