Rhode Island Hoops Saved

Billy Baron is coming home. Questionable as to whether we have to wait a year to see him play. Elliot Williams was able to transfer from Duke to Memphis and got an NCAA waiver to be with his mom who was allegedly sick. He then one and doned the program so it's unclear how sick she truly was. We can certainly make the agurment that Jim Baron is a bit mentally unstable and needs his son nearby.

"Virginia is a great place, but I want to go home, be with my family and play for my dad," Baron said in a statement released by the university. He's transferring this semester.

Billy Baron, from East Greenwich, R.I., played in 17 games and averaged 3 points. He had a game-high 19 points in Virginia's victory over William & Mary in the season opener and 14 points in a win against USC Upstate in the next game, but has played sparingly since.

"I knew when Billy decided to come to Virginia he had a very hard decision and labored over it," Bennett, who played for his own father, Dick, said in the statement.

"Obviously we're sad to see him go and appreciate his contributions to our program, but the desire to play for your father is very strong, as I can personally attest.

"We'll miss him and wish him well."

- From Boston.com

AHHH We Suck Again!

So I headed down to the PC vs. URI game. It was fun, loud, and yet I left with the same feeling I always have after watching a URI game.... They could be good, but they aren't and we are on the way to the NIT again.

I wish I could have more faith, but they do the same thing every year. This time with a couple early losses, they just seem to be doing it quicker. So, for you URI fans out there here is how you can think about this team.

Delroy James is really good and he might even be good enough to get URI a win against a ranked team. Other then that this team is nothing special, and isn't going anywhere.

Baron does it again!

Jesus' take on last night's URI-UNC game.

UNC 68 - URI 67

Let me just start by saying this. I was very impressed with the efforts from the Rhody Rams in the last few games. Delroy James played like a man among boys throughout this tournament, making big play after big play, and even getting Raftery to draw comparisons to the great Sly Williams. Beating a good Nevada team and winning in Blacksburg in a hostile environment against VaTech was no small feat. That win against VaTech was arguably the best Ram performance of the Baron era. The Hokies were 19-1 at home going into that game, and both teams were playing to win. They came from behind and looked poised. But just when things were starting to turn for ol' friend Jim Baron, the same problems reared their ugly head.

Most of the readers (if not all) don't know this about me, but I grew up a mere stone's throw from Keaney Gym and was raised as a Ram season ticket holder. I attended Skinner's, Harrick's and DeGregorio's basketball camps (3 pt champ for my age group at Harrick's!). To say that I am a huge Ram fan would be an understatement. I remember vividly the days of Kenny Green, Jeff Kent, Andre Samuels, Antonio Reynolds-Dean, Abdul Fox, Preston Murphy, Cuttino Mobley, Tyson Wheeler, Zach "one man army" Marbury, Lamar Odom, Brian Woodward, Dustin Hellenga, Jimmy Baron and the current squad. I've seen a great number of NBA players make their way through Keaney Gym - Eddie Jones, Aaron McKie, David West, Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, Mike James, Yinka Dare!, Smush Parker and many others. Never, in all those years though have I been as frustrated as I am now.

I know it was the NIT (Not Invited) and maybe a lot of fans don't care, but that game last night would have been great for the program, and perhaps helped Baron get over the hump with that one marquee victory he has been looking for since he got to Kingston. His body of work is impressive enough, but it is when you look at specific games, and all the big wins they have choked away under his reign, that is just too much to stomach. Last night, we saw why Roy Williams is a different class of coach than Jim Baron. I didn't actually think the talent level was that much of a disparity. Cothran was getting to wherever he wanted on the court, Ulmer was as athletic a guy as there was out there, and James was at times the best player on the floor. With URI leading and the game waining down in regulation, Williams knew exactly what was going to happen and he had Baron in his crosshairs.

Having 4 timeouts to play with (too many college coaches waste these) he let his team play through a rough patch, and when it got close he threw that full-court pressure on the Rams, and Baron was caught with his pants down. How do you not have a go-to inbounds play against full-court pressure in a tight game?! They turned it over once that I remember, but had no effective possessions in the last two minutes. The free-throws didn't help, but his failure to draw up inbounds plays led to the wrong guys shooting FT's. It really is inexcusible, and just proves that Baron is not the X's and O's coach this team needs. I feel bad for the boys, who played pretty hard but didn't have a coach to get them in a position to be successful. I think Baron is a good motivator, and a decent recruiter (in the East esp) but just can't hack it in game-time adjustments.

Hopefully, this will be the last of the Jim Baron era. I don't wish the man any ill-will, as he did a lot to rebuild this program back to respectability following the debacle that was the DeGregorio era. In the end though, I think he has gotten us as far as he can. Let's get a young, dynamic personality in here. Someone who can steal a few recruits from the east coast dynamos and get this team back to the tournament with some consistency.

I'm Rhode Island born and Rhode Island bred...

Jesus.Out.

A Little School Pride

If URI beats Temple today they should be in, if not, we will need Florida, Miss. State, Minnesota, and Ole Miss to lose and maybe we could sneak in it. If not, NIT or Bust and Fire Baron.



Game is on at 1 everyone.

So What Now For The Rams

Let me preface this post by saying I absolutely do not believe URI will fire Jim Baron once they are bounced in the 2nd round of the NIT. They simply do not have the balls or the money to blow paying off the rest of his salary. He renegotiated his contract during his first couple seasons in Kingston to a 10 year, 4.5 million dollar deal which does not expire for another three of seasons (after the 2012-2013 season). If he were to be relieved at the end of the current season, URI would be stuck paying him some 1.3 million.

Here’s the problem – the state of Rhode Island is broke. They are too broke to pay someone who’s no longer employed and they are too broke to hire anybody decent at today’s wages. Most D1 coaches are taking home at least $750k/year – far more than Baron is making in his current deal. Add in the money the school and the state would still owe Baron and we are talking about paying over $1 million per year for a basketball coach. Not going to happen in Rhody. In Indiana? Yes. North Carolina? Absolutely. Anywhere in the Northeast? Nope.

Let’s say Baron resigns or by some act of God, Rhode Island actually holds a state employee accountable for sub par performance. Who’s next?

One astute commenter pointed out Ed Cooley, current men’s coach at Fairfield. He’s done a solid job down there by most accounts and he’s got a solid resume as an assistant working for many years under Al Skinner at BC. His current salary is less than Baron at around $250k/year and he’s a Rhode Island native so the hometown discount could come in to play. The biggest drawback – he was also an assistant coach under Jim Harrick at URI and we all know how hard the school has tired to distance itself from that era.

At the end of the day, this is the type of guy Rhody will have to settle for. Somebody relatively unknown that would work for cheap. Our best hope is that they find a diamond in the rough, like Memphis did with Josh Pastner, who can come in and start recruiting right away. There are plenty out there, the trouble is identifying them.

The other option is to take a scandal tarnished coach desperate for a shot to reclaim his reputation. The first name that comes to mind there is Quin Snyder, former head coach at Missouri where he led them to their highest ranking ever and an elite 8 berth in the NCAA tournament. He was dismissed after 3 scandalous seasons with accusations of paying players and forging academic transcripts. He’s currently coaching in the NBA D League where he’s allegedly happy but I’m sure he’d like another crack at the college game.

Outside of that it is anybody’s guess. URI is in a real bind here with no money, a shitty recruiting class (especially with Billy on the way to UVA) and not much to build on. In all likelihood, Jim Baron will finish out his contract before slipping off into the night and the URI basketball program will be set back 15 years. It’s unfortunate but also the standard for state schools in professional sports markets.

Just for kicks, top 5 candidates for the URI job –

Quin Snyder
Tommy Amaker
Chris Collins
Steve Wojciechowski
Nate James

In that order.

The Writing is On The Wall

It is on the floor and the ceiling too. Time to say good night to the Jim Baron era in Kingston RI.

His welcome first wore out back in 2004, then again in 2005 and pretty much every disappointing February and March since. Just when we thought we were stuck with four more years of an overrated father/son combo, the former retaining his job through some sort of reverse nepotism, it looks like the youngest Baron is off to play with the big boys in the ACC.

According to the Projo and Scouts.com, Billy Baron is considering or has already accepted a scholarship to play for Virginia in the fall of 2010. Coach Baron has acknowledged as much saying when the ACC comes calling, you have to listen. It's safe to say that is not a problem the elder Baron will have in the near future...or ever.

Since Jim Baron is an employee of the school, Billy never had to sign a letter of intent to play for the Rams making the Virginia decision a litte easier.

It has always been my belief that JB Sr maintained his job during the middle of the decade due to the prominence of JB Jr who almost single handidly put URI in Lunardi's bubble watch year in and year out before Sr destroyed it. When rumor had Billy coming to campus, it looked as if the Rams were back to square one. Now that he's taking his game (which isn't half bad, 3 star recruit, 37th best PG in his class), it's time his father packed up the moving van and moved along with him...not to coach of course, that would be crazy. But it sure would be nice seeing a familiar face in the stands as Duke wipes the floor with the Cav's over the next four years.

h/t The Sporting Blog

Jesus' Weekly NCAAB Update

Last week's team of choice was Purdue, and following a win over Illinois and vaulting to #3 in the rankings I am still drinking the Boilermaker kool-aid. However, this weeks flavor of the week is definitely the UConn Huskies. The Huskies have finally begun playing the way they were expected to heading into this season. They've really responded to Coach Calhoun's tongue lashing a couple weeks ago with big wins over Villanova and now, West Virginia. Two top 10 teams! UConn has played their way back onto the bubble, and are looking good heading into the final few games of Big East play.
Joe Lunardi's bracketology has them as one of the first four teams out, (before yesterday's win) but Jesus believes otherwise. They have three tough games remaining, though that could work in their favor. "Look at the last 10 games," the tourney committee always says. Well, UConn's last 10 are against RPI top 70 with the exception of Rutgers and DePaul and Notre Dame, including Villanova, WVU and Syracuse- all top 10 teams! They'll probably need to win some games in the Big East tourney but I like the way they're playing. Breakneck pace and relentless on the glass at both ends.

In other top 25 news Ohio State beat Michigan State in a very entertaining game, and Evan Turner has supplanted himself as one of the very best players in the country. Those kind of go-to players can always carry a team to a few wins in the Big Dance. (Be on the lookout for Jesus' Bracketbuster tips for the office pool in the coming weeks.)

New Mexico...repeat...New Mexico, has entered the top 10. They only have three losses, and could be one of those Cinderella teams come March. Right now, they're one of the hottest teams in all the land.

Villanova has lost three of their last five games and opened the door for either Purdue or Kansas State or Duke (gulp) to grab the fourth #1 seed.

Butler continues to climb the ranks despite much smiting from Jesus.

And URI really fucked their chances at top 25, but is still on the bubble after an insufferable loss to St Louis led by walrus-man Rick Majerus.

Northern Iowa still sits at #24 and in Lunardi's most recent bracketology are faced up with...wait for it...the Rhode Island Runnin' Rams in a 6-11 match-up. Good! Maybe Rhode Island can resuscitate their dying season and stick it to this lame-ass team. It will all hinge on beating Charlotte on 3/3 and UMass on 3/6.

Here's a look at the top 25, with the last result and next game.
(record, points accumulated and previous ranking)

1. Kansas (61)
Last game: vs Oklahoma, W 81-68 (2/22)
Next game: Oklahoma St. (2/27) 26-1 1621 1

2. Kentucky (4)
Last game: at Vanderbilt, W 58-56 (2/20)
Next game: South Carolina (2/25) 26-1 1559 2

3. Purdue
Last game: vs Illinois, W 75-65 (2/20)
Next game: Minnesota (2/24) 23-3 1470 4

4. Syracuse
Last game: at Georgetown, W 75-71 (2/18)
Next game: Providence (2/23) 25-2 1455 5

5. Duke
Last game: vs Virginia Tech, W 67-55 (2/21)
Next game: Tulsa (2/25) 23-4 1323 6

6. Kansas St.
Last game: at Oklahoma, W 83-68 (2/20)
Next game: Texas Tech (2/23) 22-4 1302 7

7. Villanova
Last game: at Pittsburgh, L 65-70 (2/21)
Next game: South Florida (2/24) 22-4 1189 3

8. West Virginia
Last game: at Connecticut, L 62-73 (2/22)
Next game: Cincinnati (2/27) 21-6 1183 8

9. Ohio St.
Last game: at Michigan St., W 74-67 (2/21)
Next game: Penn St. (2/24) 21-7 1097 9

10. New Mexico
Last game: vs Air Force, W 59-56 (2/20)
Next game: Colorado St. (2/23) 25-3 997 12

11. Georgetown
Last game: vs Syracuse, L 71-75 (2/18)
Next game: Louisville (2/23) 18-7 846 10

12. Pittsburgh
Last game: vs Villanova, W 70-65 (2/21)
Next game: Notre Dame (2/24) 21-6 806 19

13. BYU
Last game: at Wyoming, W 85-63 (2/20)
Next game: San Diego St. (2/24) 25-3 795 16

14. Michigan St.
Last game: vs Ohio St., L 67-74 (2/21)
Next game: Purdue (2/28) 21-7 794 11

15. Butler
Last game: vs Siena, W 70-53 (2/20)
Next game: Valparaiso (2/26) 25-4 673 18

16. Vanderbilt
Last game: vs Kentucky, L 56-58 (2/20)
Next game: Georgia (2/25) 20-6 599 17

17. Wisconsin
Last game: vs Northwestern, W 70-63 (2/21)
Next game: Indiana (2/25) 20-7 528 14

18. Gonzaga
Last game: at Pepperdine, W 72-54 (2/20)
Next game: Santa Clara (2/25) 22-5 506 13

19. Tennessee
Last game: at South Carolina, W 63-55 (2/20)
Next game: Florida (2/23) 20-6 480 20

20. Temple
Last game: at St. Joseph's, W 75-67 (2/20)
Next game: Dayton (2/24) 22-5 452 21

21. Texas
Last game: at Texas Tech, W 71-67 (2/20)
Next game: Oklahoma St. (2/24) 21-6 445 15

22. Texas A&M
Last game: at Iowa St., W 60-56 (2/20)
Next game: Baylor (2/24) 19-7 225 24

23. Richmond
Last game: vs Geo. Washington, W 74-70 (2/20)
Next game: Xavier (2/28) 22-6 202 25

24. Baylor
Last game: at Oklahoma St., L 75-82 (2/20)
Next game: Texas A&M (2/24) 20-6 147 22

25. Northern Iowa
Last game: vs Old Dominion, W 71-62 (2/19)
Next game: Evansville (2/23) 24-3 128 NR

Rhody Lives to See Another Day

URI rallied to beat Niagara tonight, 68-62, in a game they could have easily lost.

Rhody seemed over matched at times against Niagara, though show me a game in the past eight years where they haven't looked over matched for at least small stretches. Tonight, they needed a 10-0 run from Kahiem Seawright (yes, he scored all 10 during this run) to put the Rams up for good. Jimmy Barron went 6/6 from the line in the final 40 seconds to ice it.

Next up is Penn State, a team they already beat once this season. They will have to travel to Happy Valley again since PSU comes in as the two seed in their region. Should Rhody get by the Lions, a date with Providence potentially awaits. Nothing like a little revenge for the 1 point loss earlier this year. Providence first has to get by Miami and the winner of the Florida/Jacksonville game.

Don't sleep on this NIT field, it is pretty loaded with teams like Kentucky, Davidson, Miami, VaTech, St. Mary's and San Diego State. Oh yeah, Notre Dame and Georgetown too. Could you imagine a day when ND, Georgetown and Kentucky would all miss the Big Dance?

Fire Jim Baron!!!

URI had their chance once again this year to make the NCAA tournament. They teased me, it seemed possible, all they really had to do was beat a UMass team that only had 12 wins all year!! Once again URI chokes down the stretch, and I know they will choke in the A-10 Tournament. Baron is great at somehow getting to 20 wins, but every year his team chokes down the stretch, and I am fucking sick of it. It is time to fire him, and bring back the one guy that knows how to get it done...Mr. Dustin Hellenga!

What A Night In College Hoops

Duke gets the HUGE W on the road in Maryland (something UNC could not do) and URI leads off SportsCenter.

That has to be a first for the Rams, right? I mean on a day when the greatest golfer alive makes his return it's URI leading off the most watched sports show on the planet. Can't say I caught the game, not while Duke was on but imagine my surprise when the game ends and it rolls to SC and video of students storming the Ryan Center.

This isn't quite beating the number one team in the nation good (as the neighbors to the North did last night) but this is pretty fucking impressive. Not just the win, they needed it and Dayton is solid, but the fashion. Tie game, in OT, out of control drive to the hoop that some how falls as time expires. It gets no better.

Is URI a tourney team? Nah, not right now. They need to win out and make some noise (at least a final appearance) in the A10 tourney. SI's version of Joe Lunardi had this to say about the Rams the other day -

"It's also time to mention Rhode Island (20-8, 9-4; RPI: 68; SOS: 120), which is this close to having a really solid profile. The Rams lost at Duke by three, at Providence by one, "at" Oklahoma State by four, at Saint Joe's in overtime, to Xavier by two, at Richmond by three and at Temple by six. Can they overcome all of that if they beat Dayton on Wednesday and finish 12-4, which could even tie for the league crown if things break right? They'd likely need a deep A-10 tourney run, but it's not impossible. This is a pretty good team."

A win down in Cameron early in the season certainly would look nice right about now.

Duke Pulls off Gutsy Comeback

After falling behind by as many as 12 points, the Blue Devils came roaring back in the final minutes to overtake the unranked Rhode Island Rams. URI came ever so close to snapping Duke's record of 61 straight non conference home victories led by Jimmy Baron's 8 3-pointers (7 of which came in the 2nd half). The Devils were led by Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, both hitting clutch free throws down the stretch.

As a proud URI alumni, this game was emotionally draining. If not for a few early NCAA tourney exits and general under performance over the past few years, I would have been all about a Rhody win. However, since 99.9% of the country is anti-Duke and loves nothing more than to see them suffer, the Blue Devil in me could not take the verbal abuse of a loss to an A10 team. Haters will hate so I am sure there will be plenty of laughs even with the win. Duke was at home playing an inferior team that has yet to see the NCAA tourney in the new millennium.

Being a glass half full kind of guy, I prefer to view this as a learning experience that the team can build off of as they head towards conference play. Singler and Scheyer both stepped up when they had to and it was refreshing to see the team with some go to scorers when the heat is on. I know it's early but this team has all the makings of a championship team. Expect to see them cutting down some nets come April.