Rhode Island MBB's Home-and-Home Series with Nevada - My Likes and Dislikes
As reported by Jon Rothstein, Rhode Island MBB has begun a home-and-home series with the Nevada Wolfpack and that means it is time to pick out my likes and dislikes.
Likes:
1. Nevada is a NCAA tournament-caliber team under the lead of Eric Musselman. In recent times, they have made it into March Madness in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2017. Last season, they were eliminated in the Round of 64 after falling in an offensive shootout against the Iowa State Cyclones.
2. There is no questioning that the strength of the Wolfpack is their offense. They are a high-powered team when it comes to scoring the ball. After watching them last season in the Mountain West championship game as well as in the 2017 NCAA tournament, I know where their strengths and weaknesses lie. If the scoring ever goes cold for Musselman's team, they can struggle mightily. As with any offensive juggernaut, Dan Hurley and company have all of the tools to shut them down.
3. Nevada should remain atop the Mountain West conference and very relevant in the college basketball world for the next two seasons, thanks to their highly-prized transfers, Cody and Caleb Martin. The Martin twins are now eligible after sitting out the 2016-2017 season.
4. The Wolfpack are not an extremely strong team from the charity stripe. In the 2016-2017 season, they shot 70.5% from the free throw line as a team. This statistic can only help the Rhode Island Rams, considering their own historic struggles at the free throw line.
Dislikes:
1. Nevada's leading scorers from the 2016-2017 season, Marcus Marshall and Cameron Oliver have both graduated. Typically, this would be considered a good thing but without the services of Marshall and Oliver, the opposing team lacks a boatload of their offensive firepower from last season.
The schedule for the Rhode Island MBB team continues to impress me, time and time again. The Rams are primed to make the NCAA tournament this season and next season, as long as they win enough of the quality games that they have put together.
