Early in the second half against Marquette, Vincent Council tried going coast to coast for a quick layup after a Golden Eagles basket.  Council would have had an easy hoop, if not for getting the ball absolutely stuffed back by Friar killer and senior forward Lazar Hayward.  Check out the nasty block below.

Ouch.

I haven’t been keeping up with the play of Ryan Gomes too much this season, but I saw his name pop up in my Minnesota Timberwolves game notification.  Ryan has been doing pretty well lately, scoring in double-digits in six straight games.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he was conjoined at the hip with teammate Corey Brewer, creating an uber-basketball player?

(Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Anyways, Gomes scored 26 points last night, 20 of them coming in the first half of Minnesota’s 109-102 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.  He was 5-7 from downtown, and also pulled in 4 rebounds and dished out 3 assists.

Check out some highlights below from NBA.com to see Ryan in action.

Gomes is now averaging 10.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in almost 28 minutes per game.

The victory was a season high 4th win in a row for the Timberwolves, who are still in the basement of the Northwest Division at 13-38.

So PC got to face the weakest Gladiator (I may be incredibly dating myself here, but didn’t Mr. Dewey from “Saved by the Bell” try out for them at one point?) they will see amongst the six-game GAUNTLET, and they came up short despite some really great performances.  If there are any positives to take out of this loss, it’s that Greedy keeps improving and is awesome, and Bilal Dixon keeps getting better.  Vincent Council had a rough going at the end when he forced up a three to tie when nobody was open, but we already knew he was awesome.  Those three are going to be a great part of the team the next few years.

Read more about the game after the jump.

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Marshon Brooks: Never in my life I’ve been so uncomfortable on the basketball court…smh

Books posted this via Facebook this afternoon after the rough 82-79 loss to Marquette.  Marshon has had his ups and downs this year, and whenever he seemed to start really heating up offensively he would hurt his ankle or get a real nasty case of the flu.  This game was definitely one of his worst of the season while completely healthy.  With the Friars a bucket away from completing an improbably comeback, Marshon tried to take his man off the dribble for a layup in the lane.  However, Brooks couldn’t finish, and was blocked by Marquette’s Darius-Johnson Odom.  Having such an off game, Brooks needs to find other ways to contribute to the team, such as stepping up on defense, or using his great driving ability to feed open teammates who are particularly feeling it that moment.  As much as I’ve killed Curry and even Greedy at times for taking bad shots, the ball had to be in one of their hands on that possession.

We’ve seen what Brooks is capable of the last few years, so let’s hope he can use this game as a turning point.  Let’s hope #2 gets more comfortable out there, because the Friars are going to need him next year if they want to compete in the BIG EAST.

via BigEast.org

Despite two Friars getting double-doubles (Jamine Peterson 28 points, 11 rebounds and Bilal Dixon 13 points, 14 rebounds), the team lost a tough one late to Marquette 82-79 at home.

Why Marquette won: The Friars had control of the game for the first 30 minutes, but Lazar Hayward stepped up, and Marquette used excellent ball movement to create lots of open looks and easy baskets.  Providence kept fighting, and even had an amazing run to give them a chance to take the lead in the final minute, and even tie it in the end.  With 12 seconds to go and a three point lead, Marquette played excellent defense to force Vincent Council into an off-balanced desperation three to tie as time winded down.  Sharaud Curry (who was the only one would could hit a three all night - he was 5-9 and Providence was 6-22 overall) could not get open, and the late comeback fell short.

Turning point: In such a back and forth game with a crazy ending, it’s kind of difficult to define the exact turning point.  I felt like there were several, and they mostly involved poor plays by Marshon Brooks.  After one of Marquette’s 11 three pointers put the Golden Eagles up by 5 with about 4 minutes to go, the Friars really needed a quality possession to keep the game from slipping away.  Brooks got the ball, and drove out of control into traffic for an obvious charge.  Things looked over when it 80-73 with only a minute to go, but Providence fought back and scored 6 points in the span of 5 seconds! Vincent Council hit a foul shot but missed the second, and Curry got the rebound in the corner for a sick fall-away three.  Council stole the inbounds pass and fed Greedy for an easy layup.  After a timeout, Marquette was not able to inbound the ball and got a 5 second call!  Providence had the ball down 1, with under a minute to go.  Who gets the shot attempt?  Marshon Brooks made a nice move to the hoop but was faced with two Golden Eagles defenders as he went up for the tough layup.  Blocked shot (by Darius Mo$#F$#@-Johnson Odom of all people), and Marquette gets the ball back.  After an ill-advised three by Cubbilan, MU got a huge huge offensive, and Hayward was able to hit 2 foul shots.  PC could not get off a good shot off in the final 12 seconds trailing by three, and that’s the ballgame folks.

Player of the Game: Lazar Hayward.  This time for once, the Friars were burned by the opposing team’s star player.  Hayward scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half, and hit big three after big three.  Throw in some clutch free throws down the stretch, and there is your player of the game.

Goat of the Game: Marshon Brooks.  Only 4 points, plus 4 turnovers, 0-3 from downtown, and lots of bad plays in important situations.

LINKS

Friars.com Gametracker

ESPN Boxscore

Projo Hoops Blog: PC loses late to Marquette, 82-79

So after the first round of THE GAUNTLET, the Providence Friars were promptly stuffed in the face with a big puffy foam thingy by the likes of the American Gladiator TURBO.  Thankfully, the Friars get a “breather” (compared to the other 5 games, no disrespect to our opponenet) for round 2 when Marquette comes to town for a rematch.  This is definitely the most winnable game of the six game GAUNTLET, but it’s still worrisome considering this is the same team that blew out PC by 30 just a little more than two weeks ago.  However, Marquette found a way to lose to DePaul on the road immediately after thrashing the Friars, so who knows what to expect from this team.  The Golden Eagles have gone 3-2 since defeating Providence, but the wins were against Rutgers, DePaul, and Connecticut.  Who doesn’t beat Connecticut these days?

Plus, it’s Parents Weekend at PC!  Lots of opportunities for family members to mosey onto the court during the game!

Read more after the jump.

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The site “Lost Letterman” (a sports alumni site with a big database of players) compiled a list of college basketball stars who disappeared and became untraceable after their big success.  Two beloved Providence Friars made the list, along with one of my personal favorite players from my childhood, Walter Berry of St. John’s.

Basketball Players’ Top 10 Disappearing Acts

6. God Shammgod (Providence)

You’d think that with a name like God Shammgod you’d be very easy to find. Well you’re better off looking for God himself than God Shammgod. And with that name and a cult-like following, plenty of people are looking for the former Friars star. The man who reportedly taught Kobe Bryant his crossover spent much of his professional career in China and last played with the International Basketball League’s Portland Chinooks in 2009. Slam Magazine was the last to locate Shammgod in 2008 in New York and they even filmed him showing off some of his ball handling skills, which is better than anyone in Lochness could capture:

2. Jimmy Walker (Providence)

The former Providence star helped lead the Friars to a No. 3 ranking his sophomore year and is widely considered the greatest Friar ever. He was also named an NBA All-Star twice. After his retirement Walker was arrested in 1983 and sent to prison for 90 days for failing to file federal income tax returns. Later in life he disappeared, hiding in plain sight in Kansas City. He was back in the news when it was revealed he was the father of Fab Five star Jalen Rose.Though they spoke briefly in the past, the two never met in person. When Providence Journal writer Bill Reynolds finally got Walker on the phone in 2000, he told the star, “I’ve been looking for you for 20 years.” In 2007, Walker passed from complications due to lung cancer.

This will not surprise any Friar fans familiar with the antics of Dwain Williams (tranfered in ‘08), but Hawaii has suspended the former Friar sharpshooter for the second time this season, this time indefinitely.  Why, you may ask?

So Williams took offense at being suspended indefinitely from the University of Hawaii basketball team for missing one Samoan language class. He says he’s being treated unfairly.

Fa‘amolemole (which if Dwain actually went to class, he would know that meant “Please” in Samoan). Yeah, it seems pretty unfair that you would have to go to class, at you know, a college.

Maybe Dwain Williams is one of the fortunate few. Maybe he’s as talented linguistically as he is with his jump shot and he doesn’t need to attend class to pick up the finer points of reading, writing and speaking Samoan.

This was probably just the last straw, since he was already suspended for two games and had a host of other issues during the year.

There was that two-game suspension early on, over “miscommunication,” according to Williams. Team insiders say it was about Williams’ unwillingness to conform to the Rainbows’ system.

After missing two weeks recently mourning the death of his cousin, Williams reportedly returned to practice just two days ago as a “stronger person”.  Well, it didn’t take long for more problems to surface.  Williams has had numerous opportunities to get back on track, but his chances could be running out.

Williams has had a very strange road to the University of Hawaii after transferring from Providence in ‘08 (he was originally going to attend Miami-Ohio in ‘06 but bailed after a non-binding Letter of Intent).  At first was headed to Long Beach State to be closer to home, then supposedly ditched it to go play for Craig Robinson at Oregon State.  Even Kent State was thrown into the mix.  I think he signed LOI at some of them, but he never actually enrolled anywhere before landing at Hawaii.  Guess he wanted to keep his options open, or he really likes to travel!

Video

FNL4.COM Marathon Hawaii Dwain Williams taking over vs Northern Colorado on November 17th.

Links

UH point guard suspended from team

Suspended Williams got what he deserved from UH

The NBE Basketball report has a great update on the top prep underclassmen.  If you’ve been keeping an eye on FriarBasketball.net’s recruiting updates, some of these names will seem familiar as big PC targets.  Obviously, Ricky Ledo has been mentioned here several times, but nice to see this quote from his coach.

“Ricardo is accepting his challenges and he’s done OK. He knows he’s got to get better. He does one thing extremely well – he scores. But can you make your teammates better? Defense – he’s embracing it. All I ask of him is to just get better,” Hart said.

You had me at defense.

Also discussed are two top point guards. We can’t have enough point guards.

The 2011 class has a pair of point guards who are among the best in the country at their position in Shabazz Napier (Lawrence Academy) and Naadir Tharpe (Brewster Academy)

Anyways, the fact that we are pursuing these guys isn’t really new.  I just like reading how they describe who is involved — it just shows the hard work Keno and his staff are putting in to have a chance to land them.

Shabazz Napier - For the local, Connecticut was there as well, while Providence and UMass have tracked him hard

Naadir Tharp - Providence and Boston College have been on him the hardest

Ricky Ledo - Hart mentioned Providence, Rhode Island, Boston College as locals who have been there since early