Highlights from last night’s Minnesota Timberwolves victory, with a few good shots from Ryan Gomes.
Archives For November 2009
The Minnesota Timberwolves finally won another game! After winning their season opener, the T-Wolves dropped FIFTEEN games in a row. Hey, at least they were a game better than the NJ Nets.
On Sunday night, they broke their losing streak by defeating the 12-5 Denver Nuggets by a score of 106-100. Not only that, they missed tying the franchise mark of 16 straight losses set in 1992.
Leading the slaying of the streak was none other than our Ryan Gomes, who had the team high of 27 points (his season high) on 12-18 shooting. The 27 points was also the most by a Timberwolves player this year. He also chipped in with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Gomes is having a solid year overall, averaging almost 10 points and 6 rebounds per game, but struggled in his last two combining for only 8 points. It’s good to see him have a dominating game like this.
Way to go Ryan!
Yates high school coach Greg Wise discusses his player and future Friar Joseph Young, while showing some highlights so far this season.
Via Go Friars Blog
OK, I know “Soft Kitty” (for those “Big Bang Theory” fans out there) is only for when you are sick, but I needed some comforting words after the Friars let another close loss slip away in the final minutes.
Note: If you don’t watch “Big Bang Theory”, this might not make any sense whatsoever. I HIGHLY recommend watching it though.
Thanks Penny.
LETS TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT ‘THE FOUR FACTORS’
- BC put together a strong eFG% despite not hitting a three point shot (0-10!). This shows you just how well they shot from the inside — However, PC made it extremely easy for the Eagles by allowing 812 (by my count) easy layups. BC scored SIXTY-FOUR of their 82 points in the paint.
- BC had a slight edge in offensive rebounding overall, but they really did their damage in the first half and in crunch time. Reggie Jackson had 7 offensive boards, while Cory Raji pulled down 5 offensive for the game. One of the turning points in the game was a big rebound off a missed BC foul shot — Reggie Jackson grabbed it, allowing BC to get a second chance and get a 3 point play to take the lead. Greedy Peterson led the Friars with 5 offensive rebounds, and it helped PC keep pace on the glass in the 2nd half. 7 PC players had at least 1 ORB.
- Turnovers (in general) were not much of a factor, especially in the 2nd half. Each team only committed 3. I say in general, because one of those three turnovers for the Friars was the killer — Sharaud Curry drove the lane and lost the ball with PC down 1 with under a minute to go.
OTHER STAT NOTES
Possessions: 71
Efficiency Ratings
PC: 108.5
BC: 115.5
Let’s judge some performances by dishing out some pasta (from 1-4, 4 being awesome). My homage to the Star-Ledger.
Reggie Jackson – “I don’t have your f**king ball!!!”
Joe Trapani – Apparently he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. Too bad the Friars were suffering from can’t-guard-the-inside symptoms.
Vincent Council - I think it’s safe to say this kid is going to be a player
Marshon Brooks – Gets two for his great 2nd half performance, but was quiet in the first half
Brian McKenzie – I’m running out of things to say
BOX SCORES FOR THE STATS NERDS!
AROUND THE INTERWEBS
COX Post Game Show
Friars.com: Men’s Basketball Comeback Falls Short As Boston College Wins, 82-77
The Providence College men’s basketball team (4-2) fell to Boston College (4-2) by a score of 82-77 in the 104th meeting between the schools on Saturday, Nov. 28 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Friars erased a 14-point second-half deficit to take a two point lead with under two minutes to play, but Boston College scored the final five points of the game to secure the victory for the Eagles. Senior guard Sharaud Curry posted 20 points and dished out eight assists to pace the Friars.
BCEagles.com: Men’s Basketball Defeats Providence 82-77
Sophomore Reggie Jackson tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds – both career highs – and junior Corey Raji totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Boston College to an 82-77 win over Providence before 10,782 fans in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Junior Joe Trapani finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, while classmate Josh Southern netted 11 points.
Projo.com: Boston College 82, PC 77: Friars not quite up to it
The youth and inexperience that has excited the Friars’ fan base this season was on full display in the first marquee home game of the year, against Boston College. With a big crowd (10,782) on hand thirsting for a big win, the team came out and couldn’t play much worse in an ugly first half.
Projo.com: Providence College journal: Curry sees teaching moment in loss to BC
The Friars’ fifth-year senior guard said he made sure to tell his teammates, many of whom were playing a marquee opponent at home for the first time, that they paid dearly for not playing with enough intensity right out of the gate. That lapse helped Boston College to its 82-77 win.
“We came out, for whatever reason, and didn’t play well,” said Curry. “They came out hard and got us on the rebounds and that really hurt us. We dug ourselves a big hole. I was just telling the guys that we can’t do that. The games are about to get tougher and we have to come out right from the jump with very high intensity.”
BostonGlobe: Hard work goes long way for BC
After holding Providence College to 30.6 percent shooting (11 of 36) in the first half and dominating them on the glass (28 to 16), in the paint (38 points to 10), and on the fast break (14-4), piling the lead as high as 18 points, it made sense for Boston College to wonder how it was down by 2 with less than two minutes to play.
The Sun Chronicle: PC rally falls short
“The intensity wasn’t there from the beginning,” related Brooks of the Friars not attacking the backboard, while neither their zone or man-to-man defenses (BC shot 51 percent for the game) were terribly effective.
WEEI.com: Eagles Win in a Nail-Biter
It was a game that at one point looked like a runaway win. But after a furious comeback by the Friars, the Eagles were once again tested by a late run from an opponent that refused to go away. Unlike its previous loss at the hands of Northern Iowa, Boston College managed to hold on and come out on the winning end.
“We’re very fortunate to win,” BC coach Al Skinner said. “It shows a certain amount of mental toughness, and it was nice to see, because we had enough excuses not to win the basketball game.”
Boston Herald: Boston College Eagles Hold on
The PC lead was two with 1:43 left, after a Bilal Dixon layup off a feed from Curry, but BC was able to regroup. Center Josh Southern (11 points) took a feed in the lane from a driving Biko Paris (eight points, eight assists), hit an awkward-looking basket while being fouled to tie the game, then finished the three-point play with 42.9 seconds left.
“Coach is always saying roll to the basket when point guards are penetrating baseline,” Southern explained. “So I just rolled, he saw me, I kind of fumbled it a little bit, but I got it up to the rim and got fouled.”
Projo Hoops Blog: BC holds off Friars, 82-77
Boston College nearly blew a big lead but has hing on to defeat Providence College, 82-77.
Reggie Jackson led BC with 20 points. Joe Trapani added 19 and Corey Raji had 16. PC was led by Sharaud Curry’s 20 points.
The Truth About PC Basketball: Halftime Report: PC vs BC
Bright spots: Sharaud has a team leading 9 points, plus 2 assists, although he still can’t put home a three. VC has 6 on a pair of threes, and actually has a block. His speed really has helped out on the defensive end as well. I really like him a lot. BC is 0-7 from three point range, so I guess there’s some perimeter defense. Or they just have no three point shooters. Also, we have our first Shawna Hassett sighting of the year.
The Truth About PC Basketball: BC Postgame Rant
Way back on December 23, 2008, Providence College lost to Boston College despite a furious second half comeback that fell just short. Frustrated, two PC students created a blog called The Truth About PC Basketball on which they could air their grievances with the infuriating Friars, who never should have had to put together such a big comeback to an arguably inferior BC team.
Different year, same story.
Boring-ass AP Writeup: Boston College holds off Providence in 82-77 win
Josh Southern scored on a three-point play with 43 seconds left and Boston College withstood Providence’s late rally in an 82-77 win on Saturday night.
STAFF TWEETS
All is quiet in Twitter-land following the loss
FEATURED FAN TWEET
We were down 18 (points). I’m kind of surprised we came back from that and took the lead. I wish we could have pulled it out, but that’s what happens.
Marshon Brooks, via Projo.com
We knew coming in to the season that there were going to be a lot of growing pains, but wow. Another winnable game just slipped away in the final minute. This time, it was senior Sharaud Curry with a key turnover in the final moments that lead to the loss.
For awhile, it didn’t seem like there was even a remote chance it was going to be a winnable game. Boston College had their way with PC in the first half, scoring on layups at will, and out-rebounding the Friars 28-16. BC led by as many as 19. In the second half, BC still scored their layups at will, but Sharaud Curry and the Friars started knocking down big shots to get back into the game.
PC actually took a 2 point lead with under two minutes to go on a nice put back by Greedy Peterson. The Eagles missed a pair of free throws, but got the offensive rebound. Josh Southern got a put back to tie the game, and got bumped in the process to get to the line. He sank the freebie with :43 seconds to go to give the Eagles the lead.
Down by 1, Sharaud Curry tried to drive the lane and turned over the ball at the worst possible time. BC would hit another two foul shots, giving the Friars a final chance to tie the game down three points with 13 seconds left. After two timeouts, Curry ended up taking a super deep three that missed with 3 seconds left — he had hit three 3’s in the game, including one that was pretty much NBA distance. Not this time.
It was another tough one to swallow, and painfully reminded me of the BC game last year, in which they had to furiously make a 2nd half comeback and fell short. It’s hard to knock Curry too much, since he was a big part of the comeback and lead the team in scoring with 20 points. However, it’s tough to take the mistake in crunch time like that. With a half-way decent first half, they are not in that position to begin with — but this team needs to learn how to close out close games.
OTHER QUICK THOUGHTS
- I love Vincent Council
- I hate Joe Trapani
- BC scored 64 of their 82 points IN THE PAINT. I’ve never seen so many easy layups in one game.
- Reggie Jackson is a stupid, unoriginal name.
QUICK LINKS
Projo Hoops Blog: BC holds of Friars, 82-77
Look for the full recap tomorrow as usual.
Thank god for this person in RI with COX streaming the game through their webcam. IIII love technologeeeeeeee
The quality will probably suck, but it’s better than nothing.
I think we all know this is a big one for our Friars. Every road game is going to be an adventure, so PC needs to take care of business at the DUNK (especially versus a high profile team such as Boston College). BC has struggled so far this season, and they come in short-handed — but they still have players that can really take over the game. I’ve seen coach Al Skinner do more with less.
Also important to note: I’ve heard several potential recruits who have Providence AND Boston College on their lists will be in attendance. Hopefully the team and crowd will show them a good time in Friartown.
I think it’s also appropriate to break out my post from last year (in case anyone didn’t read the blog then) about how UrbanDictionary.com defined the term “Boston College” (warning, some vulgar language in there). One of the classics in the Friarblog archive if you ask me.
WHAT TO: KNOW
Game Time: 7:00PM
Opponent: Boston College Eagles (3-2) of the ACC
Location: The DUNK
Spread: Providence -2.5
ESPN AccuScore Game Projection: PC 81, BC 75
CBS Sportsline Projection: PC 76, BC 75
WHAT TO: LOOK FOR
- BC will be missing their starting guard, Rhody native and one of their best players, Rakim Sanders. He hurt his ankle last week in a game versus St. Joe’s.
- Junior forward Joe Trapani will likely try to carry the Beagles tonight. He has been solid from behind the arc this season (10-21, 47.6%), and was key in BC’s win over Providence last season — he scored 18 points and was 3-5 from downtown.
- In BC’s two losses (St. Joe’s and Northern Iowa) , the opponents shot extremely well from 3 point land. Let’s hope the Friars didn’t use up their 3 point mojo in the blowout against Vermont last week. PC also needs to look out for the Eagles’ shooters, as they have shot over 50% from behind the arc in 2 of their 3 wins.
- BC has typically been playing slower paced games, coming in with an adjusted tempo of 68.9 (possessions per game). The Friars are going to look to push them as always, and hope to repeat their steals performance from last game. BC has not been too great at taking care of the ball, as they come in with a 19.2 turnover percentage (ranked #97).
- Can the Friars keep up their ridiculous rebounding numbers? They clock in at #13 in Offensive Rebounding %, and average 54.8 rebounds per game. BC has been outperforming their opponents in OR% in every game, so let’s see if Greedy Peterson can turn things around.
Here is BC’s player impact chart
WHAT TO: READ
Friars.com: Gamenotes [PDF]
The Friars return to action on Saturday, November 28 with a 7:00 p.m. contest against Boston College at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. It will be the 104th meeting between the long-time New England rivals. The Friars own a 57-46 advantage in the all-time series against the Eagles. The
teams first met in 1942, with the Friars earning a 64-37 win in Providence. In the most recent meeting between the teams, BC won, 81-76, on December 20, 2008 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The last time the two teams met in Providence, the Friars earned a 73-64 victory on November 22, 2006.
Projo.com: PC’s defense will be on the spot against BC
Beginning Saturday night against Boston College and continuing over the next 12 days, the Friars will play five games against teams that will more than test their defense. How the defense holds up will give fans a great window into just how well the Friars will fare the rest of the season.
Projo.com: Capsule Preview: BC at PC
Bleacher Report: Boston College Missing Rakim Sanders, While Road Tests Approach
Sitting at 3-2 through the front five games of the season, the Eagles appear desperate to get Rakim Sanders back, however, may have to make due without him for a few more weeks. With that being said, the Eagles look ahead to some tough road games.
Pawtucket Times: Rakim Sanders will miss tonight’s game against PC
The BC squad facing the Providence Friars tonight (7 p.m., COX3) at The Dunk does so albeit one notable exception: Rakim Sanders. The Pawtucket native is out with an ankle injury, the latest fait accompli in a season marred by frustration for both the player and the team he figures prominently on.
Sanders along with two teammates missed the opening two games, punished for an unspecific violation of team rules. His season debut went south fast, lasting not even four minutes after rolling his right ankle against St. Joseph’s in the first round of last weekend’s Paradise Jam.
News Tribune: Boston College (3-2) at Providence (4-1)
A New England rivalry is renewed this evening, as the Providence Friars play host to the Boston College Eagles from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Al Skinner’s Eagles have had their ups and downs this season already, as the team has won three times against two defeats. The team returns from playing in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, where BC went 1-2, including an 81-69 setback to Northern Iowa on the last day of the event.
Providence Friars Basketball: Pregame: Providence College vs. Boston College… Pluck the Eagles!
This game is another one of those opputunity games for this young Friar team. A game that needs to be won. Like Alabama, BC isn’t the greatest team right now, but they are a recognizable name from a major conference. Not to mention PC and BC have a long history and a good rivalry, which all make this a big game for the students and for the players… But we all know that.
WHERE TO: WATCH
The game is on COX for you Rhody residents. The rest of us could be screwed, as I don’t see a listing on the great ChannelSurfing.net. Hopefully I’ll find something else so stay tuned. Otherwise, it might have to be paid radio for me. Maybe I’ll set up a CoverItLive chat so people that are watching can fill us in as well.
WHERE TO: FOLLOW
I’ll be holed up in the Friarblog cave tonight for work reasons, so follow me as always during the game on Twitter @friarblog. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #friars
If you are not on the Twitter, feel free to comment in the game thread that will be up tonight.
If you haven’t come across a Sporcle.com quiz recently, then you are not properly wasting your time online. Sporcle has fun user-generated quizzes that are timed — for example, you have 10 minutes to name all 50 states, or 6 minutes to name all the NFL teams. The sports ones I’ve seen get more in-depth, and are extremely fun.
I decided to create a sporcle centered around Providence College Basketball. This may be tough for some of the younger fans (I would even do pretty terrible on it had I played it first), but see what you can do!
Can you name all of the Providence Friars who have scored 1,000 points in their career?
The timer is set for 10 minutes. NO CHEATING!
(note: This goes by the point total for a players career. So if there was a transfer (let’s say from Manhattan who graduated last year HINT HINT) it counts their points from any school they played at).
Give it a shot and let everyone know what you scored in the comments!
Who doesn’t love a good LOLCat image? I’ve always been a sucker for these, and have always been inspired by the great Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician to apply them to our game photos. I can’t say it’ll be a regular thing, but I couldn’t resist using the LOLCatamount opportunity. I’ve you have no idea what a LOLCat is, I would not read on.
