The Bob Cousy Award Candidates for 2012 were announced today. The award recognizes the top point guard in all of college basketball. Being that there are 60 candidates that make the initial list, you would think that Vincent Council would be an absolute shoe in. Well, apparently he is nowhere to be found on the list.
This has to be some sort of mistake, right? While there are some great point guards on that list, there are some players that Council would run circles around out on the court.
Take for example sophomore Mackey McKnight of Lehigh. Sounds like a made up name, right? Well he made the list despite averaging 7.9 points and 2.9 assists in 24 minutes of play per game. Or how about Bryan Dougher of the powerhouse Stony Brook Seawolves? He is averaging 2.222 assists per game. Not that it’s the job of the point guard position or anything.
10. Providence:
The Friars continue to pad their record by feasting on unimpressive competition. This week’s flavor of the week, Bryant, has just one win. Providence will face New Hampshire and reeling rival Rhode Island before figuring out just how good it is when Big East play begins.
It’s almost like they didn’t know the team had roster problems or lingering defensive issues. Despite the strength of schedule, the Friars are currently higher than DePaul, Villanova, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Rutgers, and USF. How bad is the bottom of the conference suddenly looking?
Marshon Brooks made his professional debut in the New Jersey Nets preseason opener against the New York Knicks on Saturday afternoon. The Knicks defeated the Nets 92-83. Marshon came off the bench and scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (0-2 from downtown, 2-2 from the line) in 15 minutes of play. He also grabbed a rebound, but also turned it over three times.
“Sometimes I break down the offense just by holding on to the ball,” Brooks said.
“That’s when Avery (Johnson) really gets on me. He’s like, ‘Rook, if you want to shoot it, just shoot it! Just don’t take 10 seconds.’ My main thing is, me playing at Providence last year, late in the shot clock, getting the ball, and calling for a ball screen, waiting 10 seconds, that’s obviously not going to happen with Deron (Williams) and people who can score the ball around me. So (Johnson) just said, ‘If you’re going to go for it, go for it. Make it happen fast.’ ”
MarShon Brooks might not have looked quite as good as Iman Shumpert in his NBA preseason debut, but the Nets rookie did exactly what we Nets fans are hoping he can do this season, score points. Brooks scored 10 points in just 15 minutes of playing time. He made four out of six shots from the field, only missing the two three-point attempts he took. Brooks looked comfortable right from the start, as he drained a 22 footer with his first shot.
MarShon Brooks was impressive in his rookie debut, finishing with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field (only missing a pair of 3-pointers) and finishing with 10 points.
“[He did] just what we wanted,” Johnson said. “[He was] able to make plays off the dribble … we didn’t have that last year.
“I want him to be aggressive. Defensively, he did exactly what we needed him to do, but I liked his aggressiveness offensively.”
Billy King described MarShon as “a basketball player that knows how to put the ball in the hole.”
The Nets starting shooting guard when the season starts will most likely be Anthony Morrow because he is a proven three-point threat and with the lockout, Brooks has not had enough time to prove that he deserves to start.
Kris Dunn and New London played for the 2nd night in a row, this time a tough road contest against Hillhouse. This game was a nice test according to @Jvj88 on Twitter, who tweeted me last night:
@friarblog yea will be a sign of toughness , if you can win at hillhouse you can whin anywhere in ct, #homecourtadvantage
@friarblog to be honest no one, but the crowd will be very rowdy, and tough depth will be the true test. Freddie Wilson is be pg from lstr
However, it sounds like Dunn couldn’t dominate like he did scoring 46 the night before, and his team lost for the first time since early last season. Triple teams will do that.
Yes Kris Dunn scored 26 at Doc Hurley Field House in Hartford. But he didn’t dominate. He had to work hard for every point. Hillhouse did a fine job of pressuring him with double teams and some times triple teams. He was adept at passing to open teammates, but often they missed shots.
Dunn also secured SEVENTEEN rebounds on top of his 26 points (half which came from the line, per @GavinKeefe of the TheDay).
In front of future coach Ed Cooley, Kris Dunn scored 46 points (29 in the first half) in his season opener, as his New London team defeated Norwich Free Academy 83-72. According to @TheMrSpellman, he “came up big in the last two minutes with a steal and some free throws to seal it”. Apparently, he also had a Marvin Barnes-esque 19 boards.
@GavinKeefe Gavin Keefe NFA coach Neal Curland on Dunn: “I don’t know if anyone in the state can slow him down. He’s going to be a star in the Big East.” Dec 17 via webFavoriteRetweetReply
The first semester of games are over, so it’s time to take a look at all the individual performances that lead to the Friars 9-2 out of conference record. Each member of Friarblog reached into their notebooks and compiled grades for the official first semester report cards. No matter what the grades ended up being, at least we now look damn good with the tweed patches on our leather jackets . Or is it the other way around?
Here is a snapshot of the full player report card. Read on below for the full detailed reports from each professor.
NBA2K12 officially added Marshon Brooks to the Nets roster in an update yesterday. Yeah, he just signed a contract with the New Jersey Soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets and is now a millionaire, but I like to think this means more. I’ve created my own self millions of times in all sorts of basketball games over the years, but actually being in there for the real roster must be pretty sweet. Although, perhaps it would have been cooler if they actually got his jersey number right (they opted for his Providence Friars #2 instead of his new #9).
Marshon is rated a 67 overall. Here are his other attributes.
Inside Offense: B-
Outside Offense: B+
Perimeter Defense: C
Post Defense: F (I BLAME KENO)
Handle: C+
Rebound: D-
IQ: B-
Athleticism: B
I haven’t been able to play too much of 2K12 (I still have Uncharted 3 to conquer on the PS3), but decided to fire the game up to see how Marshon played. The first play I ran with the Nets against the computer Knicks? Marshon drained a three. Here are some screen grabs.
Really great read on the quick 180 that the program took under Coach Cooley.
When Providence hired Keno Davis as head coach in April 2008 its president, Reverend Brian Shanley, called him a “Godsend.” As they say, God works in mysterious ways. While mysterious is not the word most Friar fans would use to describe Davis’ tenure, that is just what happened. Shanley turned out to be right. Just not quite as intended. Davis was a Godsend because his hire and tenure represented the mistake Shanley, along with Athletic Director Bob Driscoll and the other decision makers at Providence College, learned from. It was a painful and public lesson, but one that led to Ed Cooley.
The defense might have some hiccups as BIG EAST play starts, but the chemistry thing rocks. Let’s just hope it doesn’t waver once losses start occurring. The bounce back after the poor showing in South Padre Island doesn’t have me too worried about that though.
The days of poor chemistry and defensive woes appear to be over as melding the holdovers from the Keno Davis years with a coach who doesn’t pull any punches has been far from a painstaking transition. That this aforementioned culture shift has taken place in a relatively short amount of time is a testament to the booming presence of Cooley, someone who’s not afraid to wield the hammer and show he’s in complete command (see Kadeem Batts).
A fair assessment. Thinking about last year’s similar record at the break, it’s hard to imagine a B+ given the defensive holes despite the wins.
A PC administrator asked me the question over a week ago, “do we play great defense or what?” Truthfully, the answer to that question is, “no.” However, it’s all relative. Compared to what the team did defensively under Davis, this team looks like the Alonzo Mourning-led Georgetown Hoyas.
Providence is not a great defensive team but they are now putting in the effort on that end of the floor where they weren’t before. Also, Cooley has been effective in mixing up his defensive looks playing both man-to-man defense and zone against teams who have bigger front lines. It is a marked improvement over a year ago. What has also made their defense look better is the fact that they have now slowed the pace of play down and run a half court offense resulting in fewer possessions for themselves and their opponents.
Watch the complete game from last week. We know about all the Tilton guys, but Rene Castro on Worcester is also a big Friar target (he was at Late Night Madness).
Tilton School ( New Hampshire ) Vs Worcester Academy ( Massachusetts )
December 7th 2011
Tilton School ( New Hampshire ) Roster (Black):
#2 Caleb Unni
#3 Nerlens Noel
#4 Wayne Selden
#5 Evandro Bildau
#10 Ben King
#11 Domonique Bull University of Missouri
#12 Goodluck Okonobh
#20 Georges Niang ISU ( Iowa State University )
#24 Mike Swanson
#25 Brandon Bibbs
#31 Cameron Durley
#33 John Witkowski
#35 Ignacio Ballve Garcia
#42 Kevin Crescenzi Dartmouth College
#52 Kyle Holmquist-Parker
Worcester Academy ( Massachusetts ) Roster (White):
#3 Kei Okada
#5 Tom Mangaudis
#11 Olivier Betu UCD ( University of California Davis )
#12 Justus Harris
#14 Ansar Madison
#20 Ricky Legget
#22 Canaan Sevenn
#23 Ben Musuda
#24 Rene Castro
#30 Thomas Rivard
#32 Tyreik McCauley
#33 Sam Joaquin
#34 Matthew Cimino
#40 Michael Peavier
#44 Andrew Scocca
The Boston High School Blog on ESPN Boston tabbed Kris Dunn’s New London game against Rhode Island’s St. Raphael squad as one of the top 10 games to watch this upcoming season.
New London (Conn.) at St. Raphael (R.I.), Jan. 7
This one pits two defending state champions in one of the most highly-anticipated public school matchups of the winter for New England. New London is the defending CIAC Class L champion, and features the No. 29 overall Class of 2012 player in Providence-bound point guard Kris Dunn. St. Ray’s ended Bishop Hendricken’s streak of seven straight RIIL state titles last year, led by championship MVP Charles Correa. The junior point guard is one of the Ocean State’s elite prospects, and has a terrific running mate in senior Cesar Mejia.
Kris Dunn and New London played for the 2nd night in a row, this time a tough road contest against Hillhouse. This game was a nice test according to @Jvj88 on Twitter, who tweeted me last night:
