What To / Where To: Providence vs. Rhode Island Game Preview

dave@friarblog —  December 23rd, 2011 1:42 PM — 1 Comment

After the Friars defeated New Hampshire, Ed Cooley noted in his press conference that from then on, the competition was going to become very different. As @TTAPCBBall replied on Twitter,

“Yeah, it’s gonna get much worse. #lolURI”

While that definitely gave me a chuckle, this Friar team can’t afford to take any team lightly, let alone a rivalry road game in a hostile environment. The Rams have been playing a pretty awful brand of basketball this season, one that doesn’t play into the weaknesses of this PC team. However, we all know that in this series the talent and win-loss record of both teams never seems to translate. Still, the Friars should be confident going in to the Ryan Center this year with a more disciplined team and stable roster playing smart basketball.

So let’s do this! Can the Friars be the undisputed champion of Cacapoopoopeepeeshire? (and yes, I used this same joke for a URI/PC preview years back. It’s still awesome.)

WHAT TO: KNOW

Game Time: 7:00PM EST

Opponent: Rhode Island (1-10, yup, ONE AND TEN)

Location: The Ryan Center

Spread: Providence -5.5

ESPN Accuscore: Providence 74.7, URI 65.4 (Providence wins in 74.4% of 10,000 simulations)

CBSSports Daily Picks: Providence 75, URI 69

Four Factors

Hit up the rest of the preview after the jump.

Continue Reading…

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Cox Sports Documentary on Ed Cooley Coming in January

dave@friarblog —  December 21st, 2011 8:04 PM — Leave a comment

On January 16th, Cox Sports will air a documentary about how Ed Cooley grew up and became awesome.

via Cox Sports

In Video ,
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Kris Dunn Crazy Double-Double Train Continues

dave@friarblog —  December 21st, 2011 9:24 AM — 2 Comments

Kris Dunn scored 40 points and pulled down 17 rebounds in New London’s 93-64 win over Fitch last night.

Here are the highlights:

Here are Dunn’s lines for the first three games (in which New London went 2-1).

12/16: 46 points, 19 rebounds
12/17: 26 points, 17 rebounds
12/20: 40 points, 17 rebounds

I asked Gavin Keefe (who covers high school sports for The Day) on Twitter how in the world Dunn keeps piling up his crazy amount of rebounds as a point guard.

tjcotterTim Cotter
“@GavinKeefe: New London’s Kris Dunn has 40 points and 17 rebounds in 93-64 win over Fitch. Video later at http://t.co/OxBbkTmi. @friarblog
Dec 21FavoriteRetweetReply
friarblogfriarblog
@tjcotter@gavinkeefe wow thanks! How is he getting so many boards? Is it the competition?
Dec 21FavoriteRetweetReply
in reply to @friarblog↑

@GavinKeefe
Gavin Keefe@friarblog@tjcotter Competition is not strong in New London’s league. But Dunn is working hard for rebounds.
Dec 21 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Despite their big win, it apparently wasn’t good enough given the teams lofty expectations.

Fitch was leading 38-37. Chad Graham, a Fitch senior, had 24 points at the time. Fitch was playing better, harder.
That was all the former Whaler needed to see, especially after New London (gulp) had the audacity to lose to Hillhouse the other day.

We’d have killed this team, he said.

“He’s absolutely right,” senior Kris Dunn said, even after he finished with 40 points and 17 rebounds. “It starts with defense.”

In High School ,
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Friars Beat New Hampshire 67-52

dave@friarblog —  December 20th, 2011 11:11 PM — 1 Comment

Why the Friars Won: The team overall was a little flat coming out of the 10 game break, but Vincent Council was flying all throughout the game. The General started to take matters into his own hands and scored 8 of his 17 points quickly in a row after UNH took a lead early on in the 2nd half. The Friars were then patient on offense, passing the ball well leading to numerous points in in the paint. Man, was it good to see Kadeem Batts (9 points, 6 rebounds) back down low for more offensive options.

Why the Wildcats Lost: UNH only made 18 total field goals, and didn’t help themselves at the line going 9-20 (and a disastrous 6-15, 40% in the 2nd half). Over the last 15:34 of the game, New Hampshire only managed to score 18 points (6 of them coming in garbage time).

Turning Point: Patrick Konan hit a three to give UNH a 34-32 with 15:34 remaining. After that, it was all VC in a blur to put the Friars back on top for good.

Read the rest after the Jump

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Watch Ed Cooley Press Conference Following New Hampshire Win

dave@friarblog —  December 20th, 2011 9:32 PM — Leave a comment

Ed Cooley spoke to the press following Providence’s 67-52 victory over New Hampshire to move to 10-2 on the season. Vincent Council picked up his 3rd double-double of the year with 17 points and 12 assists, and led the charge on offense to break away from the Wildcats less than midway through the 2nd half. LaDontae Henton also had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Gerard Coleman was fantastic on offense with 20 points. In his season debut, Kadeem Batts scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting while grabbing 6 rebounds in 18 minutes.

Here is the video of the press conferece (give it a little bit to start, the sound starts off poorly).

Watch live streaming video from providencecollege at livestream.com
In Presser , , , , ,
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What To / Where To: Providence vs. New Hampshire Game Preview

dave@friarblog —  December 20th, 2011 9:23 AM — Leave a comment

The break is over! I don’t know about you guys, but ten straight days without PC basketball got me a little antsy. You would think it would have been the perfect time for me to complete Christmas shopping, but hey there are still some days left.

The Friars get a New Hampshire team that has already faced a lot of common opponents – They lost to Boston College, Holy Cross, and Fairfield, while beating Brown (C’MON BROWN!). Kadeem Batts will be back tonight, and PC will look to continue their 5 game win streak before the big URI road game on Friday.

WHAT TO: KNOW

Game Time: 7:00PM EST

Opponent: New Hampshire (4-4)

Location: The Dunk

Spread: NA

ESPN Accuscore: Providence 68.1, New Hampshire 54.2 (Providence wins 84.1% in 10,000 simulations)

CBSSports Daily Picks: Providence 71, New Hampshire 58

Four Factors

Hit up the rest of the preview after the jump.

Continue Reading…

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Chris Obekpa Interview with 513 Sports

dave@friarblog —  December 20th, 2011 8:33 AM — 2 Comments

Chris Obepka was recently interviewed by 513 Sports about his recruitment.

Meet Chris Obekpa

Me: What’s the biggest factor when choosing where you go to school?

Obekpa: Whoever plays intense basketball the most gets to stay at the top. I want somewhere that we could consistently play hard. National exposure doesn’t really matter cause new schools show up all the time with strong teams. And relationship with the coaches might also help cause you get to understand each other on and off the court, which helps your mindset.

Very interesting, and something that bodes well for Providence’s chances with the big shot blocker. Although PC’s national exposure should climb over the next few years, it’s obviously never been a strong point. It’s great to hear that he wants intense basketball and tight relationships, both which are right in Ed Cooley’s wheelhouse.

Obekpa is taking more official visits soon, but has said he won’t make a decision until the spring signing period.

H/T @SOrangeJuice

In Recruiting
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Biggest Fan of the BIG EAST: Challenge #3 – BIG EAST Road Trip

dave@friarblog —  December 19th, 2011 10:46 PM — 2 Comments

As you may or may not know, I have been picked to compete against bloggers from all 16 schools of the BIG EAST in a season long contest to win a Volvo S60. Part of it is the fan poll (if you haven’t already, please cast a vote for yours truly!), while the other piece consists of challenge posts throughout the entire season. Here is the next challenge.

The theme for the next challenge is “What are your picks for the top three road trips in the Big East”. I’ve been to most of the big cities at some point (Chicago, Louisville, Philly, Washington DC, Pittsburgh) but never really centered around attending a BIG EAST basketball game. I decided to take a different angle to answering this question, and not focus on the bars or attractions of the particular college areas in the present time. You see, road wins are the key to having a successful season in BIG EAST play, and it hasn’t been exactly too kind to Friartown in recent years. However, there are some great games in Friar history that I would like to experience or see again. All I need to do is make a few modifications to the Volvo S60, secure some plutonium, and BAAM I suddenly have a time machine.

Marty McFly: Wait a minute, Doc. Ah… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a Volvo?
Dr. Emmett Brown: The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?

I think this feature for the Volvo S60 dashboard will cost a little extra. Plutonium not included.

So let’s hop in, hit 88 miles per hour on the updated car, and re-live the best road wins for the Providence Friars in BIG EAST conference play.

Continue Reading…

In Volvo Biggest Fan Challenge
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Vincent Council Snubbed in Bob Cousy Award Candidate List

dave@friarblog —  December 19th, 2011 1:48 PM — 5 Comments

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.

Bob Cousy Candidates Named

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.

In Awards, Media
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Friars 10th in Latest ESPN BIG EAST Power Rankings

dave@friarblog —  December 19th, 2011 11:14 AM — 4 Comments

Conference power rankings: Big East

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?

In BIG EAST Power Rankings, Media
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