Archives For Kevin McNamara

McNamara Troubled By Friar Faithful Turnout Against Mercer

dave@friarblog —  November 18th, 2009 2:33 PM

Yes, I am aware that PC’s big “Junior Ring Weekend” finished up on Saturday night, and having participated in the festivities myself I know how those Sunday’s generally turned out on campus.  I was not at the game (distance reason’s baby!), so I can’t specifically comment on the crowd other than what others said.

Here is what Kevin McNamara of the Projo had to say in his column yesterday.

This is an off-the-court issue but a troubling one nonetheless. It must have been a heck of a night Saturday up on Pembroke, Oakland and Eaton Streets. Whatever ensued near the PC campus, it prevented the so-called “Friar Faithful” student section from getting out of bed for Sunday afternoon’s game. PC says it sold over 1,000 student tickets but less than 100 showed for the best game of the weekend.

It’s definitely unfortunate, but I’m guessing it’s an anomaly.

Thankfully, we really don’t have to worry this kind of situation too much since the only remaning home day game is on a Saturday at noon (February 6th) versus Marquette.  Either way, I’m confident the students will come back to their Fanatic ways (ESPECIALLY versus BC next Saturday night) — it seems like they do a good job organizing everything, and Keno also helps everyone get involved.

I’ll let our resident student Fanatics from our boys over at the blog The Truth About PC Basketball chime in with any thoughts.

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Friartown Pulse as the Season Start Looms [Predictions]

dave@friarblog —  November 13th, 2009 6:00 PM

So we’ve read all the prognosis from across the web, from those crazy cats at SportingNews to numerous other bloggers. As expected, no one is giving PC a shot to do anything this season due to inexperience. Fair enough. But how does Friartown feel about what lies ahead this year? I think it’s safe to say that we all expect growing pains, and will be willing to deal with losses as long as the team improves as the season progresses. Nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to poll some PC experts and fans for some simple predictions.

Record wise, nothing terrible shocking (aside from the scarily similar picks between myself and alum Ryan Holt). I thought it was fun and interesting to see what people thought about possible good/bad wins, and what players would lead in various stat categories. However, I should have known better to ask “The Voice of the Friars” John Rooke about good and bad wins, because I got his “all wins are good, all losses are bad!” response. Touche, Mr. Rooke.

Anyway, here are the results. Feel free to leave your picks in the comments.

PC Experts

Kevin McNamara
Providence Journal Sportswriter
John Rooke
Friars Play-by-play announcer
Steve Hartnett
Editor, ScoutFriars.com, PC ‘92
Overall Record 14-17 15-15 16-14
BIG EAST Record 6-12 6-12 6-12
BIG EAST Finish 12th 12th 12th
Postseason None CBI or NIT CBI
-
Best Home Win BC - Louisville
Worst Home Loss USF - Rutgers
Best Road Win USF - Pittsburgh
Worst Road Loss Northeastern - Northeastern
-
Scoring Leader Marshon Brooks Marshon Brooks Marshon Brooks
Rebounding Leader Greedy Peterson Greedy Peterson Greedy Peterson
Assists Leader Sharaud Curry Sharaud Curry Sharaud Curry
Blocks Leader Bilal Dixon Greedy Peterson Greedy Peterson
Steals Leader Marshon Brooks Sharaud Curry Vincent Council
FG% Leader Bilal Dixon Bilal or Greedy Marshon Brooks
3FG Leader Sharaud Curry Sharaud Curry Sharaud Curry
-
Team MVP Sharaud Curry Sharaud Curry Marshon Brooks
Best Newcomer Bilal Dixon Bilal or Council Vincent Council

PC Fans

Friarblog
Blogger dude
Ryan Holt
Alumni, PC ‘09

Sean McCarthy
PC Blogger & Student, PC ‘11
Overall Record 17-13 17-13 15-15
BIG EAST Record 7-11 7-11 5-13
BIG EAST Finish 11th 11th 13th
Postseason NIT NIT CBI
-
Best Home Win Syracuse UCONN UCONN
Worst Home Loss Rutgers Rutgers Rutgers
Best Road Win St. John’s Cincinnati USF/DePaul
Worst Road Loss Northeastern USF Northeastern
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Scoring Leader Sharaud Curry Sharaud Curry Marshon Brooks
Rebounding Leader Greedy Peterson Greedy Peterson Bilal Dixon
Assists Leader Vincent Council Sharaud Curry Sharaud Curry
Blocks Leader Bilal Dixon Greedy Peterson James Still
Steals Leader Sharaud Curry Marshon Brooks Vincent Council
FG% Leader Marshon Brooks Bilal Dixon Russ Permenter
3FG Leader Sharaud Curry Brian McKenzie Brian McKenzie
-
Team MVP Sharaud Curry Marshon Brooks Sharaud Curry
Best Newcomer Vincent Council Vincent Council Vincent Council

Thanks everyone for participating!

For more thoughts about Sean of “The Truth About PC Basketball“‘s predictions, check out their post with more commentary behind the picks.

You can also read KMac’s previews here and here.

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Joey Brackets, How Could You?!?

dave@friarblog —  March 4th, 2009 7:59 PM

In KMac’s latest blog post, he talks about an ESPN Conference Call with Joey Brackets.

“The Pitt win is what is giving (Providence) credibility at the moment,” said Lunardi. The unbalanced schedule in the Big East will ultimately keep them out. They played a softer schedule than some other bubble teams and the committee will see that. In my current bracket, Providence and Penn State are the most likely to play their way out.”

Even after it seems like 4 or 5 Bubble teams get popped a night?  Given what has transpired the past two days, I personally feel that a loss versus Nova plus ONE win in the BET would get the Friars in — I am not going to feel completely comfortable come Selection Sunday, but I would think they would get in.

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Kevin McNamara Talks About Joe Mullaney with Shawna Hassett during Rutgers Game

dave@friarblog —  February 15th, 2009 7:03 PM

During SNY’s broadcast of the Providence-Rutgers game, Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal spoke with Shawna Hasset about former Friars coach Joe Mullaney.

Sorry for the crappy audio quality…recorded it off my television on the webcam.

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Kevin McNamara Chat Scheduled for Thursday 1PM at Projo.com

dave@friarblog —  February 4th, 2009 3:24 PM

Providence Friars beat writer Kevin McNarama will be hosting a chat on Projo.com on Thursday afternoon at 1PM.  You’ll be able to submit questions early Thursday morning.

Hopefully we’ll all be talking about a huge Providence win!

Check back here for more details

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Gotta Love Joe Hasset

dave@friarblog —  January 14th, 2009 6:12 PM

Kevin McNamara has a really good article entitled “50 years ago, radio put Providence College on the map”.  It provides a great insight to some Providence College Basketball history.  Loved this part about Friar radio announcer Joe Hasset though:

When the headset hit the press table at Bud Walton Arena, John Rooke knew he had a problem on his hands.

Rooke was watching the Providence Friars get manhandled by the Arkansas Razorbacks back in January 1999 and as the game spun out of control, the PC radio play-by-play man could see his color partner, Joe Hassett, growing more and more frustrated with every Razorback hoop.

“Finally Joe slams his headset down and stands up and starts yelling at Mike Kitts, one of the officials,” Rooke says. “He says ‘Mike you’re horrible. You’re a Big East ref and letting this happen!’ You can hear Joe in the background as I continued calling the game. I swear to God I thought he had done it. I thought he was going to get tossed.”

Gotta love Joe’s passion for the Friars!  It’s like he’s still out there on the court!

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KMac Audio Preview of PC vs. Cincy

dave@friarblog —  January 7th, 2009 5:11 PM

Link: KMac Audio Preview of PC vs. Cincy

“Kevin talks about the encouraging signs from the Friars in their first two conference games (especially on defense), the rebounding challenge presented by Cincinnati, defending Bearcats star guard Deonta Vaughn, and the Big East’s feat of landing nine teams in the Top 25 this week.”

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Three-pointers with Kevin McNamara

dave@friarblog —  January 5th, 2009 3:04 PM

“Three-pointers” is a quick-hit interview with notable people in FRIARTOWN on the current state of the Friars.

Kevin McNamara covers sports and the Providence Friars for the Providence Journal.

His articles can all be found here

Kevin also contributes to the Projo College Hoops Blog

1.  Friarblog: In your opinion, who has stood out the most on defense for the Friars recently?

KMac: Jeff Xavier remains PC’s best on-ball defender. His size is always a detriment but he makes up for it with his toughness. His shot will return and the Friars will add a valuable player. Also, Marshon Brooks’ long arms will make him a valuable defender in the Big East. Lack of strength will hurt — but against many foes, and on the top of a press or zone, he can be a weapon.

2. Friarblog: Keno has used a bunch of different defensive sets this year.  How would you grade each one so far?

KMac: Man: C; Presses: B minus; Zone: Bplus. Not a surprise that a team that spent so much time in zone the last 2-3 years is back playing it when the games count. Zone against SJU and DePaul was very good. Give Keno a lot of credit for scouting these teams correctly. Also the box-and1 versus Dar Tucker was a great gamble that paid off nicely. Could pull that one out again (S. Florida, Dominque Jones; maybe Cincy with D. Vaughn).

3.  Friarblog: Let’s say the Friars are tied or down 1 against Cincy on Wednesday on the road.  Friars have the ball with the shot clock turned off.  What kind of play do you want to see, and who do you want taking that last shot?

KMac: Put the ball in Curry’s hands and let him create. With him, Weyinmi and Marshon Brooks the Friars have 3 guys who have a chance of beating their man off the dribble. Goes to show how much Curry would’ve helped a year ago.

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KMac Audio Preview of Baylor / Anaheim Classic

dave@friarblog —  November 26th, 2008 4:38 PM

Link: KMac Audio Preview of Baylor / Anaheim Classic

Kevin McNamara discusses the Friars’ latest victories, and takes a look ahead at the Anaheim Classic.

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