Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

“5 on 5” is a ten question interview with notable people in FRIARTOWN.  We ask 5 basketball related questions and 5 off-topic ones.

John Rooke, aka the “Voice of the Friars”, was kind enough to take part in another edition of “5 on 5” via email.

John Rooke is an award-winning broadcaster, currently serving in several broadcast capacities, including 20 years as the play-by-play voice for Providence College basketball; Big East Conference football and basketball play-by-play for ESPNU, ESPN Regional Television and the ISP Sports Network; stadium voice for the New England Patriots and New England Revolution; host for Inside the Big East on ESPNU and several regional sports networks and local TV stations; and talk host for the ESPN Radio Network and WEEI Radio in Boston.

PC Basketball

Friarblog.com: We all know Sharaud Curry has been struggling shooting-wise.  Have you noticed anything else different about Sharaud from previous years?  Is he just having trouble adapting to the new players?  Just a slow start?

John Rooke: Just a slow start, IMO.  He’s actually trying to do too much, to get others involved.  Sharaud just needs to be himself, and he’ll be fine.

Friarblog.com: Greedy has been the most consistent player all season.  If there is one bad thing you could say about him, is that he takes too many threes (who doesn’t?!).   Should he get a stop light?  Or only take a few a game as long he continues to knock ‘em down at a 30% clip?

John Rooke: All Greedy needs is to learn WHEN to take the three.  When his shot selection becomes better, he’ll be even more devistating than he is right now.  Scary.

Friarblog.com: Let’s talk about Vincent Council.  I love Vincent Council.  He’s obviously impressed everyone so far with his play as a freshman.  What is one thing that impresses you about him that a regular Joe like me wouldn’t notice by listening to the game / watching on low quality video feeds.

John Rooke: Council has court savvy that is beyond his years.  He plays like an upperclassman, knows how to get the ball up the floor, and looks to pass FIRST.  He can also penetrate and kick.  He can be all-BE before he’s through.

Friarblog.com: Russ Permenter and Kyle Wright have had their struggles adjusting, but have also had some impressive performances along the way.  How do you think they will fair in BIG EAST play?

John Rooke: Tough to say, although I like both guys.  They need to learn to bring IT every night, and realize that if the shot doesn’t fall, there are many other ways to contribute.  Russ will get his chances, and so will Kyle.

Friarblog.com: Heading into BIG EAST play, it’s clear that the Friars are going to take some lumps.  Aside from just being a general overall better team in March vs. November, what is one specific thing you would like to see in these games (besides WINS of course!)?

John Rooke: Improvement.  And by that - better recognition of situational play on the floor, better recognition of when to take a 3 and when to back off or go inside…and better on the ball pressure in half-court defensive situations.

Off Topic Friarblog.com: The Patriots are in first place, but not without any problems.  A question I heard on ESPN which I will ask you - “Did Belichick lose his team after the missed 4th down against Indianapolis?”

John Rooke: I think so…at least some of them.

Friarblog.com: So last time you mentioned you didn’t get out to the movies much.  What about TV shows?  Pick up any good new ones this year?

John Rooke: Big fan of Friday Night Lights, but haven’t seen much of the new season (on DirecTV) yet…guess I’ll have to wait to a network picks it up in the winter.  Also enjoy Man v. Food on the Travel Channel!

Friarblog.com: I didn’t catch your broadcast of the BU game (I think?) you did with Tim Welsh.  What was it like working with him in such a different manner?  Did you give him any tips?

John Rooke: It was fun working with Tim.  The producer said after the game that it was like we had worked together before, and I just laughed.  “Yeah, about 10 years or so!”  He was very prepared, and didn’t need alot of direction.

Friarblog.com: You are a Texas Longhorns alum.  What are your thoughts on the big National Championship game?

John Rooke: Hook ‘em Horns!  I feel good about the big game - although Bama is also very good.  Tough, physical, and they are deceptively quick.  My son says 31-27 UT, and I think I’ll go along with that.  Most everyone thinks Bama will win big - we’ll see.  They said that about USC back in ‘05, too.  That Texas-USC game only turned out to be one of the greatest college football games of all time.  History says the Heisman winner (which Mark Ingram won) hasn’t fared well recently.

Friarblog.com: Speaking of Texas, a co-worker of mine is also an alum and a huge fan.  He recently went to the ESPN GameDay game when there was some big State Fair or something going on.  He showed me the menu of food items (including Fried Butter, Fried Coke etc).  Have you ever been to that?  If so, what is your favorite weird food item there?

John Rooke: The State Fair of Texas!  Many, many times - every year as a kid - and boy, do I miss it!  My goal, someday, is to establish the State Fair of Rhode Island.  Think that would work around here?  Nothing too weird on my menu, I’m strictly a Fletcher’s Corny Dog kinda guy.  They are delicious - with yellow mustard, too!

Thanks John!

John Rooke made an appearance this afternoon on an Emerson College radio show, and talks about the Patriots, PC’s upcoming game against Alabama, and also reflects on Pete Gillen’s sweating in the Friars’ elite eight run in ‘97.

John Rooke Interview (from 11/18)

Audio courtesy of “The Afternoon Delight” show’s website

John Rooke, the “Voice of the Friars”, will appear on an Emerson College radio show called “The Afternoon Delight” (heh!) at 4PM today.

You can listen to their live stream by going here.

H/T host of the show and Twitter user ScottJackson2

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
-
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.

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

John Rooke, aka the “Voice of the Friars”, was kind enough to take part via email.

John Rooke is an award-winning broadcaster, currently serving in several broadcast capacities, including 20 years as the play-by-play voice for Providence College basketball; Big East Conference football and basketball play-by-play for ESPNU, ESPN Regional Television and the ISP Sports Network; stadium voice for the New England Patriots and New England Revolution; host for Inside the Big East on ESPNU and several regional sports networks and local TV stations; and talk host for the ESPN Radio Network and WEEI Radio in Boston.

You can find out what John is up to on JohnRooke.com

The Friars’ special night on Tuesday was only missing one thing — play-by-play announcer John Rooke.  In addition to being PC’s radio man, John does about a dozen games per year on ESPN Regional TV.  On Tuesday night, they asked him to do the ESPN2 broadcast of the Boston College-Florida State game — and basically, if ESPN asks for your help, you do NOT turn them down.   This only happens maybe once or twice a year (conflicting games with the Friars), and Nelligan Sports and PC always gives him permission because, well, John rules.

1. Friarblog:  You were doing the TV coverage for the Boston College - Florida State game on ESPN2 at 9 o’clock — did you get a chance to catch any of the Friars game as it was going on, or were you preparing for your game?  How and when did you find out about the final score?

John Rooke: It turns out, of course…that I was met up at BC with looks of “what the hell are you doing here?” by most everyone I know!  Even some of the TV personnel asked about it - and they were great about keeping me up to date on the scores.  So was Dick Kelley at BC, their SID.  Had his Blackberry out updating the score for me every few minutes…everyone kept saying “do you think they’ll keep the lead?”  Fox’s Jeff Goodman was there - and he seemed to be pleasantly surprised by the news.  And when it got to the final few minutes, we were in our full pre-game mode - I did the game with Tom Brennan and Andy Katz, who kept saying “wow” alot - pre-recording things for half time and going over our opening segment.  It was VERY hard to concentrate on the job!  I’ve worked several games with those guys before, and they were both pulling for me and the Friars.  It was over, right as we were getting ready to go on the air - we were joined in progress as the event prior to ours went a couple of minutes long…and as soon as we got through the opening and the starting lineups, we got a call from Charlotte (ESPNU’s headquarters) to go ahead and talk about the big upset.  Especially since they knew I was calling the game…even though we were doing an ACC game!  Immediately, Tom and Andy threw me under the bus!  But it was all in good fun, and the Friars got a ton of great publicity…probably alot more publicity this way than if I had done the PC game, as it turns out.

My son Austin DVR’d the game, so I watched it in its entirety Wednesday afternoon.  Thrilling, and a bit surreal at the same time!

2. Friarblog: How different is it doing games for TV and ESPN as opposed to the radio?

John Rooke:  I’ve been doing TV since 1981, and my preparation for television is the same as it is for radio.  The only difference - I have to put on a stinkin’ tie.  Hate that.  And wear makeup.  We were on HD Tuesday night, so good thing I didn’t have any blemishes!  You try to put energy and preparation into the broadcast, but obviously, let the pictures do most of your talking.  TV is an analysts’ venue…set up and support your partner, drive the show (or drive the bus, as I usually say)…radio is where good pbp announcers should excel, since you have to create the picture for your listeners.

3. Friarblog: Since you’ve been covering the Friars, where do you think this victory ranks among regular season games?

John Rooke: No doubt in my mind - the Pitt game ranks right up there in the top couple of games over my 20 seasons…with Duke, Arizona in ‘97…Georgetown (BE title) in ‘94…Eric Murdock’s 45 @ Arizona, and 48 (still the BE single game scoring record) against Pitt.  This game could eventually top them all…but it really depends on what this team does from here.  If this game ends up being a springboard to something else (like BE or NCAA success), then it could go down as one of the great games PERIOD in PC history.  But I don’t think you can fairly judge it, until we know the eventual outcome of this season.  Fans like to say that the loss at the Dunk to Pitt in ‘04 sent us into a sprial that eventually cost Tim Welsh his job.  Maybe.  But I don’t believe one game can really do that.  That game in ‘04 was merely symbolic.  So for now, that’s all this game is - symbolic of a moment when these seniors finally put it together, and perhaps symbolic of a new era that belongs to Keno Davis and his staff.

I’m thrilled for those kids, who got to enjoy their moment in the sun.  The scene of Kale being swarmed by the court rush made me a bit teary-eyed…and happy for him and the rest of the seniors.  Now - what do they do with this from here?  Can they build on it?  Hope so.

And 1: Friarblog: Did you talk to Joe Hassett at all that night?  Is he going to let you back at the table for the Rutgers game?

John Rooke: Haven’t spoken to Joe yet…I’m sure he’ll throw me under the bus too…but my phone was choked with so many texts and voice mails, it shut down after the game!

———

Thank you John for adding more great stories to a great night in Friartown!

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

John Rooke, aka the “Voice of the Friars”, was kind enough to take part via email.

John Rooke is an award-winning broadcaster, currently serving in several broadcast capacities, including 20 years as the play-by-play voice for Providence College basketball; Big East Conference football and basketball play-by-play for ESPNU, ESPN Regional Television and the ISP Sports Network; stadium voice for the New England Patriots and New England Revolution; host for Inside the Big East on ESPNU and several regional sports networks and local TV stations; and talk host for the ESPN Radio Network and WEEI Radio in Boston.

You can find out what John is up to on JohnRooke.com

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

John Rooke: Standing out the most on defense to me is Marshon…he can be such a disruptive presence at several positions on the floor.  Geoff McD is also playing tough in the post, and when Randall keeps his hands up - he can block shots and disrupt as well.  All positives.

2. Friarblog: The last Friar opponents have shot incredibly bad behind the arc (DePaul - 15%, St. John’s - 11%, Bryant - 21%, BC - 17%, URI - 20%).  Do you think these teams have just had off shooting nights, or do you think the Friars are doing a considerably better job defending the 3-ball?

John Rooke: It’s a little of both probably, but for the most part our perimeter defense HAS improved.  We’re doing a better job of getting out to wing shooters, by matching up in the zone with their best perimeter players, and that causes doubt (if not confusion) on the part of opposing offenses.  Thus, they have to work harder at getting open looks, and wear down by the end of games - that’s why second halves are so much more productive thus far.

3. Friarblog: What do you think is one area the Friars have to really improve / focus on for the Cincinnati game?

John Rooke: Defense is coming along - but now, getting out to a strong start is imperative on the road in this league…hit open looks, or at least, get to the FT line and force Cinci to come from behind.  Get out to a lead and get the crowd on the road out of it…keep battling on the boards - I really like the way the guards are rebounding, and if the shot isn’t falling, the way they try to contribute in other areas.