The 2014-15 PC Friars/ Big East Basketball Thread: Bigger, Deeper ... Better (?)

[NoLastCall125]

Cooley exits the game and the Friars look entirely different. Up 6 when Ed left, they're now down 7 with a little over 2 minutes to go. You never count this team out, but Cooley leaving the way he did seems to really have affected the vibe of this game.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

I didn't see the game.  What went down with Cooley?  They ended up losing by 9, after getting outscored by 15 in the second half.  What happened to Desrosiers?  Was he just in foul trouble early and sat on the bench most of the day?  Finished with like 2 points, no rebounds or anything else besides four fouls on the scorer's sheet.  Bentil had another 16, and Henton seemed to get out of his funk with 24, but defensively, it looks like they just fell apart late, which is probably more to do with Cooley than anything else, like you said. 

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Cooley was seen with his head slumped down on the bench but walked off the court on his own and taken to hospital. LaFleur was clearly unprepared as Xavier went on a quick 17-2 run to turn an 8-point deficit into a 7-point lead that we never recovered from. The players on the floor were looking around aimlessly knowing Cooley was gone.....at that point you need to get a timeout and get everyone together which didn't occur.

Desrosiers was in foul trouble and invisible in the 2nd half. Overall we outplayed Xavier but that 3-minute stretch early 2nd half killed us.

 

[NoLastCall125]

I didn't see the game.  What went down with Cooley?  They ended up losing by 9, after getting outscored by 15 in the second half.  What happened to Desrosiers?  Was he just in foul trouble early and sat on the bench most of the day?  Finished with like 2 points, no rebounds or anything else besides four fouls on the scorer's sheet.  Bentil had another 16, and Henton seemed to get out of his funk with 24, but defensively, it looks like they just fell apart late, which is probably more to do with Cooley than anything else, like you said. 

Carson got into foul trouble early. Bentil looked great. Dunn got sloppy towards the end leading to painful points off turnovers. Cooley suddenly just got up and walked to the back with the trainer midway through the half with PC in control. Afterwards Xavier switched to a 1-3-1 defense that PC had no answer for, aside for like a brief three minute run. I'm convinced that if Cooley doesn't leave, they win and are ranked in the new polls.

Basketball aside, I hope he's ok and it's not something serious. With the rapid weight loss he had from the surgery it's hard not to expect the worse when you see him leave in the middle of the game to go to the hospital. Hopefully it's just flu-like symptoms.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

Wow, thanks for the updates guys.  When I responded earlier, I assumed he'd been ejected, had no idea it was health-related.  Obviously, that's much more important than a game anyway, but HRB is right.  Probably should have taken a timeout to give the guys a chance to regroup. Hope he's better and back with the team sooner rather than later, or things could go bad in a hurry. 

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Yay!! Thank you J.Givony over at Draft Express for at least recognizing Dunn in his Top-100 prospects even if it is only at #35.

 

[NoLastCall125]

Big game tonight for the Friars with #6 Villanova coming to town. I think this is a game they can absolutely take if Dunn protects the ball and Henton shows up to score. Cooley will be back coaching tonight as well. Nova only shoots 42% from the floor, 30% from three in away games, versus 46%/42% at home, so hopefully they continue the trend and PC can focus on stopping Nova in the paint with zone defense.
 
PC ranked 27th and 32nd in the AP and Coaches polls this week and if they can beat Nova and Seton Hall on Saturday (also at home), I don't see how they aren't a Top 20 team with five games to play. Needless to say, I'm stoked about tonight.

 

[CouchsideSteve]

Felt compelled to pick up tickets to tonight's game at the last minute... the Dunk is nearly sold out, so this should be a great atmosphere.

(And yes, I'm an unabashed RI college hoops bigamist this season.)

 

[Mloaf71]

Watching gamecast while on a flight to the west coast.  Based on Gamecast it looks like PC had a hard time holding on to the ball with a bunch of Turnovers in the first half.
 
Can someone watching say how they look so far?

 

[MillarTime]

Nova alum here. This is turning into a very entertaining game. Both teams max effort.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

They made it look closer than it was by the end of the game, but, once again, show that they aren't ready for Prime Time.  Too many defensive lapses, inability to hit some lay-ups, missed free throws and going too long without scoring a basket. This is a good team, Villanova is much better.  A decent run in the BE Tourney is a possibility, and if they get he right match-up in the NCAA's a win or two can happen, but I am not holding my breath.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

They made it look closer than it was by the end of the game, but, once again, show that they aren't ready for Prime Time.  Too many defensive lapses, inability to hit some lay-ups, missed free throws and going too long without scoring a basket. This is a good team, Villanova is much better.  A decent run in the BE Tourney is a possibility, and if they get he right match-up in the NCAA's a win or two can happen, but I am not holding my breath.

I didn't want to post pre-game at the fear of us being embarrassed but it boils down to Villanova's secondary players being soooo much stronger than ours outside of the top two. They go legit 8-deep of high quality NCAA players while we are a two-man team, two wild cards in Desrosiers and Harris on any given night, then the big problem.....5-9 consists of 4 freshman, 3 who are very raw, and a transfer who isn't on the level of any of the Nova guys.

It was a terrible matchup for us but we hung around at home. I fear for what happens next week at their place.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Took care of business yesterday vs Seton Hall. Many of our holes continue being exposed in our lack of depth and/or freshman not growing as much or as quickly as we need them to do.

Once again led by Dunn and Henton.....and not much else. Regardless this win brings us to 18-8 and 8-5 in the conference whereas a loss would have been a major blow heading into the final five games of the regular season.

Right now these wins are crucial to avoid dropping to an 8-9 seed which would force us to play a #1 seed in the second round. Very important to secure a 6 or 7-seed at this point.

 

[shawnrbu]

Nice to be on the right side of a blowout at DePaul.  Friars can be considered a lock with a win at Nova on Tuesday. 
 
Henton is on pace to become the school's 2nd career 2,000 point, 1,000 rebounder joining Ryan Gomes.  Henton currently has 1,946 points and 993 rebounds.  192 points away from tying Gomes' career scoring record.  A solid postseason run by the team will give Henton a chance to become the school's all time leading scorer by the end of the season. 

 

[NoLastCall125]

Friars are ranked #25 in the AP poll. Good to see the recognition going into a big game against Nova.

 

[NickEsasky]

Latest commit for the Friars. Ricky Council a 6'5 guard out of NC. Had offers from NC State, GT, Tulsa, Creighton, and Marquette. 
 
http://providence.scout.com/story/1520803-council-picks-providence

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

I didn't want to post pre-game at the fear of us being embarrassed but it boils down to Villanova's secondary players being soooo much stronger than ours outside of the top two. They go legit 8-deep of high quality NCAA players while we are a two-man team, two wild cards in Desrosiers and Harris on any given night, then the big problem.....5-9 consists of 4 freshman, 3 who are very raw, and a transfer who isn't on the level of any of the Nova guys.

It was a terrible matchup for us but we hung around at home. I fear for what happens next week at their place.

They are just so much deeper and better than PC.  PC is going in the right direction, but they need more pieces.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

They are just so much deeper and better than PC.  PC is going in the right direction, but they need more pieces.

Under normal circumstances I don't go to the Wizards-Warrior game I couldn't give two shits about from a results perspective instead drive to Philly ready to go Dominican priest on their wildcat asses......but this result was expected. Not only are Nova a bad "matchup" for us on the floor.....they are also real fvcking good!

 

[NickEsasky]

Under normal circumstances I don't go to the Wizards-Warrior game I couldn't give two shits about from a results perspective instead drive to Philly ready to go Dominican priest on their wildcat asses......but this result was expected. Not only are Nova a bad "matchup" for us on the floor.....they are also real fvcking good!

Speaking of...how the hell does Jay Wright do it every year? He rarely has a roster full of bonafide NBA prospects, he's only had 6 McDonald's All-Americans in his tenure yet always seems to be in the top 10, and has made a post season tournament every year he's been there except 2011-12. Four of his seven losses in the NCAA tournament were to the eventual champion. 
 
Is it because he gets a lot of his guys to commit to his system for four years? Does he just outcoach his opponents consistently?

 

[MillarTime]

Being a Nova alum, I obviously follow the team very closely. I'd say Wright is good, but not great, in-game coach and I certainly don't think he's out-coaching his counterparts every night.
 
There is something to him finding players who will buy-in and stick around. He typically recruits very well in the #50-150 range of each class, while sprinkling in some really top-end talent from time to time (Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, Scottie Reynolds, JayVaughn Pinkston, Jalen Brunson next year, etc.). 
 
It's interesting that after the Foye/Ray/Lowry teams and the 2009 Scottie Reynolds/Final four team, Wright rode the wave and landed a top-5 recruiting class with several players that seemed to be NBA talent. It was a pretty much a failure. The team never came close realizing it's potential, Malik Wayns and Dominic Cheek bolted for the NBA early (neither are in the league now, I believe) and they ended up with a 13-19 season in 2012.  I think at that point Wright went back to focusing on recruiting 3 and 4-star guys who he thought would stick around and buy into the program.
 
Probably more than anyone in a PC thread cares to know about Villanova, but there you go....

 

[NickEsasky]

Being a Nova alum, I obviously follow the team very closely. I'd say Wright is good, but not great, in-game coach and I certainly don't think he's out-coaching his counterparts every night.
 
There is something to him finding players who will buy-in and stick around. He typically recruits very well in the #50-150 range of each class, while sprinkling in some really top-end talent from time to time (Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, Scottie Reynolds, JayVaughn Pinkston, Jalen Brunson next year, etc.). 
 
It's interesting that after the Foye/Ray/Lowry teams and the 2009 Scottie Reynolds/Final four team, Wright rode the wave and landed a top-5 recruiting class with several players that seemed to be NBA talent. It was a pretty much a failure. The team never came close realizing it's potential, Malik Wayns and Dominic Cheek bolted for the NBA early (neither are in the league now, I believe) and they ended up with a 13-19 season in 2012.  I think at that point Wright went back to focusing on recruiting 3 and 4-star guys who he thought would stick around and buy into the program.
 
Probably more than anyone in a PC thread cares to know about Villanova, but there you go....

I mean fuck Nova and all that because Big East, but I asked and appreciate the answer. Thanks. 

 

[MillarTime]

fuck Nova

 
Edit: Eh....re-thought the post

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Being a Nova alum, I obviously follow the team very closely. I'd say Wright is good, but not great, in-game coach and I certainly don't think he's out-coaching his counterparts every night.
 
There is something to him finding players who will buy-in and stick around. He typically recruits very well in the #50-150 range of each class, while sprinkling in some really top-end talent from time to time (Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, Scottie Reynolds, JayVaughn Pinkston, Jalen Brunson next year, etc.). 
 
It's interesting that after the Foye/Ray/Lowry teams and the 2009 Scottie Reynolds/Final four team, Wright rode the wave and landed a top-5 recruiting class with several players that seemed to be NBA talent. It was a pretty much a failure. The team never came close realizing it's potential, Malik Wayns and Dominic Cheek bolted for the NBA early (neither are in the league now, I believe) and they ended up with a 13-19 season in 2012.  I think at that point Wright went back to focusing on recruiting 3 and 4-star guys who he thought would stick around and buy into the program.
 
Probably more than anyone in a PC thread cares to know about Villanova, but there you go....

Ya know you can keep this crap over at The French Canadian Relatives of Stewart Granger board next time.

 

[MillarTime]

Think there used to be a Sons of Jake Nevin thread. Maybe I'll revive....

 

[HomeRunBaker]

You know your program has taken the leap when Win #20 and Conference Win #10 while being ranked 25th in the country playing without your 3rd most important player (Desrosiers) is greeted with a collective "Ho-hum, Geez we let a 24 point lead turn into a single digit win."

No room to slip up now. Must get Carson healthy (questionable for this weeks Seton Hall game w knee), wins the games we're supposed to win, and avoid the 8/9 game in The Dance.

 

[Mloaf71]

AP #24 and Coaches #23.
 
If we take care of busienss going into the BET we could be a top 20 team.

 

[NoLastCall125]

AP #24 and Coaches #23.
 
If we take care of busienss going into the BET we could be a top 20 team.

 
Every team in the top 20 to 25 lost this week except for Butler. There's an outside chance PC could be a top 20 team by the next polls if they take out Seton Hall and now #21 Butler.
 
#23 Ohio State plays #6 Wisconsin
#22 SMU plays Tulsa who is at the top of the AAC. 
#20 West Virginia plays #9 Kansas and also Oklahoma State
#19 UNC plays #3 Duke. 
 
There could be some shifting around of teams 19-25 over the next week if it's as crazy as it was the previous seven days.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

Might be an even bigger shake up than just 19-25 this week.  No. 14 Baylor just lost to unranked Texas, and No. 15 Oklahoma is playing at No. 17 Iowa State right now.  There was only 3 games today involving top 25 teams, and 2 of them are going to result in losses for teams ranked 14-17.  I just fucking love the end of the NCAA regular season.  Every game matters so much for conference tournaments and NCAA seeding.  Also makes you go back and look at the awful losses that your team had and realize that every game really does matter in the end, like that awful 3 game stretch for the Friars earlier in the season. 
 
Carson's health coming down the stretch might be the sole determining factor in how the season ends for PC, but I'll admit it's been nice to see some of these younger guys contribute (albeit very inconsistently) at least a little bit of late.  Henton and Dunn may be doing only 80% of the work, instead of 95% now.  Maybe if Carson's injury forced more minutes onto those guys, that experience could end up being a good thing for us in the post-season.  Like HRB, I want to avoid that 8/9 play in game like I want to avoid a root canal. 
 
Millartime, count me among those that definitely appreciated your post on 'Nova.  Always interesting to hear opposing fans takes on their own teams, particularly when it's a rival. 

 

[MillarTime]

I just love the success the BE has had this year. It's been a lot of fun following the entire conference. Last year, there were a lot of pundits saying the BE was going to be mid-major going forward.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Yes Death.....first it was Bentil stepping up and now Chukwu is continuing his improvement. Harris is our wildcard but even he seems to be adapting to his role even though he hated it initially (and still may). We need these freshman to play key roles in the post-season which of course can carry into their soph season.

Chukwu won't only be a first-round pick one day.....he will be a low lottery pick. You heard it here.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

And down goes No. 21 Butler, at home against unranked Georgetown.  If PC can win their games this week, they really could jump into the top 20.  Huge shakeup coming on Sunday. 

 

[shawnrbu]

Would have rather seen Butler win tonight since it would have made it easier for PC to lock up a Top 3 seed in the Big East Tournament.  A loss to Butler on Saturday likely means PC gets drawn against St. John's in the 4/5 game.  Winner of the 4/5 game likely faces Villanova in the semis.  Being, at least, the 3 seed is a huge need if PC has any hope of defending the Big East Tournament Championship. 

 

[Deathofthebambino]

If Butler had won tonight, and beaten PC on Saturday, wouldn't the Friars still be looking at the 4/5 game?   Or was the Georgetown win the problem, giving them the edge over PC if PC loses Saturday? 
 
Either way, I think at this point, PC needs all the wins it can possibly get.  Win this week, and then get a win or two in the BE Tourney, and guarantee themselves a decent seed in the NCAA's.  A loss to Butler, an early exit from the conference tourney, and we might be in a play-in game come tourney time.  Unbelievable how much is on the line in the next week or two for the team this year, and for the future, IMO.  Every extra game they can play will only help these kids develop.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

No. 20 West Virginia blows a 14 point halftime lead on the road against No. 9 Kansas, and lose in overtime. 
 
Through two days this week, No's 14, 15, 20 and 21 have lost games already.   Either No. 12 Notre Dame or No. 16 Louisville will lose tomorrow as they play each other.  Also tomorrow, No. 23 Ohio State goes on the road to play Penn State.
 
PC, currently ranked 24, just plain and simple, MUST WIN tomorrow at Seton Hall.   This is officially put up or shut up time.  If this team wants to be talked about on a national level, these are games they have to have when they matter, and a win tomorrow and Saturday, combined with all of these losses by everyone else will absolutely catapult them into that discussion.

 

[NoLastCall125]

If Butler had won tonight, and beaten PC on Saturday, wouldn't the Friars still be looking at the 4/5 game?   Or was the Georgetown win the problem, giving them the edge over PC if PC loses Saturday? 
 
Either way, I think at this point, PC needs all the wins it can possibly get.  Win this week, and then get a win or two in the BE Tourney, and guarantee themselves a decent seed in the NCAA's.  A loss to Butler, an early exit from the conference tourney, and we might be in a play-in game come tourney time.  Unbelievable how much is on the line in the next week or two for the team this year, and for the future, IMO.  Every extra game they can play will only help these kids develop.

 
Butler and Georgetown are tied at 11-6 in second place. Butler has PC left, Georgetown has Seton Hall and at 10-6, PC has Seton Hall and Butler. Georgetown losing to the Pirates would be the only guarantee PC is at least a 3 seed, even if they lose to either Butler or Seton Hall, as PC has the tiebreaker over the Hoyas. Had Georgetown lost to Butler, it would have given PC a little more breathing room if Butler beats them. Now they really can't lose the Butler game.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

This could be bad news.

KD's dad told me tonight that he spoke with Carson's parents and they want him to shut down for the season. I don't have a clue as to how much influence his parents have but Mom supposedly is adamant that he's done.

This would really suck.

 

[shawnrbu]

Looks like Carson and/or Cooley didn't listen to mom as Carson entered as a sub 6 minutes into the game.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Looks like Carson and/or Cooley didn't listen to mom as Carson entered as a sub 6 minutes into the game.

Glad that Carson is a team oriented kid rather than someone like Harris who is all about himself.

We're getting our asses kicked here. Two steps behind defensively and unable to challenge any of their shooters. Awful awful effort so far tonight.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Kris woke up at halftime and is igniting this team. Whenever I see this I get chills then it's followed by sadness when the reality hits that this could be his final year.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

Bentil with a monster game so far

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

Kris woke up at halftime and is igniting this team. Whenever I see this I get chills then it's followed by sadness when the reality hits that this could be his final year.

It makes me said to think what this team could have done last year with Dunn healthy, Cotton and Henten. Damn rebounding drills....

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Welcome to your coming out party, Ben Bentil. 23/12 on the road is Ben taking another leap.

Lomomba could compete on PC's track and field team this spring in the shot put.

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

Really didn't like that at the end by Dunn...you are not going to get a free break-a-way dunk with a defender there...he is going to foul you. Just dribble the clock out

 

[Mloaf71]

Big win. One more for the 2 seed in the BET. Looking like a 5 seed in the NCAA. Could they get to a 3 or 4 if they win out to the BET final?

 

[pdaj]

Well, just about everything I came here to say has been said. Aside from the Georgetown win, this was my favorite 2nd half of the year to watch. Kris is such a complete player when he's on his game -- he does everything with such effort. Love him. The word amongst a lot of Friar brethren is that he's leaning heavily towards returning next year.
 
Ben Bentil's my favorite freshman, and tonight he brought his big boy shorts to Jersey. If he can carry some of this confidence into the post-season, things could get interesting. I agree with the gang that the minutes played by the young guys down the season stretch will prove beneficial.
 
Ditto on the Nova fan contributions, also. I wish we had a lot more BE talk on this site.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

I refuse to look ahead until they get by Butler on Saturday.  That game is going to be massive for them.  I didn't catch the first half today, and kind of glad I didn't, but when I saw the box score at halftime, and PC was 14-16 from the foul line, but only shooting 25% from the floor, I had a good feeling that they were going to have a huge second half.  Seemed like they were being aggressive, and just weren't getting their shots to fall, while on the other side, Seton Hall was doing the opposite.  Those statistics have a way of evening out, and they did so tonight.  Friars outscored them 50-29 in the second half.  They finished 29-33 from the foul line.  That's by far, the best game they've had all season, and on a ton of shots, and they destroyed Seton Hall on the boards 39-22.  Two stats that say to me that PC was by far the more aggressive team and worked harder.
 
I love road wins.  Love, love, love them.  Seton Hall may not be a great team, but they are a 16 win team and to blow the doors off of them on their floor in the 2nd half is a really, really good sign, IMO.  They went into halftime, made the defensive adjustments, stayed aggressive on the offensive side, and when their shots started falling, it was game over.  Again, Carson's injury, which forced a ton of minutes to the kids these past two weeks could be a huge deal for them going forward.  Monster game for Bentil.  Seems like each night, one of them steps up.  If one of the kids could find some consistency, or if more than one could step up on the same night, they could become a really tough out for anyone in the post-season.  I'm starting to get excited about them.
 
In other news, No. 16 Lousville goes down.  14, 15, 16, 20 and 21 with losses this week so far.

 

[Deathofthebambino]

Damn.  No. 18 Arkansas hung on to win on the road against South Carolina.  Looked like they were going to give that one away.  Might finally have a night tonight without a loss from a top 25 team, as Wisconsin already won.  No. 5 Arizona is playing Cal now, and No. 13 Utah is on the road at Washington State later. 

 

[Mloaf71]

Bumping this thread.  Excited for today's game.  Biggest since Pitt in 04 at the Dunk.  Hopefully a good crowd for Henton's swan song!

 

[shawnrbu]

This game is looking nearly as dreadful as that Pitt 04 game.  Really disappointing with all the stakes on the line in this game.

 

[NoLastCall125]

Dunn is coming up really small this first half with 1-6 from the floor, forcing every shot and not dishing the ball while getting double and triple teamed. He's either been out of control or not aggressive enough. Still, there's no way they continue to shoot 28% from the floor. I think they'll come out swinging in the second half and still take this game, with Dunn and Henton going off.