For our latest installment of …Keep Your Enemies Closer, I talked with Dave Pean of FriarBlog (make sure you check out my responses there!). Dave’s been in the blogging world for a few years now, has seamlessly transitioned himself in the social networking world, and has developed a Donut/Coffee problem like which the world has never seen these past few years because of Friar Basketball.
Dave, thanks for your time, and Godspeed with the impending heart issues.
Chris (IBBW): Rivalry wins like the one you had against UConn are supposed to ignite a season, but you’ve lost 4 straight since then. In fairness it was a very tough schedule, but talk me through what happened.
Dave (FB): Hey, we’ve been beating UConn soundly for several years now without getting any ignition from it, why start now? But yeah, this has been a brutal stretch of the schedule. As the losses continue to pile up, there have been some positives to take away. PC played Syracuse extremely tough in the first half at the Carrier Dome (before succumbing to their awesomness), and also had a great shot at upsetting Georgetown at home a few nights ago (despite not being able to piss in the ocean).
The big problems (besides the defense) that hurt in the Cincinnati and Marquette losses were bad offensive stretches, plus the ability to make plays down the stretch. Even though the team puts up a lot of points on the board, there really isn’t a go to player in crunch time who can continually execute on big possessions. Some players try to take matters into their hands, but end up doing too much. We just hope that the team (and coaching staff) learns this stretch, and can put it towards the goal of being able to play consistent basketball for 40 minutes.
Chris (IBBW): Jamine Peterson has come out of nowhere (at least in my eyes). Where was he last year and did you anticipate this at all from him?
Dave (FB): Greedy Peterson was a Tim Welsh recruit who always showed great athleticism during his freshman year two years ago, but also had a very raw game overall. Keno Davis decided to red shirt him last season, and his improvement has been amazing. If you saw him two years ago, you would be surprised if he could ever learn to make a jump shot, let alone a three pointer. Oh, and he will now take plenty of three pointers. His shot selection and overall decision making still have lots of room for improvement, but seeing how Greedy has been able to develop everything else so quickly, the sky is the limit. Peterson just pumps out SportsCenter highlight dunks and double-doubles like they’re going out of style. I’m not sure anybody anticipated this from this season, but Friar fans are pretty excited about what he can do for the program over the next two years.
Chris (IBBW): Lots of new names on the roster this year. Who are the impact newcomers for the Friars?
Dave (FB): So we have 4 freshman, 2 JUCO transfers, and a red-shirt freshman. Whew. It’s crazy to think that 8 players (if you include Greedy) did not see a BIG EAST game last year. Out of those 7 newcomers, we only have 3 that have been logging meaningful minutes. Duke Mondy has been a solid role player, and at times a nice spark offensively off the bench. However, big man Bilal Dixon and point guard Vincent Council have had the most impact — if they don’t both land on the BIG EAST All-Rookie team, something is terribly wrong. Dixon keeps getting better and better as the season progresses, and seems like a leader type with his intensity out on the court. His offense will come and go, but his defense is improving and rebounding has been great.
Vincent Council is the future of the team right now. He’s a great penetrating point guard (which the Friars haven’t had since GOD pretty much) with a phenomenal court sense. It’s not a stretch to say that he is currently the best player on the team. As Providence keeps improving on bringing in more talented players, VC will definitely thrive. The one missing piece in Friartown is a legitimate center — I’m pretty confident Keno will land one the next few years, because all he needs to do is show tape of Council’s passes.
Chris (IBBW): After some careful research, I can confirm Sharaud Curry has only been here for 5 years. But much like Scottie Reynolds, it’s felt like 10. I hate his rainbow 3’s. What has his career meant for PC Basketball?
Dave (FB): Sharaud has had an up and down career at PC. After starting out with so much promise by landing on the BIG EAST All-Rookie team, coupled with a very good sophomore year at 15 PPG, he obviously took a huge detour with the broken foot that caused him to miss an entire year. After coming back last year though, it’s clear what type of player Curry is. At 5-9, he is extremely limited on the defensive end (and has not really improved on this in 5 years). As a point guard, Curry is more of east-west player, but capable of some excellent scoring nights. With Council now able to take over some of the ball handling duties, Curry can now play off the ball and really do some damage if his shot is falling. Like his fellow graduating class of last season, I think the expectations were a little high after seeing what he could do early on.However, Curry didn’t really take the next step as becoming a complete player / leader, and I think that is what frustrates Friar fans. I will give him credit for how he has played in some recent BIG EAST games though. Who knows, maybe he has a few more rainbow threes left in him for a BIG EAST upset to close out his career at Providence. Or maybe he used them all up against Villanova last year!
Chris (IBBW): It’s Year 2 of Keno-Ball. Pros? Cons? Dreams? Fears?
Dave (FB): Everyone knew coming into the season that this year was going to be rough. I think what all Friar fans wanted to see was how the young pieces of the team fit into the program. Between Vincent Coucil, Bilal Dixon, and the emergence of Greedy, I think there is plenty to get excited about for the future of the team. With two top 100 recruits coming in next season, we are definitely headed in the right direction in terms of upgrading the talent. The big questions that loom however: Will the talent upgrade take care of the glaring problems on defense Keno’s team’s have had his first two years? Will there be a snowball effect in being to be continually land bigger recruits, especially the top talent in the area? That is the million dollar bet Providence made, and to me it looks we have a good start.
Chris (IBBW): We know about the dildo incident and Jeff Xavier’s lunatic brother, so what has been the weirdest thing to happen at The Dunk this year? And do I need to be worried that Villanova is likely going to be there in the NCAA Tourney?
Dave (FB): Sadly enough, it’s been a pretty tame year at the DUNK. Unfortunately, the best thing I can think of is the breaking out of a Pauley D big head (since he’s from Rhode Island) in the Student Section. The NCAA Tournament there should be fun though – I would imagine you’d travel quite well, but I think the locals would get behind another fellow BIG EAST member.
Chris (IBBW): Give me a prediction for Saturday.
Dave (FB): Keeping up with one of the best teams in the conference on your home court is one thing – playing them on the road scares the crap out of me. I wish I could say we have any chance whatsoever, but I just think Villanova is too talented. I think we will lose 90-74.
…Thanks again to Dave for his time!…good luck on Saturday brother…just don’t want to see this game in the 100’s…Lord knows that is possible…
12:00 p.m. ET – PROVIDENCE -8.5 DePaul
2:00 p.m. ET – MARQUETTE – 7 St. John’s
7:00 p.m. ET – WEST VIRGINIA – 4.5 Notre Dame
9:00 p.m. ET – SYRACUSE -6.5 Seton Hall
