Interviews with PC Bloggers

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

Hey guys, in preparation for the upcoming game, I interviewed both FriarBasketball.com and FriarBlog.com. The first one is up here if anyone wants to check it out, and the FriarBlog one will be up tomorrow:

http://rhodyrampage.com/2012/12/05/behi ... he-friars/

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

I still get the feeling from that PC blogger that they do not understand the difference between close losses against very good to great competition (Rhody) and a 6-2 record against weak to average competition (PC).

Also, the final score seems unlikely to have Friars in the mid 70s and Rams in high 60s. This ain't Keno and Baron playing zero defense.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Reasonable and well spoken.
Nothing earth shattering, if he's
relying on KMac for medical information.
All some PC fans seem to regard is the W-Ls, and not
the content of games they probably didn't bother
to read about or watch.
The real basketball fans in their fanbase, know what's going on.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote:I still get the feeling from that PC blogger that they do not understand the difference between close losses against very good to great competition (Rhody) and a 6-2 record against weak to average competition (PC).

Also, the final score seems unlikely to have Friars in the mid 70s and Rams in high 60s. This ain't Keno and Baron playing zero defense.

Totally agree on the score part. He also interviewed me for his site - I'll link to it when it goes up. The FriarBlog one is a little less technical and a little more fun.

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

ATP,

Easy on the good to great competition. Rhody played very well vs OSU and got throttled by a very good Va Tech team. Outside of that, the competition has been less than stellar. PC has played a very soft schedule; outside of PSU and UMass who are just ok.

Difference is PC has lost 2 heartbreakers with a depleted roster and handled everyone else fairly easily.

Optimistic · Unread post by **Optimistic** » 11 years ago

seanmc94 wrote:ATP,

Easy on the good to great competition. Rhody played very well vs OSU and got throttled by a very good Va Tech team. Outside of that, the competition has been less than stellar. PC has played a very soft schedule; outside of PSU and UMass who are just ok.

Difference is PC has lost 2 heartbreakers with a depleted roster and handled everyone else fairly easily.

According to Ken Pomeroy, URI has played the 58th most difficult schedule to date in D1, and PC has played the 302nd most difficult (that's out of 347 schools). RPI has us at 16 in SOS and PC at 154. Saying URI has played good to great competition is more than fair. PC has played a cupcake schedule and I'll think it will come back to bite them come Big East time. Looking at the remaining non-conf schedule for PC and the best team they've yet to play is BC (who lost to Bryant). You really think PC has any chance at making the NIT sean?

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

Congrats on the "tough" schedule. How's that working out? Thank god PC is playing doormats. Any real competition and they might not be able to field a team. With a full compliment if players(incl VC) I stand by my prediction.

You only get credit fir tough scheduling if you actually beat a few teams

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Sean, seriously? You go after my very measured "good to great" assessment of Rhody's schedule thus far?? REALLY? As if that wasn't completely accurate?

Matunuck · Unread post by **Matunuck** » 11 years ago

Where is the block feature?

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

ATP,

you make it sound as if URI is running the gauntlet; when in reality, they have played 2 tough games.

Optimistic · Unread post by **Optimistic** » 11 years ago

seanmc94 wrote:Congrats on the "tough" schedule. How's that working out? Thank god PC is playing doormats. Any real competition and they might not be able to field a team. With a full compliment if players(incl VC) I stand by my prediction.

You only get credit fir tough scheduling if you actually beat a few teams

This team had no chance of postseason play this year, so I'm glad we're playing a tough schedule. Playing tough games on the road is going to give our young players invaluable experience. And we can play what-ifs all we want. If URI had all their transfers eligible and Holton wasn't a felon we'd be going to the NCAAs this year. Who cares, doesn't matter. With the team PC has right now they are going nowhere (this season).

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 11 years ago

sean is as objective as CNN covering the presidential election. impossible to have rational discourse.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 11 years ago

Difference is PC has lost 2 heartbreakers with a depleted roster and handled everyone else fairly easily.

So what you are saying is PC has lost to the 2 "OK" teams they have played and beaten the scrubs. Congratulations!

And for the record, calling PSU OK is a stretch.

ATP presented hard numbers and you had no answer but to downplay the significance of playing good competition. A joke.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

seanmc94 the Friar Fan wrote:ATP,

you make it sound as if URI is running the gauntlet; when in reality, they have played 2 tough games.

ATPTourFan wrote:the difference between close losses against very good to great competition (Rhody) and a 6-2 record against weak to average competition (PC).

Sean, again, my comment was that the blogger seemed to use team record as a primary point of comparison between the teams. Thus, my comment I re-quoted here for you to check again. How exactly am I beating my chest here?

Simply factual, as shown by others who have referenced objective formulaic schedule evaluations.

Out of the teams Rhody has lost to, Norfolk St is probably the only team that will not make the NCAA's this year. Rhody's wins come against the America East favorite and in a true road-game vs a SEC team.

Oh yeah, I forgot, we did lose on a neutral floor to one bad team picked to finish 14th in their league: Seton Hall.

Tomorrow, we play the only team in their conference considered worse than them, up at the Dunk.

theblueram · Unread post by **theblueram** » 11 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote:
seanmc94 the Friar Fan wrote:ATP,

you make it sound as if URI is running the gauntlet; when in reality, they have played 2 tough games.

ATPTourFan wrote:the difference between close losses against very good to great competition (Rhody) and a 6-2 record against weak to average competition (PC).
Sean, again, my comment was that the blogger seemed to use team record as a primary point of comparison between the teams. Thus, my comment I re-quoted here for you to check again. How exactly am I beating my chest here?

Simply factual, as shown by others who have referenced objective formulaic schedule evaluations.

Out of the teams Rhody has lost to, Norfolk St is probably the only team that will not make the NCAA's this year. Rhody's wins come against the America East favorite and in a true road-game vs a SEC team.

Oh yeah, I forgot, we did lose on a neutral floor to one bad team picked to finish 14th in their league: Seton Hall.

Tomorrow, we play the only team in their conference considered worse than them, up at the Dunk.

Enter the sound of smack on flesh!

Jks1985 · Unread post by **Jks1985** » 11 years ago

We are all acting like PC is a bad team

Their 3 best players are injured (council, cotton, and Dunn)

Once they get healthy and get the transfer for 2nd semester (sidiki Johnson), they will start to pick up steam and can do damage in a weak big east (this year)

This is why it's important for us to beat them now while they are weak and not even close to full strength. We would never beat them this year otherwise.

Win tomorrow, and it will look good and help our RPI a great deal as the season progresses.

I can easily see PC as an NIT team this year, and I bet Rhody can even sneak past .500 and earn a place in the CBI or CIT if things work out. We are playing better and better!

Lets steal this one tmrw!

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Nothing you said is in dispute, except for a NIT invite. This ain't your father's NIT where they choose teams by TV market and attendance guarantees (like when Rhody got in after the first two seasons in the Ryan Center). There's almost no chance the Friars can finish with the resume necessary to earn an at-large NIT berth.

According to live-rpi.com PC has an 8% chance of finishing with an RPI under 80.

The site currently predicts an final RPI of 121 for the Friars.

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

Bar,

PSU is better than all but 3 teams in the A-10 with a healthy Frazier.

ATP,

Never said you were beating your chest; simply think you are overstating Uris resume.

Norfolk st, l-md, SHU and VT aren't exactly the iron of NCAA hoops. If you think they are making the dance; it's your opinion. I don't think they will, even if they do...my eyes tell me they aren't very good.

Agree to disagree

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

seanmc94 wrote:ATP,

Never said you were beating your chest; simply think you are overstating Uris resume.

Norfolk st, l-md, SHU and VT aren't exactly the iron of NCAA hoops. If you think they are making the dance; it's your opinion. I don't think they will, even if they do...my eyes tell me they aren't very good.

Agree to disagree

Sean, read more carefully, please. I excluded SH and Norfolk as NCAA probables this season.

As it stands, the records of these two teams are severely misleading without the context of strength of schedule and the nature of each win/loss.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 11 years ago

I admire Sean. He is smart.

The Dude · Unread post by **The Dude** » 11 years ago

I love hearing about PC's depleted roster.
Hahaha....I get it. It's meant to be funny. URI hasn't had a limited roster or anything. T.J. came back within the last couple of games from injury. Many aren't eligible to play this year. Some of the eligible players are walk ons. Hahaha...oh that's funny. Talking to us about not having enough players...good one.
You'll really make a good point talking to a group of fans that just watched their team get dismantled at the end of last season. A group of fans that just saw players from last year, either leave or get kicked off the team. Oh, "and" the fact that only 5 players remain from last season...one of which was out injured until the last couple games. Oh, "and" don't forget the new coaches and new coaching philosophy that was added, just for kicks to spice up the situation.
See...now...."there's" a group that knows all about heartbreakers and depleted rosters.

PC's out of conference wins = cupcakes = light and fluffy pastry cakes = loved, appreciated and easily eaten up by people with big mouths.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

Penn State is not a good team and UMASS is just avg

I am starting to like URI more and more

Any time a Hurley coached team is getting points I will back them

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

The Dude wrote:I love hearing about PC's depleted roster.
Hahaha....I get it. It's meant to be funny. URI hasn't had a limited roster or anything. T.J. came back within the last couple of games from injury. Many aren't eligible to play this year. Some of the eligible players are walk ons. Hahaha...oh that's funny. Talking to us about not having enough players...good one.
You'll really make a good point talking to a group of fans that just watched their team get dismantled at the end of last season. A group of fans that just saw players from last year, either leave or get kicked off the team. Oh, "and" the fact that only 5 players remain from last season...one of which was out injured until the last couple games. Oh, "and" don't forget the new coaches and new coaching philosophy that was added, just for kicks to spice up the situation.
See...now...."there's" a group that knows all about heartbreakers and depleted rosters.

PC's out of conference wins = cupcakes = light and fluffy pastry cakes = loved, appreciated and easily eaten up by people with big mouths.

Dude,
So TJ being gimpy is equal to losing a Wooden award finalist? How many times has a walk-on started this year for URI? How many HS AAs are on the bench in Kingston? Is one of the top scorers in the country a game time decision for URI?

No excuses. PC will lace em up and play; no injury whining from me.
The situations are apples and oranges.

Buy a clue.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 11 years ago

sean, was Lasalle one of the 3 A10 teams you think are better than the almighty PSU. because they waxed them by 25 last night. typical over inflated opinion of anything to do with PC, there are 8-9 teams in the A10 better than PSU...as proven by one of our mid tier teams just destroying them last night. get a clue.

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

bigappleram wrote:sean, was Lasalle one of the 3 A10 teams you think are better than the almighty PSU. because they waxed them by 25 last night. typical over inflated opinion of anything to do with PC, there are 8-9 teams in the A10 better than PSU...as proven by one of our mid tier teams just destroying them last night. get a clue.

Reading comprehension...with a healthy Frazier.

When you lose an all-league player it tends to affect things.

Class dismissed

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 11 years ago

is it walt frazier? if not then case closed. it actually makes you losing to them even worse because they suck. at least until they get clyde back.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 11 years ago

All Big 10 First Team last year, Tim Frazier. Averaged 18.8 ppg, 6.2 apg, and 4.8 rpg last season.

He played against PC and was the only reason Penn St. won. He was injured in their next game against Akron in Puerto Rico.

Now their RPI will plummet and will definitely be a worse loss then it would be if he were still playing.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

Hey all, Part II of the roundtable is up - this time it's a chat with FriarBlog... he also interviewed me for his site. Rather than inundate the board with links, his site is friarblog.com and my site is in my sig, so check em out if you're so inclined.

PS - FriarBlog picked Rhody to win tonight. Wondering what Sean thinks about that...

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 11 years ago

URI should win if PC is playing with 5 scholarship players and a walkon. PC would be playing with 3 people capable of being Big East contributors (Henton, Fortune, and Batts), and Fortune wouldn't even scare me because while he is a pure shooter, he has been terrible shooting the ball at the Dunk. Kofane can defend but he wouldn't scare me. Goldsbrough - Joke. Bancroft - Plays hard but is still a walkon.

I know URI has "depth issues," but would hardly call it anything serious compared to what PC has gone through all season. Of course all this starts to change if Cotton, Dunn, or both play.

Plus, I have to agree with the guy I write for

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

I like your reasonable approach, suerfly.
Smarty, you picked four Friars, when asked
to pick five players to start a team with.
You're fired! Go stand in the corner!

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:I like your reasonable approach, suerfly.
Smarty, you picked four Friars, when asked
to pick five players to start a team with.
You're fired! Go stand in the corner!

I was disgusted with myself. But per his rules EC and Hassan were off the table. Dunn and Ledo are top-flight recruits, I couldn't not take them. I wanted to pick X but I would have had to leave off one of those two (or Council, who is the best player on either team IMO).

bkrichmond · Unread post by **bkrichmond** » 11 years ago

And here we have seanmc94 and rjsuperfly, two PC board staples, doing what they said they would never do and crossing over to the URI board. I thought you guys didn't care enough to even comment about the Rams?

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

Sean's a regular here, sort of a PC correspondent of sorts.

Others, I don't know what their agenda is quite yet. We are able to their posts over on the Friar scout board.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Honestly,
I see nothing wrong with a real
basketball dialogue with other school's fans.
No need for getting nasty, if they're civil.
I will say, my reception on the PC board was so
nasty, (and yes, Sean piled on) that I've gotten PMs from a few of their reasonable posters,
apologizing for the rude comments aimed at me.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 11 years ago

I've been able to make a rare post from time to time on the Friar board, and even with my keaneyblue.com sig I use there, haven't been attacked.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 11 years ago

Yo BK, what it do my dude? I came here to talk PC/URI.

Difference between you and I --- I wouldn't go live on another teams board pretending to be a fan. When tonight's game is over, maybe I'll correspond over here and over there for a little and then disappear from here until next year.

Thats the difference -- anything I say over there about URI or PC, I will say over here. I don't have to pretend like you. For the most part, guys over here are educated and know their basketball, and lets be honest, my work year is near its end

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

bigappleram wrote:is it walt frazier? if not then case closed. it actually makes you losing to them even worse because they suck. at least until they get clyde back.

As usual you prove that what you know about hoops could fit on the head of a pin.

seanmc94 · Unread post by **seanmc94** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Honestly,
I see nothing wrong with a real
basketball dialogue with other school's fans.
No need for getting nasty, if they're civil.
I will say, my reception on the PC board was so
nasty, (and yes, Sean piled on) that I've gotten PMs from a few of their reasonable posters,
apologizing for the rude comments aimed at me.

Rod,

Check your spotless memory. I DEFENDED you.

Here is a refresher.

Guys,

Lets keep it civil; rod and Brb are both knowledgeable hoops junkies who's only major flaw is being Rhody fans.

Jks1985 · Unread post by **Jks1985** » 11 years ago

I think we win if PC doesn't have Cotton

I think it's a tossup if Dunn plays, but Cotton doesnt

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 11 years ago

really sean, as you were posting about the prowess of PSU vis a vis the A10 they were taking a beating from a middle of the road team in our league.

but i know, they were missing their all conference player who would've made a 30 pt difference.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 11 years ago

Who knows? You haven't seen an all-league player go down and the team crumble behind them?

That Penn St. team was very average with Frazier. There is no talent there. Without him, they are God terrible. Just look at the beatdown they took at BC just days after BC lost to Bryant.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 11 years ago

rjsuperfly66 wrote:Who knows? You haven't seen an all-league player go down and the team crumble behind them?

That Penn St. team was very average with Frazier. There is no talent there. Without him, they are God terrible. Just look at the beatdown they took at BC just days after BC lost to Bryant.

Or the epic beatdown LaSalle just gave them.

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 11 years ago

Yeah I agree completely.

I just don't think you can really put a value on a players defense, leadership, or experience. When everything is said and done, it's a huge, devastating loss. Without having a competent reserve or other competent players, the impact is going to be great.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

I enjoy when pc fans come to the board to talk hoops....

....I don't like it when pc fans disparage the quality of a URI education and the school itself....that is bullying behavior....both schools serve their constituencies very well....

...and because URI is in Kingston....they condemn its location as buried in Smallsville or Hooterville....many state universities are located in remote spots in their state...this is the digital age....wherever you are located is in the middle of sophistication now....

...and I don't like the fact that pc fans won't admit that the gap between the big east and the A-10 is closing and closing fast....and that the life of a mid-major is URI and pc's shared future....we here at Rhody know that but many pc fans feel they are BCS level merely because they are in the big east.....you either have BCS football at your school or you are a mid-major.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Sean, I thank you for your recent defense.
I meant when I first when on there when there was a
trashing of Hassan Martin, a couple of months ago.
Remember????

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 11 years ago

IMO, I think a lot of the stereotypes about URI were true as an in-stater (right or wrong). When I was going to HS, it was definitely considered by most to be a safety school. Kids I knew with 2.5 GPAs were getting accepted. Kids with 2.7 GPAs were getting scholarships. This was back in 2005 and 2006. And then what happened? Private Educations increased by nearly 25% over 5 years. The economy collapsed. Add those things together and you have an increased base of highly-qualified college-aged students looking for a degree at a reasonable cost. With more top-tier students applying to URI because of cost, I think it has definitely seen an increase as a reputable collegiate institution (at least the in-state perception). It's much more selection. In-state students with 3.2 GPAs are being rejected. What does that say? In the end, who loses? The "reputable" schools like PC, Bryant, etc.

I'm not trying to offend anybody here, and if I did, I apologize.

As for part two, it is still possible to be a BCS level program just with basketball, there is just much more uncertainty. Let's be honest, there will only be 4 top level football conferences. That will leave a lot of potential top basketball programs out in the dark, schools like Duke, etc. If the Big East name stays in tact, there is huge potential there. Here's the difference ... PC hasn't been a BCS-caliber program for nearly a decade. But if Ed Cooley can continue to turn it around, based on all of the athletic additions and conference affliations, there is still hope.

Off the soapbox.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

I remeber my best freind in high school, getting
rejected by URI and accepted at PC.
Maybe they took him because he was Jewish, and
they liked adding diversity to the student body?

rjsuperfly66 · Unread post by **rjsuperfly66** » 11 years ago

Things change Rod. I don't know what it was like back then, but I did know what it was like when I was in HS looking around at different schools, and I feel that is partially responsible for this large feeling of entitlement for a lot of students who attended PC, especially over the past decade.

For the record, I didn't go to PC, and my brother will be attending URI next year.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

True. Back then the joke was calling PC
Practically College.

RAM67 · Unread post by **RAM67** » 11 years ago

It has always been my understanding, that as a land grant College, URI is obligated to take students that PC would not. Someone else on the board closer to admissions may have the correct answer.

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