Will Daniels Interview

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

Thanks to Skype contact information from a KeaneyBlue board member (thanks Twisted!) Will Daniels has agreed to an interview this week.

What would YOU like me to ask Will?

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

Definitely hit on his current professional situation - Where's he playing? How does he like it? Does he have any plans to coach in the future? etc.

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

Ask about his last game, against Creighton. And if he was pissed he was wasting away on the bench as the game was slipping from us. Tell him me thinks he was our best all around player since Lamar.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 11 years ago

Ask what baron had against him.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 11 years ago

Why didn't URI run any baseline screens for the best baseline player in the A 10?

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

Non-basketball questions.....how are his mom and dad doing? The were great people to watch the games with...

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

Does he get back to URI at all and does he ever see any of his former teammates?

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

I'm with BAR all the way on Will.
Best player since Lamar.
Playing 26 minutes in a battle with Creighton in the NIT is one
of the main reasons I stopped rooting for Baron.
Baron claimed it was because Will had three fouls in the game.
Who sits a player for three fouls in the second half??????
Bogus reason. I'd love to know the truth.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 11 years ago

I caught the last year of Will at URI my freshman year, he was amazing and could dominate.

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

Ask him if he ever beat Jimmy in horse or a 3 pt shooting contest

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

Good point, Ramulous! I went down to Daytona Beach a number of years ago to watch the Rams in a tournament. Sat next to Will's parents - great role models for their son.

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

I had a good experience sitting next to his parents at Rose Hill on one of those afternoons where Will dominated those "other" Rams.

Running Ram · Unread post by **Running Ram** » 11 years ago

Hey Jim, I'd like to know some about how Will assesses which (foreign) leagues to play in. Do he and his former teammates confer on their experiences of these leagues? Who (if anyone) does he keep in contact with from Rhody?

Sweep The Leg · Unread post by **Sweep The Leg** » 11 years ago

Ask him how hard it was to play with a with a father/son coach/player combo at the college level.

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

Not much to add here, but looking forward to the interview. Will was perhaps my favorite player from the era that included my time in Kingston.

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

Why Europe vs. the NBADL (I suspect money is a main reason)? Sitting Will in the Creighton game was one of Baron's worst moments.

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

Ramblinrose wrote:Why Europe vs. the NBADL (I suspect money is a main reason)? Sitting Will in the Creighton game was one of Baron's worst moments.

At least from stuff like Paul Shirley's book, and the other one I read about pro basketball in China, the NBDL pays something like $500 per game. If you're a good American player, you can make $200k+ a year in Europe, plus you get a bunch of fringe benefits - Shirley got a villa on the Mediterranean Sea to use for a year. You can also spike your earnings if you're an American with some connection to the old country, since most leagues have residency / nationality quotas. (i.e. You're limited to 2 or 3 "Americans" on a team, so if you can get residency status in another country, you don't count against the cap and become a lot more marketable.)

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

ATPTourFan wrote:I had a good experience sitting next to his parents at Rose Hill on one of those afternoons where Will dominated those "other" Rams.

if i remember correctly, he hit the game winning shot at the buzzer!?

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

Right, it was after the disappointing loss to UMass. Rhody went to 20-4 that afternoon in the Bronx. Then Baron's Rams went on to LOSE 8 of the next 9 games to complete the first major collapse.

It was one of those days when you could really be in awe of his abilities sitting up close. Wasn't his best stats game, though.

Yes, he wasn't NBA material due to his tweener frame, but by his Senior year, he was essentially unstoppable.

He had his outside game, his mid range game, baseline, and of course ability to finish around the rim. Also good at the line.

Here are his senior year stats:
28min/game
18.6ppg (26.1pts/40min)
50.1% FG 36% 3FG 69% FT
6.5rpg
4 double doubles

Fouled out 3 times all season

Only recorded THREE fouls in the last game vs Creighton. WTF BARON!?!?

Ryan Rowdy · Unread post by **Ryan Rowdy** » 11 years ago

I would be curious as to how he felt when he received news going into his Senior year about being a nominee for the Naismith Award.

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

SGreenwell. I believe Jeff Kent is part Jewish and that helped him have a long career in Israel. Some players have trouble with culture shock and homesickness, but those who can stick it out can pile up some nice income for 10 years or so.
I believe ex-Ram Roland Houston had a long European career as did earlier star John Fultz.

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

Please don't start the interview by asking his negative feelings about the coach who was fired.

It's unnecessary.

He was fired.

Ask him what his favorite memories are of playing at the Ryan Ctr.

Ask him who was the toughest opponent he had to guard.

Ask him about his last visit to campus.

What does he think about the direction of the program now? Has he spoken to the Hurleys?

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

Will really was a beast for us, loved his game

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

Last call for questions for Will! We skype in the morning

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

Got to talk to Will, but he was late for the interview because his flight was late due to a major snowstorm! He plays in Latvia now. And get this...he plays against...wait for it...Jimmy Baron this season, they're in the same division!!

Watch for the interview on Saturday's show, and maybe a sneak peek tomorrow.

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

Great!

Btw, Jim, did you get the 88 Syracuse NCAA DVDs?

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

This interview is for tomorrow night's show...but members of this forum get the first look. Pardon the Skype quality, but it IS from Latvia lol

Here's Will: (click on Interviews)

http://rhodeislandrams.com/?page_id=234

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

28 minutes a game in his senior year!
One of our very best ever, playing so few minutes,
was shameful.

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

rodfromcranston wrote:28 minutes a game in his senior year!
One of our very best ever, playing so few minutes,
was shameful.

That was so ridiculous. I can't tell you how many times I shouted at Baron from the stands to put Will back in. Terrible coaching. Still shaking my head.

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

looking forward to the show tomorrow night.

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

Maybe I'm reading to much into it, but does anybody find it strange that Will and Jimmy haven't even TALKED since they graduated? 5 years and they've never even been in contact? Will would be too classy to ever say it, but that makes me think there was more going on behind the scenes. Wouldn't surprise me if he was unhappy with his playing time, even though he won't admit it. I'm just speculating though...

Sweep The Leg · Unread post by **Sweep The Leg** » 11 years ago

Thought the exact same thing LA. It was the perfect opportunity to ask about the whole father/son-player/coach dynamic.

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

Ram and sweep: Clearly he wasn't buddy-buddy with Jimmy, and wasn't happy about his lack of minutes in some cases. I saw by his 'PC" answers when I asked about Coach Baron that there was no sense in trying to push him on that topic. He went into 'he cared about more than them as students' mode, so I read that as Will wanting to stay professional about it. He wouldn't even trash-talk Jimmy when I asked if he'd beat him one-on-one!

If you've seen a lot of my interviews, you know I'm not exactly afraid to dig deeper. I can do it in a way that doesn't seem rude, and asked the tough questions of Presidents, even told Trump he was fired and hung up on him last year lol.

But I didn't see the point. What is the benefit of getting a guy who played 5 years ago here to say 'yeah I was mad at the coach and thought he favored players'? I agree with the poster above who said Baron was fired, it's over, let's move forward. As you heard, Will didn't even want to say he wished he played for Dan Hurley!

Nice guy though, well spoken, and a heck of a basketball player and I wish him the best. Hope to have many of you call in tomorrow night at 7pm, hopefully after our second win!

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

ATP, got them, loved it, and I have one in an envelope ready to send to Kenny Green, thanks!

One last point on the interview, it's easy to tell when two players don't talk to each other that there's usually tension. Some years ago I asked Tom Brady if he was keeping in touch with Drew Bledsoe, who was at Buffalo at the time. Brady launched into 'well, we're division rivals...' and I knew right away they were NOT friendly any longer.

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

I imagine it's a tough line to walk as an interviewer, where the fan in you wants to know more, but you don't want to press the issue too much and make things uncomfortable. I think you're doing a great job with the interviews, can't wait to see more!

Sweep The Leg · Unread post by **Sweep The Leg** » 11 years ago

I agree with LA, you did a great job with the interview as you always do, but I thought there was an opportunity to ask the question without bashing either Baron. Don't you think it was strange that the two of them never spoke since graduation?

I didn't want you to bring up Baron being a bad coach, etc.... but, isn't it interesting to hear first hand the challenges of playing for a coach who's son is a main player on the team. Do other players resent the player (fair or unfairly), can they speak out during a practice or game or fear the backlash?..... It's an interesting dynamic regardless of how the coach is regarded.... Good or bad... It's been five years and the question is legit in my eyes..

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

What is Will's twitter account?

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

Awesome interview !!

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

Sweep, my point isn't that it's not a legit question, my point is we already know the answer. Do you expect Will to say 'Yeah it was rough having a son on the team". He'd be forced to lie and say 'No it was great' and we'd all know it wasn't true.

As I said before, his saying he never spoke to Jimmy after he left says it all.

Not to mention he's about to see Jimmy for the first time soon, doubt he wants to bash the coach. And trying to not be specific, and say things like 'with ANY coach, is it hard to have a family member on the team?' to me would have been obvious and a bit lame lol.

Lastly, his not being able to see me and the fact that we've never spoken takes away any trust factor he might have had with me. Face-to-face on a third interview, I'd know I could get deeper answers. Will was clearly not 'going there'.

Sweep, having said all that? I enjoy having you asked me these things, because it gives me a chance to explain what goes on in the head of an interviewer, which I think is healthy even if we don't agree at the end. Any good journalist should have a reason why he/she asked or didn't ask a question, and should be comfortable explaining it!

Running Ram · Unread post by **Running Ram** » 11 years ago

Another great interview Jim!! I love these, Will is one of my favorites. Of course you already interviewed my fav the real KG. I do think Daniels was the best SF in the A10 his senior year and maybe the best overall player that year. The numbers would have my back if he got the PT he should have. I love the style you have with these guys, small part fan, large part journalist. I know I speak for many forum users when I say we can't thank you enough for making us a part of these.

scine20 · Unread post by **scine20** » 11 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote:Right, it was after the disappointing loss to UMass. Rhody went to 20-4 that afternoon in the Bronx. Then Baron's Rams went on to LOSE 8 of the next 9 games to complete the first major collapse.

It was one of those days when you could really be in awe of his abilities sitting up close. Wasn't his best stats game, though.

Pretty sure you are thinking of a different game. In the game that season as Fordham URI was down 9 in the 2nd half and Jimmy Baron went off. URI had I think a 7-point lead in the final minute and somehow Fordham lost by 2 and I think had the ball with a chance to win. That was the one that got them to 20-4.

The game that Daniels hit the game winner was in 2006-2007. It was an extremely low scoring game in January I believe. Might have been 45-44.

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

What I meant, scine, was that sitting courtside behind the Ram players and watching Will play was a good opportunity to see how he was able to operate and use his body and skillset. It wasn't his best game statistically, but he was a force.

scine20 · Unread post by **scine20** » 11 years ago

Well you said it was the game that he hit a buzzer beater.

I was just pointing out that it was a different game that that happened.