Here and There in Friartown

By Craig Leighton
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Updated: November 1, 2014

News, notes, and opinions on PC basketball while waiting for the Stonehill game next Saturday

I watched a good deal of the Kentucky Blue-White scrimmage last week and I don’t think I have ever seen that much talent on one college team before. The question is will John Calipari be able to keep all that talent happy? They are not a great outside shooting team, however, and they can be beat if you catch them on a poor shooting night. Let’s hope that PC catches them on one of those nights.
Speaking of Kentucky, one of their exhibition games should hold a lot of interest for Friar fans. On Sunday, November 9 at 7:00 PM Kentucky will be taking on Georgetown (KY) and old friend Gerard Coleman. The game will be televised live on the SEC Network.
I was at the home opener for the men’s hockey team last night and the first thing that struck me is that Schneider Arena looks better than ever. Fresh paint was everywhere and the students are now sitting behind one of goals in their own Friar Fanatics area. There was a decent student turnout, but I was disappointed that most of them left after the end of the second period. As for the game itself, let’s just say the Friars laid an egg. However, the season is just starting and there is plenty of time to right the ship.
The Friar mascot was at the hockey game last night and let me say this, Friar Dom really has some serious moves this year. If Dancing with the Stars ever did a spinoff called Dancing with the Mascots Friar Dom would definitely be in the Final Four. Dom will be very entertaining at the Dunk this year.
PC is playing a secret scrimmage game at Harvard today. Please don’t tell anyone because we aren’t suppose to know anything about it. Word is that security around the gym rivals that which President Obama had in Providence the past couple of days. These secret scrimmages must be at the top of the list of the NCAA’s most stupid rules.
Rhode Island’s newest professional team, the Providence Sky Chiefs, will be making their home debut tomorrow at the Murray Center on the Rhode Island College campus against the New Jersey Express. Tickets are only $10.00 and game time is at 1:30, so you will be able to have plenty of time to get back for the Patriots game. Sounds like a nice, inexpensive way for a family to spend an afternoon.
First, the Big East coaches did not put LaDontae Henton on their First Team Preseason All Big East Team. Now, both ESPN and CBS Sports have left him off their Top 100 Players lists. More fuel for the fire , LaDontae, more fuel for the fire.
In Bill Reynolds For What It’s Worth column this morning he said that the Friars might be as BIG and ATHLETIC across the roster as they’ve ever been. In my opinion that is quite a daily double.
I know the Cooley World Order will disagree, but the best place for pizza before or after a PC game is at Catanzaro’s on Park Ave. in Cranston. As our friend from CBS Sports would say “Off the Charts”.
With the discontinuance of the Mal Brown Scrimmage, the closing of Midnight Madness to the public, and the emergence of secret scrimmages, the public has no real chance of seeing the Friars play before they start playing at the Dunk. The Friars really need to have some sort of intra-squad scrimmage or open practice earlier so Friar fans can take an early peek at the new team after having waited all offseason for some basketball.