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Here and There in Friartown

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News, notes, and opinions on Friar basketball (and other topics) while waiting for the Friars to take care of business against Seton Hall on Wednesday.

  • I am not surprised that the Friars remained in the AP Top 25 despite losing at Villanova last week. National writers have finally realized how good PC’s resume is compared with other schools. Look for the Friars to be in the Top 20 next week if they can take care of business against Seton Hall and Butler.
  • PC has really missed Carson Desrosiers the past two games and they are going to need his defensive presence in the post heading down the stretch. I feel like the Friars have been playing Russian roulette at center as both Paschal Chukwu and Ben Bentil have been prone to getting into deep foul trouble very quickly.
  • That being said both Chukwu and Bentil have stepped up their game recently and both are going to wind up being special players for the Friars before they are through.
  • Lost in the statistics of last night’s game was that Kyron Cartwright had 7 assists and no turnovers in 16 minutes of action.
  • It looks like the Friars have found their third scoring option. In PC’s last five games Tyler Harris has averaged 13 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field.
  • When Providence played at DePaul a couple of weeks ago the crowd was announced at 5923. There couldn’t have been more than 1500 people in the stands. Their crowds are becoming a real embarrassment to the rest of the Big East.
  • I felt badly when I heard the news that Ricky Ledo was let go by the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs really didn’t give him a fair shot. He spent half of his time practicing with the Mavs and the other half playing in the D League. He never had the chance to get acclimated to either place. They should have let him just play full time in the D League instead of having him go back and forth like a yo yo.
  • What’s next for Ricky? If he is smart he will find the best possible situation in Europe like Marshon Brooks did this year and not bother trying to get invited to an NBA training camp (only to wind up in the D League again). That is if someone doesn’t give him a guaranteed NBA deal.
  • It is great that Kris Dunn is now receiving all of this national attention but my question is where were all these national writers in November? Dunn was left off the preseason All Big East first and second teams and most preseason write-ups of the Friars barely mentioned Dunn. I think you national guys are coming to the party just a little bit late.
  • Speaking of All Big East teams, it looks like both Dunn and LaDontae Henton will be shoo ins for the All Big East First Team. The Big East Player of the Year should wind up being a three way battle between Dunn, Henton, and Darrun Hilliard of Villanova.
  • The news last week that the Pawtucket Red Sox were leaving McCoy Stadium hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been going to Pawtucket games since I was a little kid and the minor league team was the Pawtucket Indians (anyone remember Fran Healy?). My first reaction was at least they are staying in Rhode Island. After reading and listening to John Rooke I am convinced that Providence has as much chance of getting the PawSox as they did of getting the Patriots back in the day. There is a reason why the new owners would not even consider staying at McCoy. They have their own plans and Providence may be just a smokescreen.
  • With the game against Butler on Saturday potentially being close to a sellout it looks like Providence is going to draw over 12,000 fans for each of their last four home games. PC has to figure out a way to get casual fans interested in the Friars a little sooner in the season.
  • With the addition of Ricky Council to the 2015 class of incoming recruits that already includes Ryan Fazekas, Alex Owens, and Drew Edwards I am giving the PC staff a grade of B+ for this class. No five star players but four guys who fill specific needs and should wind up being solid four year players. When you include the return of Rodney Bullock next year there is going to be a lot of incoming talent for the Providence program to keep the momentum going.
  • Former Friar recruit Kaleb Joseph is having his problems adjusting to the college game at Syracuse. He just barely got into the game against Virginia tonight and in his prior three games he has scored only two points while going 0-11 from the field. Let’s hope he can get things straightened out with the Cuse.

9 Comments

  1. Chris Primini

    March 3, 2015 at 2:04 am

    I honestly don’t get all this chatter about people being heartbroken about the AAA team moving from Pawtucket to Providence. Pawtucket is a freaking dump. The city of providence having minor league baseball is just going to be great. If it will make you feel better they can change the name to the FriarSox

  2. Craig Leighton

    March 3, 2015 at 2:07 am

    I don’t think it will ever be in Providence. There is just not enough room where they want to put it, particularly when you take into account parking. In addition neither Providence or Rhode Island can really afford to put in major money for improvements to the area.

  3. Chris Primini

    March 3, 2015 at 2:12 am

    So then what would be the point in moving it elsewhere in RI? It’s either Pawtucket, Providence or out if the state in my opinion. We all know how it would go if it was further down state.

  4. Craig Leighton

    March 3, 2015 at 2:16 am

    That is what my thinking is, it is going to wind up somewhere in Mass.

  5. Chris Primini

    March 3, 2015 at 2:23 am

    Don’t look know but Hartford is building a stadium…

  6. Craig Leighton

    March 3, 2015 at 2:28 am

    Ouch, the Red Sox would not mind having a bigger presence in Conn to help compete with the Yankees

  7. Jeremy Nunes

    March 3, 2015 at 2:38 am

    Cartwright keeps getting better and he’s finally looking to shoot a little more…Chukwu’s alley oop slam was awesome to see live Sunday. He has impressed me so much this year. I figured he was a long term project but he keeps improving and is really smooth for a 7’2 guy.

  8. James Adams

    March 3, 2015 at 2:43 am

    Nah, RI will not loose them and there is space for a stadium, don’t forget Providence almost had an NFL team! This will give give the state an economic boost… We Rhode Island folks are so short sighted yet complain when we lose out on things. Life is a gamble you win some you lose some but not making moves makes us automatic losers! #bringbackfriarbaseball

  9. Derec Lamendola

    March 3, 2015 at 4:24 am

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