PFB Weekly BIG EAST Power Rankings (Week 2)

Alright so this is a thing that we are going o try and do every week (on Monday) during the season.  We judge it on a number of things including the quality of opponents, margin of victory, RPI, all that good stuff, and some things just based on our own opinion (which is why if you look at the numbers our picks won’t always match up).  What is comes down to though is that there will inevitably be differences in opinion… which is where the fun is.  We are nothing official, so feel free to comment and tear the list apart or whatever.  We would love to know who you think is moving up and who is on the slide.  One note for the first couple weeks though… at this point with the season having barely started  its almost impossible to separate some of these teams.  They all have a lot of wins and most of them have come over opponents too obscure to properly judge so this week and next we might be very questionable.  We think once the season really gets going it won’t be as much of a problem.  But here it is… PFB’s Weekly BIG EAST Power Rankings (Week 2):

1.  Syracuse (4-0)

You have to like what the Orange did this week.  Wins over #12 Cal and #4 UNC.  Syracuse played in a difficult tournament and won it impressively.  So much for that exhibition loss against LeMoine.  No question here, Syracuse is at the top of this weeks list.

 

2.  Louisville (3-0)

Most people would probably put Nova here but we like what Louisville is doing right now.  Especially with their win over Arkansas.  Louisville often gets off to a slow start but so far they are looking good this year.  They have the pieces to be very good.

 

3.  Villanova (5-0)

We’ve dropped the BE favorites to three.  We are sure most people will think they are better than Louisville, but hear us out.  They beat a ranked team in Dayton (who at 2-2 as already lost their ranking) and a solid Ole Miss team but struggled to get past a very young George Mason.  They are young and have a lot of questions.  Scottie Reynolds had been taking a vacation in Puerto Rico until he got things going for the Cats against Ole Miss. Great wins for Nova, but not overly impressive.

 

4.  West Virginia (1-0)

Only 1-0 but we will keep them near the top because of the potential they have.  But, Ebanks needs to get back to Morgantown quickly if the Mountaineers are going to run through their out of conference schedule.  We wish him well.

 

5.  Notre Dame (4-0)

Notre Dame has not been challenged yet, but has disposed all of the teams they have played so far.  They are off to a good start with Harangody leading the way and a some good play from transfer Ben Hansbrough.  The Out of conference schedule is a friendly one for the Irish so look for them to make a run at an undefeated start to the season.

 

6. Connecticut (3-0)

Wins have been less than impressive for the Huskies.  Got away from a Hofstra scare, but you have to like the talent on this team.  We figure they will probably move up the list soon but for now its only the 6 spot.

 

7.  Georgetown (3-0)

We watch the Hoyas barely escape with a win over a good temple team.  Its only early in the season but we were less than impressed.  It will be interesting to see how Georgetown turns out this year.  It looks like their offense is sluggish, but besides that its difficult to get a clear read on them just yet.

 

8.  Seton Hall (3-0)

The Pirates are off to a 3-0 start and will most likely be able to extend their unbeaten streak a little bit longer.  Lots of people have the Seton Hall as a mover in the BE this year but their wins early have not been convincing.  Also the suspension of Keon Lawrence has hurt them.

 

9.  Pittsburgh (3-0)

Pitt is building back up after losing some standouts from last years team.  They haven’t gotten the most love early on, but you have to love what Jamie Dixon can do on the sidelines.  Watch out for Ashton Gibbs, he is the real deal.

 

10.  Marquette (3-0)

They have had three convincing wins.  Granted none have come against mentionable teams, but than again neither have most other teams.  Marquette has looked good in the early going, but it is too early to tell with them.  Their out of conference schedule isn’t the easiest so we will have a better idea soon.

 

11.  Cincinnati (2-0)

Like Seton Hall the Bearcats are supposed to be movers this year.  We could have easily put them higher put they have only had two wins, one of which was not very convincing.  Its early, but Cincy has the potential to be good this year; however, we need some more convincing.

 

12.  St. John’s (3-0)

The Johnies are 3-0 but have barely escaped on top in a couple of their games.  If they were not returning their entire starting line-up and we would probably have put PC in the twelve spot.  But for now its the Red Storm.  A Friday night game against Siena may cause problems this week for St. John’s.

 

13.  Providence (3-1)

After a disappointing loss to Alabama on the road the Friars are near the bottom of the pack.  They are young and inexperienced but a week with two winnable games against decent competition could get PC back on track as they head into a difficult spot in their out of conference schedule.

 

14.  South Florida (4-1)

The Bulls are 4-1, only losing to a good South Carolina team.  There wins have been good and like PC they could easily be put over St. John’s in the list.  USF is improved this year.  Don’t look for them to make a big jump in the league, but don’t look for the to be an easy win anymore… especially when they are at home.

 

15.  DePaul (2-1)

A new look for the Blue Demons this year but so far nothing too impressive.  Their wins haven’t been great.  Their best game came in a hard fought loss to Tennessee.  DePaul will have to take on St. Joe’s this week which will give a better indication of where they stand.

 

16.  Rutgers (2-1)

Not good.  They have barely won the games they wound up winning and had a bad loss, giving up the lead, to Vermont at the RAC.  Mike Rosario has been good thus far,  but they will need more production out of Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell.  This has the potential to be a long season for the Scarlet Knights.

Pregame: Providence College vs. The University of Vermont

Opponent: Thye University of Vermont Catamounts / Est. 1791 / Burlington, VT / Enrollment: 9,500 / American East

Location:  The Dunkin’ Donuts Center (Providence, RI)

Date: Tuesday, November 24

Time: 7:00 pm

Preview:  The Frairs will look to rebound Tuesday night as they take on The University of Vermont Catamounts.  The Catamounts enter the contest 2-1 coming off of a win over Rutgers at the RAC.  Vermont took a share of the conference title last year and is expected to contend with Boston University for the title this year.  The Catamounts are led by the returning league leader in both points and rebounds in 6′5″ senior Marqus Blakely.  He sat out over 15 minutes in the Rutgers game but still managed to net 17 points on the road (Which helped earn him a spot on ESPN.com’s Weekly Watch Players of the Week).  They also feature senior guard Maurice Joseph, a transfer from Michigan State who is more than capable of putting the ball in the hoop.

Lowdown: This is an important game for the Friars.  After Vermont, BC, Northeastern, and URI are up and its important to get another win in the books before than.  Make no doubt about it, Vermont is a quality team.  That said we are not reading too much into their win over Rutgers on the road the other day.  Rutgers may be a BIG EAST team and 2-1 but they have been less than impressive in all of those games (c’mon, it’s Rutgers).  Marqus Blakely is the real deal, but we think we have people on this team that can match up well with him on both ends of the court.

Vermont has some decent size so its important that the PC bigs play like it.  We need Greedy to keep doing what he’s doing.  He is a beast on the boards and has shown that he can put up a lot of points.  James Still and Russ need to keep contributing from off of the bench and *Bilal Dixon needs to cool down with the fouls.  He’s not a major scoring option but he is a presence down low.  His size and height are needed… when he has gone out of games things seem to start going wrong for PC.  We will need another good performance out of Marshon, but what we really need to see is *if Sharaud can get himself back on track.  So basically: Marshon and Greedy, keep doing what you are doing… Bilal, stop fouling we need you on the floor… Sharaud, get back on track (we are pretty confident that you will).

Most of the PC campus will have already made it home for the Thanksgiving holiday (including us) so the Dunk shouldn’t be too full.  Hopefully the lack of crowd isn’t a problem for the young team and they can get the win.  Its would have been great to get a road win over Alabama, but you can’t lose a game like this on your home court, we need to defend The Dunk.

Coverage: Radio WEEI 103.7 FM Providence

Links:

ProJo.com

Friars Best beware of Catamounts

UVM.edu  Basketball Page

Postgame: Alabama takes down PC

Providence College went down to The University of Alabama last night in overtime, 84 – 75.  After a strong first half the Friars shot just under 35% in the second half while Alabama was shooting over 50%.  Evenwith the shooting percentage drop-off the Friars still looked like they were more than capable of winning the game, until in the last minute they gave it up with costly turnovers.  A one point game quickly turned to a 9 point win for the Crimson Tide.  Greedy Peterson led the Friars with 27 points and 14 rebounds.  Marshon Brooks, coming back from an ankle injury suffered last week, put in 22 points.  The Crimson Tide were led by Mikhail Torrance who finished with 26 points.  With the win Alabama moves to 2-1 and the loss puts the Friars at 3-1; joining USF as the only other BIG EAST team with a loss.

Sorry for the late recap, but we needed some time to recover from that loss.  There is always something more difficult about the first loss, and we aren’t sure why that is.  Its not like we planned to go undefeated or even close to it, but that first loss just never sits well.  At least it wasn’t a home game to Northeastern or anything…  Anyway besides the pain of the first loss of the season, this loss was especially hard to take.  It was a winnable game for PC.  They had the ball with the lead and let it just slip away.  It was a new team doing the things that Friars fans have been accustomed to seeing.  Staying positive we would say that there are so many newcomers that hopefully it was just more of a function of their first road game.  What is frustrating is that this was a game of opportunity.  A chance for a young team to get a win over a recognizable (major conference school) but very beatable team on the road.  There was a lot of confidence that could be built from this game and it could have been a win.

Another thing that didn’t sit well was the game Sharaud Curry played.  If PC is going to win these game they need a more balanced attack.  More balanced in that Marshon and Greedy cannot be the only ones putting up points in large numbers.  There has to be a third major contributer and that is Sharaud.  Now listen, we love Sharaud, and the fact is that he just had an off game, it really isn’t anything to worry about, but the only problem is that given the state of the team this year we cannot afford for Sharaud to have an off game.  We are confident that Sharaud will be back to his normal self when PC takes on Vermont.

On a positive note it looked as though Greedy got rid of his point-blank shooting woes.  He had a monster game, really keeping the Friars in it, and was once again an absolute monster on the boards.  We think, and we are not being to adventurous to say, that Greey could really average a double double this season.  Another bright spot was that Marshon looked healthy, which was essential to PC success.  He seemed to think his ankle was alright and his points total suggested the same thing.  He did have the costly turnover at the end, but it is good to see that he has nicely stepped up into a leadership role on this team and has taken full responsibility:

“I was too loosey-goosey with the basketball.  I was playing around with my defender too much, and I could have gone right by him. I had seven turnovers. That’s my fault.”

Recaps:

Friarblog.com

Friars Meltdown in Final Minute

ESPN.com

AP Write-Up

Friars.com

Men’s Basketbell Defeated at Alabama, 84-75

ProJo.com

PC’s Brooks Was Solid, But Turnovers Costly

Bamahoops.blogspot.com

Pugnacious Pachyderms Prevail over Providence

Pregame: Providence College vs. The University of Alabama

Opponent: The University of Alabama Crimson Tide / Est: 1832 / Tuscaloosa, AL / Enrollment: 27,000 / SEC (Western)

Location: Coleman Coliseum (Tuscaloosa, AL)

Date: Friday, November 20

Time: 8:00 pm

Preview: The Friars (3-0) will head down south to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for an out of conference match-up with The University of Alabama Crimson Tide (1-1) on Friday.  This will be the first road trip for the young team, which should play a big role in the game.  Alabama is coming off of a win over Jackson State, but lost their first game of the season to Cornell… at home.  Alabama is a young team and is picked to finish fourth in the SEC West.  They are led by sophomore forward JaMychal Green.  He was a double digit scorer as a freshman and is and is strong on the boards.  Alabama also has a talented freshman in Tony Mitchell.  He is a slashing wing who can finish above the rim and make plays on both ends of the floor.  Besides that the Crimson Tide are an unknown.  New coach, Anthony Grant looks to stabilize his young team and transition them out of the troubles they had last year.

Lowdown: Historically PC has had its troubles when it comes to road games.  The new bunch, although, mostly freshman, need to shake this and a win in Tuscaloosa would be a great start.  Following their loss to Cornell only a crowd of about 2,000 (in the 15,000 seat Coleman Coliseum) showed up for their Jackson State game.  Granted this was a weeknight and a weak out of conference game, but with a football game early Saturday, we wouldn’t be surprised if the turnout wasn’t great again, which of course would help the Friars.

Alabama looks like they have some players.  Green looks solid, and Tony Mitchell had a coming out party against Jackson State.  But they don’t look like anything that PC can’t handle.  The bigs need to play well, especially Bilal on Green.  Bilal needs to shutdown Green on the boards and stay out of foul trouble.  He fouled out early against Mercer and there was a noticeable difference in the post presence.  The other key factor for the Friars is the play of Marshon.  Kevin McNamara blogged today that Marshon is day to day.  We saw him today walking around, and he looked alright, but clearly there is a big difference between walking and playing basketball.  We saw what happened in the Mercer game after he hurt his ankle so for the sake of our offense we pray that he’ll be on the floor in game condition Friday night when the ball tips.

At home we would take the Friars without question, but this is a long way to go for a team that hasn’t had a road game yet, so we think it will be a fight… But a fight that PC can win.  If we have a healthy Marshon and an inspired Sharaud, avoid the mistakes made during the Mercer game, and make free throws this could be a big road win.  Although Alabama is not a powerhouse basketball team it is a recognizable name, and wins over recognizable teams on the road can go a long way in building the confidence of a very young team.

Coverage: Radio- WEEI 103.7 FM Providence

Enemy Links:

BamaHoops: An Alabama Basketball Blog

Up next, the Friars from Providence will come to Tuscaloosa Friday night for a 7 pm tip. They are undefeated and come from arguably the nation’s best conference in the Big East. We have a history with Providence, as they eliminated one of Wimp Sanderson’s better teams in the Sweet 16. Billy Donovan played on that team, against Mark Gottfried. This is a winnable game for us, as Mercer played them within 2, but it will not be a cake walk. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have a big crowd Friday night. The football team has an early game on Saturday, so go ahead and get to Tuscaloosa the night before and support our young basketball team!

Greedy Getting Up

We saw this by way of Friarblog, but it was too good not to post.  Greedy is a jumping jack, no doubt about it.  This between the legs dunk is crazy hard and completely sick, which leads us to ask why he was missing normal dunks last game… but no matter.  Great job with the video theoliver24

Recruit Joe Young Nets 33 in Season Opener

Joseph Young exploded for 33 points in his senior year debut with 33 points.  Yates which is ranked as high as the 4th best public highschool basketball team in the country laid a whopping 140 points in the game.  Basically, Young was advertised as an explosive scorer and, to quote ESPN.com

“The ultimate shooter”

At least in his first game Young lived up to the billing.  He flew under the radar for a while, but grabbing a player who has such a great shot and who is such a prolific scorer is great news for PC.  So good job Joe… keep it up.  Glad he’s with us.

 

Also, if you are interested ESPN has uploaded a highlight video for Gerard Coleman on his player profile page.  Check it out to get an early look at one of the best players in the country in the high school class of 2010.

ESPN.com  Gerard Coleman

Postgame: PC Outlasts Mercer

The Friars got their third win in as many days as they took down the Mercer University Bears 79-77, in what was essentiallythe Championship game of the World Vision Invitational.  The Friars had leads over 17 points in both the first and second halves, but only managed to scrape by with a two point win over a resilient Mercer team.

The Friars were led by Marshon Brooks who had a monster first half, scoring 22, but had to fight through the second half with and ankle injury and only put up four points.  Greedy Peterson ripped down 22 rebounds which is the most in a single game for a Friar since 2000 but went only 5 for 20 missing a number of shots from point-blank range.  This, and Bilal Dixon picking up his 5th foul with lots of time on the clock left the door open for Mercer.  A 6 minute PC scoring drought brought Mercer within points of the Friars, and down the stretch, uncharacteristically, Sharaud and Marshon both missed key free throws that could have put the game away.  Marshon had this to say:

“I missed three. I buckled them.  We can’t have our leaders do that. Put me in that position again. I won’t miss.”

In the end though a Mercer turnover sealed the deal for the Friars and they were able to escape the weekend with a 3-0 start to the season.  After the game Marshon Brooks, Greedy Peterson, and Sharaud Curry were named to the All-Tournament Team, and Marshon was named the Tournament MVP.

First:  We would like to apologize for the late recap of this game and the failure to but up a Bucknell Recap.  It was a busy weekend, and with no spacing between the games it was difficult.  Now to the Mercer game.

Yikes.  As we sat listening to the radio watching the updates on ESPN Gamecast we started to get that feeling that is all too familiar to Friar fans.  The feeling that a game that was in the bag was slipping away.  The feeling that a new batch of Friars were going to have the same problems closing out teams that the last batch did.  Luckily they pulled it out.  Thankfully.

The first half was great.  The scoring was not really distributed greatly with Marshon dominating the box score, but hey, whenever Marshon is feeling like putting up the points he did in the first half yesterday afternoon, we have no problem with that.  But the problem was that when Marshon went down nobody really picked up the slack.  Sharaud did a good job trying to make up for the scoring but we really needed one of the big guys to contribute in a bigger way.  We are trying not to be too concerned about Greedy’s 5-20 shooting performance, or his missed dunks, and focus on his incredible 22 rebounds, but that percentage was hard to overlook, especially when so many of his misses game from within five feet of the basket.  The last thing that didn’t sit well was the free throw misses at the end of the game.  Marshon was hurt but still you’d think he’d knock a couple of those down, and Sharaud who is usually lights out misfired from the stripe as well.  Hopefully that was more of a function of the three games in three days, and not anything we should be worried about.  I mean everybody misses free throws, just it was unfortunate timing, especially from the leaders of the team.  On a very positive note, PC only had three turnovers!

So what it comes down to is that we won the game.  We were supposed to start out 3-0 and we are.  It was a tough game, but Mercer is a good team, and the Friars had some obstacles to overcome… but they did which is a good sign.  Now the schedule gets a more difficult and this young Friars team will take its first road trip… down to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama.  The team (and Marshon’s ankle) has the week to rest and will hopefully come out recharged and start off 4-0.  But for now enjoy the 3-0 start and the promising play of a lot of newcomers.

 

For a more detailed recap and some great stats, nobody does it better than Friarblog… so check out the recap

Pregame: Providence College vs. Mercer University

Opponent: Mercer University Bears / Est. 1833 / Macon, GA / Enrollment: 6,000 / Atlantic Sun Conference

Location: The Dunkin’ Donuts Center (Providence, RI)

Date: Sunday, November 15

Time: 2:30 pm

Preview: PC will be taking on the Mercer University Bears in the final game of the World Vision Invitational.  Mercer of the the Atlantic Sun Conference will most likely be PC’s most difficult game.  The Bears are predicted to finish 3rd in their league.  They will be led by returning Atlantic Sun scoring leader, 6′1″ senior James Florence.  Florence is a pre-season Atlantic Sun First-Teamer and is described as an explosive scorer.  The Bears also return the league leader in rebounds in 6′8″ senior, Daniel Emerson.  Emerson is a very athletics team, but is often plagued by turnovers and weak shot selection.  The Bears are coming off two wins over Bucknell and Bryant.

Lowdown: Last game was a little more gritty a little less pretty for PC, but they worked through it and came out on top.  Mercer is the best of the three teams PC will play in the tournament so its really important that they find their shot early and shoot well from the outside throughout the game.  Also, the Friar’s improved defense was essential for keeping them from suffering an upset at the hands of Bucknell.  Another good defensive showing will be in order for PC to take down Mercer and start the season off 3 – 0.

Coverage: Radio WEEI 103.7 FM Providence

Pregame: Providence College vs. Bucknell Univerity

Opponent: Bucknell University Bison / Est. 1846 / Lewisberg, PA / Enrollment: 4,000 / Patriot League

Location: The Dunkin’ Donuts Center (Providence, RI)

Date: Saturday, November 14

Time: 6:30 pm

Preview: PC will take on the Bucknell University Bison. After a disappointing season last year, Bucknell is looking to rebound and is ranked 5th (according to CBS Sports) in the competitive Patriot League. The Bison are lead by senior forward Patrick Behan. Behan is a pre-season Patriot League First-Teamer. Also returning is senior, and 2008 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Stephen Tyree, who could make a real fun at Conference Player of the Year this year. The Bison are rounded out with the sharp shooting of G.W. Boon and Darryl Shazier who were among the leaders in threes in the Patriot League last year.

The Bison lost their opener last night in a close game to Mercer, 89-80.  The Bison were led in scoring by guard Bryson Johnson.

Lowdown: We will make this very short and simple.  If PC does everything they did last night they should not have a problem.  Clean play and good shot selection, coupled with superior athleticism should get the job done.  The Friars need to come out with the same intensity they did last night and not take Bucknell lightly.  Last, is keep the defense up.  Bucknell can put points on the board, but a defensive performance like last night should keep them in check.

Coverage: Radio WEEI 103.7 FM Providence

Enemy Links:

Bucknell Athletics Site

Postgame: PC takes care of Bryant

The 2009-2010 season opened up for the Friars last night with a 96 to 53 blowout win over the Bryant University Bulldogs.  The game was decided about midway through the first half when the Friars had already doubled the Bulldogs’ score.  PC out-shot Bryant and out-rebounded then 52 to 29.  Greedy Peterson led the way for the Friars with 18 points and three blocks, while Bilal Dixon also had a great performance with 16 points and 11 blocks.  The rest of the team also came to play with everybody putting up points.

More impressive than the Friars offense was their defense.  PC’s uptempo pace led to 21 turnovers from the Bulldogs, which led to 30 PC points.  Keno Davis had this to say to the ProJo:

“I’m really pleased with our team’s intensity coming out to start the game and pretty much throughout the game.  It was really by far another level what we brought right from the tip in the halfcourt defense.”

Sharaud Curry told the ProJo this:

“Defensively we looked good.  This was a good step but it’s still the first game. We have to do it over a long period of time before we can say that we’re a better defensive team. This was a great step towards that but we have to keep doing it the whole season.”

A couple things, all good…  First we were happy to see the intensity the Friars came out with from the opening tip.  It was an intensity that was not seen in the early season last year.  We think that there are a lot of new guys on the team just itching to finally play, and it showed it a great way last night.  The team looked fresh, athletics, and spirited.  Hopefully this keeps up.

Second was the play of Greedy Peterson.  Once again Greedy had a really good game.  It was easy to forget in his year off how much raw talent he had.  It seems as though his redshirt year really benefited him as he has refined his skills and become a real threat on this team.  In addition it is good to see what Bilal Dixon can do out on the floor.  So far he is looking very good, which is a good sign for the team given the concerns about the frontcourt.

Third was the night Brain McKenzie had.  Brian has seemed to be getting lost in the shuffle.  He had an down season last year and is being pushed by the freshmen and transfers this year.  But like Sharaud, Brian is a veteran on this team that lacks experience and it was good to see him produce while he is out there, because as a veteran we will really need him on the floor at times this year.  His 3 threes and 11 points were a good sign.

Last was the Friar defense.  For a team that is expected to let up high scoring totals and is coming off of a less than admirable defensive showing last year it was great to see PC keep Bryant low.  Also PC was able to grab a bunch of turnovers, and just played with at a different level defensively than they did last year.  A more athletic team and a new concentration on defense have looked to help the Friars defense for now.  Lets hope it continues through the weekend.

ProJo: PC Friars Open with a 96-53 Blowout of Bryant

Friarblog: Friars Bulldoze Bulldogs 96-53 in Season Opener

Friars.com: Men’s Basketball Season Opens with 96-53 Win Over Bryant in World Vision Invitational

BryantBulldogs.com: Bryant Struggles Against Providence College, Falls, 96-53, in 2009-10 Season Opener

ESPN.com: PC vs. Bryant Recap