Bracketology!?

Well the events of the past week, I think it would do us some good to mention something else besides the atrocious actions that took place on Monday morning.  So instead of  that, we thought we might talk about something possibly even more ridiculous than the garbage that Jim Donaldson over at the ProJo throws together (actually we don’t think it gets too much more ridiculous than that).  So how about some Bracketology!?  Sure it is only April, but why not.  Earlier Joe Lunardi came out with his first bracket, but in the spirit of the almost imminent 96-team Field he also crafted a bracket for 96.  And while PC didn’t make the 64-team version, we did make it into the field of 96 as one of Joe Lunardi’s Last Four In.  So there is that.  According to Joe, we would be a #21 and we would take on #12 North Carolina.

So for the most part we have been against the whole NCAA expansion.  Yes, we would be able to play in the tournament, us and 12 other BIG EAST teams, but for us it would seriously devalue the whole thing.  Part of the allure of the NCAA every year is the achievement of making it there, and with an expanded field that achievement is seriously limited.  Anyway, looking at a mock field didn’t help.  We weren’t sure what was more ridiculous… that 13 BIG EAST teams made it and we were in the last four in, or that there would even be such a  thing as a #21 seed.

The whole thing is just a little bit too much to take.  But hey, as of now we are in… even if its only by the skin of our teeth.

Friar Family: Tim Welsh to Hofstra

The off season coaching carousel continues with former PC Head Coach Tim Welshheading to Hofstra University to take over the reigns.  He will replace former coach Tom Pecora who left to take the Fordham job.  Welsh has signed on for a five year deal with the Pride, and a press conference will be held tomorrow to officially introduce him.

As most all of us know, Coach Welsh spent the last couple years working with SNY/Comcast/ ESPN as both a studio analyst and a game commentator.  He was well liked in those positions, but wanted to get back into coaching.  His name had been linked with the Seton Hall job earlier on and the Siena job more recently; however, Welsh has found his home in Long Island with Hofstra.

We wish Tim Welsh all the luck in the world.  Sure Hofstra is a couple steps down from the BIG EAST, but it was a launching pad for such coaches as Jay Wright.  Welsh has great success on the Mid-Major level with Iona so maybe that will translate over to Hofstra.  Who knows maybe, Welsh does well at Hofstra and finds himself back in a major coaching position.  But anyway, while we liked Welsh as a TV analyst we are happy that he has gotten himself back into the coaching game.  Good luck, and we will check in to see how he does next season.

Steve Lavin to St. John’s

St. John’s University has decided upon a successor for Norm Robets.  ESPN Analyst and former UCLA Bruins Head Coach Steve Lavin, will be announced as the new head coach in a press conference to take place tomorrow.  The Daily News is reporting that Lavin agreed to a six-year deal worth between $9-9.5 million.  During his tenure with UCLA, Lavin compiled a 145-78 record including five Sweet 16 appearances and an Elite 8 appearance.  He also won at least 20 games in all his seasons at UCLA except for one.

As many know, Lavin is a west coast guy.  He lives in Los Angeles, and most of his recruiting ties are out that way.  he is expected to bring in assistants who will help in recruit in New York and Tri-State area.

It is clear that St. John’s was looking for a big time name that would increase there relevance in the competitive New York Media Market and that would stand out to recruits.  After missing on Florida’s Billy Donovan (it would have killed us to see him go to a BIG EAST school other than Providence… and we don’t think he would do that to us anyway), and Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt, the Johnnies landed on Steve Lavin.

We are unsure how this signing will turn out.  We know that St. John’s is returning all five of their starters and 94% of their scoring from a much improved team.  A change of coach with a group of players who have spent three years in another system can always be difficult.  However, in the future, although he is a west coast guy, he may be able to start winning back some of the recruiting battles in the New York City/Northern Jersey areas from the Seton Hall’s, the Villanova’s, and even from the out of conference powers.  It might be difficult at first, but than again it wasn’t too long ago that St. John’s was a national power.

But this is all getting way ahead of ourselves.  Honestly, besides looking at his track record and his resume we don’t have much to go on here, mostly because back in elementary school when Steve Lavin was coaching, we didn’t watch basketball the same way we do now.  Besides clinics and camps, Lavin has been out of the coaching game for a while now; however, he has stayed very close to the college game.  It will be interesting to see how he does in his return to the sideline with a very experienced team and what kind of mark he can make in the St. John’s recruiting scene.  We wish him well (except against the Friars) and hope that maybe he can get the Johnnies back on their feet.

**Also interesting to note that St. John’s has a home-and-home series signed for next season against UCLA.

Brief Postgame: Providence 68, Syracuse 85

Once again sorry for the delay in the postgame, things have been a little crazy around here this week.  Since weare behind and everything that needs to be said about the game has been said we will keep this brief.

Syracuse is a very, very good team.  We personally think the fact that Villanova and Kentucky are ranked ahead of them in the latest polls is a bit of a joke.  The Orange don’t just beat teams, they blow them out (unless those teams are DePaul or Pitt) and we were no exception.  We kept things close in the first half, but in the second half, essentially without their best player, they were able to dominate.  Also, we have once again allowed someone to score a career high against us.  Kris Joseph came off of the bench to score 23 points, and Arinze Onuaku scored a season high with 20.

Vincent Council had yet another nice game.  A few too many turnovers, but 16 points and 9 assists more than makes up for that in our opinion.  Marshon was back in the starting lineup and did well.  He had 14 points, but really didn’t do too much else.  He needs him to fill up some other stat besides scoring if he is going to be a major contributor.  Greedy once again put in work.  25 points and 11 boards looks good, but that dunk was ridiculous.  He was 50% from the field, but took eight three pointers.  He made three of them, but we still aren’t sure how we feel about Greedy’s threes.  We suppose we don’t mind them too much, but some he should pass up on.

But not too much else to say.  It was a rough game, but Syracuse is a great team, and very difficult to beat in the Carrier Dome.  Marquette is up next.  The first time around things didn’t go too hot, but maybe we will fare better at home… and maybe Greedy won’t get ejected from this game.

Here is the Greedy Dunk (one of the only bright spots from this game), which we are pretty sure most of you have all seen by now, but this wouldn’t be a PC Basketball Blog if we didn’t post it.  We thought it deserved the top spot, but a botch alley oop from John Wall beat it out.  We think that had it been John Wall who threw it off the backboard to himself then dunked it, it not only would have been the #1 play, but would have been shown to death on Sports Center, but hey, #2 isn’t too shabby either.  And where ever Sports Center ranked it we all know that dunk was crazy, even if Greedy made it look easy.

Providence Now Has Two ESPN Top 100 Recruits

We saw this by way of Friarblog. ESPNU has come out with their high schoolmidterm grades which means they have updated their recruiting page and have elevated both Gerard Coleman and Joe Young.  Gerard Coleman moved up to 54th spot on the list and improved his overall player rating to 95!  Joe Young, who has been taking off down in Houston moved into the ESPN Top 100 at the 99th spot and improved his overall player rating to 94!  Even Ron Giplaye‘s overall rating improved to 88.

We have to tip our hat to Coach Keno Davis and the rest of the coaching staff for this incoming class.  Keno, in the sort time he has been here, has really elevated the caliber of player coming to Providence.  We are seeing some of the fruits of solid recruiting in Vincent Council this year, but clearly that is just the start.  It is great that we have two ESPN Top 100 players on our team, it adds legitimacy, and is not lost on future, prospective recruits.  However, what is really great is how early Providence was able to find them and lock them up.  This applies more for Joe Young, in that he was not very well known at the time Providence went after him.  We must admit that we were really hoping that Providence would snag Oregon State bound Devon Collier, but we could not be happier with how things turned out.

Coleman and Giplaye have also improved since they inked with PC.  We know PC isn’t going to be able to compete with the Kansas’ and UNC’s of the country, but getting players who are great quality, Top 100 Players, that continue to improve before they get on campus is big.  We think there a good things to come.

Great news for Providence, and the future looks just a little bit brighter.

Greedy On Sports Center Top 10

Greedy Peterson has returned to the Sports Center Top 10 once again this season with his alley-oop dunk in the DePaul game.  Nice little give and go and soar by Greedy.