Projo College Hoops

By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

Spent the last 36 hours hitting three gyms and seeing lots of basketball. RIC at URI, St. Francis Xavier at Bryant and Slippery Rock-PC. Here are a few observations.

First, the Rams. I enjoyed my first look at the uptempo, still Runnin' Rams. They push the ball and when Jim Baron says that this is his most athletic team, he is not kidding. The Rams are WAY more athletic than any other team in Little Rhody and it is not even close.

Of course, this sport is basketball, not track and field. The Rams can run like the wind and have several players who kiss the sky and look down at the rim (Hello, Mr. Ulmer and Mr. Delroy James) but their ultimate success will come in other areas like rebounding, perimeter shooting and, of course, defense.

Contrary to some fan reports, the Rams do play defense. They extend the court and are a wave of arms, hands and bodies. What they struggle with in halfcourt defense. When an opponent gets into the lane, the lack of size is an issue but getting to that point is not cup of tea against this group.

I like a lot of the Rams' players. Jimmy Baron remains one of the top 5 deep shooters in the U.S. of A and it finally appears as if he has a group of teammates who at least want to pretend that they know where he is on the court at all times. He spotted up several times against RIC and a quick pass from Keith Cothran, Stevie Mejia or Marquis Jones quickly found his hands. That's got to be Option 1 in the halfcourt for Rhody.

Jones and Mejia are vital players. You cannot play fast if you don't have passing point guards and these two have potential. Mejia is a better shooter and played much better in the second half than the first. Jones simply has to go at a higher rate of speed but he knows how to find open scorers.

On the negative, Delroy James remains a tease. He has a ridiculously long body and should be a defensive dynamo, and a plus-rebounder, but he's not there yet. He is the one Ram player NBA scouts will follow closely in the next two years. Kahiem Seawright can play for my team anytime but the next time I see him cranking up a jumper near the 3-point line, he should run 10 suicides. Move the ball and do sick damage in the lane.

That's it for the Rams. As for RIC, they played harder than any of the teams I saw over the weekend. A big-time tip of the hat to coach Bob Walsh. He has kids who do not back down. More than one (I'll take Tirrell Hill at PC or URI right now) of his kids could easily play D-1 and help out. The Anchormen show that when you have four kids who can handle the ball, are quick and play tough, you can do a lot of damage. That team is going to win a lot of D-3 games this season.

Poor Bryant. Max Good won an awful lot of games in Div. 2 with players like John Williams, Chris Burns, Mike Williams and Rome Augustin. There are all g-o-n-e.

What remains for new coach Tim O'Shea is a good, solid Div. 2 team. Not an NCAA D-2 team, mind you, and certainly not a group that's prepared to walk the plank in Division 1 this winter. Without a legitimate point guard or any size of note, the Bulldogs are looking at impossible outings against the likes of PC, BC, UConn and Maryland but will also have to scratch and claw for any win all season. Anything over 5 wins is a major achievement in my book.

Now maybe I caught Bryant on a bad day. Hope so. The Canadians were clearly better and really shot the ball well. They had several D-1 talents on their roster. O'Shea's rebuilding job is massive but that's why he has an 8-year contract.

On to the Friars. It's tough to be negative after a 21-point win but anyone who saw PC play Slippery Rock knows there are major points of concern for this team.

Let's tick off a few. Randall Hanke's defense and rebounding negatives were eye-popping. That he's not touching the ball more often in scoring position (on the block, NEVER the high post) is as well. Geoff McDermott seems listless in Keno Davis' style. Getting him to attack the glass (zero offensive boards vs. The Rock in 26 minutes) needs to be a priority. Alex Kellogg and Bilal Dixon show flashes and I want to see them more often against Dartmouth, Sacred Heart, ect., but I don't know if they're ready for Northeastern, Baylor or URI.

We touched on the biggest negative in Sunday's Journal. Defense was atrocious most of the night. SRU had some good players (can we trade for Denell Stephens and Erroll Robinson right now?) for a D-2 school and would beat more than its share of Div. 1 teams but there is no excuse - ever - to barely out-rebound a team like that. The Friars need to get tougher....haven't we heard that before. Scrapping for rebounds and loose balls is supposed to be expected but hasn't happened on a consistent basis with this crew for more than 2 seasons now. My guess is this is going to be a very physical week of practice for the Friars.

As for the positives, Sharaud Curry looked better to me. More aggressive, for sure. Brian McKenzie is going to enjoy a very, very good year. His eyes light up when he touches the ball. Weyinmi Efejuku's eyes light up half the time but that was still good enough for him to put up 19 points. He and McKenzie are two strong, good-sized wing scorers.

Jeff Xavier is the only Friar I'd take to war. He not only can make shots but his 4 steals in 19 minutes have to stand out. Also, Marshon Brooks has won the Most Improved Award. The kid needs to play, whether it's point guard or power forward. His 20 minutes against SRU were very productive and he clearly wants to work on defense and that is priority numero uno for me.

That's it folks. On to more hoops.....this time my son's CYO game.

 Tags  Bryant Basketball Jim Baron PC Basketball Tim O'Shea URI men's basketball

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