Projo College Hoops

Jim,

I did not comment on the post of that Rhody member as I simply do not know about those teams and their quality this year nor do you or that poster for that matter.

What I do know is that using last years records or what team did in 2007 against Duke is about as good of an indicator of this year as flipping a coin to determine which team gets the ball in overtime of an NFL contest. When a "percieved lesser team" takes a "perceived better team" to the wire early in the season is not unheard of either. What I do know is that college basketball at mid-majors changes VERY VERY heavily each and every year and I don't think even you could argue that what a pre-season poll predicts validates your arguement or that of the Rhody poster-- does that make you both STUPID?

I think not.

Time will be the judge of both his predection and yours as well-- it will play out and we will see where all of these teams wind up and perhaps one of the two of you will be gentlemen enough to eat the proper crow at the end of the season.

For a change it is nice to post something not related to Jim Baron directly :-)

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving Jim.

Jim,

I'm trying to ignore nonsense this year, just like you normally do. There's absolutely nothing you can say to those who swing fully towards the negative side ... it's just simply a waste of time. There's certainly a happy medium that many can never find.

All teams in all sports seem to have stupid fans, not just the Rhody Rams. The Patriots seemed to kept them at bay for a few years, but they came back last year and now are part of the conversation again-I tell them to go back to Fenway where they belong, but they don't. The Friars have a bunch of really ignorant "fans" most of which think they own the team, and every year, even winning years, just seems to kill any momentum those kids may develop like a ball and chain on a swimmer.

Rhode Warrior --

Bill Parcells used to divide his players into those who "got it" and those who didn't.

You don't "get it."

Past performance is an indication of the general quality of a program. If the Rams were looking to schedule "cupcakes," they wouldn't be playing teams who lately have ranked among the best in their respective conferences.

If, for example, a school was looking for a game against an A-10 opponent and scheduled Xavier -- especially in Cincinnati -- that school obviously would be looking for a more challenging game than if it had scheduled, say, a home game against Fordham.

You don't look back after a season is over to determine a team's scheduling intent. Time will not, as you claim, determine whether the Rams tried to schedule difficult games. It is obvious that they did.

Donaldson should stick to high school athletics and his kissass golf articles.
If you thionk URI's schedule is tough, because Brown lost to a pathetic St. John's team by a narrow margin, then it's YOU who is stupid.

Donaldson, you never got it!
Davidson lost Curry, and are a shadow of what they were before he left.
Holy Cross? Patriot League?
Brown lost to mighty St. John's, so that makes then great?
What kind of nonsense is that?
Harrick, who you still slander, scheduled Utah, California, UConn, Cincinnatti and a host of tough teams in pre conference.
Tom Izzo plays the toughest pre Big Ten schedule, to see what he has and toughen his team for post season.
John Chaney and John Calipari played murderous pre conference schedules, that paid off in the NCAAs.(something that Baron wouldn't know about)
Just keep writing your suck up articles about Brad Faxon and you'll be fine.
All the good writers got jobs elsewhere. That you're still at Projo shows the low level of your work there.

Rod --

Is the Harrick to whom you refer the coach who was fired by UCLA for falsifying expense accounts and then lying about it; the Harrick who was the subject of a sexual harassment suit URI paid $45,000 to settle; the Harrick whose lack of oversight of the basketball program at Georgia resulted in the Bulldogs being put on NCAA probation?

That Harrick?

If so, there are numerous other "indiscretions" of his -- and his son's -- that could be enumerated.

Even you might recognize, shall we say, a trend in Harrick's (mis)behavior.

Seems, though, that the Harricks, father and son, are your kind of guys.

BTW, you might want to ask the folks at Kansas about the Patriot League.

Patriot League champion Bucknell beat the Jayhawks of the powerful Big 12 in the NCAA tournament in 2005.

Holy Cross lost by only four points to SEC powerhouse Kentucky in 2001, and by the same margin to a Marquette team that reached the Final Four in 2003.

As a #16 seed in 2002, the Crusaders led Kansas by 5 midway through the second half, and trailed the Jayhawks by only 4 with only a minute remaining, coming very close to becoming the only 16 seed ever to win an NCAA tourney game.

Yes, the Jim Harrick who won a National Championship at UCLA. The Jim Harrick who was National Coach of the Year. The Jim Harrick who was on Jay Leno.
The reason why URI got on ESPN's Midnight Madness.
The Jim Harrick who lead thr Rams to their highest peak since Frank Keaney.
A man who forgot more basketball than you'll ever know.
Jim Harrick as a basketball coach was never questioned.
That he had personal flaws, is true.
Anyone familiar with his UCLA situation knows he was railroaded by the AD. What coach gets fired for taking ONE extra guest to a dinner?
A sexual harassment suit filed by someone who was a habitual sexual harassment claimant.
Document the $45,000. Bet you can't.
Give it up. You like to make fun and call names about people like Bob Carothers, who you aren't fit to breathe the same air as him.
Pathetic.

Would that be the Bob Carothers who hired Jim Harrick when nobody else would, after which Harrick (and son) proceeded to embarrass the university (if not quite folks like yourself) in a variety of ways?

The same Bob Carothers who signed off on the highly-questionable academic credentials of Lamar Odom?

The same Bob Carothers who agreed to the hiring of the coaching disaster that was Jerry Degregorio, in the vain hope of keeping Odom -- who never should have been at URI in the first place -- around for another year?

That Bob Carothers?

Jim Donaldson -

do you know what in the world you're talking about? Some of the examples you cite, justifying a strong schedule, are beyond ludicrous.

I am not a URI fan, i don't have a vendetta against Jim Baron, and could not care less about what happens to the program. That said, i am a big-time fan of College Hoops, and I must say you simply do not have a clue.

Who cares that VCU almost knocked off Duke 2 years ago? Does that mean they're good now, and a tough opponent? URI almost knocked off Duke a year ago...does that mean they're good now?

Instead of going down this ridiculous, illogical path, why don't you tell us why VCU is a challenging team NOW? Can you do that? Analyze the VCU roster, and how they did a year ago, and tell me why they're a tough opponent TODAY...not 2 years ago!

You can do this analysis, i know you can, but it takes too much work so you simply refuse to and carry on with your lazy ways.

You'd rather rip someone for their style of speech, or make some other ridiculous racist comment. You are a fool.

GandysFantasyFraud

Jim - what relevancy does the 2002 Holy Cross Crusaders have to this discussion - ie, URI's strength of schedule in 2009? I guess you're trying to say they've been a consistently good program so that makes them a good non-conference opponent. Ok, I guess. But tell me this - who coached HC in 2002 and who is coaching them now? Here's a hint - it's not the same person. Ralph Willard, a very solid coach, is no longer on the sidelines.

Furthermore, what does Jim Harrick's ethics have to do with the URI strength of schedule during his tenure. How are his ethics and his schedule strength related?

I am baffled that this is the best you can do.

When Jimbo can't argue the facts, he turns to name calling and questions someone's character.
None of that has anything to do with the point of scheduling.
Harrick, Tarkanian, Calipari, Huggin, ALL played of play tough out of conference schedules.
Got that Jimbo? Must be part of their character flaws that they did that, right?
Talking about games from seven years ago and any relevance they have now, is absurd.

Listen, we all understand Jimbo's angle. He attempts to be controversial, and is apt to outlandish statements; he only does this to generate publicity, to become a spectacle and generate more "hits" on the internet, or lest his job slip away.

Face reality, Jimbo - the ProJo is dying, and you are dying right along with it. Your cachet, today, is nothing compared to what it was back in the 90s. You are just another talking head, one of millions, no more unique than the imbecile next door.

The internet has exposed you for the complete and utter fraud that you are. Good luck selling papers, Jimbo. When you're done doing that, why not sell ice to an Eskimo? Certainly that's a bit easier than trying to sell your bland nonsense to the general public.

Oh, and about that URI schedule - next time, try to say something that actually makes sense.

Troll!

GandyWannabe

I have to agree with the previous comments...Beating teams like Brown, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Davidson, etc will do nothing for URI's RPI this season. What will inevitably happen is that URI will jump out to a great record early, and then drop 8-10 games in conference (and miss the NCAA tournament once again), which has become par for the course in recent years.

Jim,

I did not attack you-- all I said was the merit of your arguement v. the Rams fan arguement would bear itself out over the season. We will see where the RPI of these teams ends up and at that point in time we will know who is right and who was wrong.

I have some insight for you Jim..... In business it might be wise to not refer to your customers as STUPID or tell customers who lay out a logical counter arguement that "they don't get it". It simply makes you look bad and reflects poorly on the integrity of your employer.

I continue to beleive that you have some strange obsession with driving an agenda of dislike for the State University and I simply do not get it.

RW...

Jimbo,
I reread Road Warriors posts, and I see no place where he insulted you.
We'll add reading comprehension to your long list of negatives.
You on the other hand started the "you don't get it" mantra, which is an intellectual dodge when you have no answers.
Ironic that you, of all people, should get upset for being insulted or called names.
Isn't that your M.O.? "The Nutty Professor", "The Lizard of Westwood" to name a couple. Character assasination is also high on your "literary" tools.
Anyway, your articles do have a useful purpose. My cat Pacman, loves his litter box to be lined with them. Recycling at its best! Mayor Cicilini would be proud!

Hey Rod -

Well said, brother! Amen!

How you doing amigo, it's been awhile, but The Ganster is still alive!

gandy

Rhode Warrior --

Apparently, someone posted a comment (since removed)under my name.

That's more than a little disturbing.

It's one of the things that irritates me about the anonymity so many people involved in these things love to hide behind.

I'm not afraid to state my opinions under my own name. Too bad most people don't feel the same way.

What I find puzzling is that if, as you claim, I have a "strange obsession for driving an agenda of dislike for the State University," why would I defend their preseason schedule?

Once again, I point out to you that it is irrelevant where URI's preseason opponents are ranked at the end of the year. The Rams obviously have tried to schedule teams which have had recent success.

Donaldson -

your logic is baffling! truly baffling!!

"The Rams obviously have tried to schedule teams which have had recent success."

What in the hell does that have to do with the PRESENT!!! You don't judge a strength of schedule based on "RECENT" success - you judge it on PRESENT success!

So, tell me again - why is VCU a good team for URI to schedule? Why don't you do some simple analysis, and get back to us?

That would be refreshing!

hey Jimmy D -

i was a bad GM, you are a worse sport columnist.

have good evening.

Danny

Wow, in reading Jim's comments I see his point, in reading his rebuttal I see he is not a fan of Harrick but I agree with Ron on that he brought the program to its highest point in modern times and URI officials behaving like a snubbed lover set the program to its lowest under Jerry D. Jim Baron has done a decent to good job and in his time at URI the NCAA landscape has changed. The days of any team from the state of RI going to the NCAAs every year or every 5 years is no longer a lock!
PC and URI might be lucky to make one of the 2 lesser post season Tourneys and if they refused to play in one I would call that hurting the program and unrealistic! But everyone is entitled to think what they will

The bottom line is that calling people stupid for having different opinions is the only stupid thing you can do in a public forum.

I suggest we simply disagree as that is why we post isn't it? To share our views and debate the sports we love!

Or am I just being stupid?

Oh one last thing, in preseason polls rating the top 140 Teams in NCAA VCU was ranked higher than PC or URI. Oh and Holy Cross was rated below PC and above URI but not by much either way. Both Holy Cross and VCU along with Akron are predicted to be NCAA teams and PC and URI were not even predicted to make the NIT. What does it mean? I guess thats why they play the games!

Jim Donaldson -

It's rather sad and pathetic that you would label a reader "stupid" for simply having an alternate opinion as you. That reader you call "stupid" is someone who helps pay the bills at Belo, keeps the lights on. Based on Belo's stock price, and lingering debt, one might assume Projo needs every reader it can get.
What do you think Jim?

Here's what I think - you need loyal, paying readers a whole helluva lot more than they need you. You are simply one of thousands of places on the 'net to read about sports.

If that opinion makes me stupid then so be it.

BTW, after such an easy schedule, I really thought Notre Dame would win a lot of games. They stunk again versus UConn. Storrs is higher on the football food chain than South Bend. Who woulda thunk it?

Have a nice day Jim.