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December 27, 2007

Paul Kenyon's hoops chat transcript

Paul Kenyon: Hello everyone. It’s nice to be here. Hope everyone has had a pleasant a week as I have.

I’m a rookie here, so if we seem to be going slower than you are accustomed to with Kevin McNamara, it’s only because I am slower. Let’s get started:

Rhodewarrior: PK, thanks for the slide show video clips you guys are posting on ProJo.com. I enjoy them and think they are a nice addition to the site as I also think these chats are great too. I am one usually very critical of the ProJo but these are positive steps so hats off. To this end do you plan to be doing any featured stories on URI players/recruits this year. I find most of the journalism at the ProJo on hoops to be reactive "stating of the facts" or pure editorial based comentary. Would love to see some hard core reporting based on some first party research. Any shot of it?

Paul Kenyon: Hi Rhode. You have noticed, obviously, that we are in a state of transition here.
As with so many newspapers, the Journal is experimenting in many areas on exactly how to balance newspaper coverage with on-line coverage of all our teams and events. As part of those changes, I’ve been moved over for most of the last three months to help with high school coverage. Kevin McNamara has been running all over the place keeping up with both the Friars and Rams.
The editors here have decided to make more changes. Effective the first of the year, the plan, I am told, is to go back to the old system where Kevin will deal with PC and I will be primarily responsible for URI. Obviously, with the Rams playing so well, I look forward to it. It is a fun team to watch and also an enjoyable group to be around, both home and away, so I’m happy with the decision to go back to the old system here.
Thanks for the kind words about the slide shows. I like them, too. I had several people talk about them at the Hofstra game. Mike McDermott, our online sports editor, puts them together. Mike’s plans is to do the slide sows for all home games and as many road games as possible.

rhodyrudder: Paul, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you and yours. Thank you for your coverage of the Rams. We fans of Rhody are obviously in a state of euphoria about the team's start to the season and their national rankings. We hope that the Journal has noticed and is willing to allocate more resources to you so that you can be a "true" beat reporter. Are you going to Texas for this weekend's tournament?

Paul Kenyon: Am I allowed to say hi in this venue to people I recognize?
I’m assuming I am so I will let everyone know that Rudder, as he goes by here, is one of the true diehard Rhody fans. We’ve spent many, many nights together watching URI games home and away, going back to the day when Rudder worked for the stats crew.
Well, Rudder, I’m writing this from the Journal office in Providence. No one is with the team in Texas. We are told the two games in the Islander Invitational will be the last two that we will not staff.

gorhodyMA: Paul - How much difficulty does URI's A-10 schedule present, particularly the first game on the road vs. Dayton?

Paul Kenyon: Hi Go. Atlantic 10 play this season should be better than it has been in five or six years. Most of us have been focused on URI, Xavier, Dayton and UMass because of their great starts. But what has helped the conference climb to eighth in the RPI ratings, as of today, is that the overall strength is better than it has been in a while. Teams like Saint Joseph’s, Duquesne (which I like a lot) and Charlotte all could make waves and even the teams at the bottom are no longer walkovers.

As far as URI is concerned, the schedule works out extremely well, I think. It breaks very much in the tam’s favor this year. That means, of course, that when everything reverses next year, it will be more difficult then. But since we all are focused on the top 25 team taking the court right now, this year is set up nicely. Xavier, Duquesne and Saint Joseph’s all visit the Ryan Center, which is a huge break for URI.

Being partnered with Dayton and UMass, meaning having two games against those schools, make the schedule more difficult than most others. But it will help the RPI numbers which are going to be important in March.

Bos8: Whats going on with URI's recruiting in 2009. We have heard names such as Austin Carroll and Paris Bennett. Who else are the staff targeting?

Paul Kenyon: Hi Bos. I’m going to let you down here. I’m afraid you are ahead of me when it comes to recruiting. I’ve learned through the years that rating high school players is an inexact science and that actual performance often turns out very differently than would be expected according to the ratings.

I am not one to get very involved with recruiting. This year, since I’ve been around the team less than I usually am, I know even less than usual.

The one thing I will say is that with the current staff, whoever the team is involved has a great chance to be successful. Pat Skerry, in particular, has emerged as one of the best recruiters in the Atlantic 10. Coach Skerry is a star in the making himself. With him combining with Jim Baron, Kevin Clark and Pat Clarke, the future is extremely bright for the Rams

44: Paul... Happy Holidays and hope all is well. From a match-up standpoint, who do you see as Rhody's biggest A-10 hurdle? I'm not so sure its Xavier. Thanks.

Paul Kenyon: Hi 44. If you are talking who the chief competition will be for the A-10 title, I still think it will be Xavier. As everyone knows, the Muskies lost three key players from last year, led by Justin Doellman, who was a URI killer. But the Xavier program is clearly the model program in the conference. The team knows how to win. With Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell, Xavier has a senior backcourt with tons of talent.

If you are asking me which team specifically matches up best with URI, I’d go with UMass. As A-10 fans have seen, the Minutemen are doing this year what URI did last season. That is, with Stephane Lasme and rashaun Freeman gone, they have stopped slowing the pace and pounding the ball inside and instead and turned everyone loose. They are tying to outrun and outscore everyone.

I think Gary Forbes is one of the three best players in the conference. The backcourt, of Chris Lowe and Ricky Harris is developing rapidly into one of the very best in the conference. They make the running system work. Harris might be a candidate, with Parfait Bitee for most improved player in the conference.

The Minutemen are going to be good against everyone. The two URI-UMass games should give us some of the most exciting play we will see all year.

Rhody74: Do you think URI's current success is sustainable. In the past, we've had extreme cycles of good and bad. Do you think Baron's "process" will work for the long haul?

Paul Kenyon: Hi 74. Great question. As you know, this is a topic that is thrown around often, not just among all the fans, but among those of us who cover the team, too.

The pet peeve for those of us on this side, getting to see all the other schools and how they operate, is that it is not easy for most schools to put together a long run of success. When you see other programs you appreciate they are doing the same thing your school is doing. A program like Xavier has everything in place. Just about everyone else has strengths and weaknesses that create swings up and down. I guess what I’m saying is that expectations from fans sometimes can be unfair.

That said, URI is in position to move up the ladder and be one of those teams with a better chance to put a long line of 20-win teams together. The program, as it now stands, is in as good an overall condition as at any point in the 19 years that I have been covering the team. The talent already is on campus, with Delroy James and Ben Eaves ready to jump in, to be strong again next year. The word scouts deliver is that this year’s recruiting class is excellent. The five players signed all are A-10 level players and in some cases potential stars.

I guess what I’m sorry 74 is that I would not spend as much time right now telling Rhody fans to calm down and keep things in perspective as I usually do. The picture for the next two, three, four years is truly bright.

Rhode Island Red: Paul: What does Jim Baron mean by "part of the process"?

Paul Kenyon: Hi Red. The process really has become THE fun word around Coach Baron. If I had a penny for every time I’ve head him say it I’d be able to pay all my bills for Christmas presents. The coach has been kidded about it so much that he smiles now every time he mentions it.

That being said, if you get to listen to him talk in casual conversation, you understand what he is trying to say. For Jim Baron, being a basketball coach is not simply making decisions for the 40 minutes the game is played. As so many of the best coaches are, he is more than a coach. He is an educator. He means it when he talks about the needs for his players to be students first and basketball players second. He means it when he talks about study halls. I remember the first year URI played at St. Bonaventure under Baron, he took me for a tour around the Reilly Center, showing me some of the work he had done while he was with the Bonnies. Most notably he brought me into the weight room. You could hear the pride in his voice as he spoke about how he and his staff had made it happen.

The process, I think he is tying to say, is the entire picture. It is about getting good people on his team, having them be good students and represent the school well. It sure seems to be working from where I sit.

urirx: hi paul. it will be great to have a beat writer back covering rhody. what game are you most looking forward to the rest of this season?

Paul Kenyon: Hi RX. Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it. I’m very happy to be back.

Let me give you two games I look forward to, one for the place, the other for the game itself.

My favorite place to visit in the A-10 is Dayton. The facility is excellent, the people are fun and the entire scene, as it is arranged, is what college basketball should be. The people there do a fabulous job. As I was saying earlier about seeing what other schools have, Dayton is another example of a school that does things the right way. The fact that the team is good and should be a major factor in the A-10 makes it even better. I look forward to being there for the conference opener.

As for the game I would pick to be the best. I mentioned earlier that I am very high on UMass. Thanks to the schedule, we will get to see the Rams and Minutemen go at it twice. We might approach a total of 400 points in the two games.

URIGONZO: I agree that the only way a team beats URI is by outscoring them (UMass). Do you see any team in the conference who can shut URI down defensively, with a half-court trap perhaps, or do you think the only way to beat them is to turn loose and run like the wind?

Paul Kenyon: Hi Gonzo. My initial reaction is to say that someone should be able to find a way to slow the Rams down, but I can’t believe anyone is going to be able to stop them from putting up good numbers.

One of the real strengths of the team is the ability to score points in so many different ways. We saw a bit of it against Hofstra. There are going to be days when the threes don’t drop. When a team goes 6-for-24 on 3-pointers you would expect it to have major problems.

That never happened against Hofstra because this team gets points by beating teams down the court. Keith Cothran and Lamonte Ulmer are being used so well. They enter the game when the opposing tem might be getting a bit tired and they turn the speed up two notches. They get easy points off the break or off the glass. They are two of the biggest reasons the team is better than it was last season.

Kahiem Seawright has not been as steady thus far as he was last year, but he is showing that he is coming on and he can get points in the paint. The Rams truly are one of the best offensive teams in the country.

Rhodewarrior: I know it is a little early but what can Rhody fans expect from Billy Baron as opposed to Jimmy Baron Jr.? How are their play styles similar and different?

Paul Kenyon: Rhode, I suggest that you make it a point at one of the URI games to say hi to Billy Baron. He’s never afraid to say hi to anyone.

As you know, he sits behind the bench at most games. Since the Hendricken season has begun, he will have to miss some games now but I’m sure he will be there for many. I recommend saying hi because Billy is the most outgoing of the three Baron men. Jimmy is very much like his father in the sense that he is gentlemanly and polite and very composed. Billy is more active and well, at least from what I’ve seen, a bit louder than his father and brother. When I’ve run into Billy we’ve had fun because that’s the way he is.

His father and brother tell me that Billy is an excellent shooter in the family tradition, but he also is more of a pure point guard than Jimmy. Billy is still growing. He’s about 6-feet now. He’s a fun kid. I wish him well.

Rhodewarrior: Do you see URI winning the A-10 championship this year in Atlantic City?

Paul Kenyon: If someone forced me to make a pick right now _ I guess you’re doing that Rhode _ I would have a list of six or seven teams that have a legitimate shot at winning the A-10 title. URI has to be first or second on that list as we stand.

I do know one thing, it will be nice to go to Atlantic City. The conference has been searching for a home for a long time and the event last year in Atlantic City went beautifully, as well as any A-10 tournament ever. I think there’s a strong chance the event has found a home.

Posted by Mike McDermott at 1:18 PM | Permalink

December 27, 2007

Paul Kenyon's hoops chat transcript

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