Voices of the Big East: Volume IV
Posted by Patrick Prendergast on December 31st, 2011Voices of the Big East is an ongoing feature intended to capture the essence of the conference through the words of those involved and those impacted. This will come in the form of quotes, tweets, videos and anything else we feel like sticking in here. It’s perfect for you multitasking short attention-spanners. If you find something you think is a candidate for this feature send it to us and we might even give you credit!
Happy New Year!
The voices of Rush the Court would like to wish you a happy and safe New Year. Thank you for reading. We hope you have enjoyed what you have seen so far. Of course there is one ball drop we will always be watching.
We Will Forego the Crystal for This
Khem-ical Reaction
Khem Birch left Pittsburgh two weeks ago after one semester at the school. This his has led to a variety of commentary, including from himself.
Birch Made a Difficult Decision
Telling
Difficult for Birch to Keep a Low Profile These Days
Most recently Birch had this to say (to CBSSports.com):
“Coach (Jamie) Dixon is a great coach and a terrific person. I just didn’t think it was the best place for me.”
Not much sympathy from Davis, but perhaps none is due.
Apparently Khem Birch Was Not Certain When He Signed His LOI With Pittsburgh
Interesting question from Rob Dauster of ballinisahabit.net. There must be more to it than meets the eye.
“I have no idea who is advising Birch and no clue why he left, but if you love the head coach, got along with the staff and your teammates and enjoyed your time at the school, how is the school the wrong fit?’
Knights’ Night
Rutgers scored a signature win with their thrilling 85-83 double-overtime triumph over #10 Florida on Thursday. While any victory is rewarding, this one was especially so for a young Mike Rice squad that had struggled to put together complete games this year. Rice summed it up this way.
“Growing pains. It’s a process. Getting rewired. Getting them to believe in the system. Getting them to believe in themselves, believe in each other — it’s a process. Again, are we going to play like this every night? Gosh, I hope so. It’s fun. But, it’s a process to be consistent and it starts in practice time. And these suckers were great in practice the last few days.”
Perfect Storm
St. John’s opened some eyes when they overwhelmed Providence 91-67 on Tuesday. Red Storm wing Moe Harkless, who had a monster game with 32 points and 13 rebounds, had this to say afterward.
“They came out thinking they were better than us and that motivated us.”
If even remotely true, from the Providence aspect it is a head-scratcher for a team coming off back-to-back four win seasons in conference play to think they are better than anyone. Never one to hold back, Providence head coach Ed Cooley provided his analysis.
“That was the worst defensive game I ever coached. That will be emphatically addressed tomorrow morning at 6am.”
“A blind man could have scored today. I promise you we will correct that.”
“The game was over at 12-2. Our point guard play was absolutely atrocious. We picked the wrong day to be really bad.”
(Quotes courtesy of A Daly Dose of Hoops – @DalyDoseOfHoops on Twitter)
Pope Prefers Late Mass
Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard on senior star Herb Pope’s ascension in the second half of the Pirates’ recent win over Mercer. And yes, the game fittingly took place on a Sunday.
“This is our first noon game. Herb [Pope] doesn’t usually wake up until 1. He had a great second half.”
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
Villanova head coach Jay Wright had a bit of a gray disposition after his struggling Wildcats dropped one to city rival St. Joseph’s. Wright sees light at the end of the Grays Ferry Tunnel however.
“They’re playing with confidence – they’re throwing up alley-oops to their guys and we’re missing layups, but we’ll get there.”
Twitter: @FriarFrenzy
