The second installment of The Ed Cooley Radio Show was broadcast live from McPhail’s on the campus of Providence College. As usual John Rooke was the host and there was even a special guest appearance by President of the Friar Faithful, James Kirby. Cooley talked about a variety of topics including Rodney Bullock’s knee injury, Ben Bentil’s clearinghouse situation, scheduling strategy and others. You can listen to the show courtesy of FriarTV by clicking this link.
Here is a transcript of most of Cooley’s comments:
Cooley’s opening quote: “We’re excited to open the season against a team that made the NCAA Tournament last year and our players are doing a great job. We’re really young, we’ll get into that later but we’re just incredibly appreciative and very nervous about the upcoming season.”
Cooley on the new NCAA practice rules: “This is the first time in the 9 years I’ve been a head coach where we’ve given the players actually two weeks off to start the regular season and that was coming off our trip to Italy and with so many new players getting them acclimated to college. Our youth is definitely something that we’re going to have to discuss the whole year as those babies continue to grow.”
Cooley on how they practice and Rodney Bullock’s injuries: “I think there’s a misconception with respect to the way we practice. You’re allowed to practice 3 hours a day and I think the longest we’ve gone has been an hour forty, hour forty-five max. I’m not a coach that likes to beat players up. It’s a long season. We’ve had a couple injuries. One of which was Rodney [Bullock] who broke his nose and he broke his nose going for a layup against Tyler [Harris]. Then he [Bullock] tore his ACL going for a loose ball with him and just the ball. It was one of those freak accidents. I really feel bad for him not playing last year then having a broken nose to start the season and then tearing his knee up. He’ll have surgery tomorrow so we’ll support him tomorrow and then we’ll be monitoring him as he’s coming out of his surgery to make sure he knows that the Friar family is there for him.”
Cooley on how Bullock will need to cope with this adversity: “That’s one of those things as the leaders of the organization and as our coaches continue to talk to him, in life things happen for a reason. I think if you dwell on what’s happening to you now you can’t focus on what the future can be. Right now we need to support him. He will be an integral part of our future moving forward but right now he has to take care of the present and take care of that injury. If he looks at it and ‘woe is me’ then he’s never going to be the person he wants to be or the player.”
Cooley on the Ben Bentil situation with the NCAA Clearinghouse: “We’re still getting over the hurdle with that. When you have players that come from another country that have gone through the [NCAA] Clearinghouse and the Eligibility Center they want to make sure everything’s kosher, they want to make sure everything’s clear but we feel very optimistic that hopefully in a very short period of time that he’ll get a full clear though…I think we could be ok [for the first game]. You don’t ever know what the NCAA’s going to come back with but because of the things that we’ve been working with and the people in the NCAA we’ve been working with hopefully they do the right thing.”
Cooley on how the communication with the NCAA goes for Clearinghouse issues: “[The communication is] more [done by] our Compliance department. I think Joe Nicastro is one of the best Compliance Coordinators in the country. He has all the dialogue. We as coaches stay away from that. That’s not the lane that we belong in. That’s not what they pay us for here. I am not a compliance person nor do I ever want to be one. We leave that up to him. He communicates with them daily via email, voice, text messages to whomever he’s dealing with in the Clearinghouse.”
Cooley on if Bentil’s situation can be compared to any other case: “We haven’t compared it and each individual NCAA case is looked at differently. So even if there was a precedent set it’s still a different circumstance.”
Cooley on how he will adjust to the loss of Bullock: “That’s not how I live nor how I coach. I coach with what’s dealt to us and we deal with it from there. I know our fans can get frustrated at certain things and people complain about certain things but if you complain you don’t believe so put your big boy panties on and grow up…I’m going to deal with what have, not what we don’t.”
Cooley on the progress of the new players so far and how roles will have to change/expand this season for the returning players: “Our young players are really developing. They are much further ahead of the curve than I thought they would be at this time. I definitely know the Italy trip has helped that with the preparation we had prior to going over to Europe. They’re very coachable. They’re great listeners. Junior [Lomomba], who sat out last year, has given us a lot of veteran experience. I think LaDontae [Henton], as I’m reading all this and the media outlets are talking to me about [JayVaugh] Pinkston and [D’Vauntes] Smith-Rivera and D’Angelo Harrison, I do know this: the only guy on that First Team Preseason that’s won a championship is LaDontae Henton. If you’re asking me who do I think the best player in the Big East, is he’s sitting in a Friar uniform and he wears number 23…I think some of these guys’ roles’ have to expand in particular Tyler [Harris] and LaDontae [Henton], Carson [Desrosiers]. I think a big key is going to be Kris [Dunn] and Kyron [Cartwright]. I think those guys, their roles have to expand dramatically because we’ve lost 40 some odd points after averaging 73 coming down the stretch so we’ve got our hands full but trust me we’ll make it work.”
Cooley on Junior Lomomba and Kris Dunn needing to step up: “I think it’s something we’re going to need. We’re definitely going to need Junior [Lomomba] to step up. He’s been in our practice here for a year and a half and he definitely knows what he’s doing on the floor. But he along with the other guys, Kris Dunn I think is going to be as key as anyone in the country. I think he’s as healthy as he’s been in Friartown so those guys really have to step up for us.”
Cooley on a potential starting 5 and how he views lineups: “I think you have to come up with your top 9 and however you move those around. It’s very rare that a coach’s starting unit and finishing unit [match], unless it’s dire circumstances like we had a year ago. You look for who can complete a game, who can make free throws, who can guard, who can follow scouting reports, who can pass the ball, who can ball handle. You’ve got to look for a 9. I think we’re trying to develop that rotation. As far as having a starting 5, I don’t look at it as a starting 5, I look at it as a complete unit that can complete a game…You’re definitely going to give Kris [Dunn] a long look [because] he’s as talented of a player as we have with just his natural athleticism. Paschal Chukwu is going to have a chance because of his length but he’s very raw right now. Jalen [Lindsey] has really shown some promise. But, again, these are all guys that don’t know what it is to play at the Dunk yet. They haven’t been hit in the face with an elbow from an opposing team, they haven’t been under the lights. Everybody is unproven right now.”
Cooley on Kris Dunn: “We take him out of certain drills when it becomes a contact drill. He has, basically, the green light to pull himself in and out of some practices. You’ve just got to be careful. People are just having some freak injuries and that’s really been frustrating. Kris [Dunn] is in a good place right now. He’s playing well and he’s playing at a really, really high level. I’m excited. I hope the fans are excited to see what Kris can do for us…Kris Dunn could arguably be the best defensive player I’ve ever coached. He could be one of the best defensive players in the country this year. He just has a toughness, a quickness and a knack that’s not coaching at all, that’s just instincts…He is an elite level athlete. Elite, elite, elite of the elite…[on shooting being a shortcoming] That’s people’s opinion. They’re not in the gym with him. I think he’s really improved that. Everybody remembers Kris Dunn as a freshman and that’s like watching somebody else as a rookie in their NBA season or their rookie at-bat. You’re not there yet. You’re talking about a kid that has two years of maturity under his belt so with time you get better.”
Cooley on importance of team leaders: “I think Tyler [Harris], LaDontae [Henton], Carson [Desrosiers] and Kris [Dunn] should share that role and to some extent Ted [Bancroft] and Junior [Lomomba]. Those are the older guys on the team. They have to lead first and foremost by example then they have to lead verbally then the best leaders, they don’t ask, they command. So they have to tell kids, young guys, young men what to do, don’t ask them what to do. They’ve done it, they’ve been through it. And I’ve said this before: the best leaders never ask, they always demand.”
Cooley on importance of team chemistry and culture: “One thing I appreciate about this team is they like each other. I think when you ask coaches, no matter what sport it is, how do the best teams win? It comes down to culture. What is the culture of your organization? What’s the culture of your team? I think right now here at Providence College with respect to men’s basketball the culture of our organization is fantastic. You’ve got kids first and foremost who believe. You’ve got young men that are on a mission and want to prove that they do belong with the best of the best, not just in the Big East, but all of college basketball.”
Cooley on scheduling strategy: “I don’t know where our break is coming. We need to talk about probably one of the most competitive non-conference schedules we’ve played here in many, many years. With a young team it was my decision to make sure that if we did come down to being a bubble team that the NCAA committee…sees that you are trying to at least schedule the best games you can. With respect to your home games, we want teams [with] RPI 150 or better then you want big conference teams. I think we have a good blend and a good mix. I wish we could get more home games of the “brand name teams” but teams are honestly are definitely afraid to walk into the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. There’s something magical about that building where people just come there and wilt and I think that’s because of our fan support and that’s because there’s something in that building that just says ‘you will not win in here tonight’.”
Cooley on Late Night Madness: “We’re excited about it. I always look forward to Late Night Madness. It’s an opportunity for our community to come together in the early part of the season to get excited about the possibilities that could happen and with Big Sean and Jalen Rose, who is a personal friend of ours and a really good friend of Mike Jackson, our Director of Basketball Operations. We’re excited about it and I think everybody in Friartown should be.”
Cooley on importance of having a loud Dunkin’ Donuts Center: “When we go on the road and we are facing a road crowd we literally turn the music up in our preparation stage in Alumni Hall to mimic the noise that we have to deal with. A lot of times when you’re playing at home the coaches use more verbal signals. If you look at coaches when you’re on the road everything is a hand signal. Sometimes you can be right in front of me and the noise is so loud you can’t hear me two or three feet in front of me…There’s no question in my mind [that] a banged out house, a crazy house, a respectful house, rude at times, is a 8-10 point swing.”
Cooley on how the schedule came together: “We’re really excited and optimistic, very nervous with a young team but at the same time we feel we’ll get out there and compete. As a staff we felt that as we’re transitioning losing [Bryce] Cotton, losing Kadeem [Batts], losing Josh [Fortune], [Brice] Kofane that we needed to make sure that if we were close in our league that we played a competitive enough schedule that the selection committee will at least notice who we’re trying to play…Relationships, there’s some analytics involved with it, there’s some teams where we are attractive to teams maybe because people have recruited the area or they want a road game or they want a neutral game…We on paper this year were attractive to a team that is looking for a high major with the potential for them to beat…You have to have enough competitive games on your schedule in the preseason or non-conference to get you ready for conference play. When we looked into it we felt we had 7 high major games, I believe we counted 7…I think the University of Rhode Island is a much improved team. I really, really like their team this year. UMass who unfortunately has beat us at the buzzer in consecutive years…We play Miami (FL) in the Barclays in a neutral site. We play at Kentucky. We’ve got to go up and face Boston College with a new coach [Jim Christian] who I think is going to do a fantastic job. I think he’s a really, really good coach and he’ll get that place going. When you look at Stony Brook and Albany I think they’re as competitive as any mid-major team in the country. Both of them will be going neck and neck for their league championship. Yale, who we put on the schedule last year, when you look at their final RPI numbers they were like 120-something. Brown, we played them really close last year…Mike [Martin] has done a really, really good job with his program there and the Brown fans should be very fortunate to have such a high level coach such as him.”
Cooley on how he plans to respond to questions during Big East media day: “When you face those questions every single day you take them as they come, you try to be as authentic as you can with the understanding that we don’t have what we had last year. We’re not the same team. Everybody talks to me about how we branded the team “Heart and Soul”. That team is gone. That chemistry is a different chemistry. Losing arguably one of the best guards in the country last year that has to be replaced. We’re young. We’re going to struggle some. We’re not going to be in sync but I think by the end of the season when it all counts we’ll be ready to go. But early you’re going to see us not be in sync just because we don’t know yet.”
Cooley on playing Miami (FL) at the Barclays Center on December 22nd: “That’s going to be fun. It’s during the holiday’s. My wife enjoys going to New York…I think it’s an opportunity for Friar fans in New York. We have drawn really well whether it be at Madison Square Garden which we’re going to play St. John’s there this year versus playing them in Carnesseca Arena. But to get people to come out to the Barclays should be a lot of fun during that holiday season.”
Cooley on Kentucky, Florida State and Notre Dame: “Kentucky may be the number 1 team in the NBA. They probably have 6 or 7 lottery picks. I think John [Calipari] has done an unbelievable job there building that program up to what he has it at. When you look at Florida State they’ll be a preseason NCAA team as well as Notre Dame who gets their best player back. This is a very, very, very tough schedule for us. We’re excited about it but at the same time incredibly nervous…The game is never won in the conversation. It’s won on the court and I look at 94 feet of opportunity, there’s two glass backboards and may the best team win on that particular day.”
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