Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Jon Rothstein dropped by RMU practice today

Jon Rothstein, a College Basketball Insider for CBS Sports dropped by the Colonials practice today (if you follow him, you may have seen the pics and tweets) and shared a few thoughts on the Colonials. Here's what he had to say, and CtC reactions.

With the season right around the corner, you better believe practice is intense. The guys are healthy, and with so many new faces, a lot of minutes are still up for grabs. There is still a starting spot open (Aaron Tate started against Cal U, but based off him playing very little in the second half, that could easily change next Saturday) and almost ever position off the bench is up for grabs.


This could be the biggest issue for RMU. Replacing Velton and Russ on the court won't be the difficult part. RMU has the guys to do that. Replacing their leadership will be a major challenge. One or two of Ant Myers-Pate, Karvel Anderson, Lucky Jones and Mike McFadden must become a true leader in practice, in the film room, in games, and off the court.

Chris and I have said this all offseason. No player on the roster has more potential then Hawk. He's long, athletic and put on some muscle this offseason. If he can grasp the mental side of the game, he's going to be force. He has a decent post game, and a nice touch on his jump shot. This is a big year for him. If he can show growth, RMU has a legit A-10 type big man in the NEC. That means he will dominate most nights.

All offseason, we thought RMU would replace Coron Williams with another shooter (Chuck Oliver?). That may not be the case, and I'm okay with that. Karvel Anderson and Lucky Jones both shoot over 40% from 3, and Ant Myers Pate isn't bad himself when he has his confidence. Does RMU really need another 3 pt shooter? Maybe not. The Colonials lived and died by the 3. Bringing in a guy who can slash and get to the basket, create fouls, and dish to those shooters might be a better remedy, not to mention Newton is an INSANE athlete and could be a force on the defensive end.

Stewart looked really good in the scrimmage, and looks like he will be the backup point guard behind Myers-Pate. He can really pass and showed the ability to get to the rim. Both me and Chris have him on our All NEC rookie team, and NYC Buckets listed him as one of their top freshmen. He is primed for a big career at RMU if everything stays course.

Lastly, as Rothstein always does, he took a swing at the starting lineup, and I think he's dead on.
Myers-Pate, Anderson, Jones, and McFadden are all shoe-ins, but that 5th spot is still up for grabs, and based off the scrimmage it appears its between Newton and Worthem. Both had nice games, but the added size that Worthem brings should give him the edge. With that said, it is still very much in the air and we must remember, Andy Toole loves jiggling that lineup around. Last year he started Hawk out of no where, and regularly brought Karvel in and out of the starting lineup. With so many options to his disposal, Toole will likely mix it up again, depending on a given week in practice to the style of the opponent.

Lee Kunkel (@Kunkel5) --
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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

UK scrimmage: RMU @ UK Nov 17th

The Kentucky Wildcats had their annual Blue-White scrimmage, and as expected, many of the newcomers impressed.


Julius Randle dropped 21 and 8 and Derek Willis has 21 and 8. James Young, another freshman had 25 points to lead all scorers. UK has maybe the best recruiting class ever and the Colonials will get their rematch with the Wildcats, this time at Rupp Arena on November 17th, their forth game of the year.

RMU defeated the Wildcats in the first round of the NIT last year, as many of us will never forget.
Velton Jones wont be around this
year for the Colonials. 

Lee Kunkel (@Kunkel5) --
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ALL NEC TEAM PREDICTIONS

With the college basketball season tipping off in about a week (November 8th) CtC is here to give you their All NEC Team's including the NEC rookie team. For more team predictions check out these links...

RMU Preview 

And an in-depth Team by team NEC preview

With that said, lets get to the predictions...

The NEC Coaches 1st Team All NEC: Vinales (CCSU), Francis (Bryant), Starks (Bryant), Brickman (LIU), and Cannon (SF Brooklyn).

Lee: I like the coaches team a lot. My only difference comes with Dyami Starks. He's a great scorer, but he's not the best in the league (Vinales, and maybe Karvel Anderson are better) and he doesn't bring another all league type attribute to the table. With that said I'm going...


First team
Jason Brickman, LIU
Kyle Vinales, CCSU (POY as well)
Lucky Jones, RMU
Many expect Jones to make
the jump to 1st team.
Alex Francis, Bryant
Jalen Cannon, St. Francis Brooklyn

Second team
Rashad Whack, Mount St. Mary’s
Dyami Starks, Bryant
Karvel Anderson, RMU
Kenny Ortiz, Wagner
Julian Norfleet, Mount St. Mary’s

Third team
Latiff Rivers, Wagner
Matt Hunter, CCSU
Earl Brown, St. Francis (PA)
Phil Gaetano, Sacred Heart
E.J. Reed, LIU

All rookie team
Khalid Nwandu, Mount St. Mary’s
Jeremiah Worthem, RMU
Kavon Stewart, RMU
Malik Harmon, St. Francis (PA)
Daniel Garvin, Bryant


Lee Kunkel (@Kunkel5) --



You can already check out my thoughts on the NEC preseason rankings here. This is how my team shakes out…

First team                                          
Jason Brickman, LIU
Kyle Vinales, CCSU
Vinales should lead the NEC is
scoring in 2013-2014.
Lucky Jones, RMU
Alex Francis, Bryant
Jalen Cannon, St. Francis Brooklyn

Second team                                      
Kenny Ortiz, Wagner
Dyami Starks, Bryant
Karvel Anderson, RMU
E.J. Reed, LIU
Matt Hunter, CCSU

Third team
Anthony Myers-Pate, RMU
Julian Norfleet, Mount St. Mary’s
Rashad Whack, Mount St. Mary’s
Earl Brown, St. Francis (PA)
Mike McFadden, RMU
Norfleet will look to build on a
breakout season.

All Rookie team
Khalid Nwandu, Mount St. Mary’s
Kavon Stewart, RMU
Faronte Drakeford, CCSU
Jeremiah Worthem, RMU
Malik Harmon, St. Francis (PA)


 Chris Cappella (@C_Cappella)




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RMU Offers Philly Guard Lamarr Kimble

According to Alex Kline of rivals.com, RMU has offered Class of 2015 guard Lamarr Kimble out of Neumann Goretti in Philadelphia.

According to Josh Verlin of cityofbasketballlove.com, RMU is the fourth offer Kimble has received.

The 5-11 PG is rated a 77 overall by ESPN Recruiting and would be one of the highest rated commits if he were to choose RMU.

Kimble, a member of a loaded Goretti squad, is your typical Philly guard. For more on Kimble and Neumann Goretti, check out this season preview.

According to CoBL, "Kimble has a chance to get ACC and Big Ten schools’ attention if he can build on the hype that was put on him before the beginning of last season."

With that said, he would be quite a get for RMU.

Here are some highlights.


Lee Kunkel (@Kunkel5) --
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Robert Morris vs. Cal U takeaways


Well, basketball season is back! RMU tipped things off with an exhibition against California University of Pennsylvania. It wasn’t very pretty at times but what else did we expect? With so much turnover, shots weren’t going to fall, passes were going to be to open spaces, rotations would be off, etc. Here are some things I noticed:

-Tempo, tempo, tempo: This was the biggest takeaway I had. How fast did RMU move the ball up the court after every shot? It was noticeable enough to get its own post. RMU has a ton of guards, most of which can really handle the ball. This is something to keep an eye on as the year progresses.

-Hello, Kavon: The player I was most impressed with? Kavon Stewart. The freshman point guard has some pretty crazy hype around him and I can see why. Stewart is blazing fast and has handles. He saw much more time than Britton Lee, especially in the second half, and I keep hearing rumors that Lee could be redshirted. It’s something to keep an eye on.

-Playing tough: Two other new guys that impressed me were forwards Jeremiah Worthem and Desjuan Newton. Newton is also known as “Juanie”, just an FYI. Juanie finished with ten points and a polished-ish jump shot. It was surprising to see. Worthem was just as impressive, making his presence felt everywhere. He grabbed 10 rebounds and had five points. In my opinion, I think Worthem will be a starter before seasons end. The talent is evident.

-Not all sunshine and rainbows: One player I was not overly impressed with was Aaron Tate. Tate’s a really athletic, junior college transfer who definitely can sky for rebounds and can guard four positions. He started along with Anthony Myers-Pate, Karvel Anderson, Lucky Jones and Mike McFadden. It was his first game here and it was a scrimmage, so I’m not reading too much into anything, but I thought he was pretty slow on defensive rotations. Toole may have agreed, not playing Tate as much in the second half.

-Other notes: Mike McFadden is going to be a viable low-post option, as evidenced by his 18 points. Say a prayer every night for his health… Anthony Myers-Pate might be the most underrated player in the NEC… Karvel Anderson still looked a little hesitant to shoot the ball at times. Make it rain Karvel... It was pretty evident the effort wasn't 100 percent there for Lucky Jones. Toole got on him about a few times… Guys: You’ve Got To Make Your Free Throws, Dammit (first time this year!!!)… The basketball team may have been a bit sloppy, but the pep band ROCKED it. Game ball for them… I caught a t-shirt for the first time in three years. You may not care, but it’s my blog and this is a big deal to me. CTC is extremely pro-RMU Cheer… Solid song selection for the dance team, rocking it to “Give it 2 U” by Robin Thicke.

This was a nice tune-up game. There obviously plenty to work on, but be excited for the future. First game is at home November 9.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella
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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Link: Chronicling the Colonials podcast 1


In my first ever podcast attempt, I chat with Andrew Chiappazzi, the founder of ColonialsCorner.com. We talk RMU athletics, Tony Romo, Steelers fans, and his upbringing among other topics. There’s way more to life than sports, and that’s what this podcast is all about. Enjoy!

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella
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NEC preseason reactions


The coaches have spoken! Tuesday marked the second annual NEC media day (which continues to be excellent) and the release of the coaches pre-season rankings and all-conference team. After months of debate, here is what the coaches think:

1)      Wagner
2)      Robert Morris
3)      Bryant
4)      LIU-Brooklyn
5)      Central Connecticut State
6)      Mount St. Mary’s
7)      St. Francis Brooklyn
8)      Sacred Heart
9)      St. Francis (PA)
10)  Fairleigh Dickinson

The all-conference team looks like this:

Jason Brickman, PG, LIU
Kyle Vinales, G, CCSU
Dyami Starks, G, Bryant
Alex Francis, PF, Bryant
Jalen Cannon, PF, St. Francis Brooklyn

Chris: The coaches and I certainly don’t see things eye-to-eye on some aspects. To begin with, I’m not as high on Bryant as they are. If you haven’t checked out our NEC predictions on ColonialsCorner.com, I encourage you to click here and take a look. Bryant is taking anyone by surprise this year. Their record in their last ten games? 4-6. When the competition picked up and teams were prepared for a tough battle they didn’t fair well. I think they’ll be solid and this league is very deep, but I had them as my sixth overall team. The loss of Frankie Dobbs is going to be huge. Also, defense. You have to play it in the NEC. Only LIU, St. Francis (PA), and FDU had an adjusted defensive rating worse than Bryant last season. LIU might have gotten away with it but it wasn’t with a little luck in the way the NEC tournament played out.  

Also, maybe I’m crazy, but Mount St. Mary’s sixth? That team is loaded. The trio of Julian Norfleet, Rashad Whack, and Sam Prescott is trouble. Their backcourt is crazy loaded and their style of play is tough. They got really hot last year and I expect much of the same this season.

The only change I would make in the all-conference team is replacing Dyami Starks with Lucky Jones of Robert Morris. Jones is my player of the year. He went crazy shooting the ball last year and will be even more of a go-to guy with Velton Jones, Russell Johnson, and Coron Williams all gone. Besides that, he’s an incredible rebounder and a versatile defender.

Lee: Two things. One, Mount St Mary's will not finish below 6th. Last year, they were a young team, that took a bit to jell, but when they did they were a force. Wiggins is their only tough loss, but they have some good young players to replace him, including my NEC Rookie of the year pick Khalid Nwandu.

The coaches (and me and Chris for that matter) also really respect LIU and their 3 peat. With the injuries they've sustained this off season, including Julian Boyd's ACL tear, and Nura Zanna (Talib Zanna's brother, and potential NEC ROY), out for the season with a hand injury, the coaches still put LIU 4th. If Boyd doesn't come back near 100%, I can't see a top 4 finish. 
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