With Cincinnati set to travel to MSG to take on St John’s in the return game, I thought there was nothing better to do than talk with my good friend Pico Dulce from Rumble in the Garden. Here’s his entertaining twitter. We covered a lot of ground this time. There is talk about what St John’s has been up to, Steve Lavin, Mo Harkless, D’Angelo Harrison, Amir Garrett, Rivalry Week, Rachel Bilson and the OC. Oh yeah there is a lot of talk about the OC. We love things that ended 7 years ago. I just want to take the time to thank Pico for his help yet again. The man comes through every time. He’s a good guy. He even added the P: in front of his answers. That’s helping a brother out.
Questions in bold.
First things first, this is Rivalry week on ESPN and the family of networks. Why are Cincinnati and St John’s playing?
Pico: The Cincinnati Bearcats and the Red Storm share a recent history of a lone NCAA Tournament bid and years of hoping and striving and losses and ugly offense. This has created a great rivalry and – oh, hell, it’s because both teams don’t have name-recognition pull right now. I’ll tell you what, though, Cincy and Louisville would have been a tougher game than Louisville and UConn (more like UCan’t? That wasn’t very good, I apologize.)…
St John’s seemed to be playing teams a lot tougher until Syracuse went all NBA Jam on them. What’s changed with the team since the UC game for the better? For the worse?
P: For the better: Moe Harkless’ light seemed to go on. Amir Garrett is a little more of a factor, and is securely fastened to the starting five. But most importantly, Phil Greene is looking more confident as a scoring point guard – he’s vocal, improving his mid range jump shot, and making passes.
For the worse: God`sgift Achiuwa is less of a factor, but had a nice game against DePaul off of the bench. Sir`Dominic Pointer’s dribble looks looser as he’s emplyed as a secondary or tertiary ballhandler to break pressure defenses. The team is entirely dependent on Moe Harkless to rebound, and that’s a tall task for a skinny fellow. The team has only had one sparkling defensive performance, against the downward-trending Mountaineers (the Villanova performance was good but they couldn’t stop Maalik Wayns late (ED: No one can)). Cincy was the team’s second-best defensive performance by the tempo-neutral numbers, and I can’t imagine that the Bearcats would take that many bad shots again.
I think it’s safe to say D’Angelo Harrison is on fire. He was kind of slumping when the teams first played. What switched has flipped for him?
P: I’d say he’s been pretty steady – sometimes streaky, almost always active and involved. In the last two games, he’s found his rhythm early, his form and footwork have been good, and I think he’s had less of this awkward leg-scissor finish on his jumper. I’d have to look back at the game tape, though.
Is there anything new to add about Mo Harkless besides the fact he’s really, really good?
P: Yes. He got a little banged up against DePaul, and it seemed to slow him down in both of the team’s games last week. Harkless still isn’t money from outside the arc, but from a step in he’s very good, and he’s been converting from the foul line area and in at a high rate. He’s more confident, more emotional, and he’s been effective on the glass.
There is a lot of talk about Mo Harkless being the rookie of the year and then the player of the year in the Big East next year. How can he be the Big East player of the year when he’s in the NBA?
P: I see what you did there.
Why do you have to be so Harkless is a tag line for every St John’s fan and opponent by now, yes?
P: Only for St. John’s fans. The opponents get to just say $%^#!! (ED: This is what I said after the St John’s game, he’s right)
And I’ll answer your previous question. Harkless is nice. I think he can get picked in the NBA draft by a forward-thinking team. Hell, if Anthony Randoloph can be drafted, so can this guy. But I predict that Harkless will spend at least one more year in school. He needs to get bigger, he needs to be able to make more of the various kinds of shots he can take, he needs to show that he can consistently take over games. And I think he’ll get to show more versatility – I can’t imagine that Steve Lavin won’t be able to bring in at least 3 solid to good players who can handle rebounding, and that will allow Harkless to play at his more natural wing position.
When we first talked, Amir Garrett just started playing. Now that he’s in the mix, what definitively can you say about his game? Is the fact he was drafted by the Reds going to come up in the telecast tomorrow?
P: Only twice. Everything you need to know about his signing with the Reds [ http://www.rumbleinthegarden.com/2011/8/16/2365912/amir-garrett-signs-cincinnati-reds-will-play-for-st-johns ] and on his pitching skills and potential [http://www.rumbleinthegarden.com/2011/6/5/2207227/amir-garrett-st-johns-mlb-draft-baseball ] are conventiently located on the Rumble. Yes, that was a shameless plug.
What are your thoughts on what will happen in the game? Will one of the teams break 60?
P: I think they will. Both teams shot like heated garbage in the first matchup. It was like going out for a morning coffee only to find your coffee place spread rusty old appliances and dead flowers around the place and played Celine Dion’s slowest, most cloying music.
(I don’t know where that image came from either.)
Both teams can’t help but shoot better, right? It’ll be a tight one, and the teams won’t crack 70… I don’t really know how Cincy will come out. They were energetic in the first game – too energetic, didn’t execute very well. I think there will be a lot of empty seats. I think St. John’s could win, but that seems to be a pretty bold statement.
How has Steve Lavin been doing? Is there a timetable on his return?
P: He’s recuperating, marshalling his energy. I don’t think he comes back this season, but he’ll be watching from the suites. You’ll see him during the broadcast.
Is it weird eating cereal with no milk? I’ve gone pour it in a cup and drink it lately. Seems to be working out well. I’m not sure how weird it is though. Ruling?
P: Not weird. I’m a little lactose intolerant (but I’ll suck it up for some cheese, even if mac-n-cheese and lasagne makes me feel funny), so I always eat cereal without milk. My wife thinks it’s weird though. (ED: If his wife thinks it’s weird, it’s weird)
Since we ignored Rachel Bilson in the OC talk last time, she put out this awesome video. Does cussing Rachel Bilson, MD move her up or down your list?
P: Down. That video’s totally derivative of Natalie Portman, and the gimmick of “lithe white woman rapping” is tired. All kinds of white people love rap. It’s pop music now. And Northern State used up my capacity for “hey, that lithe white woman can kinda rap”. Have you ever heard Northern State? NYC kids, lived in Brooklyn; I think they’d be at parties I went to and stuff. (Shameless name-drop!)
We are going to end on the OC. What are the 5 things you most remember from the show and what the 5 things that still piss you off about it? It can be more than 5. The theme song can not be one.
5 things I remember (and like)
– the introduction of Death Cab for Cutie to the world. At the time, they were a band my Portland friend was huge on and made us listen to, and we were like, this ain’t half bad.
– the family dynamic around the Cohens (and Caleb).
– Tijuana.
– most of Ryan’s ladies.
– Taylor’s french marriage.
– Taylor’s arc, if only because I can think of a few seemingly-uptight people I learned to like so much more at the end of high school.
– Peter Gallagher’s eyebrows.
– the almost tasteful and subtle insterion of Kiki’s drinking problem.
– the knowing campiness of the show.
– Luke.
– The east coast jewishness of the show.
Piss me off:
– Oliver.
– All of Marisa’s plotlines.
– Johnny and the Newport Public School.
– the later bands.
– the clunkiness of every HS drama’s efforts to keep the gang together after high school.
– the Chris Brown episodes. Limp.
Bearcats Blog list
Good:
– Welcome to the OC, bitch is always awesome
– Peter Gallagher is awesome. He’ll talk to you on twitter.
– The episode where Ryan was almost dying and Seth saved his life
– Of course Taylor Townsend
– Marissa dying
– I still schmere bagels like Sandy Cohen
– Captain Oats
– That time where they played End of the Road when they were sad because I may or may not have done that in real life
– Luke’s brothers
– Anna
Bad:
– Oliver is A#1 on every list. I even called Pico Oliver because he couldn’t send the questions back last night. I’m a mean person.
– I liked the weird best friend of Johnny, but hated Johnny. What a whiny baby douche.
– Rooney. They suck.
– Princess Sparkles. Summer was too hot to have a stupid horse.
– The fact everyone hated stoner Seth so much
– When that one lady tried to swindle Kirsten out of her money. What a bitch.
– The time they made it seem like Sandy was going to have an affair.
A hundred thousand thanks to my friend Pico. I couldn’t have done this without him. Check out my answers to his questions over on his site later today or tomorrow.
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