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Date Posted: 10:51:30 05/30/03 Fri
Author: Dane96
Subject: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player
Last night I was playing hoops (well trying to) and I ended up playing a game of 21 w/ this guy who didnt look like much.
Of course he proceeded to absolutely tool me. We chatted for a bit, and he said he played at UM from 93-96. Said he signed as a Junior in high school. I think he was from Beverly, MA.
I believe his name was Casey Orena. Any one know him?
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Van Lier, 11:17:26 05/30/03 Fri
Casey Arena was very good player for Maine. Although he is best remembered for a turnover late in AE title game in the early 90s. Black Bears led late in the game, until the other guard (can't remember his name right now, but he was from Bloomington, Ill.) missed a bunny and Arena messed up. A very good player on a solid team featuring Francois Bouchard.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- rozzie, 11:28:42 05/30/03 Fri
yup......do we ever. a 4 year starter who could absolutely take it to the basket like virtually no one else in the conference before or since. he was quick, a great ballhandler and good defender. BUT, he could not shoot well, he made poor decisions, and he didn't improve one iota in four years under rudy keeling......they did make it to the AE final against drexel his sophomore year--he made bonehead play after bonehead play and singlehandedly cost maine that game. i hope he's grown up since.....he was kind of a moody, arrogant kid.
my favorite casey arena moment.....they're playing depaul at the horizon outside of chicago. as was typical of rudy keeling's teams, they either won big or lost big and were getting absolutely smoked by depaul. i'm watching the game on WGN at a bar in bangor, maine and, towards the end of the game, casey launches his fifteenth shot of the game and like the first fourteen, misses.....the announcer says "casey arena is now 0 for Chicago"......i can still feel the sting of the beer coming through my nose.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Dane96, 13:20:49 05/30/03 Fri
We played down on the waterfront (Charles). The N. End park with all the bocce cts, baseball, softball fields and the Mirabella pool!
Usually there is good run up there. Casey hadnt played in awhile and I am rehabbing two surgeries on my ankle so it wasnt much of a run. Generally you get former DIII (Brandeis, Salem St., Bates, etc), DII (Bentley, Stonehill etc.) and AEast level guys playing. Also the courts on prince st. are good. IN August there is a huge tourney down there.
Rozzie, you are correct about Casey...the guy has a funny looking jumper...but boy oh boy is he strong driving to the lane. He has this quick little between the legs dribble and then he goes hard to the hoop. He has a nice 10 foot stop and pop.
I guess he had a couple Celts tryouts...but he said his shot was off and those guys were way to strong for him. He played in the BBL (top level league in England) for a few years.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Will, 12:11:16 05/30/03 Fri
Where did you guys play?
I vaguely remember Casey Arena when they played against Boston College during the Curely-Eisley-Huckaby years.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Matt-11, 17:23:36 05/30/03 Fri
Casey always played well vs BU, maybe because this is his home area and relatives and friends would be there to see him.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Bainsey, 18:44:43 05/30/03 Fri
Funny how people only remember you for your blunders. Yes, he was arrogant at times (so was I at that age), but Casey Arena was among the best point guards to play at Maine. As Rozzie said, great drive, great heart, and a decent passer, too. He set up the likes of Bouchard and Ed Jones well. We have a very deep bench that year in 1994. You loved heart, and he had a great way of getting under the opposition's skin. I remember him being booed quite loudly at Gonzaga. Priceless.
As is the case with most players, Casey was always very pleasant with me. I hope he's well.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- NU Hoop Fan, 22:57:42 05/30/03 Fri
Karl Fogel's infamous words about Casey Arena (said to someone who knew his dad).. "The kid looks to awkward to play at this (meaning AE) level."
Arena wanted to go to NU, until he heard those comments. He torched NU every chance he had.
Did he and Bouchard overlap at all? I thought Bouchard predated him, although my math may be off.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Too awkward?, 22:31:55 05/31/03 Sat
Please explain....I only remember the name...
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Maine insider, 14:33:14 06/02/03 Mon
I believe that Illinois kid may be Ken Barnes who was good player. Rudy brought so many kids in from Illinois I could be wrong. Gerry Cocoran is also being recruited by UCONN, (leader probably), URI and Fordham. With Holy Cross and Providence in there it sounds like a great list. Cocoran had a great season in Norwell this past year and has been kicking butt and is the best player on Leo Papile's 17 and under Babc club. I can't blame Cocoran for not wanting to go to BU after they choked against Vermont. Why did Dennis Wolff call a timeout at the end, instead of pushing the ball up and trying to expose the Vermont transition defense? Wolff let Vermont win that game. I am sure Cocoran saw that and thought he didn't want be a part of that in future seasons. Good players unfortunate as it may be don't want to play for teams that can't beat the likes of Vermont and Maine. Cocoran is a high major talent and would have won the rookie of the year award in the league next season as a Terrier.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Bainsey, 14:48:53 06/02/03 Mon
>Did [Arena] and Bouchard overlap at all?
Yes. Francois Bouchard '94; Casey Arena '96.
>I believe that Illinois kid may be Ken Barnes who was
>good player. Rudy brought so many kids in from Illinois I
>could be wrong.
Actually, Ken Barnes was from Limestone, Maine, by way of Maine Central Institute. Two Illinois players from the 1994 squad were sophomore Greg Logan (Chicago) and freshman Ramone Jones (Oak Park).
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Van Lier, 15:10:46 06/02/03 Mon
Remember all those guys, but no, the player I referred to was a lefthanded guard out of Bloomington, Ill. (Same high school as Bob Bender, by the way). Just a second while I refer to my UMaine record book. It's driving me nuts that I can't remember his name. There, found it ... Deonte Hursey. A good player.
And, yeah, Bainsey it is just a fact of human nature that we remember the flubs at least as well as the good things that a player does. If you'll re-read the post, I said that Arena was a very good player. There's no question he helped lead the team to that title game and they wouldn't have been there without him, but if everyone has to qualify a statement every time we make a comment about a player then the posts get really long and the truth is that Arena made some costly mistakes late in that championship game and Hursey, a good guard in his own right, missed a bunny down on the left baseline that would have kept the Black Bears in control of the game. That we point it out doesn't necessarily mean we're making a judgment on their character ... it happened. We're Black Bear fans and we remember what happened. Arena was fun to watch. No doubt it. But he could make you pull your hair out at times also.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- rozzie, 17:17:55 06/02/03 Mon
deonte was right handed and a back up point guard. the left you are thinking of, i believe his name was kevin terrell or something like that, was a fave of mine as well. he had a great game against UConn as a frosh at the Bangor Auditorium. he was lightning quick and from illinois, but didn't play the championship game year. he left school before the year started. a bit of a problem child was the rumor. rudy also had a frosh from illinois who left school after about two months and a lefty guard from wisconsin who transferred to NYU after his frosh year......
you are right on about casey though.......made you stand up and cheer or pull your hair out. i often found the statement made by rick monday about so-so major leaguer mike ivie to be applicable to casey......"he's a $500 million airport with a $200 control tower"....
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Van Lier, 14:45:04 06/04/03 Wed
Thanks, Roz. Nah, it was Hursey I was thinking. We were living in central Illinois for a while and he came to Maine from Bloomington. I remember those other guys you mentioned, too. For some reason I just remembered Hursey as a lefty. Too many bouncing balls in my head I guess.
Hursey had his moments as a Black Bear, though. Didn't he have some good games against Delaware?
Don't know anything about his police reports, however. I prefer to remember the good things about people. Wonder where he is now?
Speaking of which: You mentioned Mike Ivie?
I used to go to a lot of games at Wrigley and the real Comiskey. Many years ago and, I think, they were trying to make Ivie into a catcher. He threw a couple balls into center field and I think that was the end of it. Thank you for reminding me of Mike Ivie.
Back to hoops: Wouldn't it be nice if another Francois Bouchard walked through the Alfond doors right about now? By the way, any updates from hoops office. I haven't heard a thing.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- rozzie, 21:34:59 06/04/03 Wed
no news.......gianninni's more tight-lipped than i've ever seen him. my take, is that they're struggling from a recruiting standpoint and he's therefore, re-doubling his efforts. they need to get big and while francois would be a welcome sight, i'd sure rather see greg logan right about now.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Van Lier, 09:07:29 06/05/03 Thu
Yeah, he'd be fine, too.
Have to admit, starting to get a little nervous about a frontcourt of White, Campbell, Flavin and Dubois. And if Rickey isn't in the picture, well, ....
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- Bainsey, 21:33:18 06/02/03 Mon
>if everyone has to qualify a statement every time we make
>a comment about a player then the posts get really long...
So the hell what, VL? It may be human nature to remember the flubs, but to lead with a negative when the positives far outweigh just isn't right in my book. The championship game blunders are certainly worth mentioning, but I wouldn't have put them up first. That's akin to forgetting Bill Buckner's 22 seasons and .289 lifetime average in favor of.... well, you know. "The posts get really long"? Come on, man, that's a cop-out.
Now, as for judgements on character (certainly not that you did that to Arena), well, don't get me started on Deonte Hursey. Let the police record speak for itself.
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- OUCH, 18:51:27 06/03/03 Tue
Police record?!?!
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Re: Maine and NAC Basketball Fans- Questions about a Former Player -- NU Hoop Fan, 23:06:07 06/03/03 Tue
I'd personally like to thank Mr. Hursey for his play in the 1990-91 NAC Title game. Without him, I'd have never gotten to be a part of an NCAA Tournament Team.
First half, Maine is hanging tough with NU, Marty Higgins - who tormented NU for 4 years - commits his third foul (why Rudy left him in with 2 fouls I have no idea), and Hursey replaces Higgins. Maine doesn't get the ball below it's own key for the next 5 possessions. Game Over.
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