Too soon to make a bridge pun? Let’s hope this season doesn’t hit a detour before conference play by dropping a game against Sacred Heart. Okay, I’m done.
Providence is looking to finish non-conference play at 9-2 by defeating Sacred Heart at home on Saturday. The Sacred Heart Pioneers are 4-7 and should be heavy underdogs by the time the line comes out.
Besides winning the game, here are a few things we are looking to see from the Friars before their schedule gets exponentially more difficult with a home game against Marquette to open up Big East play.
What We’re Looking For
Please…Avoid the Careless Turnovers – Providence is currently 285th in Division 1 college basketball, averaging 14 turnovers/game. In the past two games, they’ve combined for 33 turnovers.
This Friar team is good enough to sleepwalk through this game and win by double digits. What I want to see is Providence emphasize good possessions, taking care of the basketball, and playing fundamentally sound. A game in single digits for turnovers is a step in the right direction, and I’d like to see Pierre with something like a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. We need a confident Pierre who is more decisive with the ball in his hands.
One of the “Non-Three” to Step Up – Here are the three game averages from role players outside Carter, Hopkins, and Oduro over the last three games:
- Gaines – 4.3 points/game
- Pierre – 5.67 points/game
- Dual – 3.0 points/game
- Floyd Jr. – 4.67 points/game
I had thought early in the preseason that we had a bevy of potential scorers on this roster, but now I’m questioning if the early season results were a farce. We need a 4th and 5th scoring option that can be a threat to score in double digits to lighten the load for Carter, Hopkins, and Oduro.
Floyd Jr. took a massive step forward against Brown, and I’d like to see him continue to attack downhill instead of settling for jumpers. He can make a living this year going 1:1 against his defender and using his strength to his advantage. He’s not a perimeter player right now. That’s okay. Be a bully.
Gaines is a great hustle player and good defender, but we can’t have him shooting anything less than 33% from deep if he wants to remain a starter. The issue is that nobody of recent, outside of Floyd Jr. against Brown, is trying to seize those minutes from him.
Dual is an uber-talented defender, but still trying to find his footing and overall role offensively, which is understandable as a true freshman. I’d like to see Dual be a bit selfish moving forward and hunt for his own looks because he does things no other guards on our roster have the ability to do.
Pierre is going to be the de-facto starter, but he needs to be more of a weapon offensively and take better care of the basketball.
It would be refreshing to see one or multiple of the following against Sacred Heart transpire:
- Gaines goes 40% from deep on something like 2-5 from deep
- Pierre finds his rhythm again offensively
- Floyd Jr. builds off the Brown performance and stacks another consistent offensive showing
- Dual becomes more assertive offensively
Continue to Build the Defensive Resume – Providence is 14th nationally in KenPom on defensive efficiency and should have a chance to improve that metric against Sacred Heart. The Pioneers are not to be confused as an offensive juggernaut, averaging 71.8 points a game. That slots them at 246th nationally in points per game.
While I’m not expecting Providence to hold a team to another 13 point half, it would be nice to see Providence maintain its defensive intensity and hold Sacred Heart to under 60 points by game’s end. Providence is currently 30th nationally in points allowed a game at 63.5 points/game.
Predictions
BOC: Providence heads into the Big East opener against Marquette at 9-2 after a decisive victory against Sacred Heart. Providence 81- Sacred Heart 61.
Crier: Friars blast sacred heart in this one, Tyler Thomas ain’t walking through that door (cause he plays for Hofstra now). PC 84 Sacred Heart 57
I hate to say it but right now we are not shooting well enough as a team to beat Marquette, Creighton or UCONN on the road. Our only chance of beating any of these teams at home is a suffocating defensive effort with great shooting. These teams are beatable at home if all goes right. We can beat any other team in the conference with great defense and if Floyd Jr., Gaines, Pierre and others can take the heat off Hopkins, Carter and Oduro. I think English should give Barron more minutes. I believe he will. Go Friars!