The Friars returned to the new year to square off against the Seton Hall Pirates at the AMP on Wednesday. To put it lightly, the new year is off to a suboptimal start. PC would fall to Seton Hall at home for the second year in a row, this time 61-57, but that is the least of our concerns. Star forward Bryce Hopkins would go down 5 minutes into the second half with what appears to be a significant knee injury. While the Friars seemed to rally a little bit and almost secured the victory, it was Shaheen Holloway and the Pirates who came away victorious.
We discuss what went wrong and what lies ahead.
Bryce Hopkins Injury- At the 15:00 mark of the second half Devin Carter scored in transition off a Bryce Hopkins outlet pass, making it 37-31 Pirates. The issue was Bryce Hopkins went down non-contact on the play and couldn’t get up. Those watching on FS1 could hear Hopkins laying at center court screaming in pain. The fear is Bryce tore his ACL or had some type of hyperextension to his knee, which would end his season and put the Friars in an awful bind. We will know more at some point on Thursday, but it certainly doesn’t look good.
Kim English said in his press conference that the league isn’t going to take it easy on them missing a player, and that is the truth. If the Friars are without Bryce Hopkins for the remainder of the year, they are going to have to be one resilient bunch. So much of what the Friars do is predicated on Bryce Hopkins, Devin Carter and Josh Oduro. Without Hopkins the job gets harder for Carter and Oduro. On top of that, the Friars don’t have a backup to Bryce Hopkins. We’ve said from the jump the frontcourt is thin and I don’t know where this team turns if Hopkins is sidelined for the season.
Bad Vibes- At the Providence Crier we breakdown the games and the gameplay but The Crier is also a believer in energy. The crowd at the AMP didn’t have it last night. It was an early 6:30 tip, and the AMP was missing that buzz that fans have been accustomed to these last three seasons. It was oddly quiet throughout the game and instantly the building gave me a bad feeling.
This started before the game was even tipped off. The national anthem had to get restarted due to a screeching microphone. Even when the Friars raced out to a 19-10 lead, the place was a morgue. It was eerie and certainly would be foreshadowing of what would to come with the Bryce Hopkins injury. Did the Friars lose due to bad energy at the AMP? No. However, if you were there you could just sense it wasn’t going to be their night.
Where Did All The Threes Go?– In the Friars previous three games, they attempted 31 three-point shots a game. Tonight, they only hoisted up 17. The Friars certainly don’t live and die by making threes, as they’re shooting 33% from three on the year, but the 3-point shot is paramount in the offense they run. PC figures that the more threes you take, the more you will ultimately make and when you aren’t making them it gives you opportunities for long offensive rebounds. Seton Hall is a pesky defensive team and they make it tough on the perimeter, but PC didn’t seem interested in attempting them. Josh Oduro had it going early going 5/5 from the floor on post ups, but he would finish the game only making 4 of his next 16 shots. They became too reliant on Oduro and became predictable offensively. If Hopkins is indeed out for significant time who knows what this Friar team will look like offensively, but it seemed like not hunting open threes doomed the Friars tonight.
Turnovers Doom the Friars, A Consistent Theme – Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Friars were loose with the basketball and had double digit turnovers. Providence had 14 turnovers to 11 assists. That’s not winning basketball.
Point Guard Play A Concern – I expected Pierre to make a sophomore leap, but I’m beginning to question if Pierre is the answer at lead guard for the Friars in 2023-2024. Pierre was indecisive last night, made foolish decisions with the basketball at times, and was getting abused defensively.
Dual is struggling offensively, but I think you may have to sacrifice his offensive shortcomings and strongly consider inserting him into the starting line-up. He adds a different dimension defensively and can help on the glass with Hopkins out. It is something that I think English should seriously consider.
Corey Floyd Jr. makes most of his Minutes – The mantra “next man in” may apply to Mr. Floyd. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him inserted into the starting line-up with Hopkins out. Floyd Jr. gave great minutes in this one, scoring 7 points on 3-4 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. He made a potentially game saving play to force a turnover at the end of regulation, but Oduro missed the shot in the subsequent possession.
Floyd Jr. has a huge opportunity in front of him, and he needs to seize the moment. Most important, Providence needs another player to emerge from the shadows, and I think one of Floyd or Dual are that player.
What’s Next
The Friars lost to Seton Hall and potentially lost Hopkins to a significant injury. What is their consolation prize? A trip to Creighton on Saturday. Fun times.
After all that occurred on Wednesday night Kim English’s mantra of “So What, Now What” needs to be shouted from the rafters.
Here’s to hoping we hear good news regarding the health of Bryce Hopkins. It’d be a shame for him to return this past offseason and be sidelined for the remainder of the year due to injury.
Until we hear further, English faces his first real adversity as Providence head coach. We’ll see what he can do to ensure the train doesn’t come off the tracks.
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