The trajectory of Providence’s basketball season drastically changed when Providence last played The Hall. Providence was playing Seton Hall at home when Bryce Hopkins went down with an ACL injury in the second half. Providence ended up losing that game to Seton Hall at home 61-57, which was the start of a four game losing streak before Providence bounced back last week against DePaul.
We talk about what Providence needs to do to get a win against the Pirates. With Providence dancing firmly on the NCAA bubble, a road win against Seton Hall (without Hopkins) would be another resume win.
Go Back to the Well with Josh Oduro
Oduro started off against Seton Hall scorching hot, going 5-5. From there, he went 4-16 and missed an inordinate amount of high quality shots. We later found out Oduro had an ankle injury and wasn’t his full self in the second half, which may explain his inefficient play. Oduro had a chance to tie the game at the end of regulation but missed a quality left handed hook shot.
While this may seem illogical, I’d replicate the exact offensive game plan by feeding the ball to Oduro early and often. I had no issues with the vast majority of Oduro’s shots. They just didn’t drop.
Given the quality of his looks, I can’t foresee another 9-21 evening. I think he has the chance to have a very strong outing and put the pressure on the Hall frontcourt.
Play Above Rim with Castro
When Oduro needs a spell, I’d use a staple of Creighton’s offense and run a pick and roll with Pierre/Dual/Carter alongside Castro and make Seton Hall guard the rim lob to Castro. Castro has extreme athleticism. While he has his shortcomings, English should lean into his positive qualities. If they can get this rolling, this puts more pressure on the Hall frontcourt.
Most important, I’m curious to see if Castro can carry over his strong game from DePaul into this one.
Get Hall in Foul Trouble
In the first match-up, Hall won despite having zero points from the bench. It’s head scratching when you look back at that game and see they won despite zero production from their non-starters. If Providence can play downhill and force the refs to make some foul calls, the Pirate bench players may have to play more minutes than usual, which plays into the Friar hands.
Seton Hall thrives on mucking up the game and being ultra physical. Providence needs to embrace this type of game and not worry about physical play. This will be an old school Big East game, and I presume the refs will call it that way as well.
Limit Turnovers
Providence had 14 turnovers in the first match-up. They only had 11 assists. That isn’t a recipe for success. If Providence can keep turnovers to single digits, I like the chances for the Friars. Pierre is playing incredibly well right now, and I want to see him carry his strong play of recent over to this game. He got beat a few times on defense in the first game, but I don’t see that happening consistently again.
Production from Gaines/Dual/Floyd Jr./Barron
In the first match-up, Gaines had 2 points on 1-3 shooting. He only attempted two three point attempts. Given the absence of Hopkins, Gaines needs to be putting up a minimum of 5 three pointers a game to manufacture offense for the Friars.
Dual, Floyd Jr., and Barron had 10 points total in the first match-up. In the last podcast, we discussed that this triumvirate need to hit 19-20 points a game. At this juncture, you can probably guarantee 50 points total from Carter, Oduro, and Pierre. If they score 19-20 points, we feel confident in a Friar victory.
English Needs to Be on the Refs – High Ball Screen
Kadary Richmond is a special, special player. No argument here. He’s in the running for Big East Player of the Year, potentially even the leader at this juncture. He is at his best going downhill and uses the high ball screen incredibly well.
The thing that irked me in the first game was that the screener, usually Bediako or Hutchins-Everett, would not establish position. They’d set moving screens. The refs called it once in the first game, but the Seton Hall bigs did this essentially every half court possession. They’d never establish position and slowly move towards the paint, taking the two defenders with him.
English needs to point this out early to the refs, as it significantly influenced the outcome in the first game. It should be called early and often.
Your assessment is spot on. I too believe that coach English needs to be more assertive with the refs especially when PC is going downhill and if they, can get to the rim. He’s got to be more vocal about the and one’s. He hasn’t shown that all season. Lastly, I will say watching Seton Hall play is like watching PC under the traitor. No wonder why nobody liked playing us. It’s a Rugby match. This game will be a great warmup for what’s to come on Saturday but, first things first.
Russ- good point. English needs to yell at the refs more when they make obviously wrong calls against us or don’t call fouls against our opponents. Just look at Hurley and McDermott they are always yelling! Light a fire. Go Friars!
Great points. English needs to set the tone early with refs about fouls and moving screens
You didn’t mention Addae-Wusu. At 6’4″ 215 he is uber physical. I hope no one sustains an injury in this rock fight and believe me I predict a super physical game tomorrow night! I’ve watched this team play and they take no prisoners especially in the paint. It will be a win for us if Oduro’s play underneath is his usual and we hit enough threes. Our best hope for winning is successful three pointers from Pierre, Barron,Gaines, and Floyd Jr. so we won’t need to mix it up with them in the paint. Go Friars!
Go Friars! We talked on our podcast about how Addae Wusu has brought an edge to this team
Agreed. Addae-Wusu gets away with murder on the court. This Seton Hall team under the coaching of Holloway has taken on the persona that back in the day reminds me of John Thompson’s Georgetown team. Tough, physical with bad intentions. Two big questions for tomorrows game, can we rebound enough to get our fast break going and can we hit free-throws down the stretch in a close game?
Have been reading different takes on tonights game with the Hall. It’s possible they aren’t fully recovered physically from their recent battle with Creighton. If so, tired legs in the second half could give us an edge. It will be close anyway but it’s possible this would come into play. I’m just saying! Go Friars!