They don’t need to be pretty to count. Providence overcame a litany of turnovers and spurts of poor offensive play to beat the DePaul Blue Demons 70-63. Providence won it in OT after storming back at the end of regulation and almost hitting a game winner. This overtime win pushed Providence to 7-4 on the year and 1-0 in conference play in the Big East.
Simply put, Providence needed this win or you got the sense the bottom may fall out on the season. Providence is still learning to gel as a team, but you need to keep stacking these wins to give your team a chance to stay relevant as you get through the slog of conference play. Providence is now in its rightful spot atop the Big East and flies home with a bit of confidence after securing the road win. We break down the game in more detail below.
Defense First – Team Identity: DePaul came into this game averaging 84.8 points a game. Even with this game going to overtime, PC held DePaul to 22 points below their season average. Remarkable to do that, especially on the road. If the offense can find their footing and even be semi-competent, the defense will continue to do its part and be a thorn in the opponent’s side.
On the night, DePaul went 33% from the floor and from 3. That is 17 and 7% below their season average, respectively.
PC’s defense came to play on the road.
Line-Up Change: We at The Providence Crier have been critical of the 5 man play and have called for the team to go truly small ball with Hop at the 5. While English didn’t go that far, I applaud him and the staff for making the tough decision to bench Essandoko and ride with Oswin and DeLaurier. Essandoko just isn’t there yet physically to defend the open floor and pick and pop game. By going smaller with Oswin and DeLaurier, they could still have the size needed in the paint while concurrently having the athleticism to guard the three ball. It worked like a charm.
https://twitter.com/bocallday/status/1866670008199418362?s=46&t=jxSpiAPB3PvC74snCH-rvQ
Esssndoko will still have a useful role on this team, but he is unplayable in the current state when the opposition can step out and make a perimeter shot. When a team has a bruising big, Essandoko can match him, but he was getting continually beaten by the fleeter of foot DePaul big man Skogman. That’s going to be a theme until his conditioning gets where it needs to be.
Last note – I’m proud of Eli for coming in mentally ready to play every time he is called on. His playing time is sporadic, but he gives maximum effort every time he gets minutes. He should be rewarded for that attitude with more PT, in my opinion. Regardless of the attitude and mental readiness, he brings effort, size, and the ability to get second chance opportunities with his effort on the glass.
https://twitter.com/bocallday/status/1866677667380031509?s=46&t=jxSpiAPB3PvC74snCH-rvQ
Oswin Developing, A Welcome Progression: Coming off a rough game against URI, Oswin may have had his best game in his short career as a Friar. He finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals, completely filling the stat sheet. He had those 10 on 5-7 from the floor.
While I’m not anticipating Oswin to have this statline every game, I did expect him to come in and be instant offense on screen and lobs, with the staff drawing up sets to take advantage of his athleticism. There’s no reason he can’t average 8, 5, and 2 blocks in Big East play. He’ll have setbacks, but I like the way he bounced back in this game. You saw tonight why all the recruitniks were so high on him coming out of high school.
https://twitter.com/kevinmcnamara33/status/1866696288865055127?s=46&t=jxSpiAPB3PvC74snCH-rvQ
Offense Still Leaves a Lot to be Desired – While it’s nice to get the win, this offense still is so far off from where it needs to be if PC wants to legitimately contend for an NCAA tournament birth.
PC’s offense has no flow or rhythm to it. In the video below, you’ll see what I mean.
https://twitter.com/bocallday/status/1866675221773816120?s=46&t=jxSpiAPB3PvC74snCH-rvQ
Too many players are just ball-watching and not cutting. They are not creating action off the ball. The English offense basically asks the offense to make a 3 or have a player iso his man and beat him 1:1. That’s fine if your team consists of Josh Oduro, Devin Carter, and Bryce Hopkins, but that’s putting too much on the shoulders of the offense. Scoring is too difficult for Providence. There needs to be more off the ball action and set plays rather than this independent, free flowing offense.
https://twitter.com/bocallday/status/1866692977038438872?s=46&t=jxSpiAPB3PvC74snCH-rvQ
Bensley as Lead Guard – Mr. Joseph was fantastic in this one, going for 20 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds. He also had zero turnovers. How about that assist to turnover ratio? This team will go as far as Joseph and Hopkins takes them.
Joseph should be the primary ball-handler with Pierre being pivoted to more of a combo guard role. He is still too sloppy with the basketball to be lead guard, and Joseph runs this offense effectively. I’d like to hand the keys more fully over to Joseph moving ahead, as that gives Providence the best chance for success.
What’s Next
See everybody Saturday at Mohegan Sun! Our live show at the Mohegan Sun Fanduel Sportsbook starts at 2:30pm EST. The Friars play St. Bonaventure at 5pm.
Go Friars!
Absolutely Spot On!!! What I would add is this, if we, are realistic. Unless Kim changes his offensive philosophy with these players it is hard to see even a .500 team in the Big East. No bigs, hot and cold shooting every game, turnovers (lets not forget tonight’s game when setting up last shot, almost a turnover. and last but not least terrible free throw shooting.