This was my first live game of the season, and it ended in similar fashion to other games this year. Providence lost to St. Bonaventure 74-70 after mounting a second half come back, but ultimately falling short. The story of the game was Bryce Hopkins sitting this one out, which leaked right before tip-off. It was kept so much under wraps that we weren’t made aware of the news until about an hour before tip-off. Bryce injured his knee against DePaul in a minor way, but was kept out of this one for precautionary measures given the severity of the ACL injury last year.
Without Hopkins, what has ailed the Friars all year reared its ugly head in this one. Bad offense. Searching for answers at the five. A lack of quality shooting. Confounding rotation decisions. Getting beaten up on the glass. The list goes on.
Without Bryce Hopkins, this team isn’t going anywhere, so you need to hope he can remain healthy for the remainder of the year.
We break down in more detail below the disappointing loss at Mohegan.
Offensive Woes Continue – The offense continues to be a massive problem. PC finished the night going 36% from the floor and 31% from 3. They scored 26 total points in the first half. Providence had only eight assists on twenty made buckets. This offense is too reliant on beating your man 1 on 1, as well as making three point shots at a high rate. Unless you have an all-world college level player like a Devin Carter, this offense isn’t going to work consistently.
Even when the premise of the offense works and open looks are created, the players aren’t knocking down their looks. It’s the chicken or the egg quandary at this point. The frustrating thing is this isn’t a new development. Look at what I wrote against Villanova last year. It is the same EXACT story!
Searching for Answers with the Bigs – Christ Esssndoko has to be one of the most disappointing transfers in recent memory. With him being physically incapable and not ready to handle the bulk of the work at the 5, the rest of the team has suffered. Oswin shows promise but should currently be a developing high school senior. Bonke should be third in line, continuing to incrementally improve as he adapts to American basketball. Instead, they both need to produce because Essandoko had no desire to come into the season ready to play. It’s incredibly frustrating as a fan, alum, and donor to see this transpire. Essandoko only played 9 minutes, while Oswin played 20, and Bonke 9.
Bonke provided a spark off the bench but the game is still too fast for him. It showed itself in the lane violation and defensive lapses. Oswin lacks the girth and size to guard a true five.
There just aren’t many answers there right now, but the issue is we thought Essandoko would be handling the majority of the 5 minutes.
Transfer Portal Misses: While Hopkins and the confusing nature of the injury has to be Storyline 1a of this early season, the whiffs in the transfer portal by English have to be 1b.
Of the 4 transfers brought in, Joseph is the only guy who is a consistent factor. I like him a lot, as he shows a hunger to win and seems to play basketball the right way. I wish we had him for more time beyond this year.
Essandoko is a bust, and I’m curious if he is long for PC. Cardet, while a good role player, isn’t that alpha scoring two guard he was perceived to be coming into the season. Jabri Abdur Rahim is feast or famine, which you can’t have from a grad transfer. He went 0-5 against St. Bonaventure and is averaging 7 points on the season. It may have been prudent to just pass on his commitment and give his minutes to developing younger players like Barron and Mela.
You can’t bat .250 in the portal. You just can’t.
I’ve long made my case about preference to build a roster through high school recruiting. You have more time to evaluate the recruits and get a real sense for how they would fit into what you want to accomplish. Most important, you can get to know them as people and understand their mental make-up. Portal recruiting is speed dating, and you have to take chances on players you haven’t done a ton of evaluation on or gotten to know very well.
I’m not anti-portal, per se, but adding 3-5 players in one offseason from the portal is a recipe for slow starts and a tumultuous season. The portal should be used to fill 1 or 2 gaps per season. That’s it.
The issues on offense and lack of a consistent rotation all stem from introducing 4 new players in one offseason. You can’t expect a team to gel when 25% of the roster has no familiarity with each other, the staff, or system.
Ryan Mela, Proving His Worth – Speaking of trusting their high school evaluations, Mela has been a positive all season long. He may be one of the smartest basketball players on the roster. He makes winning plays. If English wants to put a jolt into this team and put everybody on notice, Mela should be in the starting line-up Friday. When he is on the court, good things happen.
Who cares if he is a true freshman? Start him.
Spot on with your evaluation! This column leaves nothing untouched. In fact, it validates what everybody that’s not a fan/boy or girl is seeing and not what some pundits, AD and coaches are trying to sell. Yes, most rational people are upset right now with the product that PC sold us on. The AMP is sold out for the year. Many hard working people spent a lot of money for season tickets based on the hype. Now its time to put those people first and start playing players they’re interested in seeing. So, you’re right its Mela time rookie mistakes and all. In fact, throw in a little more Oswin, Eli and Bonke too. Hopkins is more worried about his pro career so if he plays, great! My starting lineup Hop, Oswin, Mela, Joseph and Pierre. 20 minutes plus. Off the bench, CJJ, Barron and Cardet. Lose the following, JAR and Christ. I’m afraid that we haven’t really gotten to the crux of the issue hear. In order to get those portal players, Kim assured them of playing time and an NBA offense so that, he will improve their NBA chances. Would like to hear somebody in the media ask Kim that question. Finally to Kim, stop being so stubborn and go back to the offensive sets that you ran after making adjustments post the Villanova debacle from last season.
Russ-agree with you and the Crier. Essandoko was a mistake. We need a consistent 3 point shooter and Hopkins in the paint. It has been said that the best thing about a Freshman player is that they become a Sophomore. Not so in Mela’s case. He should be a starter without question. We are really weak at the 5 with Essondoko and Oswin E. all our weaknesses will be painfully apparent starting Saturday vs. the Johnnies and beyond. I still say that Napollilo jumped at hiring English too fast. He should have taken more time and tried for Pitino or some other big time EXPERIENCED coach. I am not hopeful at this point that we will win more than 10 games in the Big East. Hope I am wrong. Go Friars!
Alfred, I feel your pain but, I think the jury is still out on Kim. He may be the best recruiter of HS talent since Rick Barnes. The portal evaluation of talent not so good so far. Remember we had a really good 5 man in Graham Ike but he left before last season started when he saw O’Duro was going to be the starter. He’s killing it at Gonzaga. Oswin is really improving he’s just not strong enough yet. My fear is meeting up with Georgetown on Jan 25 at the AMP. They’ve got a tremendous freshman in Thomas Sorber at the 5. Their team is coming together this year and we could very well get humiliated on our home court if, things don’t get squared away quickly. Lastly, I agree, no way this team as it stands right now will win 10 Big East Games. 6 – 8 is more realistic.