It was suggested that BOC and I take the rest of the season off to gear up for next season given the place the 2024-2025 Friars are in. However, that’s not how we roll. To quote Jordan Belfort, “the show goes on!”.
And if you’re asking yourself well why wasn’t there a preview and recap article to the DePaul game my response is I have no clue what you are talking about. If the Friars did play DePaul and blew a 16 point lead losing their final game at home I think we would’ve wrote about it.
Anyways, the Friars will wrap up their regular season Saturday in Cincy as they take on Xavier at 4pm (FS1). For the Friars it’s about trying to find something, anything, to build upon prior to the Big East Tournament on Wednesday. For Xavier they’re trying to continue their strong close to the season. The Musketeers are still on the bubble, but they are doing their best effort to be on the right side of the bubble, currently riding a 6-game win streak which started at Providence. Unfortunately for the Musketeers, none of those games were a resume win that can have them feeling good going into Selection Sunday. In fact they really need to avoid dropping this one to the Friars if they want to make the Big Dance. A loss here would be a resume killer.
Try Not to Give Up 90
In the postgame press conference of the first game against Xavier, Kim English brought up the fact that scoring 82 points should win you most games in college basketball. The problem was the Friars gave up 91 to Xavier. The decline in Providence’s defense from last season to this one has been disappointing. Last year Providence was ranked 18th in the nation in KenPom’s defensive efficiency. This year, they currently sit at 141st. It’s even more frustrating when you consider there’s a handful of guys from last year’s team still on the roster. I certainly have my doubts about the Friars containing a potent Xavier offense, but the goal should be to hold them in the 70’s to have a chance at a win.
Speaking of Points
In the first matchup it was one of the better offensive performances of the season for the Friars. PC was able to get whatever they wanted from the Xavier defense, especially in the paint. Xavier’s defense has been a lot better since then, only allowing 67.2 ppg in their last 5. If PC wants any chance to secure the upset, the offense needs to be solid.
Feed Oswin
Part of the reason the Friars were able to have such a good night offensively against X was Oswin. He was able to live off alley-oops and paint touches. I’m sure Sean Miller will try to make adjustments to limit that, but it would be nice for Big O to cap off his first regular season in college with a good game.
Joseph and Pierre Bounce-Back
Joseph went 3-11 against DePaul and is in a mini-slump of sorts, as he went 1-12 against UConn the game prior and 2-8 against Marquette before that. 6 – 31. Woof. He needs to right the ship, as Providence goes absolutely nowhere in New York without him.
I won’t point out again Pierre’s struggles. My ask is for him to be assertive and make his presence felt from the onset. There are too many games where he is passive in the first half, and you wonder when Pierre is going to try and put his fingerprints on the game.
This veteran backcourt has been frustrating, to say the least.
Corey Floyd Jr. and Ryan Mela Continuing Good Play
Floyd and Mela were the only ones who showed up against DePaul. They went for 25 and 18, respectively. They did this on 17-23 shooting. Crazy efficient. I think these two are the “smartest” basketball players on the Friars and they routinely make the right decision.
I’d like to see them both start and play 30+ minutes. They are the future at the wing.
Summary
Ultimately this game for the Friars is meaningless. Certainly you want them to have a good game and score the upset, but win or lose it doesn’t change the fact that PC is Big East Tournament Championships or bust. So for me I’m looking at this game as 40 minutes of garbage time. Get some guys some looks, try some new stuff and see if you can find something going into MSG.
Mike- I think that KE is responsible for some of the problems we have seen lately. A coach should be firing up his team and keeping them engaged for the entire game. I just don’t see it lately. Regardless of how things have panned out this season we have to keep the fires burning as hard as that is, to get ready for next season. Hopefully, we will see alot more intensity in todays game and the first round game vs Butler. Go Friars!