Providence needs to have the memory of a goldfish with a crucial week of basketball ahead. After the loss to Virginia Tech, PC needs to get back in the winner’s column against the Fran McCaffrey led Penn Quakers. A 2-0 week against Penn and Colorado puts the Friars back in fortuitous positioning relative to their NCAA tournament aspirations. A stumble against Penn (or Colorado) leads to questions around the program far too early into a season that has high expectations.
We detail below what we are looking to see against Penn from the Providence Friars.
Improved Defense
You just can’t score 101 points in a single overtime game and lose. But that’s what happened against the Hokies, and the loss is squarely on the subpar defense from the Friars. Through two games in regulation, Providence is allowing teams to score 82.5 points per game. What is concerning is that Penn through two games has scored 98.5 points per game, albeit against competition many levels below Providence.
We know this Friar team can score. It’d ease a lot of Friar faithful concerns to see Providence suffocate the Quakers and hold them below 75. That would be a positive step in the right direction.
Changes to Starting Line-Up
Ultimately, I think English rides with the same starting line-up, as it may be too early in the season to make starting line-up tweaks, but I would seriously applaud English if he puts the elder statesmen on this roster on notice with a starting line-up adjustment.
Corey Floyd Jr. isn’t giving them enough on the defensive end to live with his lack of offensive production. The defense has been abysmal, and I’m not putting that solely on Corey, but if you are playing a Floyd over Vaaks, his defense better be so elite that it offsets and justifies the lack of scoring. I think this is a minor tweak and probably too reactionary to the Hokies loss, but my general feeling is that Vaaks should probably be playing 25+ minutes moving forward. If he hits a freshman wall, re-evaluate, but he’s playing too well right now. He’s clearly one of the five best players on the roster as of this writing.
The change I’ll openly advocate for is starting Mela over Powell. Powell right now just isn’t giving you a whole lot, and I’m disappointed by that production two games in. I’m more frustrated with his lack of boards at 6’8 while Mela is averaging 2.5 boards more with similar playing time. I think the flow of the offense will be better with Mela on the court with the starters, as well, even if his three point shot isn’t falling.
We’ll see what shake-ups happen Tuesday night, if any.
An early season move may ruffle some feathers on the team, but it would also send a message that what they’ve done so far isn’t acceptable. Standards have to be met.
Take Care of the Basketball!
It has been a theme with these English squads where there just doesn’t seem to be a high level of focus and general prioritization on minimizing turnovers. PC currently is averaging 12 turnovers a game, to only 13.5 assists a game.
Penn isn’t going to stress the defense like the Hokies did so it’d be refreshing to see Providence in single digits in turnovers.
Prediction
BOC: Providence gets back on track with a decisive victory 90-74.
Crier: The Friars defense has the length and stoppers to improve as the season goes on but it won’t happen in this one. Fran McCaffrey might be one of the last coaches I’d want to go against coming off a loss and having knowing you have a shaky defense. The Friars need to know the Quakers personnel and get out on shooters like Zanoni and Roberts. PC will give up points in this one but ultimately I think their offense and athleticism win out. PC 90 Penn 80
