Providence let another golden opportunity in the non-conference slip through their hands Friday night as they dropped a key road game against the Colorado Buffaloes. We’re not going to relitigate that horrific outcome, so let’s look forward to the UNH Wildcats. 2-3 on the season, New Hampshire should be no test at all for the Friars. Not only should Providence win comfortably, this should be a game for Kim English to try out a few new things ahead of the Mohegan tilt against Penn State. Providence’s team isn’t a finished product 4 games in, but there are clear warning signs and red flags that have popped up over the aforementioned games. Let’s see if English has tweaked anything.
We preview below what we are looking to see against the Wildcats.
Can Powell Get on Track?
The start of the season has been rough for the Shagman. Duncan Powell knows it. Kim English knows it. He hasn’t been that stable frontcourt presence that we were expecting. He hasn’t been that pick and pop stretch 4 we were expecting. Chalk it up to a new environment. Chalk it up to injury. Whatever it may be, he simply needs to play better.
A season isn’t lost in 4 games, but we really need to see something from Powell to feel comfortable about our future. A get right game here would do wonders for his confidence heading into Penn State.
Thrust Jamier into an Expanded Role
We know the defense has been subpar (putting it mildly). Why not give our star studded freshman, who is a freak athlete, the chance to carve out a role as defensive stopper? He has the temperament for it. He oozes confidence and swagger. English NEEDS to lean into that.
He is arguably our best athlete on the roster. Keep it simple for him.
“You see that guy over there? He’s their best offensive weapon. Go stop him”.
My amateur basketball brain thinks this could be one of several things that can potentially unlock our defensive potential.
Pick and Roll Defense – Switch Up the Strategy
I get the premise of drop coverage: force the midrange jumper and ask a team to beat you with difficult two’s. Analytically, I get it. Unfortunately, the analytics aren’t matching the defensive outcome, so it’s time to alter the strategy.
Too many times in this drop coverage scheme, the ball handler is getting a look from 3, which defeats the whole purpose. If that look isn’t there, we aren’t recovering fast enough off the pick, and the ball handler has a good look at the rim or can dish to the cutting big for an easy lay in. It’s just not working right now.
What I’d recommend is throw a few different looks on the pick and roll. The primary defender can identify the pick coming and blitz the ball-handler, rendering the pick ineffective as the screener can’t get to his position in time. This is also on the big man of Providence to call out to the primary defender, for what it’s worth. Communication, boys.
You can also ask the secondary defender to come out and double the ball handler as a hedge. This forces the point guard to get rid of the ball quickly. The downside of this strategy is leaving the person screening open for a potential 3, but that may be a better outcome unless the person setting the screen is a sharpshooter from deep.
I’d like to see us throw multiple different defensive looks to confuse the ballhandler. That’s how you disrupt an offensive flow because right now we’re doing the same thing on defense and teams are adapting, particularly in the second half.
Half-Court Sets – Run More Designed Plays!
I’m not asking to scrap the pace of play offense we are running, but I’d like to see a few more pre-set plays called to manufacture a high percentage look. Right now, our offense is performing well, all things considered, but there are a few too many times in the half court where our players are forced to heave a look with the shot clock winding down because we’re dribbling too much without an end goal in mind. If we run a few pre-designed plays, it should in theory get us more quality looks on the offensive end.
If we force a miss on the defensive end, I’m all for getting up the floor and running. This is more so when the opponent makes a basket, and they have time to get back. There’s no reason to rush in this instance.
Oswin Needs More Touches
Oswin was miraculous defensively against Colorado with 7 blocks, but him only attempting 3 total shots (making all 3) is malpractice. We need him to do more offensively than finish lobs and get his buckets off offensive rebounds.
This is similar to what I’m calling for above, but I’d like to see us have a few plays called for Oswin where he gets a touch in the post. Let’s see what he can do on the low block to generate some offense.
Prediction
BOC: I’m going with 91-61. Unfortunately, barring a tight win or (gulp) loss, a big win does nothing for the fanbase as we look towards the Penn State and Thanksgiving games. This game should be about making marginal tweaks and seeing if those adjustments lead to a more complete game.
Crier: Mr. Optimist is predicting a 100-50 blow-out win.
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