It’s December 1st, and the majority of the PC fanbase has already written the obituary for the 2025-2026 Providence Friars. At 4-4 and .500 on the season, this team has not come anywhere close to meeting the preseason expectations, but there is still A LOT of season left to get this thing back on track before heading into conference play. A tune-up game against the 1-6 Fairleigh Dickinson squad where Providence is favored by 27.5 should be just watch the doctor ordered.
Below, we’ll preview what we are looking to see in this game so that we can gain some semblance of an understanding on what this Friar team will look like moving forward.
Changes to Starting Line-Up?
Kim English talked about the shortcomings of last year in that players didn’t know their exact roles. This year, he stated every player would know their role from Day 1 and what purpose they will serve on this team.
Whether it be due to injuries or poor performance, it seems to be more of the same from last year where starting line-ups are changing, minutes are fluctuating, etc. There is no rhythm to the rotation, and that is extremely concerning 8 games in.
We saw the benching of Edwards and Oswin against Florida, and I tend to believe that is a one game outlier, but we shall see who is starting in this one and how deep the rotation is.
Health of Players
Duncan Powell was sorely missed in the Rady Invitational. I’m hopeful we can get him back to have more minutes available at the 4/5 spot and potentially this time off allows him to re-set and find his swagger. Providence needs him to be a key contributor if they are going to turn this around.
Another injury is Daquan Davis. Will Davis be available in this one? Stefan Vaaks has played incredibly well for a true freshman, but another ball handler who can run the show is needed alongside Vaaks and Edwards.
Lastly, Rich Barron. Is he available or is it trending towards a redshirt season? Him playing or not playing will be very telling.
Paint Touches
I called for this after the Colorado game, but let’s get Oswin some early post touches in the half court set. It is clear they don’t have a lot of plays designed to make Oswin and Hargrove the primary offensive options, but that needs to change. Dribbling around the perimeter and forcing 3’s isn’t a sound offensive strategy. Establishing an offense with the bigs is a way to suck the help defenders in. If they don’t help, Oswin can show his development and get a few clean looks on the low block. It’s a high percentage shot attempt.
Cooley and Nate Watson were the masters of dumping the ball down low and letting Watson get a bucket on his opposition. It set a physical tone to the game from the onset and also often times got the opposition’s frontcourt in foul trouble.
I’d like to see Oswin get involved early offensively so he remains engaged on BOTH ends.
Defense FIRST
In terms of the game, Providence can score 120, and it’d mean nothing to me in terms of changing my perception about this team. For better or worse, I look at this team as an above average offensive squad that can fill it up against the mid and low majors, but struggles offensively against Power 5 opponents. The numbers back that up.
What I do want to see is a dedication to defense. Players guarding the entirety of the shot clock, playing defense like their lives depended on it, and showing they give a damn.
Providence is expected to roll FDU. This is a game that the Providence players can probably go through the motions and still win comfortably. The staff can see what type of players they have on their roster by how each individual player approaches this game and his respective effort level.
Summary
At .500 on the season, every player should play like their job is on the line. That’s my expectations on the defensive end. Hitting the floor for loose balls up 20, yelling at their teammates if they aren’t hustling, holding each other accountable.
There needs to be a standard set that .500 ball isn’t acceptable. You can blame English all you want (and we’ve certainly done our fair share of that), but the players have to take pride in what they are putting out there on the court too. I’d like to see the players take ownership of the poor start and really get into each other’s grill if maximum effort isn’t being exerted for the entirety of the 40 minutes. It’s the only way forward to get out of this mess. English can only do so much from the sidelines.
The below is the true definition of a proper Mindset. Alabama Players up 42-14 in a rout during the national title game, and they are still irate with each other for not performing to the championship standard set by themselves and their staff. This is the way forward.