So the Crier is back on the mountain, this time in Vermont with pals from high school. BOC was so disgusted with the performance he called it quits early, turned the game off with about 8 minutes remaining, and asked for the Crier to create a skeleton version of a postgame recap.
The Friars made my job easy because they played like a bag of bones against Villanova on Friday night at the Finn. We all thought the “bottom drops out game” would come on the road against Connecticut. To the Friar’s credit they played well in Storrs but saved their stinker for Villanova.
PC got blitzed from the jump and showed all their weaknesses against Nova in the first half. A team that has shown all year they can’t defend the 3, have poor transition defense and too often individualized play was on full display Friday night.
The Friars poor play found themselves in a 45-28 hole at halftime. PC did make a run cutting it to as low as 7 points, but as soon as they did the Wildcats exposed the Friars for all the issues they have and pushed it back to 18 points rather quickly.
We’ve reached the point of the season where we are just hoping to see the Friars show signs of life for a potential Big East Tournament run. Instead, PC gave us plenty of reasons to believe that the 2025-2026 season is a lost cause.
OK BOC I gave you your skeleton, and I’ll leave it to you to discuss the reasons the Friars had an uninspiring effort against Villanova.
Alright, Crier. I’ll take it from here. Enjoy your weekend of debauchery and tomfoolery in the mountains while I change diapers for the next 48 hours. Remember to not eat the yellow snow…
Recapping Keys to Game
Three Point Field Goal Defense
If you read the preview article, we were at the point of writing 341st in the nation in three point field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot a blistering 37.7% from deep. I mentioned the only shot of an upset was Providence holding them to 30% or less from deep.
The issue with that is you have to actively want to try to play defense, which the Friars don’t. They continually lost their man in transition, which is just a sign of a lack of team communication and laziness. They continued to go under screens, which allowed a free release from deep. To Kim’s credit, he berated the team during a timeout for going under the screens, but I think his coaching at this point is falling on deaf ears.
Nova went 13-29 from deep, which is a 45% percentage. How you allow Villanova to get off 29 looks is beyond my comprehension. I’m just simply at a loss with this team. Run them off the three point line!
Turnovers Galore
Providence’s lack of a pure point was on full display, as they had 14 turnovers to Nova’s 5. 10 of those 14 were in the first half.
Everything on offense felt really hard and reliant on individual performance, while Nova seemed to be playing in a system that manufactured quality looks and didn’t put the offensive burden on one player’s shoulders.
Even the most ardent of supporters for Kim have to watch this game and see the stark contrast in the way the teams go about their business. Providence feels like an AAU team playing a glorified pick-up game while Villanova operated methodically.
Even when Providence made a run of sorts in the second half, their lack of discipline caused the lead to balloon again. In a sequence of plays, Powell gets a rebound and in transition goes 1 on 3 with a wild lay-up attempt that misses. Shortly after that, Providence gives a half-hearted attempt at zone defense that leads to an open 3. Shortly thereafter, Vaaks heaves a 40 footer with ample time on the shot clock.
This team doesn’t operate with any fear of repercussion, and it shows. They do what they want, for the worse.
What’s Next
In the postgame article for Georgetown, I wrote that my fear of not pulling the plug on English right away would lead to the team mailing it in the rest of the way. We saw the first signs of that last night, and I’m fearful for how the home crowds will react to the team if English is still leading the charge. It could get ugly at The AMP.