With a secret scrimmage win over BC and a home exhibition win against Pitt in the books the Friars will wrap up their preseason on Saturday against Georgia Tech at the AMP. The Friars will look to build off a wire-to-wire 87-64 victory over Pittsburgh with another ACC foe in the Yellow Jackets. Similarly to Pitt, Georgia Tech is projected to be towards the bottom of the ACC. In fact the Yellow Jackets were picked to finish 18th in a 18-team ACC. Here’s what we are looking for in the final tune up before the November 2nd opener against the University of Maine.
Full Roster?
In PC’s exhibition win over Pitt two key transfers, Devin Vanterpool and Ryan Sabol didn’t suit up due to injuries. Coach Hodgson indicated that both injuries weren’t that serious and both should be ready for the regular season opener. It remains to be seen if either will play against Ga Tech.
We do know that the Friars won’t feature Joseph Pinion or Derek Simpson as both had their request for a TRO seeking a 5th year of eligibility denied earlier this week. The school isn’t done with their legal fight as both will pursue a preliminary injunction, but the two certainly won’t play Saturday.
Both Vanterpool and Sabol figure to have key roles with this roster so it would certainly be nice for them to get some game action prior to the regular season opener.
Repeat Performance?
It proved pretty difficult to draw any negatives from PC’s exhibition win over Pittsburgh last week. Ask BOC: he tried. The Friars played pretty much a perfect game in the sense of what Coach Hodgson is looking for. In their final tuneup against a team projected to be worse than the team you just played it in Pitt, it would be great to see PC put together a similar contest.
Expect the Friars to play a fast paced offense that will try to maximize possessions. Against Pitt the Friars were able to grab 15 offensive rebounds and attempt a staggering 21 more field goal attempts than their opponent. We can also expect the Friars to let it fly from three as they took 39 attempts behind the arc.
It was only one game, but the Friars appear to be playing a completely different brand of defense under the new coaching staff. PC played great on-ball defense with an aggressive mindset. The Friars were flying around the ball, showing active hands with numerous deflections and steals. PC had Pitt on their heels the entire game, and their defense made the Panthers’ offense look chaotic. It be great to see PC retain that defensive intensity.
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