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Thoughts from the Road: Providence’s Weekend at Mohegan Sun
With back to back games on Saturday and Sunday against ACC teams I was expecting Providence to split the weekend and head back to Rhode Island at 4-1 thankful for a good first 8 days of the 2014-15 season. Ed Cooley’s bunch had no plans of settling for a split. The Friars wanted to make a statement this past weekend and I think they managed to do just that.
Having said that, Florida State is not a very good team right now. They have now lost 3 straight games after falling to UMass in a tight game that preceded Providence/Notre Dame Sunday and dropping a home game against Northeastern before arriving in Connecticut. The Seminoles don’t seem to have an identity on offense and they clearly quit during the second half of their game against Providence. Leonard Hamilton and his staff have a lot of work to do with that team going forward.
The Notre Dame win is a good one and may end up being a real positive on Providence’s NCAA tournament resumé come March but the reality is that Notre Dame was picked to finish 7th of 15 teams in the ACC by the league’s coaches. The Fighting Irish probably have as much of a chance of being squarely on the bubble as this Providence team. Don’t get me wrong the game was exciting and entertaining and the win is impressive but it isn’t like the Friars beat Louisville.
At the end of the day it’s all about keeping the number in the left column increasing and Providence has done that all 5 times they’ve taken the floor this season.
Random Thoughts
- Depth was a big factor in Sunday’s win over Notre Dame. Because of injury and foul trouble Ed Cooley was forced to use some different lineups including lineups that lacked much scoring punch but the depth was able to keep the team in the game until the reinforcements could arrive. Junior Lomomba had a nice game defensively but it’s apparent that Jalen Lindsey is the better all around player and Providence missed Lindsey’s outside shooting ability at times on Sunday.
- Tyler Harris has noticeably improved his decision making from last season. He appears to be letting the game come to him more often than not and has been much less prone to forcing things and turning the ball over. Through the first 5 games Harris is averaging 1.0 turnovers per game. He averaged 2.1 turnovers per game a season ago. Harris has also been shooting the ball at a higher percentage from the field. The Friars need Harris to be a consistent secondary and occasional primary scoring option. On the season Harris is the second leading scorer at 13.6 points per game.
- Craig Leighton tweeted after the game that Providence and UConn should play a neutral court game at Mohegan Sun ASAP. I couldn’t agree more. It’s a good way to restart that series and makes a lot of sense for all involved. I’m not sure it will happen anytime soon though because the Huskies have a pretty challenging non-conference slate booked out a few years including series with Ohio State and Arizona.
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