Fixing Providence’s Slow Starts: Here’s What I Would Change

Providence has been starting more than just the last few games. It happened during the non-conference too. The Friars were able to overcome teams with their superior talent and ability, but Big East play is a different animal. The narrative after the home loss against Marquette on January 5th was: “They didn’t play well, but they played bad and still almost won!” That’s cute. It certainly isn’t the way Ed Cooley is thinking. The slow starts have been exacerbated lately by a lack of offensive firepower that has prevented Providence from making the big comeback that sealed wins earlier in the season. In their last 3 games, Providence is shooting a combined 32% from the field. That won’t cut it against Big East teams most nights. Here’s what I would do to attempt to fix Providence’s slow starts:

The first thing I would do is make a change to the starting lineup. This seems like a logical move as the starters are usually responsible for how teams starts the game. It’s basically just science. My lineup change would be to insert Ryan Fazekas for Jalen Lindsey. Lindsey has been shooting so poorly lately that Junior Lomomba, a career 31.8% 3-point shooter on 66 attempts, has been looking like the better shooter. Fazekas is 1/12 since returning from mono, but I’m willing to toss out the 0/4 in his first game back because he clearly wasn’t ready for game action. That still leaves 1/8, which isn’t good. The thing I like about Fazekas is that he is a shooter and he has a shooter’s mentality. His shots will start falling and if he manages to be hot at the start of the game, he could go off. Kris Dunn is great at getting in the lane and Fazekas would be a direct beneficially of that penetration. He also could act as a zone-buster should a team come out zone against the Friars.

The next thing I would do is to have a script of play that get the ball and players moving. The play Cooley has been calling out of timeouts later in games, the one where Bentil or Bullock catches at the elbow and Dunn runs a backdoor cut come to mind for a nice starting play. I fully realize that backdoor action is most effective later in the games as Dunn normally comes around up top to receive the ball back from the big, but first or second play of the game — taking a shot at it — to get an easy dunk and get the team and crowd hyped is worth it.

The final thing I would do is mix up defenses more frequently. I know zone isn’t something Cooley likes to do and players really can’t just jump into a zone if they haven’t worked on it in practice, but Xavier is a good example of how mixing up defenses can slow down an opponent’s offense and get them out of sync. Mixing in more zone would also allow Cooley to be more creative with his lineups. For example, he could have Dunn out there with Cartwright and Edwards or he could have Fazekas or Lindsey play the 4 to give the opponent trouble with that lineup on the offensive end.

Providence should be going into halftime with leads of 8-10 on teams in their building. Instead, the Friars have been trailing by deficits like that. Cooley clearly realizes the slow starts are a problem and certainly sounds like he plans on doing something about it starting on Tuesday. What he does remains to be seen. For me, the biggest aspect of everything I talked about is the change to the starting lineup. The rest of it is sort of minor tweaks and details. What would you do to mix things up and get Providence off to faster starts? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter or on Facebook.

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16 responses to “Fixing Providence’s Slow Starts: Here’s What I Would Change”

  1. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Monday morning quarterback? Friars will be fine. Young team trying to find its groove in a tough conference. Learning experience for everyone from the coaches down through the bench. As long as the team is hitting its stride by late February thats all that matters.

    1. Mike Hopkins Avatar

      Not really MMQB. Just trying to get some discussion going about why Providence is starting slow and what people would do to try to change that. The slow starts haven’t been just the last few. It’s been an issue all season. Cooley’s teams usually play better as the season goes along so I do think they’ll be fine, but they need to figure out this issue that is causing them to have to claw back in every game.

      1. Eric Avatar
        Eric

        Focus is what they are lacking early on in the games. It is very clear.

      2. Eric Avatar
        Eric

        I have to agree with you Andrew. Monday morning quarterback.

        1. BNLs Avatar
          BNLs

          This is a blog. It’s meant to be interesting to read and create discussion.

          Also, what good is a learning experience if it doesn’t change your way of thinking or M.O.? There is clearly something wrong with what they’re doing and simply hoping that they’ll be fine will not cut it.

  2. Dylan Avatar
    Dylan

    To mix things up I would just try to have Kris Dunn not be so aggressive on the offensive end of the floor. I know its easier said then done he is such a fine athlete you want him to attack the basket as much as possible. He has to stop driving to the rim with his head down that’s a major problem or putting his shoulder into people and pushing off. This happened multiple times vs Isiah Whitehead on Saturday afternoon. As a point guard especially your head must be up at all times scanning the floor. Providence has been settling for bad low percentage shots.

  3. Eric Avatar
    Eric

    I would love to see more minutes from Drew Edwards. Young man has played well so far and plays nicely alongside Dunn.

  4. Jack Durkan Avatar
    Jack Durkan

    PC has 8 very good players. They should all feel like starters. Coach chooses who would be the best fit. If one or 2 look like they aren’t up to it, replace them immediately. Coach the 2 sitting down and see if the change has affected the team. Continue to do this early in the game to get the right fit for the opponent. Great defense can accelerate good offense. Driving to the basket, getting fouled and getting offensive rebounds should be emphasized. PC, at present, isn’t making 3’s. Change the offensive strategy until the 3’s are there in practice % wise..

    1. Eric Avatar
      Eric

      great insight Jack.

  5. Walter Musto Avatar

    I sat behind the Seton Hall bench and they came into the building jacked and ended the game the same way. They were on the attack all afternoon. PC was lethargic at the start and got it going the last 10 minutes. They actually believe that they can come back from a 10 point deficit on anyone. Bad mind set. They have to come out with a sense of purpose. Lindsey keeps adjusting his stroke throughout the game. Not good for a shooter, it’s not practice!! He should be sat. Their shooting has to come around and they have to play for 40 minutes. GO FRIARS!!!

    1. Tim Avatar
      Tim

      Agreed Lindsey is NOT a shooter. I would love to know his 3pt percentages from HS. I bet they were average at best. Sad part is nobody on staff has improved the kids ability to square up before he shoots. He rarely gets his feet set and when he does his shoulders are flying all over the place. This is why you can tell his shots aren’t even close……at least lately

  6. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    Opting to sit a 4 year player who has been as steady as a rock on both sides of the ball(not to mention our only player who could hit an outside shot vs SHU going 3-6 from deep) for a raw freshman who had a couple big games against weaker teams shows a lack of basketball IQ on your part. Fazekes is the answer. Team hasn’t been the same since he went out with mono. We need shooters to open up the lanes/middle and he’s the only “shooter” on the roster at this point.

    1. Tim Avatar
      Tim

      And btw…..Lindsey should barely leave the bench. I’m tired of hearing about his 4 rpg and how much we need his weak thin frame in game. Give Fazekes, and Edwards all his minutes and we will be a much better team.

  7. Matt Avatar
    Matt

    They need to start Edwards and Fazekes and bench Lindsey and Lomomba. Edwards brings great energy. His +/- is something like +50. Lomomba needs to come off the bench. He’s a great glue guy, I get it, but not explosive enough the give this team what it needs; a serious jolt. Edwards does this. And Lindsey … I am so sick of defending this guy. He is way too talented to play this lethargic. He is soft, and doesn’t have the fire. Fazekes has a classic shooters mentality, and will shoot when he is open, and knows where his spots are when Dunn drives. He believes every shot will go down.

    1. Topper Bevis Avatar
      Topper Bevis

      Jalen Lindsey is so bad it makes me sick. He should come off the bench after both fazekas and Edwards.

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