After an up (BYU) and down (URI) week, the Friars headed to Chicago to begin Big East play against the improved DePaul Blue Demons. This wasn’t a game where the Friars were expected to win simply by donning their road black uniforms and showing up on the court. For those who care to wager on such sporting events, I believe DePaul was favored. Fortunately, the winner is determined on the court, and for the seventh time in the past eight seasons, the Friars began conference play with a victory. This is a welcome change for those of us who have been Friar fans since the founding of the Big East. Providence began Big East play 0-1 in each of their first eight seasons. No matter how excited fans were about the team, the first loss to one of our conference foes always bothered us as we were climbing from the bottom right away. Now, with no other conference games until next Tuesday, we will be alone at the top of the league standings until then.
The game itself was no walk in the park as we needed a late comeback to send the game into overtime, before pulling away for a 70-63 victory. The game was a mix of ups and downs, but winning a road game in the Big East is never something to be taken for granted, and the victorious end result is always positive for a team trying to find itself. I will first look at some of the positives followed by some questions that will hopefully be resolved over the coming days and weeks.
The first positive is the continued strong play out of the gate from Bryce Hopkins. After recuperating for 11 months from surgery, it should be expected that returning to form would be a step-by-step process. In three games, he’s averaging 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal per game, comparable to the numbers he put up in the last two seasons. In the URI game he did appear a little slower and the lift off his jump wasn’t quite the same as in his dynamic performance in his debut against BYU. In the DePaul game, he looked closer to his old self, aggressive with the ball and attacking the glass the way he did in previous years. He was only 4-14 from the field but was constantly bumped and could’ve had several more trips to the free throw line. As he gets more comfortable and the team adjusts to his presence more and more, he will soon return to his place among the top players in the Big East.
Bensley Joseph had another strong game, with his second 20-point performance and seventh game in double figures. He also had 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and most importantly, no turnovers. In a game where three players combined for 15 turnovers, Joseph’s strong play with the ball in 41 minutes was instrumental to the Friars hanging in the game until they made their late run. To be fair, Joseph did have a couple of questionable shots and missed a few layups after driving into traffic, but his positives far outweighed that. On a team where most of the other players lack the take charge leadership role that was filled so well by Devin Carter last year, Benz is a clear alpha personality, willing to make quick decisions and he wants the ball in big moments. This allows players like Bryce Hopkins, Jayden Pierre, and others to be themselves.
Oswin Erhunmwunse reclassified to come to Providence a year early, and at times has shown his youth and inexperience. There have also been a number of games where his immense potential shows itself, and this game was one of them. Despite playing only 15 minutes, Oswin had 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, and an assist. Additionally, his defensive presence altered a couple more shots and forced DePaul to stay outside when he was in the game. His offensive game is very much a work-in-progress, as he is learning to be patient and let the game come to him. In the past 5 games however, while playing 13 minutes per game, he’s averaged 6 rebounds, including 2.6 offensive rebounds, and nearly 2 blocks per game. It is coming clear that his growth throughout the rest of the season will not be a straight incline, but he was doing things that he wasn’t able to do a month ago. It is reasonable to expect his offensive game to be at least adequate by mid-February along with defensive growth continuing. I certainly am not trying to make a direct comparison, but I remember Hakeem Olajuwon’s first season at Houston. He struggled at the free throw line and was all over the place offensively. In his first NCAA tournament, he had two games in double figures and 2, 6, and 2 points in the other games. His defense and rebounding were why he was playing 18 minutes per game in the tournament. It was over the two following seasons that he became the player we remember. I look forward to tracking Oswin’s growth over his Friar career.
One of the biggest questions for the Friars as conference play begins is the rotation. This has been an ongoing issue for the team since day one. Over the summer, in addition to Bryce’s rehab, Richard Barron had off-season shoulder surgery, Ryan Mela had back issues, and Christ Essandoko and Jayden Pierre were sidelined for periods with nagging issues. This made establishing roles and rotation difficult, especially with five or six of the rotational pieces being new to Friartown. The problems became evident quickly as the Friars struggled against Central Connecticut on opening night and Hampton a week later. It all came to a head in the Bahamas when the team lost three straight games, with noncompetitive losses to Davidson and Indiana showing the need for more than the return of number 23.
Oddly, perhaps the biggest bright spot for the Friars over the first eight games was the improved play of Corey Floyd, Jr. Floyd led the team in minutes played, was averaging 10 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. Additionally, he was arguably the best defensive player on the team, guarding opposing players in the 1-4 positions as needed. With the return of Bryce Hopkins, however, Corey’s playing time has been reduced from nearly 30 minutes per game to 17, including only 12 minutes in the DePaul overtime game. Since Corey has played better in most games the more he plays, the impact on his productivity has been significant. It will be interesting to see how his role evolves in league play.
Ryan Mela was another early bright spot for the Friars, averaging 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal in only 11 minutes per game in his first six games, with a DNP-CD in the opener. More importantly than the raw numbers, Mela simply looked like he belonged on the floor with a court presence belying his freshman status. He showed an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. Whether it was taking a rebound and driving the length of the court, sharp cuts to an open spot on the floor, or stepping in the lane to pick off a pass, he showed the right instincts to play at this level. My colleague on the Providence Friarcast, Brendon Desrochers (@ultimatecrans on Twitter) is a strong advocate for Mela getting more minutes and believes he is one of the top three offensive players on the team. While I won’t go that far, I think it’s hard not to appreciate his performance to date. Similarly to Floyd, good things tend to happen the more minutes Mela sees on the floor. Unfortunately, in my opinion he’s also been the victim of reduced playing time with 6 minutes in the past three games including not playing against URI.
The other issue that has been mentioned all over social media this year and even more so after the last two games is the lack of movement on offense. Numerous clips have been posted of one player with the ball (usually Jayden, Bryce, or Bensley) trying to make a move while the other four players were standing around waiting for something to happen. I’d be a liar to say I haven’t noticed the same thing, and to my untrained eye, it appears to cause problems for the player driving, especially Bryce, Corey, and Wesley Cardet, as it limits their options. When I mentioned above that Bensley Joseph has taken some questionable shots, at least part of that was because he gets stranded when he drives to the basket and no one moves to an open spot. Fortunately, I trust that the staff is aware of what’s happening and can make whatever adjustments they deem necessary. It could also be that the players are making changes as their top player is introduced to the offense.
Also, there were early concerns that the Big East was not going to be strong this year. While it is clear to date that the Southeastern Conference is the top basketball league followed by the Big 12, the Big East looks to be roughly even with the Big Ten and well above the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Mountain West. With non-league approaching their end, the Big East is currently 19-19 against the other major conferences and finished 5-6 against the Big 12 in the recent interconference challenge that saw the Friars, Creighton, Villanova, UConn, and St. John’s all produce dominant victories. Recognizing that the NCAA Net Rankings will adjust as the year progresses, it looks like the Friars won’t be hurt as they were last year with the four Quad 4 games against Georgetown and DePaul. Only Seton Hall at home is potentially a Quad 4 game this year. This means that the Friars have their work cut out for them, but a team with their talent is certainly capable of going 12-8 in league play, which will likely put them on the right side of the bubble this year.
Finally, I will put in another shameless plug for our weekly Providence Friarcast, streaming live on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. on Twitter (X), Facebook, and YouTube and available on demand wherever you get your podcasts. We also have regular Friar discussions with both free and paid (cheap) options on the pcbb1917 Discord channels. Go Friars.