Friar Basketball Newsletter: Breaking Down Saturday's Win Over Milwaukee, A Critical Week Ahead, PC Women Out to a 2-0 Start, Georgetown Loses to Holy Cross in "Their Super Bowl", and more
Providence kicked off the first week of the Kim English era with a pair of victories — 78-59 over Columbia in the opener on Monday, followed by a 79-69 win over a good mid-major opponent in Milwaukee on Saturday.
The competition ramps up this week with Wisconsin coming to the Amica Mutual Pavilion on Tuesday (6pm tip, FS1/WPRO) followed by a trip to the Bahamas Championship. The Friars will play Kansas State on Friday night (CBS Sports Network/WPRO) at 6pm, and then take on either Miami or Georgia on Sunday, depending upon the outcomes in the opening round.
Keep an eye out for our preview of the Wisconsin game, which will be sent out on Monday night.
In the meantime, readers can check out all of our content from the past week, including a breakdown of Saturday’s win over Milwaukee in which point guards Jayden Pierre and Garwey Dual shined.
From the article:
When Kim English was hired last spring, he made the conscious decision to trust a sophomore who played 11 minutes per game last season, as well as a highly touted freshman. Yes, there was a flirtation with Cal-Baptist transfer Taran Armstrong, but that came prior to Garwey Dual re-committing to PC in the spring.
English could have played it safe and brought in a veteran to play alongside Bryce Hopkins and Devin Carter, but chose otherwise. That decision looked like a good one on Saturday night.
While not a brand name, Milwaukee was set to provide a stiff test for the Friars, specifically its young point guards, Dual and sophomore Jayden Pierre.
The Panthers pressed the sixth most of any team in the country last year, and they threw a significant curveball at PC when they dropped back into zone for large portions of the Friars’ 79-69 win on Saturday. Milwaukee played zone on 47 possessions on Saturday. To put that in perspective, they were in zone on 108 possessions throughout all of last season.
You can also see a highlight reel from Saturday’s win:
Sunday’s News and Notes column is available to subscribers of the site, and breaks down some early statistical trends, old friend Brycen Goodine playing very well at Fairfield, the Friar women getting off to a 2-0 start, and notes and quotes following Georgetown’s loss to Holy Cross.
“This is their Super Bowl, and it definitely showed,” Ed Cooley said following the game. “They played with a little bit more energy, a little bit of enthusiasm, and I thought our men played content.”
We also have highlights of Olivia Olsen scoring 25 points in the opener for the Friars’ women’s team, as well as a look at how Rafael Castro waited his turn, then made an impact against Columbia on opening night.
Bill Ricci and I have been hosting a pregame podcast at 110 Grill (111 Fountain Street in Providence, right across from the AMP). It’s been a lot of fun connecting with some of our readers, and we hope to continue to meet more of you as the season progresses. We are aiming to host our next show on Friday, Nov. 24 prior to the game against Lehigh.
We appreciate all of you who read and support our site. We should have some great content over the next week with some critical matchups ahead.
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Nice to see that Brycen Goodine has likely finally found his niche. I remember when he was at Syracuse - it seems so long ago - and he seemed like a player who was popular with his teammates and well !liked in the community. I hope he finishes of his career on a high note.
I think HC finally got the right coach. Dave Paulsen can flat-out coach and HC is a great fit for him. I remember him beating HC when he was the coach at D3 Wiiliams.
Cooley going to Georgetown will turn out to be a blessing for Friar fans.