What can we take away from Providence's opener?
As Providence slogged its way through their season opener against Central Connecticut State on Saturday night — an eventual 59-55 Friar victory in a game in which they trailed for over 30 minutes of game action — my mind wandered a bit back to the opener of 2022.
It feels like ages ago with all that’s transpired since, but in Ed Cooley’s final season at Providence, with a starting lineup that included Bryce Hopkins, Devin Carter, Jared Bynum, Ed Croswell, and Noah Locke, PC trailed by ten points at the half against Rider and needed a stop on the game’s final possession to eek out a 66-65 victory.
That isn’t to say there weren’t troubling signs in the 2024 opener, but as always, context is necessary before jumping to sweeping conclusions and setting rotations for the rest of the year.
The biggest problems on opening night?
1. Turnover issues were an issue early. Kim English has emphasized improving on last season’s 17.5% turnover percentage, but Providence turned it over ten times in the game’s first 12 minutes. The Friars were 6-11 from the field and 2-5 from deep at the under eight timeout, but trailed 18-14 because they kept handing the ball over.
They cleaned up the turnover issues in the second half, finishing with 16 for the game — not where English wants it, but considering where they were trending early, PC stemmed the tide. Still, the Friars can’t be happy with a 14-3 disadvantage in points off turnovers.
2. No one expected any of Providence’s centers to come in and replicate Josh Oduro’s numbers from last season, but the hope is that what they lost from Oduro’s production they would make up for by not seeing a dramatic drop off when going to the bench. English started Oswin Erhunmwunse and the freshman made both of his shots from the field and grabbed five boards in 12 minutes, but looked a little jumpy when guarding one-on-one in the post. If the Friars didn’t come back in the final three minutes, the ire of Friartown would have likely been directed at Christ Essandoko, the sophomore center who flashed early with an and-1 and pretty backdoor pass, but struggled with decision-making (five turnovers, some of them of the far too casual variety) in a seven-point, seven-rebound, 28-minute debut.
So, why play Essandoko over Erhunmwunse for such long stretches? The Friars were a +11 with him on the floor and -9 when playing the freshman. Essandoko also found Bensley Joseph for the biggest shot of the game — a late corner three.
We almost take for granted how solid the center play has been at Providence over the past five years — from Kalif Young and Nate Watson to later Watson and Croswell, and then Croswell and Oduro holding it down alone. PC has known what they were getting in the middle for a long time.
Yes, it was Erhunmwunse’s debut and Essandoko was returning from time away with an injured hand, while sophomore Anton Bonke did not play, but the center position will likely draw closer eyes after the opener.
3. Providence’s shooting troubles shouldn’t have been a huge surprise considering the lack of cohesion after half the team missed time in October. PC shot 37% for the game and 8-32 from beyond the 3-point arc (25%), but there probably won’t be too many nights in which Rich Barron, Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Justyn Fernandez, Corey Floyd Jr., Wesley Cardet, and Jayden Pierre combine to shoot 3-20 from deep.
Bensley Joseph Came to Play
Providence would have been in no position to win this one had Bensley Joseph not donned the cape in the second half. The Miami transfer and Arlington, MA native went for 21 points and buried five 3-pointers, including two in the final three minutes to swing the game. It doesn’t take long to pick out Joseph’s will and leadership capabilities when watching him in person.
“This game was a learning process for not only me, but the whole team. We’ll just figure out how we can get better and move forward,” Joseph said afterwards.
“We’re going to learn from this and be better on Saturday.”
Friars’ Perimeter D Stands Out
When Providence saw Devin Carter head to the NBA, they lost the best defensive guard in the country. The backcourt may not feature an individual defender of Carter’s ilk, but between Joseph, Floyd, and Cardet, PC has a number of defenders who really get after it.
After a challenging exhibition game against UMass and a quiet first half in the season opener, Cardet quietly found his footing a bit in the second half versus CCSU. He finished with eight points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three turnovers in 30 minutes, but he was more impressive on the other end of the floor.
CCSU guards shot 0-6 from the field when being guarded by Cardet.
Providence ran Central Connecticut State off the 3-point line — they missed all eight of their attempts — and PC limited them to 26% shooting in the second half.
A look ahead
The Friars welcome Stonehill to the AMP on Saturday night (6pm tip) in the second of a five-game home stand to kick off the season. With another week of practice and the opener under their belt, English will look for a cleaner effort on Saturday: “Happy we got the victory, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. A lot of work to do.”
The +/- numbers with the centers were honestly shocking. I know it is an imperfect stat…to me, defensively they seemed better on the interior. You could tell CCSU has Oswin’s rim protection on its scout…they were much more hesitant to attempt shots when he was in paint…that went away when he went to the bench. He also elevates so easily after an offensive rebound. Needs to get stronger and have more reps, but can’t teach what he has.
Hope things get better quickly especially taking care of the ball or it is going to be a long season.
My opinion is they will improve drastically in the next few games particularly when Bryce returns.
Very encouraged by what I have seen so far from Bensley Joseph. Go Friars!