What Lies Ahead for the 5-1 Friars?
Billy Ricci takes a look at the road ahead for Providence, after they improved to 5-1 on Friday night
Alright Friartown, for those who have returned from the Bahamas tan and re-energized from the Baha Mar waterslides we all saw commercials for every 30 seconds – I am here to tell you the Friars currently stand in about as best case of a scenario as we could have foreseen to this point in the young season. Now, I know what you’re thinking and yes, the Friars could have and in some ways “should have” beaten a Kansas State team still finding themselves and down two key players, but the truth is in this scenario I don’t believe it matters. Obviously being down Jayden Pierre for the majority of the K-State game didn’t help PC’s chances, but that isn’t where I am going with this. If the Friars were to have beaten Kansas State on one or two Devin Carter free throws to end the game on the non-call foul last Friday, playing a top 10 Miami team without Pierre probably would not have gone well. And at this stage of the non-conference slate, in my opinion there is much more value in learning and fixing mistakes with a gauntlet of a Big East schedule on the horizon including six matchups against three legitimate top ten teams.
To me, the Kansas State game and the Bahamas tournament as a whole showed Providence is tough, and even though we are on to a new era of Friar Basketball – I like that this is still a big part of our brand. As of this moment the Friars are sixth in the NCAA in opposing field goal percentage (Bryant holding us out of the top 5 funny enough) and 37th in opposing field goals made. In many ways Friartown – the Friars are winning in the same ways we have been familiar with in recent years. So far, their field goal percentage and three-point percentage are ranked 184th and 231st in college basketball. For as much as we thought they might be blowing teams out of the gym with threes and moving the ball, establishing a baseline of tough, gritty play now could lead PC to better shooting and overall offense as the season goes along.
Which brings us to last night’s game against Lehigh. Frankly, it was a two man show with 70% of the points and over 50% of the rebounds coming from Josh Oduro and Bryce Hopkins. Starting with Hopkins, it was clear in this game he was trying to make shots and then get fouled rather than get fouled first around the basket. Only taking one three and still putting up a 10-16 line brings us back to some of the better performances from him last year. How about that dunk? He looked re-energized and more sure of himself with the ball last night, and that seemed to be as much a relief for Hopkins himself as Friar fans. With no turnovers on the board for their star player Friday night, it seems like a breakout is indeed imminent as we round out the last five non-conference games.
The man they call J.O. Things seem to keep getting better each game for Josh Oduro. As I posted on X last night, I know Ben Bentil isn’t the best one-for-one comparison, but that 2015-2016 version of Bentil at the five is about as close to a comparison as I can personally make - as the Friars all-time haven’t had too many “fives” (Bentil was even more of a four but he played the five that year) who could step out and shoot like Oduro has done. When you watch him from up close, it’s really his interior footwork and calm demeanor with the basketball that makes him a mismatch for many interior defenders. The sense of feel he has around the basket usually leads to great passing out of the post, or good footwork that creates a shot or finish at the rim. In recent years Providence had many great players suit up for the Friars – but this “Big 3” of Hopkins, Oduro, and Devin Carter may have as much talent as we have seen out of a trio in a long time.
So what is next for the 5-1 Friars? A winnable game against Wagner at home, who both URI and Seton Hall took care of handily. URI (who the fans may have forgotten to circle on their calendar) coming back to Friartown for a Saturday night tilt will rival UCONN as the second best crowd opposite the Georgetown game, of course. The game plan against URI will be simple, stop Zek Montgomery. He is currently just under 16 a game on 57% from the field – but other than that, unless Ray Allen III puts in a Ray Allen the II level performance - I feel good about Providence’s chances against Rhody at home.
Then there is Oklahoma who poses the biggest threat to PC finishing the non-conference slate with just one loss. They are balanced, can score and can defend. Otega Oweh is currently shooting over 66% from the field at 15 points a game, but in fairness he hasn’t had a matchup against Devin Carter yet this season. I do think PC can give Oklahoma a different set of challenges when the two square off in Oklahoma on December 5th. The ESPN matchup predictor has Oklahoma as a 75% chance to win the matchup, probably due to the recent big wins against Iowa and #23 USC yesterday.
And then we round out with some familiar New England based non-conference opponents in Brown and Sacred Heart. I do always enjoy a Brown/PC game if I am being honest, until Mike Martin has his team within 3-7 in the first half and I panic a little about the possible repercussions to the NET ranking if PC actually lost to Brown. I have no analysis on Sacred Heart, and overall other than the Oklahoma game, the rest of the remaining non-conference slate should be continued learning for the Friars before they get the non-multiple choice test that is Big East league play. After last night’s A+ performances from Oduro and Hopkins, I am feeling just a little more confident that the Friars can pass whatever test is put in front of us with flying colors.