Playing “Dominant” D, Friars Cruise Past Holy Cross 61-42

Ed Cooley really like this Providence team.

Sound trite?  Perhaps, but if you listened closely enough last season, it was apparent at times that Cooley was thrilled to be back in Providence, excited about the future of the program, but frustrated with that group’s ability to fully embrace the way he wanted them to play.

This season the Friars have been dealt an endless string of stomach kicks – from Kris Dunn’s offseason surgery to the ineligibility of Ricky Ledo to losing Vincent Council five minutes into the season, yet here they sit at 5-2 after seven games.

Beyond the results on the floor, what became quickly apparent after Providence’s 61-42 victory over Holy Cross on Tuesday night was Cooley’s pleasure in the effort this group is giving.

Cooley liked their defensive effort on a night in which they held Holy Cross to 33% shooting, focusing specifically on limiting their three point makes.  Mission accomplished there, as the Crusaders made only 1-20 from downtown.

Citing Josh Fortune’s eight deflections and a solid week of preparation leading in, Cooley was effusive in his praise of their defensive effort afterwards, “I thought that was a defensively dominant performance by us.  We were really concerned with their threes, we tried to get them off the three point line.”

“Our preparation was really good.  I really appreciated our guys preparing.  I thought for 38 minutes we almost played perfect.”

Cooley also liked seeing “the real” LaDontae Henton back.  In my pregame notes I pointed out how the Holy Cross game served as a springboard for Henton a season ago, when he dominated inside and late.  Henton found his way back inside on this night and the result was his first double double of the season (19 points, 10 rebounds).

Henton made eight of the 14 shots he took inside the three point arc, and crashed the offensive glass with more frequency (4 offensive rebounds), “Our real LaDontae Henton came to life today,” Cooley explained. “As well as (Bryce) Cotton played, I thought our player of the game today was LaDontae.  He got the man rebounds that I’m accustomed to seeing.”

Cooley continued to like what he saw from the now-explosive Cotton, who continues to play as well as any guard in the Big East.  The Cotton Express continues to roll, as he had 27 more points (5-12 from three), six rebounds, four assists, and one turnover in 38 minutes.

Cotton continues to add dimensions to his game, playing the passing lanes with more frequency defensively, finishing on a beautiful jump stop through the paint, and drawing fouls on three separate three point attempts.

“We’re building a great court chemistry and conversation, and right now he’s getting to a point where he’s telling me what he wants to do and that’s when you know somebody’s improved,” Cooley said of Cotton afterwards.

Cooley expanded, “he’s playing as well as anybody in the country and I don’t know how he wasn’t the Big East player of the week this week, honestly.”

Cotton has scored at least 21 points in all six of his starts this season — and the Friars are 5-1 with him not only increasing his production without Council, but learning to run the team on the fly.  It’s been a startlingly smooth transition for the junior from Arizona and Cooley sure sounded as though he believes it’s time the rest of the country took notice.

“If there’s a more improved player in the last 22 months in college basketball, I’ve got to see him.  I don’t know who’s more improved from the day we walked in here to today, and he’s getting better by the second. What’s he’s doing is unbelievable — and he’s just learning.  I’m really really proud of him.  For him not to be the Big East player of the month is a joke.”

From the defensive effort to their attention to detail in preparation, to the play of Henton and Cotton (who Cooley called Providence’s “rocks”), there is a lot for the head coach to like early in the 2012-13 season, and he wasn’t afraid to show it afterwards.

Cooley is ready for Providence to embrace this team as well, “I’m really proud of our effort and really hope that our fans appreciate the effort, energy and attitude of our players.  I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.  They’ve been absolute warriors.  I feel blessed to coach this group.”

“We’re going to need a lot more energy in our crowd on Saturday playing an SEC opponent.  Our players deserve to play in front of a full house on national television on Saturday afternoon.”

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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