Friar Basketball

Postscript: Six Things to Watch for PC vs. Brown

VC_11.29.12

1. The return of Vincent Council. Council wound up playing 38 minutes, as Bryce Cotton could not go after having his knee drained. He was very rusty and his typical speed was not there, as he was not blowing by any of the Brown guards. He did wind up with nine assists which is a good sign, but he’ll will need a few more games before we start to see the old Vincent Council on the court.

2. Kadeem Batts foul trouble. Batts was once again in foul trouble and had to spend periods of time on the bench. He played only 24 minutes in a game in which he should have dominated inside. Batts’ foul trouble is going to be a problem worth monitoring for the rest of this season. 

3. The play of Sidiki Johnson. It was a mixed bag for Johnson against Brown. He did manage to get in for 15 minutes and grabbed seven rebounds, but when he is out there he is still not really in the offensive or defensive flow of the game. Sidiki has not played much meaningful ball in the past couple of years and he is going to need more time to develop. Unfortunately, the Friars need him right now.

4. Defending the three. Here is where the game was lost. Tucker Halpern (8-15) and Sean McConagill (4-6) killed the Friars from the three point line, as Brown shot 13-27 (.47%) from three. There were way too many threes, way too many times when Friar defenders left a three point shooter wide open in order to double team another player, and way too many times when Friar defenders went for up-fakes, which created more easy looks from the three point stripe. The defensive motto of “no threes and tough twos” needs to be emphasized once again because for the last two games it has been “easy threes and easy twos.”

5. The rotation. PC was still not at full strength with Cotton out, so it is still hard to get a feel for what the rotation will be once the Friars are finally healthy. It is becoming evident, however, that Brice Kofane and Lee Goldsbrough will be playing limited minutes for the rest of the season. The Friars may just go with a seven man rotation of Council, Cotton, Kris Dunn, Josh Fortune, LaDontae Henton, Batts, and Johnson receiving most of the minutes.

6. Cotton, Fortune, and Dunn.  It was hard to see the real impact of Council in this game as he was probably playing at 70-75%. My guess is that if Cotton was able to play, Council would have been out there only 15-20 minutes instead of having to go 38 in his first game back. Fortune had to play 40 minutes Friday night, while Dunn was stretched to 35.  It will probably be at least another couple of games before we see how well Council, Fortune, Dunn, and Cotton play together.

Email Craig at craig.leighton@friarbasketball.com

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