Friar Basketball

“Stale” No More, Offense Run by Dunn

krisdunncallingaplay

Ed Cooley was one happy coach on Thursday night.

He was happy to see the offense that he termed “stale” in the first two games of the season taking more shots in rhythm.

He was pleased with his team’s assertiveness on the defensive end, their willingness to share the ball (24 assists), and the speed and length of this group starting to show up on the floor.

And he had to have been happy to see Kris Dunn’s return to form.

Cooley said that the coaching staff had stressed to Dunn to take what was in front of him, making the simple plays and only upping the degree of difficulty when absolutely necessary.

The game looked all too simple for Dunn in Providence’s 88-51 victory over Navy.

Looking every bit the player Friar fans saw at the end of his freshman season, Dunn picked apart Navy on his way to a career high 14 assists.

“We wanted Kris to be a dominant guard and I think he showed that today,” said Cooley in the postgame.

Dunn dominated in every way imaginable, grabbing seven rebounds, coming up with three steals and flashing an improved jump shot to finish with 12 points on 4-7 shooting in just 26 minutes of action.

Thanks in large part to Dunn’s dominance, an offense that had stalled in two games was outstanding in the third.

Seven different Friars made a 3 point field goal, their starting frontcourt combined to shoot 15-22 from the field (LaDontae Henton had a team high 22 on 9-13) and Kyron Cartwright (6 assists, 0 turnovers) combined with Dunn on a 20:3 assist to turnover ratio.

If Dunn was the story of the night, freshman Ben Bentil was the most encouraging sign.

After flashing in his first two games, Bentil shined on this night, scoring 18 points in 25 minutes. Bentil can beat teams in a few ways offensively. We saw it in the first half when he used his phenomenal speed to run rim to rim and finished with a layup, and in the second half the big man made a pair of 3 point attempts and a baseline jumper.

Bentil Layup on Make A Gif

Dunn finds Bentil ahead of the pack

He credited Dunn afterward for imploring him to stop hesitating and pull the trigger on his jump shot.

The Friars held Navy to 6-23 shooting in the first half and harassed them throughout. “Defensively, I thought we were really, really good. We got into gaps, we got deflections, we contested shots, we contested the rim, and that’s something we have to pride ourselves on.”

Cooley spoke of “length, speed and strength around the rim” becoming Providence’s identity.

PC took a solid step toward building that identity on Thursday night.

The big test comes in less than 48 hours with Florida State and Notre Dame awaiting.

Providence looked far more ready than it did just three days ago.

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

Twitter: Kevin_Farrahar

8 Comments

  1. Aaron Colaiacomo

    November 21, 2014 at 5:49 am

    TED TED TED TED…

  2. Aaron Colaiacomo

    November 21, 2014 at 5:49 am

    TED TED TED TED…

  3. Anthony Razza

    November 21, 2014 at 6:31 am

    This team is going to get better and better!! Go Friars!!

  4. Ron Santoro

    November 21, 2014 at 10:46 am

    Watch for Ben Bentil too
    This kid is a monster

  5. Michael Saburn

    November 21, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    And he is the key…getting everyone to mesh and bringing the youngsters along..and yes Bentil is a BEAST…This front court should be scary

  6. Mark McManus

    November 21, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    Cartwright didn’t show up

  7. Derec Lamendola

    November 21, 2014 at 2:57 pm

    I Will SEE EVERY ONE EVERY ONE EVERY ONE THIWNDS THOWNDS People @DUNK Next Friday Black Friday I Will See ALOT ALOT AlOT ALOT People And I Was ON TV LAST Night Jumbotron

  8. Stephen Rosen

    November 21, 2014 at 6:38 pm

    Bout time C.j. Williams hopefully he can stay healthy

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