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One Week Checkup

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Musings on the Friars and Big East one week into the season…

1. It’s going to be very interesting to see how Providence’s rotation shakes out as the season progresses. Much has been made of the depth the Friars will feature in the wake of the departures of the two man show that was Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil, but when push came to shove on the road against Ohio State Ed Cooley pared down the rotation significantly in the second half.

Freshmen Kalif Young and Maliek White both figure to see regular playing time because of their positions, but I’ll be interested to see how Cooley incorporates Alpha Diallo among a crowded off guard/wing rotation that will only get deeper when sophomore Drew Edwards returns.

The guess here is that Diallo forces his way into the rotation and stays there during conference play. He has a natural offensive feel that this team will need later in the season.

2. Speaking of Edwards, was anyone else watching Grambling’s guards on Saturday and thinking of how a healthy Edwards will be a difference maker defensively?

Knee issues slowed the 6’3 sophomore more than most realized last year, and yet he still won the trust of Cooley during key moments.

With Dunn out and Bentil hobbled the Friars struggled against Bryant, but pulled away in the second half thanks in large part to Edwards’ 17 points on 5-9 shooting from deep.

He buried a pair of second half 3s to trigger PC’s comeback on the road at #9 Butler last January, and was a consistent 15-20 minute per game guy in the first month of conference play.

Edwards is a good, not great shooter, who can provide a lift offensively, but where his game was most advanced as a freshman was defensively — staying in front of ball handlers, more specifically.

The Friars lost perhaps the best defensive guard in school history last spring in Dunn, and Edwards will be critical in slowing good guards. He would have come in handy against Ohio State when JaQuan Lyle had his way throughout the game.

3. If you haven’t seen Creighton yet, do so immediately.

In the season’s opening week they won rather easily against #9 Wisconsin and followed that up by hanging 103 points on Washington State and 112 versus NC State on Sunday night.

The first half against NC State was pure Hagler vs. Hearns. Both teams came out of the gate absolutely scorching, but a very talented Wolfpack team simply couldn’t keep up with Creighton despite making 14-28 from 3.

The Blue Jays have so many answers. We all know about Mo Watson, the 5’9 blur of a lead guard who transferred in via Boston University. He’s the engine, but they suddenly have a lot of other options.

Kansas State transfer Marcus Foster got all of the preseason hype, but 6’8 Cole Huff is another transfer (via Nevada) who may be the most underrated player in the conference.

The last time I’d watched Huff prior to Sunday night was last season’s Big East Tournament when he lit up Seton Hall for 35. He’s scored 39 points in Creighton’s last two victories, making 8-11 3s and 11-11 at the free throw line.

There’s a lot of depth here. Sophomore Khyri Thomas is another underrated guard who is averaging nearly 14 per game, Isaiah Zierden has been one of the best long range shooters in the Big East the past two years, and head coach Greg McDermott returns steady 6’10 junior Toby Hegner and has a former top 100 big man in the bouncy freshman Justin Patton.

Patton, a seven footer, has been the beneficiary of Watson’s breakdown abilities and is scoring 10.5 ppg while making 72 from the field.

McDermott has gone the Iowa State route and cleaned up with transfers (Watson, Foster and Huff may be his top three players and none started their college careers in Omaha), and he has another one eligible next season in former Syracuse guard Kaleb Joseph.

Creighton takes on Ole Miss tonight in the Paradise Jam finals.

4. Providence won’t roll out anything close to Creighton’s offense, but through three games there’s been a marked improvement from beyond the arc.

It starts with Rodney Bullock and Ryan Fazekas, who are a combined 15-34 through three games. Fazekas has taken nearly six 3s a game and is making over 40%, while Bullock is at 47%.

Jalen Lindsey has had some bad misses, but the percentages are great to date (6-15, 40%), while Isaiah Jackson has made his last three 3s (3-5 on the season), and Kyron Carwright has been judicious from deep (2-5).

As a team PC has made nearly 39% of its 3-pointers through three games.

If they can shoot reasonably well from deep and take care of the ball they’ll be competitive against anyone remaining on the schedule.

5. We got an early glimpse of how important Emmitt Holt will be this season when PC took on Ohio State.

The Friars led 17-16 when Holt picked up his second foul at the 9:06 mark. They were out-scored 21-10 the remainder of the half with him on the bench, but with Holt reinserted into the lineup in the second they had a 39-34 scoring advantage.

6. Isaiah Jackson is going to make a lot of quiet, winning plays throughout his career here. Jackson has the potential to be a versatile weapon for Cooley off of the bench — a strong 6’6 wing who brings a different dimension than Fazekas and Lindsey. There’s a physicality to Jackson’s game that would have allowed him to fit in well with the Friar teams of the 90s.

We’ll see what type of offensive player he’ll turn into, but he’s flashed the ability to make an occasional 3, grab rebounds in traffic (6 vs. Vermont), and make plays (3 assists against the Buckeyes).

Twitter: @Kevin_Farrahar

Email: kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

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