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Closing Out Brown

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Three Brown takeaways before we move on to Marist and a critical week ahead for Providence.

1. Batts’ Critical Sequence. LaDontae Henton and Josh Fortune hit the game’s biggest shots on Wednesday (Henton’s challenged 3 tied it with 2:24 remaining, and Fortune’s deep 3 gave PC the lead with 36 seconds left), but it was senior Kadeem Batts who kept the Friars in it over the final six minutes.

After Bryce Cotton devoured Boston College in the paint in the season opener, Brown stuck with the guard off of pick and pop plays, challenging Batts to beat them from the top of the key. Batts struggled through a 2-11 opener, but hit two critical jumpers against Brown, tied it with a free throw and had three key defensive possessions over the final six minutes. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Here’s how he kept PC in it:

  • With 6:05 on the clock, Batts hit a jump shot from a foot inside the three point line off of a pick and pop from Cotton to tie the game after Brown took their first lead.
  • 40 seconds later, the Bears had a chance to push their lead to five, but Batts blocked a shot out of bounds. The Friars got a stop off of the inbounds pass, and once again Cotton found Batts for a jumper at the top of the key — this one bringing PC to within a point at the 5:03 mark.
  • On Brown’s next possession, Batts recovered later to alter a shot at the rim, and then he caught a wobbly bounce pass from Cotton in the paint to get to the line where he made 1-2 to tie it with roughly four minutes to play.
  • Brown went to Rafael Maia their next time down the court. The power forward spun once and found Batts standing his ground. When he tried to spin back he was called for a walk. Solid defensive sequence for Batts.

2. Harris and the Growing Importance of Free Throws. Quietly, Tyler Harris had 21 points and 7 rebounds. His role has changed since Kris Dunn went down with an injury and Brandon Austin and Rodney Bullock were suspended. It appeared as though Ed Cooley planned on bringing Harris off of the bench for instant offense, but he’s been thrust into starter’s minutes from the jump, and after a shaky opener versus Boston College, he was steady against Brown.

While Harris made six of 13 shots on Wednesday, he was most effective at the free throw line, making all eight of his attempts. He’s 10-10 on the season, and in a year in which fouls look like they’ll be up, Providence could get a lot of their offense from bumps and makes at the stripe. Harris is a terrific three throw shooter, and Cotton and Henton were two of the best in the Big East last year. Getting into the bonus early will be critical for the Friars.

Where Harris has struggled some in the first two games has been with his decision making. He has nine turnovers at this point in the season, and has forced difficult jump shots periodically. Harris has been at his best when he’s going to the rim and in the open court, as he’s capable of going end to end after grabbing rebounds.

3. Desrosiers Showing Life. Carson Desrosiers was big early, making his first four shots and scoring nine points in the game’s first 10 minutes. Desrosiers hit a three, made a 18 footer from straight out, and found Henton from the top of the key. He also finished on a turnaround in the paint and off of a nice find from Henton who returned the favor.

It wasn’t a flawless night for Desrosiers though, who drew the ire of Cooley with an errant pass moments after being bailed out of another turnover when he threw another at a tough angle to Lee Goldsbrough, but Brown was called for a hold.

 

 

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