On the Road Again: From Providence to New Haven and Back

Cotton’s Aggression

An interesting dynamic is beginning to take shape for this Providence offense.  While Ed Cooley has been challenged with transitioning this team away from the mindset that an open shot is always a good shot, the staff has been pleasantly surprised by the hot start of Bryce Cotton and is looking for him to seek out his shot more frequently.

The poise in which Providence’s offense is being run under Cooley this early in the season is a testament to how his players are buying into his system, and no player had been a better example of waiting for the perfect shot than Cotton.

On Saturday, we saw a more assertive Cotton, who hoisted a career high 14 field goal attempts on his way to 26 points.  In each game this season Cotton has set a new career mark for points in a game.  His 16 in the opener topped the 15 he put up against Dartmouth a year ago, and he’s followed with 24 on the road versus Fairfield and the 26 last night.

Cotton came out aggressively early, taking six shots and a pair of free throws in the game’s opening three minutes, scoring all eight points for a Friar team that took an 8-0 lead and never looked back in an even-easier-than-it-sounds 87-65 victory in their first win of the South Padre Invitational.

It was a tone-setting start for both Cotton and the Friars, who led by 34 at one point, behind a magnificent night from Cotton who shot 9-14 from the field, 4-7 from three, 4-5 at the free throw line, in addition to skying for five rebounds, and grabbing three steals.

Cotton’s emergence this year has been stunning, but also necessary.  He’s filling a multi-purpose role, making up for the scoring void left behind by the Big East’s leading scorer (Marshon Brooks) and picking up the scoring slack while Kadeem Batts is academically ineligible.

If that weren’t enough, he’s also serving as the backup point guard while Kiwi Gardner awaits the NCAA’s verdict on his eligibility.  How did he do yesterday?  When Vincent Council went to the bench with two fouls the Friars were up 18-8.  Council didn’t return until there was a minute and a half left in the first.

The Friars headed to the locker room moments later up 39-19.

Games Notes:

• PC shot 46 free throws against an overly-aggressive and outmatched A&M defense.  After connecting on 17-20 at the line on the road versus Fairfield, they shot on 63% on Saturday.
• Florida A&M has a lot of work to do.  Their leading returning scorer is academically ineligible, but that didn’t slow them from hoisting the first open available look.  They shot a mere 8-30 in the first half and turned the ball over 20 times on the day.  Tough to watch.
• Freshman LaDontae Henton has really good hands and, unlike some in the Friar frontcourt, consistently grabs rebounds in traffic.  The result?  11 boards last night and 20 in his last two games.  He’s also stolen the ball six times in each contest.  Nicknamed “Buckets”, Henton is proving to be a valuable piece for the little things outside of scoring.
• Without Batts this frontcourt is a work in progress, but Providence got solid production yesterday. Bilal Dixon had perhaps his best game of the early season, blocking three shots, controlling the glass and taking seven free throws, while Brice Kofane came up with three steals and seven boards in 21 minutes.  Lee Goldsbrough nailed a three pointer (his first shot attempt of the season) and grabbed six boards in 20 minutes.
• Providence is shooting nearly 41% from three point range on the year – a testament to good shot selection.  They took 14 yesterday and made six, with Cotton taking seven.  Geard Coleman still has not taken a three point shot since the exhibition opener versus Assumption.
• Coleman has been getting to the free throw line with more consistency early – something that made him a big-time scorer at Tilton.  He’s taken 20 free throws in three games.
• Nice to see senior Chris Carter step in and confidently bury an open corner three.
• Playing through an injured ankle, Vincent Council quietly had nine assists.
• The play of the game had to be when Goldsbrough led a 3 on 1 break, bounced a no look pass to Henton, who dunked over the only man back on defense.  It got a smile from the typically stoic sophomore.

New Hampton is one of the more interesting prep powers in New England.  Pete Hutchins’ crew always seems to shoot it well from deep, and this year is no exception.  In 2011-12 they feature a pair of high major seniors, combined with a trio of young prospects that could make them a powerhouse in the years to come.A surprisingly quick ride down i-95 allowed me to take in a majority of the New Hampton/Kiski School game that proceeded Ricardo Ledo’s second, and last, appearance of the weekend.

Like Nerlens Noel and Wayne Selden a year ago, Noah Vonleh is the latest New England star to make his prep debut at the Showcase.  He didn’t disappoint.

The 2014 forward relentlessly attacked the glass and didn’t ask for the ball much, on his way to a 15 point, 19 rebound effort against a less-than-physical Kiski team.

As advertised, Vonleh is more than comfortable off of the dribble and shows terrific passing and scoring instincts.  There are many across New England that argue Vonleh has the highest upside of any player, in any class, coming out of the region.

Providence target Jared Terrell (2014, Weymouth, MA) has the makings of an excellent scorer.  The 6’3 shooting guard, who plays with Ledo’s Expressions AAU program, is well built, has great form and good touch on his jump shot, and shows tremendous power and control in taking the ball to the rim.  This is a high level prospect whose stock is only going to continue to rise.  I came away very impressed at the ease in which he attacked and finished in traffic.  I had heard previously from folks who don’t coach him that he’s a high character person as well.  Look for Terrell to shoot up the recruiting rankings this season, as he’s ready to have an impact at this level.

Notre Dame commit Zach Auguste looks bigger, and played bigger on defense yesterday than he did a season ago.  I had my questions about Auguste last year, as he seemed more upside than production making the transition to the prep ranks, but he was more of a presence defensively and finished with a few loud dunks to ice the 86-73 win.

Boston College is in need of talent, and they landed a cerebral point guard in New Hampton Olivier Hanlan, who many in my preseason NEPSAC Roundtable dubbed the best lead playing in the NEPSAC this year.  The Canadian was more assertive shooting in the ball and has always been a good passer.  He’s looking like a solid get for the Eagles.

2015 prospect Jeremy Miller is a big kid (6’9) who gave Hutchins minutes, while Towson commit Barrington Alston is a strong and athletic 6’8 prospect who showed flashes of being a contributor.  I walked in  to him swatting a shot and he later threw down a loud two hand stuff.  A nice looking prospect.

South Kent Improves to 2-0 at Showcase

It wasn’t as easy as it probably should have been, but South Kent ran out to a 21 point halftime lead and held on late for an 84-76 win.

In a game that officials let get out of control, and then tried too hard to re-establish authority in by calling four technical fouls, Ledo had a minimal impact in the first half, as he scored four points and dished out three assists prior to heading to the bench with two fouls nine minutes in.

South Kent was not slowed, as they turned a four point lead at that point into a 21 point halftime advantage, behind a number of St. John’s Military Academy turnovers and the hot shooting of 2013 prospect Chris Thomas.

In watching Ledo this season, my hope isn’t to provide readers with what they already know (he can score, he has range, etc), but to provide insight into things you don’t typically read in national publications covering dozens of prospects at an event.

The two things that stood out with Ledo on this night were his timely scoring and how well he shoots it coming off of screens.

In many of his highlight reels Ledo is shown beating a man off of the dribble, or pulling up in his face off of the bounce, but where he is equally impressive is coming off of a curls for open looks from three.  Not since Donnie McGrath’s senior season, in which he was moved to shooting guard, has Providence had a wing who had the ability to instantly catch and fire off of screens.

It’s simply another example of what makes Ledo such a good scorer – he can do it in a number of ways.  He’s good in transition, he can shoot off of the dribble, and he knows how to use screens to free himself in the halfcourt set.  Kelvin Jefferson had used him similarly when he played at South Kent a season ago.

While not a huge offensive night for Ledo, he made a number of back-breaking baskets as St. John’s scrambled to get back into the game.  The 21 point halftime lead was down to 14 almost instantly in the second half before Ledo canned a three at the top of the key to quell their momentum.

Moments later, St. John’s made another push to get it to 10 and Ledo turned the tide with a difficult leaner on the baseline.

And so it went for the remainder of the second half.  St. John’s would make a run and Ledo came up with a big shot just before the game felt as though it was in question.

How South Kent will fare against the upper echelon is to be determined.  They have a pair of seven footers in Laimonas Chatkevicius (Kansas State) and uncommitted 7’1 Isaac Freeman, but I wouldn’t call them a physical interior team.

They have plenty of scoring options with the likes of Ledo, Thomas, and Kansas State commit Zedric Sadler, and how it all comes together will be worth watching.