Kevin Stacom:  A Little Timely “Resiliency” for the Friars

Kevin Stacom:  A Little Timely “Resiliency” for the Friars

A little timely “resiliency.”

 

The theme for a lot of the post-game press conferences in the early part of this season is that Providence’s basketball team is trying to find its way. There were a lot of challenges- 8 new players to blend into a core of 4 returning stalwarts and one of whom, Bryce Hopkins, had not yet returned to full-time availability. Then there were nagging injuries to many players, which diminished growth and chemistry at practice time, scrimmaging and making it even more difficult and complex to determine the pecking order for minutes, but also which combination of players seemed to generate the most effective chemistry. 

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It was within this context that Bryce Hopkins made his successful dramatic return last week against a very good Big 12 team, BYU, on December 3rd. PC’s collective defensive intensity held their best player and potential 1st round lottery pick, Egor Demin, to 0 field goals on their way to a much-needed and course-correcting W. Although much credit has to be given to URI for their gutsy home win against Providence, I’m sure PC’s team and coaches felt they let that one get away. It was a tough loss for a team still trying to “find its way.” 
                 

This brings us to the 1st Big East test of the season Tuesday night at DePaul. The term a “must win” game is an often overused description of a contest, especially when employed this early in the season, but for this Providence team, competing in a conference game on the road, coming off a disheartening loss against an intrastate rival, it did seem to offer an opportunity to put a stake in the ground, and a chance to point the team in a positive direction with their full roster and star player intact. 
                   

It would be a lot different leaving Chicago with a Conference win and winning your last 2 out of 3, feeling a building positive momentum, rather than losing to a DePaul program that hasn’t won a conference game in 2 seasons, with the extra burden of knowing that you lost 5 of your last 6 games, as you head into the meat of your schedule. 
                   

At the post-game press conference, Coach English mentioned the word “resilience” a couple of times. After watching this game, with all the ebbs and flows of its dramatic momentum shifts, that would appear to be a huge understatement. 
               

A quick summarization. After getting off to a good start, PC held a 10 point lead at the 12:38 mark (15-5). Within the next 9 minutes, Providence felt the brunt of a withering 20-5 run, leaving them in a 10-point deficit with 3:45 minutes left in half. Kim English instructed his players at that timeout that the goal is to dig in on the defensive end and get the score to a single possession by the end of the half With the help of a Bryce Hopkins 3 to cap off a 7-0 run, PC was able to accomplish just that by halftime, trailing 27-30.
               

There was a lot of back and forth during the 2nd 1/2, but with 3:37 minutes left in the game, Providence found themselves down 8 (48-56). At this crucial point in the game, here is where the complimentary talents stepped up big time. After the timeout, Abdur-Rahim nailed a deep 3 from the right top of the key, bringing the score to a more manageable 51-56.

 

Getting a couple of gritty stops on the defensive end, enabled them to claw their way back to 55-56, as Bensley Joseph (20 points/7 assists/0 turnovers, and Hopkins (19 points/10 rebounds)made consecutive layups. After 2 Free throws by DePaul, PC was down 55-58 with 1:32 left in the game. This set the stage for a big clutch 3 by Pierre Tying the game at 58 with less than a minute to go PC had a chance to win at the end of regulation as both a layup attempt by Joseph and a last second tip in by Hopkins fell just short.

 

After getting down by a point with 4:08 remaining in OT, PC again regrouped and, beginning with 2 FT’s by Joseph, a layup by Joseph, and a layup and 2 FT’s by Hopkins, then Providence went on an 8-0 run to put the game away, capped by a pair of FTs by Pierre for a great 70-63 win.

 

I mention all these details to highlight that there were a couple of key inflection points in this game in both halves. PC could have folded their tents, and the game could have spiraled out of their control. At these crucial instances, they hit big clutch baskets and got tough stops to get back on track. 
               

At a certain point in their development, teams develop a certain personality that can characterize them. There were a lot of tangible and intangible positives to draw from this game.

 

Although turnovers still have room for improvement, the two players in this game who has the ball the most in their hands, Hopkins and Joseph, were a combined 10 assists, and 1 turnover. For a team struggling from the FT line, Hopkins, Joseph and Pierre were a perfect 6 for 6 from the line in the crucial OT.

 

Last but not least, to build on from this game was the major contribution from Oswin Erhunmwunse (6’10” fr), having his best game as a collegian with a very efficient 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 Blocks, 2 steals, on 5-7 FG’s, in 15 minutes. 
             

For a team doing its best to “find its way,” being resilient as they were in this game vs DePaul, can provide a great road map to where they want to go