Kevin Stacom: Anticipation — The New PC Basketball Team Is Unveiled Monday
Kevin Stacom, Sports Analyst
Kevin Stacom: Anticipation — The New PC Basketball Team Is Unveiled Monday
It might be helpful in terms of a preview for Monday’s first regular-season game against Holy Cross to take a quick look back at last week’s exhibition game against Harvard, possibly giving us a slight hint of what might be in store for us on Monday night.
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Time moves along rapidly, but if we recall watching last year’s exhibition / early games against mid-major opponents, there was a constant search for identity and chemistry, with most outcomes in doubt until the bitter end.
Obviously, it’s too early to judge much, but last Saturday’s win against Harvard could prove to be a better yardstick for what this PC team is capable of than what you might think at first glance.
First of all, Harvard is picked to finish second in the Ivy League, only behind Yale, in a preseason poll voted on by 21 media people who cover the Ivy League regularly. Also going in their favor is the fact that in the quest for precious continuity within programs, Tommy Amaker has the rare “promote from within” Marquette/ Shaka Smart strategy on steroids.
Amaker has 9 of his top 11 scorers coming back from last year’s team, including his top 3 scorers and last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year honoree, Robert Hinton (6’5” 200 lb sophomore), who torched PC for 21 points.
The point is, Providence beat a very good Ivy League team coached by a very good, experienced Coach, Amaker, who has a habit of punching above their weight. You had the feeling that PC might at times break the game open, but that didn’t happen since Harvard was able to regroup and make the game competitive, but unlike last year’s early clashes, you had the feeling the game was never really in doubt.
In looking ahead to Holy Cross, Coach Dave Paulsen also has a solid core returning from last year’s team - 3 of last year’s 5 top scorers are back, with a total of 8 players remaining put, but highlighted by a glaring omission. In a situation illustrative of many “mid major” programs, and unlike Harvard, Holy Cross lost its Conference Rookie of the Year, Max Green, a 6’6”, 190 lbs guard from LaGrange, Kentucky, to the portal where he was snatched up by Chris Collins and Northwestern University of the Big 10. He averaged 14.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists/ game in his freshman year at the Cross.
So, unlike in years past, when a mid major like URI did a great job in identifying an under recruited or late developing talent like a Cuttino Mobley, they were rewarded with landing a centerpiece from which to build a program for 3 or 4 years, all you’ve really accomplish now for your efforts is providing a stage and venue for that player to showcase his unexpected talent level and basically audition for a better and higher paying opportunity in a big time conference, as Max Green did last year.
Don’t know for sure, but at least Coach Amaker might have the lure of a Harvard degree that would have a player at least take pause before turning it down for a short-term monetary gain.
So for Monday night’s game, Holy Cross comes in without its best player from last year’s team, lost via the portal, but does have its leading assist man, Tyler Boston (5’10” 180 lb So. G- 9.1 Pts. 3.8 assists), returning along with two now juniors in Joe Nugent (6’6” 220lb- 12.5 Pts, 5.2 rebounds), and DeAndre Williams (6’3” 180lb- 8.4 Pts, 3.6 assists).
And, like Harvard, Holy Cross has a very experienced and well thought of coach, Dave Paulsen He has 29 years of head coaching experience- 3 times Coach of the Year in the Patriot league when at Bucknell (2008-2015) where he won 4 Patriot League Titles He was also head coach at George Mason from 2015-2021 and is now in his 3rd year at Holy Cross.
Typically, then, Holy Cross will come into the AMP with a well-coached group of generally smart players who will be intent on proving they can compete with a Big East team.
It will be Providence’s challenge to build on some of the positives from last week’s Harvard game and utilize effectively a higher level of athleticism to their advantage. The best way to do that is the “shock and awe” defensive intensity they came out with last week on the defensive end of the floor from the onset. This team seems to have bought into the aggressive defensive mindset that Coach English and his staff have emphasized all preseason, and letting it be known that therein lies the gateway to more minutes on a very competitive roster - applying yourself defensively and paying attention to the fundamentals.
A feature of last week’s game vs Harvard was PC’s collective defensive pressure, generating 24 points off turnovers, 18 second chance points, and 25 points off fast break opportunities. This team has the speed, quickness and athleticism to sustain that going forward Yes, there were some lapses on the defensive end in the 2nd half, along with a few key moments getting beat on the defensive boards, but their high overall intensity level resulted in a very balanced scoring attack with four guys in double figures; Jason Edwards, 16 points; Jaylen Sellers, and Jamier Jones, 14 points; Oswin Erhunmwunse, 12 points; and two guys following close up with 9 points each, Duncan Powell and Stephan Vaaks. Also, as we saw last year, Ryan Mela, although just scoring 5 points in about 20 minutes, injected his usual intangibles, resulting in him finishing with the highest plus/minus with +10 for the game. Something I’m sure that did not escape Coach Kim English’s attention.
Along with the Friars quickness and athleticism, this team also appears to have no problem sharing the ball on the offensive end There could be some games in the not too distant future, as they begin to build on their defensive identity, that we as fans could be treated to an entertaining brand of basketball this season, as all these athletes individually and collectively seek to find their way to successfully compete as a team.
PS - Pay attention - For the best chance of viewing a human highlight reel, newcomers Freshman Jamier Jones, and UCF guard transfer Jaylin Sellers.
Not to mention Sr G, Corey Floyd Jr.