Which Version of PC Men’s Basketball Team Will Show Up for the Big East Season?

Which Version of PC Men’s Basketball Team Will Show Up for the Big East Season?

On December 19th the Friars quintet will kick off its Big East portion of the 2023-24 season by hosting one of the Big East heavyweights, Marquette. Are Friar fans expecting the Friars that dominated a pretty good Wisconsin team (and now ranked in the top 20) to show up for this critical match; or will it be the Friars that recently got spanked by 20 points in a road game by another ranked team, Oklahoma?

 

Pre-season expectations for the Friars were hopeful but also cautious. Most Big East predictions had the PC five finishing 7th in the conference with a 50-50 chance of grabbing an NCAA bid.  The hopeful side in pre-season: Veterans Bryce Hopkins and Devin Carter decided to return; new coach Kim English brought a dynamic coaching style, particularly on defense; English also brought along two of his best players from George Mason, the 6’ 9” forward Josh Odura and shooting guard “Ticket” Gaines.

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Those who were cautious about the Friars, however, in the pre-season cited several issues: Could Coach English make the significant jump from George Mason to the Big East?  Who would be the point guard on this team? The Friars didn’t really have an inside dominant big man. And finally, the Big East was slated to be loaded this year with at least 4 or 5 teams as possible top 20 teams with defending national champ UCONN, Creighton, Marquette, and Villanova leading the way.

 

The early part of the PC season, which has featured wins over many cupcakes, as well as some good wins over Wisconsin, Georgia, and a frustrating close loss to a good Kansas State team, can be described as mixed. There are reasons to be hopeful and also reasons to be wary of the Friars' performance going forward.

 

Hopkins (16.2 pts/game) and Carter (15.2 pts/game) are continuing to be the leaders of this team, though Hopkins’ 3-point shooting and free throw shooting have been frustratingly inconsistent.  His strength is driving to the bucket, but he has to make his free throws to fully capitalize on that strength.  Carter has stepped up his game big time—not only scoring points, but leading the team in rebounds, assists, and blocked shots.  So far, Carter is the most versatile and most valuable player on the team.  The scoring (14.1 pts/game) from the 6’9” transfer Odura has been a pleasant surprise.  He often plays a back-to-the-basket inside game with a nice soft touch on his hook shot.  He also can “hide outside” and bury 3-pt shots that are hard to defend.

 

The most encouraging strength so far of this year’s Friar team is its defense. English has them playing 40 minutes of aggressive in-your-face defense that I can’t recall seeing on any of former Coach Cooley’s teams.  The defense totally won the game against Wisconsin, which ended up playing its worst game of the year against PC. The Friars are holding opponents to about 64 pts/game and they are in the top 20 teams in the country in this category.

 

Despite the current 8-2 record, there are some red flags for the Friars. The biggest issue is depth.  PC, at least in its first 10 games, has a thin bench. The starting five has been pretty consistent:  Hopkins, Carter, Odura, Pierre, and Gaines. Garway Dual and Corey Floyd have been getting 20 minutes off the bench.  The problem is that there has been very little scoring off the bench.  Between them, Garway and Floyd are producing about 8 pts/game.  If Devin Carter gets into foul trouble early, the Friars will be hard-pressed to bring in someone who can score and serve as an effective point guard like Carter.

 

The other depth concern is the lack of an experienced big man off the bench. Rafael Castro, a 6’10” red-shirt sophomore forward, has been brought along very slowly. He hasn’t been asked to score, only taking a total of 24 shots with a meager total of 36 points in 10 games.  If Hopkins or Odura get into foul trouble, it doesn’t look like either one would be replaced by Castro or by any of the freshman big guys, Santoro or DeLaurier. Rather, English is likely to go with a guard who can throw up some shots, but not be able to provide defense inside.

 

One more cupcake opponent to play, Sacred Heart, this coming Saturday.  Then, Big East teams will start rolling into the AMP to challenge this year’s Friars.

 

PC Trivia Questions of the Week (challenge yourself and friends by not going right away to the internet):

When Joe Mullaney left PC after the 1968-69 season, what team did he initially coach?

Who was the only PC player to be selected as an All-American two years in a row?

ANSWERS NEXT TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19TH IN THIS COLUMN