A Win is a Win but Friars know they need to get to work
PROVIDENCE – So, this clearly isn’t going to be easy.
That’s the instant take-away from what was a hard-earned, back-to-the-wall 59-55 Providence Friar win over Central Connecticut to open this college basketball season. That’s Central Connecticut, not Connecticut, if you’re keeping score at home.
Instead of jumping to the ‘what happened’ reaction, it’s important to flesh out just who the Friars are right now. Kim English is trying to blend a unit that has some disparate parts but doesn’t look like a T-E-A-M at all. A group relying on a wave of transfers has juggled a rash of injuries and absences in the last month and top returnee Bryce Hopkins is still not ready to make his return from knee surgery. That makes it currently impossible to envision just what the best version of the Friars can look like.
English made it clear he was very, very impressed with CCSU but also conceded his team is way behind in its preparations.
“We really haven’t gotten to play much 5-on-5,” English said. “Today I think it was that. I think it was a lot of nerves, a lot of unfamiliar situations because of our inability to practice. Some of those growing pains I think you expect, as mind-numbing or head scratching as they might be. Talking to the guys after the game, we have to get them their time back in the gym, get them back to the speed where they’re comfortable making those plays.”
First impressions in this opener against a Blue Devil team picked to win the Northeast Conference say the Friars have a wave of seasoned collegiate players with accomplished track records still introducing themselves to one another. That’s what leads to 11 turnovers (16 for the game) in a first half with 34 percent shooting, 3-of-14 from beyond the 3-point line. That’s also what leads to confusion on defense when a shifty, crafty guard like fifth-year senior Jordan Jones (21 points) is slicing over ball screens and getting where he wants to go for long stretches of the game.
Yet in a sign that beckons to English’s roots, when the Friars needed to dig deep and pull out a game on defense it found some answers. CCSU shot just 7-of-26 (27%) and did not make a 3-point shot in the second half.
In another nod to the value of practice, English was proud to see senior transfer guard Bensley Joseph (21 points, five 3-pointers) emerge as the clear star of the game. Joseph hasn’t missed any practice time and was the Friars’ leader in its exhibition win over Massachusetts. In this one he cleaned up his teammates’ mistakes when there were few other avenues to a win.
After Wesley Cardet (3 FG’s, 3 turnovers) fouled 3-point shooting Devin Haid who made three shots for a 53-49 lead with 3:21 left, Joseph turned the tide. First he made a clutch 3-point shot off a kick-out from Corey Floyd. After Haid missed a jumper, the Friars’ big man Christ Essandoko (7 points, 7 boards, 5 turnovers), found Joseph in the left corner and he knocked in another 3-pointer and the Friars never trailed again.
“I’m blessed Christ found me in the corner. I was shouting his name,” Joseph said.
Creating any offense was an adventure for long stretches of this game but the consistent defense the Friars found in the second half proved vital. Fifteen of CCSU’s second half points came from the foul stripe.
“Just the focus of coming together and getting stops on the defensive end,” Joseph said. “We were able to fight with our toughness and just battle on the defensive end and we came up with the stops that we needed.”
The Friars started Joseph with Floyd, Cardet, Jayden Pierre and Oswin Erhunmwunse. Yet by the first media timeout English was juggling lineups. Essandoko (27 minutes, 7 rebounds) and Erhunmwunse (12 minutes, 5 boards) split the time at center, while Anton Bonke did not play. The tightness of the game no doubt dictated those minutes as English correctly relied on the one big man with collegiate experience.
As far as other time allotment decisions, English used all nine of his players within the opening six minutes. The coach said Pierre hadn’t practiced much in the last three weeks and probably played more minutes (28) than planned. He was clearly out of step, making just 1-of-5 shots with three turnovers and no assists. Rich Barron had “played just four times since the Big East Tournament,” due to labrum surgery and transfer Jabri Abdur-Rahim has missed much of the last three weeks due to injury and the death of his uncle in Tampa.
“For us it was a tough game, it was a battle, an ugly game, a sloppy game,” English said. “But ultimately the mission is to find a way to win. Our guys did find a way to win with some key stops, some key rebounds, some big-time shots (by Joseph). I’m happy we go the victory but we have a lot of work to do.”
