Mid-season form
Watson, freshmen bright spots in exhibition win
The Providence College men’s basketball team is impressive again in preseason action.
PROVIDENCE — Maybe it’s because the Providence basketball Friars have been together since there was beach weather outside, but coach Ed Cooley likes the direction that his program is heading.
The preseason is officially a thing of the past after PC stormed past Division II Bowie State, 82-55, in exhibition play on Saturday. For the second straight game, Cooley cast a wide net with his rotation. Emmitt Holt was one of only three players that logged 20-plus minutes – the redshirt senior started and contributed 14 points and nine rebounds in 26 efficient minutes.
“Overall, I thought Emmitt made a big jump today,” said Cooley about a player who missed the entire 2017-18 season after undergoing abdominal surgery.
After Holt, junior Alpha Diallo and freshman Jimmy Nichols each spent 21 minutes on the court. Seven players saw between 10-20 minutes of game action, a high total that suggests that Cooley has plenty of pieces to work with. From a coaching perspective, the next step is settling on some continuity and putting the correct pieces in place.
“Depth is great in practice, but in games, sometimes it’s a challenge,” said Cooley, who went with a starting lineup that included Holt, Diallo, junior Maliek White, sophomore Nate Watson, and freshman David Duke. To start the second half, Cooley subbed senior Isaiah Jackson for White and junior Kalif Young for Watson.
“We’re going to have to find out what our rotation is … what a starting and a finishing unit is. We’re still tinkering with some things, but I do like the baby steps we’re taking,” said Cooley. “I saw a lot of good things out there, but now it’s for real in another week and a half.”
As is the case with any college basketball exhibition preseason contest where the roster composition is a tad on the young side, promise and intrigue goes hand-andhand with frustrating plays. If you’re Cooley, you’re no doubt pleased to see Friars turn the ball over just 12 times after committing 31 miscues against the previous preseason opponent, Bridgeport.
Surrendering 21 offensive rebounds to a Bulldogs squad that started three guards and didn’t have anyone listed taller than 6-foot-8 among the first five has to be considered a little alarming. To Cooley, he felt Bowie State didn’t truly make its mark on the glass until the game was truly in PC’s corner. The Bulldogs wound up winning the rebounding battle, 44-41.
“We keep count, but when the game got a little bit out of hand, we got lackadaisical on block outs,” said Cooley. “That will be a point of emphasis that we concentrate on.”
Nate Watson feasted on the smaller Bowie State frontline with a Friar-best 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
“We go to him every other possession,” said Diallo. “We need him to play big.”
Three players – Holt, Diallo, and Jackson – each finished with 12 points while Duke scored 10 points. That’s balance of the highest order and could very well prove to be this season’s recipe for a program that in recent years has relied upon high-volume scorers such as Ben Bentil and Rodney Bullock.
“We have the depth to see different people step up in different games. That’s a plus, for sure,” said Diallo.
PC’s two primary ballhandlers, Duke and Makai Ashton-Langford, combined for nine assists compared to two turnovers in 39 minutes. Selected earlier this week as the Big East’s preseason choice for Co-Freshman of the Year, Duke was forced to leave the game at the 2:39 mark of the first half after locking knees with a Bowie State player, yet he returned to start the second half.
Said Cooley with a smile when asked about Duke, “We gave him a little bit of ice for his boo boo. He’ll be all right.”
For most of the first half Bowie State hung tough with Providence. The visitors from Maryland threw on a press and hit five of their first nine 3-pointers to find themselves tied 29-29 with a Big East school with 2:55 remaining.
A three-point play by Jackson that was aided by a nice bounce pass from A.J. Reeves helped the Friars close the first half with eight straight points.
The hammer was applied with a 17-5 run that came at the onset of the second half featured a strong dose of Watson. Diallo didn’t register his first field goal until there were 15 minutes left but he got hot in a hurry en route to 11 second-half points.
“We started out a little slow but we definitely picked it up a notch,” said Diallo.
It was a preseason that included an overseas trip to Italy and two games under the bright lights of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Now, it’s go time for Cooley and a PC program that seeks a sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Friars will start playing for keeps when Siena comes to town for the regular-season opener on November 6.
“We’ve been together a long time. It’s time for college basketball,” said Cooley. “Hopefully our guys stay humble and tough and that allows us to get to where we need to get to.”