GETTING OFFENSIVE Cooley demanding Friars push the pace
PROVIDENCE – After last season when the Friars’ offense sputtered much too often to Ed Cooley’s liking and ended up ranking dead last or near the bottom of just about every major Big East statistical category, some creativity was in order.
Not all the major pieces are in place at this time due to the injury bug once again biting PC hard, yet the mission per Cooley seems pretty clear. The Friars are seeking to push the ball, get out on the break, and score as many points in transition as possible.
The preference to feature more of an uptempo style is one of the items to be mindful of as Providence hosts Division II Stonehill in an exhibition game Saturday (3 p.m. tipoff from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center).
Driving home the point that life on offense can be much less burdensome – how many times did the 2018-19 Friars dribble the ball at the top of the key before finally going into attack mode with 10 seconds left on the 30-second shot clock? – Cooley during the preseason has elected to have his players practice with 24 seconds on the shot clock in full-court settings and 16 seconds when the ball is in the half-court.
By creating a sense of urgency with noticeable differentials on the shot clock … you know that Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn is applauding Cooley’s decision to run and run some more. Last year, the Friars ranked 10th out of 10 Big East teams in scoring offense (71.4 ppg) and field-goal percentage (42.3 percent) and ninth in 3-point efficiency (32.6 percent).
“Our teams are always going to be physical, but we want to pick up the pace without fouling,” said Cooley. “It has also made our bigs better decision makers because they’ll have to handle the ball later in the shot clock. There’s a rhyme and reason to what we do, but we want to get the ball up as quickly as we can, especially off misses.”
Meeting Cooley’s request to get the ball and go has been welcomed with open arms, per senior Alpha Diallo. Many of today’s college players come from high school and AAU programs that feature a free-wheeling style where scoring in the half-court is secondary. To force the issue by sprinting and not setting up shop once the ball crosses the timeline, PC hopes to avoid the kind of droughts that proved tough to overcome at times last season.
“Practicing with a 24-second shot clock allows more possessions for us to work with,” said Diallo. “The point guards have been doing a good job of facilitating and managing that time really well.”
In college basketball, the former official startup date of practice used to bring a host of worries. Teams would begin preparing in earnest around Columbus Day weekend with a preseason game on the docket less than two weeks later. With the Friars clutching and grabbing each other since the start of school and many times before that during the summer, it will be refreshing for them to step on the court on Saturday and see a group of players wearing a different color jersey.
“We need to play somebody different right now and we need to coach against someone different,” said Cooley. “We want to see if we can execute a game plan. These days, you try to go off your principles and go with the guys who are healthy and see what we can do.”
On the injury front, grad transfer Luwane Pipkins (hamstring), junior Nate Watson (knee) and freshman Greg Gantt (Achilles) remain sidelined.
“We’re still missing some key pieces, but we recruited some depth and we’re going to see what that depth can do for us during this injury-riddled time,” said Cooley.