Boys’ hoop
PC freshman returned to Indiana when he had mono
Local boys’ basketball winners Monday night included Cumberland, which knocked off Tolman, and Lincoln, which proved too much for Juanita Sanchez.
PROVIDENCE – Ryan Fazekas understood that some time would have to elapse before getting his legs and strength back following his bout with mononucleosis.
As for the mental side of the equation, the Providence freshman did his best to remain as sharp as possible while recuperating at his Indiana address. In fact, he resembled something of a gym rat – just not in the sense where he would arrive early for practice and stay to hoist up extra shots afterwards.
Donovan Garletts, the man who served as Fazekas’ high school head coach at Marquette
“When he was home, he was in (Marquette Catholic’s) gym every single day, watching and learning.”
— Donovan Garletts on Ryan Fazekas
Catholic, saw quite a bit of his former pupil during his unexpected trip back home last month. For those wondering how Fazekas dealt with everything, Gartetts took the time yesterday to explain just what this important cog in the Friars’ attack was up to while waiting for the proverbial finger to come off the pause button.
“I think him missing (games) due to mono only affected the physical side of his game in the sense that he had to get back into cardiovascular shape from where he was before,” said Gartetts when reached at Notre Dame Elementary School, where he serves as principal. “As far as taking time off and being sick, I don’t think it hurt him at all mentally. When he was home, he was in (Marquette Catholic’s) gym every single day, watching and learning. He’s a pure student of the game and I think that’s what makes him as good as he is.
“He took it with a grain of salt. (Mono) is one of those things that can come from anywhere and there was nothing he could do about it. You have to be patient,” Garletts continued. “Obviously he was upset, but he didn’t let it get him down. He did what he needed to do to get healthy and back. He got plenty of rest and kept his mind right.”
All told, Fazekas was absent from six games of his inaugural basketball season at PC. While there’s no question that Ed Cooley’s Friars sorely missed his ability to connect from deep and thus open up even more space for Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil, here are some interesting stats to consider as Providence – ranking 12th in the latest Associated Press Top-25 poll – visits Creighton tonight.
The first game Fazekas missed was Dec. 9 against Boston College. As a collective unit, the Friars were shooting 32.7 percent from 3-point territory heading into the matchup with the Eagles. That figure slightly moved upward to 33.9 percent heading into last Tuesday’s date with Marquette, a game that marked the reintroduction of Fazekas to the lineup.
Truthfully, there was no indication that Cooley was going to activate Fazekas prior to the Marquette game. About 90 minutes before tipoff, Fazekas was on the Dunkin’ Donuts Center hardwood with the rest of his teammates and hoisting up deep shots under the watchful eye of assistant coach Brian Blaney.
Reading too much into that pregame session seemed a bit presumptuous, given Fazekas’ health status. He did dress in appropriate basketball attire, yet the curtain wasn’t completely pulled back on his availability until Cooley inserted him at the 10:23 mark of the first half.
“Over the course of a month is a pretty quick recovery for mono,” said Garletts, noting that Fazekas once played an entire season at Marquette Catholic on a bum ankle. “Ryan perseveres no matter what and that’s one of his biggest attributes as a player and a person.”
Fazekas’ first game back with Providence saw him log five minutes and miss all four shots he took. Cooley chose to insert Fazekas for a brief spell in the second half in the hope of loosening the lid on Marquette’s tight grip of a zone defense. His time on the floor barely lasted a minute, yet you could see that the Golden Eagles were honoring his reputation as a long-distance threat.
“We wanted to get Ryan in a game, especially at home. He can’t play extended minutes. Mono is something that can relapse so you don’t want to overextend him,” said Cooley. “We wanted him to get his feet wet and give him some confidence.”
Cooley noted that PC’s week-long break from Big East competition afforded him additional time to stress the lapses that came as a result of the one-point loss to Marquette. The respite also afforded Fazekas more time to find his bearings and rediscover the player who started the season’s first nine games, averaged 27.1 minutes, and shot 47.2 percent from 3point land.
“He was starting for a reason,” said Garletts. “Any time you have someone who can extend the defense a little bit, you have to respect it and that allows for more dribble-drives for Dunn or dump-offs to the bigs like Bentil. Ryan is going to extend the floor for them and allow for different scoring opportunities
Cooley indicated that Fazekas will “probably play a little bit more” at the Bluejays’ Century Link Center. Any additional firepower that Fazekas provides will be most welcome considering Creighton leads the Big East in scoring (85.2 ppg), field-goal percentage (49.6) and 3-point percentage (38.7).