Post by dex on Dec 19, 2017 22:28:11 GMT -5
PROVIDENCE — What is up with the Friars?
That’s the dominant question wafting through Friar Town these days as Ed Cooley’s team prepares to throw it up Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Friars will take on Houston in something dubbed the Holiday Showcase, a one-game event that’s simply a good excuse to eat, drink, gamble and catch some competitive hoops.
This will be a difficult game for the Friars. Then again, every game seems like a major test. PC has been life-and-death with Belmont, Rider, Brown and Stony Brook. The good news is the Friars (8-3) somehow found a way to win each of those games but anyone who’s watched the team play of late must be shaking in their Christmas stockings knowing the dawn of the Big East schedule is a mere week away.
The Friars haven’t had a win to get excited about in three weeks. That’s not good considering this is the time of the year when coaches attempt to cherry pick some easy victories. Nothing is coming easy for the Friars and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon because of a rash of injuries.
Instead of peaking, PC is limping into the holidays and conference play. Senior point guard Kyron Cartwright rolled his ankle against Stony Brook and isn’t expected to suit up against Houston. Neither is Maliek White (knee), perhaps the team’s top defensive guard. Alpha Diallo (ankle) is questionable and nowhere near full strength. And Cooley is still lamenting the loss of forward Emmitt Holt, a versatile forward who the coach had designed much of his offense to run through in summer planning sessions.
“It’s a frustrating time right now,” Cooley said. “We’re working through it and we’ll be OK but just once I’d like to coach the team we recruited. That hasn’t happened for six years in a row now. Injuries happen but, man, we’ve lost some key guys.”
Cooley knew he’d be without Holt once the senior’s intestinal sickness grew grave in October. The senior big man underwent surgery, lost 25 pounds and left a massive hole in the middle of the PC attack.
Cooley inserted sophomore Kalif Young and freshman Nate Watson in Holt’s spot. Young has been a disappointment on both ends. Watson can score, but let’s just say that he defends like a freshman.
“Kalif and Nate are young guys who are progressing but they were supposed to be playing behind, or next to, Emmitt. That’s a big difference,” Cooley said.
Diallo and Cartwright can’t return fast enough. Diallo was the team’s best offensive player in preseason practice and, as he showed in the loss at Rhode Island, the top offensive wing off the dribble. Good Big East teams have multiple Diallos so the Friars need his punch.
Cartwright is PC’s most irreplaceable player and after limping around at 50 percent for a few weeks the little guy from Compton, Calif., rolled his ankle again in the 62-60 win over Stony Brook. Freshman Makai Ashton-Langford is an exciting prospect but the plan was always to have him supplement Cartwright, not replace him.
“Kyron is our floor general. He’s been through a lot of basketball. He could almost coach the team,” Cooley said. “It’s hard, but it’s next man up, and hopefully Makai learned that.”
While this flood of injuries is legitimate, it doesn’t excuse all that ails the Friars. Cooley has oddly failed to play more zone defense to mask the limitations of Young and Watson, not to mention Rodney Bullock. Veterans like Bullock, Jalen Lindsey and Isaiah Jackson only seem to show up and play with the necessary fire against marquee foes. Were it not for an energetic shot in the arm from walk-on Tom Planek and a gift foul call with six-tenths of a second left, Friars fans would be brooding over a loss to Stony Brook.
Speaking of PC fans, anyone who hasn’t lowered expectations for this season needs to wake up. The Friars were picked to finish fourth in the Big East and qualify for a fifth straight NCAA Tournament but that was assuming a healthy Holt. Now he’s on the shelf, the team’s chemistry is on hold due to other maladies, and the Friars have no top-50 wins.
That can change as soon as Wednesday against Houston. Two more chances for marquee wins (St. John’s, Creighton) come right away on the road in the rugged Big East but until the Friars regain some semblance of full health and the time to build a winning chemistry, they could start seeing the thorny side of those life-and-death games.
That’s the dominant question wafting through Friar Town these days as Ed Cooley’s team prepares to throw it up Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Friars will take on Houston in something dubbed the Holiday Showcase, a one-game event that’s simply a good excuse to eat, drink, gamble and catch some competitive hoops.
This will be a difficult game for the Friars. Then again, every game seems like a major test. PC has been life-and-death with Belmont, Rider, Brown and Stony Brook. The good news is the Friars (8-3) somehow found a way to win each of those games but anyone who’s watched the team play of late must be shaking in their Christmas stockings knowing the dawn of the Big East schedule is a mere week away.
The Friars haven’t had a win to get excited about in three weeks. That’s not good considering this is the time of the year when coaches attempt to cherry pick some easy victories. Nothing is coming easy for the Friars and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon because of a rash of injuries.
Instead of peaking, PC is limping into the holidays and conference play. Senior point guard Kyron Cartwright rolled his ankle against Stony Brook and isn’t expected to suit up against Houston. Neither is Maliek White (knee), perhaps the team’s top defensive guard. Alpha Diallo (ankle) is questionable and nowhere near full strength. And Cooley is still lamenting the loss of forward Emmitt Holt, a versatile forward who the coach had designed much of his offense to run through in summer planning sessions.
“It’s a frustrating time right now,” Cooley said. “We’re working through it and we’ll be OK but just once I’d like to coach the team we recruited. That hasn’t happened for six years in a row now. Injuries happen but, man, we’ve lost some key guys.”
Cooley knew he’d be without Holt once the senior’s intestinal sickness grew grave in October. The senior big man underwent surgery, lost 25 pounds and left a massive hole in the middle of the PC attack.
Cooley inserted sophomore Kalif Young and freshman Nate Watson in Holt’s spot. Young has been a disappointment on both ends. Watson can score, but let’s just say that he defends like a freshman.
“Kalif and Nate are young guys who are progressing but they were supposed to be playing behind, or next to, Emmitt. That’s a big difference,” Cooley said.
Diallo and Cartwright can’t return fast enough. Diallo was the team’s best offensive player in preseason practice and, as he showed in the loss at Rhode Island, the top offensive wing off the dribble. Good Big East teams have multiple Diallos so the Friars need his punch.
Cartwright is PC’s most irreplaceable player and after limping around at 50 percent for a few weeks the little guy from Compton, Calif., rolled his ankle again in the 62-60 win over Stony Brook. Freshman Makai Ashton-Langford is an exciting prospect but the plan was always to have him supplement Cartwright, not replace him.
“Kyron is our floor general. He’s been through a lot of basketball. He could almost coach the team,” Cooley said. “It’s hard, but it’s next man up, and hopefully Makai learned that.”
While this flood of injuries is legitimate, it doesn’t excuse all that ails the Friars. Cooley has oddly failed to play more zone defense to mask the limitations of Young and Watson, not to mention Rodney Bullock. Veterans like Bullock, Jalen Lindsey and Isaiah Jackson only seem to show up and play with the necessary fire against marquee foes. Were it not for an energetic shot in the arm from walk-on Tom Planek and a gift foul call with six-tenths of a second left, Friars fans would be brooding over a loss to Stony Brook.
Speaking of PC fans, anyone who hasn’t lowered expectations for this season needs to wake up. The Friars were picked to finish fourth in the Big East and qualify for a fifth straight NCAA Tournament but that was assuming a healthy Holt. Now he’s on the shelf, the team’s chemistry is on hold due to other maladies, and the Friars have no top-50 wins.
That can change as soon as Wednesday against Houston. Two more chances for marquee wins (St. John’s, Creighton) come right away on the road in the rugged Big East but until the Friars regain some semblance of full health and the time to build a winning chemistry, they could start seeing the thorny side of those life-and-death games.