Post by dex on Jan 23, 2018 9:30:45 GMT -5
PC AT VILLANOVA
Friars establishing an identity
Team’s versatility making a difference
By Kevin McNamara Journal Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA — After weeks of searching for what he calls “an identity,” for his team, Ed Cooley is finally getting some answers.
While the Providence College coach always has his fingers crossed, his team has remained healthy for the last few weeks and responded with a four-game winning streak that’s elevated the Friars into a tie for second place in the Big East.
PC now has a chance at staking a claim to the top of the league when it travels to face No. 1 Villanova on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Friars (14-6, 5-2 BE) will need to pack much more than an identity into their gym bags to take down the Wildcats (18-1, 5-1), but the consistency that any good team needs is surfacing at the right time.
“Our identity is their versatility and they’re buying into being tough and buying into making people earn points,” Cooley said after PC’s convincing 85-71 win over Creighton on Saturday. “It takes time to build your identity when you have a lot of pieces that are either hurt, sick, out of the lineup. We’re coming along.”
Several of the coaches who’ve seen their teams fall to PC in recent weeks have remarked that the team’s versatility makes the Friars tough to guard and also that the string of 6-foot-5 to 6-7 athletes Cooley puts on the floor are all physical defenders. That’s made for a variety of matchup nightmares in PC’s favor as Alpha Diallo, Rodney Bullock, Jalen Lindsey and Isaiah Jackson have all thrived of late.
“Our identity is being tough right now, but we’ll see what happens [at Villanova] because we have a monster in front of us,” Cooley said.
Cooley compared and contrasted his lineup to Jay Wright’s when he said that PC’s versatile wings take some lessons from the Wildcats. Mikal Bridges, Phil Booth, Donte DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall all are multidimentional talents. They take their cue from perhaps the nation’s best point guard in Jalen Brunson in much the same way PC’s attack revolves around Kyron Cartwright.
“You can play those guys all over the floor because they can pass, catch, dribble and shoot. You want those guys,” Cooley said. “We’re getting ready to play a team that can put six of those guys out there like that.”
Villanova is playing well on both ends of the floor. In an 81-61 win against UConn in Hartford on Saturday, the Wildcats built a 39-18 halftime lead by holding the Huskies to 25-percent shooting. On the other end, Brunson and DiVincenzo each nailed five 3-pointers and the ‘Cats drained 15 of 40 for the game. It was the eighth time in nine games that Villanova has made 10 or more 3-pointers.
“The mentality is to stay confident and keep shooting,” Brunson said after the UConn win. “The guys did a great job inside rebounding and kicking it back out to us.”
PC has lost the last four meetings against Villanova, including a 78-68 decision at the Wells Fargo Center a year ago when the Wildcats were also No. 1 in the polls. The Friars last won a game in the series in 2016 at Wells Fargo behind the dynamic duo of Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil.
“You don’t want to be overconfident but I’m not going to say we’re going to lose the damn game. We’re going to go there, we’ll be prepared and we’ll be tough and feisty,” Cooley said. “But a lot of things have to break our way. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. They’ve earned it. If we want to beat them, we have to go in there and earn it and deserve a win. If not, we’ll get on the bus, come home and prepare for the next game.” kmcnamar@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @kevinmcnamara33
Friars establishing an identity
Team’s versatility making a difference
By Kevin McNamara Journal Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA — After weeks of searching for what he calls “an identity,” for his team, Ed Cooley is finally getting some answers.
While the Providence College coach always has his fingers crossed, his team has remained healthy for the last few weeks and responded with a four-game winning streak that’s elevated the Friars into a tie for second place in the Big East.
PC now has a chance at staking a claim to the top of the league when it travels to face No. 1 Villanova on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Friars (14-6, 5-2 BE) will need to pack much more than an identity into their gym bags to take down the Wildcats (18-1, 5-1), but the consistency that any good team needs is surfacing at the right time.
“Our identity is their versatility and they’re buying into being tough and buying into making people earn points,” Cooley said after PC’s convincing 85-71 win over Creighton on Saturday. “It takes time to build your identity when you have a lot of pieces that are either hurt, sick, out of the lineup. We’re coming along.”
Several of the coaches who’ve seen their teams fall to PC in recent weeks have remarked that the team’s versatility makes the Friars tough to guard and also that the string of 6-foot-5 to 6-7 athletes Cooley puts on the floor are all physical defenders. That’s made for a variety of matchup nightmares in PC’s favor as Alpha Diallo, Rodney Bullock, Jalen Lindsey and Isaiah Jackson have all thrived of late.
“Our identity is being tough right now, but we’ll see what happens [at Villanova] because we have a monster in front of us,” Cooley said.
Cooley compared and contrasted his lineup to Jay Wright’s when he said that PC’s versatile wings take some lessons from the Wildcats. Mikal Bridges, Phil Booth, Donte DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall all are multidimentional talents. They take their cue from perhaps the nation’s best point guard in Jalen Brunson in much the same way PC’s attack revolves around Kyron Cartwright.
“You can play those guys all over the floor because they can pass, catch, dribble and shoot. You want those guys,” Cooley said. “We’re getting ready to play a team that can put six of those guys out there like that.”
Villanova is playing well on both ends of the floor. In an 81-61 win against UConn in Hartford on Saturday, the Wildcats built a 39-18 halftime lead by holding the Huskies to 25-percent shooting. On the other end, Brunson and DiVincenzo each nailed five 3-pointers and the ‘Cats drained 15 of 40 for the game. It was the eighth time in nine games that Villanova has made 10 or more 3-pointers.
“The mentality is to stay confident and keep shooting,” Brunson said after the UConn win. “The guys did a great job inside rebounding and kicking it back out to us.”
PC has lost the last four meetings against Villanova, including a 78-68 decision at the Wells Fargo Center a year ago when the Wildcats were also No. 1 in the polls. The Friars last won a game in the series in 2016 at Wells Fargo behind the dynamic duo of Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil.
“You don’t want to be overconfident but I’m not going to say we’re going to lose the damn game. We’re going to go there, we’ll be prepared and we’ll be tough and feisty,” Cooley said. “But a lot of things have to break our way. They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. They’ve earned it. If we want to beat them, we have to go in there and earn it and deserve a win. If not, we’ll get on the bus, come home and prepare for the next game.” kmcnamar@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @kevinmcnamara33
