Providence Scouting Report

[CheshireCat]

Homer? Lmao. We prioritized Newton over Carter in the portal. And he damn sure ain’t playing over Hawkins or Jackson. He’s a good player but we’re loaded. I see you ignored your ridiculous Croswell take. My point has been proven. PC is a plucky team, it’s their DNA. They’re never an “easy” win. We have the 2nd highest odds to win the national championship. We are on a different level and should win and need to win this game. Implying anything else is a defeatist attitude. PC should not beat us, especially with us coming off of a loss.

Homer? Lmao. We prioritized Newton over Carter in the portal. And he damn sure ain’t playing over Hawkins or Jackson. He’s a good player but we’re loaded. I see you ignored your ridiculous Croswell take. My point has been proven. PC is a plucky team, it’s their DNA. They’re never an “easy” win. We have the 2nd highest odds to win the national championship. We are on a different level and should win and need to win this game. Implying anything else is a defeatist attitude. PC should not beat us, especially with us coming off of a loss.

Plucky. You’re a plucky poster. So you basically just backed down and said Carter is better than Newton and Karaban - which is true. At least you’re starting to come to your senses. Your point was that nobody other than Hopkins could start for UCONN. Now, you’re just digressing to the game itself vs the players that were called into question. I didn’t say Croswell would start for UCONN, I just commented on his rebounding. You should try politics - just speak to whatever fits your narrative.

 

[superjohn]

The issue with the logic is that it assumes if Sanogo was at the four, Freemantle would still be posting up down low. He did that BECAUSE there was a major advantage against Karaban in the post. If Sanogo and Clingan are in, they’d have just let Freemantle go to work on the perimeter, where he has a mismatch against Sanogo.

You clearly don't watch Xavier play.

Xavier got and 1's and layups all game because we don't keep our big man near the basket. Sanogo was running out on the perimeter all game and not getting back down low in time. We let Miller and Xavier dictate how we play.

We need a big to protect the rim.

 

[KingAG]

Plucky. You’re a plucky poster. So you basically just backed down and said Carter is better than Newton and Karaban - which is true. At least you’re starting to come to your senses. Your point was that nobody other than Hopkins could start for UCONN. Now, you’re just digressing to the game itself vs the players that were called into question. I didn’t say Croswell would start for UCONN, I just commented on his rebounding. You should try politics - just speak to whatever fits your narrative.

No I didn’t…….

Also why is Karaban in this discussion? Carter can’t play the 4. Newton is by far the better fit next to Hawkins and Jackson. Carter wouldn’t start. I said Croswell wouldn’t play not start lmaoo. My point is still very much in tact. No one outside of Hopkins would start on this UConn team.

 

[NotADime89]

Plucky. You’re a plucky poster. So you basically just backed down and said Carter is better than Newton and Karaban - which is true. At least you’re starting to come to your senses. Your point was that nobody other than Hopkins could start for UCONN. Now, you’re just digressing to the game itself vs the players that were called into question. I didn’t say Croswell would start for UCONN, I just commented on his rebounding. You should try politics - just speak to whatever fits your narrative.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

You clearly don't watch Xavier play.

Xavier got and 1's and layups all game because we don't keep our big man near the basket. Sanogo was running out on the perimeter all game and not getting back down low in time. We let Miller and Xavier dictate how we play.

We need a big to protect the rim.

I'm not denying we should have played Clingan more and should have stopped running Sanogo out to the three point line when they continued to abuse him almost every play. I'm just saying the solution to that is not putting Clingan and Sanogo on the floor together. Miller exploited the mismatch. If you think he wouldn't have just exploited the different mismatch with the two of them in the game instead of playing into the strength of UConn's lineup, then you don't have nearly a high enough opinion of Miller's coaching.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Jackson HAS to be confident in driving to the rim. He has to put pressure on the defense. It will open up his game and greatly help our offense. He should be as confident if not more confident in driving to the rim than he is taking threes

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Jackson HAS to be confident in driving to the rim. He has to put pressure on the defense. It will open up his game and greatly help our offense. He should be as confident if not more confident in driving to the rim than he is taking threes

I would love nothing more, but if you're expecting to see that from him this year, I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment. It's just not part of his game unfortunately.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I would love nothing more, but if you're expecting to see that from him this year, I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment. It's just not part of his game unfortunately.

Agreed. Even if it's not attacking the rim, drive to the lane and lob it to Clingan, get Sanogo in a better position to score, or keep the dribble alive like Nash. Our players do a fairly good job of moving without the ball, we should capitalize on that.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Wouldn’t even start on UConn. Croswell wouldn’t play. Hopkins is the ONE guy who would start on our team. They’re a plucky team. They’ll be at home so it won’t be easy. But make no mistake about it, this would be a disappointing loss

Lmao never once did I say they would start, I said they were good players. Croswell has been very productive and Bynum is a good distributer who is smart with the ball. They aren’t “mediocre” and neither is Carter actually.

 

[KingAG]

Lmao never once did I say they would start, I said they were good players. Croswell has been very productive and Bynum is a good distributer who is smart with the ball. They aren’t “mediocre” and neither is Carter actually.

I don’t think I’ve ever once claimed you said that. We agree that they’re good players. Just not the level of our players currently

 

[superjohn]

I'm not denying we should have played Clingan more and should have stopped running Sanogo out to the three point line when they continued to abuse him almost every play. I'm just saying the solution to that is not putting Clingan and Sanogo on the floor together. Miller exploited the mismatch. If you think he wouldn't have just exploited the different mismatch with the two of them in the game instead of playing into the strength of UConn's lineup, then you don't have nearly a high enough opinion of Miller's coaching.

Xavier's bigs combined for 1 made three, Xavier got 41 points off of layups. Maybe don't send your center out to the perimeter constantly and leave your 7'2 rim protector on the bench.

It was a game where the opposing coach dictated things against us, we saw this in previous years. We're now the best team in the conference and I was hoping we wouldn't see this. Let Nunge and Freemantle beat us shooting threes like Miller let Jackson beat us shooting threes. We're too big and athletic to let a not overly athletic Xavier team get rim runs all game. Again, Nunge and Freemantle combined for 1 made three and Xavier got 41 points off of layups.

My biggest thing is Clingan needs to be on the court more, Hurley seems hellbent on not taking Sanogo out of the game in Big East play and not playing him down low defensively which is one of the reasons I'm advocating for playing them together for 4-5 minutes. Clingan wasn't getting enough minutes when he was at 15 minutes per game IMO and now he's a tick below 10 in Big East play.

Now that everyone has seen us play a bunch, good coaches are going to exploit what we're doing. Hurley clearly didn't impose our advantages on them and didn't make the counters last game, let's make the other coach make the counters. Let's see how we respond against Cooley and the Friars.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I don’t think I’ve ever once claimed you said that. We agree that they’re good players. Just not the level of our players currently

I said they are good players. Your first sentence response was “Wouldn’t even start at UConn” as if that was what I was opining.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Strong offensive rebounding team that doesn't shoot a lot of 3s and is powered by undersized bigs, and a decent but not aggressive defense, actually seems like a decent matchup for us.

 

[KingAG]

I said they are good players. Your first sentence response was “Wouldn’t even start at UConn” as if that was what I was opining.

Just to put into perspective what type of “good” were talking about. We often times use that term to pump opposing teams up so that we won’t be as disappointed with a loss. We are the far and away better team. Their main “good” players would be role players over here. A loss here is not acceptable for this group

 

[ucp990411]

One way would be if we watched Freemantle and freaking Hunter humiliate Karaban. Sean Miller's biggest mistake on Saturday was not going to Freemantle more after Freemantle had 11 in the first 10 minutes. Freemantle would have scored 30 if I had been coaching Xavier because I would have isolated him on Karaban until Karaban was a human puddle on the court. There was no reason for Xavier to go to anyone else on Saturday.

Sanogo's defensive effort comes and goes, but he can defend a 4 like Freemantle when he wants to, and he forces Freemantle to play on both ends. I like Karaban's shooting and effort, but he does not have nearly the 1-on-1 offensive game that Sanogo has.

Fremantle stopped scoring when we put Andre on him because we went small and turned them over and we went our run in the last 10 minutes of the first half. Why we abandoned this in the 2nd half is a question for Dan Hurley that should be asked

 

[gtcam]

PC is not a team to be looked past. I don't care if they have all 5* or all walk-ons. They are always prepared to play UConn and no matter who is coaching them they seem to find a way to beat UConn.
I saw performances of some players on UConn at times this season that would have them sitting on the PC bench and performances by a few PC players at times this season that would have them competing for starter minutes at UConn.
Just win
Stop all this our guys are better than your guys crap. I felt that UConn was better on paper than Xavier but that was not the case on that particular day.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Oh, but he used the pronoun "we" a few times at the thread's beginning...

 

[gsmooth]

Strong offensive rebounding team that doesn't shoot a lot of 3s and is powered by undersized bigs, and a decent but not aggressive defense, actually seems like a decent matchup for us.

Croswell is a tough and grabs boards, but he and Clifton Moore really can't shoot outside of 7 ft from the basket. Sanogo and Clingan should be more comfortable in this matchup. Sanogo and Clingan have not outplayed their counterparts since the Butler game. I would like to see that change versus Providence.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

PC is not a team to be looked past. I don't care if they have all 5* or all walk-ons. They are always prepared to play UConn and no matter who is coaching them they seem to find a way to beat UConn.
I saw performances of some players on UConn at times this season that would have them sitting on the PC bench and performances by a few PC players at times this season that would have them competing for starter minutes at UConn.
Just win
Stop all this our guys are better than your guys crap. I felt that UConn was better on paper than Xavier but that was not the case on that particular day.

I don’t think Xavier is a better team overall than us, but they match up extremely well and are extremely well coached

 

[Tenspro2002]

So we’re not going deep in March if we don’t beat Providence on January 4th?! So, so clueless. Going deep in March has nothing to do with winning games you’re supposed to “win on paper” in early January. It has to do with peaking at that time, matchups, being healthy and often a bounce or two going your way. This game isn’t a layup and we’ve been getting by teams like Butler and Georgetown that Providence and Butler just blew out respectively. You could argue that’s because we have a target on our back. I would argue that your take is clueless.

"Peaking at the right time" is something that should concern us the way the team has looked over the last 3 games, given that it seems like we peaked late November/early December.

Yes, this game won't be easy, and yes, there is plenty of time to peak again later in the year, but this is a game that a #1 seed-type team should be able to control start to finish.

 

[CheshireCat]

No I didn’t…….

Also why is Karaban in this discussion? Carter can’t play the 4. Newton is by far the better fit next to Hawkins and Jackson. Carter wouldn’t start. I said Croswell wouldn’t play not start lmaoo. My point is still very much in tact. No one outside of Hopkins would start on this UConn team.

Ummm - you could play a smaller lineup and put Jackson at the 4 if you absolutely think Hawkins must be in over Carter. I love Jordan - silky smooth and my favorite to watch, but Carter has taken his game to another level since league play started. Everyone keeps saying we aren’t getting to the free throw line, and all Carter and Hopkins do is attack the basket.

I think the drop off behind Carter and Hawkins is big. Joey C Vs Breed, etc.

 

[auror]

What Cooley did last year was screen sanogo under the basket so the guards can get by for an easy layup. They ran that play over and over and over. Similarly to what Xavier and nova have done. The only difference with Xavier and Nova being that they ISO’s either Karaban or Hawkins.

If Hurley can’t adjust with the starting lineup that’s out there, we may have to switch it up early. That includes our offense. If teams are going to sag on Jackson and dare him to shoot, we have to make the switch faster. Jackson cannot be shooting threes. A lineup of Joey C/Diarra/Newton, Hawkins/Joey C/Alleyne, Jackson, Sanogo, Clingan

The fans and teams of every college we’re going to to play against from here on out knows that all they have to do is get under Jackson and Hurley’s skin and they’ll get T’s. They’re going to go after Jackson a lot more. The refs are now waiting to T up Danny

Add all that in with one of the craziest homecourts in college basketball, it’s going to make for a very close and intense game

I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Mostly because Sanogo didn't play in the game vs. them last year.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Mostly because Sanogo didn't play in the game vs. them last year.

Providence Scouting Report

Providence: 12-3 Kenpom Rating: 43 Overall Strength of Schedule: 212th (10th easiest non-con) Best wins: 103-98 (2 OT) v #29 Marquette Bryce Hopkins: 29 points, 23 rebounds, 13-18 FTs Croswell and Carter w/ 20 points 72-52 @ #83 DePaul Devin Carter: 21 points, 3 assists Ed Croswell: 15...

the-boneyard.com

 

[Jbirdp5]

PC is not a team to be looked past. I don't care if they have all 5* or all walk-ons. They are always prepared to play UConn and no matter who is coaching them they seem to find a way to beat UConn.
I saw performances of some players on UConn at times this season that would have them sitting on the PC bench and performances by a few PC players at times this season that would have them competing for starter minutes at UConn.
Just win
Stop all this our guys are better than your guys crap. I felt that UConn was better on paper than Xavier but that was not the case on that particular day.

Agree with this. If you start comparing rosters we shouldn’t have much to worry about the rest of the season. However when you start dealing with the expectations on this team, the target on our back, and the away environments a team like PC can certainly pick us off if our mindset is not right. I would like to think the Xavier game was a small blip for us but I am certainly worried about our next few games and how we respond.

 

[KingAG]

Ummm - you could play a smaller lineup and put Jackson at the 4 if you absolutely think Hawkins must be in over Carter. I love Jordan - silky smooth and my favorite to watch, but Carter has taken his game to another level since league play started. Everyone keeps saying we aren’t getting to the free throw line, and all Carter and Hopkins do is attack the basket.

I think the drop off behind Carter and Hawkins is big. Joey C Vs Breed, etc.

I just think you’re wrong. But We’ll see. If we had PCs roster with the schedule we’ve played we wouldn’t be 14-1 or 12-3 for that matter.

 

[CheshireCat]

I just think you’re wrong. But We’ll see. If we had PCs roster with the schedule we’ve played we wouldn’t be 14-1 or 12-3 for that matter.

Fair enough...and of course not!

 

[Hunt for 7]

I would love to see Newton have a good game. From the look on his face in the Xavier game he needs to regain some confidence. But he is not a pg. He scores by shooting stationary threes and posting up the smaller pg that is probably blowing by him at the other end getting lay ups.

 

[Scrutineer]

PC is not a team to be looked past. I don't care if they have all 5* or all walk-ons. They are always prepared to play UConn and no matter who is coaching them they seem to find a way to beat UConn.
I saw performances of some players on UConn at times this season that would have them sitting on the PC bench and performances by a few PC players at times this season that would have them competing for starter minutes at UConn.
Just win
Stop all this our guys are better than your guys crap. I felt that UConn was better on paper than Xavier but that was not the case on that particular day.

The way I read the history we're 29-19 against them, so your statement about "no matter who is coaching them they seem to find a was to beat UConn" is a bit of a reach.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Update report time!

Providence: 20-7 (8-4 since last time we played them)
Kenpom Rating: #29 (#43 last time we played them​

OFFENSE: 19th in the nation (31st since last matchup)

Big East Rankings:

• 1st in FTA/FGA (38.2%)
• 2nd in offensive rebounding rate (33.5%)
• 3rd in 75.3 ft%
• 5th in
  • 49.1 2p%
  • Turnover rate (17.3%)
• 6th in A/FGM (53%)
• 8th in 3PA/FGA (30.8%)
• 9th in quickest average length of possession (18.4 seconds)

DEFENSE: 65th in the nation (69th since last matchup)

Big East Rankings:

• 1st in 3p% (27.6%)
• 3rd in
  • 33.1% 3PA/FGA
  • 46.9 A/FGA
  • Defensive rebounding rate
  • Quickest opponent possession rate (16.9 seconds)
• 4th in block %
• 5th in 29.2 FTA/FGA
• 8th in steal rate
• 9th 51.5 2p%

Top Performers in the last 30 days:

• Bryce Hopkins: 17.7p, 9.3r, 2.7a, 1.3s, 1.1b, 1.4 3PM, 82.4 ft%
• Devin Carter: 14.0p, 7.1r, 3.6a, 1.4s, 1.0b, 1.0 3PM, 75.0 ft%
• Ed Croswell: 13.9p, 6.3r, 1.0s, 0.9b
• Noah Locke: 12.0p, 3.rd, 2.1 3PM, 5.0 fg%

A lot of points on this game have been discussed in other threads. To me, the biggest story not mentioned much is Jared Bynum’s return to inefficiency: after injuring his abdomen during the previous matchup, Bynum has shot just 39.4% from inside the arc (but a passable 33.3 3p% in that span too).

Last game, UConn lost the three-point (5-22 vs 8-18) and the free-throw battle (29-35 vs 10-19), so a regression to the mean is expected here.

 

[Billy Jack]

Who is carter staring over. Croswell isn’t getting minutes with Sanogo and Clingan manning the position. Try again

Carter is starting over Jackson. And I want Bynum running my team over Newton.