Inside Friartown - Volume V - Providence College Athletics

Oct. 27, 2003

Our first ever Friar Fan Fest was a great success. There were a lot of families and young kids at the event who got a chance to hang around with our players as well as the other student-athletes from PC. Everyone signed autographs and participated in tours of the Dunk, our locker room as well as different carnival style games on the side of the court.

We didn't really know what to expect, but our marketing and promotions staff did a great job. I think it was a good idea to combine an event like that with our annual Mal Brown scrimmage so that fans can get a first look at our team. It was the first time we've done that at the Dunk, and I'm sure it will be something we can build on in the future.

The ticket office was also on hand promoting our season ticket sales, and each of the prime seats that were still available was marked with a yellow sheet of paper. Fans could actually go and sit in the seats that were available to see if they wanted to purchase them. After years of hearing people say they were unable to upgrade their seats, I think this was a great idea. Obviously the new Friars Forever campaign has gone very well because there are very few prime seats available, but there still are some opportunities to purchase great seats.

While the game is a great chance for a first look at this year's team, it really comes at a time when we are not ready for a full scrimmage. Going into Saturday afternoon we had only had 7 practices, and we had our guys up for a 7:45 AM practice in the morning to make sure we got our work in. Despite that, there are some things we can take away and it is certainly a chance to learn more about our team.

Game Shape

The first thing Coach told the guys after the scrimmage was that we are ready to play about a fifteen-minute game. The last 5 minutes of the second session was really poor as guys gave in to fatigue. We have to condition our guys to play 40 minutes of intense, high-level basketball, and we certainly are not there yet. While we don't expect to be after only one week of practice, it is great for guys to get on the floor and see it for themselves. We need to continue to get in better shape. Sheiku Kabba played 42 minutes last year in our Seton Hall game at home, and that was at a pretty high level of intense Big East basketball in a tight game. I don't think we are at the point where anyone could play 42 minutes in a Big East game.

Unselfish

We certainly missed some open men and our offensive execution was inconsistent at best and horrendous at other times, but we did seem intent on sharing the basketball. As a group we scored 27 baskets and had 17 assists, which is a pretty good ratio at this point in time. We have not spent a ton of time in practice on our offensive execution, and early in the year the defense is always ahead of the offense because effort can carry you a long way on D. On offense you need timing, spacing and good feel for each other, and that takes a little more time. So while it was not a pretty flow of offensive basketball, we did seem intent on sharing the ball. With the number of guys we have who can put the ball in the hoop, making the extra pass will be a big key for this team.

Guards

The highlight of our play had to be the play of our four guards. We are blessed with a lot of talent at the two guard positions, as well as a lot of experience. Sick and Ab have both played in a ton of games, and despite Donnie only being a sophomore he played an awful lot of basketball for us last year. Dwight is young but clearly showed he has a lot of natural talent. He also showed he can rebound the ball, which will certainly help if we want to go with 3 guards. Sick and Ab both made shots along with finding open teammates on the offensive end, and Donnie was his usual solid, tough self.

One question we will have to answer with this group is who will run the team when Donnie is not at the point. I think all 3 of the other guys can do it, but we have to settle in on who does the best job running the team. It is not easy to ask a scoring guard to move over and play some point and change his role.

After that, finding out how to get all of them on the court will be the biggest challenge. But having good guards is something any coaching staff wants.

Question Marks

Some of the questions are tough to answer. Are we going to do a good enough job on the glass? Tough to say, because someone from our team had to get every rebound. We didn't do a terrible job on the defensive glass, however, and a couple of guys (Herbert, Dwight) proved they can add a lift on the glass.

It was also tough to evaluate our team defense, because we've only been doing it for 7 practices. It has to improve, no doubt, but it is a process and we know we have to get better in both our man and our zone. We will have to get stops to get to where we need to be, and we know that. Over the last 11 games last year we only gave up about 62 points per game. We need to start the year at that level.

I'm glad the day worked out well. It seemed like our fans had a good time, and we got a chance to see our guys play in the Dunk for the first time. We have a lot of getting better to do, and we have four weeks to do it.

It will be good to answer some more questions against a different group of guys next Sunday in our first exhibition game.

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Nebraska on November 7, 2026 at TBA

Providence College Athletics

Inside Friartown - Volume V

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