Scouting Report: Providence Friars

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Welcome to March Madness! There is a different type of buzz in the air this time of year for college basketball fans. However, for Big Blue Nation, there is also a feeling of anticipation mixed with a little bit of dread. After all, it has been since March 29, 2019 that the Kentucky Wildcats won a NCAA Tournament game. If that seems like a lifetime ago it is because it was. Since then we lived through the tournament getting cancelled in 2020, a dreadful 9-16 season, and then last season’s first round loss to #15 seed Saint Peter’s. Friday night will offer a new opportunity though against the Providence Friars.

The Friars began the season 14-3 and a perfect 6-0 in the Big East to catapult to #19 in the AP Poll. They eventually peaked at #17 a couple of weeks later with a 17-5, 9-2 record. However, Coach Ed Cooley’s team went just 4-6 down the stretch including losing three straight and four of their last five games. In all four of those recent losses Providence trailed by at least 22 points. This is a team that is limping into the month of March. During that recent 10 game stretch, per Bart Torvik, Providence ranks 208th in defensive efficiency and 309th in two-point percentage at 46.2%. That is not a winning recipe for March Madness.

If you are looking for the silver-lining of this Friars team it would be that they are a veteran group with great balance. Providence starts three seniors alongside two sophomore transfers. All five regular starters average in double-figures. This is a team, similar to Kentucky, that relies heavily on their starting five for production. Both teams in bottom third of bench minutes nationally. Big Blue Nation should remember the Friars leading scorer well as Bryce Hopkins was on the Wildcats sideline a year ago. Hopkins has gone from a fringe rotation piece to an All-Big East performer averaging 16.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. However, he isn’t the only familiar face on the opposing sideline. Devin Carter (South Carolina) and Noah Locke (Florida/Louisville) have faced the ‘Cats before as well.

We’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room to get you ready for some NCAA Tournament basketball. All that matters now is surviving and advancing. To help prepare for Friday night’s game we have done a full personnel deep-dive, broken down their offensive and defensive schemes, and provided the overall keys to the game. Let’s dive on in and get to know more about the Providence Friars.

Providence Friars Personnel

Starters

#4 Jared Bynum: 5’10” 180 lbs, Graduate Student Point Guard

10.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.3 apg

Point Guard. Better as a driver than a shooter. Nearly half of his shots have been 3’s, but just 31.9%. Need to stay between him and the basket. You can hop underneath the ballscreens and handoffs. Very low percentage shooting behind the ballscreen. 5-29 from 3 off the ballscreen. Do not want to let him turn the corner off the ballscreen. He is looking to get all the way to the rim to lay it in. Make him score over you. The deeper he drives it with you in front the more he is driving to pass. Do not over help when he drives. He is a better passer than he is as a finisher. Get the ball stopped in transition. Just be there to put a hand up and contest his catch-and-shoot 3’s. Would rather make him shoot from the perimeter than give up layups. Absolutely no layups.

#22 Devin Carter: 6’3″ 195 lbs, Sophomore Guard

13.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.4 apg

Athletic wing. Capable shooter, but better as a right hand driver. 34-110 from 3, 30.9%. You need to be there to give a hard contest to his catch-and-shoot 3’s. You can help off of him but then recover enough to take away the obvious catch-and-shoot 3’s. Once you take away the initial catch-and-shoot you need to bounce back and guard against the right hand drives. No right hand drives! He is more aggressive as a right hand driver. Stay down on the shot fakes. Not that worried about him taking contested jump shots. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. You can up through the downscreens and flares. Just meet him on the other side ready to contest. Contest all of the pull-up jumpers. Likes to spin back to his right to finish. No uncontested 3’s. No right hand layups.

#10 Noah Locke: 6’3″ 210 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

11.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.9 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 180 of 297 shots have been 3’s! 38.9% from 3. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the 3’s. Absolutely no help off him. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. CHASE him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Be ready to SWITCH anytime there is too much space and switch OUT to take away the 3’s. Need to give good help at the point of the screen because he likes to curl into a jump shot or short drive. If he curls into your chest just switch it. Have to contest all of the jump shots. Find him in transition. Always the next most dangerous guy when he is in there. We want to make him drive it and then contest the pull-ups. Communicate the screening action and fight over it. Absolutely no 3’s!

#23 Bryce Hopkins: 6’7″ 220 lbs, Sophomore Forward

16.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.3 apg

Versatile, skilled 4-man. Very physical driver. He wants to attack off of the dribble and play through your chest. No right hand drives!!! He loves to go left and then spin back right at the end of his drives. Always coming back to his right hand! Be ready to take a charge or come steal it when he spins back right. Have to play him as straight up as possible. Very capable shooter. 28-74 from 3, 37.8%. Be there to give a hard contest to the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Closeout to take away the initial catch-and-shoot and then bounce back to guard against the right hand drive. More of a driver than a shooter. Make him uncomfortable when he has it. Be physical, wall up, and make him finish over you around the basket. Box him out. No catch-and-shoot 3’s. No right hand drives!

#5 Ed Croswell: 6’8″ 240 lbs, Redshirt Senior Forward

13.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 0.7 apg

Physical, undersized 5-man. Spends a lot of time on the perimeter in their 5-out ballscreen/handoff continuity, but he is a non-shooter. Only attempted two 3’s on the year. You do not need to guard him out there. Play off of him and help contain dribble penetration. Will ballscreen/handoff and roll hard to the rim. Stay lower than him on the roll to take away the dunks and layups. He will slip ballscreens as well. Looking for deep post catches on the block. Always trying to duck you in. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Averaging 3.9 offensive rebounds per game. You have to be physical and box him out. No left shoulder baskets. Foul if you are beat. No And-1’s.

Bench

#0 Alyn Breed: 6’3″ 190 lbs, Junior Guard

4.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.5 apg

Backup point guard that started their last game. Much more of a driver than a shooter. Just 13-47 from 3, 27.7%. Stay between him and the basket. No right hand drives! Hop underneath the ballscreens and handoffs. We want to contain all of his penetration and keep him from turning the corner off of ballscreens and handoffs. Closeout short to him on the perimeter. Stay down at the end of his drives. He is going to shot fake, pivot, and try to get back to his right hand. Make him finish over you. Don’t over help when he drives, especially when he is driving left. We would rather make him finish contested 2’s than kick to a shooter. Just throw a hand up to contest his catch-and-shoot 3’s. Stay between him and the basket. Absolutely no layups for him!

#21 Clifton Moore: 6’11” 240 lbs, Graduate Student Forward

4.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.3 apg

Backup 5-man. He will step out and shoot it a little bit, but just 6-22 from 3. Throw a hand up to contest if he shoots from the perimeter. Be a little tighter to him in the mid-range. Those are the ones he can make. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Need to be physical and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Be ready to give a hard contest to the turnaround jumper. He will spin to his left shoulder and shoot the little fadeaway. Contest it. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Stay lower than him on the roll. Make him score over you. Excellent offensive rebounder. Be physical and box him out. No left shoulder baskets. No layups or dunks for him.

#14 Corey Floyd, Jr.: 6’4″ 210 lbs, Redshirt Freshman Guard

2.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.4 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 31 of 55 shots have been 3’s. Shooting 41.9% from 3. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Absolutely no help off of him. CHASE him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Be ready to SWITCH anytime there is too much space and switch OUT to take away the 3’s. Really hunting 3’s in transition. You have to find him in transition. He is generally in there when #10 Locke is out so he will be the next most dangerous guy. Make him drive it. Not nearly as effective, or as aggressive, off of the dribble. Make him scored contested 2’s off of the dribble. Do not help off him. Chase him off downscreens. No 3’s!!!

#1 Jayden Pierre: 6’2″ 170 lbs, Freshman Guard

2.6 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 2.0 apg

Backup point guard. Will handle the ball quite a bit when he is in there. Very capable shooter! 12-22 from 3. Shooting a significantly better percentage from 3 than he is from 2. Have to be tight enough to him to take away the obvious 3 point attempts. Still much more aggressive as a driver despite his high percentage from 3. No right hand drives! You need to be out there to take away the initial catch-and-shoot, and break his rhythm off of the dribble, but then bounce back and contain the penetration. Do not over help when he drives! He is a much better passer than he is as a finisher. 37.7% from 2 on the season. Make him score contested 2’s over you. You can hop under the ballscreens, but be ready to contest. No uncontested 3’s!

Providence Friars Offense

The Providence Friars have made their money this season on the offensive end of the floor. They boast the 16th best offensive efficiency per KenPom led by placing all five of their starters in double-figures. Coach Cooley relies on a lot of ballscreen and handoff continuity to keep the ball moving and open up driving lanes. In order to maximize the driving lanes they will often lift their opposite post guy creating a 5-out look to their offense a lot of the time. They will play three guards at all times plus Bryce Hopkins at the four who is a skilled, versatile player. In terms of set plays, they run a lot of high-low looks for Hopkins and undersized 5-man Ed Croswell. Above all else we have to contain penetration and then take away three-pointers from #10 Noah Locke.

Here is a look at the Providence Friars ballscreen/handoff continuity. Often times after rolling to the basket and changing sides of the floor their opposite forward will lift back up to swing the basketball. In this clip you get a feel for the way the ball moves, how open the paint is for penetration, and what we need to pay attention to in terms of help defense. There is no reason to over help when #4 Bynum is driving it left. #22 Carter isn’t exactly a true “shooter” but he is good enough on the catch-and-shoot that we want to take it away. There is no reason to help off of him on a left hand drive by Bynum. Be disciplined!

Providence will run quite a bit of floppy action for #10 Noah Locke. He is an elite shooter so you have to chase him, but he is very good at curling into space and shooting the little pull up jump shot or floater. The help here has to come from our man guarding the SCREENER. Have an arm out in the passing lane and try to make him curl right into your chest. If he does curl into your chest then just switch it. There is too much space here for Locke to play in coming off of the baseline pindown. Still, at the end of the day, if we make him score semi-contested floaters going to his left all night we will live with the results.

When Coach Cooley calls a set play, it generally will be for some sort of a high-low look. Both #23 Hopkins and #5 Croswell are physical players who can duck you in around the basket. They are each good passers as well which allows them to effectively enter the ball to each other. Do not let yourself get ducked in. Be physical, work around in front to remove him from the spot, and then stay down to make him score over you.

When the Providence Friars run more of their true motion style offense sometimes it starts to look like inside triangle. They have two guards, or feeders, out on the perimeter and then three-man motion on the interior. This is really effective when you have a shooter like #10 Locke alongside forwards such as #23 Hopkins and #5 Croswell. As the baseline screening action occurs you have to be ready for Croswell to try and duck you in. Be physical and don’t allow him to get a deep post catch. Make him score over you!

You have to be ready for the way that Bryce Hopkins is going to drive it at you. He is skilled, physical, and very aggressive off of the bounce. However, he is also high enough percentage from 3 that you have to be there to take away the obvious catch-and-shoot 3’s. Providence will flash Hopkins to the elbow for isolations as you see in this clip above. #5 Croswell cuts through and Hopkins drives it right off of his back side. This is good defense initially by Xavier to force Hopkins back towards the help, but the help never comes. Pick your spots and then aggressively come make him give it up or take it off of him.

Here is another look at the Providence Friars ballscreen/handoff continuity. As you see they really like to lift their opposite forward to keep a 5-out sort of look. This maximizes driving lanes by keeping the area around the basket completely open. They will “zoom” into the ballscreen/handoff some as well like you see here with #4 Bynum down screening for #0 Breed. We would prefer to hop underneath when guarding Breed, but there should be places to help from if we need to. UConn could have helped a little more off of #23 Hopkins at the top of the key, but overall this isn’t bad defense. You have to decide what you are willing to give up and this is a shot we can live with. Make them make contested 2’s going to their left and we will win the game.

Providence Friars Defense

On the defensive end, the Providence Friars have struggled this season. They are primarily a man-to-man team, but they will mix in some zone defense. About 5% of their defensive possessions, per Synergy, have been zone. Their man-to-man defense is shaky because they really struggle to guard screening action. Both ballscreens and any sort of off-ball screening action has been very effective for teams against the Friars. Then, they also really struggle to guard posts up due to their lack of size. Already sitting outside of the Top 100 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency, Providence is even worse of late. During their recent 10 game stretch, of which they have lost six games, the Friars clock in at just 208th nationally on the defensive end of the floor.

Keys to the Game

Contain #23 Hopkins. Very aggressive off of the dribble. Be physical at the end of his drives. Always coming back right. Be ready to take a charge or come steal it off of him when he spins back right. Make him score over you. More shots than points for him.
No 3’s for #10 Locke, #14 Floyd Jr. These are the to Providence Friars that are HUNTING 3’s. Chase them off of downscreens and get over the flares. Absolutely no help off of them. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Hold these two to no more than 3 combined 3’s.
Dominate the glass. Providence relies heavily on scoring from offensive rebounding. We have to end possessions with a defensive rebound. 77% or better on the defensive glass.
Shoot 75% or better at the free throw line.