PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It’s easy to see the 111-87 final score and think Providence had a good night against Sacred Heart. That’s certainly true, as the Friars shot nearly 54 percent from the field, including a 13-30 showing from behind the arc, and forced 22 turnovers. But as is usually the case at this time of the year, the end result doesn’t tell the whole story. There were potentially two bigger bright spots on this evening: Marshon Brooks and Sharaud Curry.
Brooks is a microcosm of this, as it’s easy to see his career-high 30 points – which was eight more than his point total in the first two games (22) and nearly half of his point total all of last season – as well as 5-8 showing from behind the line and think of the good night he had. He had 24 of those points in the first half, already setting a career high. It’s safe to say that he could be starting a major breakout season.
Last season, Brooks had a lot of the usual issues that the majority of freshmen have in college basketball. His minutes were inconsistent, which didn’t help his play, and on a veteran team he looked like a player of the future and not the present. He was well away from his Georgia home, which can be a bigger adjustment than some realize. But the biggest thing that is different for him this season – and there are several things, like the new coaching staff and that it’s a different season – is that he knows things now that he didn’t back then.
“Being a freshman, you didn’t know what to expect coming to the college game,” said the sophomore wing. “I started coming along towards the end of the season, when I started learning the college game a little more.”
That Brooks was viewed by most as a player of the future isn’t surprising. He came in as a long and athletic wing who badly needed to add strength, especially for the Big East. It’s also not as if the Friars beat out the entire ACC and SEC to snag the Georgia product, as he didn’t have a host of high-major offers at all. Brooks played in just 18 of the team’s 31 games and averaged less than ten minutes per game. He made five three-pointers all season in 19 attempts. On Thursday, he made five three-pointers in the game, and needed just eight attempts to do it.
“Over the summer, coach Keno (Davis) made us shoot a thousand shots a day,” said Brooks, who noted that even his diet has changed from last year. “The guards took a thousand shots a day, and our jump shots got better.”
With Davis wanting to push the pace, it’s clear Brooks was going to have plenty of opportunities to have a role on this team as more than a bit player. So far, that seems to be the case, and he’s not slowing up. It’s not lost on his teammates that his improvement isn’t just physical in nature; he’s clearly more comfortable now both on and off the court.
“He listens and asks for advice out there, and he wants to get better,” Curry, who also hails from Georgia, said of Brooks. “Gaining experience last year is helping him this year.”
For his part, Curry had 15 points and eight assists with just two turnovers. But once again, don’t look at the numbers. Look at how he played and how he looked. In his case, that’s probably more important, because prior to the season he lacked quickness and explosiveness. He hasn’t acquired it all back, but there was clearly a difference and it showed in the results.
“I just had to get back out there, and I’m starting to get more and more comfortable every time out there,” said the junior guard.
Last season, the difficulty of not having Curry or a true point guard in reserve was obvious. The Friars’ offense never had any consistency, and they often lived and died by three-point shots. Making matters worse is that all too often, they settled for a lot of those shots instead of taking them in the flow of an offense. The Friars tried the departed Dwain Williams, and although he gave a good effort, he’s simply not a point guard. Jeff Xavier and Weyinmi Efejuku had a few moments at the position, but the result was the same.
The hope for this season was that Curry would be healthy. While he isn’t quite there yet, and at times it hasn’t helped, the signs are better. This week is a test with three games in five days, but that Curry appears to be getting better is a good sign physically and in terms of managing his situation. He’s also getting his touch back overall.
“I think I’m starting to get it back. There was definitely a little rust,” said Curry. “Anytime you take a year off of anything, you’re not going to be the same that you were.”
The results have borne out his improvement and the effect on the team. With Curry improving, the Friars scored at least 100 points in two straight games for the first time since the 1990-91 season (when they did that twice). The offense looks better, players have more defined roles, and the Friars are scoring. While the offense is also different under Davis, who likes to push the pace, there’s a clear difference in this team at that end of the floor.
That, along with the development of Brooks, is potentially much bigger than just a 111-point outing like the one they had on Thursday night.
