PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Bryant was humbled in each of its first two outings of the season, which isn’t altogether shocking. They opened at No. 1 Indiana and then played nearby rival Providence, who might have been vulnerable but blitzed them with length and athleticism. This has happened before, but this time around it may be different – and better.
Head coach Tim O’Shea has always had a sense of perspective with his team, and now is no different. He looked at these games as opportunities, knowing his team isn’t as physically gifted but can still win if they play right. When they don’t come out on top, it’s a learning experience. At some point, getting pounded on the road often can add up, but that won’t happen this time because the Bulldogs have a better schedule.
Whereas in past years the Bulldogs would have several more road games against high-majors ahead, this time around they have home games on the slate. Their next game is at home against New Hampshire on Saturday, then four days later they head a few cities away to play Brown. Next month, four of their six games are at home and the toughest one by far is at Lehigh on December 29.
In other words, as demoralizing as the first two losses could be, this team has plenty of chances to both improve and have something to show for it on the bottom line.
“The good thing is, in the past we’ve had games like this and then we’d have six more games on the road,” said O’Shea. “Now we’ve got a chance to catch our breath with some home games.”
Bryant has completed its transition to Division I and is now eligible for the NCAA Tournament for the first time this year. This is the season O’Shea has been building up to since taking the job, and the Bulldogs have the personnel to be better than many expect considering they are coming off a 2-28 season a year ago. They return 10 letterwinners from last year, so there is a lot of continuity, and the addition of guards Dyami Starks and Joe O’Shea (Tim’s nephew) after sitting out last season as transfers will only help since they can take pressure off Frankie Dobbs and Corey Maynard.
The Bulldogs will miss Ben Altit, a promising big man who had to head home to Israel for mandatory military service, but they are still capable up front. Junior Alex Francis and senior Vlad Kondratyev give them experience there, with Francis being a first team All-Northeast Conference candidate.
The schedule is big, though, because as O’Shea mentioned, in past years it was one road game after another, and losses tend to add up. There’s no shame in losing at Indiana and at Providence – even a short-handed Friar team that has more length and athleticism than Bryant and O’Shea highlighted both – so it’s not that they lost games they should have won. But these are competitive kids and they want to win, not play someone close.
One area of concern early is on offense, and some of that comes from having two transfers start. O’Shea said he needs to tweak things at that end of the floor, in part to develop a post game. Francis is the only proven threat they have there, and naturally O’Shea would like to have at least one other player warrant some defensive attention inside. They have the shooters to make teams pay for it, but if teams can relax on the inside it will be tougher for the guards.
The big question entering this season for Bryant was how well the players would let last season be last season and not hurt the confidence for this season. It’s never fun to be on a 2-28 team, especially when they could easily have won a few more games. This is a team that could easily be much better this season, but intangibles will be big – and right away they will get tested from these two blowout losses.
“I think Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are big practices for us,” said O’Shea. “We’ve got to get in and get guys focused on New Hampshire. We’ve got to find a way to put this one on the side and move on.”
This time around, doing that will be easier for Bryant than in years past.
