St. Johns Opens -2 | Syracusefan.com

St. Johns Opens -2

From my preview:

"ST. JOHN’S was 17-15 last year. Coach Mike Anderson “has recruited the city pretty well and has brought with him a tough, quick, physical style of play that seems to befit a program located in Jamaica, NY”. Two-time All Big East guard Posh (Port Out, Starboard Home) Alexander, (13.8p 5.5a, 2.3s). The Johnnies averaged 18.8 assists per game, tops in the nation. Alexander was also co-defensive player of the year in the conference. He will be a challenge for whoever we have playing the point. Still, Anderson brought in Illinois’ point guard, 6-1 Andre Curbelo, a former Top 50 recruit, (7.5p 3.1r 3.2a). Star big man Julian Champagne, jumped to the pros but DePaul’s David Jones, (6-6 195 14.5p 7.4r) transferred in. 6-11 250 Joel Soriano, (6.4p, 5.5r) mans the middle. It’s a tough, defensive-oriented team and just the sort of old Big East rival that has given us trouble over the years. "
 
This is gonna be a pretty big shift for our guys in terms of playing style. While Richmond was content to wait until there were 15 seconds left on the shot clock to initiate anything, St. John's really likes to run and get shots off early and crash the offensive glass. Mike Anderson is a Nolan Richardson disciple and his "40 Minutes of Hell" style is alive and well. They're the prototypical team you don't want to play on a quick turnaround, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good opportunity.

Benny and Bell will need to have better rebounding showings than they had last night and the guards will need to hang back because St. John's is going to try to get shots up before the zone can get set. I wouldn't be surprised to see us down early considering Joe and Jesse's lack of speed and the general inexperience elsewhere on the roster. But I can also see a window for Maliq to play a role after being a non-factor against Richmond.

For our offense, the Johnnies are pretty small so we'll want to feed Jesse early and hope he gets a better whistle than he got on Monday so he can stay on the floor. St. John's allows lots of three-point attempts so we just need to make sure the looks are clean.
 
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This is gonna be a pretty big shift for our guys in terms of playing style. While Richmond was content to wait until there were 15 seconds left on the shot clock to initiate anything, St. John's really likes to run and get shots off early and crash the offensive glass. Mike Anderson is a Nolan Richardson disciple and his "40 Minutes of Hell" style is alive and well. They're the prototypical team you don't want to play on a quick turnaround, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good opportunity.

Benny and Bell will need to have better rebounding showings than they had last night and the guards will need to hang back because St. John's is going to try to get shots up before the zone can get set. I wouldn't be surprised to see us down early considering Joe and Jesse's lack of speed and the general inexperience elsewhere on the roster. But I can also see a window for Maliq to play a role after being a non-factor against Richmond.

For our offense, the Johnnies are pretty small so we'll want to feed Jesse early and hope he gets a better whistle than he got on Monday so he can stay on the floor. St. John's allows lots of three-point attempts so we just need to make sure the looks are clean.

Their center is 6-11 260... small at guard but physical and strong except for Curbelo.
 
This will be a playground style game. We have some guys who can play that style this year but Joe worries me with how physical they will be. Judah will have a chance to shine as will Benny if he plays aggressive. Really don't like this matchup. They are kind of like Rutgers from two years ago playing the 40 mins of hell style.
 
This will be a playground style game. We have some guys who can play that style this year but Joe worries me with how physical they will be. Judah will have a chance to shine as will Benny if he plays aggressive. Really don't like this matchup. They are kind of like Rutgers from two years ago playing the 40 mins of hell style.
I worry about physical and aggressive teams. This is going to be tough.
 
Be nice to pick up another win but man it's depressing to be underdogs vs St Johns.
 
tell JB that, he needs to hear this. WE WILL PLAY OUR BEST GUYS, LIKE MOST TEAMS DO!!

I am cautiously optimistic both will see some minutes. No way Benny and Bell will be in any sort of shape to play 30+ minutes again especially Bell.
 
I am cautiously optimistic both will see some minutes. No way Benny and Bell will be in any sort of shape to play 30+ minutes again especially Bell.

So long as Copeland isn't sick or hurt he is built for this kind of game in the Josh Pace mold. Extra ball handler, gets to the rim and can hit the boards. His sloppiness is the concern for me. That said he plays aggressively and isnt afraid which against a team like St Johns we need that.
 
So long as Copeland isn't sick or hurt he is built for this kind of game in the Josh Pace mold. Extra ball handler, gets to the rim and can hit the boards. His sloppiness is the concern for me. That said he plays aggressively and isnt afraid which against a team like St Johns we need that.
Agreed! Symir could be big tonight too.
 
Agreed! Symir could be big tonight too.

Finding a way to be comfortable against this style of play is key. Attacking the rim off the bounce is a way to do so and force them to adjust. Easier said than done. Symir has been a mess on offense so far this year. Indecisive on his drives and feeding the post especially.
 
This is gonna be a pretty big shift for our guys in terms of playing style. While Richmond was content to wait until there were 15 seconds left on the shot clock to initiate anything, St. John's really likes to run and get shots off early and crash the offensive glass. Mike Anderson is a Nolan Richardson disciple and his "40 Minutes of Hell" style is alive and well. They're the prototypical team you don't want to play on a quick turnaround, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good opportunity.

Benny and Bell will need to have better rebounding showings than they had last night and the guards will need to hang back because St. John's is going to try to get shots up before the zone can get set. I wouldn't be surprised to see us down early considering Joe and Jesse's lack of speed and the general inexperience elsewhere on the roster. But I can also see a window for Maliq to play a role after being a non-factor against Richmond.

For our offense, the Johnnies are pretty small so we'll want to feed Jesse early and hope he gets a better whistle than he got on Monday so he can stay on the floor. St. John's allows lots of three-point attempts so we just need to make sure the looks are clean.
Might be one of those opportunities where the other team struggles as they had no time to prepare for the zone. I always used to say that if a JB coached team wins the first game of the “weekend” (as in first round, sweet sixteen, etc), then has a really good chance to win the next game as the 2-3 zone is hard to prepare for on short notice.
 
Think we match up well. We have finally have some athletes . Taking Cuse and the spread
now its st johns by 3.5...i guess the money is going for the red storm

probably wait and the line will keep moving even more
 

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