St. John's Wins Opener

St. John’s opened the ’09-’10 season on Friday night by hosting the LIU Blackbirds at Carnesseca Arena. They were able to stave off a late LIU rally, and win by a comfortable 13 point margin, 83-70.

Just like we saw many times last year, this game was a tale of two halves. In the first period, the Red Storm came out strong and set the tempo. It appeared that the Blackbirds could not find an answer for the bigger and more athletic Red Storm squad. St. John’s stormed out of the gate to take a commanding lead early in the game, thanks in large part to Paris Horne. Horne and the rest of his teammates seemed to be knocking down 3-pointers at will during the early going, which allowed the ‘Storm to put up big numbers in the first half. St. John’s went into the break with a commanding 14 point lead, 50-36.

But it was a somewhat different story in the second half, as the Red Storm got complacent and allowed the Blackbirds back into the game. St. John’s started off the half strong however, going on a 13-8 run to start the period. But it was at that point that LIU was able to start slowly chipping away at the seemingly insurmountable St. John’s lead. They were able to shut the Red Storm down offensively, while steadily building up an offensive attack of the there own. The Blackbirds cut the St. John’s lead down to 7 with 1:11 remaining in the game. But they allowed St. John’s too much during the first half, and were unable to draw any closer. St. John’s bested the Blackbirds by a margin of 13, 83-70.

Coach Norm Roberts began his 6th season at the helm of the Red Storm by sending out Malik Boothe, Paris Horne, DJ Kennedy, Justin Burrell, and Sean Evans to start against the Blackbirds. While those 5 got the start, St. John’s deployed a deep bench against LIU, giving quality minutes to 9 different players, with interesting results. St. John’s had 5 players finish with double-digit point totals.

Paris Horne was the catalyst for the Red Storm’s impressive start to the game, as he knocked down threes and led the fast break on multiple occasions. Horne finished with 12 points on an impressive 5-10 shooting from the floor. He also chipped in with 5 rebounds in the blowout win.

DJ Kennedy led the 5 double-digits scorers with 16 points on 5-11 shooting from the floor. He had an impressive day from beyond the arc, going 4-7 from beyond the three point line. Kennedy made an argument for his role as St. John’s go-to-guy, as he was able to create separation from his defender and put himself in position for wide open shot opportunities. He also had an impressive day cleaning up the glass, grabbing a total of 7 rebounds.

Justin Burrell left his best game for the second half, when it was needed most. Burrell finished with 12 point, 8 of them in the second half. He was also the Red Storm’s leading rebounder, grabbing 8 boards in the victory. Burrell did not settle for questionable shots, as evidenced by his 6-9 shooting day. Burrell displayed a high basketball IQ against the Blackbirds, by selecting quality shots and playing well without the ball.

Sean Evans and Malik Boothe both struggled against the visiting Blackbirds. They both played like they forgot the season had started, looking lost against the lowly LIU squad. Evans was unable to use his size and strength to assert himself against the much smaller Blackbirds. Games like this are supposed to be when Evans can assert his dominance, but he was just simply unable to. He finished with 3 points and 4 rebounds. Malik Boothe also had a tough day on both ends of the court. Boothe seemed lost on the offensive end as well; unable to effectively captain the Red Storm during stretches of the game. He looked even more lost on the defensive end, serving as a turnstile that Jaytornah Wisseh frequently went through. But to his defense, Wisseh is a top-quality player, probably on the best point guards St. John’s will have to face this year.

A few players made their St. John’s debut on Friday, and they were impressive as a group.

Dwight Hardy, a juco transfer, played well in his debut with the Red Storm. He scored 14 points in the victory, to go along with 4 assists. He is billed as a proficient long range shooter, and he is certainly not afraid to launch the long ball. He shot 6 three-pointers against LIU, making 2 of them. It will be interesting to see the role that Norm Roberts has for him as the season progresses.

Omari Lawrence, perhaps St. John’s most highly touted new recruit; also shined in his debut. Lawrence saw quality minutes against the Blackbirds, and responded by scoring 7 points on 3-5 shooting.

Justin Brownlee was perhaps the most impressive player to make his debut against LIU, scoring 14 points to go along with 7 rebounds. Brownlee, another juco transfer, played a tenacious brand of basketball that was quite impressive for his first game in division 1. Brownlee asserted himself down low, out muscling the smaller LIU squad. He certainly made an argument for an increased role within the St. John’s rotation.

Did St. John’s pay attention to Calm Before the Storm’s “Key’s to Victory”? Here are St. John’s grades on the game.

Keys to Victory

Stop Wisseh: Jaytornah Wisseh had a great game, torching the Red Storm to the tune of 28 points. He is certainly an elite player, easily the best on the LIU squad. But at times he made it look to easy; or rather, St. John’s made it too easy for him. Malik Boothe was unable to either stop or contain Wisseh, giving him easy looks at the basket all game. Wisseh seemed to have Boothe’s number all night. But to be fair to Malik, no one else on St. John’s had any answer for Wisseh either. It was a good thing for St. John’s that no one else on LIU stepped up the way Wisseh did, because if they did it might have been a long night for the Red Storm.

Grade: C-

Zone Buster: St. John’s was able to crack the LIU defense during the early goings of the game, building up a seemingly insurmountable lead. But as the game wore on, the Red Storm increasingly had trouble moving the ball against the LIU zone defense. During most of the second half, St. John’s had trouble working the ball inside, and had to settle for bad shots. This allowed the Blackbirds to crawl back into the game. But St. John’s turned it up during the last minute, and were able to get the offense going to put the game away.

Grade: C

Establish Speed: St. John’s opened up the game by running wild on the slower and less athletic LIU squad, which allowed them to establish dominance during the first half. St. John’s ran the transition game well against LIU, spreading the ball around well during the fast break. LIU could not find any answers for the St. John’s blitzkrieg during the first half. St. John’s showed flashes of offensive dominance in the win, giving St. John’s fans hope that this team could become an offensive force within their conference. While their opponent was LIU, it is refreshing to see St. John’s run such an up-tempo style of basketball. It was certainly fun to watch.

Grade: B+

Defend Without Fouling: At times during the first half, it seemed like St. John’s was committing ticky-tack fouls that allowed the Blackbirds opportunities at free points. Although the problem really was not with the St. John’s big men. Malik Boothe got into foul trouble early, a result of having to guard Jaytornah Wisseh. Boothe committed 4 fouls during the game, most of them in the first half. Other than that, the Red Storm were decent with regards to not giving up unnecessary fouls. At points during the game, they played a high-intensity brand of defense without getting into too much foul trouble.

Grade: B

Be Efficient: St. John’s played an up-and-down game against the Blackbirds, going from playing exceedingly well to just plain bad at times. But overall, St. John’s did what they had to do to get the win, with a large margin of victory to boot. It was refreshing to see the St. John’s offense flow so well, as they ran an impressive transition game that confused the visiting Blackbirds. It is very early in the season, and hopefully the Red Storm will be able to build on what they did right Friday night, and improve what they did wrong.

Grade: B-

Overall Grade: B-