Saturday afternoon’s 83-76 loss to Duke showed a different kind of Moe Harkless. Put it this way: As an analogy to a classroom, Moe Harkless came to St. John’s as an “A” student. He aced every test that was put in front of him, participated in class, was a model student. He was someone you could point to and say, “Him, right there. He is a great student.” But after his 30-point, 13-rebound performance at Cameron Indoor, Harkless is showing how he has grown from the “A” student into a player who can dominate in the future. The biggest knock on him during his time in Queens has been his lack of aggressiveness, at time, through the first 20 games of his career. Then what happened against Duke? On his first … [Read more...]

In the absence of head coach Steve Lavin, who continued to rest following prostate cancer surgery, Mike Dunlap’s team surrendered 21 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 14 times in a 78-64 loss Saturday evening at Carnesecca Arena. There were some who could have helped St. John’s rebounding deficiency. Problem was, they were spread out across the northeast; one in Philadelphia, one in New Hampshire, and one in Maine. But if you ask, this team will tell you ineligible players are no excuse, and they’re right. Systematically, there are ways for this team, with this size and depth, to win basketball games. Take a look at the loss against much more skilled and physical Arizona: the Red Storm were nearly even on the … [Read more...]

This post also appeared on NBC Sports Beyond the Arc. NEW YORK- Friday night’s heartbreaking 59-58 loss to Texas A&M showed, in just forty minutes of gametime, the range of emotions that St. John’s will endure this season. After lacking energy in the first half and falling behind by 11 in the first half, the Red Storm surged back to take the lead in the second half, up 58-57 with 22 seconds remaining. Texas A&M guard Elston Turner knocked down a jumper from the top of the with ten seconds remaining and St. John’s Nurideen Lindsey could not convert on either of two free throws with seconds remaining, allowing the Aggies to escape, 59-58. “What I shared with the team after was similar to last night, in terms of the … [Read more...]