St. John’s basketball has long been defined by its rich and deep tradition.  It comes as no surprise when Johnnies greats are able to take their skills to the next level.  At last month’s graduation ceremony on the Queens campus, those in attendance got to see one Johnny take the next step toward a potential pro career, while witnessing a former Red Storm hero walk across the stage.

Walter Berry on the legendary cover of Sports Illustrated during the illustrious 1985 season.

Mason has since worked out with the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, and Indiana Pacers in the hopes of potentially being drafted or signing a free agent contract. Unfortunately, Mase’s five-year career with the Red Storm that was unfortunately marred by injuries over his final three seasons.  His statistics were not as gaudy as most Johnnies fans would have hoped, but Mason provided veteran leadership and an irreplaceable spark in former coach Norm Roberts’ lineup.

Arguably, Mason’s defining moment in a St. John’s uniform came at the end of the 2007-08 season, when his 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left gave St. John’s a dramatic 65-62 victory over Seton Hall at Carnesecca Arena; a win that became even more dramatic when Jeremy Hazell’s near-70-footer that would have tied it immediately after Mason’s trifecta gave the Johnnies the lead was disallowed by the officials.

Regardless of where the road of life takes both of these great players, Walter Berry and Anthony Mason Jr. have one thing in common that can never be taken from them: Their place in the long-standing and tradition-rich history of St. John’s basketball.


Jaden Daly is currently a freelance broadcaster and the former play-by-play voice of St. John’s basketball on WSJU Radio from 2007-2009. You can also find Daly on his own blog A Daly Dose of Hoops and Twitter at, @JadenDaly.

St. John’s 2010 Summer Basketball Camp: Two Sessions! Fundamentals and Fun!

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St. John’s University
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Norm Roberts left the program with a huge scholarship imbalance on the roster. When Omari Lawrence transferred out of the program it opened the door for potentially others to walk out as well. In the newest column on JohnnyJungle.com “Over the Airwaves” the opinions of WSJU Radio personalities Dan Martin and Timmy Dzeladini-Dimas will be on display on a hot topics of debate regarding St. John’s Basketball. The first assignment is what to do about the scholarship imbalance? Should anyone else transfer? Lets take a look at what they have to say.

At this point, I don’t expect St. John’s to push any more scholarship players out.Iif they were to let someone go, it would most likely be forward Rob Thomas. The Johnnies are crowded down low. They have five capable guys, though none of them can really take over a game. With Sean Evans, Justin Burrell, Justin Brownlee, and Dele Coker, Thomas seems to be the odd man out when it comes to rotation and playing time. Thomas is probably, the least “impact” of these guys, being that he is more of a “grind-it-out” player. He’ll get garbage points off rebounds, but he doesn’t demand any attention on the block. With this same lack of offensive production at the point, Coach Lavin cannot afford to have two offensive holes on the floor at the same time. He is one of the hardest working guys on the team who has overcome such adversity, but nagging injuries and inability to keep his weight absolutely in check have kept him down.

Quincy Roberts the forgotten Johnny. Can he get back to form? Get minutes?

After averaging 5 points per game his freshman year, Roberts played in four games this past season before being red-shirted. With guys like Polee and, perhaps, Barry coming in, players who would fill the same role as Roberts did, his minutes should be significantly cut. A coach brings guys in by selling a system and how that guy would fit into that system. Lavin clearly wants to use the speed and athleticism of Polee to run all game this year. In my mind, that’s not something Roberts can do.

Another point of interest on the Johnnies roster is Malik Stith. Averaging just over a single point and assist per game in eleven minutes his freshman year, he was essentially a carbon copy of starting point guard Malik Boothe. They share the same set of skills (distributor, ball-handler) and weaknesses (lack of ability to consistently get to the basket, weak outside game). To win in the Big East, you can’t have this kind of passiveness running the point. That’s why, I imagine, Stith’s heart was beating quickly when news surfaced that St. John’s was pursuing New York-born gem Doron Lamb, who has since committed to college basketball One-And-Done goliath Kentucky. Though Lamb was technically a shooting guard, he would have been more than capable of running the point.

With all of this said, it makes no sense to clean house entirely and bring in brand new recruits. Granted, there is better talent out there than what exists right now, but Lavin needs to remember that nine scholarships will open up after this season, giving him nearly free reign as to what direction he takes this program. That is why it makes sense to keep these kids around. If Malik Stith ends up being the 11th guy on your roster, you’ve got to have a pretty good team. You cannot discount the talent that exists. Every player has an upside that needs to be developed, that which I think was absent under Norm Roberts.

Dan Martin
St. John’s 2013
@Dan_MartinWSJU

I feel if Malik Stith is used properly, he can be a solid contributor off the bench. Last year, he really struggled at times to play his position but he showed also that he can get to the basket, draw fouls or create on the move at times. With playing time, he needs to be productive because if he wants to play in 2011; when Boothe leaves next year there is no guarantee that Stith gets the green light to be the starting point guard.

Quincy Roberts missed all of last season with a concussion. People questioned if he would transfer last year and that proved to be no. I don’t think he will transfer now and if I’m Lavin I don’t think I’d be trying to move players. Not the right image. He has to show he can be better then ex-coach Norm Roberts was with the players Norm had.

Steve Lavin instructing his phenom point guard Baron Davis at UCLA.

I think the player with more to gain or lose of the two is Stith. Lavin will look to recruit point guards, like one of his first recruits with UCLA, Baron Davis. If Stith can be a spark plug for this team off the bench with Hardy, Polee, Roberts this team can go far. Lavin will give him a lot of playing time so he needs to take what he gets and makes sure he seizes the opportunity.

With nine seniors on this team you have a bunch of veteran leadership that knows how to play the college game. Barry and Polee can ease their development for the first year and be the faces of this team next year when the starters graduate. Lavin can groom his new players the way he wants and then next year get kids that are semi developed for the college game and won’t need too much grooming. Lavin is a showman and right now his opening act is looking as good as it could be if not great in the short amount of time and little amount of moving room he has. Next year though, will be the intro to a long act.

Timmy Dzeladini-Dimas
St. John’s 2013
@TimmyD_WSJU

It was a warm day out in the city of Queens, New York. While many people were hitting the beach in anticipation for the summer, Steve Lavin and the St. John’s coaching staff (which included Mike Dunlap) were at the Elite Skills Camp in the Taffner Field house.

The Johnny’s had already received some good news prior to the camp when it was published that 6-foot-4 Nick Johnson ’11 of Findlay Prep was really into the school. Despite the hustle and bustle over the last month and a half, St. John’s is playing catch up better than the 2004 Boston Red Sox did when they came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

With over 50 players in attendance from primarily New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and the rest of the surrounding areas, it was a packed house. Despite Rice’s Jermaine Sanders ’11 not there, due to the S.A.T., big names from the classes of 2011, 2012 and 2013 showed up. Paterson Catholic’s Kyle Anderson ‘12, St. Patrick’s Austin Colbert and Jason Boswell ’13, Roy C. Ketcham High’s Ethan Telfair ’13 (who transferred from Lincoln a few months ago), St. Vincent’s-St. Mary’s JaKarr Sampson ’11, Our Savior New American’s Jevon Thomas ’13, NIA Prep’s Kelvin Amayo ’11, and even UConn-commit and the newest member of the South Kent basketball team, Maurice Harkless ’11. Those were just a few of the names who stood out!

“Yesterday was in a sense, our staffs coming out party and only having two and a half weeks to set it up we were very pleased,” remarked Assistant Coach Tony Chiles. “The turnout, talent, work effort was visible across the board. It was a great day for St. John’s Basketball and we hope it is the beginning of what’s to come.” Chiles, who came over from Drexel, was extremely proud of everything that happened. Both coaches and players alike were happy with the outcome.

“The camp was well run and I like the coaching staff,” said NIA Prep’s Kelvin Amayo ’11. “Their drills made you get after it.” More reviews came in and they were all positive.

St. John's head coach Steve Lavin with his mentor the late coach John Wooden. Image courtesy of Redstormsports.com

St. Patrick’s freshman Jason Boswell had similar thoughts. “Coach Lavin opened up the camp with a big speech about the late great Coach Wooden,” said Boswell, the cousin of Duke-signee Kyrie Irving. “We went into 6 stations. Those consisted of shooting, post play, ball handling, screen defense and agility. We ran by numerous people on the St. John’s staff when we went on a tour of the campus.”

Not only was the pasta and chicken good, but so was the competition. You know the camp had to be stacked when both Kyle Anderson and Maurice Harkless were playing on the same team!

More good news emerged for the Johnnies yesterday when Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com reported that Jermaine Sanders, despite not being in attendance, had plans to visit the Queens schools along with a few others this month. This was according to Sanders’ AAU Coach Kimani Young of New Heights.

The camp was like every other in that it included a tour of the gym and offices at the campus. Basic skills were evaluated through drills and live game sessions. Lunch was served, as well. The kids, parents and AAU coaches got a chance to interact with coaches and administrators, alike, during lunch. To wrap it up and put things in perspective, the one day camp was a success. Everyone who was a part of it did an excellent job at making the best of the situation.

St. John’s Administrator Derrick Wrobel summed it up by saying, “it was a very successful camp to say the least. There was a concerted team effort from a staff perspective.” Watch out for the Johnny’s to make some big moves in the coming year as the new staff looks to rebuild the program to what it once was.


Alex Kline is a high school recruiting expert who is a contributor to Zagsblog.com and Rivals.com. You can follow Alex on Twitter @TheRecruitScoop.

When Steve Lavin was first hired it was well known that he had intentions of putting together an All-Star staff. Slowly but surely it has taken form with the hiring of Tony Chiles, Rico Hines, and Derrick Wrobel.

Lavin stated in his press conference when he was announced as St. John’s 19th head coach:

In terms of staff, clearly I want to put in place talented, capable, hard-working and loyal assistant coaches. It’s critical that they have a familiarity not only with New York, and have an understanding of the unique dynamic of recruiting in this city at all levels, but also the Northeast. So assistant coaches that are familiar with the BIG EAST, the ACC — those recruiting territories are critical.

Naturally, in terms of Southern California, the West Coast, the Midwest, I’ve had experience in the Midwest as an assistant at Purdue and also covering the Big 10 for ESPN for seven years. So that part of the country I’m very familiar with and the West Coast is where I grew up and spent 12 years at UCLA. But don’t be mistaken, when you’re at UCLA, you’re recruiting coast-to-coast and you’re recruiting internationally.

Mike Dunlap (right) has worked hand-in-hand with interim head coach Russ Pernell. (Icon SMI)

Lavin hired a trio of coaches with experience and contacts in many parts of the country.  But Mike Dunlap was supposed to be the missing piece, the X and O tactician. But the deal hit some snags after it was prematurely reported on the JohnnyJungle.com that the deal was done.

Dunlap entertained some head coaching jobs in the interim, chasing the Oregon and Colorado positions but wasn’t hired for either.

St. John’s fans have been growing impatient, waiting to hear some news about both Mike Dunlap and Mo Hicks. They will have to keep waiting… until June 1st when they will both officially be announced as members of Steve Lavin’s staff, according to a source close to St. John’s Basketball program.

Dunlap will become one of if not the highest paid assistant coach in NCAA basketball while Mo Hicks will likely be one of the higher paid DOBO’s in the country as well.

According to sources, the deal took longer than expected as St. John’s administrators operated very cautiously taking their due diligence in signing off on the high salaries of both coaches.  But ultimately Steve Lavin got who and what he wanted.

When I told a source from the University of Arizona about the Dunlap deal being finalized he said, “[Dunlap] should be a head coach so he’s worth every penny. He’ll be the perfect compliment to (Steve) Lavin.”

The Red Storm still has one missing piece; the Video Coordinator as the last available spot on the staff.

Keep reading JohnnyJungle.com for all the latest news regarding St. John’s Basketball.

When St. John’s athletic director Chris Monasch made the decision to hire former UCLA coach Steve Lavin as the Red Storm’s newest leader this past March, there was more to the decision than just finding a marquee name to replace Norm Roberts, who had guided the Johnnies through six years marked by returning the integrity to a once-elite basketball program.

Lavin put Monasch’s vision on full display at his introductory press conference, and one could surmise that St. John’s had someone that wanted to be there and knew how to succeed in charge of the Red Storm program; a feeling that had been lacking on the corner of Union and Utopia since the 1990s, a decade that started under the great Lou Carnesecca and ended with Mike Jarvis guiding the Johnnies into the Elite Eight in 1999.

Steve Lavin was all smiles after being introduced as St. John's newest head coach. (Photo courtesy of redstormsports.com)

Lavin also managed to recruit NBA-caliber players, some of whom are still playing professionally.  Players like the Clippers’ Baron Davis (who was recently on the St. John’s campus) and the Rockets’ Trevor Ariza both starred under Lavin at Westwood before trying their hands at the next level.  Moreover, Lavin’s experience belies his tender age of 45 (he will turn 46 on September 4th). He was just 32 when he inherited a UCLA program rooted in success going back to their near-two-decade run as the best in the land under the great John Wooden.

Lavin also brings the ability to see the game from multiple angles, acquired from his seven-year stint as a color commentator and studio analyst for ESPN and ABC.  Lavin’s pairing with Brent Musburger allowed him to break down the game astutely while explaining its nuances in a simple fashion for his audience.  This particular view of the action (one I can personally relate to being a play-by-play announcer) should help Lavin and his players immensely as they battle in the Big East in 2010-11 campaign.

Lavin’s recruiting ability is another strength. St. John’s fans caught a glimpse of it earlier than expected when he was able to swoop in and sign Dwayne Polee of Westchester High School in Los Angeles.  The Johnnies are also in the running for fellow West Coast prospect Remi Barry, who has St. John’s firmly entrenched in his top three.

Lavin’s recruiting style can be described as sometimes unorthodox.  A source close to the UCLA program  told a great story of Lavin’s aggressive recruiting of Aaron Brooks, who now plays for the Houston Rockets.  Lavin made it a point to tell Brooks he was only coming to see him play, and it was something the coach publicly emphasized; riding an exercise bike before Brooks’ game while one of his assistant coaches sat in the stands.

Brooks ultimately signed with Oregon, but this unusual pitch did not diminish Lavin’s penchant to find creative ways to sell players on what he and his program had to offer.  He has managed to remain the center of attention regardless of where he is, and this desire to be in the limelight will only help St. John’s grow as a program and a brand in the college basketball world dominated by media, perception, and advertising.

Finally, Lavin brings one thing that anyone associated with St. John’s basketball has been clamoring for since Jarvis was dismissed.  Everyone – from the administration, to the staff, to men’s basketball SID Mark Fratto, to the media, and most importantly the fans – have been hoping for St. John’s to succeed once again and return to a spot among the nation’s elite.  Despite not having coached a game in any arena the Johnnies may play in over the next few years, Steve Lavin has already brought hope back to a program that has been craving it for some time.  That has helped him become the biggest thing to happen to St. John’s since Lou Carnesecca returned from his brief stint with the New York Nets in the old ABA.

With a team that returns all but two of its players from a season ago, including nine seniors, the next stop on the road to success may very well be the NCAA Tournament.  If Lavin is able to get there, he will almost certainly be deified by Red Storm fans.

They say hope springs eternal, and the vision to return to the promised land is probably the greatest asset that Steve Lavin brings with him to St. John’s.  The “Lovin’ Lavin” headlines that have been created throughout the New York metropolitan area over the past several weeks should have a long and prosperous shelf life as St. John’s continues to drive the long and winding highway back to redemption.


Jaden Daly is currently a freelance broadcaster and the former play-by-play voice of St. John’s basketball on WSJU Radio from 2007-2009. You can also find Daly on his own blog A Daly Dose of Hoops and Twitter at, @JadenDaly.

Updated 5/19/10 1:00 AM The New York Gauchos have confirmed the hire of Billy Singleton on their Twitter.

Since Maurice Hicks is taking the Director of Basketball operations job at St. John’s that leaves an opening for the New York Gauchos. The buzz around New York is that Billy Singleton is currently the favorite to take the position.

Singleton became the Director of Basketball operations under Norm Roberts in September of 2007. Singleton was a standout player for the Redstorm and graduated from the University in 1991. Singleton was a three-year letter winner at St. John’s and co-captain as a senior in 1991, playing for Hall of Fame Coach Lou Carnesecca and alongside greats such as Malik Sealy, Jayson Williams, Jason Buchanan and Robert Werdann. He played in 96 career contests, averaging 8.7 points per game and 5.7 rebounds with a .478 field goal percentage. He was a member of the 1989 St. John’s NIT Championship team, and is notably remembered for joining Sealy in carrying Carnesecca off the court following the coach’s 500th career win on Feb. 2, 1991.

Following commencement from St. John’s, Singleton enjoyed a 16-year playing career abroad, with stints in Australia, France, Uruguay, Ireland, Chile, Israel, Cyprus and most notably, England, where he remains among the British Basketball League’s (BBL) all-time scoring leaders. Singleton spent a combined 13 seasons playing in the BBL, capturing the league’s championship with the Leicester Raiders, Cheshire Jets and Scottish Rocks.

After spending one season as an assistant coach with the BBL’s Cheshire Jets, Singleton spent the 2005-07 seasons as head coach. With Cheshire, he was responsible for all on-court operations of the club, including: team selection, player development, practice and game preparation while also managing the team’s budget.

A native of the Bronx, Singleton attended Adlai E. Stevenson High School. He is the nephew of current Philadelphia 76ers television analyst Ed Pinckney, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1985 Final Four with Villanova before a 12-year NBA career.

Singleton has had long ties with the Gauchos organization so the move would make a lot of sense and would beneficial for St. John’s in the NYC recruiting wars.

Keep reading JohnnyJungle.com for all latest news regarding St. John’s Basketball.

*Singleton’s bio copied from RedStormSports.com

It’s been talked about, it’s been rumored, and we hoped it was solved. Omari Lawrence wasn’t happy with his playing time last season and didn’t click with coach Norm Roberts.

After Norm Roberts departure everyone exhaled thinking all the problems were over however Lawrence made mention on his facebook account last week that he was done with St. John’s in a day.

We chalked that up meaning that he was done with his finals. He was leaving schools for summer. He finished his freshman year however this wasn’t the case.

“I’m done with the Big East my boii” Lawrence tweeted. “It will be public Monday”

With the recruitment of Remi Barry we knew someone had to go but no St. John’s fan wanted it to be Omari Lawrence. We wish him the best of luck and hope he finds what he is looking for both athletically and academically.

The first of a series of five looks at the Red Storm’s players, position-by-position.

At times this season, Dwight Hardy looked like the savior, come down from community college to shoot that round thing from distance into the orange hoop – just like St. John’s fans have seen other teams do on television. Hardy was a glorious sight in yet another season of errant shots and scrums for offensive rebounds, an impact Junior College player. And throughout the season, fans complained about how Hardy was used, that he couldn’t get his shots off without having plays run for him.

Meanwhile, Ol’ Faithful Paris Horne was trying to get to the hoop, shooting his standstill jumper from the corners, playing decent defense, and playing like he always has – a very good athlete with hops but also with creative limitations. Some fans would say Dwight Hardy should have started more games, since he was a far superior offensive option. And those same people say the stats will bear that idea out.

Those people are wrong. (Somewhat.)  The stats don’t tell that tale.

Paris Horne was actually a better scorer in Big East play (see table below of non-conference, conference, and overall shooting numbers). He had his problems – discussed below – but perhaps experience overcame whatever was ailing him (be it physical or mental with his change in role). In Big East play, he increased his efficiency inside the arc and came back from a rough early-season slump from beyond the arc to once again be a solid 3-point shooting threat.

Meanwhile, Dwight Hardy – perhaps being a point of emphasis for opponents as St. John’s One True Threat from outside – saw his percentages drop like a stone. The shooting inside the arc went from surprisingly solid for a slim guard to a struggle (48.9% to 37% in conference play). And his three-point shooting – his calling card – also struggled. He wasn’t an Avery Patterson-level liability (Patterson shot 29% in Big East play while in the red and white), but 35% is a far cry from nearly 42% outside the arc.

The Big East defenses slowed down Green Light Dwight.

Horne vs Hardy: Shooting

Dwight Hardy. By IconSMI

D-Buckets

To this observer, Hardy needed to have more screens set for him, set plays to free him for a shot with a passer delivering the ball on time. But in the Red Storm offense, he who has the ball gets to drive for the shot. It worked at times. And as we know, it failed at others.

But it’s not as if Hardy was cheated for shots; he has his moves to free himself off the dribble, he got shots when the Red Storm was struggling. Despite common complaints, the offense did look for him to get hot fast and put that round thing in the hoop thing like on TV. Hardy gets to the line on occasion, and can hit his free throws credibly (certainly better than his teammates). Hardy doesn’t provide much else – a few defensive rebounds, the ability to bring the ball up in a pinch, a few steals, a few assists.

But this is not just about Hardy. Hardy and Horne often traded time on the court. And Hardy’s ability to get shots off was valuable; but his sometime-deficiency in keeping his opponent in front of him was a negative. That said, Horne had defensive troubles from time to time. Horne needs to shoot off of the catch, preferably standing still; his shot off the dribble is okay, but nothing to depend on.

Paris (not Hilton)

Paris’ improvement on the season brought him closer to the solid role player he was his sophomore year. But what seemed like a conference play blip in his free throw shooting in 2008-09 has become a problem. Paris shot 61.7% from the line in Big East regular season play that year, much lower than his overall percentage of 67.8%. Then last year, Paris stayed just over 50% from the line. That’s Sean Evans territory. No one should be in Sean Evans territory. Moreover, that’s a bizarre number for a decent shooter; usually, poor free throw shooters are poor outside shooters. And Paris is not poor from outside.

Paris Horne. By IconSMI

Could the problem come down to rhythm and repetition? Horne didn’t have 3-6 nights, he had 1-2 games, 0-1 games, 3-5 games. He doesn’t draw fouls quite enough to get comfortable going to the line and knocking them down in game situations. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be ready to hit any free throw at any time, but sometimes, free throw shooting problems are mental along with mechanical.

As A Position

Horne and Hardy are statistically similar (holding shot attempts constant). Medium turnover guards who hand off the occasional assist, grab a couple of rebounds, could stand to get to the free throw line more. Dwight Hardy comes in the game ready to shoot, gets a few more steals, works from outside in, and can handle the ball. Horne rebounds and passes better, blocks a shot once in a while, and is a better defender.

Next Year: Both will be competing for playing time. If the offense is more wide open, both bring skills to the table; Horne as an open court dunker with defensive skills, and Hardy as a deadly spot-up shooter. I believe Hardy will get off better shots – if his teammates find him. If he can get a little stronger, work harder to get open, and improve his defensive ability, he will be a force. One hopes that the lull in his shooting is simply a result of a poorly-functioning offense, and not an inability to get shots off against quality defenses.

And if Horne can improve his quickness/ strength slightly and find ways of turning his drives into fouls and his dunk attempts into highlight-reel flushes, his athleticism will be put to good use. Paris plays within his means, and can be an excellent complementary player in his senior year.  The free throw shooting needs improvement, but overall, we know what we will get from Paris.

Red Storm Shooting Guards Comparison (Tempo-Free)

Red Storm Shooting Guards Comparison (Tempo-Free, all games)

Red Storm Shooting Guards Comparison (per game, conf)

Red Storm Shooting Guards Comparison (per game, all games)

Transplanted New Yorker and now Midwesterner Peter a/k/a Pico writes for the East Coast Bias and the Church of Bracketology and for Johnny Jungle, doing the Calm Before the Storm posts. Pico is also on Twitter, @ECoastBias.

(Original and longer version at the East Coast Bias.)

It’s been a 7 years since we’ve seen Steve Lavin coach the game of basketball. His UCLA squads were curious teams, playing various styles during his tenure with decent but not dominating success.  The Bruins frustrated fans with NBA level talent but no Pac-10 conference titles, and with unexpected regular season defeats followed by sudden runs in the NCAA Tournament.

What was going on over there?  How were the Bruins so frustrating? How was Lavin’s team superior to the Red Storm, and how were they similar?

Here is a look at the average of UCLA’s season-ending results* with those numbers compared to Norm Roberts’ last 3 seasons at St. John’s to get a sense of what might be stylistically different between Lavin’s teams and Roberts’ teams.

I use the last 3 seasons because those are seasons where Roberts had a full roster of players, so the numbers won’t be skewed by the player and recruit-decimated squads of his first 2+ years. I stay with in-conference stats to compare the two coaches’ results in games against their peers.

Note that with 7 years remove from competitive coaching, a completely different conference and coaching staff, and a squad that he didn’t recruit, this is not a solid predictor of what Steve Lavin’s teams will do. But it will give us insight into the speed and style of Steve Lavin’s early work.

* This is not an average of all the numbers, an average of the numbers/ finishes at the end of the season. The two results are only slightly different, and this approach is admittedly slightly less time-consuming for our purposes.

Three Takeaways

On the plus side, Lavin’s UCLA teams were fast. They put up shots – the scoreboard didn’t get cheated. And the teams scored decently from all over the floor. So first and foremost, I would expect to see Steve Lavin up the pace with St. John’s and use the athleticism that has been there. From top to bottom, the Red Storm has athletes who may just be better running; Sean Evans’ halfcourt game, for example, is less impressive than his speed at his size. Their crispness in the halfcourt leaves some to be desired, so getting the team to run may help St. John’s put up points with more consistency (and please the fans who want to see some exciting ball).

On the negative side is the defense of Lavin’s teams in Westwood. Between the extra free throws at the high pace (meaning more attempts) and the extra three-point shots, you can see why UCLA tended to give up bunches of points. And those defensive breakdowns are not evenly spread over the season; those problems sometimes come to rear their head in different games. One game was a flurry of three-pointers from Stanford. Another, a parade of free throws from Arizona State. Yet another would be a post beating and dunkfest from Fred Jones and Oregon. Consistency of scheme and effort will be necessary, and the staff will need to work on core concepts to stop the other team from scoring.

Lastly, rebounding in a fast-paced game is different than rebounding in a slower paced game. It is harder to find the opponent and put a body on them. Defenses have to set up and adjust more quickly, and rebounders have to look to finish the possession on both ends. UCLA’s teams needed to be better at rebounding the ball on the defensive end. And St. John’s tenacity at defensive rebounding cannot be lost to the freedom of running.

For more detail, see the bullet points below.

• Wait ’til halftime for the popcorn: As mentioned, UCLA played faster than St. John’s. Lavin’s teams played at a pace that rivaled the fastest teams in college basketball this year – faster than Kansas State and even Texas, and similar to Providence.
• I went for popcorn and THIS happened: A faster pace means losses become blowouts that much more quickly, and give the other team extra chances to score. The blowouts UCLA suffered should be seen in the context of a game with a lot of shot attempts – they may not be as terrible as the scores indicate.  Similar to Providence.
• It will look fun: At the very least, fans will enjoy watching a faster style, and hopefully fewer of those games like last year’s St. John’s/ Cincinnati sludge fest.

Scoring Offense

• The Western version: Stylistically, both teams attempted to score inside and generally avoided outside shooting, choosing to win with athleticism/ drives to the hoop instead of the jump shot.
• Guaranteed points! Most of the time: Lavin’s teams scored a lot of points in Westwood. Despite some inconsistency in their outside shooting – especially when Jason Kapono was the only reliable sharpshooter – the Bruins consistently got points inside the arc.
• Guaranteed droughts! Much of the time: Norm Roberts’ teams did not score a lot of points; the Red Storm has been a poor shooting team, especially inside the arc, for years.

Scoring Defense

• Beatdown in the middle: On defense, the Red Storm couldn’t stop opponents’ scoring inside the arc.
• The arc was open: UCLA’s opponents took more shots from beyond the three-point line (lower percentage shots). Despite shooting a lower percentage, they scored more points from long distance than UCLA did.
• Questionable interior defense: 48.8% is not a great defensive number for mid-range/ interior defense from UCLA.
• Three points are better than two: To win playing an interior-focused style on offense, the defense needs to limit the other teams’ number of outside attempts, or dominate in defending 2-point attempts. UCLA was good enough to win games when the offense worked, but not good enough to dominate the Pac-10.
• Onto the bubble?: If Lavin can approach UCLA’s level of offensive efficiency inside the paint, the team will compete. If he can improve on St. John’s defensive efficiency as well, St. John’s will go to the NCAA Tournament next year.

Rebounding

• Fewer putbacks: St. John’s was a slightly inferior offensive rebounding unit to Lavin’s teams.
• The Red Storm cleaned the glass: Norm Roberts’ squads were far better defensive rebounders, while UCLA was actually fairly bad at ending the other team’s possession.
• Get the ball: Second chance points can kill even the most talented teams. A good defense has to end possessions if they don’t want to give up points.

Turnovers/ Assists/ Shot Blocking

• Didn’t even have a chance to miss: St. John’s scoring deficiencies were exacerbated by their turnovers – they didn’t give themselves enough chances to score. The Red Storm was often on the losing side of the turnover battle.
• Just as much butter on the fingers: UCLA’s offensive turnover percentage was actually fairly similar.
• Just as much butter, but more: Given the faster pace of the Bruins, that means they turned the ball over more times in each game than St. John’s did.
• The other team also looked bad: In their defense, the Bruins also forced a good number of turnovers, keeping the turnover balance a little better than even.
• Where was the pass going…?: UCLA had more unforced/ unstolen turnovers – things like throwing the ball away, etc.
• A little sharing?: There are similarities in the assist rates on offense. UCLA scored off of individual play, not the flow of passes. St. John’s did as well, but their players were much less able to get quality shots from their individual drives.
• Ok, you can keep the ball, fine: Some of UCLA’s most ridiculous losses came when the Bruins could not force a turnover; with the mediocre defense, not forcing turnovers can be destructive for a basketball.

Free Throw Rate

• And none: The Red Storm have not drawn fouls at a high rate, despite the attempts at driving inside. This year, DJ Kennedy and Justin Burrell got to the line in conference play somewhat frequently as a percentage of their shot attempts.  But no one else did.
• Share the free throw line: UCLA’s teams got to the line a decent amount on offense. But they allowed too many free throws, though that seemed more of a problem earlier on in Lavin’s career in Westwood. NOT sending players to the line (along with mediocre defense) could indicate lax defense or porous pressing + trapping.
• Frustration is a missed “free” opportunity: Both teams shot around a woeful 64.7% in their average year from the free throw line.

Transplanted New Yorker and now Midwesterner Peter a/k/a Pico writes for the East Coast Bias and the Church of Bracketology and for Johnny Jungle, doing the Calm Before the Storm posts. Pico is also on Twitter, @ECoastBias.