At the beginning of the season Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports rated St. John’s front court the 20th best in the country.
Many fans were puzzled at this positive press clipping and didn’t think too highly of their Red Storm’s front court. Between the athleticism, different skill sets, and overall depth, however, you really have to give credit to St. John’s big men. They are pretty good.
No seriously. They are.
Goodman didn’t even give acknowledgment to junior college transfer, Justin Brownlee either. The junior has made an immediate impact on the team, but may be earning more minutes than many thought he would have causing a log jam to get onto the court.
Roberts has certainly done a great job of getting everyone minutes. But this isn’t recreation basketball where everyone plays equally. Roberts needs to identify the talents and skill sets of each individual and game plan accordingly based upon his opponent. There are certainly going to be days where one guy shines while the others ride the pine. And then the days where every body will be needed. Let’s take a look at how the big men have been rotated so far this season.
Sean Evans was St. John’s most consistent big man last season, showing perhaps the greatest improvement from his freshman to sophomore year. Expectations were big for the 6’7 junior coming into this season – many hoped he could take his game to the next level. Sean has a great motor on the offensive glass, picking up a lot of garbage points. Still, sometimes Sean is his own worst enemy trying to do too much offensively.
Sean has some skill, but he often gets himself into trouble when he tries to do his best Magic Johnson impersonation, dribbling from end to end. Defensively, Evans has quick feet. But he often lacks the defensive awareness to keep his eye on the ball and his man, which causes defensive breakdowns.
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So far this Big East season, we’ve seen mixed results in Evans’ game. He has scored the ball pretty efficiently, shooting 53%. But he hasn’t been able to get to the free throw line. Even though no one really wants to see Evans on the free throw line (around 50% shooting for his career), only having 4 FT attempts in 3 games isn’t enough out of your starting power forward/center. Evans often tries to avoid contact when going to the rim taking double clutching layup instead of getting contact trying to dunk the basketball.
A real problem with Evans game is the fact that he has offered little defensively. He has donuts in both steals and blocks through 3 games. Zero blocks and steals in 54 minutes has to catch the eyes of the coaching staff.
Evans at times can be a match up problem being too quick for many opposing big men to defend however running Evans on high ball screens renders useless. The scouting report is out on Evans. He can’t shoot! So teams either try to trap our guards; or their bigs slide into the paint, leaving Evans outside wide open and tempting him to make a poor decision with the basketball.
Prognosis: Have Evans come off the bench to be a great energy guy. Having a guy with such a great motor coming off the bench after the first media time out would be a huge boost. At that point in the game, you can see how the opponent is defending your ball screens and you can send Evans in to attack the rim and the boards more efficiently.
Justin Burrell has potential. Aren’t you tired of hearing that? Everyone knows it, everyone can see it, and everyone is still waiting for him to live up to it. Burrell often gets the most criticism from fans because everyone expects more from him. Sometimes those expectations are unfair because they are so lofty… but Burrell can be much better than he has shown this season.
At the home opener I saw Justin Burrell warming up taking turn around jumpers in the post. I was drooling watching his footwork and his high releasing shot. I couldn’t wait to see the team work the ball into the post and let Burrell go to work. He never got the ball to try and shoot it. We saw it first play against Duke, but then he landed on his ankle and was out of action until conference play.
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So Burrell comes back against Georgetown and the first time he touches the ball he does a tomahawk jam in traffic that made Sportscenter Top 10. He’s back! Burrell showed off a fair amount of his arsenal against Georgetown however it almost seemed like we didn’t see enough of him.
Burrell is the most complete post player on the team. He has a sweet looking stroke from the high post, he can play above the rim, and he is the best interior defender who also has the ability to block shots. However, it seems like if he picks up a foul he gets penalized by his coach sitting on the bench for extended periods of time. Like 33 minutes of extended time that he sat against Louisville as St. John’s got torched on the glass.
It’s amazing that an offensive weapon like Burrell has only averaged 3 shot attempts per game in conference play. Over the course of Burrell’s career we’ve heard promises of getting him more looks. That promise usually only holds true for the next game or more like the next half of that game.
Prognosis: Start Burrell, feed him early and feed him often. Give defenses something to focus on other than forcing us to shoot from the outside. Burrell can be a zone buster being able to shoot over defenders from a variety of spots on the floor. Get the big man excited to be a part of this team and reward him for fighting for position on the block.
Justin Brownlee has certainly been a welcomed addition to the team and has shown off an array of talent. He combines a little inside and outside game to him while definitely being able to play above the rim. Even though Brownlee may have the ability to hit the 3 ball, he is better suited playing within the arc rather than beyond. His 19% from 3 point range isn’t worth the 2 to 3 attempts per game he takes.
Brownlee is also a terrific offensive rebounder so having him around the perimeter is a disservice. Brownlee, much like Evans, is best defending in the passing lanes but less effective in the post.
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Brownlee may have benefited the most from the absence of Justin Burrell while he was on the bench, injured. He posted two double doubles and his biggest contribution has come on the offensive boards. He’s averaged 4 offensive boards a game since Fordham.
Brownlee earned more minutes with his play; but he might receive too many minutes at the expense of the other guys on the team. Brownlee has averaged 11 shots a game in the first three Big East games – highest on the team. In both the Georgetown and Providence game he led the team in attempts, and was 2nd to DJ Kennedy in the Louisville game. With Brownlee shooting 35% over these three games, that’s a shot distribution/ trigger-happiness problem. When Brownlee gets the ball, Brownlee shoots the ball.
Prognosis:Brownlee’s offensive aggressiveness is not a bad thing, in controlled spurts. Less is more with Brownlee, and if he can figure out that he is more efficient going to the basket than hanging around the perimeter, his numbers could go up with less shot attempts. He has a really nice touch around the basket but that touch fades the further he gets away from the rim. If I were the coach, I’d put a red light on his 3 point attempts and really pound it to him that he’s needed around the offensive glass. Also how about posting up some? Brownlee is better suited coming off the bench and providing a spark than starting off the game.
Dele Coker is not a freshman anymore. He’s a junior and ready to contribute, ready to change the game. Many people questioned my love fest with the big man this off season but I promised there was hope for the green giant. In his first two seasons, Coker was known to commit silly, stupid fouls far far away from the basket. This hurt on two levels. One, more personal fouls led to less playing time. And two, quick fouls combined with his teammates’ penchant for fouling left opponents in bonus early in halves, putting St. John’s defense on its heels.
Those days are over. Maybe Coker is just more disciplined with experience, or his off season conditioning has made him just that much faster. He’s no longer committing as many bad fouls. Coker had his big coming out party this season getting 19 minutes against Duke blocking 3 shots officially.
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As much as we saw out of Dele Coker in the Duke and Georgia games its surprising that he hasn’t warranted any consideration for major minutes in conference play. He’s proven during the out of conference schedule that he can play extended minutes without getting into foul trouble… so why not play the big man more?
In addition to being the best post defender on the team he is also the best defensive rebounder – and it’s something he could be better at with practice. It’s very important to protect your own basket and also limit the amount of shot attempts per possession for your opponent.
Sure, Coker isn’t the most offensively minded player; however, he plays within himself. He can hit a shot if he is left wide open and he tries to slam dunk everything. I think his 66% field goal percentage this season is evident of that. He also leads the team in blocked shots in a fraction of minutes in comparison to his counterparts.
Prognosis: Start Dele Coker along side of Justin Burrell to give you stability on the defensive end of the floor with two shot blockers. Coker is also not demanding of the ball, he can set screens, and he can also pose as enough of a threat to hit a shot off the high pick and roll. If the offense isn’t clicking or if Dele gets into early foul trouble then there is always Evans and Brownlee to bring off the bench to bring a complete change of pace.
Rob Thomas always enthuses the crowd with against all odds play making ability. He isn’t flashy, he isn’t even pretty, but he’s very efficient. Rob Thomas has incredible touch around the basket, as anything he throws up seems to go in as unorthodox as it may be. And his rebounding work on the offensive glass is a testament to perseverance and grit.
Rob Thomas is definitely the odd man out in the rotation. He’s been buried by guys who can just do more physically. However Thomas has very high basketball IQ and takes full advantage of what a defense gives him.
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His playing time in the Big East games have been sporadic and unpredictable. Thomas didn’t see any action against Georgetown on New Year’s eve after he was the hero against Georgetown last season. Maybe he could have helped the team which couldn’t score for a 7 minute clip late in the 2nd half.
As much as he could have been deserving for playing time against Georgetown for offense, he saw extended minutes against Providence much to my surprise. Likewise, he made a head scratching appearance in the Louisville game as well. Thomas’ minutes need to see more rhyme and reason other than a last resort when everything else is failing.
Prognosis: Rob is the perfect situational sub. Design an inbounds play for him and bring him in out of timeout. His hands are glue and his ability to either make a shot or get to the free throw line are probable. Thomas needs to be used in short stints and sometimes those stints won’t occur every game.
In conclusion: the starting front court should be Justin Burrell and Dele Coker with Sean Evans and Justin Brownlee coming off the bench. The combo of Burrell and Coker will add stability on the defensive end while also providing two capable jump shooters. The bash brothers of Evans and Brownlee will be the spark we need after the first media time out.
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