Coming into the season there are so many uncertainties. How will the coaching staff change what the seniors have done the past 3 seasons? How will the players adjust to the new coaching staff? Who’s roles increase/decrease? All of these questions are magnified with 9 closely talented seniors.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have close contact to Coach Steve Lavin this preseason having attended Midnight Madness, Big East, and St. John’s media days. So I’ve heard various members of the media ask the question of, “Coach, who is your starting five?”
In my opinion who cares about the starting lineup? From a young age I learned that it’s not who starts the game but who finishes. In my playing days I always wanted to be the player coach wanted in at crunch time. Having almost 60 minutes of the gospel of Lavin on my recorder it was quite obvious by the number of times he mentioned the names Dwight Hardy, Dwayne Polee, and Justin Brownlee that these guys were going to be crunch time players.
So throughout this season I will be paying close attention to the finer details of the game that don’t show up in the boxscore. Here is a look at the rotation in the first half including who entered the game, who came out, the time remaining, and the score. The starting five was Boothe, Hardy, Kennedy, Polee, and Brownlee.
[table id=125 /]
Additional Notes
-This was a blowout in the first half with the team heading to the locker room with a 39 point lead. Looking at the margin of points difference for each player on the floor. Brownlee +33; Kennedy +32; Hardy +29; Boothe and Horne +23; Polee +20; Evans +7; Roberts, Coker, and Stith +4
-It took Westmont 5 min and 15 seconds to score their first basket.
-St. John’s started the game in what appeared as a 2-2-1 3/4 pressure defense that turned into 1-3-1 in the half court. Westmont’s tempo and spacing was obviously altered.
–Justin Brownlee had two turnovers around the perimeter in the first 5 min of the game.
-Both Paris Horne and Sean Evans missed their first shots off the bench. Both players appeared sluggish to start but provided great energy once they got going.
–Dele Coker came into the game and the offense changed with him posting up in triangles as the ball swung around the perimeter. His hands remained high ready to receive the ball.
-Coach Lavin mentioned the quality of shot selection in something that needed to improve for this season to be successful. After Sean Evans forced his way into the paint and missed two layups in consecutive possessions it was no surprise he was quickly sent to the bench.
–Malik Boothe and Malik Stith were on the floor at the same time for about 2 min. Defensively they caused turnovers but offensively the team became stagnant.
–Justin Burrell was louder on the bench than most of the coaches yelling out instructions.
-Team hit the bonus with 1:18 remaining in the first half
-Team shot 6-9 from 3PT and 9-11 from FT in the first half
In Case You Missed It: JohnnyJungle.com’s pre-game column- Calm Before The Storm
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