Johnny Jungle

The 6th Man of St. John's Basketball

For the die hard St. John's fan.
The unofficial 6th man. est. '07
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St. John's vs Georgetown January 30th 2008

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There really is not much left to say at this point regarding the St. John’s Red Storm. They sit at the bottom of the Big East standings with South Florida, which should make for an interesting battle of the last place teams on Saturday down in Tampa. With an overall record of 7-11, the Johnnies hold the worst winning percentage of any team in the Big East. This program continues to become more and more meaningless to the rest of the college basketball world by the day. For the first time this season, I did not even bother to watch the 2nd half of the Louisville game. As a student of this school and longtime fan of this basketball team, I am truly embarrassed.

At the top of the Big East standings sit the Georgetown Hoyas. John Thompson III has his team playing great basketball, as they are currently 6-1 in conference and 16-2 overall. After hanging on to beat the Moutaineers by 1 point in Morgantown on Saturday, the Hoyas jumped from #9 to the #6 team in both national polls. The only two losses suffered by Georgetown were at Memphis back in December and at Pittsburgh 2 weeks ago. And although the Hoyas are the best team in the Big East, they are only winning games in conference by an average of 8 points. To me this tells you two things; from top to bottom this is the most competitive conference in college basketball AND Georgetown has the experience, talent, and composure to win close games.

This match up on paper clearly does not look good for the Johnnies. We saw what happened last week when Pittsburgh came into the Garden and wiped the floor with us, even without 2 of their best players. It would seem the same should happen Wednesday night, especially since St. John’s has no answer for the man in the middle, Roy Hibbert. Additionally, the Hoyas are very comfortable playing and winning on the Garden floor. They defeated the Johnnies by a score of 72-48 last season at MSG, and then went on to win the Big East Tournament by defeating Pittsburgh 65-42. My only hope is that St. John’s does get blown out early and can hang around long enough to make things interesting. If they can’t do that, I have little motivation to get on that E train and make the trip into Manhattan. SEE YOU AT THE GARDEN, MAYBE.

On Wednesday January 30th, the Red Storm of St. John’s University will take on the Hoyas of Georgetown University. The game will be played at Madison Square Garden, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 PM. This Big East contest can be seen on FSNY and heard live on WFAN 660-AM.

Midseason Report Card

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Just six months ago we were getting ready for another year of St. John’s Basketball with perhaps one of the more anticipated seasons on the horizon with so many elements being unknown and left for the debate of St. John’s faithful. People were buzzing about the seven new freshman, the new strength coach, a more experienced Mason Jr, Norm’s 4th season, and of course that new site called Johnny Jungle.
There was plenty to discuss both good and bad and some of us were right about a lot of things while others not so much and some change their opinions as consistently as the ocean tide. Whether we were right or wrong at this point it doesn’t matter because we’re all in the same sinking ship shoveling out water trying to stay afloat.
We’ve seen and in some cases heard this team go through their trials and tribulations. We’ve had some good but mostly bad news so far this season and with the fall semester behind us its time to revaluate. Now the team might have saw one of its best report cards in the classroom in St. John’s history however Johnny Jungle is going to give one on the court.

Players(sorted by PPG leaders)

Anthony Mason Jr.
-At the beginning of the season we saw Mason Jr. projected as a mid second round pick for the 2009 NBA draft but Mason is no longer listed and its for good reason. Mason still lacks focus and consistency while playing too soft for a player his size. Mason has fallen too dependent on his outside game and has forgot that he can rock the rim. With his patented fall away shot leads to streaky shooting which is something he needs to improve on. Mason shows aggressiveness and willingness to be the man on offense which is something this team desperately needs but now he needs to focus on doing it better. Mason needs to realize his importance of hitting the boards harder only averaging 3.7 boards a game.

Grade: B-

Justin Burrell
-Justin is one of my favorite players to watch but he is a freshman. There has been a great deal of pressure put on Justin’s shoulders this season to be a major producer and thats some what unrealistic. At the beginning of the season we saw butter fingers Burrell dropping passes left and right but now we see a player confidently taking 15 footers and pretty ones at that. Justin shows great poise and discipline on defense and I can’t remember him leaving his feet once this season on a pump fake. Justin needs to have more of a passion for grabbing rebounds and take pride in being a double double man.

Grade: B

Larry Wright
-Perhaps the fans have shown the most applause this season when this guy stands from the bench and goes to the scorers table. Larry Wright has been wronged this season however Larry isn’t undeserving of criticism. Larry needs to take a page out of  Richard “Rip” Hamilton’s game book and realize there is such a thing as a midrange shot. Larry has fallen in love with the 3 ball looking like Avery Patterson this season.  36 of his past 42 shots have been three pointers and I’m not arguing too much because he has knocked down 66% of those shots however Larry you are so much more! On a bright note Larry never turns over the ball because he never dribbles.

Grade: B

Eugene Lawrence
-Everyone’s favorite ripping boy the captain Eugene Lawrence. Eugene is a friend of mine and I root for him to do well however he has been abysmal this season. I’ve tried to put myself in the shoes of Eugene Lawrence a few times this season and its been hard to find answers. Eugene is too stagnant trying to set up an offense that doesn’t exist at the top of the key wasting 10 seconds of the shot clock every possession usually resulting in a long range three with 3 ticks on the shot clock that seldomly goes in. People harp on Geno’s turnovers and they haven’t been that bad as he is at a career best 2.4 however he is like Armando Benitez having 45 saves that one season only to blow the biggest game of the year against the Braves. Geno needs to practice by himself to get himself out of this shooting funk. There is still time left to salvage a poor season but time is running out for the senior.

Grade: D+

DJ Kennedy
-The X Factor has been looking more like the Y Factor the past few games but DJ is going to be a very good player. DJ comes as advertised doing a little bit of everything. Sticking to my baseball references he is like that 4th outfielder who hit .340 for a month and everyone was like he needs to start. What usually happens to that 4th outfielder? He hits .240 the next month because his flaws become exposed and teams know he can’t hit the curve ball. This is the case with DJ as we realize he can’t dribble the basketball. It looks like someone deflated the ball a bit when he dribbles. DJ was a vital part of this team for a while due to his intangibles however with Mason back at full strength DJs intangibles aren’t enough to warrant him playing 30 min a game.

Grade: C

Paris Horne
-The spark plug off the bench hasn’t registered a steal in his past 6 games but perhaps because his playing time has been cut to 9 min a game. Paris has been one of the more consistent players on the team this season. He is shooting 48% from the floor and 79% from the charity stripe which is good for 2nd best on the team. He has knocked down 40% of his last 18 three point attempts starting the season 1-9. Paris might run the court better than anyone on our team and is hungry to run the fast break problem is we never fast break.

Grade: C

Sean Evans
-Perhaps one of the more surprising players of the team so far this season. Now I must start off saying how is Sean Evans so bad at free throw shooting? He might be the worth free throw shooter in the country at 27% and that is not a typo 27, 27, 27, 27% its really that bad. Talking with Sean before the season he is very energetic on and off the court and perhaps his hustle is what is getting him the minutes. Offensively he has improved tremendously from the first time we saw him in Queens. I still don’t like him in the game though because I think he is a horrible defender and isn’t that reason why Larry Wright doesn’t get time? Sean looks pretty good in the boxscore but when I watch the game I don’t come away saying Sean looked good today.  However no one usually looks good so might as well have him continue to develop with more time but I just wish he would either take the charge or foul hard instead of always getting caught in between for an and 1.

Grade: C

Tomas/Dele
-Maybe its not fair doing them at once but they are the two headed monster we call our center so why not group them together. I’ve been saying it all season Tomas is good in small dosages and when I say small I mean very small. TJ is the polar opposite of the energizer bunny he doesn’t go forever but is like the batter you used for your cool remote control car you got for christmas as a kid…4 min on turbo and thats it. TJ does rock a team leading 86% from the charity stripe. Our freshman counter part has shown some glimmers of the great potential we hear about. Some seriously hard stuffs and when they aren’t stuff they’re just great old school hard fouls. Although just as we start seeing these glimmers he starts getting less and less time what the hell? He is also starting to foul less too so we can’t blame that for the reduced minutes. We’ll see!

Grade: D

Malik Boothe
-Last but not least our freshman floor general who does all the things that don’t show up in the box score but count in the scoreboard. Malik has proved to me he knows how to run an offense and he is an exciting player to watch on both sides of the ball. Malik has one pitfalls its shooting the basketball but for some reason I got faith in Malik to improve there. I am an old school kind of guy and pass first PGs are right up my alley

Grade: C+

Overall Team Grades
Offense: C-
Defense: C
Intensity: C+
Discipline: C
Overall: C-
Overall Team Grades
Offense: C-
Defense: C
Intensity: C+
Discipline: C
Overall: C-

5th Broadcast

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Dave and Matt return to the booth after a 12 game hiatus. Dave and Matt had plenty to get off their chest. I apologize the lack of music on this as I’m still regathering my collection from the computer crash. Next week we’ll have the full bag of tricks and more organized format. In this broadcast Matt and Dave give you their take on St. John’s progression through the season as well as their Big East Power Rankings and Weekly Predictions. Matt and Dave go into the National scene and give you their best 4 teams in the country to date.

St. John's vs Louisville January 23rd 2008

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St. John’s @ Louisville

Things are getting ugly quick in Jamaica, Queens. With a blowout loss at home to Pittsburgh, the Johnnies have now lost 4 straight games. Their record in Big East play now stands at 1-5. With an upset victory over Villanova, Rutgers record in conference is also 1-5. That’s right St. John’s fans; we share a spot in the basement of the Big East conference with the Scarlet Knights. And if all this wasn’t embarrassing enough, chants of ‘Fire Norm’ could be heard from the STUDENT SECTION at MSG on Wednesday night. This season could not end sooner for the Red Storm.

I stressed way back on January 8th, the day of the Connecticut game, that the next 6 games for the Johnnies was going to be the toughest stretch of the season. At the time, St. John’s was 1-1 in conference. Being as realistic as possible, I was predicting they would go 2-4 over that stretch. That would have left them with a record of 3-5, before heading into ‘winnable’ games against USF, Providence, Rutgers, and Cincinnati. Well that prediction was as off as Lawrence Tynes’ kick at the end of regulation against the Packers. This team has gone 0-4 thus far and with Freedom Hall and a meeting with the dominant Hoyas ahead, you might as well make the Johnnies record 1-7 right now.

A few weeks ago, it might have seemed possible that St. John’s could give Louisville a fight and steal one on the road. The Cardinals had players sidelined with injuries or suspensions, and they had already let teams like Dayton and Cincinnati come into Freedom Hall and leave with a W. Ironically, the Bearcats are the only team St. John’s has beaten so far in conference, but this fans does not translate into the Johnnies beating the Cardinals as well. Rick Pitino will not let a Norm Roberts coached team walk into that gym and beat his team. Actually, even if Pitino wasn’t on the Louisville sidelines, I don’t know if Coach Roberts could get out of his own way and lead the Johnnies to victory.

The atmosphere at the Garden for upcoming St. John’s games will eerily resemble that of New York Knick games. There will be loud boo’s and chants calling for coaches heads. As a student of this school and a fan of the Knicks, I don’t see much light at the end of either tunnel until a change is made. But hey, if you are feeling as disgusted and embarrassed as I am, just remember this:

21 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.
-The Game-

On Saturday January 26th, the Red Storm of St. John’s University will travel to the state of Kentucky to take on the University of Louisville Cardinals. The game will be played at Freedom Hall, with tip-off scheduled for 3:30 PM. This Big East contest can be seen on the MSG Network and heard live on WFAN 660-AM.

St. John's vs Pittsburgh January 23rd 2008

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St. John’s @ Pittsburgh

The Johnnies return to action in the Big Apple on Wednesday against the Panthers, as they look to feed off the emotion the Giants have given NYC.

After dropping their third straight game in West Virginia last Thursday, St. John’s is in desperate need of a victory at the World’s Most Famous Arena. This will be the first game at the Garden for the Redmen since the loss to Virginia Tech in the Holiday Festival. With the city buzzing about the Giants improbable run to Super Bowl XLII, it would be a great time for St. John’s to make some noise of their own with an upset win against a ranked team.

It would be foolish to ever wish for a game against a ranked opponent, especially considering St. John’s current record. But, I think this game could potentially come at a perfect time for the Johnnies. Although they are 1-4 in the Big East, including an inexcusable loss at home to Depaul, there are currently 9 teams hovering around the .500 mark. If St. John’s wants any chance of trying to get in the Big East Tournament this season, they are going to need to protect their home court as most teams have done so far this season in conference play. Most fans, including myself, are rapidly losing hope for any chance at playing into March this season, as this team could very easily be 1-7 before Super Bowl Sunday. And although I am normally quite the pessimist, I will give one optimistic statistic about this season thus far. Aside from the game at Connecticut, the three other losses in conference (@ SU, Depaul, @ WVU) were only lost by an average of 7 points. In a season with not much to cheer for, the fans can at least try to take something positive out of that number. This could certainly change as the season progresses, but as of now it means this team is close. Add one or two more players (or maybe just let one graduate) and this team could be extremely competitive with the right coaching next season.

The Johnnies always seem to play Pittsburgh well at the Garden, upending the Panthers in their last two meetings in NYC. This Pittsburgh team is certainly not playing up to expectations due to key injuries to Levance Fields and Mike Cook. Not to mention, Ronald Ramon is playing with one dislocated shoulder and a torn rotator cuff in the other. Head Coach Jamie Dixon has the daunting task of trying to find his team’s identity without two impact players. They suffered an unexpected loss in Cincinnati this past weekend, to drop their record in conference to 3-2. Regardless, Pittsburgh is still 15-3 overall and continue to stay in the Top 25 week after week, as they currently sit at #17 in the Coaches poll.

St. John’s always has their upset at the Garden every season. This Wednesday would be a great time to pull off another one. The Panthers are vulnerable, especially on the road. The Johnnies are in need of a win before they head to Freedom Hall this weekend. Upsets are in the air in the Big Apple. Now if only EL can play like ELI.

SEE YOU AT THE GARDEN.

-The Game-

On Wednesday January 23rd, the Red Storm of St. John’s University play host to the Panthers from the University of Pittsburgh. The game will be played at Madison Square Garden, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 PM. This Big East contest can be seen on the MSG Network and heard live on WFAN 660-AM.