St. John’s vs Fairleigh Dickinson

Coming off one of the more lopsided victories in recent memory, St. John’s will try to remain undefeated Sunday night when they take on another NEC foe, Fairleigh Dickinson University. The Red Storm never allowed Sacred Heart to be in the game Tuesday night, as they came out of the gates firing from long range, with Larry Wright and Eugene Lawrence leading the way. It was the game that everyone has been waiting to see from this team, but never really thought it could happen. The term blowout only seems to be associated with St. John’s when we are on the losing end. It was nice to see us easily handle an opponent for a change. On paper these early season non-conference games should all be like this, but unfortunately we learned the hard way last year (Illinois State) that this team can take nothing for granted. Hopefully they can build on a win like this and come out with the same
intensity against Fairleigh Dickinson. Every game we win without Mason Jr. makes me believe that this team can win more games this season than some “experts” might believe. Last season, we didn’t win games like that at all, let alone without a player like Mase in the lineup. This year’s team is so much deeper and more athletic than we’ve seen the past decade. If we can continue to rack up the W’s now, it will just instill more confidence in the team especially once Mason Junior comes back. At this point, asking for a 6-0 record going to Hawaii seems like a very reasonable request. But, hopefully that is not on any of the players or coaches minds right now. They must continue to focus on the task at hand, play hard every minute, and the record will take care of itself. Let’s hope we don’t suffer a Thanksgiving hangover and take care of business Sunday night. SEE YOU IN THE JUNGLE.

-The Game-

On Sunday November 25th, the Red Storm of St. John’s University will play host to the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson University. The game is scheduled for 7:30 PM at Carnesecca Arena and can be heard live on Bloomberg Radio 1130-AM.

-The Lineups-

ST. JOHN’S (2-0)

Norm was able to get every scholarship player substantial minutes last game due to the big lead we had throughout the game. The Cavataio rumor was put to rest when he checked in during the first half, and we even saw some good things from Evans while he was out there. My only problem with the rotation, was that Norm continues to have Boothe and Geno on the floor at the same time. I just don’t think that’s a great idea, especially with the way Wright and DJ have played thus far. The status of Mason Jr. is still questionable and unless he ate some magic turkey on Thanksgiving, I don’t expect to see him play. Look to see the same five from last game start on Sunday.

PG – Eugene Lawrence Senior / 6-1 210lbs / 11.0 points, 6.5 assists

SG – Larry Wright Sophomore / 6-2 172lbs / 17.0 points, 2.5 rebounds

SF – D.J. Kennedy Freshman / 6-6 208lbs / 8.0 points 11.5 rebounds

PF – Justin Burrell Freshman / 6-8 235lbs / 13.5 points 6.5 rebounds

C – Tomas Jasiulionis Junior / 6-11 249lbs / 4.0 points 3.5 rebounds

Fairleigh Dickinson (1-3)

The Knights started their season with two blowout losses to St. Joseph’s and Siena at the NIT Tipoff regionals in Syracuse. They were able to follow that up with a 98-92 victory in a shootout at Lafayette. But then went on to lose 85-70 against a Rider team that played NC State tough down in Orlando on Thanksgiving Day. FDU likes to play small, as they start with essentially 3 guards and 2 forwards. They give up a lot of size up front, but make up for it with their outside shooting. As a team, they shoot 45% from 3-point range and 44% from the field. Head Coach Tom Green uses an eight man rotation, as 4 of his starters average over 30 minutes per game.

PG – Bernell Murray Senior / 5-9 173lbs / 11.8 points 2.5 assists

SG – Manny Ubilla Senior / 6-2 185lbs / 21.8 points 3.8 assists

SF – Sean Baptiste Sophomore / 6-3 185lbs / 16.5 points 6.8 rebounds

PF – Eric Hazard Senior / 6-6 213lbs / 9.3 points 3.8 rebounds

C – John Galvin Freshman / 6-8 250lbs / 9.8 points 4.8 rebounds
-Keys to Victory-

REBOUNDING. St. John’s did a great job of out rebounding Sacred Heart (47-30) and limiting them to only 10 second chance points. This will again be the key against an even smaller FDU team. They love to shoot it from the outside and have been very effective at it so far this season. So when they do miss, we must grab the rebounds and limit their opportunities. I want to see Burrell build on his 11 rebound effort from last game and put up double figures again.
DEFENSIVE INTENSITY. I liked the way we were all over the Pioneers last game on the defensive end. We even showed a full court press at times after a made basket, forcing SHU to turn it over 18 times. We need to keep that up against this Knights team, who average 18 TO/game themselves, especially applying pressure on the outside. Getting a hand in their face every time they touch the ball on the perimeter can hopefully help defend against their 3 point shooting. Guards Sean Baptiste and Manny Ubilla are shooting 67% and 44% from behind the arc respectively. Keep Center John Galvin outside the paint as he doesn’t like contact but can score if left alone, don’t sleep on him as he scored 20pts in 2 of the first 4 games but in the other 2 games he didn’t score 1 basket as he matched up with much more athletic bigs of St. Joes and Rider.
FREE THROWS. For all the great shooting the Johnnies did while the clock was running, they couldn’t seem to put the ball in the hoop when it was stopped. As a team, St. John’s shot 57% from the charity stripe. Luckily, free throws weren’t necessary to beat Sacred Heart, but they will be of extreme importance as the season goes on. Hopefully last game was a one time thing, and they can get back to hitting their foul shots on a more consistent basis.
RUN THE BREAK. We didn’t see much fast break opportunity against Sacred Heart maybe because it wasn’t needed with such a commanding lead however with a thin Fairleigh Dickinson team we need to make them run and utilize our athletic prowess to get the rebounds and run against this jump shooting FDU team.

-Prediction-

After a convincing win on Tuesday, I know that it is actually possible for St. John’s to win in blowout fashion. However, this Fairleigh Dickinson team can shoot the ball, something that Sacred Heart could not. So I’m not so sure if we can expect another 20+ point victory. My prediction skills have been called out recently on Jungle Radio, and I can’t argue. But, I’m feeling lucky on this holiday weekend. My prediction:

St. John’s 74 – Fairleigh Dickinson 62

The Notes: The Red Storm served nearly 1,200 people at the St. John’s Bread and Life soup kitchen in Brooklyn on November 21st…..FDU Head Coach Tom Green is not the same man who put a mouse in his mouth in the movie Road Trip, got dumped by Drew Barrymore, or sang the bum song…..FDU Junior guard Cameron Tyler is from Jamaica, NY. He has yet to see any action in a game this year…..Super Senior Eric Hazard is 24 years old and is now 6 years out of highschool and also went to the same high school as Johnny Jungle Founder Dave Krupinski until Hazard was kicked out for failure of attending class and final exams. I propose the Jungle chants “6th year senior” whenever needed to keep Hazard from being a factor…..Reserve guard could be mistaken for the brother of actors Ben or Fred Savage better known as Kevin Arnold of the Wonder Years and Corey Matthews of Boy Meets World….Back up 7’2 center Lawrence brown looks like a cross between the Unibomber and My Giant George Muresan….The last time these two teams met was way back on 12/22/1998 at Alumni Hall, when St. John’s won easily 81-54. St. John’s, who was ranked 14th in the nation at the time, was led by Bootsy Thornton’s 15 points and Ron Artest’s 13 points.

By: Garrett Knieste Johnny Jungle Staff Writer

One week later, St. John’s basketball fans are still buzzing about the game against St. Francis. But as expected, there are many different takes on how this team played last week. Some people see it as a team with their star player on the sidelines and 7 freshman playing in their first collegiate game, battling an experienced Terriers team
throughout, and coming away with an 8 point victory. The pessimist sees a Big East team playing on their home court escaping with a narrow victory against a team from the NEC that went 9-22 last season. Personally, I had mixed feelings after the game last week. I was excited as anyone to finally see what our freshman could do and for the most part I was impressed. But even without Mason Jr., I felt that we should have handled that team much easier than we did. It’s clear that this argument could go on for at least a week, but fortunately for everyone there is another game to be played Tuesday night. And that is where the focus should be, on Sacred Heart. In the end, this team needs to take this season game by game and if they can find a way to come out with the W, this could be a better season then we all might have thought. SEE YOU IN THE JUNGLE.

-The Game-

On Tuesday November 20th, the Red Storm of St. John’s University will play host to the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University. The game is scheduled for 7:30 PM at Carnesecca Arena and can be heard live on WFAN 660-AM.

-The Lineups-

ST. JOHN’S (1-0)

At this point it is apparent that Norm and his staff are being very cautious with Mase. He will be a game time decision on Tuesday night, and if we can survive and win basketball games without him, it’s not the worst idea to keep him on the bench. This team can not afford to
have their best player be on a day to day basis all season. Recover and heal from the injury now and hopefully it will be gone for the rest of the year. Plus, I don’t think many people will argue with DJ seeing more minutes as a result.

PG – Eugene Lawrence Senior / 6-1 210lbs / 5.0 points, 5.0 assists

SG – Larry Wright Sophomore / 6-2 172lbs / 19.0 points, 2.0 rebounds

SF – D.J. Kennedy Freshman / 6-6 208lbs / 9.0 points 14.0 rebounds

PF – Justin Burrell Freshman / 6-8 235lbs / 12.0 points 2.0 rebounds

C – Tomas Jasiulionis Junior / 6-11 249lbs / 6.0 points 5.0 rebounds

Sacred Heart (0-4)

Despite being selected as the pre-season favorite to win the NEC, the Pioneers are off to a slow start. In addition to losing their home opener to Army, they lost games on the road at Yale, Hartford, and most recently at Fairfield. The loss of 2006-2007 First Team All-NEC honoree Jarrid Frye to graduation has hurt the Pioneers, as they have had a hard time putting up enough points to win. The team is led by senior captains forward Brice Brooks and guard Drew Shubik.

PG – Chauncey Hardy Sophomore / 6-0 170lbs / 11.5 points, 2.5 assists

SG – Drew Shubik Senior / 6-4 205lbs / 9.3 points, 6.5 rebounds

SF – Corey Hassan Sophomore / 6-4 196lbs / 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds

PF – Ryon Howard RS Junior / 6-6 225lbs / 7.8 points, 6.8 rebounds

C – Brice Brooks Senior / 6-7 210lbs / 9.3 points, 5.5 rebounds
-Keys to Victory-

PROTECT THE BASKETBALL. It might have just been first game jitters, but the freshman combined for 14 of our 15 turnovers. Kennedy, who had a great game otherwise, led the way with 5 turnovers. Luckily, St. Francis didn’t capitalize too much, only scoring 17 points off the 15 turnovers. Don’t expect to get away with that all season; they must improve on that now. On the bright side, hopefully Geno can continue to protect the basketball the way he did last game, as he didn’t turn it over once.
REBOUNDING. There is no reason St. Francis should have out rebounded our team last game, but they did (39-35). If it wasn’t for DJ, the number is much worse than that. Our big men, especially Burrell (2 rebounds) and Coker (0 rebounds) must do a better job on the glass against a pretty solid rebounding Sacred Heart squad. Getting second chance points will be the only way a team like Sacred Heart could beat us.
MAKE ‘EM SHOOT. It might just be an early season funk, but so far this year the Pioneers are not shooting the ball well, especially from beyond the arc. Through 4 games this year, they are shooting 24% (22-90) from 3 point distance and 38% from the field. If we can keep them out of the paint and rebound the basketball, we should be able to hold this team to a low point total.
BEAT THE ZONE. I don’t know for a fact that this Pioneer team likes to play a zone. But then again every coach in America should know that we look lost against any form of zone defense. So I would like to believe that 30th year Head Coach Dave Bike will be smart enough to know what to do. We saw new faces running the show, but the same lousy offense against the zone against St. Francis. Passing the ball around the perimeter until there are 10 seconds on the shot clock is not exactly a solid game plan. Without that lights out shooter and a coach that seems like he doesn’t have a clue against the zone defense, it gets painful to watch our offense against a 2-3. Can someone fix this problem?

-Prediction-

Regardless of Mason’s status, we should be able to win this game easily. But then again I thought the same last week against a less talented St. Francis team. Maybe Burrell has a coming out party and we blow the Pioneers out of the building. Or maybe he gets in early foul trouble again, Larry Wright is off, and we struggle to even win the game. My guess is as good as yours with this team right now:

St. John’s 71 – Sacred Heart 60

The Notes: Individual tickets for all games at MSG go on sale beginning Monday November 19th at 12 Noon….. Jungle sources claim the rumor that freshman guard Mike Cavataio will be red shirted this season is false but there is still no official word from the team regarding that information….. Senior center Brice Brooks gave the Sacred Heart Basketball program a nice little black eye last season. Brooks allegedly assaulted a security guard and then had to be subdued with pepper spray by a Fairfield police officer after he was involved in an argument with a girl while attending a concert in Connecticut. He was suspended by Coach Dave Bike for all first semester games last season (The Jungle MUST utilize this information)…..The Pioneers have a reserve big man straight from the UK, Liam Potter, no relation to Harry, I checked…… The last time these two teams met was back on 12/29/99, when St. John’s won easily 95-66, behind 22 points from Erick Barkley.

By: Garrett Knieste Johnny Jungle Staff Writer

After a warm-up exhibition game against Molloy College, the Johnnies are ready to officially begin their season against the St. Francis Terriers. This game marks the first of four consecutive non-conference home games to start the year for St. John’s. These are the games that this team MUST WIN, if they wish to continue playing basketball in March. Lots of people get on this program for scheduling a weak non-conference schedule, littered with early season home games against so-called “cupcakes”. But in reality, all teams schedule games like this early in the year. And I think especially for a young team such as this, it is very important for the freshman to gain some confidence by winning games before Big East play begins. It is also important to win these games from a fan perspective. If this team can put together some early wins, it will make students on campus take notice and they will start to come out and support this team. Remember, we have 4 Big East games at CA this year. The Jungle needs to be at its loudest for those games. If we support this team now and they do their part on the court, it will just give them more confidence playing on their home court come Big East play. SEE YOU IN THE JUNGLE.

-The Game-

On Wednesday November 14th, the Red Storm of St. John’s University take the court for the first regular seaon game of the year against the Terriers of St. Francis College. The game is scheduled for 7:30 PM at Carnesecca Arena and will be televised on SNY.

-The Lineups-

ST. JOHN’S (0-0)

After sitting out the exhibition game for precautionary reasons, you can count on seeing Mr. Mason Jr. out there for this one. It will be nice to see him playing along side Burrell for the first time. Let’s see what the Dynamic Duo, as they have been dubbed, can do out there. As for the rest of the team, I would expect Norm to go with a 10 man rotation until he gets a feel for the right combination of players. The probable starting lineup for the Red Storm is:

PG – Eugene Lawrence Senior / 6-1 210lbs / 7.2 points, 5.6 assists (06-07)

SG – Larry Wright Sophomore / 6-2 172lbs / 4.0 points, 1.1 rebounds (06-07)

SF – Anthony Mason Jr. Junior / 6-7 209lbs / 11.9 points 5.9 rebounds (06-07)

PF – Justin Burrell Freshman / 6-8 235lbs / 23.0 points 11.0 rebounds (06-07)*

C – Tomas Jasiulionis Junior / 6-11 249lbs / 2.0 points 1.9 rebounds (06-07)

* – statistics at Bridgton Academy (Maine)

St. Francis (1-0)

The Terriers, out of Brooklyn Heights, are part of the Northeast Conference. Last season they finished with a 9-22 record, after starting 0-12. They lost to eventual NEC Champions Central Connecticut State in the opening round of the NEC Tournament. They are coming off a victory in their season opener against Hartford, 62-59, on Friday night. This team returns four starters and seven of their top eight
leading scorers from last season. Senior forward Robert Hines, from Trenton, New Jersey, leads the way for the Terriers. Based on the previous game, their starting lineup should look like this:

PG – Ricky Cadell Freshman / 6-2 180lbs / 9.0 points, 4.0 assists

SG – Jamaal Womack Senior / 5-8 170lbs / 6.0 points, 8.0 assists

SF – Marcus Williams Senior / 6-3 220lbs / 6.0 points, 8.0 rebounds

PF – Robert Hines Senior / 6-5 250lbs / 21.0 points, 4.0 rebounds

C – Bassith Yessoufou Senior / 6-9 218lbs / 3.0 rebounds, 0.0 points
-Keys to Victory-

St. Francis is not exactly a high-scoring team, only putting up 62 points in their win against Hartford. They shot 36% from the field and a woeful 53% from the charity stripe. We have more guys capable of putting the ball in the hole on our team, so I expect us to have no trouble outscoring them.
The go-to guy for St. Francis is Robert Hines. He brings a combination of power and quickness, capable of scoring in the low post and creating shots off the dribble. He averaged 16.5 points and 6.0 boards a night last season. If we can shut him down, we should win this game easily. Look for him to be matched up against Burrell, who is 3 inches taller than Hines, but gives up about 15 pounds in muscle. This will be the first test for our star freshman, look for him to play a little harder than he did against Molloy College.
Their big recruit is freshman point guard Ricky Cadell. Head coach Brian Nash is giving Cadell full point guard responsibilities, and sliding the under-sized Jamaal Womack to the shooting guard position. I want to see Geno all over the freshman point guard on the defensive end. He has 30 pounds on him and much more experience, expect Geno to give this kid fits all night.

With Hines probably being forced to guard Burrell, I expect Mason to have a field day on the other guys trying to defend him. You know he will come out looking to score, especially since he didn’t play in the exhibition game. I think you could put down at least 20 points for Mase on this night.

-Prediction-

I was way off on the score of the exhibition game. Mostly out of being scared that I saw some other D-I teams lose to D-II teams. As well as not really knowing how poor Molloy High School…I mean College, really was. We played this team last season and won a low scoring affair 59-42. I think we got more firepower offensively this year and we
should be able to put this team away. My prediction:

St. John’s 87 – St. Francis 68

The 100th Anniversary Men’s Basketball Media Guide is now available online at redstormsports.com…..St. Francis senior guard Jamaal Womack is from the Bronx and played at the same high school (though not together), Our Savior Lutheran, as Justin Burrell…..Don’t be confused, senior forward Marcus Williams is not the laptop thief that current New Jersey Nets guard was at Yukon…..Big man Sami Pekkola is the St. Francis response to our very own Tomas. Pekkola hails from Finland, but bares a striking resemblance to one of the players from the German squad in the movie Beerfest…..Center Bassith Yessoufou definitely wins the award for most confusing name on the team. He goes by Bass for short.

By: Garrett Knieste Johnny Jungle Staff Writer

St. John’s vs Molloy Exhibition

The wait is over. The time has come for everyone to finally see this team take the court. Even though it’s just an exhibition game against a D-II team, it still gives us the chance to see what the freshmen can really do. All the speculating can stop once this team takes the court for the first time. More than anything it’s a relief to me. Eight months of analyzing this team to no end on the forums can finally stop. Now everyone can talk about results on the court, where it actually counts. I know it’s just an exhibition game that has no impact on
standings. And I know that it’s against Molloy College. But I expect the Jungle to be heard from Wednesday night at CA. We need to let this team know, from Day 1, that it has our full support. And as long as no one gets injured and we don’t pull a Michigan State, the night will be a success. SEE YOU IN THE JUNGLE.

-The Game-

On Wednesday November 7th, the Red Storm of St. John’s University take the court for the first time this season in an exhibition game against the Lions of Molloy College. The game is scheduled for 7:30 PM at Carnesecca Arena.

-The Lineups-

ST. JOHN’S

With only 2 returning starters and 7 freshmen, the Red Storm will definitely have a new look this year. The rotation is likely to be a work in progress during the non conference games early in the season. An exhibition game like this will finally give everyone a chance to see
what the new kids can do. The probable starting lineup for the Red Storm is:

PG – Eugene Lawrence Senior / 6-1 210lbs / 7.2 points, 5.6 assists (06-07)

SG – Larry Wright Sophomore / 6-2 172lbs / 4.0 points, 1.1 rebounds (06-07)

SF – Anthony Mason Jr. Junior / 6-7 209lbs / 11.9 points 5.9 rebounds (06-07)

PF – Justin Burrell Freshman / 6-8 235lbs / 23.0 points 11.0 rebounds (06-07)*

C – Tomas Jasiulionis Junior / 6-11 249lbs / 2.0 points 1.9 rebounds (06-07)

* – statistics at Bridgton Academy (Maine)

MOLLOY

The Lions are an NCAA Division II team from the East Coast Conference. This exhibition game will be their only against a NCAA Division I team all season. The roster itself is experienced, with 6 seniors and 2 junior transfers, and is made up of almost all New York City kids. Being a Division II team, it’s hard to get any idea as to what their starting five might be. But, if I had to guess based on last year’s statistics, it might look something like this:

PG – Kyle Dongo Senior / 5-10 175lbs / 10.1 points, 3.6 assists (06-07)

SG – Glenn Martin Senior / 6-3 185lbs / 15.5 points, 4.6 rebounds (06-07)

SF – Vincent Falzone Senior / 6-5 230lbs / 11.5 points, 9.1 rebounds (06-07)

PF – Mark Pierre Senior / 6-5 230lbs / 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds (06-07)

C – Karim McKenzie Senior / 6-7 230lbs / 1.4 points, 1.9 rebounds (06-07)
-Keys to Victory-

Overall our team is much bigger and stronger than Molloy, I would like to see our big men take advantage of that and dominate the paint and the glass. It would be nice to see Tomas and Dele use some post up moves and put up some points.

I don’t think there is a player on their roster that is capable of defending Mase. He should be able to create match-up problems and be able to score inside and outside.

I would also like to see us throw our smaller lineup out there with Boothe running the point. Let’s see how he handles the fast break game and see which freshman can finish in the open court.

Defensively, there is no reason we should not be able to defend this team man-to-man. But, I expect to see Norm switch to a zone at some point to give it some practice.

-Prediction-

There is no reason why we can’t win this game by 25+. But we only beat St. Thomas Aquinas by 18 last year, so there’s a very good chance we don’t even win by that much against Molloy. I’ll be conservative with my prediction:

St. John’s 84 – Molloy 68

The Notes: Larry Wright, suffering from a sprained ankle, sat out the scrimmage on the Staten Island campus October 29th. If he is unable to go on Wednesday night, expect either DJ Kennedy or Paris Horne to take his spot in the starting lineup…..Molloy’s roster includes 10 players from NYC, including Junior transfer Michael Johnson, from Jamaica, Queens…..The tallest player on their roster is Senior Karim McKenzie, (not to be confused with the New York Football Giants offensive lineman who spells his name ‘Kareem’) who is 6’7” and played a limited role last season…..Senior Vincent Falzone is one of their better players,
but he looks like he could have played AJ on The Sopranos.