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 Exhibition Pre-Game St. Thomas Aquinas

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Finally the time has come for the next chapter of St. John’s men’s basketball to begin. Chris Mullin will be making his official debut on the sidelines. St. John’s will be facing St. Thomas Aquinas, the instate Division II. The game at Carnesecca Arena will be broadcasted live on ESPN3 (Watch ESPN app) tonight at 7:00 pm est.

Who’s NOT playing?

  • Transfer Tariq Owens can not participate in competition but is able to workout and practice with team for remainder of the year.
  • Kassoum Yakwe is not yet cleared for competition and is still waiting for NCAA clearance. This was anticipated and it’s possible he may sit out for remainder of the year.
  • The big question mark is point guard Marcus LoVett. He has not been cleared yet by the NCAA for competition. The school was hopeful they would have had a ruling by NCAA as soon as today which why no formal announcement was made about him being out. The reason why LoVett has not been cleared is due to the multiple transfers he had in high school. There is a lot of fact checking that requires a lot of back and forth from NCAA to high schools & teachers which undoubtably creates a lot of delays if either party drops the ball on communication. (Insert Jay Bilas rant)

Questions marks…

How much of the lion’s share will senior transfers Durand Johnson and Ron Mvouika have in the offense? There is no doubt that Johnson will be the go-to player in the offense but will Mvouika be the 2nd option? Mvouika could have a similar role as former 1 year wonder Avery Patterson which means bombs away from beyond the arc.

What kind of impact will returning players have on this team? Felix Balamou will look to carve a role for himself this year as the junk-guard dog. Defense, rebounding, and hustle points will be the key to staying on the court this year. Christian Jones needs to improve his go-cart motor and show a desire to do more than just dunk a ball but there is little confidence here he’ll unlock that potential. Amir Alibegovic continues to show some flashes he can make an impact. His decision making and play speed are the two things that kept him off the court last year.

Can Sima log over 25 min a game? There aren’t a lot of bigs in the conference who log over 20min per game due to fatigue, playing style, or foul trouble. Sima is more mobile than he showed in high school and might be best true big man St. John’s has had in over a decade.

Can St. John’s look like a superior team tonight? Far too often you’ll see a young team play to the level of their competition. Can St. John’s avoid the trap of playing down to their competition? Will be a good early test to see if the Red Storm can play disciplined and mistake free basketball. Expect some early struggles but don’t hit the panic button.

Greg St. Jean rounds off St. John’s coaching staff

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St. John’s made it official as they announced the hiring of Greg St. Jean as the third assistant coach of St. John’s Men’s Basketball team. St. Jean certainly brings a strong basketball intellect that will compliment assistant coaches Barry “Slice” Rohrssen and Matt Abdelmassih whose primary strengths are recruiting. Redstormsports.com has the official announcement.

“Greg is a star in the making,” said Mullin. “At such a young age, he has already put in a tremendous amount of time and energy into the profession of coaching. As a result, he has developed a unique combination of on-court skill development and conditioning experience, and infuses positive energy into everything he does. Greg wakes up each morning thinking about how he can make St. John’s better, make each individual better, and help our coaching staff.”

St. Jean spent the last two years working for the Sacramento Kings, most recently serving as the assistant player development coach during the 2014-2015 season. In this role, he helped manage the on-court training of Kings players, which included working with 2015 All-NBA Second Team selection and NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, through implementing video and skill development sessions. St. Jean also generated extensive personnel reports and statistical analysis that was instrumental in the scouting process.

St. John’s adds Mitch Richmond to staff

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The speculation finally ends as Mitch Richmond was officially announced as a member of the St. John’s Men’s Basketball coaching staff. Richmond will serve as a special assistant coach which was the position previously held by Gene Keady under Steve Lavin.

Richmond’s Resume:

– Inductee of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
– NBA All-Star (6 time)
– All-NBA (5 time)
– NBA Rookie of the Year
– NBA Champion

Mitch Lightfoot enjoys visit to St. John’s

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Mitch Lightfoot took an official visit to St. John’s this weekend. The 6’7 power forward from Gilbert, Arizona has already taken visits to Stanford, Utah, and Kansas. He plans to makes his decision later this month after he takes his last visit to Arizona.

Lightfoot really enjoyed his visit to St. John’s and took to twitter to share some of the key moments.

Shamorie Ponds commits to St. John’s

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Shamorie Ponds scheduled a press conference today at Thomas Jefferson High School to announce his college decision. St. John’s fans had a nervous confidence that Ponds would stay home to play for the Red Storm.

However the St. John’s faithful felt like they’ve seen this story too many times before. From Sylvan Landesberg to Isaiah Briscoe it always seems like the best talent in the metropolitan area has decided to take their talent outside of New York.

Ponds began his press conference and within a New York minute he put on his Red Storm cap and posed for pictures celebrating with his family.

Ponds took to twitter to apologize to St. John’s fans for keeping them waiting.

Coach Chris Mullin made it very apparent that keeping New York City talent home was a priority and what better way to back that up then landing a top 50 guard out of Brooklyn. Who’s up next? Rawle Alkins?