Calm Before the Storm

Game Preview: St. John’s looks to carry win streak against Incarnate Word

December 18, 2015 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

St. John’s returns to the friendly confines of Carnesecca Arena to host Incarnate Word. Coming off a stunning win against Syracuse at Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm have had a few days to recover and get healthy. Malik Ellison is expected to return to action after missing a month due to an ankle injury. There is still no update on Marcus LoVett’s eligibility status.

The Red Storm will face an inferior but pesky Incarnate Word team. With three games in five days this has trap game written all over it. Can St. John’s pass the test?

Game Info

Date: Friday, December 18, 2015
Location: Carnesecca Arena, Queens, NY
Time: 7:00 PM EST
TV: FS1 or FoxSportsGo App
Radio: 970AM or TuneIn App

Key Match-Up

Yankuba Sima vs little guys

You’d think big guys would be able to dominate when they face smaller guys but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes it’s more comforting to them to bang up against a body of equal size and height. Additionally Incarnate Word’s “bigs” are all step out shooters. Will Sima’s shot blocking presence be limited if he’s guarding guys around the perimeter? Will be interesting to see if he logs over 20 minutes tonight.

Keys to Victory

Don’t play on cruise control- If St. John’s gets a lead never be comfy with it. We’ve seen St. John’s put it in cruise against Chaminade and Niagara earlier this season. While those games were never really in doubt, St. John’s kept the upset door cracked open. Sooner or later that will cost you a game you should win. Incarnate Word has faced a few ranked teams this season so they aren’t going to come out intimated.
Don’t settle for outside shots- We’ve seen the shooting displays from three a few times this season but the Red Storm can’t live or die with it. They need to get into the lane and to the rim early and often tonight which will open up plenty of outside looks.
Be quick but don’t hurry- A line from John Wooden applies really well for St. John’s tonight. There is no doubt that Incarnate Word will try to compensate for their lack of size with speed. Meaning when the ball goes into the post to Sima, Jones, etc. will see double teams. The bigs have to know this and make quick and smart decisions. Can’t let Incarnate Word force turnovers.
Make them work for every shot- Incarnate Word is gonna look to shoot early and often but can’t let them chuck easy shots from the perimeter. Make them uncomfortable on every shot and just wear them down. St. John’s will have a few more healthy bodies so there are no excuses for tiring out.

St. John’s and Syracuse meet at Madison Square Garden

December 11, 2015 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

90^th Meeting between Storied College Basketball Programs Tips at Noon on FS1

Web release: http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121115aae.html

QUEENS, N.Y. (Dec.11, 2015) – There will be a palpable buzz inside Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon when St. John’s hosts long-time rival Syracuse for the 90th meeting between the storied college basketball programs. The nationally televised contest on FS1 tips off at noon.

FOX Sports lead college basketball announcing team of Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery will call the action from “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” The broadcast can also be seen through the FOX Sports Go app. St. John’s radio broadcast with John Minko and Vin Parise will air on 570 AM WMCA, SiriusXM Radio channel 84 and through the TuneIn Radio app.

Winners of two-straight, and three of the last four, St. John’s (6-3) enters the highly-anticipated matchup looking to collect its second-consecutive win over the Orange for the first time since 1993. However, the Red Storm roster underwent a complete transformation from last year’s group that snapped the Orange’s 55-game non-conference home win streak at the Carrier Dome.

This year’s squad features a blend of nine newcomers, including five freshmen, who will be competing against Syracuse for the first time in their careers, and for many it is just their second game playing on St. John’s home court in Midtown Manhattan. Christian Jones (Arlington, Texas), Felix Balamou (Conakry, Guinea) and Amar Alibegovic (Rome, Italy) are the only returnees from St. John’s 2015 NCAA Tournament squad, while Alibegovic is the only member of the current roster who saw action in the 69-57 victory on Dec. 6, 2014 over the Orange.

Despite the lack of experience, St. John’s has reason to be optimistic as it enters Sunday’s contest with a perfect 5-0 home record this season, including a 63-56 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn in the team’s Garden debut last week. Freshman Yankuba Sima (Girona, Spain) delivered a spectacular performance with his first-career double-double, recording 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting and 10 rebounds to go with five blocks. Sima, a 6-foot-11 center, leads the BIG EAST and ranks second in the nation with 33 blocks.

Graduate student Durand Johnson (Baltimore, Md.), the only newcomer who had previous collegiate experience at the Garden from his time at Pitt, also quickly found his comfort zone playing under the bright lights of MSG. The 6-foot-6 wing erupted for a career-high 19 points, which included his clutch jumper that just beat the shot clock with 32 seconds remaining to put the Terriers away.

While St. John’s youthful squad will be introduced to the rich tradition of the St. John’s – Syracuse rivalry that spans over 100 years, for head coach Chris Mullin, the Orange are a familiar foe. As a player, Mullin’s St. John’s teams produced a 6-2 record against Syracuse over his four year career from 1981-85, and on Jan. 23, 1985 he became the first in program history to eclipse 2,000 career points doing so against the Orange at MSG. Now patrolling the sidelines, Mullin will guide the Red Storm with first-hand knowledge of attacking Syracuse’s infamous 2-3 zone to put his team in position to pick up its third-straight win.

St. John’s will need an all hands on deck effort against a veteran-laden Syracuse roster. Jones has been one of the Red Storm’s top performers, as of late, averaging a team-high 12.8 points and 8.0 rebounds in the past four games. Freshman Federico Mussini (Reggio Emilia, Italy) continues to impress as he is coming off his seventh double-digit scoring performance in nine games this season. The 6-foot-1 guard is the 12th leading scorer in the BIG EAST and has led the Red Storm in scoring seven times.

Syracuse (7-2) is receiving votes in the Top 25 polls, breaking into the national rankings on Dec.1 after taking home the Battle 4 Atlantis title. The Orange knocked off ranked opponents Connecticut and Texas A&M to take the crown of one of the premier regular-season tournaments. Syracuse is coming off a 78-51 victory over Colgate on Tuesday at the Carrier Dome.

Senior guard Michael Gbinije leads Syracuse in scoring (19.7 ppg), assists (4.6 apg) and steals (2.9 spg). He is joined in the backcourt by red shirt senior Trevor Cooney, who is second in scoring averaging 14.3 points per game.

About the Series with Syracuse

St. John’s is 38-51 all-time against Syracuse in a series that dates back to 1912.
Syracuse is St. John’s sixth most frequently played opponent with 89 all-time meetings.
The former conference rivals will meet for the 34th time outside of BIG EAST play.

Game Preview: St. John’s travels cross borough to Bronx to meet Fordham

December 2, 2015 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

The hangover from Thanksgiving is finally over and St. John’s is back on the hardwood to face off against the Fordham Rams. It’s been 7 days since the Red Storm played Chaminade in the Maui Invitational.

Despite the time off the Red Storm are still expected to be without Malik Ellison (ankle) and Darien Williams (shoulder). Despite being without these two players the Red Storm will gain a fresh body in Kassoum Yakwe who was unexpectedly cleared by the NCAA on Nov 25th. Felix Balamou will also be back in the lineup after missing 1 game due to a foot injury.

Game Info

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Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Location: Rose Hill Gym, Bronx, NY
Time: 7:00 PM EST
TV: A10 Network (online only)
Radio: 570 WMCA

Key Matchup

Federico Mussini vs Mandell Thomas

Fordham is led by senior Mandell Thomas who enters the game extremely hot averaging 18ppg. On the flip side freshman Federico Mussini has led the Red Storm this season averaging 17ppg. Will the experience of Thomas outweigh the talent of Mussini? Can Mussini out duel the New York native?

Keys to Victory

Crack Fordham’s chip- Fordham’s roster is filled with New York players who were passed up by Big East schools and most noticeably St. John’s. Other New York schools have a chip on their shoulder and really get up to play St. John’s. The Red Storm need to be assertive early and weather the early adrenaline of Fordham until their chip eventually cracks.
Be more physical- It seems to be like a theme every game but the Red Storm need to be more physical. St. John’s needs to make everything uneasy for Fordham with a real focus on rebounding the basketball on the defensive end.
Play at your pace- St. John’s can not let Fordham speed them up with full court pressure. The Red Storm need to play in control and take care of the basketball in their own backcourt. This can be aided by by playing good defense, forcing misses, and rebounding the basketball. If Fordham starts making shots early (shooting 50% as a team on the season) then they will be able to set up their defense which could cause problems for the Johnnies on the road.
Work inside, out- St. John’s has done a great job of establishing a post presence early in games and running their offense through Yankuba Sima and even Christian Jones. This shouldn’t change and the Red Storm need to attack Ryan Rhoomes and Christian Sengfelder.Photo by Anthony Gruppuso © USA TODAY Sports Images.

Game Preview: St. John’s and Chaminade look for first win in Maui

November 25, 2015 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

Chris Mullin has made it a point that his team needs to gain experience to learn from it. The learning curve shortened from Vanderbilt to Indiana as the team went from beat down to almost. Now it’s time to show superiority over DII Chaminade and leave with a win.

Game Info

Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Location: Lahaina Civic Center, Honolulu, HI
Time: 2:30 PM EST
TV: ESPNU, Watch ESPN App (Bill Walton, Jon Sciambi)
Radio: 970 WYNM, TuneIn app

Key Match-up

St. John’s vs Themselves

Maybe I’ve been listening to too much Bill Walton the past few days but I’m getting philosophical. St. John’s can’t beat themselves in this game by playing with no energy and not valuing the basketball.

Keys to Victory

Eliminate hope- St. John’s needs to get up early and eliminate Chaminade’s hope of being in this game.
Drive to the hoop- Be the more athletic team and get to the rim until they zone up.
Don’t just force 3’s, force deep 3’s- Make Chaminade shoot from beyond NBA range to try and beat you.
Don’t foul- St. John’s rotation is short and can’t afford to let Chaminade in this game from the free throw line.

Game Preview: Red Storm tries to bounce back against Hoosiers

November 24, 2015 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

St. John’s got a good ole fashioned butt kicking yesterday against a very talented Vanderbilt team. Today could be a lot of the same as the Red Storm take on the No. 13 Indiana Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers dropped a tough game against Wake Forest yesterday which should only fuel their sense of urgency today. The Hoosiers share some similarities with Vanderbilt in the fact they have a stockpile of talented sophomores and experienced talent.

Senior Yogi Ferrell is the most recognizable name on the Hoosiers roster (seems like he’s been in college for 8 years) but he isn’t the only name you should watch out for. James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson are two very talented sophomores and junior forward Troy Williams is always a threat to finish at the rim.

Freshman center Thomas Bryant is a bit of a wildcard at this point but you can’t underestimate his potential impact.

Game Info

Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Location: Lahaina Civic Center, Honolulu, HI
Time: 2:00 PM EST
TV: ESPN2, Watch ESPN App
Radio: 970 WYNM, TuneIn app

Key Matchup

Chris Mullin vs Tom Crean

There are no real 1 on 1 match-ups in this game that are the key to this game for St. John’s. Indiana is superior at every position on the floor. It will be interesting to see how Mullin (drinks Perrier on sideline) will attack and try to slow down Tom Crean (drinks Diet Coke on sideline).

Keys to Victory

Eliminate bad shots- Too often yesterday St. John’s heaved the ball at the rim in desperation. St. John’s needs to show patience and move the ball around to get higher percentage looks. Taking bad shots is just as bad as committing a turnover.
Pack it in- Make Indiana beat you from the outside and force them to make shots. Ferrell, Blackmon, and Johnson can all attack off the bounce which allows them to kick for open shots on perimeter. Keep these guys on the perimeter and deny anything inside especially easy dump offs to Williams and Bryant.
Win the board battle- The Hoosiers don’t have an intimidating front line but they have big physical guards. You can’t let these guards out hustle on the glass especially on the offensive end. They are too good to allow them to have multiple looks on same possession.
Attack the post- St. John’s showed the willingness to go into the post yesterday despite that being the strength of Vanderbilt’s defense. Indiana on the other hand is permeable in the paint. Thomas Bryant has been stellar for the Hoosiers so far but Bryant isn’t the most disciplined defender. He is very liable to foul when challenged repeatedly. Troy Williams and Max Bielfeldt are both weak post defenders who can be out muscled by Christian Jones.