Johnny Jungle

The 6th Man of St. John's Basketball

For the die hard St. John's fan.
The unofficial 6th man. est. '07
You are here: Home / Archives for Columns

Game Preview: St. John’s meets former Big East foe Rutgers

by Leave a Comment

It feels like just yesterday Justin Brownlee wasn’t walking at the buzzer against Rutgers in the Big East tournament. A lot has changed since 2011 but Rutgers and St. John’s are still trying to figure out how to get back to prominence. Both teams enter the game with similar resumes:

  • An overhauled roster
  • A 2-0 start
  • A lot of uncertainty

Should be a close game that is sometimes ugly, sometimes exciting.

Game Info:

Date: Thursday, November 19, 2015
Location: Carnesecca Arena, Queens Campus
Time: 7:00 PM EST
TV: Fox Sports 1, FoxSports Go App
Radio: 970 WYNM

Key Match-up

Christian Jones vs Deshawn Freeman

The battle of the bruising forwards. Jones really hasn’t been tested much this year on the defensive end nor has he had someone that can match his physical strength. Will be interesting to see if Jones can go toe to toe or fold to the junior college transfer. St. John’s won’t need Jones to have a double double but they’ll need him to prevent Freeman from having one.

Keys to Victory

  • Make Sanders shoot- Rutgers’ freshman point guard Corey Sanders is always a threat to be on a highlight reel.  He can play above the rim but ultimately Sanders loves to dump/kick when he gets into the paint. Make Sanders be a scorer and he’ll throw up a few wild shots.
  • Get to the line- Don’t expect St. John’s to be a lights out shooting team. If they decide to live or die by the three every game, they’re gonna die more often than they live. The cure for this is get to the free throw line. Rutgers isn’t very deep and St. John’s will have a much better shot at beating their backups than starters.
  • Protect the paint, avoid fouls- Rutgers will try to get to the rim early and often and St. John’s guards will have a tough time keeping them in front. This will leave Sima, Jones, and co. to really protect rim. This might be the first game Sima really gets into foul trouble.
  • Play slow, work half court, get good shots- This isn’t going to be a pretty game and there is no need to slop it up more by trying to run a transition game. Rutgers has some guys who can get up and down but their team lacks discipline. Move the ball and see how well they defend for 20+ seconds.

Sir’Dom filling stat sheets in D-League

by Leave a Comment

Thoughts: Sir’Dom went for 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and a blocked shot. Looks like Sir’Dom isn’t skipping a beat in the D-League. He attempted 2 threes (missed both) which might be something he’s working on to get the call up to the Cavs. Keep balling Dom!

Game Preview: St. John’s takes on UMBC

by Leave a Comment

The undefeated Red Storm (1-0) faces off against the Retrievers, University of Maryland Baltimore County (0-1) at Carnesecca Arena tonight. This is the opening on campus game of the Maui Invitational Tournament.

UMBC showed in their first game of the season they can shoot the basketball. Three of their starters had more than 5 attempts from beyond the arc. Overall as a team they shot 9-25 from deep and will certainly look to do the same against the Red Storm.

This contrasts completely from what the Red Storm encountered in their opener against Wagner. Wagner was very anemic offensively but challenged defensively and on the boards. The Retrievers had a -23 rebounding margin against Wake Forest, but their shooting kept them within two possessions.  It will be another interesting test for Mullin’s squad.

Game Info:

Date: Monday, November 16th, 2015
Location: Carnesecca Arena, Queens Campus
Time: 7:00 PM EST
TV: Fox Sports 1, FoxSports GO App
Radio: 970 WYNM

Key Match-up

Federico Mussini vs Jourdan Grant

Grant is a quick guard who likes to create havoc on both sides of the ball. He gave five star freshman Bryant Crawford all he could handle in the opener. Grant will look to get to the rim and while he is more pass first oriented he’ll also get to the line. Mussini has struggled defensively and this could be a real problem especially if he picks up a few cheap fouls early.

Keys to Victory

  • Force tough shots, keep them out of the paint– It’s no secret UMBC will jack from anywhere so make every shot a difficult one. Guys will need to lock up their man and not fall into the trap of collapsing which will leave guys open on the perimeter. Keep your man in front and trust your rim protecters.
  • Don’t play their game- If UMBC starts out the game cooking from three, St. John’s can’t try and match them. Get to the rim and assert your dominance athletically. While St. John’s shot really well from three in the opener it is a bit of fool’s gold.
  • Go inside, early and often- UMBC does not have an answer for Yankuba Sima or Christian Jones. Get Sima the ball early inside and let him go to work. This will open up the perimeter game as well. Jones will be able to bully his way to the hoop if he can catch, pivot, and face up.
  • Good things will happen when you rebound- When you play a team who likes to chuck there will be plenty of rebounding opportunities. There are two objectives: Stop second chance points and get into transition. Long shots will produce long rebounds so this is going to be a team effort.  

St. John’s tips season off against Wagner

by Leave a Comment

No more DII opponents. No more 0-0 record. This time it’s for real.

St. John’s will tip off the Mullin era against cross borough foe Wagner College. Wagner is definitely no a cupcake game and will prove to be a tough challenge for St. John’s.

Wagner still has players leftover from the Hurley era and they play with the same aggressive, hard nosed style under Bashir Mason. This means non-stop on ball pressure with hard hedges on every screen trying to force teams to speed up their play.

This will prove to be an interesting matchup for St. John’s since they will be without projected starting point guard Marcus LoVett who was recently ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Federico Mussini struggled last game with on ball pressure committing two offensive fouls for pushing off his defender.

While Wagner will challenge defensively, they aren’t very intimidating on the other side of the ball. This is the primary reason why they are picked 6th preseason in the NEC.

Key Matchup

Yankuba Sima vs Mike Amen

The battle of the boards will be an underlying storyline to two teams with anemic offensive attacks. Amman’s calling card has always been his ability to bang on the boards and pose as the enforcer down low. How will Sima respond when he gets back of a bow to the gut? Will he be able to stay out of foul trouble? Will he be able to get to the line offensively? Can Aaman get some hustle points for the Seahawks? Keep some offensive possessions alive?

Keys to Victory

Start off hot– An old cliche but one that is imperative for a young team at home against a hungry opponent. St. John’s needs to establish their dominance early and eliminate any hope Wagner has of pulling the upset. St. John’s will also find comfort playing with a lead instead of playing tight from behind.

Take care of the basketball– It’s no surprise that a young team that doesn’t have a primary ball handler has struggled early on with turnovers. However this is no longer the preseason and the team needs to put a strong emphasis on valuing the ball. No careless entry passes, no forced drives, and no bad shots.

Get to the rim– Perimeter shooting is not going to be a strength of this team. If this team shoots more than 10 threes a game that spells trouble. The solution is get to the rim and make a living from the free throw line. Would like to see Durand Johnson get to the line minimum of 6x tonight.

Close out and board– Wagner is not a very skilled offensive team. They are going to be chucking all night and last thing you want is for them to get hot. St. John’s will need to close out hard and eliminate them getting open looks. Taking care of the defensive glass will be the secondary focus to eliminate hustle points and 2nd chance points.