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St. John’s Red Storm Travels Upstate to Play Syracuse

February 8, 2013 by Anthony Ramos Leave a Comment

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

St. John’s is coming off a big home victory over rival Connecticut and will travel through the blistery snow all the way to Syracuse in upstate New York to take on another old rival. The Syracuse Orange are currently tied for first place in the Big East and a win by the Red Storm would be huge.

After winning six of their last seven the Red Storm are surging at the right time. The Red Storm have entered ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s projected bracket as a #12 seed but still has work to do with seven games remaining in the regular season. There is a long way to go but head coach Steve Lavin talked about the NCAA Tournament projections.

“The goal of any college basketball player or coach is to be able to participate in one of the world’s greatest sporting events: the NCAA Tournament. Having the opportunity to do something special in March is what we all dream of,” said Lavin. “When I came to St. John’s and recruited these players, the objective was to go dancing in March…They are a young team, and I don’t want to change the fact that they are who they are. We recruited a very special group. We know we’re young and have a long way to go. I really enjoy working with this group. I want players that aspire to do special things.”

With Syracuse leaving the Big East for the ACC this was going to probably be the last game for the Johnnies in Syracuse. But these two teams will play a home and home series in 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. Syracuse leads the all time series against the Johnnies 49-37, a series which dates back to 1912. The Orange won last years meeting at Madison Square Garden 95-70. Syracuse has won seven straight and 13 of 14 against the Johnnies.

Game Information
Date: Sunday, February 10th, 2013
Location: Carrier Dome- Syracuse. New York
Time: 3:00 PM EST
TV: ESPN (Dave Pasch, Dan Dakich)
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko, Brandon Tierney)

Syracuse Orange (19-3, 7-2)
Head Coach: Jim Beoheim

Syracuse is having a very good season up to this point as they have taken care of business and are ranked ninth in the country. Syracuse is lead by senior guard Brandon Triche who is averaging 14.5 points and 3.5 assists a game on 43% shooting from the field. Triche had an off game last time out against Notre Dame when he still scored seven points and six assists in a 63-47 win.

Syracuse boasts a big backcourt of CJ Fair, Rakeem Christmas and Jerami Grant. All listed as 6’8 the basket will be protected by maybe one of the biggest trios St. John’s has or seen all year. Fair is averaging 13.9 points and 7.1 rebounds. Christmas is averaging 3.5 blocks and 5.4 rebounds while Grant 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds.

James Southerland, another 6’8 forward has missed the past six games after an academic suspension. Southerland had a hearing on Friday and the result is expected to be ruled before game time Sunday so it is possible he could play. Southerland is averaging 13.6 points and 5.2 rebounds off the bench for the Orange.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F CJ Fair
F Jerami Grant
F Rakeem Christmas
G Brandon Triche
G Michael Carter-Williams

St. John’s (15-8, 7-4)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin

At this point of the season St. John’s has a chance to make a run at the postseason. A chance they never got last year, and leading the charge is freshman forward JaKarr Sampson. Sampson racked up 18 points and six rebounds and one huge block against Connecticut. Sampson was more physical and set the tone like never before for this young Red Storm team. Sampson leads Big East freshman in scoring at 14.5 a game and leads the team in rebounds at 6.6 per game.

The emergence of junior guard Marc-Antoine Bourgault has been important for the Red Storm. In the past two games Bourgault is averaging 11.5 points while shooting 47% from the field and 55% from three. Bourgault will possibly be a zone buster against the Orange with his sweet stroke.

Sophomore guard Jamal Branch who sprained his MCL against Georgetown is unlikely to play in his second consecutive game.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F JaKarr Sampson
F Sir’Dominic Pointer
G Marc-Antoine Bourgault
G Phil Greene
G D’Angelo Harrison

Keys to Victory

•   Free Throws!- For as many games that free throws have cost St. John’s, free throws sealed the game against UConn. As a team they were 24-31 and closed out the game. In one of the better attempting games for the Storm, D’Angelo Harrison, Phil Greene and Bourgault hit all their free throws. Even 31% free throw shooter Chris Obekpa went 2-3 from the charity stripe. If they get to the line they have to take the free points against a team like Syracuse.
• D’Angelo’s Slump- D’Angelo Harrison is in a slump, but could his clutch performance down the stretch against UConn be the start of him coming out of it. The sophomore guard who is 30 points away from the 1,000 career point club will need to have a big game if the Red Storm want to have a chance against the #9 Orange.
•   The Bad Man– With Sir’Dominic Pointer he claims that he always feels like he’s the baddest man on the court. Mr. Do It All will have to be that against a tough Syracuse team that will be physically imposing. Pointer had five points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal against UConn.
•   Foul Trouble- Against UConn, Obekpa and Sampson both got into foul trouble. Obekpa only played 13 minutes because of it but Sampson was able to not foul out until there was 4 seconds left on the game clock and the win in hand. It will be a very physical game and the Red Storm’s big men will have to be smart with their fouling, especially if the Johnnies are in the game and can’t afford to lose either.
Final Prediction: Syracuse Wins, 70-60

St. John’s Looks for National Spotlight in DC Against Hoyas

February 2, 2013 by Anthony Ramos Leave a Comment

Sunday night will be the biggest football game of the year on CBS but at 4pm on Saturday there will be the biggest game of the season for the St. John’s Red Storm so far on CBS. The nationally televised game will feature two streaking teams, the Red Storm who have rattled off five straight and the Hoyas of Georgetown who have won three straight and four of five since last meeting with the Johnnies.

That last meeting with the Johnnies will be on every players mind as they step on the court Saturday afternoon. An early 11am start time at Madison Square Garden was not very friendly for the Red Storm who took a 67-51 spanking. The Hoyas led at the half, 36-19 thanks to some hot shooting out of the gate and a great game from Otto Porter, who had been struggling.

The team knows it has its work cut out for them but they welcome the rematch with the Hoyas.

“Of course we were looking forward to it. They beat us pretty bad, and we all kept that in mind as a team,” said Amir Garrett. “We’re very focused on Georgetown right now. That loss left a sour taste in our mouth, and we kept that bottled up inside us.”

Game Information
Date: Saturday, February 2nd, 2013
Location: Verizon Center- Washington. DC
Time: 4:00 PM EST
TV: CBS (Ian Eagle, Clark Kellog)
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko)

Georgetown Hoyas (15-4, 5-3)
Head Coach: John Thompson III

Again for the Hoyas the man to watch is Otto Porter. The forward is averaging 15 points per game and 7.7 rebounds. Porter has five double-doubles so far this season while shooting 51.3% from the field. In their first game against the Red Storm Porter put up a huge game racking up 19 points and 14 rebounds. Porter was recently named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll and has Georgetown surging at the right time.

With a little over a month left in the regular season the Hoyas seem to have put their scoring woes behind them. In the three game win streak they are averaging 67 points. A stark contrast to the team that won a game against Tennessee in November by a final score of 37-36.

Markel Stars is a player to watch in the front court for the Hoyas as he is currently third on the team in scoring with 11.8 points and 2.7 assists per game. Starks scored and tied a career high 17 points last game against Seton Hall, which matches his output against St. John’s the first time when he had 17 points on 7-13 shooting. Starks will have a tough matchup with the Red Storm’s Jamal Branch.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F Otto Porter
F Nate Lubick
F Mikael Hopkins
G Markel Starks
G Jabril Trawick

St. John’s (14-7, 6-3)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin

It wasn’t supposed to be that close but the Red Storm pulled out an overtime victory at home against DePaul on Wednesday. The gritty win came after high scorer for the game and go to man D’Angelo Harrison fouled out with 3+ minutes left on the clock in regulation. The team finished the last almost nine minutes without him and luckily was able to pick up the much needed win to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Sir’Dominic Pointer has shown a true leadership quality during the five game win streak that cannot accurately be praised enough. Pointer finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 30 minutes to help wrap up the game. Pointer scored on 4-5 from the field including a three pointer from the corner that he has now hit in two straight games. Pointer’s improvement over the course of the year has been huge for the young Johnnies squad.

But even during the midst of a win streak, the coach always believe the team could be doing better.

“We’re clearly making progress and playing better basketball then when we last played Georgetown, but there are still a number of areas we need to continue to improve upon,” said head coach Steve Lavin. “Rebounding and free throw shooting are probably the two areas, between now and the end of the season; that we need to keep making progress.”

Projected Starting Lineup:
F JaKarr Sampson
F Sir’Dominic Pointer
G Jamal Branch
G Phil Greene
G D’Angelo Harrison

Keys to Victory

•   Free Throws- This Red Storm team can play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde so far this season when it comes to free throws. Against DePaul the Storm almost gave the game away at the line like they did against Rutgers at the Garden. The Red Storm shot 17-27 from the line, including 3-8 from JaKarr Sampson and 1-4 from Chris Obekpa.
•   Rebounding- Rebounding was a problem again when the Red Storm took on DePaul, crashing the boards seemed optional as they got out rebounded 52-39 while DePaul racked up 21 offensive rebounds. Cleaning the glass is a most important part of the game of basketball and despite 12 from Pointer and eight from Sampson this team is still not doing enough.
•   Stay out of foul trouble– It’s one thing to be in foul trouble against a team like DePaul, as it will be hard enough to come back against a scrappy team. But the Red Storm can not afford to lose D’Angelo Harrison to a foul out against the elite teams of the league. It will be imperative for Harrison and everyone else not to pick up tick tack fouls.
•   + Turnover margin- The Red Storm against DePaul was +8 in turnover margin against DePaul which included only two from their guard position. Phil Greene was perfect in 43 minutes and Jamal Branch picked the pocket of the DePaul guards six times. The Johnnies have been very good at this all season and with the new three guard lineup it is imperative for them to be as crisp as usual.

Final Prediction: Georgetown Wins, 64-58

St. John’s Looks to Keep Winning Streak Alive Against DePaul

January 30, 2013 by Anthony Ramos Leave a Comment

A four game win streak is in the books as the St. John’s Red Storm come back to their on campus home, Carnesecca Arena and look to take down DePaul for the second time this season. The Red Storm defeated the Blue Demons on January 19th by a score of 71-62 on the road. They return home a more together and complete team.

With their win against Seton Hall on Sunday at the Garden this Red Storm team matched its win total from last year with 13. There is no where to go but up and coach Steve Lavin knows that.

“With this group, because they lost last year, just like with the team I inherited from Norm [Roberts], which had previously had no degree of success, the questions becomes how do you teach them to win,” said Lavin. “But also build that confidence that you need to win games. With all of our losses last year and our struggles this year, this team understands that it’s a tightrope in this league. If you don’t execute for 40 minutes, you’re in trouble.”

And execute the Johnnies will try to do as they go for their fifth straight win and stay at the top of the Big East for now. The Johnnies are currently tied with Louisville for third in the conference and are behind only Syracuse and Marquette.

Game Information
Date: Wednesday, January 30th, 2013
Location: Carnesecca Arena- Queens, New York
Time: 9:00 PM EST
TV: ESPNU
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko)

DePaul Blue Demons (10-9, 1-5)
Head Coach: Oliver Purnell

DePaul has had only one one game since they hosted the Red Storm at home and it was not a great showing for Oliver Purnell’s squad. 93-55 blowout at the hands of Pittsburgh was not the way Purnell had envisioned things going and the Blue Demons have no lost four straight and have only one win in conference.

Having already lost to St. John’s this season, this young DePaul squad will look to take one back to Chicago with them. After the long layoff Cleveland Melvin was not on the top of his game against Pitt, only scoring seven points and grabbing five rebounds while shooting 3-14 from the field. Brandon Young was the high scorer in the game with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists on 3-16 shooting.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F Cleveland Melvin
F Jamee Crocket
F Donnavan Kirk
G Brandon Young
G Charles McKinney

St. John’s (13-7, 5-3)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin

JaKarr Sampson is half way to history. Sampson picked up his fifth Big East Rookie of the Week award and is five away from tying Carmelo Anthony’s record for 10 awards in a season, with five weeks of awards left in the season. Last years Big East Rookie of the Year Moe Harkless only had two awards to his name.

Sampson has a good week averaging 20 points a game and six rebounds on 50% shooting from the field. Sampson leads the Big East freshman in scoring (14.3) and rebounding (6.5) and is tied for eight in rejections (1.3).

As for sophomore guard D’Angelo Harrison who’s clutch shot making helped secure a win against Seton Hall was names to his sixth Big East Weekly Honor Roll. Harrison averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists while shooting 48% from the field in a slump busting week. Harrison still leads the Big East in scoring averaging 19.8 points and is 17th nationally in scoring.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F JaKarr Sampson
F Sir’Dominic Pointer
G Jamal Branch
G Phil Greene
G D’Angelo Harrison

Keys to Victory

Three guard lineup- The three guard lineup of Jamal Branch, Phil Greene and D’Angelo Harrison has been positive and one of the reasons that the Johnnies have been able to run off four straight. Branch had his finest game of the season against DePaul scoring 18 points while Phil Greene was finally back in form when he shot 4-8 from the field and had 10 points against Seton Hall.
Short bench- Steve Lavin has gone to a shorter bench of late, playing only 3 guys off the bench. Amir Garrett, Chris Obekpa and Felix Balamou. Garrett and Balamou’s minutes have decreased but are still being effective. Garrett had four points, two rebounds and a steal against Seton Hall in 11 minutes.
Contain Melvin & Young- Pittsburgh did a good job of forcing Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young, the two standouts of the Blue Demons to shoot a combined 6-30 from the field. The Red Storm will look to do the same, last time out Young struggled going 2-11 from the field but Melvin had a solid 16 points and eight rebounds.
Build a lead, protect it- The Red Storm has had a problem keeping their double digit leads in double digits in the second half. The Storm build a 16 point lead against Seton Hall and it was eventually brought down to one point. Same thing can be said in their wins against Notre Dame and DePaul during this streak. It shows character to be able to defy that type of adversity but it is also easier to keep playing your game for an easy win.

Final Prediction: St. John’s wins 70-56

St. John’s Looks to Defend Winning Streak Against Seton Hall Pirates

January 26, 2013 by Anthony Ramos Leave a Comment

The Red Storm are on a three game winning streak after they finished up their season series with Rutgers with a win in Piscataway. The Red Storm will have to turn their attention to Seton Hall who comes into the Garden off a win at home against South Florida. But more importantly for the Storm is that last season the Pirates embarrassed them at the Prudential Center winning their only contest of the year 94-64.

After their revenge game against Rutgers on Wednesday, it will be fresh in the mind of the sophomores who played in the game last year that this team embarrassed them and will come out looking to avenge. The Red Storm are one of only six teams that are above .500 in Big East play. Sir’Dominic Pointer has been a catalyst for the Red Storm so far this year and expect him to try and lead the way and avenge the 30 point loss he endured as a freshman.

This is the first time the Pirates will be playing at Madison Square Garden against the Red Storm since a 58-47 St. John’s victory in 2006.

Game Information
Date: Sunday, January 27th, 2013
Location: Madison Square Garden- New York, New York
Time: 12:00 PM EST
TV: MSG (Eamon McAnaney & Jim Spanarkel)
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko)

Seton Hall Pirates (13-6, 2-4)
Head Coach: Kevin Willard

After a 19 win regular season last year that extended an NIT postseason berth for the Pirates the 2012-13 edition of the squad is currently in the middle of the pack in the Big East. After the graduation of Herb Pope and Jose Theodore this Pirates team is younger and leaning on junior guard Faquan Edwin. Edwin is averaging 17.2 points per game and 5.9 rebounds. Edwin is three points away from joining the 1,000 point club for Seton Hall.

The 6’9 forward Eugene Teague is averaging 11.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in his junior season. The Southern Illinois transfer is playing even better in his role at Seton Hall then he did at Souther Illinois. Teague is averaging 28.5 minutes in 19 games so far this season, shooting 54% from the floor and gobbling up almost 3 offensive boards per game. St. John’s will have to put a body on him at all times as he has shown to be dangerous all over the floor.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F Haralds Karlis
C Eugene Teague
G Tom Maayan
G Aaron Cosby
G Faquan Edwin

 St. John’s (12-7, 4-3)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin

A three game winning streak is nice but a four game winning streak will be even better for the Red Storm. The youngest team Steve Lavin has ever coached has had some major ups and downs to start the season. Losses to San Francisco and UNC Asheville in the non conference have shown that this team still had things to learn and they have grown before our eyes. Upset wins at Cincinnati and at home vs Notre Dame have shown a different side of this team that everyone should be proud of.

For St. John’s to reach their potential they will have to win these types of games at home against an evenly matched team. They took care of business against Rutgers and DePaul on the road and need to take care of their business this weekend. Sophomore forward Sir’Dominic Pointer has shown up and been leading this team. His double-double lead the way against DePaul and his most complete game of his career, had 13 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and six steals in 37 minutes to lead the way. Pointer is finally showing the potential that had him the highest rated of the St. John’s 2011 recruiting class that included NBA first round pick Moe Harkless.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F JaKarr Sampson
F Sir’Dominic Pointer
G Jamal Branch
G Phil Greene
G D’Angelo Harrison

Keys to Victory

•   Eli Cartering– For the Red Storm to pull out a win they will have to stick it to Fuquan Edwin the same way they did to Eli Carter in the two games against Rutgers this season. In two games against the Red Storm, Carter was 4-28 from the field including a 1-14 game last Wednesday. Edwin leads the Pirates in scoring is efficient doing so. The 6’6 guard is shooting 49% from the floor this year. In last year’s win over the Red Storm, Edwin didn’t miss a shot.
•   D’Angelo Back in the New York Groove- D’Angelo Harrison was back to being himself against Rutgers with a 7-14 shooting night including being 5-9 in the second half and helping secure the win for the Red Strom. Harrison had 20 points and hit three pointers at a 3-8 clip. Harrison will need to play with the same poise and precision as the Pirates will likely show full court pressure to create a frantic pace and ill advised shots.
• How You Be So Blockless?– Wednesday night Chris Obekpa did not record a blocked shot in 20 minutes of play time. For the first time this season Obekpa was held without a registered blocked shot. He might be limited in his opportunities again as Seton Hall averages 22 three point attempts per game. Look for Obekpa to be needed more to rebound than defend the paint.
•   Sampson Counter Punch- Whenever a team starts going on a run, expect JaKarr Sampson to follow. Sampson has had some huge follow up buckets when the opposing team gets on a run, it’s sort of his thing. Sampson had 21 points against Rutgers deflating Rutgers’ hope with his midrange game. Pirates will struggle to matchup against the athletic freshman just as the Scarlet Knights did. Lavin will call Sampson’s number early and often.

Final Prediction: St. John’s Wins, 65-55

Red Storm Looks for 2nd Chance Against Rutgers

January 23, 2013 by Anthony Ramos Leave a Comment

St. John’s is coming off a good road win at DePaul and has strung together two consecutive victories in the Big East and will look to extend it in a rematch of their meeting January 9th at the Garden. Rutgers won the closely contested matchup 58-56 when JaKarr Sampson missed a game winning three pointer at the buzzer.

“We are excited for a second chance.” said D’Angelo Harrison. “They are one of our rivals and all the guys on this team are looking forward to playing them again. It’s going to be a tough game, but we’re going to be up for the challenge.”

Since they last met, Rutgers is coming off a loss at Notre Dame, vs Cincinnati and a win vs South Florida. Meanwhile, the Red Storm beat Notre Dame and home and won the aforementioned game at DePaul. The Red Storm is looking to split the season series with the Scarlet Knights and get above .500 in conference play.

Game Information
Date: Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
Location: Louis Brown Athletic Center- Piscataway, New Jersey
Time: 7:30 PM EST TV: SNY (Scott Graham, John Celestand)
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko, Brandon Tierney)

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-5, 3-3)
Head Coach: Mike Rice

After pulling out a close game against the Red Storm at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Mike Rice and Rutgers are trying to pack the RAC and win the season series against the Storm. Rutgers lost a nail biter at Notre Dame where a comeback fell short. Eli Carter went 9-15 from the field and scored 20 points for the Knights.

It was a mostly efficient game for Rutgers against the Irish and a couple weeks ago against the Storm was the same thing but the only difference was it was a hard fought win instead of a loss. In that game, Carter did not shoot as well, going 3-14 from the field with only eight points. Dane Miller had 11 points and six rebounds against St. John’s and lead the way.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F Wally Judge
G Jerome Seagears
G Dane Miller
G Myles Mack
G Eli Carter

St. John’s (11-7, 3-3)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin

The Red Storm are looking to build some momentum in conference and can take a big leap in doing so by winning on the road against the Scarlet Knights. The young Johnnies squad has put together a couple of good games lately and have a small two game win streak. Behind the improved play of sophomore forward Sir’Dominic Pointer the Red Storm are more efficient on offense and defense.

Pointer racked up 14 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes against DePaul, while scoring eight points in 13 minutes against Notre Dame because of foul trouble. Sophomore Jamal Branch had his breakout game on Saturday against DePaul when he scored 18 points on 9-14 shooting while dishing out three assists in 38 minutes. Branch was a little rusty when he suited up for the first time on December 21st against UNC Asheville. Branch has showed signs of greatness and will be key for a Red Storm victory.

Projected Starting Lineup:
F JaKarr Sampson
F Sir’Dominic Pointer
G Jamal Branch
G Phil Greene
G D’Angelo Harrison

Keys to Victory

No Deficiencies in Rebounding or Free Throw Shooting-The Red Storm have had two main problems this season, rebounding and free throws. In their last matchup St. John’s out rebounded the Scarlet Knights but left 12 points off the board on missed three throws. Red Storm can’t afford to have a repeat. It’s an ongoing problem as the team shot 13-20 against DePaul. This could be the deciding factor in the game.
Super Sampson- JaKarr Sampson has won another Big East Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season. Sampson averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds to help the Red Storm to a 2-0 week. He got plenty of looks in the last matchup against Rutgers leading the team in shot attempts but didn’t attempt a free throw. He’s going to need to fix that to fair well against Scarlet Knights front line once again.
Get D’Angelo Harrison Cooking– Sophomore guard D’Angelo Harrison has had some off shooting nights the past few games but that hash’t deterred him from winning games. After shooting 4-12 against DePaul, Harrison went 7-9 from the free throw line to win the game. Even through some stretches Harrison hasn’t been scoring the ball, he is still one of the most important people on the floor for the Red Storm.
Go Go Garrett- While a lot of focus might be put on Obekpa to contain the front line of Judge, Johnson, and Jack for Rutgers it will be the play of Garrett who will determine if St. John’s can dominate the paint. The shorter, leaner Garrett will have his hands full defending and rebounding the ball but he needs to insert himself offensively. He is the most efficient offensive rebounder on the team and his quickness could pose as a match up problem for the Scarlet Knights.

Final Prediction: St. John’s Wins, 60-59

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