2010-11 Pre-Season Predictions

As the 2010-2011 season is set to tip off tonight, JohnnyJungle.com staff writers decided to have their first annual preseason predictions put on display. Listed below are game by game predictions for the upcoming season. See what each staff writer has to say about how the St. John’s basketball team will do this season. Feel free to insert your own predictions and reactions in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

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Averages

Out of Conference- Wins: 10 Losses: 2
Conference- Wins: 11.5 Losses: 6.5
Total- Wins: 21.7 Losses: 8.3

Take a look at what each JohnnyJungle.com staff member has to say for their predictions and anticipations for this upcoming season.

Dave Krupinski
Owner/Publisher
Column- JohnnyJungle.com
Twitter- @JohnnyJungleSTJ

St. John’s enters the season filled with high expectations from their faithful and Rick Pitino. I am one of the believers that the Johnnies are poised to have a break out season yet I’m also grounded by the fact this is the same team who finished 13th out of 16 in the Big East last season. A lot of fans will point to games that St. John’s “could of” or “should of” won but on the other side there are always games that the Red Storm should have lost too.

The biggest thing St. John’s has going for them is they return a lot of guys who are more familiar with each other than any other team in the country. It also doesn’t hurt that the Big East is continually losing NBA caliber talent every season. So as the Big East continues to slide the Red Storm continue to soar. How much does that close the gap? I’m not sure.

A few games to note….

I think that St. John’s drops the opener to St. Mary’s on the road in addition to them losing to the defending national champs, Duke, at home.

I also think that St. John’s avenges their loss against WVU from last season. Splits at both Notre Dame and Georgetown is likely. A trap game I think the johnnies lose is coming off a projected road loss against Villanova to face Seton Hall at the prudential center. There is a lot of local pride on the line and with South Florida next on the schedule this spells disaster for St. John’s.

Pico Dulce
Editor/Senior Staff Writer
Column- Calm Before the Storm
Twitter- @ECoastBias

I predict a pretty successful season, and am going with the win vs. St. Mary’s more on faith than on what I know about the two teams. There is a lot we don’t know about this team when the lights come on, and facing a very experienced and well-coached St. Mary’s squad in their home in the wee hours is a really tough test. I also think that since Steve Lavin had some strange losses at points in his UCLA, coupled with a roster of players who are still learning their roles and learning how to play Lavin’s style of basketball intuitively… there could be a bizarre loss in there. Davidson or Northwestern could be risky.

Here’s hoping the Justins become a force down low, Coker and Evans get some meaningful minutes, that Polee has flashes of amazing, and that Malik Boothe can be a steady threat in an attacking basketball system. I think all of those things can happen, but it’s only a few months between now and the end of the season. Hard to make big changes that quickly.

Dan Martin
Staff Writer
Column- Over The Airwaves
Twitter- @Dan_MartinWSJU

In a season where there seems to be a lack of true stars (no DaSean Butler, Scottie Reynolds, Greg Monroe, or Lazar Hayward), the Big East is more open than it has been in many seasons. For a team of nine experienced, collectively talented seniors in St. John’s, this spells success. But, this will still not come easily. The Big East, regardless of the season, is always talented and attracts the best talent in the country. For this reason, St. John’s, who is projected to finish 6th in the Big East, will have to use their combination of versatility and experience to win games.

One other major reason for improvement from last year’s 17-16 finish will be the shift in scheme and philosophy of Coach Steve Lavin and the rest of his staff. In games last season against powerhouses like West Virginia and Villanova, halftime leads were squandered and winnable games were lost. This year, Coach Lavin will bring solidarity and a new mindset in games where momentum can swing one way or another and means the difference between a win and a loss.

Look for the Red Storm to showcase their athleticism on defense in new full-court and half-court presses, which will subsequently force turnovers and improve on the low offensive output from last season. These forced turnovers allow the offense to get out on the fastbreak, which is where the Johnnies will be most effective.
With the projected record of 21 wins means that the Red Storm will probably have to win a few games in the Big East Tournament to make it to the Big Dance.

Tim Dimas
Staff Writer
Column- Over The Airwaves
Twitter- @TimmyD_WSJU

St. Johns will go 24-6, plain and simple. You look at the players on this team and the coaching staff and you have to ask yourself, how could they not? Coach Lavin has all the right plays already drawn up. Of course it won’t be an easy task when they face teams like West Virginia, Duke, Georgetown, and Syracuse and so on. Those teams are always filled with a lot of talent but St. Johns will never be out of those games. St. Johns will definitely pull an upset this season and that will be February 26th verses Villanova. They gave them a great game last year at Madison Square Garden last year but as was the case for St. Johns last year, second half melt downs caused them to lose a lot of games. That will not happen this year with Lavin and the new coaching staff. They will not be under coached this season and that’s why they will win 24 games and be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

Jaden Daly
Staff Writer
Column- Daly Dribble
Twitter- @JadenDaly

Why 21 Wins?

St. John’s has something no other school in the country has, and that’s an unprecedented amount of experience with ten seniors.  However, it won’t be easy early for Steve Lavin as he leads the Johnnies into St. Mary’s on Tuesday night for the season opener.  In what should be a hard-fought contest, the Gaels will get the win, but the Red Storm prove they can stay with NCAA Tournament-caliber teams.  Aside from their matchup against Duke in January, St. Mary’s will be the only other nonconference loss on the Johnnies’ ledger.

When the Big East season rolls around, St. John’s should be 9-1.  Experience alone should be enough to carry the Red Storm past the second-tier teams in the conference, (Rutgers, DePaul, etc.) and their early-season tests will prove to be decisive against squads the likes of Seton Hall and Marquette among others.  Despite what many critics think, eleven conference wins is enough for the No. 5 or 6 spot in the Big East and a first-round bye, good enough to justify their sixth-place ranking in the Big East preseason poll.

David Berov
Staff Writer
Column- Red Eye
Twitter- @DBerov

Experience is the selling point this year for the Red Storm, it’s a big reason I’m giving them some key wins this year. Big East victories over Providence, at home v Georgetown, both games with Notre Dame, Cincy Rutgers, Depaul, USF and most importantly at home against UCONN. The early non conference schedule for St. John’s isn’t that tough aside from St. Marys and their is too much momentum for St. John’s right now to lose that game, it will be tough but I think they pull out a 4-5 point win. Key losses, St. John’s can’t hang with Duke, that has trouble written all over it, worse than the 9 point loss last year. Syracuse will give St. John’s trouble in the paint with Melo and Jackson. Late in the season on the road against Seton Hall is another game I think this team loses. Tough game, rivalry, new coach potential bubble breaking type of game, I’ll give it to Seton Hall. Overall it’s a much better year than in years past. I have the red storm going 22-8. Add that with a couple more wins in the Big East tourney and the Red Storm are in the NCAA tournament for the first time in too long.