Down the Hall

The Red Storm are improving by leaps and bounds in the latter part of the season. Their swagger is up. There’s a little more attention on campus. And the surrounding city is crazy for the story of NCAA Tournament-bound #15 St. John’s and their resurgence under first-year coach Steve Lavin.

Nearby, two other schools also replaced their head coaches. Rutgers, with new coach Mike Rice, is angling for a .500 record and just maybe inclusion in the NIT or the other postseason tournaments. Meanwhile, the team that seemed most talented of the three area schools, Seton Hall, has struggled mightily with the transition. At 11-17, they have almost no chance for postseason play, unless one of the lesser tournaments decides to take them on.

And they’ve had turmoil – Keon Lawrence and Jamel Jackson crossed the line once too often for Kevin Willard and were booted from the team for violating curfew. Jeremy Hazell broke his hand and then got shot over Christmas in a botched robbery attempt. The Pirates have integrated some new players, but one wonders of the coaching staff is simply trying to get past this year – and these players – and building something new in South Orange.

But the Pirates are still a local rival, with other New York-area players on the roster. They and St. John’s have spent years battling for position in the Big East; this game is for bragging rights. St. John’s hasn’t won at Seton Hall in over 10 years (1998, to be exact). And the Pirates’ scorers are streaky, but can be deadly from outside.

Can St. John’s keep feeding the storm with another road win?

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Seton Hall (11-17, 5-11)

The Seton Hall team comes in with a nice win over the Syracuse Orange at the end of January, and a decent win over an Alabama team that might make the NCAA Tournament, back in November.

Besides that, the Pirates’ won-loss table is a list of opportunities not taken – losses at home to Dayton, Richmond, and Rutgers; neutral site losses to Clemson, Arkansas, and Xavier; and 5 Big East home losses.

The one sneaky constant in all of these games is generally tough defense. Somehow, a team that spent years being indifferent to a sustained defensive effort – especially an effort that didn’t involve a steal and going the other way for an easy score – has become one of the best defenses in the Big East, and by some metrics, maybe in the country. Seton Hall forces turnovers almost as well as St. John’s does. They play their positions fairly well (except when the players have breakdowns). They aren’t running up and down the court creating chaos for themselves while making chaos for others.

It’s hard to reconcile the good things the Pirates have done on defense and the talent they should have on offense with how unbelievably poor they have been on offense. It’s unbelievable. Personally, I’m a big fan of Kevin Willard’s – I would have wanted him for St. John’s – but his results with the Pirates have to give anyone pause.

They’re a veteran team that wasn’t actually great at shooting, or shooting threes last year (volume shooters), and they’ve become utterly abysmal at hitting outside shots. And yet they still jack them up. Not at the rates that they used to, but if a team is shooting 24.7% on their three pointers, they should just STOP.

24.7%?

The Pirates don’t draw fouls (bottom of the league). They don’t crash the offensive glass for more opportunities. The slowed-down offense still comes with shots don’t seem like they would be in the flow of any offense. At least they don’t turn the ball over… but still, this is a fascinating study of how to NOT play offense. The Pirates don’t have scorers, they have culprits.

Jeremy Hazell is the team’s leading shooter. I guess you can call what he does “scoring,” but he takes so many shots to do it, he’s really just a guy chucking shots. He’s come back from his injury a lesser player; not sure if it’s injury or his chase of scoring and three-point records for the Pirates, but his shooting should be a benchable offense. He averages 35 minutes a game and he will not turn the ball over; once it touches his hands, he’s trying to do something with it. He’s hitting 23.8% of his outside shots in conference play, but is scoring better inside. Is he due for a hot streak?

Forward Jeff Robinson is another grip-it-and-rip-it player. The burly forward also takes a number of outside shots (hitting 32.8% of his three-point attempts) but can make plays inside. He’s a very good defensive rebounder and can surprise with his agility at times.

The other forward spot is mainly manned by Aliquippa native Herb Pope, who played AAU basketball with D.J.Kennedy and DeJuan Blair. Pope spent the summer in the hospital after collapsing because of a heart ailment, but he seems to be much the same player he was before. Having made 9 of 21 three-pointers last year has made Pope’s shot selection worse, though, and he is 6 of 28 from the outside (21%) and takes an inordinate number of deep jumpers. He’s still a very good defensive rebounder (and offensive glass man as well), but sometimes thinks a little too highly of his abilities. Pope has improved his free throw shooting percentage to 54.7%. And he blocks shots like a beast, hinting at his athleticism.

At the point guard position, former Gaucho Jordan Theodore thought he was ready for the lead role. His performance with the Pirates has been a mirror image of last year (check his conference-only shooting stats – they’re actually the same numbers, give or take a few attempts), but in a slower pace, with more minutes, and with more turnovers. Theodore is what he’s been – a poor outside shooter, a solidly quick handle, a non-rebounder, a decent but unspectacular assist man. Playing point at times is Mississippi transfer Eniel Polynice, who is also much of what he has always been – a tall passer in a forward’s body who can bring the ball up but is a poor shooter. He concentrates on passing with the Pirates.

The newcomers, though, are promising. Freshman swingman Fuquan Edwin starts for the Pirates. He, too, has Miss The Basket disease, but he plays hard, defends solidly, and won’t turn the ball over. Edwin has struggled to score recently. Czech freshman forward Patrik Auda brings some size to the table (6’9, 225) and a willingness to bang and play ugly. He’s a little earth-bound, but can rebound and even hit an outside jump shot. Englishman Aaron Geramipoor gets spot minutes in the post but looks to have solid hands for rebounding.

Keys to the Game

Play Red Storm defense. St. John’s needs to hassle to Pirate shooters early, because they will take head-scratcher shots under pressure… and those shots often don’t fall. St. John’s can’t let them get into a rhythm early.

Get rebounds. The game will be much uglier than the fans will think; the Hall does have some scrappy players who like to bang. St. John’s has to bring some muscle and collect the rebounds that come near them.

Patience. The Johnnies have to play within themselves and create opportunities as they have in recent games. No forcing the issue; concentration, smart shot selection, and good offensive principles should earn the win.

Watch for turnovers. The Pirates do a solid job of turning over the opponent. St. John’s has to protect the ball, make crisp passes, and attack.

Kennedy + Hardy attacking. The team needs to attack the Pirate players and make them work on defense, drawing fouls. That starts with Kennedy and Hardy’s ability.

BONUS KEY: Protect the family jewels. Herb Pope has been known to take his frustrations out on the most painful place to hit a man.

Prediction: Surprisingly close, but the Red Storm won’t backslide. St. John’s, 66-60.