Preseason St. John's vs Molloy

St. John’s vs Molloy Exhibition

The wait is over. The time has come for everyone to finally see this team take the court. Even though it’s just an exhibition game against a D-II team, it still gives us the chance to see what the freshmen can really do. All the speculating can stop once this team takes the court for the first time. More than anything it’s a relief to me. Eight months of analyzing this team to no end on the forums can finally stop. Now everyone can talk about results on the court, where it actually counts. I know it’s just an exhibition game that has no impact on
standings. And I know that it’s against Molloy College. But I expect the Jungle to be heard from Wednesday night at CA. We need to let this team know, from Day 1, that it has our full support. And as long as no one gets injured and we don’t pull a Michigan State, the night will be a success. SEE YOU IN THE JUNGLE.

-The Game-

On Wednesday November 7th, the Red Storm of St. John’s University take the court for the first time this season in an exhibition game against the Lions of Molloy College. The game is scheduled for 7:30 PM at Carnesecca Arena.

-The Lineups-

ST. JOHN’S

With only 2 returning starters and 7 freshmen, the Red Storm will definitely have a new look this year. The rotation is likely to be a work in progress during the non conference games early in the season. An exhibition game like this will finally give everyone a chance to see
what the new kids can do. The probable starting lineup for the Red Storm is:

PG – Eugene Lawrence Senior / 6-1 210lbs / 7.2 points, 5.6 assists (06-07)

SG – Larry Wright Sophomore / 6-2 172lbs / 4.0 points, 1.1 rebounds (06-07)

SF – Anthony Mason Jr. Junior / 6-7 209lbs / 11.9 points 5.9 rebounds (06-07)

PF – Justin Burrell Freshman / 6-8 235lbs / 23.0 points 11.0 rebounds (06-07)*

C – Tomas Jasiulionis Junior / 6-11 249lbs / 2.0 points 1.9 rebounds (06-07)

* – statistics at Bridgton Academy (Maine)

MOLLOY

The Lions are an NCAA Division II team from the East Coast Conference. This exhibition game will be their only against a NCAA Division I team all season. The roster itself is experienced, with 6 seniors and 2 junior transfers, and is made up of almost all New York City kids. Being a Division II team, it’s hard to get any idea as to what their starting five might be. But, if I had to guess based on last year’s statistics, it might look something like this:

PG – Kyle Dongo Senior / 5-10 175lbs / 10.1 points, 3.6 assists (06-07)

SG – Glenn Martin Senior / 6-3 185lbs / 15.5 points, 4.6 rebounds (06-07)

SF – Vincent Falzone Senior / 6-5 230lbs / 11.5 points, 9.1 rebounds (06-07)

PF – Mark Pierre Senior / 6-5 230lbs / 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds (06-07)

C – Karim McKenzie Senior / 6-7 230lbs / 1.4 points, 1.9 rebounds (06-07)
-Keys to Victory-

Overall our team is much bigger and stronger than Molloy, I would like to see our big men take advantage of that and dominate the paint and the glass. It would be nice to see Tomas and Dele use some post up moves and put up some points.

I don’t think there is a player on their roster that is capable of defending Mase. He should be able to create match-up problems and be able to score inside and outside.

I would also like to see us throw our smaller lineup out there with Boothe running the point. Let’s see how he handles the fast break game and see which freshman can finish in the open court.

Defensively, there is no reason we should not be able to defend this team man-to-man. But, I expect to see Norm switch to a zone at some point to give it some practice.

-Prediction-

There is no reason why we can’t win this game by 25+. But we only beat St. Thomas Aquinas by 18 last year, so there’s a very good chance we don’t even win by that much against Molloy. I’ll be conservative with my prediction:

St. John’s 84 – Molloy 68

The Notes: Larry Wright, suffering from a sprained ankle, sat out the scrimmage on the Staten Island campus October 29th. If he is unable to go on Wednesday night, expect either DJ Kennedy or Paris Horne to take his spot in the starting lineup…..Molloy’s roster includes 10 players from NYC, including Junior transfer Michael Johnson, from Jamaica, Queens…..The tallest player on their roster is Senior Karim McKenzie, (not to be confused with the New York Football Giants offensive lineman who spells his name ‘Kareem’) who is 6’7” and played a limited role last season…..Senior Vincent Falzone is one of their better players,
but he looks like he could have played AJ on The Sopranos.