St. John's vs Long Island University November 28th 2007

St. John’s vs Long Island University

After what can only be decribed as a “quiet” 92-67 victory over Farleigh Dickinson before 3,190 at Carnesecca, this young team is proving to be a lot stronger offensively then many first thought they would be. AP report lists that Anthony Mason, Jr. is expected to play vs. Long Island University, in which the Johnnies will look to stretch their win streak versus NEC teams to 4. The Blackbirds may prove to be the only formidable team we face from the conference. LIU is 3-1, with a loss at Notre Dame in the opener, followed by consecutive wins over Army, Columbia, and Canisius.Freshman Kyle Johnson was named NEC Rookieof the week this past week, in which the guard averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 2 games last week.Johnson is from Canada, take that as you will. Other notable players are a pair of senior forwards Kellen Allen who averages 14 and 5, and Eugene Kotorobai, who averages 12 and 6. I look for us to run on this team again, and I am somewhat excited
to see what Mase can bring to this already steady offensive flow we
have had the past 3 games. SEE YOU IN THE JUNGLE.

-The Game-

On Wednesday, November 28th St. John’s will host the Long Island Blackbirds at Carnesecca Arena. Opening tip is at 7:30 ET and can be heard live on Bloomberg Radio 1130-AM.

-The Lineups-

ST. JOHN’S (3-0)

It appears that we will finally get a chance to see Mason Jr. in action, after missing the first three games with a high ankle sprain. I think is a good idea to get him in this game so he won’t be completely rusty when we go to Miami on Sunday. Should be interesting to see how Norm balances the minutes with DJ and Paris now that Mase is back. The way Kennedy has been playing, I hope his minutes don’t decrease that
much.

PG – Eugene Lawrence Senior / 6-1 210lbs / 14.0 points, 7.3 assists

SG – Larry Wright Sophomore / 6-2 172lbs / 17.7 points, 2.0 rebounds

SF – Anthony Mason Jr. Junior / 6-7 207lbs / 11.9 points 5.9 rebounds*

PF – Justin Burrell Freshman / 6-8 235lbs / 14.0 points 9.0 rebounds

C – Tomas Jasiulionis Junior / 6-11 249lbs / 3.3 points 3.0 rebounds

* indicates stats are from 2006-2007

Long Island University (3-1)

The Blackbirds come into this game with the best record in the NEC. They have won 3 straight games against Army, Columbia, and Canisius. This comes after getting romped 82-50 in their season opener at Notre Dame. Hopefully we can continue the trend of Big East schools easily handling this team. LIU is a very small team with no player over 6-8. They use a 10 man rotation and seem to get more production out of their bench players. But these five have been the starters for every game
thus far:

PG – Jaytornah Wisseh Sophomore / 6-0 170lbs / 8.8 points, 4.5 assists

SG – David Hicks Freshman / 6-1 195lbs / 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds

SF – Ron Manigault Freshman / 6-4 210lbs / 1.8 points, 5.5 rebounds

PF – Eugene Kotorobai Senior / 6-5 215lbs / 12.0 points, 6.5 rebounds

C – Aurimas Adomaitis Sophomore / 6-8 235lbs / 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds
-Keys to Victory-

Free Throws. They are called Free for a reason and the boys have to take advantage of their trips to the line. The Red Storm shot just 72% against Fairliegh Dickinson last game. Even though this game shouldn’t be decided by free throws but one thing for sure is we don’t want to see poor free throw shooting become a trend.
Run the Floor. St. John’s needs to run and run it often against this LIU team. St. John’s got most of their offensive production off the fast break scoring 17 of their 90 points including 24 points off the oppositions turnovers.
Big Men. Tomas and Dele need to step it up. We saw both get into foul trouble early last game which limited their minutes. Yes, the small lineup is more potent however we need production out of the big men on the defensive end. Instead of swiping for blocked shots they need to shuffle their feet in order to be in the right positions sooner. The fouls are due to improper positioning and late help defense. We know Dele can block shots but do we want 2 blocks if it costs 5 fouls a game?
Don’t Settle, Drive. We saw Larry Wright bomb 6 of 8 three point attempts and Geno make some bombs from NBA range. However don’t settle for the three if you have the lane, take the easier shot. The ball isn’t always going to fall 60% from three every game and we shouldn’t have Larry be the next Avery Patterson. Take the ball to the hole and the three will be open

-Prediction-

Well its harder to predict the score for this than it is for Las Vegas to pick the spread for the New England Patriots but I’m confident that the Red Storm will be over 70 points once again. We should see the defense come out and shut down the LIU offense. My Prediction:

St. John’s 78 – Long Island University 67

The Notes: The 92 points St. John’s was the most scored since 2002 against Fairfield. Red Storm have scored at least 70 points in 3 straight games, the first time since 2003…….Freshman forward Justin Burrell looks to notch his 3rd straight double-double…….Eugene Lawrence was named the the Big East Honor Roll team this week…..

By: Mason Nettleton Johnny Jungle Substitute Writer