Athlon Sports Has the Johnnies at the Bottom

Hey, if Mase can hit those shots, he can have all the dollar signs he wants.  This team needs a scorer.  When he drives for the dunk effectively he's at his best.  I hope he realizes that his long-range 2-point shots were wildly ineffective (especially after he tried to shake a defender).  Take the high-reward shot or slash.

Quote from: kjd01067 on September 10, 2008, 01:06:16 PM

Quote from: peter on September 10, 2008, 12:31:14 PM

An aside: I don't have a Rivals subscription, so could anyone who does tell me what this: http://depaul.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=848601 says?  DePaul's Rivals site has the Storm at 16 as well, but I bet they bit from Athlon.

 
 
St. John's Are Able To Score In The Post, But The Question Mark Is Their Perimeter
Someone has to bring up the rear, and the sixteenth best team in the 2008-2009 Big East Men's Basketball season is the St. John's Red Storm. Norm Roberts led his team to an 11-19 campaign (5-13 in the Big East), however lost more than he gained, as Roberts got a group of role players, where St. John's needed a four or five star recruit to anchor their backcourt.

St. John's Strengths

The Red Storm have two outstanding players, with one possibly becoming a star in the Big East.

Sophomore power forward Justin Burrell had an outstanding freshmen season, averaging 10.8 points and 5.9 rebounds, but those numbers truly do not describe his outstanding talent. Burrell might be one of the very best athletes in the country, and has a mean-streak around the rim that will help on both sides of the ball.

Senior Anthony Mason Jr. is the other bright spot for The Red Storm, as he averaged 14.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in an injury-rittled junior campaign. Mason is a talented penetrator and streaky shooter that can score in flurries.

Both Burrell and Mason Jr. give The Red Storm a very strong frontline in the Big East.

St. John's Weaknesses

Where the frontline is St. John's strength, their backcourt is their weakness, as they lost two key contributors in Eugene Lawrence and Larry Wright. The Red Storm are going to be looking to two freshmen in TyShwan Edmondson and Quincy Roberts to run their offense and score from the perimeter. St. John's was one of the worst offensive teams in the country last year, and having freshmen anchor your backcourt is never a good sign for improvement...at least for this season.

To go along with their backcourt, their other weakness is their perimeter shooting, where they shot 33.3% from the arc, and an awful 40.9% overall. Their strength is their frontline and around the basket, however if The Red Storm cannot extend the defense with some outside shooting, their post play will suffer.

No mention of 5'4" Malik Boothe.
He very well may be the key to the season.

I agree that Boothe may be the key to the season... "IF" he can hit the open shot! He can definitely create looks for other people... which will translate into some easy baskets. However, if he can't hit the open jumper... it's going to see alot of zone defense or double teams on other SJU players (most likely mase and burrell).

However, he may not be the key to the season "IF" Edmondson plays up to the hype he has gotten on this board (from the Edmondson believers of course!).

St. John's Weaknesses -

Where the frontline is St. John's strength, their backcourt is their weakness, as they lost two key contributors in Eugene Lawrence and Larry Wright. The Red Storm are going to be looking to two freshmen in TyShwan Edmondson and Quincy Roberts to run their offense and score from the perimeter. St. John's was one of the worst offensive teams in the country last year, and having freshmen anchor your backcourt is never a good sign for improvement...at least for this season.

However, he(boothe) may not be the key to the season "IF" Edmondson plays up to the hype he has gotten on this board (from the Edmondson believers of course!).

What idiot wrote this "synopsis" on SJU? Is this athlons or just some "genius" from the Depaul rivals site?..  .. First of all the only thing geno "contributed" was countless turnovers, missed shots & blown fast breaks... secondly, Edmondson & Roberts are most likely our 9 & 10 the guys off the bench... let alone "starters".. lol ... Boothe & either Mase/Horne will be the starting backcourt on this team. Not to mention, the fact they never even mention boothe or rob thomas... probably the two KEY players on this years team imo... shows just how much of a JOKE their "prediction" is.. PERIOD.

btw - i guess u could say i have "hyped" edmondson on this board. But i also CLEARLY stated that the kid NEEDS to put on at least 15 lbs & tighten up his handle before we can count on him for signifigant minutes on the court.. .. all we need from him this year is to provide some "relief" at both guard spots & play good defense off the bench.

Quote from: Johnny4Life on September 11, 2008, 02:26:19 PM

St. John's Weaknesses -

Where the frontline is St. John's strength, their backcourt is their weakness, as they lost two key contributors in Eugene Lawrence and Larry Wright. The Red Storm are going to be looking to two freshmen in TyShwan Edmondson and Quincy Roberts to run their offense and score from the perimeter. St. John's was one of the worst offensive teams in the country last year, and having freshmen anchor your backcourt is never a good sign for improvement...at least for this season.

Quote

However, he(boothe) may not be the key to the season "IF" Edmondson plays up to the hype he has gotten on this board (from the Edmondson believers of course!).

What idiot wrote this "synopsis" on SJU? Is this athlons or just some "genius" from the Depaul rivals site?..  .. First of all the only thing geno "contributed" was countless turnovers, missed shots & blown fast breaks... secondly, Edmondson & Roberts are most likely our 9 & 10 the guys off the bench... let alone "starters".. lol ... Boothe & either Mase/Horne will be the starting backcourt on this team. Not to mention, the fact they never even mention boothe or rob thomas... probably the two KEY players on this years team imo... shows just how much of a JOKE their "prediction" is.. PERIOD.

btw - i guess u could say i have "hyped" edmondson on this board. But i also CLEARLY stated that the kid NEEDS to put on at least 15 lbs & tighten up his handle before we can count on him for signifigant minutes on the court.. .. all we need from him this year is to provide some "relief" at both guard spots & play good defense off the bench.

All I was trying to say is that Boothe could possibly "make us" or "break us". Make us by creating alot of easy baskets.... and/or break us by not being able to shoot and thus... creating a 5 on 4 for the defense. I agree that Edmondson will only provide some relief and both guard spots and play good d off the bench. However, some people on this board have made him out to be a huge sleeper.

I don't think its unfair to say our backcourt is our weakness. Losing Geno/Larry will hurt us in a sense. I know people hated on Geno but he did do somethings that will be missed. He got to the FT line a lot which helped us in areas that don't neccessarily show up in boxscores. Getting guys in foul trouble and putting us in the bonus. Geno also played pretty good defense, he always came up with key steals and bodied up pretty well against opposing PGs. I'm not sure his positives outweighed his negatives but there are some things we will miss.

Larry will be sorely missed he was and still would be the best shooter on this team by far. The only thing you can say is that he barely played so his production could be replaced.

We have a lot of unknowns so we don't exactly know whether we'll be better or worse.

Do I think Malik could be better than Geno? Yes and he should hopefully make others on the floor better as well but again Malik will have his short comings too.

I don't think its unfair to say our backcourt is our weakness. Losing Geno/Larry will hurt us in a sense. I know people hated on Geno but he did do somethings that will be missed. He got to the FT line a lot which helped us in areas that don't neccessarily show up in boxscores. Getting guys in foul trouble and putting us in the bonus. Geno also played pretty good defense, he always came up with key steals and bodied up pretty well against opposing PGs. I'm not sure his positives outweighed his negatives but there are some things we will miss.

Larry will be sorely missed he was and still would be the best shooter on this team by far. The only thing you can say is that he barely played so his production could be replaced.

We have a lot of unknowns so we don't exactly know whether we'll be better or worse.

Do I think Malik could be better than Geno? Yes and he should hopefully make others on the floor better as well but again Malik will have his short comings too.

Wright will be missed, but Geno was one of the worst players on the team last year.
He just terrible at running the offense, and he was phoning it in.

All I was trying to say is that Boothe could possibly "make us" or "break us". Make us by creating alot of easy baskets.... and/or break us by not being able to shoot and thus... creating a 5 on 4 for the defense. 

Was David Cain able to shoot? With him I don´t think that it was created a 5 on 4 for the defense.

referring to malik...i dont think you guys understand how much of an impact a seemingly "quiet" point guard can make...we say it alot but it really isnt necessary for him to score more than 5 points a game...he needs to be able to knock down open shots from inside the arc, which any player who has more than 3 years of experience playing the game should be able to do, distribute the ball without turnovers, and play good defense...that right there, makes him a hell of a lot better than geno...so after that, take what should be a much improved all around team, which only lost a streaky shooter who couldn't play inside the arc anywhere near consistently and lacked energy, focus, and defensive presence, and you have a team which will do better than its previous season

Quote from: Johnny4Life on September 11, 2008, 04:38:00 PM

All I was trying to say is that Boothe could possibly "make us" or "break us". Make us by creating alot of easy baskets.... and/or break us by not being able to shoot and thus... creating a 5 on 4 for the defense. 

Was David Cain able to shoot? With him I don´t think that it was created a 5 on 4 for the defense.

One again my man gonzalez make a great point.

referring to malik...i dont think you guys understand how much of an impact a seemingly "quiet" point guard can make...we say it alot but it really isnt necessary for him to score more than 5 points a game...he needs to be able to knock down open shots from inside the arc, which any player who has more than 3 years of experience playing the game should be able to do, distribute the ball without turnovers, and play good defense...that right there, makes him a hell of a lot better than geno...so after that, take what should be a much improved all around team, which only lost a streaky shooter who couldn't play inside the arc anywhere near consistently and lacked energy, focus, and defensive presence, and you have a team which will do better than its previous season

So do this brother.

referring to malik...i dont think you guys understand how much of an impact a seemingly "quiet" point guard can make...we say it alot but it really isnt necessary for him to score more than 5 points a game...he needs to be able to knock down open shots from inside the arc, distribute the ball without turnovers, and play good defense...that right there, makes him a hell of a lot better than geno...so after that, take what should be a much improved all around team, which only lost a streaky shooter who couldn't play inside the arc anywhere near consistently and lacked energy, focus, and defensive presence, and you have a team which will do better than its previous season

Could not agree more SJD.. ... keep the rational, level-headed posts coming dude.

it's not like malik is walking in off the street.  he got decent minutes on an eleven win team last year.  don't expect him to be the savior this year.

and david cain was a FAR better shooter.  yes, he ran hot and cold...but malik is no david cain.  not yet, anyway.

referring to malik...i dont think you guys understand how much of an impact a seemingly "quiet" point guard can make...we say it alot but it really isnt necessary for him to score more than 5 points a game...he needs to be able to knock down open shots from inside the arc, which any player who has more than 3 years of experience playing the game should be able to do, distribute the ball without turnovers, and play good defense...that right there, makes him a hell of a lot better than geno...so after that, take what should be a much improved all around team, which only lost a streaky shooter who couldn't play inside the arc anywhere near consistently and lacked energy, focus, and defensive presence, and you have a team which will do better than its previous season

Very curious. .  did you change your handle or something..?

This post is under the name SJD but when it first appeared it was under the name...  Where's the Light..?

I really think Larry will be missed this year more than anyone thinks.  Every year his game progressed.  I know his defense was terrible but last year when he was agressive with the basketball and driving to the hoop not many teams had an answer for him. Unfortunately he was stuck on the bench so his production wasn't as good as it could have been.  Hopefully Quincy and TyShwan can  pick up the slack. 

LW will be missed most severe.

Quote from: gonzalo on September 12, 2008, 10:04:12 AM

Quote from: Johnny4Life on September 11, 2008, 04:38:00 PM

All I was trying to say is that Boothe could possibly "make us" or "break us". Make us by creating alot of easy baskets.... and/or break us by not being able to shoot and thus... creating a 5 on 4 for the defense. 

Was David Cain able to shoot? With him I don´t think that it was created a 5 on 4 for the defense.

One again my man gonzalez make a great point.

Not a great point at all, because although Cain didn't shoot well deep, he had one of the sweetest mid and short range pull-up jumpers we've ever seen at St. John's. You didn't stop his dribble, you payed. No one played 5 on 4 against us with Cain in the lineup. No one.

keep the rational, level-headed posts coming dude.

You should print out this post you just made..   and tape it to your computer.....

Quote from: Choz4Life on September 12, 2008, 10:57:02 AM

Quote from: gonzalo on September 12, 2008, 10:04:12 AM

Quote from: Johnny4Life on September 11, 2008, 04:38:00 PM

All I was trying to say is that Boothe could possibly "make us" or "break us". Make us by creating alot of easy baskets.... and/or break us by not being able to shoot and thus... creating a 5 on 4 for the defense. 

Was David Cain able to shoot? With him I don´t think that it was created a 5 on 4 for the defense.

One again my man gonzalez make a great point.

Not a great point at all, because although Cain didn't shoot well deep, he had one of the sweetest mid and short range pull-up jumpers we've ever seen at St. John's. You didn't stop his dribble, you payed. No one played 5 on 4 against us with Cain in the lineup. No one.

Actually I think you are agreeing with him.  Gonzalo stated that we didn't get played 5 on 4 even though Cain didn't have a good outside shot.  I'm not sure how that statement is dfferent from yours unless you don't think Boothe won't/can't be as effective as Cain.

I really think Larry will be missed this year more than anyone thinks.  Every year his game progressed.  I know his defense was terrible but last year when he was agressive with the basketball and driving to the hoop not many teams had an answer for him. Unfortunately he was stuck on the bench so his production wasn't as good as it could have been.  Hopefully Quincy and TyShwan can  pick up the slack. 

He will be missed...the kid could shoot with anyone.  It appeared the staff was trying to motivate him to play better D with cutting his playing time because despite him being our best offensive player he gave up a lot of points on D.

I have a feeling(hope) that Quincy Roberts will pick up some of his shooting slack.

Quote from: SJD on September 12, 2008, 10:41:33 AM

referring to malik...i dont think you guys understand how much of an impact a seemingly "quiet" point guard can make...we say it alot but it really isnt necessary for him to score more than 5 points a game...he needs to be able to knock down open shots from inside the arc, which any player who has more than 3 years of experience playing the game should be able to do, distribute the ball without turnovers, and play good defense...that right there, makes him a hell of a lot better than geno...so after that, take what should be a much improved all around team, which only lost a streaky shooter who couldn't play inside the arc anywhere near consistently and lacked energy, focus, and defensive presence, and you have a team which will do better than its previous season

Very curious. .  did you change your handle or something..?

This post is under the name SJD but when it first appeared it was under the name...  Where's the Light..?

ha, yea, i did for a little bit, then i realized it seemed kinda annoying and bitchy so i ditched it