Seth Davis' thoughts on St. John's [SI]

• Big, big wins for St. John's last week in Philadelphia, where it beat two NCAA tournament teams, Siena and Temple, in the Palestra. Remember, the Johnnies are still without their best player, Anthony Mason Jr., who won't return from injury for another few weeks. Write it down: St. John's is going to the NCAA tournament.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/seth_davis/11/30/hoop.thoughts/1.html#ixzz0YO0Wi5Sd
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WOw, Im glad to see Seth Davis write that down!

Reading that gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside that I haven't had about St. John's basketball in awhile. Finally, there is some hope.

Still not sure we can actually count on Mason to stay healthy even after he gets back.

with mase basicly being off the court since the end of the '08 season, and the stepped up play of dj kennedy, can we even realistically say he's our best player anymore?

with mase basicly being off the court since the end of the '08 season, and the stepped up play of dj kennedy, can we even realistically say he's our best player anymore?

Kennedy is definitely a better player. I think people have a tendency to say it's Mason because his raw talent is incredible. Mason was a liability in two of the three games he played last year (granted, it's a small sample size).

If he becomes more disciplined and makes better decisions in terms of when to drive and shot selection, he could absolutely be the best player on the team. But Kennedy consistently brings it night in and night out.

It is great to see buzz around St John's Basketball.

It will be interesting to see what role Mason plays when he comes back.

talk to me in mid-January about NCAA Tournament.

I like hearing it at any time of the year. Progress is Progress

talk to me in mid-January about NCAA Tournament.

Do you believe that the NCAA tournament is an unrealistic expectation? Does St. John's have any chance?

Quote from: theoffspring447 on November 30, 2009, 07:37:27 PM

with mase basicly being off the court since the end of the '08 season, and the stepped up play of dj kennedy, can we even realistically say he's our best player anymore?

Kennedy is definitely a better player. I think people have a tendency to say it's Mason because his raw talent is incredible. Mason was a liability in two of the three games he played last year (granted, it's a small sample size).

If he becomes more disciplined and makes better decisions in terms of when to drive and shot selection, he could absolutely be the best player on the team. But Kennedy consistently brings it night in and night out.

I love DJ, but it's up in the air for me.  DJ does everything well, but I'm not sure how much better he would have faired carrying a team like Mase had to do.

Mase was called a budding superstar by a Big East coach.  This could potentially be a HUGE boost.  I'm really looking forward to watching Mase play with talent.  The kid rebounds well, he shoots well from deep, can create his shot better than most on our team, and plays tough D.  He should really fit into the new running style as well.  He'll get a lot of open looks in transition for three's or slams, and he can wreak some havoc on defense with his length.  He could also be a sparkplug taking down boards and starting breaks. 

I'd like to see how a smaller lineup looks.  I'd think we'd be able to pull hit off with the size/rebounding of Mase and DJ. 

That is true about Mason bring alone.
We thought we'd have Wright and Mason, but Wright disappeared.

Geno had a poor senior year.

Mason doesn't have to force offense this time.
I've seen make nice passes. He's big so he can pass over the zone.

We'll need him to stay with teams like Syracuse.

I dont know if we "need" mase. It seems the offense stands around waiting for him to do something when he s on the court. If/when he comes back i d like to see him off the bench, but idk if norm would do that.

i think mase coming off the bench would be awsome. mase hardy brownlee and rob coming off the bench no to mention quincy and omari. we wouldnt lose scoring what so ever and they could sub for any position out of the starting five

Quote from: pmg911 on December 01, 2009, 10:35:14 AM

talk to me in mid-January about NCAA Tournament.

Do you believe that the NCAA tournament is an unrealistic expectation? Does St. John's have any chance?

Unfortunately, I don't think they have a shot.

The wins this weekend were fantastic but I think by year end the win over Siena might not amount to much to the selection committee. I think it is obvious they were a little overrated, just as I might have underrated St. John's a little.

The conference is not nearly as weak as people think and I have zero faith in Norm getting the most out of these kids in the conference play. We will not be successul in the league with weak point guard play and a 6'7 - 6'8 center.

I also believe the return of Mason could potentially blow up the chemistry the teams has shown early.

I dont know if we "need" mase. It seems the offense stands around waiting for him to do something when he s on the court. If/when he comes back i d like to see him off the bench, but idk if norm would do that.

again you are judging him before he had significant upperclass talent around him!  He was told to be "the man."  Look at his skill set, not how he utilizied it, to determine how he might fit in with this team.

Seth just tweeted this

 SethDavisHoops Interesting how excited St. John's fans are by two Ws over respectable but unranked teams. They are really starved for a winner.

Mase aint our best player.

DJ is and it ain't even close.

Proud of him and all the players 'specially DH early in this season.

Quote from: Dave on December 01, 2009, 12:12:51 PM

Quote from: pmg911 on December 01, 2009, 10:35:14 AM

talk to me in mid-January about NCAA Tournament.

Do you believe that the NCAA tournament is an unrealistic expectation? Does St. John's have any chance?

Unfortunately, I don't think they have a shot.

The wins this weekend were fantastic but I think by year end the win over Siena might not amount to much to the selection committee. I think it is obvious they were a little overrated, just as I might have underrated St. John's a little.

The conference is not nearly as weak as people think and I have zero faith in Norm getting the most out of these kids in the conference play. We will not be successul in the league with weak point guard play and a 6'7 - 6'8 center.

I also believe the return of Mason could potentially blow up the chemistry the teams has shown early.

So Siena makes runs in the past two years of the tourney, return a majority of their minutes, and now they're overrated? I just think thats unfair to say.

If you want to stick to your opinion St. John's isn't a tourney team that's fine but to start saying Siena isn't that good after we beat them is unjust. If they beat us I'm sure there would be high praise of Fran McCaffrey for doing such a wonderful job at Siena and how good of a program they are.

Quote from: pmg911 on December 01, 2009, 01:20:59 PM

Quote from: Dave on December 01, 2009, 12:12:51 PM

Quote from: pmg911 on December 01, 2009, 10:35:14 AM

talk to me in mid-January about NCAA Tournament.

Do you believe that the NCAA tournament is an unrealistic expectation? Does St. John's have any chance?

Unfortunately, I don't think they have a shot.

The wins this weekend were fantastic but I think by year end the win over Siena might not amount to much to the selection committee. I think it is obvious they were a little overrated, just as I might have underrated St. John's a little.

The conference is not nearly as weak as people think and I have zero faith in Norm getting the most out of these kids in the conference play. We will not be successul in the league with weak point guard play and a 6'7 - 6'8 center.

I also believe the return of Mason could potentially blow up the chemistry the teams has shown early.

So Siena makes runs in the past two years of the tourney, return a majority of their minutes, and now they're overrated? I just think thats unfair to say.

If you want to stick to your opinion St. John's isn't a tourney team that's fine but to start saying Siena isn't that good after we beat them is unjust. If they beat us I'm sure there would be high praise of Fran McCaffrey for doing such a wonderful job at Siena and how good of a program they are.

Yup and how did Norm miss out on Anosike?  Norm cant make adjustments blah blah blah. Fact is, Norm came out and absolutely owned McCaffrey

You CAN say Siena is overrated bc they lost their best player from last season.  I's possible his affect on the team was underrated.

We will wait and see, but you cant judge either st johns or siena based on their performances against each other this early.  They are at least a decent team and it's good we won.