St. John's is my Cinderella team this Year

I'm a huge college basketball and IU fan of course and always have been and I see St. John's as a very dangerous team out of the Big East. The other two teams I could see making runs out of the Big East (other than Villanova obviously) are Providence and Georgetown. I think that Providence asks too much out of Kris Dunn and Henton, although extremely skilled, can't carry the load by himself. PC might be good for a Round of 32 appearance, but will need luck to get to the 2nd weekend. Georgetown is everyone's dark horse team, but there's something a little off with them. I can't put my finger on it. When I watch them play, I always feel like on defense they look like they can get smashed by an elite team.


Back to St. John's though. Steve Lavin didn't come back into a college game after a near decade absence to take a rebuilding project just to go out early in Year 5. He's got his guys here. There isn't much that needs to be said about DeAngelo Harrison. Rysheed Jordan is one of the best young guards in the NCAA that no one knows about. Pointer, Greene, and Obekpa are all very skilled and solid pieces. If St. John's plays team ball, avoids the foolish turnovers, and can be efficient offensively in the NCAA's, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to overcome their depth issues and make a run. The Red Storm are a Sweet 16 team in my opinion. I'm from New Jersey and grew up in Big East country and, to me, this is SJ's best team since the late 90's Mike Jarvis teams. 

Also I see it being over for St. John's as soon as it plays a team with a legitimate frontcourt. For example, the Red Storm have no hope if they have to play teams like Arizona, Kansas, Wisconsin, or Kentucky in the NCAA's. The size difference and depth will wear it out. If, however, the Johnnies can get a draw where a Round of 32 game puts them against UVA, Gonzaga, or Utah, things look much more promising. 

Thank you. Many of us agree. When healthy, this team can destroy the opponent, but it comes down to that margin for error. Our key players need a breather. Even Pointer who has now been transformed into one of the best players in the country. He needs a blow. They all do.

Lavin is trying to get them that, but he needs the bench to help. At least in some way. Even if Alibegovic just rebounds, sets screens and passes the ball out of the post, he's a big help. He doesn't even have to score. Our front court gets much better when he plays well. The kid is a good rebounder. He's tough. But he's also very new to the game. In two years, he's going to be a 6'11 SF, who can put it on the floor.

If Lavin can get contributions from his bench, this team can do damage, but it's just been so rare. Against Providence, Joey Delarosa played well. Alibegovic played well vs Depaul. We need Balamou and or Christian Jones to give us one good game, because we all know, someone is going to get into foul trouble, or someone is going to twist an ankle, and then we'll all hold our breathe while we look over at the bench to see who's getting up.

Maybe coach will give Jones a shot again? It's so weird to see how timid of a player he is. He was aggressive, in my memory at least, in the exhibitions from 12-13.

Do you think Jones playing timid has anything to do with going up against pointer and obekpa in practice everyday? You see what it does to opposing teams.

someone is going to get into foul trouble

Refs don't swallow their whistles in the tournament like they do in BE conference games. If they run across the wrong crew Pointer might foul out during the lay up drill.

Thank you. Many of us agree. When healthy, this team can destroy the opponent, but it comes down to that margin for error. Our key players need a breather. Even Pointer who has now been transformed into one of the best players in the country. He needs a blow. They all do.

Lavin is trying to get them that, but he needs the bench to help. At least in some way. Even if Alibegovic just rebounds, sets screens and passes the ball out of the post, he's a big help. He doesn't even have to score. Our front court gets much better when he plays well. The kid is a good rebounder. He's tough. But he's also very new to the game. In two years, he's going to be a 6'11 SF, who can put it on the floor.

If Lavin can get contributions from his bench, this team can do damage, but it's just been so rare. Against Providence, Joey Delarosa played well. Alibegovic played well vs Depaul. We need Balamou and or Christian Jones to give us one good game, because we all know, someone is going to get into foul trouble, or someone is going to twist an ankle, and then we'll all hold our breathe while we look over at the bench to see who's getting up.

Maybe coach will give Jones a shot again? It's so weird to see how timid of a player he is. He was aggressive, in my memory at least, in the exhibitions from 12-13.

Good post, but suspect Jones is in permanent dog house. Whether it is a practice issue, his timid play, or something else, who knows. It just seems clear he won't be playing down the stretch.

Quote from: Poison on February 24, 2015, 10:33:31 AM

someone is going to get into foul trouble

Refs don't swallow their whistles in the tournament like they do in BE conference games. If they run across the wrong crew Pointer might foul out during the lay up drill.

I've heard that as a reason given (by people who know more about basketball than I do) for why the BE as a whole tends to underperform come NCAA tourney time.  They get used to playing a certain way over the course of a season, it's hard to just change that at the end.  I still attribute the poor performance last year to mostly luck (on a given day, any team can beat any team), but it's certainly a viable theory.

I don't watch that much basketball out of conference , is this new big east in 2015 that much more physical then the big ten or Acc? We don't play with 6 fouls anymore.

Quote from: Poison on February 24, 2015, 10:33:31 AM

Thank you. Many of us agree. When healthy, this team can destroy the opponent, but it comes down to that margin for error. Our key players need a breather. Even Pointer who has now been transformed into one of the best players in the country. He needs a blow. They all do.

Lavin is trying to get them that, but he needs the bench to help. At least in some way. Even if Alibegovic just rebounds, sets screens and passes the ball out of the post, he's a big help. He doesn't even have to score. Our front court gets much better when he plays well. The kid is a good rebounder. He's tough. But he's also very new to the game. In two years, he's going to be a 6'11 SF, who can put it on the floor.

If Lavin can get contributions from his bench, this team can do damage, but it's just been so rare. Against Providence, Joey Delarosa played well. Alibegovic played well vs Depaul. We need Balamou and or Christian Jones to give us one good game, because we all know, someone is going to get into foul trouble, or someone is going to twist an ankle, and then we'll all hold our breathe while we look over at the bench to see who's getting up.

Maybe coach will give Jones a shot again? It's so weird to see how timid of a player he is. He was aggressive, in my memory at least, in the exhibitions from 12-13.

Good post, but suspect Jones is in permanent dog house. Whether it is a practice issue, his timid play, or something else, who knows. It just seems clear he won't be playing down the stretch.

I think the reason Jones is in the dog house is because when he gets PT, he does nothing.

Quote from: paultzman on February 24, 2015, 12:46:08 PM

Quote from: Poison on February 24, 2015, 10:33:31 AM

Thank you. Many of us agree. When healthy, this team can destroy the opponent, but it comes down to that margin for error. Our key players need a breather. Even Pointer who has now been transformed into one of the best players in the country. He needs a blow. They all do.

Lavin is trying to get them that, but he needs the bench to help. At least in some way. Even if Alibegovic just rebounds, sets screens and passes the ball out of the post, he's a big help. He doesn't even have to score. Our front court gets much better when he plays well. The kid is a good rebounder. He's tough. But he's also very new to the game. In two years, he's going to be a 6'11 SF, who can put it on the floor.

If Lavin can get contributions from his bench, this team can do damage, but it's just been so rare. Against Providence, Joey Delarosa played well. Alibegovic played well vs Depaul. We need Balamou and or Christian Jones to give us one good game, because we all know, someone is going to get into foul trouble, or someone is going to twist an ankle, and then we'll all hold our breathe while we look over at the bench to see who's getting up.

Maybe coach will give Jones a shot again? It's so weird to see how timid of a player he is. He was aggressive, in my memory at least, in the exhibitions from 12-13.

Good post, but suspect Jones is in permanent dog house. Whether it is a practice issue, his timid play, or something else, who knows. It just seems clear he won't be playing down the stretch.

I think the reason Jones is in the dog house is because when he gets PT, he does nothing.

I think it's because he sucks.

Also, great post. They need Alibegovic to be big come Saturday and the rest of the season. Didn't play well last night but he is still a huge x-factor for this team.