Blue Devils

Duke Beats St. John's 80-71

December 6, 2009 by Dan Bart 2 Comments

St. John’s came into Saturdays matchup with Duke riding high with a perfect 6-0 record and a buzz surrounding the team that had not been seen in years. A win over Duke would have surely put them into the top twenty five and have the city buzzing. But St. John’s was unable to come away with the win, losing 80-71. It was a game of runs, with Duke going on big streaks to come away with the victory.

The game started off well enough for the Red Storm, who traded baskets with the Blue Devils during the early goings. But shortly thereafter Duke awoke from their slumber and reeled off the first of a few runs that put St. John’s in a hole. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek were both impressive during a 31-9 run during the first half that put Duke out in front permanently. St. John’s went into the half staring at a 40-24 deficit.

It was more of the same during the first few minutes of the second, as Duke asserted their dominance on the boards, and St. John’s was helpless to stop it. But just as it was looking like St. John’s would get blown out of the water, they put together a nice run of their own to make it an interesting finish. Dwight Hardy’s layup capped a ten point run that cut the lead to 54-50 with around ten minutes left in the contest.

But St. John’s had a hard time getting the game any closer, as Duke retook control and finished strong. A late 14-2 run proved to be the difference, as St. John’s fell to Duke 80-71.

Coach Norm Roberts sent out Justin Burrell, Malik Boothe, Paris Horne, Sean Evans, and DJ Kennedy as the starters at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Coach Roberts plans took a hit during the early goings though, as Justin Burrell sprained his right ankle a minute into the game and was unable to return.

Sean Evans continued his impressive Junior year campaign with another strong performance, scoring 17 points to go along with 6 rebounds. Evans shot 8-13 from the floor against the Blue Devils, impressive considering the level of competition that come with playing Duke. But Evans struggled from the free throw line, going 1-6. The only thing that is stopping Evans from being a dominant big man is his struggles from the line. But he continues to impress and he gives St. John’s a legitimate big man that they have not had since the likes of Jayson Williams.

DJ Kennedy also put in a strong performance against the Blue Devils, scoring 18 points and dishing out 9 assists in the 9 point loss. He also grabbed four rebounds, two of them on the offensive end. Kennedy had an impressive day shooting the ball, going 5-10 from the floor and 3-6 from three point land.

Paris Horne just missed a double-digit point total, scoring 9 on 4-9 shooting from the field. He also added 4 rebounds to his stat column. Malik Boothe chipped in with 7 points on 3-5 shooting from the field.

Dwight Hardy and Dele Coker both contributed coming off the bench. Hardy scored 7 points and grabbed four rebounds. He shot 3-8 from the field and 1-5 from three point territory.

Keys To Victory:

Give Yourselves a Chance: Coming into the game, the only way St. John’s was going to have a chance was to take care of the basketball. Teams like Duke thrive on other teams mistakes, and it is often the difference between winning and losing. The Red Storm did a pretty good job of holding onto the ball, only turning it over 13 times. But Duke took advantage of St. John’s mistakes during their runs, turning them into points that made the deficit insurmountable.

Grade: C

You Ain’t Got No Alibi – Ugly: At points in the game, it appeared that the style of play would play into the Red Storm’s hands. St. John’s was able to keep Duke on their heels during the early goings, but they could not keep it up. Duke was able to settle the pace down and play their style of basketball. St. John’s did not match up well against Dukes half court offense, and as a result St. John’s was unable to keep up.

Grade: C+

The Rediscovered Jump Shot: St. John’s knew that they had to shoot the lights out against the Blue Devils in order to win. But despite the loss, St. John’s had a good day shooting the ball, shooting over 50% against Duke. Sean Evans and DJ Kennedy were especially impressive, combining to go 13-23 from the field.

Grade: B+

Do Not Foul Stupidly: Sean Evans had a great game, but he did not show enough caution when it came to committing fouls. Evans fouled out at the end of the game, registering 5 fouls before being shown the door. Malik Boothe and Omari Lawrence were both called for 4 fouls each. St. John’s had 19 fouls compared to Duke’s 13. Being reserved when it comes to committing fouls is especially important when playing a team that shoots from the line like Duke does.

Grade: C

Two Outta Three Aint Bad: Duke’s backcourt of Kyle Singler, John Scheyer, and Nolan Smith combined to score 48 points for the Blue Devils. There play was the difference in the game, as the Red Storm could not find an answer to the trio’s impressive display.

Grade: D

Game GPA: 2.12

While St. John’s was unable to come away with the victory they put together a pretty impressive performance. Going down Tobacco Road to play a Duke team coming off a loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium is no easy task, and the Red Storm played up to the competition. They may have suffered their first loss of the season, but there is a lot of be excited about as the season gets into full force.

Jay Williams Accepts Twitter Wager

December 4, 2009 by Dave Krupinski 1 Comment

Everyone enjoyed the bet JohnnyJungle.com and SienaHoops.com had for the St. Johns and Siena matchup in Philadelphia last month. In case you missed it, the losing team had to put the opponents logo up on their site for 3 days following the game. Oh don’t worry I saved a screen shot of the site when it had the St. John’s logo up.

Many people doubted St. John’s going into the Siena matchup as they do for their upcoming matchup with Duke.

I’m a competitor though and I always like issuing the challenge. So I reached out to one of my favorite tweeters, Jay Williams. If you don’t know who Jay Williams is take a break from reading this and check this out for a minute. Yes, Jay Williams might be the greatest guard of all time in Duke history.

Now Jay is busy being a college basketball analyst and commentator for ESPNU while also being a full time Twitter extraordinaire. I’ve been a little bitter that Jay has ignored my many requests for St. John’s shout outs while he was on ESPNU and tweeting during commercial breaks. I know Jay is a competitor much like myself so I put it out there to him.

It took a little while for Jay to respond but he accepted.

I’m looking for a repeat of 2000 as St. John’s was the last non ACC team to go into Cameron Indoor and come out victorious. I’m feeling pretty good too as the Krupinski family is currently 1-0 against Jay Williams. Yes my younger sister beat Jay in a game of knockout at a basketball camp quite some time ago. Don’t make me bust out the videos (Ok I’m bluffing no videos but I do have a Jay Williams T-Shirt she’ll never grow into as proof).

Expect to see one Twitter account rocking a St. John’s or Duke logo come Sunday.

Runnin' With the Devils

December 3, 2009 by Pico Dulce 4 Comments

Ambiance: Van Halen, “Runnin’ With the Devil” (video link, pops up in new window)

SJ Kennedy vs Jon Scheyer. By Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America — DJ Kennedy vs Jon Scheyer. By Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America

St. John’s and Duke have been meeting for 11 consecutive years. St. John’s has won two of those games. In the Red Storm/ Blue Devils’ yearly series, there have been some hellacious pastings over the years, some seriously uncompetitive contests, and few signs that St. John’s is among the nation’s elite. In last year’s 76-69 loss, something changed… slightly.

For sure, the game was still a whipping. But despite the turnovers, the Red Storm put in a performance better than their usual game-to-game offensive output, and better than what Duke was allowing to ACC opponents. It’s a small bit of trivia, but perhaps there is something there, a statement that the Red Storm is improving from their 10-point first half in 2007 and the 30 point shellacking two years ago.

Maybe this is the year St. John’s takes a Duke team adjusting to play without Gerald Henderson and Greg Paulus and shocks the college basketball-watching country (or “America” as they say on your favorite reality-TV shows). Maybe this newly confident and deep Red Storm squad won’t take “L” for a result anymore. Just maybe.

The good to take from this: you can fight with Duke. They are thin at guard, so you know what you’re going to get on the perimeter – Scheyer, Nolan Smith, young Andre Dawkins. And while Singler can handle the ball, the team’s depth leans heavily inside. The Blue Devils allowed some pretty sharp shooting from the Badgers, who were not to be mistaken for a crisp perimeter-oriented team.

The Red Storm also played last night, and beat a Stony Brook team that had looked pretty capable. But last night, their wings had trouble getting off shots against the defense at Carnesecca. It was an ugly game, to be sure; and an offensively uneven performance. But St. John’s has shown both confidence and grit, with a 7 to 9 man rotation willing to play many different roles to win. The malleability of the team will serve them well against Duke, a team much bigger than the ones they have faced.

Then again, perhaps the Blue Devils should be adjusting to the Red Storm, ranked #3 in the RPI, as opposed to Duke’s #5. (Small sample sizes – a/k/a early season numbers’ rules – apply.)

Game Information

Tip Off: 3:00 PM, Saturday, December 5
Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Bloomberg 1130; WSJU – on the road!

Team Reviews

Duke (6-1)

duke1 2 G Nolan Smith JR 6’2 185: 17.4 ppg* 4 rpg* 3.2 apg* 36.4% 3-pt

30 G Jon Scheyer SR 6’5 190: 15.9 ppg* 3.1 rpg* 5 apg* 1 spg* 36.8% 3-pt* 89.2% FT

42 F Lance Thomas SR 6’8 225: 5.9 ppg* 4.3 rpg

12 F Kyle Singler JR 6’8 230: 17.1 ppg* 6.3 rpg* 2.7 apg* 2 TO/g* 39.4% 3-pt

21 F-C Miles Plumlee SO 6’10 240: 8.6 ppg* 7.9 rpg* 1.7 bpg* 1.6 TO/g* 59.5% FG

Bench

20 G Andre Dawkins FR 6’4 190: 19.8 mpg* 11 ppg* 55.6% 3-pt

55 C Brian Zoubek SR 7’1 260: 15 mpg* 3.1 ppg* 2.2 rpg

Offensively, Duke is led by the three S’s, Scheyer, Singler, and Smith. In this article, the Duke Chronicle is looking to come up with a nickname for them, working with the Devil motif and the SSS as a hissing noise (before settling on the “Supermen,” which is both weak and a little too Nietzcshean).

Guard: Despite a lack of a nickname (what college trio has a nickname, anyway? Ease off the coffee, budding journalists), Jon Scheyer is one of the best players in college basketball right now and deserves respect. Against Wisconsin he deferred to Singler and Smith but still had a poor 2-7 performance. Last year against St. John’s, Scheyer shot 3 of 8 – not much better – but kept going to the line (especially as St. John’s was trying to extend the game). Smith is a guard with good size and solid overall ability; he is very eager to put up shots in the Blue Devils’ offense, trying to take on Gerald Henderson’s role with some success.

Wing: Kyle “Shampoo” Singler is a matchup problem. He’s tall, mobile enough to do his job defensively, and a scoring threat all over the floor. It will be interesting to see if DJ Kennedy is assigned to bother him, or if Burrell and Evans play him; Justin Brownlee’s defensive abilities on the perimeter have not been used. Perhaps we will see if he has some ability.

Forward: The Dukies are tall up front, with the young but effective Plumlee brothers, Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas, and Ryan Kelly up front. Miles’ brother Mason Plumlee has started playing creating a tower of power, along with Zoubek and bench player Ryan Kelly, that will be very hard to score over. That’s three McDonald’s All-Americans there, though they don’t score like one assumes an All-American would. Miles has been a very good defensive and offensive rebounder and shot blocker.

St. John’s (6-0)

StJohns150 logo 3 PG Malik Boothe JR 5’9 188: 4.8 ppg* 2.3 apg* 2.7 rpg * 1.5 spg

23 G Paris Horne JR 6’3 191: 7.3 ppg* 3 rpg* 1 spg* 23.8% 3-pt, 37.5% FG

1 G-F DJ Kennedy JR 6’5 215: 17.7 ppg* 4.5 rpg* 3 apg* 2.6 TO/g* 43.5% 3-pt* 56.4% FG

24 F Justin Burrell JR 6’8 235: 5.3 ppg* 3.7 rpg* 51% FG

5 F Sean Evans JR 6’8 255: 8.8 ppg* 7.1 rpg* 45.2% FG

Bench:

12 G Dwight Hardy JR 6’2 187: 22 mpg* 10.7 ppg* 1.3 apg* 40.7% 3-pt

32 F Justin Brownlee JR 6’7 232: 19.5 mpg* 8.3 ppg* 4.8 rpg* 1 spg

DJ Kennedy has been the undisputed star of the team, scoring effectively in a variety of ways and building confidence in his offense. The second fiddle would be Sean Evans, with his ability to get fouled and pick up offensive boards. Guard Dwight Hardy has also scored a bit, but as a whole, the team has not had many crisp performances on offense since Siena. Kennedy will need some help against Duke.

Guard: A big issue is the lack of impact offense from Paris Horne and, to a lesser extent, Malik Boothe. Unlike the first part of last year, Boothe isn’t making plays going to the basket, and his assist rates are down. he is rebounding well and getting to the line, showing his toughness; but at this level of offensive performance, he needs to be taking many more foul shots to become the kind of viable threat that draws defenses (so he can pass to an open shooter). Horne’s says he is pressing; and he needs to be a factor against Duke. His straight-line drives to the hoop leave him vulnerable for aware defensive teams who draw offensive fouls, though, so Duke may not be the slumpbuster. Malik Stith has some scoring ability but has not made a large impact yet. Maybe he will have his Carolina family in the stands – he went to high school in Charlotte, though he grew up in Hempstead, LI.

Wing: DJ Kennedy will make plays, without question. But he needs his teammates to step up as well. Justin Brownlee posted a nice game, and has been a good forward off the bench. We haven’t seen many of his drives at the basket yet. Backup Quincy Roberts hasn’t logged many minutes. Freshman Omari Lawrence has logged some minutes in each game, and is proving to be a decent playmaker, even if his shooting has been off.

Forward: At forward, Burrell had a decent game last night, and looked more willing to attempt his jump shot. That bodes well for the future, but will he be able to get shots off against Lance Thomas and Zoubek? Evans has been a rock; his brand of whirling dervish post chaos could be a factor to thinning out that Duke front line. Dele Coker made a low post move last night that was effective and precise. If he can stay out of foul trouble, he could log some minutes. Rumor has it that Rob Thomas could return on Saturday. His strength and tenacity under the hoop can help ugly up the game for the Red Storm.

Keys to the Game:

Give Yourselves a Chance. Value the basketball. Space correctly. Don’t turn the ball over as much. Concentrate on making the right pass. The team has the ability to be better with the ball than they showed against Stony Brook; Siena only got 13 turnovers out of the Red Storm, and many of this season’s turnovers come later in the game, as the team is comfortably resting on a scoring cushion.

You Ain’t Got No Alibi – Ugly. Whether the pace is slow or semi-fast, St. John’s has to make this a frenetic game for stretches. At their best this season, the Red Storm have caused confusion, stifled shots, and caused turnovers (while often making mistakes in ballhandling themselves). And ugly, gritty game helps St. John’s. I won’t say “favors”; Singler, Scheyer and Smith defeated U Conn in one of the least viewable games of the year. But that sloppy game put the onus on Duke’s defense… and U Conn’s inability to do anything but drive straight at the basket. And when there is a turnover by Duke, that possession needs to culminate in points scored. When there is a scrum at the glass, St. John’s has to come out with the basketball. When a Blue Devil drives to the hoop, he needs to be met with resistance.

The Rediscovered Jump Shot. Certainly, Burrell/ Evans/ Kennedy have the ability to draw a number of fouls on the Duke defenders and put up points at the free throw line. But to really hang with Duke, St. John’s will need to rediscover the jump shooting that started the season. Not exclusively; the team has to drive and get buckets off the turnover – but Hardy, Horne, and Kennedy need to open things up with accurate outside shooting, and the judicious use of the jump shot. Whatever they do – this team needs to open up the court spacing and put some points up.

Do Not Foul Stupidly. They don’t get to the line, so make them work for their foul shots. You know the dumb fouls – the forward who bumps Jon Scheyer on the perimeter, causing Scheyerface to erupt and floppy hands to fly. Or the tickytack touch foul as a guy streaks to the basket and you’re out of position.

Two Outta Three Ain’t Bad. Duke is highly reliant on Scheyer and Singler, with Nolan Smith happy to take up the slack. Two of them need to have a poor game for St. John’s to win this thing. If Lance Thomas scores 20 to win the game, and the St. John’s credibly defend him, then that will just be the way it is. I doubt that will happen.

Prediction: Duke 68, St. John’s 62 – The Red Storm team gives a good effort but on the road at Cameron, comes up short.

Transplanted New Yorker and now Midwesterner Peter a/k/a Pico writes for the East Coast Bias and the Church of Bracketology and for Johnny Jungle, doing the Calm Before the Storm posts.