Wagner

St. John’s wins opener against Wagner

November 14, 2015 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

Chris Mullin laid the first brick of his new house tonight as St. John’s defeated Wagner 66-57 in the season opener. Federico Mussini led all scorers with 18 points going 4-6 from deep.

As expected St. John’s had some struggles early on with the ball pressure and Wagner attacking the offensive glass but the Red Storm battled. Coach Mullin made it a point of emphasis to his team that they needed to rebound.

Game Notes:

Positives:

Malik Ellison came out gunning nailing two threes.
Sima hook shot is really pretty. He is an offensive weapon.
Mussini started to look for his own off the bounce.
Mussini hesitation dribble and lefty scoop finish was magnifico.
The Mussini three off the ball screen followed up by the pull-up was turning point in the game.
Williams with a great on ball screen freeing up Mussini for three.
Mullin addressed rebounding in first team huddle.
Christian Jones is tough to stop when he faces up.
Jones nailed a midrange shot from the elbow.
Jones and Alibegovic combining for a blocked shot.
Durand Johnson getting in the lane and to the line.
Johnson making 7-8 free throws.
Mvouika being the bully ball handler when the team needed it.
Mullin identifying he needed Mvouika on the ball at times.
Alibegovic played a solid 5 min. Pulled down important board and hit two free throw.
Team shot 9-20 from three.
Mullin didn’t get a technical for being way way way outside the coach’s box.
Kassoum Yakwe and Tariq Owens with great bench mob moves.

Negatives:

Ellison picked up two quick fouls in first half. Picked up his third in first min of 2nd half.
Team allowed Wagner to get 15 offensive rebounds.
Mussini getting caught with hand down at top of key to allow three.
8 turnovers in the first half.
Durand Johnson struggling from the floor going 2-10.
The team going through a stretch of chucking threes in 2nd half allowing Wagner to come back.
Mussini shooting one from 40 ft with a fresh shot clock
Darien Williams taking two shots both being threes.
Losing the rebounding battle 42-38
Going 15-25 from free throw stripe.
Williams, Mvouika, and Alibegovic combining for 7 turnovers.

Overall

St. John’s took care of business at home and showed improvement from their exhibition games. Mussini silenced some doubters and opened the door back to his bandwagon. Sima is way better than I expected and Christian Jones contributing is a bonus. This team will have some ups and downs but they’ll be fun to watch.

St. John’s tips season off against Wagner

November 13, 2015 by Dave Krupinski Leave a Comment

No more DII opponents. No more 0-0 record. This time it’s for real.

St. John’s will tip off the Mullin era against cross borough foe Wagner College. Wagner is definitely no a cupcake game and will prove to be a tough challenge for St. John’s.

Wagner still has players leftover from the Hurley era and they play with the same aggressive, hard nosed style under Bashir Mason. This means non-stop on ball pressure with hard hedges on every screen trying to force teams to speed up their play.

This will prove to be an interesting matchup for St. John’s since they will be without projected starting point guard Marcus LoVett who was recently ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Federico Mussini struggled last game with on ball pressure committing two offensive fouls for pushing off his defender.

While Wagner will challenge defensively, they aren’t very intimidating on the other side of the ball. This is the primary reason why they are picked 6th preseason in the NEC.

Key Matchup

Yankuba Sima vs Mike Amen

The battle of the boards will be an underlying storyline to two teams with anemic offensive attacks. Amman’s calling card has always been his ability to bang on the boards and pose as the enforcer down low. How will Sima respond when he gets back of a bow to the gut? Will he be able to stay out of foul trouble? Will he be able to get to the line offensively? Can Aaman get some hustle points for the Seahawks? Keep some offensive possessions alive?

Keys to Victory

Start off hot– An old cliche but one that is imperative for a young team at home against a hungry opponent. St. John’s needs to establish their dominance early and eliminate any hope Wagner has of pulling the upset. St. John’s will also find comfort playing with a lead instead of playing tight from behind.

Take care of the basketball– It’s no surprise that a young team that doesn’t have a primary ball handler has struggled early on with turnovers. However this is no longer the preseason and the team needs to put a strong emphasis on valuing the ball. No careless entry passes, no forced drives, and no bad shots.

Get to the rim– Perimeter shooting is not going to be a strength of this team. If this team shoots more than 10 threes a game that spells trouble. The solution is get to the rim and make a living from the free throw line. Would like to see Durand Johnson get to the line minimum of 6x tonight.

Close out and board– Wagner is not a very skilled offensive team. They are going to be chucking all night and last thing you want is for them to get hot. St. John’s will need to close out hard and eliminate them getting open looks. Taking care of the defensive glass will be the secondary focus to eliminate hustle points and 2nd chance points.

This St. Nick Not So Jolly

December 8, 2010 by Jaden Daly 1 Comment

Last year, St. John’s went upstate to play St. Bonaventure and pulled out a last-second win on the road. Last week, the Johnnies beat Wagner 69-61 two years to the day that they topped fellow NEC school St. Francis by the same score.

Tonight was, in the words of Yogi Berra, “deja vu all over again”. The Red Storm hosted the Bonnies this time around, but the road team stole the win in the final seconds. Andrew Nicholson’s mid-range jumper gave St. Bonaventure the 67-66 victory, but only after Dwight Hardy fell short on his game-winning attempt following Nicholson’s shot with 5.2 seconds remaining.

Nicholson scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and added 13 rebounds as the Bonnies (5-2) used a 10-0 second-half run to defeat St. John’s (also 5-2). The Red Storm were done in with a 10-for-20 performance at the free throw line, despite leading at halftime.

“We’ve got to improve our free throw shooting,” remarked St. John’s coach Steve Lavin after the game. “10-of-20 won’t get it done. I told our kids the things we struggled with tonight are all correctable, and that’s the good news.” Hardy’s 24 points for St. John’s were a career-high for the Bronx product, and Justin Brownlee continued his sensational start to the season by chipping in with 14 points of his own, albeit in a losing effort.

Despite the loss, there were some positives for the Johnnies. On the defensive side of the ball, St. John’s was able to hold serve by registering 14 steals and forcing 19 turnovers while committing only eight of their own. The 19 St. Bonaventure turnovers resulted in 21 points for the Johnnies, but inefficiency at the foul line sunk any chances of the Red Storm extending their winning streak to six games.

St. John’s returns to the road Saturday night as they cross the Whitestone Bridge to tip off against Fordham and head coach Tom Pecora in the Bronx for their final tuneup before the Holiday Festival.

Brought To You By The Letter “D”

December 2, 2010 by Jaden Daly Leave a Comment

The last time St. John’s played on December 1st was two years ago, when the Red Storm welcomed St. Francis into Carnesecca Arena. In that game, the Johnnies led by 19 points at the half before withstanding a late Terrier run to prevail 69-61. Exactly two years later, the boys of Queens took the court against another Northeast Conference team, Wagner College of Staten Island. After a stifling defense took St. John’s into the intermission up ten, the Red Storm stretched its lead to sixteen before Wagner fought its way back in the final minutes of regulation. Ultimately, the Seahawks fell just a little short. The final score, you might ask? 69-61, just like the final on December 1, 2008; a date on which a game of similar style and tempo was contested. St. John’s (5-1) used a total of 15 steals, nine of which came in the initial stanza, along with a suffocating press defense to hold Wagner (3-3) at bay, preserving head coach Steve Lavin’s 150th career win while simultaneously enforcing their belief in the concept of deja vu. Lavin improved to 126-7 all-time when his team holds the lead inside the final five minutes of regulation with the victory.

justin brownlee vs gtown — Justin Brownlee is breaking out into a serious scoring threat for this St. John's Red Storm team this season. (Icon SMI)

“When I have openings, I try to attack,” said Justin Brownlee, who came off the bench tonight despite being the team’s leading scorer on the season. Brownlee’s attempts proved to be successful en route to his 17 points and 6 rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting. After a quiet night in the Great Alaska Shootout championship, D.J. Kennedy also started the game from the seated position, coming off the bench to lead the Red Storm with 20 points. “Anytime on the court, no matter what the lineup is, Coach (Lavin) wants me to be aggressive,” said the senior known to some fans as “Big Play” or “The Hitman.” “Once Brownlee got in foul trouble, I looked a little more for my shots,” remarked Kennedy. “It’s up to us (the seniors) to close out games like that.” Dwight Hardy was the only other player to amass double figures for the Johnnies tonight, finishing with 10 points.

Tyler Murray led the Seahawks and all scorers with 21 points in the losing effort before fouling out in the final minute of regulation. For Wagner, the loss was a statement game for those who felt the Seahawks would end up at the bottom of the NEC standings under new head coach Dan Hurley. “We’re happy with the growth of our team program,” said Hurley. “I was real proud of the effort.” For Wagner, who opens its conference slate Saturday afternoon on the road against Sacred Heart, their performance tonight coupled with their win against Bucknell Monday night is an obvious pick-me-up for the upstart Staten Islanders. “We only set one goal for ourselves for the year, and that was to qualify for our conference tournament,” stated Hurley, whose Seahawks need to finish in the top eight of the NEC to achieve that goal.

St. John’s won a defensive battle in both halves that was marked by missed opportunities inside and outside for both teams, who also fell victim to foul trouble. In fact, each team (St. John’s in the first half, Wagner in the final stanza) went into the double bonus before the midway point of each period. Lavin addressed his team’s free throw inefficiency by stating the Johnnies “left 14 potential points” at the line, but insisted that his players are “getting a better feel for what we expect.” Despite being outrebounded 44-38, Lavin remained optimistic about his team’s lineup and composition moving on through his maiden season at the helm in Queens. “You’d like to believe that you’ve got this recipe, like Mrs. Fields’ cookies,” was Lavin’s response to a question of how he is able to inspire his players to hold leads and understand crunch time scenarios.

After a well-deserved break in the schedule between their last game in Alaska and tonight’s contest, the Red Storm are the beneficiaries of a five-day gap in the action before their next on-court appearance, which comes at Carnesecca this Tuesday night against Atlantic 10 member St. Bonaventure.

The Champs’ Frontier

November 28, 2010 by Jaden Daly Leave a Comment

Early on in the Great Alaska Shootout championship game and before the opening tip, it looked as though Arizona State was going to leave St. John’s in the dust on their way to the trophy. The Red Storm had other ideas, instead choosing to prove why games aren’t played on paper and aren’t over until the final buzzer.

Riding the momentum forged by their defense en route to nine second-half steals, the Johnnies picked up their first regular season tournament win since the 2005 Holiday Festival with a 67-58 win over the Sun Devils, sending ASU back to the valley of the sun empty-handed after Arizona State jumped out to a 30-20 halftime lead. After shooting just 26% from the field in the opening stanza, the Johnnies came out firing over the final twenty minutes, outscoring ASU 47-28.

Justin Brownlee, who led St. John’s (4-1) with 20 points, was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. D.J. Kennedy was also named to the all-tournament team despite two quiet outings against Arizona State and Drake. Dwight Hardy received the same honors after scoring all of his 14 points in the second half, making up for an 0-for-7 start. After not having their most effective outings since making the cross-country trip, Paris Horne and Malik Stith continued their solid and underrated play, (11 and 10 points, respectively) helping to not only tie the game midway through the second half, but also giving the Red Storm a lead it would never relinquish. Ty Abbott paced the runner-up Sun Devils and all scorers with 22 points, and for a while it seemed as though he would be the latest shooter to render Steve Lavin’s zone defense a non-factor in much the same way Clint Steindl did for St. Mary’s in the Red Storm’s season opener.

Looking back, the Johnnies executed on the keys to victory that were outlined earlier today. They were able to shoot in the second half after not getting baskets to fall in the early going, and the energy level over the game’s final minutes reached crescendos never seen under Norm Roberts as St. John’s played aggressive by forcing turnovers and hard fouls.

St. John’s gets a few days to rest after traveling back to New York as their next game is Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena against Staten Island invaders Wagner College and first-year head coach Danny Hurley. Tipoff is slated for 7pm, and since the game is not televised, you can listen to the free online stream of WSJU Radio with Johnny Jungle’s own Dan Martin and Tim Dimas on the call.