Just six months ago we were getting ready for another year of St. John’s Basketball with perhaps one of the more anticipated seasons on the horizon with so many elements being unknown and left for the debate of St. John’s faithful. People were buzzing about the seven new freshman, the new strength coach, a more experienced Mason Jr, Norm’s 4th season, and of course that new site called Johnny Jungle.
There was plenty to discuss both good and bad and some of us were right about a lot of things while others not so much and some change their opinions as consistently as the ocean tide. Whether we were right or wrong at this point it doesn’t matter because we’re all in the same sinking ship shoveling out water trying to stay afloat.
We’ve seen and in some cases heard this team go through their trials and tribulations. We’ve had some good but mostly bad news so far this season and with the fall semester behind us its time to revaluate. Now the team might have saw one of its best report cards in the classroom in St. John’s history however Johnny Jungle is going to give one on the court.
Players(sorted by PPG leaders)
Anthony Mason Jr.
-At the beginning of the season we saw Mason Jr. projected as a mid second round pick for the 2009 NBA draft but Mason is no longer listed and its for good reason. Mason still lacks focus and consistency while playing too soft for a player his size. Mason has fallen too dependent on his outside game and has forgot that he can rock the rim. With his patented fall away shot leads to streaky shooting which is something he needs to improve on. Mason shows aggressiveness and willingness to be the man on offense which is something this team desperately needs but now he needs to focus on doing it better. Mason needs to realize his importance of hitting the boards harder only averaging 3.7 boards a game.
Grade: B-
Justin Burrell
-Justin is one of my favorite players to watch but he is a freshman. There has been a great deal of pressure put on Justin’s shoulders this season to be a major producer and thats some what unrealistic. At the beginning of the season we saw butter fingers Burrell dropping passes left and right but now we see a player confidently taking 15 footers and pretty ones at that. Justin shows great poise and discipline on defense and I can’t remember him leaving his feet once this season on a pump fake. Justin needs to have more of a passion for grabbing rebounds and take pride in being a double double man.
Grade: B
Larry Wright
-Perhaps the fans have shown the most applause this season when this guy stands from the bench and goes to the scorers table. Larry Wright has been wronged this season however Larry isn’t undeserving of criticism. Larry needs to take a page out of Richard “Rip” Hamilton’s game book and realize there is such a thing as a midrange shot. Larry has fallen in love with the 3 ball looking like Avery Patterson this season. 36 of his past 42 shots have been three pointers and I’m not arguing too much because he has knocked down 66% of those shots however Larry you are so much more! On a bright note Larry never turns over the ball because he never dribbles.
Grade: B
Eugene Lawrence
-Everyone’s favorite ripping boy the captain Eugene Lawrence. Eugene is a friend of mine and I root for him to do well however he has been abysmal this season. I’ve tried to put myself in the shoes of Eugene Lawrence a few times this season and its been hard to find answers. Eugene is too stagnant trying to set up an offense that doesn’t exist at the top of the key wasting 10 seconds of the shot clock every possession usually resulting in a long range three with 3 ticks on the shot clock that seldomly goes in. People harp on Geno’s turnovers and they haven’t been that bad as he is at a career best 2.4 however he is like Armando Benitez having 45 saves that one season only to blow the biggest game of the year against the Braves. Geno needs to practice by himself to get himself out of this shooting funk. There is still time left to salvage a poor season but time is running out for the senior.
Grade: D+
DJ Kennedy
-The X Factor has been looking more like the Y Factor the past few games but DJ is going to be a very good player. DJ comes as advertised doing a little bit of everything. Sticking to my baseball references he is like that 4th outfielder who hit .340 for a month and everyone was like he needs to start. What usually happens to that 4th outfielder? He hits .240 the next month because his flaws become exposed and teams know he can’t hit the curve ball. This is the case with DJ as we realize he can’t dribble the basketball. It looks like someone deflated the ball a bit when he dribbles. DJ was a vital part of this team for a while due to his intangibles however with Mason back at full strength DJs intangibles aren’t enough to warrant him playing 30 min a game.
Grade: C
Paris Horne
-The spark plug off the bench hasn’t registered a steal in his past 6 games but perhaps because his playing time has been cut to 9 min a game. Paris has been one of the more consistent players on the team this season. He is shooting 48% from the floor and 79% from the charity stripe which is good for 2nd best on the team. He has knocked down 40% of his last 18 three point attempts starting the season 1-9. Paris might run the court better than anyone on our team and is hungry to run the fast break problem is we never fast break.
Grade: C
Sean Evans
-Perhaps one of the more surprising players of the team so far this season. Now I must start off saying how is Sean Evans so bad at free throw shooting? He might be the worth free throw shooter in the country at 27% and that is not a typo 27, 27, 27, 27% its really that bad. Talking with Sean before the season he is very energetic on and off the court and perhaps his hustle is what is getting him the minutes. Offensively he has improved tremendously from the first time we saw him in Queens. I still don’t like him in the game though because I think he is a horrible defender and isn’t that reason why Larry Wright doesn’t get time? Sean looks pretty good in the boxscore but when I watch the game I don’t come away saying Sean looked good today. However no one usually looks good so might as well have him continue to develop with more time but I just wish he would either take the charge or foul hard instead of always getting caught in between for an and 1.
Grade: C
Tomas/Dele
-Maybe its not fair doing them at once but they are the two headed monster we call our center so why not group them together. I’ve been saying it all season Tomas is good in small dosages and when I say small I mean very small. TJ is the polar opposite of the energizer bunny he doesn’t go forever but is like the batter you used for your cool remote control car you got for christmas as a kid…4 min on turbo and thats it. TJ does rock a team leading 86% from the charity stripe. Our freshman counter part has shown some glimmers of the great potential we hear about. Some seriously hard stuffs and when they aren’t stuff they’re just great old school hard fouls. Although just as we start seeing these glimmers he starts getting less and less time what the hell? He is also starting to foul less too so we can’t blame that for the reduced minutes. We’ll see!
Grade: D
Malik Boothe
-Last but not least our freshman floor general who does all the things that don’t show up in the box score but count in the scoreboard. Malik has proved to me he knows how to run an offense and he is an exciting player to watch on both sides of the ball. Malik has one pitfalls its shooting the basketball but for some reason I got faith in Malik to improve there. I am an old school kind of guy and pass first PGs are right up my alley
Grade: C+
Overall Team Grades
Offense: C-
Defense: C
Intensity: C+
Discipline: C
Overall: C-
Overall Team Grades
Offense: C-
Defense: C
Intensity: C+
Discipline: C
Overall: C-
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