Big East Off Season Notebook

paultzman

paultzman

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"St. John’s. The Red Storm were a feast or famine team last season in year two under Chris Mullin, often following up impressive triumphs with substantial losses. Nevertheless, St. John’s will return arguably the Big East’s best backcourt next season in sophomores Marcus Lovett and Shamorie Ponds along with an all-league talent in senior Bashir Ahmed. Add a pair of transfers in Justin Simon (Arizona) and Marvin Clark (Michigan State) along with two experienced front court veterans in Tariq Owens and Kassoum Yakwe and you can see why there’s warranted buzz in Jamaica. Mullin has assembled a roster talented enough to finish in the top half of the Big East standings and compete for an NCAA Tournament bid, but it remains to be seen how much improvement this team can make on defense as well as the boards.

Still, the facts are the facts: St. John’s won 14 games last season and should have won at least two more when you consider early losses to both Delaware State and LIU-Brooklyn. The nucleus of this team is now a year older and adds Simon and Clark, two guys who didn’t leave their original programs to lose. If certain things can be refined, this team has a legitimate chance to win 20 games and play in some sort of postseason."
 
Also includes TO on list of breakout players. Really could be an interesting year. With tons of talent but without a true big man, going to come down to coaching (defense), chemistry and luck.
 
Barring a major injury to a key player, it is a reasonable expectation that we will play in one of the post season tournaments next season IMO.
 
Barring a major injury to a key player, it is a reasonable expectation that we will play in one of the post season tournaments next season IMO.
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NIT a lot more reasonable I think.
 
Barring a major injury to a key player, it is a reasonable expectation that we will play in one of the post season tournaments next season IMO.
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I think the players and coaches have one post season tournament goal and anything less will be a major disappointment for them. They should finish anywhere from 4th to 6th in the Big East which should be good enough for an NCAA bid. Bringing in a new face to help instill some discipline on defense may be a key.
 
Early preseason all-conference predictions - Shamorie 2nd team, Marcus honorable mention:

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2017/07/early-all-big-east-preseason-predictions.html
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In some other year I might be outraged that they "only" had Shamorie as second teamer and Lovett honorable mention. When one looks at the talent in this league, it is unmistakeable how stacked it really is. I think our guards can be first and second teamers, but this year, the Big East is really full of talented kids. A good sign for our league...
 
Early preseason all-conference predictions - Shamorie 2nd team, Marcus honorable mention:

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2017/07/early-all-big-east-preseason-predictions.html
Click to expand...

One of the keys to success for this years team , and there are many, will be smarter play on the part of Ahmed. If he can learn to play under control , not force the play and share the ball with greater consistency we are guaranteed to have a 3 headed scoring monster which should net us around 50 points per game. His improved play will garner him a place on the honourable mention list and success for SJU.
 
One of the keys to success for this years team , and there are many, will be smarter play on the part of Ahmed. If he can learn to play under control , not force the play and share the ball with greater consistency we are guaranteed to have a 3 headed scoring monster which should net us around 50 points per game. His improved play will garner him a place on the honourable mention list and success for SJU.
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I believe that Mullin must make the players understand that there is a difference between playing his "fast paced" style offense and a "hurried" offense.

IMO last season the St.John's players too often hoisted a hurried shot after they crossed half court. If they don't get the break or the numbers advantage on the break then they should run an offensive set, rather than merely taking a hurried shot.
 
One of the keys to success for this years team , and there are many, will be smarter play on the part of Ahmed. If he can learn to play under control , not force the play and share the ball with greater consistency we are guaranteed to have a 3 headed scoring monster which should net us around 50 points per game. His improved play will garner him a place on the honourable mention list and success for SJU.
Click to expand...
I believe that Mullin must make the players understand that there is a difference between playing his "fast paced" style offense and a "hurried" offense.

IMO last season the St.John's players too often hoisted a hurried shot after they crossed half court. If they don't get the break or the numbers advantage on the break then they should run an offensive set, rather than merely taking a hurried shot.
Click to expand...

In fairness to the players and staff Otis 4 of the players who averaged over 100 of the 200 minutes in a game were first year players, Ponds, Lovett, Ahmed and Owens. It takes time and experience to get acclimated to high division 1 ball. Furthermore, I believe the biggest culprit of the hurried shot was Ellison who has moved on. I truly believe we will see a better disciplined product on the floor this season. And if culprit number 2Ahmed does not improve his control on the hardwood the staff can turn to Sid Wilson who will be glad to grab increased minutes.
 
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