Guys on Matt’s Radar

[quote="Room112" post=282008]Am I the only one a bit concerned in regard to signing 2019 kids? I know as they say these things tend to work themselves out. But won't we have only one scholarship to offer during the season? From what I've read on this site, we were in pretty decent shape with at least 2 or 3 highly rated guys, but now will we even have a scholarship to offer until after the season?[/quote]

Ponds will leave, Clark & whoever else leaves or is “nudged” out. Kofi, Aidan, Gaffney & Whitney form a rather short menu imo. Matt must obviously know Lewis & Precious are unlikely, so his approach this cycle made his life easier in this respect for 2019. Of course it is vital to get Kofi or Aidan & Gaffney imo.
 
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Finally we filled out the roster and I dont have to wonder everyday who we will land. Look wanted a big but im ok with it because we got LJ. Cant believe we actually got him kids got some serious skill. Wright will be good too I wouldnt worry too much about his stats; they have a lot of perimeter guys he just got lost in the shuffle. We also have a lot of perimeter guys but he should have a place by the time he is eligible. To me Clark will be the key guy if the roster stays as is. He will be the guy who has to buy in to his role the most to make this work at a high level. I hear a lot about his character and leadership we will see how willing he is to sacrifice for the sake of the team. He will be the 4 man and absolutely must grab rebounds along with spacing the floor with his outside shot. Eric Paschall did this to perfection for Nova this year. Clark is pretty much the same height and build (Paschall is 6'6"/6'7" not 6'9"). EP is more athletic but MC is more skilled. Mullin will probably make him the Captain of the team which would be a wise move. Im hype and ready for next year.
My guess for the rotation:
G Ponds
G Simon
G Figueroa or Dixon
F Clark
C Keita
6 Figueroa or Dixon
7 Trimble or Williams
8 Roberts
9 Earlington or Diakite
10 Trimble or Williams
11 Earlington or Diakite
 
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[quote="Room112" post=282008]Am I the only one a bit concerned in regard to signing 2019 kids? I know as they say these things tend to work themselves out. But won't we have only one scholarship to offer during the season? From what I've read on this site, we were in pretty decent shape with at least 2 or 3 highly rated guys, but now will we even have a scholarship to offer until after the season?[/quote] Involved with them doesnt mean you stop taking guys with the hope that they will pick you. Also Ponds probably leaves giving us 2 for 19. As stated Simon could also leave, which I dont think will happen but if so thats 3. But if they all stay and we only have 1 to offer thats great, we have a senior Ponds and Simon which ill take over Gaffney and Whitney. Kofi is the guy for me he is a straight beast. Igiehon too but I dont think we actually have a chance with him tbh. Hopefully we have some other big man options lined up if those 2 dont pick us. Maybe not ranked highly enough for us but I like the big kid from Stepinac Joel Soriano, he really came into his own this past season.
 
[quote="Dan V" post=282017]Finally we filled out the roster and I dont have to wonder everyday who we will land. Look wanted a big but im ok with it because we got LJ. Cant believe we actually got him kids got some serious skill. Wright will be good too I wouldnt worry too much about his stats; they have a lot of perimeter guys he just got lost in the shuffle. We also have a lot of perimeter guys but he should have a place by the time he is eligible. To me Clark will be the key guy if the roster stays as is. He will be the guy who has to buy in to his role the most to make this work at a high level. I hear a lot about his character and leadership we will see how willing he is to sacrifice for the sake of the team. He will be the 4 man and absolutely must grab rebounds along with spacing the floor with his outside shot. Eric Paschall did this to perfection for Nova this year. Clark is pretty much the same height and build (Paschall is 6'6"/6'7" not 6'9"). EP is more athletic but MC is more skilled. Mullin will probably make him the Captain of the team which would be a wise move. Im hype and ready for next year.
My guess for the rotation:
G Ponds
G Simon
G Figueroa or Dixon
F Clark
C Keita
6 Figueroa or Dixon
7 Trimble or Williams
8 Roberts
9 Earlington or Diakite
10 Trimble or Williams
11 Earlington or Diakite[/quote]

No need to write positions, just rank them 1 through 13.
Your first 5 names might likely be correct.
Think we'll all agree on Ponds,Simon, Figueroa and Clark as starters.
Of the 3 returnees, Clark is probably the weakest rebounder.
 
[quote="Tom in Salem" post=282019][quote="Dan V" post=282017]Finally we filled out the roster and I dont have to wonder everyday who we will land. Look wanted a big but im ok with it because we got LJ. Cant believe we actually got him kids got some serious skill. Wright will be good too I wouldnt worry too much about his stats; they have a lot of perimeter guys he just got lost in the shuffle. We also have a lot of perimeter guys but he should have a place by the time he is eligible. To me Clark will be the key guy if the roster stays as is. He will be the guy who has to buy in to his role the most to make this work at a high level. I hear a lot about his character and leadership we will see how willing he is to sacrifice for the sake of the team. He will be the 4 man and absolutely must grab rebounds along with spacing the floor with his outside shot. Eric Paschall did this to perfection for Nova this year. Clark is pretty much the same height and build (Paschall is 6'6"/6'7" not 6'9"). EP is more athletic but MC is more skilled. Mullin will probably make him the Captain of the team which would be a wise move. Im hype and ready for next year.
My guess for the rotation:
G Ponds
G Simon
G Figueroa or Dixon
F Clark
C Keita
6 Figueroa or Dixon
7 Trimble or Williams
8 Roberts
9 Earlington or Diakite
10 Trimble or Williams
11 Earlington or Diakite[/quote]

No need to write positions, just rank them 1 through 13.
Your first 5 names might likely be correct.
Think we'll all agree on Ponds,Simon, Figueroa and Clark as starters.
Of the 3 returnees, Clark is probably the weakest rebounder.[/quote]

The problem is that the next 3 are Dixon, Williams and Roberts in terms of talent and none of the 8 is a center including Keita. We may not know how this staff designs plays for inside talent yet another year. The entire offense the past three seasons has been perimeter oriented and it looks like that's what these coaches feel comfortable with.
Unfortunately this doesn't give too many big men any idea how their skills would be utilized or developed. Ewing and Georgetown have history and coaches (Ewing and Orr) and we have Matt and the departure of every big that Mullin ever recruited and coached. I am worried that if Keita bombs and Roberts can't back him up then the negative rep with bigs will limit the selling point of playing for Mullin. While I like all our perimeter players that we have added signing Wright in lieu of an immediate contributor 6'8 or bigger may have long lasting ramifications both for next year and beyond.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=281998]Marvin was really becoming a nice offensive player late in season. To me being short a big only puts more pressure on him to avoid fouls when guarding bigger players down low. Was hoping he could get some time at the 3 spot this year, but absence of big to complement Keita may preclude that.

Roberts may give us minor minutes, but he is really rail thin & will get overpowered in the post at this juncture. I do believe in time he will be a solid piece however.[/quote]

Being pushed around because "...he is really rail thin & will get pushed around in the post at this juncture..." will not be said of Earlington!
Seriously, I'm not expecting major minutes from Josh or Marcellus, but 'relative to' Ali and a seldom-used Yakwe, they will be a slight uptick on the 'bench' imo.
And at this point, while it looks like Dachon Burke may be slipping away, but I'd much prefer getting DB instead of a 'blue dot special' big likely available currently.
Seems to me, programs / franchises are built best for the future by getting the best player available, not the best at a needed position who's available.
I concede opinions differ on this.
Let's go Johnnies.
 
[quote="JohnnyFan" post=282007][quote="Knight" post=282006]How does Figueroa compare to Ahmed?[/quote]

Not sure. However, I do like that along with scoring, Figueroa seems to have a reputation for playing team ball and being a good passer.[/quote]

Impossible to say, because LJ's game has to be elevated to BEC play. Having said that, I think (maybe following a short learning curve adjustment), he'll be an upgrade from Ahmed's 'good' game.
Figgy seems a more complete player and as others have said, a team player as well.
We shall see.
 
I think what matters now is that the staff coaches to the skill sets of the players. It seems obvious but... A number of posters keep referring to the traditional 1-5 (G,SG,SF, PF and C) alignment. You should delete that from your lexicon. For example telling Clark he should act like a PF doesn't make it so. Really not his game.
I think it is fair to say that we will have a versatile group of players on the floor who can handle the ball. All will have to play good HELP defense because, at times, teams will have offensive size (mismatch) advantages. I don't see a shot blocker unless Keita is that guy. Everyone will have to do some work on the boards. No passengers. We can't have a team hanging out on the perimeter shooting 3's either. Low percentage shooting and no rebounding won't work.
Just saying we need to play up our strengths and try to cover up our weaknesses with an all hands on deck approach.
 
SCJ88 wrote: I think what matters now is that the staff coaches to the skill sets of the players. It seems obvious but... A number of posters keep referring to the traditional 1-5 (G,SG,SF, PF and C) alignment. You should delete that from your lexicon. For example telling Clark he should act like a PF doesn't make it so. Really not his game.
I think it is fair to say that we will have a versatile group of players on the floor who can handle the ball. All will have to play good HELP defense because, at times, teams will have offensive size (mismatch) advantages. I don't see a shot blocker unless Keita is that guy. Everyone will have to do some work on the boards. No passengers. We can't have a team hanging out on the perimeter shooting 3's either. Low percentage shooting and no rebounding won't work.
Just saying we need to play up our strengths and try to cover up our weaknesses with an all hands on deck approach.
3 minutes ago

SCJ88 - Agree with everything you said. I think one thing some may be forgetting was that Tariq covered up for some of our guards defensive lapses with his shot blocking. We won't have that luxury this year so guards have to tighten up on d. Also think the last thing we need is another guard transfer. If we get another scholarship and we don't use it to add some height to this year's team, that is a huge mistake.
 
NCJohnnie, Exactly what I was thinking. Maybe Keita picks up some of the shot blocking. Guys who watched our games last season know that some bad D was covered by some shot blocking. Just need to change some of the approach based on current player skills.
 
I'll miss the excitement of the shot blocking but the biggest thing to me personally is the rebounding. We flat out sucked rebounding as a team. We need that to change and also I want ( and hope now ) to see our assists go up because those numbers sucked too. I'm not expecting Nova ball movement but I want to see a lot more ball movement and better shot selection and please at least try to gang rebound a little
 
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[quote="sjc88" post=282026]NCJohnnie, Exactly what I was thinking. Maybe Keita picks up some of the shot blocking. Guys who watched our games last season know that some bad D was covered by some shot blocking. Just need to change some of the approach based on current player skills.[/quote]

Shot blocking is a fan's pizzazz, but over-rated. As are steals. How many blocks did we achieve or steals did we execute last season that turned into points for us?
Answer: Dunno? But my gut says, not many for us. I saw so many steals turned into T/Os at the other end either by blocks or steals by the enemy, or misses by us.
Tariq was a nice but very limited player for us. Keita, imo, neutralizes Tariq and replaces him with more rebounds and 'some' blocks and about the same P/G.
Are we deficient in 'big' depth and rebounding muscle?
Yes.
I hear the plaints for a 'big'.
But what is the cost...'now'?
What's the value of those 'bigs' still available?
And how does that value compare to the value of guards potentially available to us?
To me--that is the crux of it.
For example, Femi or Kisunas or Walker or T. Porter might be worth 2 - 3 games / year in 2018-19 versus what a Dachon Burke would produce over the 2020-22 seasons.
Okay. Production 'now', for production down the road...and dancing long in the NCAAs?
Done.
But a 'blue dot special'... 'now' versus a DB??
That, my fellow fanatics is a very very different question.
 
[quote="Chicago Days" post=282030][quote="sjc88" post=282026]NCJohnnie, Exactly what I was thinking. Maybe Keita picks up some of the shot blocking. Guys who watched our games last season know that some bad D was covered by some shot blocking. Just need to change some of the approach based on current player skills.[/quote]

Shot blocking is a fan's pizzazz, but over-rated. As are steals. How many blocks did we achieve or steals did we execute last season that turned into points for us?
Answer: Dunno? But my gut says, not many for us. I saw so many steals turned into T/Os at the other end either by blocks or steals by the enemy, or misses by us.
Tariq was a nice but very limited player for us. Keita, imo, neutralizes Tariq and replaces him with more rebounds and 'some' blocks and about the same P/G.
Are we deficient in 'big' depth and rebounding muscle?
Yes.
I hear the plaints for a 'big'.
But what is the cost...'now'?
What's the value of those 'bigs' still available?
And how does that value compare to the value of guards potentially available to us?
To me--that is the crux of it.
For example, Femi or Kisunas or Walker or T. Porter might be worth 2 - 3 games / year in 2018-19 versus what a Dachon Burke would produce over the 2020-22 seasons.
Okay. Production 'now', for production down the road...and dancing long in the NCAAs?
Done.
But a 'blue dot special'... 'now' versus a DB??
That, my fellow fanatics is a very very different question.[/quote]

There is no question in my mind that we need a serviceable big this year. Figueroa appears to be a very nice pickup but we still suffer from the same lack of depth and interior play that we did last year. And, as many have pointed out, Keita is a big question mark. Even if he turns out to be solid, he will likely be succeptible to foul trouble and we preserntly have no legitimate backup.

Burke may be terrific, but having three sitout transfers and three freshman who are projected to be limited impact players — at least initially — puts us at an enormous disadvantage. Further, we presently have a plethora of guards slated for next year so getting Burke does not fill an overwhelming need, particularly in light of the fact that he would have to sit out a year. Should the need arise next year, I trust the staff’s ability to be able to add a guard of Burke’s quality.

Bottom line is we need to be successful this year. If not, future recruiting will invariably continue to dry up. If we do achieve success this year, adding players the caliber of Burke who are immediately eligible should provr less elusive.

All this is to say that if a scholarship opens up, we should continue to make a play for a serviceable immediately eligible big. The ideal big doesn’t need to be as skilled as Femi. At this point, give me a 6’8 banger who is a solid interior defender and can give us 15-20 minutes a game, 5-6 points, and four rebounds and I’d be thrilled. I think it’s worth passing up on Burke if we can get that kind of production.
 
http://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/18142263

Keita can do a bit of it. That said, I still think we could really use another big guy grad transfer. This is purely because teams that have good big men will abuse us and change our whole game plan to stop them if Keita is out of the game. Earlington isn’t gonna be guarding any serious 7-footers. We are gonna feel the loss of our big guys. One big body could really help for this upcoming season.
 
The Owens loss really does make a difference.

Imagine the tenor of this board right now if we didn't get the Wright commit and Owens was still on board.
 
[quote="mattc" post=282033]The Owens loss really does make a difference.

Imagine the tenor of this board right now if we didn't get the Wright commit and Owens was still on board.[/quote]

Would I have liked Tariq to stay , you bet and for a multitude of reasons. But 8.4 ppg and 5.8 rebounds in 30 plus minutes a game is far from the end of the world. The blocked shots are great for sports center highlights but do little to win games but solid rebounding does. Much rather have a traditional big man like I hope we will get in Keita. We will have 4 very good scorers on the floor in Ponds, Simon , Clark and Figueroa. Don’t need a center who is looking for his shot first. For purposes of team chemistry on the floor this may be a case of addition by subtraction since All the others I named as well as Dixon are better scorers than Owens.
I wish him the best.
 
[quote="redmannorth" post=282037][quote="mattc" post=282033]The Owens loss really does make a difference.

Imagine the tenor of this board right now if we didn't get the Wright commit and Owens was still on board.[/quote]

Would I have liked Tariq to stay , you bet and for a multitude of reasons. But 8.4 ppg and 5.8 rebounds in 30 plus minutes a game is far from the end of the world. The blocked shots are great for sports center highlights but do little to win games but solid rebounding does. Much rather have a traditional big man like I hope we will get in Keita. We will have 4 very good scorers on the floor in Ponds, Simon , Clark and Figueroa. Don’t need a center who is looking for his shot first. For purposes of team chemistry on the floor this may be a case of addition by subtraction since All the others I named as well as Dixon are better scorers than Owens.
I wish him the best.[/quote]

I agree with you that Owens is not irreplaceable. However, you need more than one big man. Fouls, injuries and match-ups are part of the game.
 
There is no question in my mind that we need a serviceable big this year. Figueroa appears to be a very nice pickup but we still suffer from the same lack of depth and interior play that we did last year. And, as many have pointed out, Keita is a big question mark.[/quote] Thing is it didnt hurt us until we lost LoVett. If he would of stayed we would of probably made the tournament or at least have won 20 games. Now we are chock full of guards with Keita filling in for Owens. It was the loss of a guard that cost us the most, which is a good thing for next year. Im not really going to worry about the big anymore just going to look forward to the season which looks promising at the moment.
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For More Information, Please Contact:

Stephen Dombroski, Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations

Phone: 718-990-6897

dombross@stjohns.edu



Eli Wright Commits to Red Storm Men’s

Web Release:http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/042118aab.html

QUEENS, N.Y. (April 21, 2018) – St. John’s head coach Chris Mullin received a commitment from former four-star prospect Eli Wright, who will transfer to the Red Storm men’s basketball program from Mississippi State. A 6-foot-4 guard, Wright appeared in 64 games over his two seasons with the Bulldogs. Wright must complete one full academic year of residency before competing for the Red Storm per NCAA transfer requirements.

“Eli is a tremendous addition to our basketball program,” said Mullin. “He is an athletic guard with high major experience and a solid skill set. Eli can thrive in our system because he has good shooting range, he can distribute the ball and he is active on the defensive side of the court.”

Wright averaged 13.8 minutes per game last season at Mississippi State, registering 3.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 34 contests. A consensus top-100 prospect coming out of high school, Wright played in all 18 SEC games and shot 48.7 percent from the field against league competition. Wright logged minutes in each of the Bulldogs’ four postseason games during their run to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

“I’m very excited to start this new journey,” said Wright. “St. John’s, New York City and Coach Mullin are exactly what I was looking for. I feel like this is the right place to continue developing my game and bring it to the next level.”

As a freshman at Mississippi State, Wright made 30 appearances, including one start against Northwestern State. The Owensboro, Ky., native averaged 3.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and made 11 steals during his rookie campaign. Wright elevated his scoring average in SEC play, posting 4.1 points per outing in 17 conference games.

Rated as high as No. 50 in the Class of 2016, Wright was a high school teammate of current St. John’s forward Sedee Keita at 22 Feet Academy in Greenville, S.C., where he averaged 23.6 points as a senior. His two standout games came against Christ School and Oak Hill Academy at the Phenom National Showcase Breakout, scoring 28 and 20 points, respectively.



Wright was named to the Courier-Journal All-State Team after a breakout junior campaign at Apollo High School (KY). The 2015 Apollo Basketball Player of the Year, Wright averaged 20.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and hit 52 of his 136 3-point attempts that season. He was selected to play in the Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds in the showcase.



A top-20 shooting guard coming out of high school, Wright was named the Most Valuable Player at the Future 150 basketball camp. He competed for Super Showcase on the AAU circuit.



-- Red Storm –
 
I wonder if one of the reasons Owens left is he felt his role would diminish w Keita on board and he no longer would be a starter? That said, Owens loss hurts more than I thought it would. It is true his numbers were far from great considering minutes played. But I figured we would get a grad big to neutralize his loss. That does not seem to be the case and we will have a problem w depth at the 4 and 5 again.Whiffing 2 years in a row for a grad big is disheartening.
 
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