Latest From Zach B. / St. John's Practice October 3

J

jerseyshorejohnny

Well-known member
What's up everyone. Was back at St. John's today and saw a full practice. It was long, intense and constant action. There was a lot of teaching and no scrimmage.


A few thoughts:


Chris Ledlum was the star of the day. He was terrific. He hit some 3's, he was active on the glass, even handled the ball some. Really impressed by the Harvard transfer. He may end up being the Johnnies' best player.


One point of emphasis is working high-low action in the half-court. Joel Soriano's passing seems to be coming along.

Sean Conway shot the lights out, as he did on Sunday. He's going to help this team against zones. Can really shoot it.


Best defenders on the team in my opinion: Daniss Jenkins, Glenn Taylor Jr., Nahiem Alleyne and Cruz Davis. Alleyne had a strong practice. Showed good range from deep and hit a few shots in the lane.


Jordan Dingle was more aggressive than he was on Sunday. He's still adjusting to his new role off the ball. It's a work in progress. But you can see the ability to score.


In fast break drills, Simeon Wilcher had a few really impressive dunks. He's still feeling his way, but the freshman has so much raw ability.
 
Conway can stroke it. Such a valuable skill set that has been missing at St. John’s for way too long. He is the type of player every successful Pitino coached team has.

My post this summer saying he would get minutes this year was quickly shot down by a few here. But after watching scrimmage Sunday I am even more confident that he will play a nice role on this year’s squad
 
Conway is the one guy that I find the hardest to predict. He looks 10/10 in every video I’ve seen…always hustling and playing defense. He’s not your typical scrawny shooter at all, and Pitino tends to love players like him.

I could see him getting 2 minutes a game and I could see him averaging 10 points a game. I don’t shy away from strong opinions either 😉
 
billthetruth said:
Coach called Soriano out a few times on Sunday for being indecisive with ball and not getting rid of it faster. He wants constant ball rotation and constant movement and tons of cutting.
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That is his biggest area of weakness and what caused him problems late last season - resulting in constant double teams. I knew this would be an area of focus for RP.
 
Marillac2 said:
Conway is the one guy that I find the hardest to predict. He looks 10/10 in every video I’ve seen…always hustling and playing defense. He’s not your typical scrawny shooter at all, and Pitino tends to love players like him.

I could see him getting 2 minutes a game and I could see him averaging 10 points a game. I don’t shy away from strong opinions either 😉
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He’s playing a lot more than 2 minutes. He is a Pitino type player.

Can really shoot it and will bring some Matt Brust like intensity on defense. VMI training has him in great shape.
 
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billthetruth said:
He’s playing a lot more than 2 minutes. He is a Pitino type player.

Can really shoot it and will bring some Matt Brust like intensity on defense. VMI training has him in great shape.
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I was working off the premise that Luis was our starting SF, so the rest of the guys better really bring it in practice now that Conway has one less guy in front of him.
 
billthetruth said:
He’s playing a lot more than 2 minutes. He is a Pitino type player.

Can really shoot it and will bring some Matt Brust like intensity on defense. VMI training has him in great shape.
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Good to hear- i saw two consecutive 3s from him in the same possession from the corner - and from our seat angle- you could tell they were off mid-arc... found it strange that a known 'shooter' would have 2 consecutive bad misses.

(jk on Dunlap btw- know he was hurt)
 
bucketshardy said:
Good to hear- i saw two consecutive 3s from him in the same possession from the corner - and from our seat angle- you could tell they were off mid-arc... found it strange that a known 'shooter' would have 2 consecutive bad misses.

(jk on Dunlap btw- know he was hurt)
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Dunlap is a legit 6'7/6'8. Great personality and infectious smile too. I think he has Team Captain potential after a few years of experience.

Two staff members said he is going to surprise the fans the most. Very talented and can really shoot the ball.
 
Regardless of how much he plays I congratulate Conway for having the stones to move from low mid major VMi of the Southern Conference to the faster mor physical Big East.

Many kids would not have had the confidence to take the leap.
 
We all wish RJ a speedy recovery, but this is the deepest St J team I can remember.
IMO, the 2 players we can’t afford to get injured are Soriano & Zuby.
each of positions 1-4 there are multiple quality options.
this year’s rotation might see 5 diff Rotation players at the 3:
Luis, Taylor, Alleyne, Conway, Dunlap, (+Ayo)
 
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