St. John’s (2020-21)

I don't expect Josh Roberts to be 100% until mid-way through the season. Rehab after shoulder surgery is tough.

Overall I'm already excited by next seasons team. There's a lot more talent and experience.

I hope the team will be able to practice this summer. It's going to be tough getting these kids back into game shape for Anderson's style of ball.

This long lay off will be a problem for all the athletes in Fall sports.
 
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This may be CMA’s deepest team ever, and that could go a long way, I’ve seen projections of Johnnies being picked 4th-8th because the BE is going to more top heavy next year with the big 3 teams but any bodies spot after that, now considering the lineup- for Mike- he always said it didn’t matter who starts but it matters who finishes the game, I’ve seen more Anderson games where players play way better coming off the Bench because it can spark a team if the starting 5 starts out slow.
3 lineups I could really see next season,

Most likely-
Dunn
Cole
LJ
Champagnie
Earlington

Earlington has proved he can use his body well enough to be a 5 and create many mismatches offensively at the 5, having Cole, LJ, and Champagnie capable of rebounding will also help if we start 6’7 guy at Center.

My favorite lineup personally

Williams
Cole
LJ
Earlington
Moore

Williams at the point is questionable but he has turned into such a good shooter down the stretch you can’t keep him off the floor with Cole and LJ, in this lineup you have 1-5 that can shoot the ball and create 4-5 mismatches in the same lineup, it would be universally impossible to guard if all are hot on one night, I could even see Moore at 6’10 playing the stretch 4 spot and playing Earlington at the 5.

Alexander
Williams
Cole
Champagnie
Roberts/Torro

If LJ leaves which is possible then you still have a really good offensive team either way with many threats still coming off the bench. I just have no clue about the C spot, there’s just so many forward/centers that can play- Earlington, Champagnie, Moore, Roberts, Torro.
 
[quote="Billy Don Ferrell" post=384472]This may be CMA’s deepest team ever, and that could go a long way, I’ve seen projections of Johnnies being picked 4th-8th because the BE is going to more top heavy next year with the big 3 teams but any bodies spot after that, now considering the lineup- for Mike- he always said it didn’t matter who starts but it matters who finishes the game, I’ve seen more Anderson games where players play way better coming off the Bench because it can spark a team if the starting 5 starts out slow.
3 lineups I could really see next season,

Most likely-
Dunn
Cole
LJ
Champagnie
Earlington

Earlington has proved he can use his body well enough to be a 5 and create many mismatches offensively at the 5, having Cole, LJ, and Champagnie capable of rebounding will also help if we start 6’7 guy at Center.

My favorite lineup personally

Williams
Cole
LJ
Earlington
Moore

Williams at the point is questionable but he has turned into such a good shooter down the stretch you can’t keep him off the floor with Cole and LJ, in this lineup you have 1-5 that can shoot the ball and create 4-5 mismatches in the same lineup, it would be universally impossible to guard if all are hot on one night, I could even see Moore at 6’10 playing the stretch 4 spot and playing Earlington at the 5.

Alexander
Williams
Cole
Champagnie
Roberts/Torro

If LJ leaves which is possible then you still have a really good offensive team either way with many threats still coming off the bench. I just have no clue about the C spot, there’s just so many forward/centers that can play- Earlington, Champagnie, Moore, Roberts, Torro.[/quote]

I think we will be excellent because we are going to have both talent and depth. I’ve seen what CMA can do with depth and it’s phenomenal. Now add a significant infusion of talent with 5 new and talented kids with few losses and we can be really good. I hope LJ returns because we can be special and he can be even better with more guard talent and depth. We also add some height and real skill. Gonna be a fun season next year and I think we will be built to make the tourney honestly. Everybody will underrate ya but that’s fine because nobody is going to want to play us. Can’t wait.
 
Assuming Champagnie, Earlington and Williams all show improvement in their outside shooting coupled with the addition of Cole and Moore and the possible return of LJ, next season will be the first in a long time that SJU will have three decent to good outside shooters on the court throughout the game.
 
Any team playing StJs better be able to run because CMA’s depth will allow StJ’s go end to end pretty much all game which will wear opponents down...... I can’t wait
 
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[quote="Enright" post=384476]Assuming Champagnie, Earlington and Williams all show improvement in their outside shooting coupled with the addition of Cole and Moore and the possible return of LJ, next season will be the first in a long time that SJU will have three decent to good outside shooters on the court throughout the game.[/quote]

Caraher is also a good shooter and no doubt Dunn will improve but I doubt will get to be catégoriséd as good. Apparently Posh and Wusu can also shoot the ball well.
So we have a group of good shooters, good defenders and rapidly improving rebounders. The outlook is very exciting.
 
[quote="Enright" post=384476]Assuming Champagnie, Earlington and Williams all show improvement in their outside shooting coupled with the addition of Cole and Moore and the possible return of LJ, next season will be the first in a long time that SJU will have three decent to good outside shooters on the court throughout the game.[/quote]

That's a lot of assumptions.:) I have hopes for Cole and Moore but I'm gonna take a wait and see approach to let them adjust to the new level they're stepping up to. Plus the team has to adjust to the new arrivals The three returnees you mentioned should improve, I'm looking for Julian to make the biggest improvement. LJ's a wild card, hope he's back but I think we'll be OK either way.

All these bodies should allow coach to really implement his his pressing defense next season. Can't wait for us to bring it.
 
[quote="Enright" post=384476]Assuming Champagnie, Earlington and Williams all show improvement in their outside shooting coupled with the addition of Cole and Moore and the possible return of LJ, next season will be the first in a long time that SJU will have three decent to good outside shooters on the court throughout the game.[/quote]

Ponds
Heron
LJ

last year
 
Ponds , LJ and Heron all pass the test as decent to good shooters but all three probably sat for about eight minutes a game meaning for probably half the game one or two of them were sitting. My point was next year could be an unusual year in SJU basketball that the coach could have five or six players who can shoot from the outside and there should be very few minutes of a game that there aren't three on the court.
 
[quote="Moose" post=384480][quote="Enright" post=384476]Assuming Champagnie, Earlington and Williams all show improvement in their outside shooting coupled with the addition of Cole and Moore and the possible return of LJ, next season will be the first in a long time that SJU will have three decent to good outside shooters on the court throughout the game.[/quote]

Ponds
Heron
LJ

last year[/quote]

Clark,Lovett, Bashir werent bad either.
 
I can't remember watching a team where starting lineups mattered less than under Mike Anderson last year. I understand it probably matters to the players and I certainly enjoy the discussions about it from a fan perspective but who starts doesn't really seem to have an impact on how much Anderson will play them. If a bench guy was playing better than a starter, more often than not they had logged more minutes by the end of the game (unless foul trouble was a factor) It seems like most of us (myself included) really like that approach.

The two guys that it seemed to not apply to were LJ and often Dunn. I love Dunn and agree he'll probably be the Day 1 starter but I think he'll have a much shorter leash than he did this season. He brought an element to the team that was sorely needed but for the majority of the season he was not an efficient player at all. He had some fantastic performances but more often than not he was shooting 2-10, 3-14, etc. I question if he gets the star treatment from Coach without improvement. This year the roster has a couple more guys who are capable of replicating what he does on the court.
 
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[quote="QueensBall" post=384507]I can't remember watching a team where starting lineups mattered less than under Mike Anderson last year. I understand it probably matters to the players and I certainly enjoy the discussions about it from a fan perspective but who starts doesn't really seem to have an impact on how much Anderson will play them. If a bench guy was playing better than a starter, more often than not they had logged more minutes by the end of the game (unless foul trouble was a factor) It seems like most of us (myself included) really like that approach.

The two guys that it seemed to not apply to were LJ and often Dunn. I love Dunn and agree he'll probably be the Day 1 starter but I think he'll have a much shorter leash than he did this season. He brought an element to the team that was sorely needed but for the majority of the season he was not an efficient player at all. He had some fantastic performances but more often than not he was shooting 2-10, 3-14, etc. I question if he gets the star treatment from Coach without improvement. This year the roster has a couple more guys who are capable of replicating what he does on the court.[/quote]

I wouldn’t describe it as a shorter leash, but having another trusted guy to break down the defense on the court will help get him out of there earlier.
 
[quote="Big Red" post=384510][quote="QueensBall" post=384507]I can't remember watching a team where starting lineups mattered less than under Mike Anderson last year. I understand it probably matters to the players and I certainly enjoy the discussions about it from a fan perspective but who starts doesn't really seem to have an impact on how much Anderson will play them. If a bench guy was playing better than a starter, more often than not they had logged more minutes by the end of the game (unless foul trouble was a factor) It seems like most of us (myself included) really like that approach.

The two guys that it seemed to not apply to were LJ and often Dunn. I love Dunn and agree he'll probably be the Day 1 starter but I think he'll have a much shorter leash than he did this season. He brought an element to the team that was sorely needed but for the majority of the season he was not an efficient player at all. He had some fantastic performances but more often than not he was shooting 2-10, 3-14, etc. I question if he gets the star treatment from Coach without improvement. This year the roster has a couple more guys who are capable of replicating what he does on the court.[/quote]

I wouldn’t describe it as a shorter leash, but having another trusted guy to break down the defense on the court will help get him out of there earlier.[/quote]

Yes good clarification, Big Red. Not that Dunn won't be allowed to play the way he plays and take the shots he takes. More that if he's having an ugly game there should be options other than keeping him on the floor.
 
[quote="QueensBall" post=384513][quote="Big Red" post=384510][quote="QueensBall" post=384507]I can't remember watching a team where starting lineups mattered less than under Mike Anderson last year. I understand it probably matters to the players and I certainly enjoy the discussions about it from a fan perspective but who starts doesn't really seem to have an impact on how much Anderson will play them. If a bench guy was playing better than a starter, more often than not they had logged more minutes by the end of the game (unless foul trouble was a factor) It seems like most of us (myself included) really like that approach.

The two guys that it seemed to not apply to were LJ and often Dunn. I love Dunn and agree he'll probably be the Day 1 starter but I think he'll have a much shorter leash than he did this season. He brought an element to the team that was sorely needed but for the majority of the season he was not an efficient player at all. He had some fantastic performances but more often than not he was shooting 2-10, 3-14, etc. I question if he gets the star treatment from Coach without improvement. This year the roster has a couple more guys who are capable of replicating what he does on the court.[/quote]

I wouldn’t describe it as a shorter leash, but having another trusted guy to break down the defense on the court will help get him out of there earlier.[/quote]

Yes good clarification, Big Red. Not that Dunn won't be allowed to play the way he plays and take the shots he takes. More that if he's having an ugly game there should be options other than keeping him on the floor.[/quote]

Bottom line, we will have several new guys as well as improved returning players who should help prevent guys like LJ and Dunn from having to carry all the offensive load. Extra distributors, shooters, inside players etc will help in different ways. Can really see this being a fun overall team.
 
On the subject of the 20-21 season, how does everyone think the stats will play out next year?

Here's what I think it will look like...

Top 10 players that play in every game.
LJ - 14 PPG / 4 RPG
Cole - 12 PPG / 38% 3P% / 85% FT%
Dunn - 11 PPG / 4 APG
Champagnie - 10 PPG / 5 RPG
Earlington - 7 PPG / 6 RPG
Williams - 7 PPG / 2 APG
Toro - 6 PPG / 6 RPG
Alexander - 6 PPG / 3 APG
Moore - 5 PPG / 3 RPG
Caraher - 3 PPG / 2 RPG

Situational Players (several DNPs)
Roberts
Wusu
McGriff

I think this will be a team that averages around 80 PPG. They have the scoring firepower.
 
[quote="Making Plays" post=384575]On the subject of the 20-21 season, how does everyone think the stats will play out next year?

Here's what I think it will look like...

Top 10 players that play in every game.
LJ - 14 PPG / 4 RPG
Cole - 12 PPG / 38% 3P% / 85% FT%
Dunn - 11 PPG / 4 APG
Champagnie - 10 PPG / 5 RPG
Earlington - 7 PPG / 6 RPG
Williams - 7 PPG / 2 APG
Toro - 6 PPG / 6 RPG
Alexander - 6 PPG / 3 APG
Moore - 5 PPG / 3 RPG
Caraher - 3 PPG / 2 RPG

Situational Players (several DNPs)
Roberts
Wusu
McGriff

I think this will be a team that averages around 80 PPG. They have the scoring firepower.[/quote]

It’s now or never for Williams and his time to shine as a shooting guard. Not time to be timid any more and if healthy needs to show us what he can do going to the hoop and shooting from the outside. I can see him doing better than 7 if he keeps up the trajectory he was on. The kid has the tools and it’s time for him to hit the next level imo and take the place of Heron who was limited last year by injury as well. Lots of tools on this team for sure. I’d also say I think If Roberts is healthy he will not be a situational player and Wusu is a very versatile kid who is going to be capable of more than we think as a freshman. I honesty don’t remember a SJU this deep overall. Literally no dead weight from
1-13 that I can see, even if we are not star-studded at this point.
 
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I also expect Greg Williams to be a much more consistent scorer this year, closer to double figures. Hard to predict scoring w/o knowing if LJ is returning though.
 
I’m one that confident this team could see 20 wins. But it’s kind of funny when you look at where these kids were ranked comin out of high school. This might be the first time in a long time that we don’t have one consensus top 100 kid on the team. I know a few of them are transfers that ended up gettin more recognition but still. Shows what a great coach and guys who play hard can do.


116 - Figueroa
155 - Williams
206 - Alexander
234 - Wusu
272 - Roberts
311 - Caraher
402 - Toro
435 - McGriff
NR - Champagnie
NR - Cole
NR - Dunn
NR - Earlington
NR - Moore
 
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