Starters Carry Heavy Minutes

SJU85

SJU85

Well-known member
2023 $upporter 2022 $upporter
paper.newsday.com

Newsday

Newsday - 02/06/2025
paper.newsday.com

STARTERS CARRY HEAVY MINUTES​

By Roger Rubin

No. 12 St. John’s scored its most significant win of the season to date on Tuesday night when it rode suffocating defense and relentless rebounding to a 70-64 Big East victory over 11th-ranked Marquette before 16,521 at the Garden.

It was the ninth straight win for the Red Storm (20-3, 11-1), who remain in first place in the conference. This was their biggest regular-season game in more than a quarter century and the first time they’ve prevailed in a regular-season game between two top 15 teams since they were No. 10 and beat No. 9 Connecticut on Jan. 13, 1991.

The St. John’s defense held the Golden Eagles (18-5, 9-3) to a meager 29% shooting in the second half and beat them on the backboards 50-28 to get six more shots and 13 more free throws.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Is there a depth problem?

When St. John’s defeated Providence on Saturday, four players — Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis Jr., Simeon Wilcher and Kadary Richmond — played 33 minutes or more and Deivon Smith came off the bench to play 28 because Aaron Scott got into early foul trouble. Against Marquette, four players — Ejiofor, Luis, Richmond and Scott — played at least 35 minutes, with Luis playing the entire 40.

St. John’s survived a stretch with Smith out with a right shoulder injury, but with the schedule only getting tougher in the final stretch, it’s hard to tell how it would fare if one of the first six were to get hurt or more than one were to get into foul trouble.

Smith was 1-for-23 shooting in the minutes he played after getting hurt in a collision during the first half of the win over Villanova, but he might be getting the feel back. He was 3-for-3 from the floor, including a three-pointer, in the final 4:43 against Marquette.

“He’s not Superman,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Just take some time to get back in and he’ll be fine. He’s a great athlete. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Deivon. He’s going to be terrific. I think by Connecticut, he’ll be back to 100%.”

2. Prey should be 7th man

When Ejiofor has needed a rest, Pitino has often gone to 7-1 Vince Iwuchukwu as the first big man off the bench. The USC transfer has shown some offensive talent and can block shots, but 6-10 Ruben Prey has looked like the better option because of the way he plays defense and shoots on the perimeter.

Like most of the Storm players, he has the speed and length to cover smaller players on the perimeter when a defensive switch is called for. And, though he hasn’t gotten many opportunities, his rep in Europe was as an excellent shooter.

3. Storm find ways to win

St. John’s continues to defy logic by winning games that, statistically, it should not win. The Storm missed 13 three-pointers and 14 free throws and still beat an excellent Marquette team with their defense and rebounding. The Storm were especially tough on defense with a win in sight in the final five minutes, limiting the Eagles to 0-for-7 shooting.

As Luis said: “We put in a lot of hard work in the preseason and you guys can see it now. We’re a very hungry group and we’re very determined to win.”
 
SJU85 said:
paper.newsday.com

Newsday

Newsday - 02/06/2025
paper.newsday.com

STARTERS CARRY HEAVY MINUTES​

By Roger Rubin

No. 12 St. John’s scored its most significant win of the season to date on Tuesday night when it rode suffocating defense and relentless rebounding to a 70-64 Big East victory over 11th-ranked Marquette before 16,521 at the Garden.

It was the ninth straight win for the Red Storm (20-3, 11-1), who remain in first place in the conference. This was their biggest regular-season game in more than a quarter century and the first time they’ve prevailed in a regular-season game between two top 15 teams since they were No. 10 and beat No. 9 Connecticut on Jan. 13, 1991.

The St. John’s defense held the Golden Eagles (18-5, 9-3) to a meager 29% shooting in the second half and beat them on the backboards 50-28 to get six more shots and 13 more free throws.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Is there a depth problem?

When St. John’s defeated Providence on Saturday, four players — Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis Jr., Simeon Wilcher and Kadary Richmond — played 33 minutes or more and Deivon Smith came off the bench to play 28 because Aaron Scott got into early foul trouble. Against Marquette, four players — Ejiofor, Luis, Richmond and Scott — played at least 35 minutes, with Luis playing the entire 40.

St. John’s survived a stretch with Smith out with a right shoulder injury, but with the schedule only getting tougher in the final stretch, it’s hard to tell how it would fare if one of the first six were to get hurt or more than one were to get into foul trouble.

Smith was 1-for-23 shooting in the minutes he played after getting hurt in a collision during the first half of the win over Villanova, but he might be getting the feel back. He was 3-for-3 from the floor, including a three-pointer, in the final 4:43 against Marquette.

“He’s not Superman,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Just take some time to get back in and he’ll be fine. He’s a great athlete. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Deivon. He’s going to be terrific. I think by Connecticut, he’ll be back to 100%.”

2. Prey should be 7th man

When Ejiofor has needed a rest, Pitino has often gone to 7-1 Vince Iwuchukwu as the first big man off the bench. The USC transfer has shown some offensive talent and can block shots, but 6-10 Ruben Prey has looked like the better option because of the way he plays defense and shoots on the perimeter.

Like most of the Storm players, he has the speed and length to cover smaller players on the perimeter when a defensive switch is called for. And, though he hasn’t gotten many opportunities, his rep in Europe was as an excellent shooter.

3. Storm find ways to win

St. John’s continues to defy logic by winning games that, statistically, it should not win. The Storm missed 13 three-pointers and 14 free throws and still beat an excellent Marquette team with their defense and rebounding. The Storm were especially tough on defense with a win in sight in the final five minutes, limiting the Eagles to 0-for-7 shooting.

As Luis said: “We put in a lot of hard work in the preseason and you guys can see it now. We’re a very hungry group and we’re very determined to win.”
Click to expand...
Roger obviously reads the board.
 
SJU85 said:
paper.newsday.com

Newsday

Newsday - 02/06/2025
paper.newsday.com

STARTERS CARRY HEAVY MINUTES​

By Roger Rubin

No. 12 St. John’s scored its most significant win of the season to date on Tuesday night when it rode suffocating defense and relentless rebounding to a 70-64 Big East victory over 11th-ranked Marquette before 16,521 at the Garden.

It was the ninth straight win for the Red Storm (20-3, 11-1), who remain in first place in the conference. This was their biggest regular-season game in more than a quarter century and the first time they’ve prevailed in a regular-season game between two top 15 teams since they were No. 10 and beat No. 9 Connecticut on Jan. 13, 1991.

The St. John’s defense held the Golden Eagles (18-5, 9-3) to a meager 29% shooting in the second half and beat them on the backboards 50-28 to get six more shots and 13 more free throws.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Is there a depth problem?

When St. John’s defeated Providence on Saturday, four players — Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis Jr., Simeon Wilcher and Kadary Richmond — played 33 minutes or more and Deivon Smith came off the bench to play 28 because Aaron Scott got into early foul trouble. Against Marquette, four players — Ejiofor, Luis, Richmond and Scott — played at least 35 minutes, with Luis playing the entire 40.

St. John’s survived a stretch with Smith out with a right shoulder injury, but with the schedule only getting tougher in the final stretch, it’s hard to tell how it would fare if one of the first six were to get hurt or more than one were to get into foul trouble.

Smith was 1-for-23 shooting in the minutes he played after getting hurt in a collision during the first half of the win over Villanova, but he might be getting the feel back. He was 3-for-3 from the floor, including a three-pointer, in the final 4:43 against Marquette.

“He’s not Superman,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Just take some time to get back in and he’ll be fine. He’s a great athlete. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Deivon. He’s going to be terrific. I think by Connecticut, he’ll be back to 100%.”

2. Prey should be 7th man

When Ejiofor has needed a rest, Pitino has often gone to 7-1 Vince Iwuchukwu as the first big man off the bench. The USC transfer has shown some offensive talent and can block shots, but 6-10 Ruben Prey has looked like the better option because of the way he plays defense and shoots on the perimeter.

Like most of the Storm players, he has the speed and length to cover smaller players on the perimeter when a defensive switch is called for. And, though he hasn’t gotten many opportunities, his rep in Europe was as an excellent shooter.

3. Storm find ways to win

St. John’s continues to defy logic by winning games that, statistically, it should not win. The Storm missed 13 three-pointers and 14 free throws and still beat an excellent Marquette team with their defense and rebounding. The Storm were especially tough on defense with a win in sight in the final five minutes, limiting the Eagles to 0-for-7 shooting.

As Luis said: “We put in a lot of hard work in the preseason and you guys can see it now. We’re a very hungry group and we’re very determined to win.”
Click to expand...

We do have a problem with depth, but it's not huge. My guy Ayo can come in twice for RJ around the media timeouts for 1.5-2 minutes at a time to stack rest. RJ can't be playing 40 minutes like Marquette.

Prey should backup the 4 and 5. I actually like Prey better at the 5, but Rick has been hesitant to play him there from some reason.

Glover is kind of the X-factor for depth. Ayo and Prey won't hurt you, but Glover can...or he can help. The range of outcomes is much bigger with him.

There are extra timeouts in the tournament, so depth is less of an issue.
 
Marillac2 said:
We do have a problem with depth, but it's not huge. My guy Ayo can come in twice for RJ around the media timeouts for 1.5-2 minutes at a time to stack rest. RJ can't be playing 40 minutes like Marquette.

Prey should backup the 4 and 5. I actually like Prey better at the 5, but Rick has been hesitant to play him there from some reason.

Glover is kind of the X-factor for depth. Ayo and Prey won't hurt you, but Glover can...or he can help. The range of outcomes is much bigger with him.

There are extra timeouts in the tournament, so depth is less of an issue.
Click to expand...
You forgot your boy Vince!
 
Marillac2 said:
I would let him pay for 60-90 seconds around the first half under 12 and go to a pure 2-3 zone so he doesn't have to chase anyone. He should not be playing in the second half.
Click to expand...
Agree 100%. Not sure if going zone is a thing Pitino would do but Vince is much better suited for a zone defense. He can’t switch and defend quick guards.
 
I'm only concerned in an event of an injury to our top six. If there's no injury, no problems. Teams don't use more than 8 guys in a big game.

Sim and Prey can play 10-25 minutes in a big game if necessary, and Ayo can play 4-6 if he's not shooting contested shots/mid-range jumpers. Glover is TBD and kind of still playing like a typical freshman.
 
Marillac2 said:
…Glover is kind of the X-factor for depth. Ayo and Prey won't hurt you, but Glover can...or he can help. The range of outcomes is much bigger with him….
Click to expand...
What u guys think of his minutes recently? … have to say - not lovin em… 10 games ago- thought we were heading towards a potential rotational (8-10mins) piece…

Now he worries me when he’s in… more than freshmen yr Sim
 
L J S A said:
We need to start destroying teams in first half so Glover and Liotopoulos can get 20 minutes of playing time.
Click to expand...
that doesn't matter. we destroyed Georgetown, and Vince and Jaiden, did not play the 2nd half at all. Hard to know what goes thru RP's head. But he's not looking at minutes.
 
So let some take talking head nonsense as gospel; me, I will put much more credence in my own eyes and common sense. Namely, with ALL THOSE MINUTES we have clearly the fresher, more aggressive players finishing the games, you know, the winning players!!
 
bucketshardy said:
What u guys think of his minutes recently? … have to say - not lovin em… 10 games ago- thought we were heading towards a potential rotational (8-10mins) piece…

Now he worries me when he’s in… more than freshmen yr Sim
Click to expand...
I honestly think Glover's been better than Sim in their freshman year. Sim was unplayable and would make very very very costly mistakes. I still get angry thinking of that turnover @Creighton last January. He really only played well against DePaul and some of the cupcakes.

Glover looks far more confident and physically up for it. He's also had small flashes of him actually playing at a high level defensively. But he lacks a focus to maintain it consistency in a game, and its also clear that he can't also get to that mentality in every game. He looked overmatched against Creighton and Marquette from that standpoint (although I'd question why Rick had Glover on Ashworth to begin with).

I'm willing to excuse some of the shooting struggles/being behind because of the hand injury. Getting injured your freshman year and missing all of that practice time really really hurts. I like that he's confident in his shot, I hope he starts hitting them. He would be smart to stay next year.
 
logen said:
So let some take talking head nonsense as gospel; me, I will put much more credence in my own eyes and common sense. Namely, with ALL THOSE MINUTES we have clearly the fresher, more aggressive players finishing the games, you know, the winning players!!
Click to expand...
Absolutely, but I do wonder what happens when we have to play three days in a row, and then two in three days, especially if the first game is particularly grueling.
 
bucketshardy said:
What u guys think of his minutes recently? … have to say - not lovin em… 10 games ago- thought we were heading towards a potential rotational (8-10mins) piece…

Now he worries me when he’s in… more than freshmen yr Sim
Click to expand...
Looked terrible early...then looked good for 3 games....then not so good. It's rarely a straight line with freshmen. He's not bashful about shooting and missing doesn't affect him at all. That could prove useful since the rest of our guys have no confidence from deep.
 
Marillac2 said:
We do have a problem with depth, but it's not huge. My guy Ayo can come in twice for RJ around the media timeouts for 1.5-2 minutes at a time to stack rest. RJ can't be playing 40 minutes like Marquette.

Prey should backup the 4 and 5. I actually like Prey better at the 5, but Rick has been hesitant to play him there from some reason.

Glover is kind of the X-factor for depth. Ayo and Prey won't hurt you, but Glover can...or he can help. The range of outcomes is much bigger with him.

There are extra timeouts in the tournament, so depth is less of an issue.
Click to expand...
I agree with you on Prey backing up the 4 and the 5, but Ayo needs to stay on the bench. His last bit of pt involved him turning the ball over as the inbounder, followed by a drive into traffic blocked shot and another turnover.

I would use Prey in this way: Bring him in for Zuby to get him a little rest. When Zuby comes back in you pull RJ to get him some rest. This allows Prey to actually get some game flow which is beneficial to him and the team imo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top