The Stretch Run

ghostzapper

ghostzapper

Well-known member
2023 $upporter
After today's debacle against Providence at the Garden the clock is running down on the season. There are seven regular season conference games left this year. Currently we are in a five way tie for third through seventh place in the conference. After really good road wins against Creighton and Marquette we swept two of our oppenents in conference. By sweeping Marquette we swept a team who is ranked in the top ten in the country and is undefeated against every conference opponent not named St. John's.

The NCAA will definitely select Big East reps Marquette and Villanova for the tournament. They may take another team or two from the Big East Conference but it is posssible that only the top two teams will be selected. It is time now for St. John's to separate themselves from the five way team logjam they are tied with in the standings (see link below).

The problem though is when playing well St. John's can compete with the Marquettes and Villanovas, but when not playing well the flaws and weaknesses due to the team's lack of depth, size and consistency lead to defeats against weaker opponents.

How we play over the next seven games plus the conference tournament will write the most important chapter to the 2018/2019 story. Which, if any, team emerges from the rest of the conference to find their way to the NCAAs is up in the air right now. I truly hope it is us, but we will have to bring a consistency to our performance we have lacked during conference play this season. If it doesn't happen it will be very disappointing, especially given the hopes and level of talent we brought to the table this year.

[URL]https://www.bigeast.com/standings.aspx?standings[/URL]=2
 
Last edited:
Today’s game was the low point of the season, coming off 2 straight road wins in the conference, the last one against a Top 10 team.
I may be wrong and hope to all hell I am, but I don’t see us finishing strong.
3 and 4, at best.
Please let me be wrong.
And please let Mustapha be okay.
He provides energy with Figgy.
Those 2 guys care about more than their own stats.
 
9-9 will likely get them in probably as a last 4 in. But I'm done predicting. For example I think they are good enough assuming Heron comes back that they can beat Nova next Sunday. I wouldn't bet on it though. I can see Nova making just enough plays to win by 2 or 3 just because they are deeper and tougher.
 
[quote="fordham96" post=321717]9-9 will likely get them in probably as a last 4 in. But I'm done predicting. For example I think they are good enough assuming Heron comes back that they can beat Nova next Sunday. I wouldn't bet on it though. I can see Nova making just enough plays to win by 2 or 3 just because they are deeper and tougher.[/quote]

Not arguing with you but I wouldn’t call Nova deeper. In the last four games Nova has really only gone 7 players deep. No doubt they are tougher.
 
[quote="stjohnnie75" post=321720][quote="fordham96" post=321717]9-9 will likely get them in probably as a last 4 in. But I'm done predicting. For example I think they are good enough assuming Heron comes back that they can beat Nova next Sunday. I wouldn't bet on it though. I can see Nova making just enough plays to win by 2 or 3 just because they are deeper and tougher.[/quote]

Not arguing with you but I wouldn’t call Nova deeper. In the last four games Nova has really only gone 7 players deep. No doubt they are tougher.[/quote]

Nova really isn’t deeper at all. Booth and paschall make them go, and they are starting to get more and more contributions from Bey/Samuels/Gillespie. We matchup with them well, you saw it in the first matchup, with an injured Morie we had the lead for most of the game. But I’m sure Wright will outcoach mullin in round 2
 
[quote="Jack Williams" post=321723][quote="stjohnnie75" post=321720][quote="fordham96" post=321717]9-9 will likely get them in probably as a last 4 in. But I'm done predicting. For example I think they are good enough assuming Heron comes back that they can beat Nova next Sunday. I wouldn't bet on it though. I can see Nova making just enough plays to win by 2 or 3 just because they are deeper and tougher.[/quote]

Not arguing with you but I wouldn’t call Nova deeper. In the last four games Nova has really only gone 7 players deep. No doubt they are tougher.[/quote]

Nova really isn’t deeper at all. Booth and paschall make them go, and they are starting to get more and more contributions from Bey/Samuels/Gillespie. We matchup with them well, you saw it in the first matchup, with an injured Morie we had the lead for most of the game. But I’m sure Wright will outcoach mullin in round 2[/quote]

Yeah Wright has really shortened his bench and now really only plays one freshmen Bey.
 
I still think this team can turn it around. Roberts giving us some quality minutes lengthens the bench a little more and gives us a little more size which is good. Heron has to be healthy. But, beyond that, this team has to be mentally prepared to bring it for 40 minutes every game. If they can do that they can turn this around in the last seven games before the BET. That is choice they have to collectively make and commit to as team. Why that is hard for this team to do is beyond me.
 
The minimum level of achievement for the team is to finish in the top six. If we have to play in the Wed. night 7-10, 8-9 games, our season is over.
 
[quote="Las Vegan" post=321758]The minimum level of achievement for the team is to finish in the top six. If we have to play in the Wed. night 7-10, 8-9 games, our season is over.[/quote]

6th is nothing to be satisfied with. 6th is a bust.
 
[quote="RedStormNC" post=321773][quote="Las Vegan" post=321758]The minimum level of achievement for the team is to finish in the top six. If we have to play in the Wed. night 7-10, 8-9 games, our season is over.[/quote]

6th is nothing to be satisfied with. 6th is a bust.[/quote]

If it's a legit 6th, I'd probably agree.

If the Big East winds up in a ridiculous 4-way tie for third (which is looking possible), and we wind up 6th based on tiebreaker, that's a little different, IMO.
 
[quote="SJU61982" post=321774][quote="RedStormNC" post=321773][quote="Las Vegan" post=321758]The minimum level of achievement for the team is to finish in the top six. If we have to play in the Wed. night 7-10, 8-9 games, our season is over.[/quote]

6th is nothing to be satisfied with. 6th is a bust.[/quote]

If it's a legit 6th, I'd probably agree.

If the Big East winds up in a ridiculous 4-way tie for third (which is looking possible), and we wind up 6th based on tiebreaker, that's a little different, IMO.[/quote]

I would consider it a bust, no matter what kind of 6th place it is.
 
Yes, it has been a long time since we danced, let alone win a game there. Staff, competitors and the press seemed high on SJU to contend for BE title, dance and perhaps win a game. Most made reference to this being best SJU roster/starting 5 in ages.

Perhaps everyone overshot the mark, but if not, limping into the NCAA Tourney with a quick exit would be abysmal failure on the team’s and staff’s part imo. Hopefully they respond well down the stretch and reach their goals, but can’t be confident of that based on their inconsistency thus far.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote="Paultzman" post=321788]Yes, it has been a long time since we danced, let alone win a game there. Staff, competitors and the press seemed high on SJU to contend for BE title, dance and perhaps win a game. Most made reference to this being best SJU roster in ages.

Perhaps everyone overshot the mark, but if not, limping into the NCAA Tourney to with a quick exit would be abysmal failure on the team’s and staff’s part imo. Hopefully they respond well down the stretch and reach their goals, but can’t be confident of that based on their inconsistency thus far.[/quote]

I don't think (and didn't before the season) that this roster is nearly as good as the 2013-14 unit. The group had depth, balance, and experience. Not making the NCAA Tournament that year was a MAJOR disappointment that season, IMO. I thought that could have been a Sweet Sixteen Team. I'd take that roster over this one in a heartbeat, if only because of frontcourt depth.

I think that season is what soured a lot of people on Lavin, because I actually think he did a better job the following year, yet he still was not retained.
 
Last edited:
It’s impossible to figure out which St. John’s team will show up on Tuesday (with Heron being an additional ?-mark) versus Butler and for the following 6 games.
Realistically, we could either lose 4 or more of these 7 critical games, or win more.
The answer is inside the heads of our guys (assuming they’re healthy).
Who the heck knows?
Let’s go Johnnies.
 
For me, anything less than making the dance is a complete miss for this group (absent a serious injury to one of their starters). They have some work to do to get there at this point but still 7 games left to bounce back
 
Last edited:
We need to do 3 things from here on out:

1. Play smart for 40 minutes
2. Play hard for 40 minutes
3. Stay healthy

Otherwise we’re NIT bound
 
Paultzman wrote how various people felt at the beginning of the season SJU could compete for the top spot in the league and while that is true it now appears the predictors were basing their opinions on the starting five of SJU and didn't give enough weight to the drop off in talent on the bench which was never given the proper attention during the OOC part of the schedule to develop.
You could argue that the games first Ponds missed and then Heron might have had a different ending with substitutes that were better prepared, in addition to other earlier big east games which were lost when the starters were done going into the last five minutes.
 
I have been thinking about this comparison.

2014-2015 (21-12; 10-8; at large NCAA bid)
D’Angelo Harrison
Sir’Dominc Pointer
Phil Greene IV
Rysheed Jordan
Chris Obekpa
Jamal Branch
Christian Jones
Amar Alibegovic
Felix Balamou
Khadim Ndiaye
Joey DelaRosa



2018-2019 (???)
Shamorie Ponds
Mustapha Heron
Justin Simon
Marvin Clarke II
LJ Figueroa
Bryan Trimble
Sedee Keita
Greg Williams
Josh Roberts
Marcellus Earlington
Mikey Dixon
 
Last edited:
[quote="JohnnyFan" post=321807]I have been thinking about this comparison.

2014-2015 (21-12; 10-8; at large NCAA bid)
D’Angelo Harrison
Sir’Dominc Pointer
Phil Greene IV
Rysheed Jordan
Chris Obekpa
Jamal Branch
Christian Jones
Amar Alibegovic
Felix Balamou
Khadim Ndiaye
Joey DelaRosa



2018-2019 (???)
Shamorie Ponds
Mustapha Heron
Justin Simon
Marvin Clarke II
LJ Figueroa
Bryan Trimble
Sedee Keita
Greg Williams
Josh Roberts
Marcellus Earlington
Mikey Dixon[/quote]

2014/2015 team better all around. Both underperformed(to date for this team).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top