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For the first time since the days of Lou Carnesecca, St. John’s fans can honestly say that they have the best team in the Big East. Now under their second season with Rick Pitino (and Taliek Brown) at the helm, this six-man rotation isn’t deep, but is arguably the scrappiest sextet in the nation.
As I mentioned in another thread, St. John’s reminds me a little bit of a poor-man’s Houston as it is a team whose foundation is defense – albeit St. John’s is flawed at protecting the perimeter – and their offense is excellent at generating second-chance opportunities, which is especially important since the team is an awful shooting team from the perimeter.
Overall, I love the matchup for UConn since St. John’s strengths do not align with our weaknesses. For example, UConn, per KenPom, has the best interior offense in the Big East and our perimeter defense has gotten better, but isn’t as strong. Only 26.7% of St. John’s conference shot attempts are from three, so especially with Liam McNeeley back, our defense matches up. Also, UConn currently has the best perimeter offense in the Big East, which provides a huge advantage since St. John’s overcommitment on defense leads to open shots, which bodes well since UConn often has four shooters in each of their rotations. The biggest issue is rebounding: UConn’s defensive rebounding has been weak and St. John’s has been strong, with Simeon Wilcher being the only rotation player who isn’t an at-least average offensive rebounder.
One could argue that Kadary Richmond is the most valuable player in the Big East due to his ability to be an impact in every aspect of the game. He’s their most aggressive and versatile defender, he’s their best distributor, he’s the most polished rim attacker, he’s got the highest BBIQ, literally the only thing he doesn’t do well is shoot threes. He’s also been terrible at free throws this year, which doesn’t track for him. He’ll play up and down the lineup in the backcourt, and no matter his role, Liam would be my guy to shadow him.
St. John’s other top players - Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis - are two of the most improved players in the conference. Combined, they draw 11.3 fouls per 40 minutes, so our frontcourt will be tested and will likely foul often. Ejiofor’s development has been a major reason that Pitino has been able to draw up for pick-and-roll and dribble-handoff looks from the perimeter as it isn’t uncommon to see Ejiofor work out of the halfcourt from 25 feet out to allow space for cutters. One of the best offensive rebounders in the nation and also developing into one of the best defensive bigs in the nation, Ejiofor is a pure beast who does his best work inside, but lets about one three-point attempt fly per game. In close games, he’s getting Kalkbrenner-like minutes, so backup big Vince Iwuchukwu barely plays in close games.
RJ Luis is a long, athletic freak who is one of the most potent above-the-rim two-way stars in the nation. Luis is St. John’s most electric player, but he can also be the team’s most frustrating player as he is prone to taking ugly, ill-advised shots and over-dribble/drive to cause turnovers. Like Iwuchukwu, backup power forward Ruben Prey barely plays in close games, but he’s an incredibly long forward who plays an intense style, but needs to improve his foot work on D and is incredibly raw on the offensive end.
Now at his fourth school, point guard Deivon Smith is St. John’s #2 distributor behind Richmond and is the least effective defender amongst the team’s top-six. His usage rate was only lower in his freshman year and while he’s a savvy, smart distributor and a very good perimeter shooter, he really has been struggling to convert inside the arc as the physicality of the conference is catching up to his 6’0 175 frame. Under Pitino, Smith has become an expert pilferer, but he’s arguably the team’s biggest mistake-prone defender.
A major reason why Smith has been recently coming off the bench is because of the growth of play in sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher. At 6’4 and with good athleticism and a wingspan a few inches longer than his height, Wilcher is an excellent defender and a strong positional rim-protector. On offense, he’s still very inefficient and almost gives up as many turnovers as he dishes assists, but I am impressed by his ability to make quick decisions in small space. I really like his current floor as a low-usage third guard who is an excellent defender.
Last year, Aaron Scott was one of my favorite mid-major players thanks to his energy on the defensive end and uber-efficient offensive play. Rich with BBIQ, Aaron Scott is that unselfish team-first glue guy that championship coaches love. After an excellent two seasons on the perimeter, Scott’s three-point shot has not fallen yet, but that can be attributed to the team’s overall weak spacing on the perimeter. He’ll shadow McNeeley all day.
With McNeeley at full health, this will be a coin flip of a game and an opportunity to keep building mojo against the top teams in the conference. Let’s do this.
As I mentioned in another thread, St. John’s reminds me a little bit of a poor-man’s Houston as it is a team whose foundation is defense – albeit St. John’s is flawed at protecting the perimeter – and their offense is excellent at generating second-chance opportunities, which is especially important since the team is an awful shooting team from the perimeter.
Overall, I love the matchup for UConn since St. John’s strengths do not align with our weaknesses. For example, UConn, per KenPom, has the best interior offense in the Big East and our perimeter defense has gotten better, but isn’t as strong. Only 26.7% of St. John’s conference shot attempts are from three, so especially with Liam McNeeley back, our defense matches up. Also, UConn currently has the best perimeter offense in the Big East, which provides a huge advantage since St. John’s overcommitment on defense leads to open shots, which bodes well since UConn often has four shooters in each of their rotations. The biggest issue is rebounding: UConn’s defensive rebounding has been weak and St. John’s has been strong, with Simeon Wilcher being the only rotation player who isn’t an at-least average offensive rebounder.
One could argue that Kadary Richmond is the most valuable player in the Big East due to his ability to be an impact in every aspect of the game. He’s their most aggressive and versatile defender, he’s their best distributor, he’s the most polished rim attacker, he’s got the highest BBIQ, literally the only thing he doesn’t do well is shoot threes. He’s also been terrible at free throws this year, which doesn’t track for him. He’ll play up and down the lineup in the backcourt, and no matter his role, Liam would be my guy to shadow him.
St. John’s other top players - Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis - are two of the most improved players in the conference. Combined, they draw 11.3 fouls per 40 minutes, so our frontcourt will be tested and will likely foul often. Ejiofor’s development has been a major reason that Pitino has been able to draw up for pick-and-roll and dribble-handoff looks from the perimeter as it isn’t uncommon to see Ejiofor work out of the halfcourt from 25 feet out to allow space for cutters. One of the best offensive rebounders in the nation and also developing into one of the best defensive bigs in the nation, Ejiofor is a pure beast who does his best work inside, but lets about one three-point attempt fly per game. In close games, he’s getting Kalkbrenner-like minutes, so backup big Vince Iwuchukwu barely plays in close games.
RJ Luis is a long, athletic freak who is one of the most potent above-the-rim two-way stars in the nation. Luis is St. John’s most electric player, but he can also be the team’s most frustrating player as he is prone to taking ugly, ill-advised shots and over-dribble/drive to cause turnovers. Like Iwuchukwu, backup power forward Ruben Prey barely plays in close games, but he’s an incredibly long forward who plays an intense style, but needs to improve his foot work on D and is incredibly raw on the offensive end.
Now at his fourth school, point guard Deivon Smith is St. John’s #2 distributor behind Richmond and is the least effective defender amongst the team’s top-six. His usage rate was only lower in his freshman year and while he’s a savvy, smart distributor and a very good perimeter shooter, he really has been struggling to convert inside the arc as the physicality of the conference is catching up to his 6’0 175 frame. Under Pitino, Smith has become an expert pilferer, but he’s arguably the team’s biggest mistake-prone defender.
A major reason why Smith has been recently coming off the bench is because of the growth of play in sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher. At 6’4 and with good athleticism and a wingspan a few inches longer than his height, Wilcher is an excellent defender and a strong positional rim-protector. On offense, he’s still very inefficient and almost gives up as many turnovers as he dishes assists, but I am impressed by his ability to make quick decisions in small space. I really like his current floor as a low-usage third guard who is an excellent defender.
Last year, Aaron Scott was one of my favorite mid-major players thanks to his energy on the defensive end and uber-efficient offensive play. Rich with BBIQ, Aaron Scott is that unselfish team-first glue guy that championship coaches love. After an excellent two seasons on the perimeter, Scott’s three-point shot has not fallen yet, but that can be attributed to the team’s overall weak spacing on the perimeter. He’ll shadow McNeeley all day.
With McNeeley at full health, this will be a coin flip of a game and an opportunity to keep building mojo against the top teams in the conference. Let’s do this.
