St. John's Scouting Report | The Boneyard

St. John's Scouting Report

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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.

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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.
 
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I haven’t watched them in any extended time but last night did see much of what you covered.

Honestly as usual Kadaray is a matchup nightmare for us. Stewie is inconsistent and would need to stay on his feet as well as moving them constantly. Ross did a much better job Saturday night we can only hope ts a start, his length would work but physically I’m a little nervous. If Liam is back no reason at all to get him matched up there.

Honestly, the Johnnies are the perfect team for a 2-3 or 2-1-2 they just don’t shoot it well. (Of course they will Friday now) They want to get to the rim, and pass up open looks a lot. Their guards are athletic and fast, Edjuifor is a load (gets away with murder too) and they’re a tough matchup athletically. It will be interesting to see what the staff does to prep the kids defensively. They will want to turn us over after watching Marquette and it better not happen just take care of the ball.

Should be a fun match up hope we get some calls we are home after all!!!!
 

FfldCntyFan

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1 - I believe they could have said it the year after we won our first title.

2 - While their fans may think they've accomplished something, they really haven't at this point. Their claiming to be the best team in the conference may be similar to someone claiming the Vikings were the best team in the NFL this past Halloween.
 
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1 - I believe they could have said it the year after we won our first title.

2 - While their fans may think they've accomplished something, they really haven't at this point. Their claiming to be the best team in the conference may be similar to someone claiming the Vikings were the best team in the NFL this past Halloween.
Really hope that we play our "A" game and win going away to show that the Big East still runs through Storrs, CT.
 

Dutch Boyd

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If those two teams play the way they did last night in March, they’re getting bounced early. St John’s definitely is a problem on the offensive glass, but mostly because their shots are so badly missed. Boxing out and not losing their man is key along with not fouling. Easier said than done, but I like our chances Friday.
 
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One of your best breakdowns of the year @Hey Adrien!
I get really excited talking about meaningful uconn st johns matchups in February. NYC is the big east.
I love creighton and marquette and what they bring but Omaha ain't big east.
Thank you, sir! I'm pumped to be at the Garden later this month!
 
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If Deivon Smith or Simeon Wilcher is on the bench, either Hassan Diarra or Solo Ball have to guard Kadary Richmond. That's not great.

This is the game to bust out the McNeeley, Ball, Stewart/Ross, Karaban, Center lineups we were fantasizing about in preseason. The only question is if there's enough playmaking with that lineup considering how good St. John's is on defense.
 
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If Deivon Smith or Simeon Wilcher is on the bench, either Hassan Diarra or Solo Ball have to guard Kadary Richmond. That's not great.
In that case, I'd do:

McNeeley on Richmond
Diarra on Scott
Ball on Wilcher/Smith

Scott isn't much bigger than Richmond and his usage rate is much lower, so McNeeley guarding Richmond would have more positive impact than if he guarded Scott.
 
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In that case, I'd do:

McNeeley on Richmond
Diarra on Scott
Ball on Wilcher/Smith

Scott isn't much bigger than Richmond and his usage rate is much lower, so McNeeley guarding Richmond would have more positive impact than if he guarded Scott.
It would be hard to keep Scott of the boards and the crossmatches in transition would be brutal, but it's brutal either way so might be the way to go.
 
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Keep the turnovers down and limit them on the O glass, and I like our chances. One element to consider is we are coming off a Marquette team that also thrives off turnovers, so a nice warm up and eye opener into this one. Gampel may be at an all time energy on a Friday night 2 dollar michs. Hard to see us losing this one unless the StJ D and physicality stun them.
 
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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.
They had a very good team in 1999. Second that year slightly better than Miami IMO. they played Duke close, a OT loss, and 4 point loss to Uconn ( played poorly in the BET finals though) and lost a close elite 8 game to Ohio St.

That st johns team was a point of contention as my English teacher (may he RIP) was a st johns alum and huge fan which obviously didn't mix with a class of rabid uconn fans and one cuse fan (whose father was an alum).
 
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HuskyWarrior611

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If Deivon Smith or Simeon Wilcher is on the bench, either Hassan Diarra or Solo Ball have to guard Kadary Richmond. That's not great.

This is the game to bust out the McNeeley, Ball, Stewart/Ross, Karaban, Center lineups we were fantasizing about in preseason. The only question is if there's enough playmaking with that lineup considering how good St. John's is on defense.
Sheryl Lee Ralph No GIF by ABC Network
 
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Keep the turnovers down and limit them on the O glass, and I like our chances. One element to consider is we are coming off a Marquette team that also thrives off turnovers, so a nice warm up and eye opener into this one. Gampel may be at an all time energy on a Friday night 2 dollar michs. Hard to see us losing this one unless the StJ D and physicality stun them.
Another thing the Gampel crowd needs to do is really get on the officials for bad calls or any 50/50 calls so that it reduces the number of times Hurley has to do it. Hurley can look like the good cop and us folks in the Gampel crowd can be the bad cops.

This might sound ridiculous to some, but trust me, a crowd can have material impact on the game and the officiating.
 
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We’ve lost a game to St John’s in the last few years by going over every screen and letting them live at the rim. We’ve also lost 2 games in the last two years because Kadary Richmond ate us alive

I really like Zuby Ejiofor. Too strong for Samson and too quick for Tarris. He’s finally found a groove after a bit of an inconsistent start. Our bigs will need to be on their A game, and our guards/wings will need to help on the boards

I think the winner of this game will be the team that’s tougher. For St John’s, this would mean their in-your-face defense frustrates our offense and their offensive rebounding overwhelms us. For UConn, this would mean we fight through their defense to get good looks and we own the paint

This should be a fun one. UConn/St John’s is going to be must-see TV every time for as long as Hurley and Pitino are around
 
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We’ve lost a game to St John’s in the last few years by going over every screen and letting them live at the rim. We’ve also lost 2 games in the last two years because Kadary Richmond ate us alive

I really like Zuby Ejiofor. Too strong for Samson and too quick for Tarris. He’s finally found a groove after a bit of an inconsistent start. Our bigs will need to be on their A game, and our guards/wings will need to help on the boards

I think the winner of this game will be the team that’s tougher. For St John’s, this would mean their in-your-face defense frustrates our offense and their offensive rebounding overwhelms us. For UConn, this would mean we fight through their defense to get good looks and we own the paint

This should be a fun one. UConn/St John’s is going to be must-see TV every time for as long as Hurley and Pitino are around

Disagree on Tarris but agree on most everything else. Tarris has quick feet when he’s set to defend and in position he can guard Ejiofor I believe. I think Samson Johnson can as well but he won’t be able to stop him from getting to the offensive boards.

As I said this will be interesting to see what’s up the staffs sleeves. On paper we won’t be guarding them real well so gimmicks or zone may need to be in play.
 
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I was bored this afternoon, so decided to see if there was a Red Storm fan forum. Wow, the thread about their upcoming game against the Huskies was hilariously fun to read. Basically it's everything we BY'ers would've guessed - they HATE Hurley, they hated Calhoun, the Basketball Capital of the World is not in Storrs (although I would say it should be modified to the College BCOTW), and most hilarious to me - "UConn is a non-entity in NYC now." LOL. Ok. Let's see how much of a non-entity UConn is when we meet them at Storrs South in a few weeks...but until then, I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's game at Gampel.
 
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I was bored this afternoon, so decided to see if there was a Red Storm fan forum. Wow, the thread about their upcoming game against the Huskies was hilariously fun to read. Basically it's everything we BY'ers would've guessed - they HATE Hurley, they hated Calhoun, the Basketball Capital of the World is not in Storrs (although I would say it should be modified to the College BCOTW), and most hilarious to me - "UConn is a non-entity in NYC now." LOL. Ok. Let's see how much of a non-entity UConn is when we meet them at Storrs South in a few weeks...but until then, I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's game at Gampel.
Oh, it's on. This one has serious juice. There are no fanbases that hate us more than PC & StJ. We're own plenty of rent free space in their heads, and their daddy's.
 
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I feel the game will be determined early on.
If St John’s defense smothers us and we get on our heels we are screwed. If we punch back and get nasty it will be a grind decided in the last 2 minutes
 
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Oh, it's on. This one has serious juice. There are no fanbases that hate us more than PC & StJ. We're own plenty of rent free space in their heads, and their daddy's.
I hope the crowd at Gampel roots their team the h*ll outta Storrs
 
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Two big's may be worth trying. St J can't shoot they say, so, they drive in the paint. One big intimidates and causes the shot to miss (without fouling - looking at you Samson Johnson) and the other big cleans the glass (looking at you TR). BTW, I said "try". Millage may vary.
 

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