St. John's Scouting Report

[RuffRuff]

Silas in the spotlight at MSG. Major key player for us tonight and he's been on a roll. Let's go Huskies!!!!!

Silas - Jackson/Darling (winner UConn)
Solo - Sellers (winner good Solo)
Mullins - Mitchell (winner Mullins)
AK - Hopkins (winner AK)
Reed - Zubi (tie)

The margins are small other than Silas, so we should win on paper.

 

[storrsroars]

ESPN predicting a SJU win.

 

[gsmooth]

It's a very tough one to predict - the coaches know each other. Pitino has had the last laugh, and it smart. It's an awkward matchup with Mitchell. Key players are going to be Reed & Demary. Both teams have a number of unique parts, so this one will be somewhat of strategy match. It's really an intriguing game. StJ doesn't have any "prove it" games left outside of UConn to make up for their flat OOC, so it's important. A win would revitalize a fan base that lost some energy with this team.


I doubt Mitchell is going to shoot from the outside - he can't shoot. We could give him that all day.

I can see Malachi getting some run in this one, especially if they put Mitchell on Demary. And especially if they pressure the ball full court. NYC kid he is. Of all the great OOC games, this one still has the most juice.

Mitchell will not shoot a 3. Whoever is guarding Mitchell can stand in the paint and clog it and make entry passes to Zuby difficult. The only thing is if Mitchell does DHOs he can screen whoever is guarding Jackson or Sellers. Sellers cannot be allowed to have clean looks at the basket-he is a dead eye shooter.



If St. John's puts Mitchell on Demary, the same way English put Jamier Jones on Demary in the 2nd game at Gampel, that means Mullins and Ball will have Oziyah Sellers and Ian Jackson on them and neither of those two are strong defenders, certainly not like Mitchell. Remember, St. John's switches 1-5 so if Zuby switches off to guard a perimeter player, which he is very capable of doing, whoever has the ball has to get it to Tarris in the post for the mismatch. If Zuby pressures the would be passer to make it difficult to make the entry pass just pass the ball on the perimeter reversing it to the other side and that player can pass to Tarris in the post as he will most likley have Sellers, Jackson, Hopkins, or Mitchell sealed.

 

[RuffRuff]

When looking at the box scores of last year's games, Tarris and Zuby equalized each other. However, Tarris does have a big strength advantage against Ejiofor, but Zuby has not stop endurance. Tarris has to avoid foul trouble, basically the way Kalkbrenner did and Clingan did in the later part of the 2024 season after Spencer ripped into him. Tarris has to realize he shouldn't reach in at all on the hard hedges and has to remember to stay vertical with arms and hands straight up. If Zuby scores a bucket or two in a row that's okay.

Based on 40 minutes Tarris absolutely outplayed Zubi. If you watched the game, you could see he was bigger/stronger. This is a tough matchup for Zubi.

Game 1
Zubi - 11pts, 5 rebounds in 37 minutes
Tarris - 15pts, 12rebounds in 33 minutes

Game 2
Zubi - 18 pts, 9 rebounds in 34 minutes
Tarris - 15, 6 in 20 minutes

Over 40 minutes
Tarris - 22.5pts, 13.5
Zubi - 19, 9

 

[auror]

I think Pitino may have Mitchell cover Silas, but if he does, Solo and Mullins will have huge size mismatches.

Not really. Both of St John's guard are 6'5". They're a big team. Only true if Darling is in the game.

 

[Waquoit]

I think Pitino's game plan is obvious. I can't tell you what he'll do exactly but Job 1 will be to shut down Mullins.

 

[RuffRuff]

Keys to winning this game:

1. Stay out of foul trouble especially at the 1 & 5. We need to have our best players at these positions playing without worrying about foul trouble especially in the second half when the Johnny's tend to have their big run.

2. At least matching them on the glass, limiting 2nd chances.

3. Continue to make their layups or get fouled (refs calling them) doing so and knocking down 3s at a solid clip. Cannot afford to have a poor shooting night.

4. Play solid defense not letting them get in transition much, or in the half court, drive right to the paint all night long. They'll get there enough, but just can't be giving up too many easy baskets and piling up fouls as a result of defensive breakdowns.

If they do all four of those, we will definitely come out of there with the W. If they struggle with one or two of those, all bets are off. I think this is a game where whoever imposes their will on the other comes away with the W.

Need whoever Mitchell isn't guarding to take their man. Sellers & Jackson are not good defenders.

 

[QuickDraw]

We got this.