Updated St. John's Scouting Report

[Hey Adrien!]

One good thing about this gauntlet of a schedule is that it's easier to move ahead to the next game:

St. John’s: 13-10, 5-7 in Big East, #83 KenPom (was #90 when we last played them)

Schedule Analysis (9-4)

• Big East wins over Seton Hall, Georgetown (2x), Butler and DePaul
• 3-5 in last 8 games
• Last game: 69-75 home loss to Villanova. Posh Alexander did NOT play in that game (ankle)

Roster Report:

• Posh Alexander missed Nova game (ankle). He’s currently listed day-to-day. In his place against VIllanova, inside linebacker Dylan Addae-Wusu played point guard. I haven't heard any news yet, but my gut says he's playing
• Good size. In their last five games, about ½ of their lineups include three 6’8+ players, with Champagnie playing the 3.
• They rarely, if ever “go small”. 11% of their lineups have Aaron Wheeler (6’9 205) at the five, so expect Soriano/Nyiwe/Stanley at the 5 for a vast majority, if not, all of the game.
• In the last five games, their most frequent lineup is Posh-Mathis-Champagnie-Wheeler-Soriano (24.4% of rotations).
• With Pinzon out indefinitely (covid complications), Anderson now runs a pretty regular 10 man rotation:

Offense: 70th in KenPom efficiency (71st when we last played them)

• Champagnie and Posh have been steadfast #1 and #2 options on offense, but since conference play, Aaron Wheeler has really stepped up as the 3rd scoring option (13.9 ppg in Big East, 57.2 fg%, 44.4 3p%)
• 2nd fastest offensive tempo in nation w/ average offensive possession lasting 14.7 seconds. That ranking hasn’t changed since the last time we played them.
• Top-80 in both 2p% and 3p% when we last played them, but that ranking has dropped quite a bit (185th best 3p% and 135nd best 2p%). Only three players (Wheeler, Addae-Wusu, Coburn) average 30%+ from three.
• When we last played St. John’s they had the 19th highest A/FGM ratio. That’s improved to 14th nationally.
• They are not reliant on three-point shooting. 33.4% of FGAs are three-pointers, which is ranked 285th
• Their offensive rebounding rate has improved from 85th last time we played them to 47th.
• Good at preventing turnovers (59th lowest turnover ratio) despite their fast tempo.

Defense: 112nd in KenPom efficiency (109th last time we played them)

• Posh Alexander was last year’s Big East co-DPOY. 2.5 steals/game this year.
• Dylan Addae-Wusu is their physical help defender/trapper. Averages 1.5 steals/game.
• Montez Mathis plays a similar defensive style to Addae-Wusu. 1.3 steals/game and good combo of physicality and quickness.
• Joel Soriano is their best rim protector w/ 1.8 blocks/game. Nyiwe plays sparingly, but he averages about 2.8 blocks/40.
• In similar Mike Anderson fashion, their defense hangs its hat on causing turnovers. Their block and steal rate is both top-20 in the nation.
• Since the last time we’ve played St. John’s their interior D improved and perimeter D got worse
  • 32nd in opponent 2p% (45.6%) compared to 67th last time we played them
  • 314th in opponent 3p% (36.5%), compared to 245th last time we played them (34.7%).
• Awful defensive rebounding (332nd in nation) that has gotten even worse since we’ve played them (299th best rate last game).
• Teams are increasingly able to get to the line against them (33.5 FTA/FGA ratio, 261th best compared to 31.7 FTA/FGA, 221st lowest in nation when we played them last).
• Overall, their defense reminds me of video game mercuriality: very good at causing turnovers and preventing interior D but awful at perimeter D and defensive rebounding.

 

[Hi-Low]

St John's is a desperate team and we need to play like a desperate team to avoid becoming one.

 

[UCLJ0211]

They have an inside linebacker playing basketball?