BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S @ SYRACUSE

January 2, 2008


Youth will be served tonight at the Carrier Dome as two young teams collide under the bright lights for the Big East opener for both Syracuse and St. John's. The Redstorm will come into the game seven freshmen and one sophomore making up their 11-man rotation. The Orange, still trying to find their footing after the devastating loss of Eric Devendorf on December 15th for the season, will counter with a 7-man rotation made up of four freshmen, two sophomores and a JUCO transfer in his first Big East contest.

Here are some preview stories found around the web this morning:


Young SU Team Has Been Winning With It's Offense (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)
Ready or Not, It's Time for Big East (Syracuse Post-Standard)
Norm Roberts, St. John's Gear Up for Tough Bout at Syracuse (NY Daily News)
Orange Punch Might Be Tough to Swallow (NY Post)

St. John's has won just once outside of New York City in four tries during the pre-conference schedule and face a tough test going up to the Dome to face a tough crowd and a tough team. The Redstorm will put forth a good effort defensively and look to keep the game at a snails pace because of their offensive struggles. They will have three players with experience in Anthony Mason, Eugene Lawrence and Larry Wright that will most likely determine how successful SJU is tonight.

Facing the Syracuse zone can be a tall order for even the most experienced clubs. As the point guard, Eugene Lawrence will be in control of the ball and must penetrate the gaps of the zone to force the defense to converge to the ball. From there, he must find the 'storm's best perimeter shooter, Larry Wright, in position to fire away from the 3-pt line. Wright has made a team-high 21 three's in the first 11 games and shoots the 3-ball at a 39% clip.

The next method of attack for Lawrence with his penetration is to hit Anthony Mason on the baseline or slashing to the hoop. Mason must avoid sitting at the 3-pt line and launching three's. He can make the deep ball (35%-type of 3-pt shooter), but he needs to score in a variety of ways for SJU to match the SU offense.

Lastly, Lawrence must also choose his spots offensively. Lawrence has shown the ability to draw fouls and get to the line and that will be important against a very thin Syracuse line-up.

Playing against a zone team, offensive rebounding opportunities will also arise. Justin Burrell, DJ Kennedy and Mason all will have excellent opportunities at second chance points. They must convert these opportunities to keep pace with SU, who will look to run when the shot is taken, sometimes even before they corral the rebound.

While St. John's can defend, but can't score, Syracuse is 100% the polar opposite. The Orange can score, and score a lot, but they have not shown any consisteny ability to prevent an opponent from scoring, no matter who it is. Syracuse has already lost two games on their home floor against UMass (107-100) and Rhode Island (91-89) while giving up 99 points a game in those contests.

Dante Greene leads SU with 18.7 PPG and the 6'9 forward can score in a variety aways and is one of th ebest baseline threats in the nation. He is also always looking to run the floor for easy baskets. Classmate Jonny Flynn averages nearly 15 PPG and is more than able at finding Greene and others in transition as evidenced by his 5.8 assist/game average.

The frontcourt is anchored by a pair of proto-typical Big East players, Paul Harris and Arinze Onuaku. Harris, although just 6'4, averages a double-double with 13 PPG and 10 rebounds. Harris should excel in this type of game, but the Syracuse zone sometimes takess away some of his best attributes on the defensive side of the ball. Onuaku is a bull in the middle that does not try to venture too far away from the basket or the paint. Onuaku makes the most of his opportunities, shooting 68% from the floor and averaged 14 PPG and 7.5 rebounds a contest.

Three other newcomers, Rick Jackson, Scoop Jardine and Kristof Ongenaet round out the rotation and Sean Williams, another freshman, also could see time. Jardine is coming off an impressive career high 18-pt perfromance in a win over Northeastern. The added confidence should be a big boost to the youngster as he hopes to fill some of the void left by Devendorf's injury.

So, tonight, which style wins out? The all-offense no defense? Or the defensive team that can't shoot? Well, normally we would think that defense wins in the conference match-ups, but both teams are so young and the environment that is new to both squads should favor the home team greatly.

Syracuse is listed as a 12-pt favorite for tonight's contest, they will win, but I think it will be a little closer than expected.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Syracuse 74 St. John's 64