Big East Report Team Blog: St. John's

RED STORM FALL IN FESTIVAL FINALE TO CORNELL

2009-12-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

The third time is the charm for Cornell as the Big Red finally upended a Big East squad in their three attempts already this season. After falling to Seton Hall (at home) and Syracuse (at the Carrier Dome), the two-time defending Ivy League champion got past St. John's in last night's Holiday Festival Final at Madison Square Garden.

Cornell Denies St. John's Hokiday Festival Title (NY Times) as the Big Red was led by Jon Jaques’s 20 points. Jeff Foote added 19 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

It was the fourth consecutive season the Red Storm failed to capture the title on the Madison Square Garden floor. Norm Roberts' squad led by as many ass 11 points early on, but a 13-2 run after halftime by Cornell flipped the game into their favor.

With Anthony Mason Jr. still sidelined with a hamstring injury and Justin Burrell out with an ankle injury, the Redstorm has seen their depth depleted as Quincy Roberts is out because of recurring headaches and likely taking a medical redshirt this season. Dwight Hardy put up a pair of strong outings in MSG over Sunday and Monday, finishing with a team-high 19 points in 19 minutes off the bench in the finals. DJ Kennedy added 15 in the loss.

The Redstorm dominated the boards, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds and winning the overall rebounding battle 39-23. However, poor shooting (hitting just 42% from the field) was the difference as Cornell shot at a 57% clip, including 11-18 from beyond the arc.

St. John's will host Bryant on Wednesday ahead of their conference opener against original Big East rival Georgetown on New Year's Eve at the Verizon Center in the nation's capitol.

ST. JOHN'S IMPROVES TO 7-1 WITH GARDEN PARTY VICTORY

2009-12-10T06:52:00.001-08:00

Has Winning Finally Become the 'Norm' (NY Post) for the Red Storm? With St. John's defeating Georgia 66-56 Wednesday night in the opening game of the SEC/Big East Invitational at Madison Square Garden, Norm Roberts' club improves to 7-1. What is more impressive is SJU has yet to have 5th year senior Anthony Mason Jr, a proven Big East player, available this season because of injury and last night played without starting power forward Justin Burrell who missed the game with a sprained ankle. Burrell suffered the injury in the opening minute of SJU's lone loss of the season, last Saturday at Duke.

The Storm is Starting to Believe (NY Post) in themselves and are relying on each other to win games. Even with the injuries and the importance of performing well ont he big stage, Norm Roberts sticks to his principles and started the game with DJ Kennedy, Paris Horne and Sean Evans on the bench as the normal starting trio were punished for being three minutes late to the team bus earlier in the day.

Kennedy continues to shine in his role, this time coming off the bench, to score 11 points, grad 7 rebounds and dish 5 assists. NYC Native and JUCO transfer Dwight Hardy led SJU with 12 points as the balanced Storm saw all 10 players that played Wednesday score at least three points.

St. John's will wrap up their pre-conference late with home games against Fordham (Sunday), Hofstra (12/20) and Bryant (12/23) before diving into conference play on the road against Georgetown on New Year's Eve.

GRITTY RED STORM FALLS TO DUKE, FACE GEORGIA NEXT

2009-12-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

The Chance to play Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium was definitely a measuring stick opportunity for the St. John's basketball team on Saturday. Entering the game 6-0 and receiving some votes in the latest top 25 polls, the Red Storm was eager to see how they stacked up against an elite team in the country. Duke Snaps St. John's Winning Streak in 80-71 Win (NY Daily News) as they ride a big early lead to victory.

Duke took a 40-24 lead at the half and SJU, already without 5th year senior Anthony Mason Jr, lost junior Justin Burrell to a sprained ankle in the game's opening minutes as Duke Was Too Much for Gritty St. John's (NY Post) who accounted well for themselves despite the cirumstances.

DJ Kennedy led SJU with 18 points and Sean Evans scored 17.

A 17-0 first half Duke run took control of the contest, but SJU closed the gap to 58-52 in the second half. Duke, which held a solid rebounding edge, ran off 10 more consecutive points to push the lead back to 16. St. John's would push back, but never get within six again.

The Redstorm are back in action on Wednesday night playing the first game of the SEC/Big East Invitational at Madison Square Garden against Georgia.

ST. JOHN'S 79, BROWN 76: THE NOTEBOOK

2009-11-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

by BILL SAN ANTONIO

Though St. John's led by as many as 15 points in the closing minutes of the first half, Brown eventually cut the deficit to one late by shooting 70 percent from the field in the second half.

D.J. Kennedy’s dunk with 56 seconds remaining and a pair of free throws by Malik Boothe shortly thereafter sealed the win for St. John’s.

“We won the game; that’s the bottom line,” Head Coach Norm Roberts said.

Dwight Hardy led the way for the Red Storm, scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting, including 4-6 from three-point range. Hardy hit two key free throws on back-to-back possessions early in the first half to put the Red Storm up 13-9. His four three-point field goals were the only successful attempts in the first half for the Red Storm, as St. John’s shot 4-10 in the half from beyond the arc.

Due to early foul trouble to Justin Burrell and Sean Evans, Roberts went to his second unit of Dele Coker and Justin Brownlee in the frontcourt, who played a combined 24 minutes. They each recorded a block, and Brownlee finished with nine points and three rebounds.

Friday’s game was dominated by tight officiating, as 35 total fouls were called. The two teams shot a combined 43 free throws, and 11 players recorded at least two fouls. With each blown whistle, the referees were greeted to an even louder ovation of boos from the 3,220 fans at Carnesecca Arena. Boothe and Kennedy were both perfect from the line.

During the timeout with 11:58 remaining in the second half, the St. John’s men’s soccer team was recognized at halfcourt for its Big East Tournament win last Sunday over Notre Dame. The Red Storm takes the field Sunday at 6 p.m. against Boston College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The team reached the College Cup round last year, where it was defeated by Maryland.

Bill San Antonio is the sports editor for the The Torch, The Award-Winning Student Newspaper of St. John's University

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2009-04-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2009

COMMITMENT ALERT: Justin Brownlee, 6-foot-7 forward from Chipola (FL) Junior College

St. John's has finished off their recruiting class of 2009 with the addition of JUCO forward Justin Brownlee of Chipola JC. Brownlee Rounds out St. John's 2009-10 Recruiting Class (RedStormsports) as he signed a LOI this week with Norm Roberts' program.

Projected 2009-2010 Roster:

Seniors: Anthony Mason, Jr. (SF)
Juniors: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G), Sean Evans (F), Dwight Hardy (G), Justin Brownlee (F)
Sophomores: Quincy Roberts (G)
Freshmen: Malik Stith (PG), Omari Lawrence (SG)

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St. John's added a quality spring time addition with Justin Brownlee signing a letter of intent with the Redstorn. Brownlee played this past season at JUCO powerhouse Chipola (FL) on a strong squad that has also sent Malcolm Armstead to Oregon, Casey Mitchell to West Virginia, Gary Flowers to the NBA draft, among others.

Brownlee averaged just over 10 points a game and nearly 6 rebounds for the 34-2 Indians this past season. Chipola finished third in the NJCAA Division I national tournament. Brownlee scored 20 points in their third-place game.

Brownlee is a native of Tifton (GA) and played high school ball at Covenant Christian. Many remember his 2007 run on the AAU circuit with the Smyrna Stars that put his name in the mix for some natonal top 100 recruiting lists. After starting his JUCO career as San Francisco City College, Brownlee spent this past season at Chipola playing for coach Gary Heiar.

Brownlee is the second JUCO addition in the 2009 recruiting class, joining former John F. Kennedy guard Dwight Hardy. hardy comes back east to finish his college eligibility as he has been playing for JUCO power Indian Hills CC in Iowa for coach Jeff Kidder the last two seasons.

“Dwight Hardy is a great teammate, a great student," coach Kidder told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.net. "He will have a terrific two years at St. John’s after he’s done here.”

At JFK in the Bronx, Hardy was a scorer extraorinaire, averaging nearly 40 points a game as a senior. St. John's helped him find his way to Kidder's program and have stayed in touch every since. The Redstorm have had trouble scoring, so a big-time scorer like Hardy is worth adding, even if it really jams up the projected junior class of the projected 2009-2010 roster.

Of the 13 scholarship players on the projected 2009-2010 season, nine of them will be juniors in terms of eligibility. It is just about an unheard of situation, which also leaves SJU with a single scholarship available for the 2010 class.

Norm Roberts Looks to Take Back NYC on the recruiting trail and he has needed a recruiting victory to keep the local talent home and increase SJU's perception in the Big Apple. So, the news from last summer of Omari Lawrence's commitment should not be taken lightly as it could be a sign of things to come. With an upgrade in local connections for his coaching staff, the embattled SJU coach hopes this is just the beginning.

With Omari Lawrence, SJU is getitng a very athletic guard that can defend and attack the basket. Lawrence is improving on his guard skill set, meaning his ball handling, decision making and shooting, so his upside potential is quite impressive. However, the biggest impact he might have is being the 'first' to commit and could lead to others.

Joining Lawrence, Hardy and Brownlee in the 2009-2010 incoming class is Malik Stith, a native of Long Island, who committed to St. John's early last spring after completing his senior season at East Mecklenberg High School in North Carolina. Stith prepped one season at Bridgton Academy, the same institution that has sent current SJU players Paris Horne and Justin Burrell to the Redstorm program.

Stith had a big season at East Mecklenberg and his play this spring for the United Celtics impressed the St. John's staff enough to earn a scholarship offer. Others involved with Stith at the time of his commitment were Wichita State, Winthrop and George Mason, but more would have been involved if they knew his academic situation and that he would moving to the class of 2009.

Stith, the Southwestern 4A player of the year, made the boys all-state first team in North Carolina as he led East Mecklenberg to the class 4-A North Carolina High School basketball championship by scoring 20 points in the final game, a 72-63 win over Apex. He also added 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the game and his ability to handle the ball was the key component to running out the clock. Stith is a very good ball handler who is exceptionally quick with the ball. He will be a perfect compliment to Malik Boothe and give SJU another top-notch ball handler.

However, murmurs grew louder and louder that Stith might not be joining the Redstorm program for 2009-2010 and as the early signing period passed, Stith did not sign and it looked like both parties had moved on.

However, in April, Stith took a visit to St. John's and then narrowed his choices to LaSalle and the Redstorm. With guard Ty Edmondson transferring from the SJU program and center Phil Wait also leaving, SJU had a couple scholarships open and Stith accepted their offer.

Stith scored 18 points and earned MVP honors as Bridgton beat South Kent and future teammate Omari Lawrence 89-85 to win the NEPSAC Class A Championship this past March.

With the commitment accepted from Brownlee, the biggest name attached to St. John's recruiting efforts, Lance Stephenson, is now officially out of the picture for the Redstorm. Several times it looked as 'Born Ready' was on the verge of commiting to SJU, but the pledge never game and reports that he was no longer considering staying close to home have been confirmed.

The hirings last spring of Kimani Young and Oswald Cross do give the Redstorm a much more positive image and influence in NYC circles and the impact was felt in 2009, with the commitment of Lawrence, and could pay off more in the future as 2010 prospects such as Jayvaughn Pinkston, Ashton Pankey and Devon Collier all played under Young on the AAU circuit this past year and SJU has made an early pitch for players such as Doron Lamb and others with NYC ties. Young recently left the SJU program to help his family deal with the sudden and tragic passing of his wife. Even in the brief year he worked at SJU, the positive effect it had on the NYC area in it's perception of Roberts' program was helped trmendously. Young is now back with the New Heights AAU program, but the door has at least been opened with SJU once again.

Of course, as luck would have it, the scholarship situation for 2010 is very unclear for SJU with possibly, on paper, just one available unless players leave the program. Players leaving the program has been a regular occurrence and with the large number of projected juniors on the roster for the 2009-2010 squad, something very well could happen to open up a couple spots for the class of 2010. This past sprng saw Ty Edmondson and Phil Wait leave the program.

We will see if this indeed is the spawning of a new Redstorm.

Lance Stephenson: The Saga Continues

2009-04-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

April 29, 2009

by Zach Smart

The Lance Stephenson sweepstakes continues.

Who really knows when the wowing wunderkind will arrive at a decision?

The saga continues...

Rumored to be headed to first Kansas and then St. John's, both schools seem to be out of the picture for the kid they call "Born Ready."

New York's top-rated player, who's been hyped up to bliss-bound since he was a freshman at Lincoln High School, is rumored to be receiving interest from Memphis and Kansas. It was reported first on http://www.zagsblog.com/

According to a source with inside information, Stephenson is nowhere near a decision.

The late signing period concludes May 20, but Stephenson could end up making his decision after that date.

Stephenson has grazed the cover of sports magazines, had his own reality show on the web (http://www.bornready.tv/), and emerged as an instant lynchpin in the New York City streetball circuit.

That's a helluva lot of attention for a kid who is yet to attend his prom. New York has a history of kick-starting the hype machine early on promising point guards, and you can look up Stephon Marbury or Sebastian Telfair for more on that one.

Read the Rest of Zach's Article HERE!!

ONE on ONE WITH OMARI LAWRENCE

2009-04-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

by Pat Stevens

Pat Stevens (PS): -Feeling when committed…

Omari Lawrence (OL): It was great. Me and my family and the coaches had met and we decided that’s the place for me. We had the press conference later near a gym I grew up playing at and a bunch of the media came.

PS -If not St. Johns…

OL: I can’t even answer that really. But my final schools were Louisville, Memphis, Marquette, UConn, Pitt and Xavier.

PS -Positives from the prep school experience…

OL: I got to play against 7-footers every night, got more serious with school work , had to be real independent doing things on my own, and our strength coach helped me develop my body. He helped me tone down after coming in a little overweight and it really gets you ready for college and especially the Big East where it’s physical.

PS -Any previous prep school players you spoke with…

OL: I knew Tyrone Nash (Notre Dame/Northfield Mount Hermon, MA) and Darius Gabriel (Winchendon, MA).

PS -Best game of the year…

OL: My most consistent was against Notre Dame Prep, we lost in OT. It was so up and down. There were a lot of lead changes, it was a really physical game, we were attacking the basket and getting easy baskets. I was guarding Sean Kilpatrick (Cincinnati) and we were scoring on each other and getting stops. It was a back and forth, high energy game. It was a fun game to play in.

PS -On the National Prep Tournament first round loss to eventual champion Tilton (N.H.)…

OL: It was a tough one for us. We played them earlier and beat them by like 30. We came into the game thinking we were going to win against an easy team and they made the game tough for us.

PS -On the runner-up finish in the New England Class A Playoffs…

OL: Every night we played against a tough team. There were no breaks, every time we had to bring it. In the championship against Bridgton we were up 20 with eight minutes to go. You could say we fell asleep. It was really rough for us to be up by so much and lose like that. We came out knocking down every shot and were real confident. I think we got tired as a team, our confidence died down and they started coming back. It was very hard for us. We didn’t know what to do they were scoring so fast.

PS -On February’s National Prep School Invitational…

OL: Previously that week we were hearing we were going to lose to Tilton by ex amount of points because they were undefeated and that Northfield Mount Hermon had a great shooter who was going to light us up. We wanted to show people we were No. 1 and we played well both those games and picked up the wins. We had won 16 straight around that time.

PS -On November’s National Tip Off…

OL: Everybody was trying to find themselves. We weren’t in sync. We couldn’t score against Patterson and they had already played like 12 games. It was hard but we bounced back and put together a good season.

PS -Regrets from career…

OL: I think if we had stayed home and played for St. Raymond (NY), me and Kevin (Parrom) would’ve run through the CHSAA. But it would have been less competitive for us. The league wasn’t that strong this year. A lot of players moved on to college. So I’d say we bettered ourselves by coming to South Kent. The mindset and whole structure of it helped us. But regrets, I would have loved to have won the city championship our sophomore and junior year.

BORN READY TO DECIDE

2009-04-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

April 12, 2009

by Zach Smart

"The s--- is bogus, the boy did not go for the bucks!"-"Big Time," He Got Game

The curious case of Lance Stephenson, New York City's top-ranked player (and one of the most highly sought after items on the nation's recruiting marketplace) has taken a few twists and turns lately.

None of this was expected. The manchild, known in these parts as 'Born Ready,' with springy bounce and a penchant for wowing, electrifying and violent dunks was rumored to be Kansas-bound.

Stephenson, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior at Lincoln High (Brooklyn, N.Y.) held back on his announcement, which was expected to take place at the McDonald's All-American game in Miami.

A number of inside sources close to both the Stephenson family and Kansas indicated that 'Born Ready' was headed to Jayhawk territory.

Word that Stephenson may commit to St. John's, however, has spread like wildfire in the last several days.

"It's a done deal," claims one source who is close to the St. John's coaching staff.

The source has a son who is already considering St. John's--amongst others--to prolong his basketball career. He maintains close ties with the Johnnies' staff.

At the Hoop Group Elite 100 camp at the Queens, N.Y. campus last week, the source spoke out about Stephenson's future and the controversy suddenly surrounding it.

"The number one prospect out of New York City is going to St. John's. Malik Boothe knows he's coming. Omari Lawrence knows he's coming. I think we all know who this player is, and he knows where he's going and it's St. John's.”

Stephenson took an official visit to the campus in Jamaica, Queens this weekend, as it was reported HERE on zagsblog.com.

Reporters from SNY both debunked the rumor that Lance is committing to St. John's soon. They contacted parties and both sides and each denied the rumor.

Stephenson Sr. told SNY's Brooklyn Sal that the claim was false and that his son is simply "weighing his options."

The Kansas situation may have taken an abrupt turn.

The Jayhawks, Stephenson's supposed first choice, are anticipated to offer 6-foot-6 Oklahama City standout Xavier Henry a scholarship.

Like Stephenson, Henry is a five-star recruit at guard. Henry de-committed from Memphis after John Calipari accepted the long green to revive a once-prosperous program at Kentucky.

Stephenson made history this season, etching his name in NYC Hoops royalty. He led the vaunted Railsplitters to an unprecedented four straight PSAL titles.

Stephenson established himself as the city's all-time leading scorer.

Since garnering some national exposure in a duel against O.J. Mayo in 2005, Stephenson has left a lasting legacy as a top-profile high school phenom.

PREP GUARD TO VISIT ST. JOHN'S

2009-04-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

April 7, 2009

--excerpt from Pat Stevens NBE Prep Corner at the NBE Basketball Report--

Malik Stith was arguably the top player in the New England Prep School Athletic Conference playoffs en route to leading Bridgton Academy of Maine to its fourth prep school championship in the past five years.

Stith came to Bridgton as a St. John’s commit by way of North Carolina, where he won a state championship with East Mecklenburg HS, and also with ties to Hempstead, N.Y.

Back at February’s National Prep School Invitational, the 5-foot-11 lead guard gave a list of Rhode Island, St. John's, Rutgers, South Florida, George Washington and Kentucky.

The Red Storm were a surprise on that list then, considering Stith and St. John’s parted ways before the fall signing period. Stith planned to ride out the prep season and see what interest came his way.

And now, Stith is set to visit St. John’s the weekend of April 18 according to Bridgton head coach Whit Lesure. He’s also said to be considering South Carolina and La Salle.

Head coach Norm Roberts has been the point man in his recruitment and the two have reportedly cleared the air and taken a mature and balanced approach to a situation that tends to go ugly with players and schools breaking commitments.

---to read Pat Steven's full article, please click HERE!---

Will Stith be the type of addition that helps the NCAA Betting Odds of Norm Roberts getting the job done with the Redstorm? Or, will it be more of the same? Time will tell

JOHNNIES THROTTLED ON HOME FLOOR

2009-03-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

March 12, 2009

by Zach Smart

Norm Roberts may have slept well Tueday night. His dreams of defining the moment, a message he sent to his team loud and clear before they posted a first-round upset of rival Georgetown yesterday, may have very well been intact last night.

Any further thoughts of the Johnnies revamping their image and bringing basketball back to New York, however, were thwarted just moments into the 74-45 battering they suffered to an undermanned Marquette team.

This was a nightmare for Norm. The Johnnies were beaten, battered, bruised, bludgeoned, and humorously humiliated before a Garden crowd that included SJU legends Chris Mullin and Louie Carnesecca.
The Johnnies apparently never overcame the hangover of upsetting Georgetown in the opening round of this year's new, all-inclusive tournament format.

They came out of the gates as flat as a board, building a Great Wall of China with an overabundance of bricks. They failed to defend the castle on the other side of the floor, as the defensively inept doormats served up 38 Golden Eagle points while scoring an abysmal 10 first half points.

10.

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It established a new tournament low. There was a lid on the basket throughout the first half, and the Johnnies looked like they couldn't shoot a ball into the river if they were standing on the George Washington Bridge.

An exasperated Roberts and a shocked Mullin watched as they shot the ball at an atrocious 3-for-22 clip, committing 10 first-half turnovers as well.

Balance in the scorebook helped Marquette paint the Madison Square Garden floor in slippery, sputtering gold-and-blue. The Golden Eagles smothered the Johnnies' hopes of fighting another day behind Wesley Matthews, who scored 20 points to lead all scorers.

Lazar Hayward chipped in with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Jimmy Butler and Jerel McNeal each added 11.

SJU, which showed no offensive flow throughout the game, fell behind 31-8--Marquette had nearly four times as many points--after back-to-back Hayward buckets with 2:14 remaining in the first.

Marquette continued to jack the score up in the second half, running off a 14-4 spurt which gave them a 50-21 bulge on a McNeal layup with 12:42 remaining.

Dominic James, Marquette's star senior guard who went down with a season-ending broken foot injury during the loss to UConn, sported smiles for the first time in a while.

James, who's been relegated to the role of cheerleader (or de facto assistant coach), watched as the Johnnies had no answer for Matthews and struggled to put the ball in the hoop.

The Johnnie shot a below freezing 18-for-46 from the floor. They were 2-for-10 from beyond the confines of the arc and 7-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Just when you thought the Johnnies were on the verge of no longer languishing around the .500 mark or pull off a pulsating victory, the Johnnies' unleash a stinker that even Erick Barkley and Omar Cook would turn their nose at.

This is life in the nation's toughest conference. One day there is a glimmer of hope that pumps life into a dwindling fanbase, the next day you slip right back under the albatross of inspection.

Losing respectably is one thing. Selling the farm, allowing visitors from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to dance all over your face on your newly-minted gold and blue colored court, is another.

ROBERTS, JOHNNIES LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY

2009-03-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

By Zach Smart

NEW YORK--I'm a block from the Mecca of basketball in the big city of dreams, anticipating the biggest game St. John's has played since 2003.

There's a laundry-list of ticket pushers I can score a ticket from. I have one connect (don't get it twisted, he's legit--I go to him for cheap-as-dirt Knickerbockers tickets and he's even hooking me up for the Ludacris concert in Connecticut in May) who's got me covered, I'm going to report to him in about 15 minutes.

So, it looks like Norm Roberts was eating good last night. After all the hearsay and talk of him needing to be supplanted ASAP--albeit his job security has been intact all this time--Roberts muted his detractors, as the Johnnies stamped a 64-59 victory over Georgetown in the opening round of the 2009 Big East Tournament.

Paris Horne, the Delaware-bred guard who slipped under the recruiting radar and is coming into his own in his sophomore season, led the Johnnies with a game-high 23 points.

Theo Rabinowitz, a longtime St. John's/Big East analyst and New York City basketball junkie from Long Island, put the resume win in perspective.

"Georgetown has struggled this year, and I don't think it was like beating the Hoya team of 2007, but obviously it's huge for the players' confidence and just getting the first post-season win during the Norm Roberts era under their belt is huge," said Rabinowitz, who attended White Plains high school (Westchester County, NY) during the Sean Kilpatrick-Devon Austin-Quentin Martin-David Boykin era.

"I think it's a good win for the program though and to beat a traditional rival like Georgetown makes it even more important."

The loyal SJU fan base--which been with the program through thick and thin-- had no complaints yesterday.

Nobody was in the stands calling for Norm's job and the 13th-seeded Johnnies reeled off a 14-7 surge (which featured a personal 6-0 run from Horne) to close out their most pivotal win of the season and recent memory.

Sean Evans, a 6-foot-8 forward who's beginning to flower, copped a double-double. The sophomore from Philadelphia scored 12 points and tore down a game-high 13 boards.

DJ Kennedy, who's been a major catalyst following the season-ending injury to Anthony Mason Jr., paced the Johnnies with 14 points.

Kennedy, the high school teammate of Big East co-MVP DuJuan Blair, got into a scary collision with referee Mike Kitts in the second half. Kennedy ran into Kitts during the culmination of a St. John's fast break, and both player and referee went sprawling to the ground.

Kennedy ended up alright, while Kitts suffered a face contusion.

For SJU, It's never too late to turn the tide.

Prior to the season, there was much negativity surrounding the program and word around the campfire that Roberts was on a short leash. The situation festered when Mason Jr. suffered a season-ending injury. The Johnnies opened up the season with their best start since the 1994-95 campaign but tailed off, significantly, once Big East play came around.

Fans continued to voice their displeasure, appointing Roberts as the prime target of their boos.

Roberts, who said he's trying to scour the New York landscape for the best players no matter what, didn't buy into the rumors.

He helped the Johnnies pull off their second victory over their traditional blood rivals in just over a week. Now the Johnnies will be put to the test, facing a Marquette team that may be without Dominic James but still has plenty of firepower (see McNeal Jerel, Matthews, Wesley or Heyward, Lazar).

The new 16-team post-season format bodes well for the Johnnies. An upset over Marquette would vault them into a new, high-rent area code--one which they couldn't have envisioned at the start of the season.

BET GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S VS MARQUETTE

2009-03-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

March 11, 2009

St. John's is playing the role of the rude host of the 2009 Big East Tournament as they made Georgetown's stay short and not very sweet as they knocked the Hoyas off, 64-59, in the opening round on Tuesday.

It was the second time in a week that the Redstorm had beaten Georgetown in Madison Square Garden. On March 3rd, SJU won a 59-56 overtime decision. On Tuesday, Paris Horne scored a game-high 23 points and Sean Evans, just like the previous meeting, registered a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Next up for St. John's is Marquette, a team that beat the Johnnies 73-59 back on February 14th in Milwaukee. Jerel McNeal had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals in the previous meeting. The Golden Eagles also got 18 points from Lazar Hayward and 12 points, 6 assists and just one turnover from point guard Dominic James.

However, James is unavailable for Marquette after breaking a bone in his foot early on in a loss to UConn back on February 25th. Including the loss to the Huskies, the Golden Eagles have lost all four games without James and now must face a hungry 'Storm club on their home floor to open the conference tournament. Another loss and it could be devastating to their seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on today's game:

Golden Eagles Preview: Marquette vs. St. John's (Post-Crescent)
Character Held Seniors Together (Journal-Sentinel)
St. John's Gets into Main Draw vs. Marquette (Newsday)
Game Proves Redstorm Rivalry Still Alive (NY Post)
Golden Eagles Ready to Soar (Journal-Sentinel)

Two years ago, Marquette and St. John's met in Madison Square Garden in the opening round of the Big East Tournament in similar circumstances as the Golden Eagles had an injured Jerel McNeal on the sidelines. MU was able to hold off each SJU rally and win the game, 76-67. Tonight, they will try and do the same.

Both teams match-up pretty well with each other. Both teams will use small, pass-first points guards in Malik Boothe (SJU) and Maurice Acker, who is replacing Dominic James. Versatile, do-everything wings in DJ Kennedy (SJU) and Wesley Mathews (MU) and go-to scorers Paris Horne (SJU) and Jerel McNeal (MU) will also line-up together. In the paint, SJU has a little more muscle and size with Sean Evans and Justin Burrell, but Lazar Hayward adds some offense and savvy rebounding for the Golden Eagles, who will also use a combination of Dwight Burke and forward Jimmy Butler in the post.

The injury to James has virtually eliminated any depth for Buzz Williams' team. David Cubillan, who was a valuable reserve under Tom Crean, has struggled this season coming off of shoulder surgeries in the off-season. Rob Thomas is the most productive reserve for SJU, but yesterday they went to their bench seldom, with two starters playing 40 minutes and two others playing 38. Only foul trouble on Burrell, which limited him to 25 minutes, made the bench useful.

McNeal, Mathews and Hayward are likely the best three players in this game and they will have to lead the Golden Eagles to victory in this game. SJU will scrap and claw their way into this game, but in the end, star power will win out on Broadway and Marquette settles down the fears and grabs a win.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Marquette 70
St. John's 64

BET GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S VS GEORGETOWN

2009-03-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

March 10, 2009

For the second time in a week, Georgetown and St. John's meet at Madison Square Garden. The Hoyas will hope for a different result this time around after dropping a 59-56 overtime decision to the Redstorm after letting a double-difit second-half lead slip away. The game was a microgosm of the Hoya season that has gone so wrong the last two months.

St. John's is back in the Big East Tournament on their home floor at Madison Square Garden, although they will be in the road uniforms as the 13th-seed taking on No. 12 Georgetown.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on the game:

Norm Roberts, St. John's Back to Make Big East Tournament (NY Daily News)
St. John's Faces Georgetown in Big East Tournament (Newsday.com)
A Staggering Season (Washington Times)
Hoyas Hope for Big East Miracle (Washington Post)

In their loss a week ago to the Redstorm, Georgetown was outrebounded 54-31. It has been the theme all season as the Hoyas have been pummelled in the paint by Big East counterparts. What has made this so shocking was how the Big East season started, with Georgetown going into Connecticut and waxing the Huskies, 74-63. They played with passion, intensity and out-rebounded UConn solidly. After an offensive clinic in a win over Syracuse, the Hoyas were a top 10 team and nobody could foresee what was next...

Georgetown limps into the Big East Tournament after losing 10 of their last 14 games and seeing their 2009 NCAA Tournament hopes resort to Georgetown pulling off an improbably run of five wins in five nights against some of the toughest competition in America.

In their last 14 games, only one of the 10 losses came against teams in the top four of the Big East (Louisville) as they did not play either Pitt or UConn in that span. One of their wins was at Villanova, but they followed that win with a loss to St. John's. That is the Hoya season in the Big East.

St. John's will certainly enter the game this afternoon with some confidence, although they are still being shown little love by the oddsmakers who have listed the Hoyas as a solid 5 1/2-point favorite according to the early college basketball odds this morning.

In the win over GU on March 3rd, Paris Horne and Ron Thomas each had 16 points. The SJU defense kept the Hoyas in check all game, which is a common theme. Georgetown has not scored more than 58 points in a game in their last four outings.

With a traditional Big East rivalry and the 'home' team making their tourney experience, this game should have a little extra life to it. The Georgetown offensive struggles will make this one to watch as it is hard to see them putting much distance between themselves and the Redstorm, especially the way SJU will rebound and play with some life, something we are not sure Georgetown has much of left.

The talent on Georgetown should be enough to pull the game out, but it is likely to be a close game, again.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 63
St. John's 59

IRISH SEASON SPOILED, ST. JOHN'S LOOKS TO SPOIL SENIOR NIGHT, TOO

2009-03-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2009

St. John's at Notre Dame (-11 1/2) 7 PM.

(college basketball odds are provided by BetUS.com)

Here are some preview articles and links on the game:

Men's Basketball: Notre Dame (16-13, 7-10) vs. St. John's (15-15, 6-11) (Post-Tribune)
St. John's at Notre Dame (Chicago Tribune)
Notre Dame Hosts St. John's in Fightin Irish Home Finale (Chicago Tribune)
Irish Seniors Left With Regret, Happy Memories (Journal Gazette)
It is More than 'Just Another Game' (South Bend Tribune)

Notre Dame will be sending off seniors Ryan Ayers, Luke Zeller, Zach Hillesland and Kyle McAlarney tonight as the Fighting Irish look to avenge an earlier loss when they close up the regular season by hosting St. John's.

Despite the disappointment of Final Four expectations gone wrong, tonight is also a celebration of a group of players that helped the Irish to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances following their sophomore and junior seasons. With juniors Tory Jackson and the 2007-2008 Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody returning from last year's NCAA team, expectations were sky-high, however, a seven-game losing streak and struggles all year getting defensive stops have pushed the Irish into the mix for the NIT, not the NCAA Tournament. The Irish would have to win an unprecendented five straight Big East Tournament games next week to win the Big East Tournament and get the conference automatic bid to the Big Dance.

St. John's has hung around this season. Sure, another losing Big East campaign under Norm Roberts has long been clinched, but the 'storm were dealt a bad hand right off the bat when their top player Anthony Mason Jr. was lost for the year before they finished their third game of the season. The blow was severe to the young team, but they have shown some grit and toughness along the way and enter tonight's regular season finale at 6-11 in conference play.

But, tonight will be about Notre Dame. The energy and emotion of senior night and the frustrations of a season gone wrong should translate to a rousing effort and a comfortable win for a grand send-off of the seniors.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Notre Dame 83
St. John's 67

ST. JOHN'S RALLIES TO EDGE GEORGETON IN OT

2009-03-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

March 4, 2009

Even with their win over Villanova last weekend, an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament was a severe longshot for Georgetown. The Hoyas still might have had a chance with factors such as the #1 rated schedule in the country, road wins against UConn and 'Nova and a little momentum with expected wins over St. John's and DePaul heading into the 2009 Big East Tournament where anything could happen if the Hoyas picked off another win or two, which wouldn't have been that unheard of.

Instead, In the End, Hoyas Just Fade Away (Washington Post), blowing a 15-point second half lead as St. John's Rallies, Forces OT and Tops Georgetown (Newsday), 59-56, in front of nearly 10,000 fans at Madison Square Garden.

The Hoyas led 45-30 with 10:42 left in regulation before the Storm embarked on their comeback. Georgetown looked like they were going to run over SJU, racing away from a two-point lead at the half, 31-29, with an early run as the Redstorm seemed like they could not get out of their own way. The 21-6 run was completed with a pair of Rob Thomas free throws with 2.3 seconds left to force overtime.

The St. John's Comeback Stuns Georgetown (SNY.tv) and a Justin Burrell dunk with 10 seconds remianing in OT provided the final score as a DaJuan Summers desperation three-pointer was off the mark.

The Hoyas played without starting small forward Austin Freeman who suffered a hip-pointer in practice Monday. However, the major problem again was toughness as St. John's dominated Georgetown on the class, outrebounding the Hoyas 46-25.

Paris Horne and Rob Thomas each scored 16 points for SJU in the win and DJ Kennedy added nine points and 10 rebounds. SJU is now 6-11 in conference games and will finish the regular season with a visit to Notre Dame before returning home to Madison Square Garden to begin the 2009 Big East Tournament on Tuesday.

ST. JOHN'S LOOKS TO UPEND RIVAL HOYAS

2009-03-03T09:09:00.000-08:00

March 3, 3009

It really is pretty far-fetched, but following a 56-54 road win at Villanova on Saturday, the Georgetown Hoyas Hold Out Hope (Washington Times) that their postseason chances have been resurrected.

With tonight's game against St. John's, on the road, and their regular season finale at home on Saturday against DePaul, they have a chance to pull out two more wins as they head for the 2009 Big East Tournament which begins in just one week.

At 6-10 in the conference, Georgetown has plenty of work and it might take a minir miracle of a run in the conference tournament for them to get any NCAA Tournament consideration.

The early college basketball odds list the Hoyas as a 6 1/2-point favorite to get the 7th conference win tonight when they meet the Redstorm. SJU is 5-11 in Big East play and also must travel to South Bend to meet Notre Dame before competing in the conference tournament.

There is no doubt the Hoyas have the more talented team. Players like Chris Wright, Austin Freeman and Greg Monroe were McDonald's All-Americans and DaJuan Summers has been on the NBA Draft watchlists since his strong play in the Hoyas' run to the Final Four as a freshman. NYC native Jesse Sapp, the lone scholarship senior on the Hoyas, will be returning home and determined to put a frustrating season behind him to get a win in front of many friends and family.

St. Johns' season was a disaster waiting to happen from the get-go as they lost Anthony Mason, Jr. for the season by just their third game. An extended absence because of injury to Malik Boothe did not help as conference play heated up and now back-up big man Ayodele Coker has been suspended for the rest of the season because of academics.

We keep waiting for the Hoyas to develop some sort of momentume, while it is looking like it may be too little, too late, they should head back to NYC in a week with a three-game win streak. Just like the NY Lottery commercials...'Hey, you never know..."

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Georgetown 67
St. John's 58

ST. JOHN'S LOOKS TO KEEP DEPAUL WINLESS IN BIG EAST

2009-02-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

February 28, 2009

DePaul came up just short on Wednesday night, falling 74-72 against Villanova at Allstate Arena, in their quest for their first conference win of the 2008-2009 season. On Saturday, they welcome St. John’s into Allstate Arena in their last home game of the year. At 0-15 in conference play, DePaul will hope to avoid the first Big East 0-fer since Miami went 0-18 in the 1993-1994 season. With road games left after Saturday with West Virginia and Georgetown before the 2009 Big East Tournament, this will probably be the only chance they have at avoiding a winless conference campaign.

St. John’s enters Saturday’s contest with a 4-11 mark in Big East play and 13-15 overall. With another losing record in Big East conference play, an annual sign of spring is on its way in NYC has begin as the job security of Norm Roberts begins to come under question. While the administration publicly stands behind the embattled coach, they have also been seen at the recent games more regularly.

Last Sunday, the Redstorm broke a five-game losing streak with a win over Seton Hall at Carnesecca Arena, but they were unable to create any momentum as they laid another egg on the Madison Square Garden floor, an all too familiar scene in recent years, with an 87-58 loss to Syracuse.

While injuries and youth have impacted the success of the Redstorm this season, a loss against DePaul will definitely bring more calls for the end to the Roberts era. In order to prevent such a situation, SJU must come out and play defense and hit the boards against the Blue Demons. St. John’s has some length and athleticism that should make it hard on DePaul to score points. The key match-ups will be DJ Kennedy against Dar Tucker, who leads DePaul with 18 points a game, and Justin Burrell inside against Mac Koshwal.

Against Villanova DePaul let an eight-point halftime lead, which they stretched to 10 early in the second half, go for naught in a 74-72 loss. Villanova actually stormed back to take a double-digit lead of their own before a Will Walker shooting display from beyond the arc made things interesting.

Mac Koswhal was doing damage inside against the Wildcats, posting 10 points and 9 rebounds in the first half, but like all too often, DePaul lost track of their big man in the second half and resorted to launching perimeter shots, which they miss, much more than they hit.

If St. John’s can play tough inside and control the boards, they should be in pretty good shape. They match-up well with the DePaul personnel and Malik Boothe seems to have a better grasp of the SJU game plan than the DePaul rotating door at point guard.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

St. John’s 65
DePaul 59

ST. JOHN'S SEES ORANGE IN GARDEN LOSS

2009-02-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

February 25, 2009

For the 31st time in 33 years as a college basketball head coach, all at Syracuse, Jim Boeheim has won 20 games or more. The 20th win of the 2008-2009 season for the Orange came last night as Syracuse Enjoys a Big Win over St. John's (Syracuse Post-Standard), 87-58, at Madison Square Garden.

Boeheim Sets NCAA Record With 31st 20-win Season (Post-Standard), bettering the record of 30 that the Hall of Fame SU coach previously shared with UNC legend Dean Smith. Of course, after the game, the emphasis was on what is next, a home date with Cincinnati, and coming up for the Orange, who are now 8-7 in the Big East.

In their previous outing, SU lost a heartbreaker, 89-86, to Villanova in the Dome. In that game, sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn struggled from the field, shooting 5-17 and suffering from flu-like symptoms. On Wednesday, Flynn Gets Well and Shines on College Basketball's Big Stage (Post-Standard) at Madison Square Garden, leading SU with 21 points and 8 assists. Eric Devendorf added 17 and big men Arinze Onuaku (14 points) and Rick Jackson (15) points each connected on seven of eight field goal attempts to pace an attack that shot 65% from the field and scored 87 points, despite 20 turnovers.

It was a Humiliating Night at the Garden (NY Daily News) as over 11,000 fans saw St. John's 'home-cooked' by the Orange fromt he start. SU took a commanding lead early and led 39-18 at the half and were never challenged by Norm Roberts' crew, which was coming off a 70-65 win over Seton Hall Sunday at Carnesecca Arena.

Paris Horne had 17 for SJU who is now 4-11 in the Big East and 13-15 overall. It is a gut-check game ahead on Saturday when SJU travels to play DePaul, who is currently 0-14 in the Big East, lose that one and it might be very difficult to believe the SJU fans and boosters would Let Norm Live out the season in peace as the 'Storm coach. SJU also has Georgetown at home and a road trip to Notre Dame before participating in the 2009 Big East Tournament in the Garden.

'LET NORM LIVE'

2009-02-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

By Zach Smart

St. John's could have defeated Duke. They could have dumped off Seton Hall by 20 points rather than gutting out a tight, 70-65 dogfight. Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson could have committed to the Johnnies yesterday.

None of it would have mattered.

Norm Roberts would still be the verbal punching bag, who students at the Queens, N.Y. school heckle during home games. The student section at SJU hates Roberts with the same passion that the Seton Hall fanbase hated Louis Orr in the beginning of the 2005-2006 season. SJU fans have called for Roberts' job at a relentless pace.

Though it's clear they are not satisfied with Norm on the sidelines, SJU athletic director Chris Monasch recently stated that Roberts' job security is intact.

On the surface, there's still hope that Roberts can turn this quagmire around. It's been an uphill climb after he inherited a team marred by scandal via Mike Jarvis. The team had been off to its best start in nearly 14 years and they stamped a resume win over then-sizzling Notre Dame at Madison Square Garden in the beginning of January.

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Quite frankly, Roberts is New York's most hated man on this side of Bernie Madoff and A-Rod. New Yorkers put the blame on him for not getting top-flight recruits when located in a hoops hotbed.

But times have changed. New York kids leave the big apple for the Western woodworks and established basketball breeding grounds far from home. Staying local has become an afterthought for Big East caliber recruits. The days when Mullin left the nets burning, Mark "Action" Jackson lived up to his nickname, and the late great Maik Sealy soared are over. SJU has been watched the program decline, significantly, for more reasons than one.

Not to pull the injury card, but the Johnnies also are without the services of their best player in Anthony Mason Jr. this season. Roberts chose the path this team is on by recruiting a surplus of neophytes a few years ago. Some of these young guns--Paris Horne, Justin Burrell, and D.J. Kennedy--to name a few, have come to fruition.

Others, like homegrown product Malik Boothe, have talent that's still yet to crack the surface. Boothe has also been nicked up a bit. The pint-sized point guard, however, to paraphrase Ronde Barber...He can be had. Still too turnover prone to run the show and put his stamp on games night in, night out. In a conference underscored by electrifying guards, Boothe is just another so-and-so in a conference that's dripping with high-end guards.

Roberts made strides over the summer, reeling in four-star recruit Omari Lawrence. Lawrence, an off guard at South Kent Prep in Connecticut, is expected to make an immediate impact. The combination of him and Born Ready in the backcourt would instantly morph SJU into a team to watch next season.

Born Ready visited Kansas this weekend and was treated to a standing ovation and enthusiastic cheers. The Jayhawk family showed the same love for Lance that coach Billy Sunday and "Tech U" showed Jesus Shuttlesworth in "He Got Game," the 1998 Spike Lee drama.

Bill Self has been hounding Stephenson down this season, and the 6-foot-5 combo guard/wing has said he could see himself playing for Self. With Sherron Collins possibly bolting for the NBA, Stephenson would be able to jump into a role where he'd dominate the ball or operate the offense.

Born Ready, similar to OJ Mayo in that he's a shoot-first fundamentalist type player, is more likely to go to a school where he could be funnelled down the driver's keys. He's got one-and-done tattooed to his forehead, as the hyped up to heaven-sent guard has been described as an NBA player sporting a Lincoln High school jersey.

He's got a solid relationship with Roberts and is rumored to be visiting the hometown team sometime soon. According to Zagsblog.com, an official visit hasn't been scheduled yet.

There's still a good deal of basketball to be played. Roberts' team showed fight in various games this season. The key is becoming a second half basketball team and withstanding other teams' runs.

Every team at SJU's level longs for a first-round upset in the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. Roberts deserves a few more chances in the mecca of basketball.

ST. JOHN'S HOPES TO HOST GARDEN PARTY VS. SU

2009-02-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

February 24, 2009

At 7-7 in the Big East and losers of seven of their last 10 games, the Syracuse Orange can not afford the slightest mis-step as the Big East regular season comes to a close these next two weeks. SU has landed in the NIT the last two seasons and they need to take care of business over these next few games to avoid another nervous selection Sunday.

For St. John's, playing for pride as the regular season winds down is an all-too-familiar reality under Norm Roberts. At 4-10 the Redstorm have little hope for any postseason play, but with all 16 teams playing in the 2009 Big East Tournament, at least they have a chance this season.

Here are some pregame stories and previews from the internet on tonight's game:

Orange Scoutin Report: Syracuse @ St. John's (Post-Standard)
Ex-Cuse Storm's Poor Hospitality (NY Post)
Orange Men Look for a Critical Win (Post-Standard)

St. John's hopes to follow up Sunday evening's 70-65 win over Seton Hall in cozy Carnesecca Arena with a win tonight in Madison Square Garden against a slumping Syracuse Orange club. The Redstorm upset Notre Dame earlier this season in the Garden and, despite the usual large contingent of SU fans expected, hope to make the Garden their home once again with a big win.

Syracuse players admitted following Sunday afternoon's loss in the Dome to Villanova that they need to start winning. After facing a 10-game gauntlet of tough conference games, tonight is no time to relax and take a breather because SJU is going to come after them to take back MSG.

SU continued to show they are prone to fundamental breakdowns in the loss to 'Nova. Wether it is not getting back on defense, poor rebounding technique or questionable shot selection, the Orange continue to be a team that frustrates when watching them play. They have impressive individual talent in Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, Paul Harris, etc. However, all too often, it is the individual trying to make the play, not the team.

Tonight they will have to work together and also hope to get some production from Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson inside. If SU goes into a pass/dribble and shoot attack, the SJU defense will make that a very difficult way to succeed.

St. John's will need to find some offensive output to keep up with SU. The famed zone defense of the Orange will put the pressure on the SJU perimeter game, which is very erratic, so how point guard Malik Boothe decides to attack the defense will be the biggest key for SJU. His inexperience might get the best of him in this one.

SU is a 5 1/2-point favorite, which looks to be a solid line. In this instance, I think SJU will struggle with the Orange zone and allow Syracuse to get the win they desperately need.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Syracuse 71
St. John's 64

REDSTORM EVENS OUT WITH SETON HALL

2009-02-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2009

Recruiting Rivals Reuinited in Queens before a sell-out crowd in Carnesecca Arena to witness St. John's Hold Off Seton Hall (Newsday), 70-65.

St. John's dominated the backcoards, outrebounding Seton Hall by a 49-31 margin and overcoming their 36.5% (23-63) shooting performance by accumulating 27 offensive boards, an astounding number.

Justin Burrell (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Sean Evans (10 points, 13 rebounds) each posted double-doubles in the game and DJ Kennedy had a team-high 21 points as St. John's Beats Seton Hall (Star Ledger), handing the Pirates their third straight loss and dropping them to 5-9 in the Big East.

Jeremy Hazell led SHU with 22 points and the Pirates have a date with South Florida at the Prudential Center next prior to a home date with No. 1 Pittsburgh this weekend. SHU finishes the regular season with road games at Louisville and Cincinnati prior to the 2009 Big East Tournament.

St. John's improves to 4-10 in the Big East and will host Syracuse this week. Also before the 2009 Big East Tournament begins at Madison Square Garden, the Redstorm's secondary home, SJU has DePaul (road), Georgetown and Notre Dame (road) on their schedule.

ST. JOHN'S LOOKS TO AVOID A PIRATE SWEEP

2009-02-22T07:30:00.001-08:00

February 22, 2009

In a rematch of a February 5th contest, won by Seton Hall 91-81, St. John’s looks to even the score between the two teams when they meet on the SJU campus in Carnesecca Arena Sunday afternoon.

Once again it is a season of streaks for SHU. After beginning conference play 0-6, the Pirates rattled off five straight wins against the lower third of the Big East. Since that streak, SHU has lost two in a row, although they played fairly well, against UConn and Marquette. Now, with USF coming to Newark on Wednesday, the Pirates hope to build some momentum for a tough finishing stretch.

St. John’s made a late rally to make the final score in Thursday’s match-up with Duke look closer than the game really was. The Redstorm are 3-10 in the Big East and are currently mired in a five-game losing streak.

This is a key game for both programs who recruit many of the same players in the NYC/NJ metro area. Bobby Gonzalez has made it pretty clear he circles the local rivalry games and thus far this season they have already swept NJ-rival Rutgers and are looking to complete the sweep against SJU, but much to his dismay, it will have to be accomplished on the Queens campus at Carnesecca Arena and not at Madison Square Garden.

The Redstorm has been hit hard by injuries all season long. They are likely as healthy as they will be for this game with Malik Boothe, Justin Burrell and Rob Thomas all in the line-up after missing some time throughout the season. Their best player, Anthony Mason Jr, was lost for the year in November.

The key to this game will be the Redstorm defense on Jeremy Hazell. A good strategy would be to put DJ Kennedy on him and make his assignment to contest everything. SHU does have other scoring options outside of Hazell, but his three’s seem to ignite the Pirates and for them to win on the road he is likely to need to be ‘on’.

This should be a pretty intense game, but the SHU pressure defense really pushed the pace in the first meeting, leading to the SHU win. If the Redstorm do not get better guard play and control the pace, the same thing is likely to happen.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Seton Hall 80
St. John’s 75

ST. JOHN'S FALLS TO DUKE, 76-69, AT MSG

2009-02-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

February 20, 2009

St. John's stepped out of conference on Thursday night as they hosted Duke in Madison Square Garden. The Redstrorm Works hard but Falls to Duke (Newsday), 76-69.

The No. 9 Blue Devils Wear Down Redstorm (NY Post) leading by double-digits before a late SJU rally cut the lead to 74-69, but only 15 seconds remained in the contest.

SJU dug themselves an early hole, turning the ball over 13 times in the first half and 18 for the game. SJU was able to shoot 54% from the field against the Blue Devils and out-rebounded them in the game. Sophomore DJ Kennedy had 20 points and 9 rebounds in the game.

The biggest difference, outside the turnovers, was SJU's propensity to put Gerlad Henderson and John Scheyer on the foul line. The duo attempted 27 free throws between them, making 21, while SJU was just 11-16 as a team.

Sean Evans scored 15 for SJU and Malik Boothe added 10, but had six turnovers in the game. The Redstorm return to conference action on Sunday when they welcome Seton Hall to Carnesecca Arena, the favorite conference road venue of Pirate coach Bobby Gonzalez.

SJU is now 12-14 overall on the season and will look to improve on their 3-10 conference record Sunday versus SHU.

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

2009-02-14T06:18:00.001-08:00

February 14, 2009

After winning their first nine Big East conference games, Marquette has dropped back-to-back conference road games to South Florida and Villanova. They return home for a Valentines Day date with St. John’s at 9 PM in the Bradley Center before hosting Seton Hall next week. Marquette finishes up Big East play with a five game stretch that sent shivers down the spine of many when the schedule game out and is still looking like a true test of their mettle. Road games with Georgetown, Louisville and Pitt along with home games against UConn and Syracuse is certain to test anyone prior to the Big East Tournament.

St. John’s is up first and they are coming off a 71-61 loss at Cincinnati. The Redstorm are now 3-9 in the Big East and currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak. The injury-riddled team is probably as healthy as they are going to get, but the guard pressure they will face in this contest does not seem to be a promising match-up, especially when Marquette comes out for blood after surrendering 102 points in their last game.

“They have a terrific team so we’re going to really have to execute and take care of the basketball in the beginning of the game,” St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts told media members this week. “They play so hard on every single play and we have to match that to compete with those guys.”

Expect that effort to be intensified with a loud and supportive Saturday night crowd and some recent frustrations from the two-game losing streak. St. John’s really could be in the wrong place at the wrong time in this one.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on the game:

Marquette vs. St. John’s (Cracked Sidewalks)
Marquette’s McNeal Downplays Scoring Record (Chicago Tribune)
Marquette, led by their three senior guards, including new all-time leading scorer Jerel McNeal, should unleash a relentless wave of pressure, both offensively and defensively, led by their perimeter attack. Even with a small interior line-up, St. John’s is not a team that should be able to make the Golden Eagles pay for their shortcomings.

St. John’s will play hard and rely on defense to keep games close. DJ Kennedy is a versatile forward and Paris Horne has been one of the better perimeter scorers in the league of late. However, there is not much else working for St. John’s right now and with a loud and enthusiastic crowd looking to get their team back on track, look for Marquette to roll tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Marquette 80
St. John’s 61

ST. JOHN'S LOOKS TO REVENGE EARLIER LOSS TO CINCINNATI

2009-02-11T07:17:00.000-08:00

February 11, 2009

With a daunting four-game stretch right around the corner, the surging Cincinnati Bearcats can not afford a mis-step tonigh when they host St. John's in Fifth Third Arena at 7:30 PM. UC has won four of their last five and six of their last eight, including a sweep of Georgetown and a win over Notre Dame at US Bank Arena last week to pull them abover .500 in conference play at 6-5.

St. John's continues to scuffle along in the Big East under Norm Roberts. While injuries have hit a young Redstorm squad quite hard, SJU is 3-8 in the Big East and the amount of 'winable' conference games are dwindling with the schedule ahead. SJU is coming off a solid defensive effort against Louisville, before the Cards pulled away at the end for a 60-47 decision.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on tonight's game:

A Solid Building Block (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Looking ahead, after tonight's contest, Mick Cronin's squad will travel to Pittsburgh this weekend to start a stretch that also includes games with Louisville and West Virginia, at home, and then a trip to Syracuse. They can ill-afford to drop a game tonight as they have clawed their way back into the NCAA Tournament mix and have positioned themselves that finding a way to win three of these next five puts them in a real position to finish 11-7 in the Big East. While that is definitely getting ahead of ourselves, it shows how important this game is.

UC is led by guard Deonta Vaughn who iasked to carry the bulk of the scoring load as well as the ball-handling chores of the club. He has been getting offensive support in the frontcourt from Mike Williams and Yancy Gates, who was the top freshman in the Big East last week. Sophomore guard Larry Davis has also stepped up his scoring, which is a big key to UC's chances of success as it takes some pressure off of Vaughn.

These two teams met back on January 22nd and UC rallied from a double-digit deficit to post a 71-60 win. The game got really chippy as DJ Kennedy and Rashad Bishop were both ejected after earning a pair of double technicals for continued jawing after a brief altercation. SJU was already without point guard Malik Boothe and forward Rob Thomas because of injuries and the loss of Kennedy was too much for them to take down the stretch as UC ran past them in the last 10 minutes for the win.

Boothe is back and Thomas is also healthier, so if Kennedy can contain his emotions and if Paris Horne can rebound from his horrendous shooting effort against Louisville, SJU matches up pretty well with UC.

The Bearcats are a 9 1/2-point favorite in tonight's game, but look for both teams to defend very well, keeping this a relatively low-scoring affair. I liked how SJU competed in the first game until their lack of depth caught up to them, I think they will compete again tonight with the motivation from the previous game on their minds. However, Vaughn is the best player on the court and provides enough offense for UC to get the important win heading into their tough stretch.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Cincinnati 64
St. John's 59

REDSTORM MISSES MARK IN HOME LOSS TO UL

2009-02-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

February 9, 2009

St. John's held visiting Louisville to only 19 points in the first half Sunday afternoon, looking to extend the misery the Cards have had in Madison Square Garden since joining the Big East conference. The Redstorm and UL battled back in forth for much of the second half before St. John's Folds Against Louisville (NY Daily News) and losses 60-47.

The game was an ugly affair, with the teams combining to shoot 39-113 (34.5%) from the field, 5-29 (17%) from three-point range and just plain stink up the joint offensively in front of 6,128 fans in the Garden.

Jerry Smith, removed from the starting line-up for the game by head coach Rick Pitino, scored a game-high 21 points, making 11 of 11 free throw attempts, many in the last minutes to ice the game. On the Bench to Start, Smith Rules the Court (Louisville Courier-Journal) thereafter, scoring 19 of those 21 in the second half. The UL bench outscored their SJU counterparts 29-0 with Terrence Jennings and Andre McGee also added four points each in relief of the starters. Earl Clark was the lone other Card in double figures, adding 12 points and 8 rebounds.

St. John's Losses to Louisville at MSG (Newsday), dropping the Redstorm to 3-8 in the Big East and 12-11 overall. Sean Evans had 12 points and 9 rebounds to lead SJU and Justin Burrell and DJ Kennedy each added 10. Paris Horne, who has been scoring well lately, was just 4-15 from the field, finishign with 9 points.

Louisville visits Notre Dame on Thursday while St. John's returns to action on Wednesday when they visit Cincinnati.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S HOSTS LOUISVILLE AT MSG

2009-02-08T06:45:00.000-08:00

February 8, 2009

Since joining the Big East, Madison Square Garden has not been a friendly place for the Louisville men’s basketball team. However, this year’s Cards have risen into the top five of the national rankings with an 8-1 Big East record and a 17-4 mark overall. This afternoon, they take on the Redstorm of St. John’s in the world’s most famous arena.

St. John’s has battled injuries and youth and sit at 3-7 in the Big East and 12-10 overall. While injuries have left them short-handed all season, this is as healthy as they will be the rest of the season with Malik Boothe and Rob Thomas returning to the line-up in the last week or so.

Cards Tweak Where They’re Weak (Louisville Courier-Journal)
Line-up is Pressing Issue for Cards (Courier-Journal)

The college basketball lines list Louisville as a 10 ½ point favorite on the road. A healthy number, but the Cards are coming off a 68-51 loss at home to No. 1 UConn in a much-hyped game. The result has seemed to leave Rick Pitino reeling a bit as line-up changes with Preston Knowles and Terrence Jennings possibly seeing increased time, if not starting roles, to fix the areas Pitino is not happy with. He is looking for more of a pressing and offensively attacking line-up and these players have been showing him the most improvement.

St. John’s could be very vulnerable to this attacking defense as their ballhandling is shaky, at best. The return of Boothe allows most player to return to their natural positions, improving their ballhandling as a team, but they are still a young team prone to mistakes under pressure.

St. John’s can also be very hot and cold with their offense, as can Louisville, so expect this game to be on the low-scoring end of things.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Louisville 67
St. John’s 57

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S TAKES ON SETON HALL

2009-02-05T05:34:00.001-08:00

February 5, 2009

The Seton Hall Pirates, on a current two-game win streak, host Norm Roberts and his St. John's Redstorm at the Prudential Center in Newark (NJ) tonight in a Big East match-up. SHU beat Rutgers, 70-67, in their last game behind 35 points from Jeremy Hazell and are 2-6 in Big East play.

The Redstorm have won two of three, beating Rutgers, 70-59, and South Florida, 65-48, at home and losing 75-52 at West Virginia in between. SJU is 3-6 in the Big East.

Pregame stories and previews:

St. John's & Seton Hall Ready for Battle (NY Daily News)

The 'storm received a nice lift to their line-up with the return of Malik Boothe and Rob Thomas from injury in their last game, a win over USF. Boothe had not played since a December 21st loss to Virginia Tech because of an injured thumb. Being the lone SJU true point guard, coach Roberts was anxious to get him back on the court and the sophomore logged 37 minutes against USF.

Thomas provides an offensive lift off the bench, and had scored in double digits in four of five games before injuring a groin in the 1st half of a loss to UConn on January 15th. He had six points in 18 minutes in his return.

SJU had already lost Anthony Mason Jr for the season, so this is probably as full of a compliment of players as they will have this season. Boothe moves back into a backcourt that has a very hot player next to him, Paris Horne. The 6'3 sophomore is averaging a team-best 14.4 points a game, but that number is 18.8 in the last six contests. Fellow sophomore DJ Kennedy, a 6'6 wing, averages 13 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds for SJU.

Seton Hall is led by Jeremy Hazell, one of the nation's top scorers at 23.4 points a game. The 35-point performance was one of his five 30-pt plus games this year and he averages 24.8 points in Big East games. Hazell has the green light to launch from nearly anywhere at anytime and has the confidence to make them in any situation, no matter how many he has made, or missed, previously.

Robert 'Stix Mitchell adds 15.7 points and game and point guard Eugene Harvey averages nearly 13 points and 5 assists a game. Much is made of the short SHU roster and lack of depth that really hurts their frontcourt, but they definitely have some guys that can fill it up offensively.

The 9 PM contest is being shown by ESPN and the early college basketball odds have Seton Hall favored by 5 1/2 points on their home floor.

Being at home, you have to believe the Pirate offense will outshine the St. John's defensive effort. Their is not a lot of room for error for Seton Hall with a thin roster, but Hazell can certainly carry the load offensively and the frantic pace will likly take St. John's out of their game.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Seton Hall 76
St. John's 67

IS NORM ROBERTS' FUTURE IN DOUBT?

2009-02-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

February 3, 2009

St. John's sits at 3-6 in the Big East at the halfway mark. For a team that has been hit hard by injuries, losing Anthony Mason Jr, their top player, early in the out of conference schedule, point guard Malik Boothe for most of the conference schedule to date and having key players like Justin Burrell and Rob Thomas miss multiple games, the 3-6 conference record might be as much as one could expect.

Still, pressure to win is on Norm Roberts and the Storm's Late Season Surge is Not the Only Factor for Roberts (Daily News) when it comes to his future. While Roberts has restored integrity to the program, wins have not come very regularly. After last season, much speculation about his job was put to rest when the administration signed Roberts to a new 5-year rolling contract. The University left themselves an out with a relatively (in today's game) low buyout to move in another direction.

It looks like the school is very intent on evaluating the performance of Roberts and his team these last 10 games of the regular season and into the postseason. Even with a team loaded with underclassmen and injuries, a staff more well received locally than anytime before and a record good enough to receive the new contract last year, Roberts' future is once again clouding up in the NYC media.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: SOUTH FLORIDA @ ST. JOHN'S

2009-02-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

February 1, 2009

The final Big East match-up on this Super Bowl Sunday has South Florida, getting away from all the big game excitement at home to travel north to meet St. John's in a conference match-up.

Each team comes into the game with 2-6 conference records. The Redstorm own home wins over Notre Dame and Rutgers, whole USF has swept two games from pitiful DePaul.

The Bulls are led by the one-two punch of shooting guard Dominique Jones and emerging freshman big man Augustus Gilchrist.

Jones, a junior, averages a team-high 18.4 points a game, leads the team with Gilchrist at 4.9 rebounds a contest, and also leads the team in assists (4.0) and steals (1.6). Gilchrist is averaging just over 12 points a game in Big East play.

St. John's has been decimated by injury, losing Anthony Mason Jr for the season in November and have been without point guard Malik Boothe and forward Rob Thomas lately. The Redstorm still plays hard under coach Norm Roberts and give a little extra effort in the comfy confines of Carnesecca Arena.

Paris Horne has been on a tear for SJU, eclipsing 20 points in three of his last four games and DJ Kennedy does a little bit of everything as a point-forward in their attack. If SJU can get Justin Burrell going against the thin USF front line, SJU will be in good shape today. St. John's is a slight home favorite (-2 1/2), they should be a winner in a pretty good game.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

St. John's 66
South Florida 62

REDSTORM BLOWN OUT IN WEST VIRGINIA

2009-01-29T07:44:00.000-08:00

January 29, 2009

West Virginia bounced back from their weekend loss to Pittsburgh as the Mountaineers Take Care of St. John's (Daily Mail), 75-52 in Morgantown. Da'Sean Butler scored a game-high 21 and Alex Ruoff added 17 as the Butler-Ruoff Duo is Doing it All for WVU (Times West Virginian).

The was No Fooling Around (Charleston Gazette) in this one for WVU as they dominated from the get-go, taking a 36-20 lead by halftime. St. John's, 2-6 in the Big East, got 16 points from Paris Horne and 14 from DJ Kennedy. SJU, still playing without injured point guard Malik Boothe, managed just seven team assists against 18 turnovers in the game.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S @ WEST VIRGINIA

2009-01-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

January 28, 2009

West Virginia will look to shake off the sting of their rivalry game loss to Pittsburgh from the weekend. The Mountaineers are in the midst of a brutal stretch of games and they can not afford to take a breath against the Redstorm and let up in any way.

St. John’s got a win over the weekend against Rutgers and are now 2-5 in Big East play. They have yet to win on the road in the Big East and Morgantown is not a friendly venue for a visiting team.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

WVU Seels Ninth in a Row vs. St. John’s (Times West Virginian)
Redstorm Descends on Mounties (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)
Mountaineers Host Redstorm (Register-Herald)
Mountaineers Board Work Rebounds Under Huggins (Daily Mail)
Mountaineers Out to Regroup (Martinsburg Journal)

Even though the lost on Sunday to Pittsburgh, I am starting to like this West Virginia team more and more. They play hard on both ends of the floor for coach Huggins, they play unselfish and they will attack the boards. Their inexperience at key positions and the lack of a player ready to carry them offensively is still holding them back, but Da’Sean Butler and Alex Ruoff are definitely very capable scorers. If Devin Ebanks starts to flash more on the offensive end, this is a team that should continue to improve. They might be the team to watch and with Notre Dame and Georgetown showing signs of heading in the other direction of WVU, they could find themselves setting in among the top third of the Big East.

It is still a tough go for St. John’s and Norm Roberts. They are another team that will play hard for their coach, but they do not have enough bullets available to win consistently, especially on the road in the Big East. With injuries claiming Malik Boothe, Anthony Mason Jr and Rob Thomas, the Redstorm line-up is limited in scoring punch and ball-handlers, an area that WVU will certainly exploit.

While a 16 ½-point line seems quite high, considering that WVU is prone to some poor offensive showings and that SJU will defend, they still should earn a comfortable win right in that neighborhood of a difference.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

West Virginia 77
St. John’s 60

HORNE SOUNDS, 'STORM WINS

2009-01-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

January 25, 2009

Sluggish Start Dooms Scarlet Knights (Asbury park Press) in a 70-59 loss at St. John's in Big East play.

It was the eighth straight loss for RU and Rutgers is Still Winless in the Big East (NJ.com) at 0-7.

SJU led by 11 at the half and RU got it to as close as two points late in the game, but the Redstorm held them off and scored the games last 9 points.

Paris Horne hit 12 of 13 shots and finished with 27 points to lead the way.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: RUTGERS GOES FOR 1ST BE WIN AT SJU

2009-01-24T06:03:00.001-08:00

January 24, 2009

Rutgers, 0-6 in Big East play, will look for their first conference win tonight when they travel into the Big Apple to take on St. John’s at Carnesecca Arena. The Redstorm were left reeling after collapsing down the stretch in a 71-60 loss against Cincinnati Thursday night. The ‘storm had an 11-point lead in the second half, put were outscored 31-9 to finish the game.

One has to wonder how St. John’s will rebound from that loss with such a short turnaround. Luckily for the Redstorm, Rutgers has enough of their own problems that will probably make sure this is a competitive ball game.

One thing SJU will do is defend. They play tough on the defensive side of the ball and will look to pressure the Rutgers backcourt into mistakes and forced shots. The RU offense is nearly entirely centered and dependent on Mike Rosario connecting from the perimeter. That is a lot of pressure for a freshman on the road who will face a pretty good defensive team.

However, SJU has their own ballhandling concerns with point guard Malik Boothe out with an injury and freshman Quincy Roberts running the show. While SJU is at home, there is something that keeps telling me that Rutgers is not as bad as their 0-6 record would indicate. After being thoroughly embarrassed by Louisville on their home floor this week, I look for a more urgent performance and the front court trio of Greg Echenique, Hamady N’Diaye and JR Inman to control the paint on both ends of the floor. If Mike Rosario does not shoot the Knights out of it, I like for them to come up with a surprise and win one on the road, even if the college basketball odds tell me I am wrong by listing SJU as the 4 ½-point favorite at home.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Rutgers 67
St. John’s 64

KENNEDY OUSTED, St. JOHN'S COLLAPSES

2009-01-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2009

Tempers and frustrations boiled over in the meeting between St. John's and Cincinnati at Carnesecca Arena last night. When order was restored, it was the Redstorm in Foul Mood After Collapse (Newsday) and their fifth loss in six Big East contests.

With the score 43-35 in favor of SJU following a DJ Kennedy three-pointer 2:57 into the second half, referee karl Hess stopped the game and issued a double technical to Kennedy and UC forward Rashad Bishop for excessive jawing that had been building throughout the game. When both continued even after being seperated and issued T's, Curtis Shaw then hit the pair again with double technicals, ejecting both from the game.

Already short on players because of a string of injuries (Anthony Mason, Malik Boothe and Rob Thomas unavailable), the double ejection crippled the Redstorm as UC Grinds out a Victory (Cincinnati Enquirer), outscoring SJU 36-17 over the final 17:03 of the game.

Deonta Vaughn scored 20 of his game-high 23 in the second half, including 10 in a row in a spurt that allowed UC to take control of the game after trailing 55-52 with 7:50 to go.

Bishop added 15 for the Bearcats despite missing the final 17 minutes.

Even though Kennedy Gets Thrown Out (Daily News), the Redstorm extended the lead to as many as 11, 51-40, with 13:16 left, but they managed just one field goal in the last 7:50 and were outscored 31-9 to close the game.

Paris Horne had 20 for the 'storm and Justin Burrell added 15. Sean Evans had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but was just 4-13 from the foul line.

Notes:

-Cincinnati matched last year's win total (13-19) as they moved to 13-7 overall. They are not 3-4 in the Big East, winning three of their last four.

-UC was able to press SJU effectively as Boothe and Kennedy were unavailable the final 17 minutes, causing 21 turnovers.

-As a team, SJU was 14-31 from the foul line, aided by Evans' 4 of 13 effort.

-The Redstorm held a 43-33 rebounding edge, but it was negated by the 21 turnovers to UC just turning it over 10 times in the game.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S HOSTS BEARCATS OF UC

2009-01-22T10:46:00.001-08:00

January 22, 2009

Capping of a busy Thursday night in the Big East is a 9 PM game in Jamaica, Queens as St. John’s will host Cincinnati in Carnesecca Arena.

Cincinnati is a disappointing 2-4 in conference action after being swept in their season home and home with Providence. The Friars defeated UC on Monday night 72-63 to complete the sweep. So far, PC’s only two conference wins have come against DePaul and Rutgers, teams yet to win in Big East play.

St. John’s got some people excited when they upset Notre Dame in Madison Square Garden on January 3rd, 71-65. However, the Big East schedule has bitten them back as they have lost three consecutive games to Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Villanova by an average of 18 points. Tonight begins a stretch of seven conference games for the Redstorm where they only see one ranked opponent, a rare run in the Big East. Can they take advantage of it?

Here are some pregame stories and previews on tonight’s game:

UC Must Take Pressure off Vaughn (Cincinnati Enquirer)
As Injuries Linger, SJU’s Kennedy Rises to Occasion (NY Daily News)

The time is now for Cincinnati to pull out of their funk. For a team many thought could emerge as a conference darkhorse, they have been a disappointment with a 2-4 conference record. Their defense, which was so poor early in league play, has improved, but they still ask for too much from Deonta Vaughn so as he goes, all too often, so do the Bearcats.

St. John’s continues to struggle with injuries that had already took down their best player (Anthony Mason Jr.) for the year back in November and now starting point guard, Malik Boothe, and emerging bench contributor, Rob Thomas, have been sidelined. Justin Burrell is back playing, but has not been the same since fracturing bones in his face and having to wear a protective mask.

While the UC defense has been suspect, the St. John’s offense has been more suspect. While the ‘Storm will defend, this is likely to be a close, low scoring game, and with Vaughn, Mike Williams and Yancy Gates, UC has more offensive potential and, although the Redstorm is the 1-point favorite, look for the Bearcats to get the much-needed win.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Cincinnati 62
St. John’s 58

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEWS: ST. JOHN'S VISITS 'NOVA

2009-01-18T05:26:00.000-08:00

January 18, 2009

Villanova (1-2) looks to climb back to .500 in Big East play on Sunday afternoon when they welcome St. John’s to the City of Brotherly Love for a big East match-up. The Redstorm are 1-3 in Big East play so far this year.

With much of the city of Philadelphia fixated on the NFL Odds of the Eagles reaching the Super Bowl later this afternoon, there is a little hoops appetizer to start their sports day.

Villanova will look to shake off the rust of not playing in eight days, when they lost to Louisville 61-60 at home. The Wildcats made a late run to take the lead, but a Terrence Williams basket with seven seconds put UL up by one. In the final seconds, ‘Nova missed two free throws and a couple point blank shots and ended up with a disappointing loss.

St. John’s played both Pittsburgh and Connecticut tough for about a half this past week, but ended up falling to both as they just did not have enough depth to compete the full forty minutes. Still, Jay Wright understands that Norm Roberts’ team will come after the Wildcats on the defensive side of the ball.

“I love their team’s toughness,” Wright said this week during the coach’s conference call. “They have four guys in double figures. They’re very well balanced. They play great team defense. I love their team defense.”

Against the Panthers, DJ Kennedy scored 18 points. It was Kenendy who was the catalyst for SJU’s upset win over Notre Dame earlier this season. Against UConn, Paris Horne scored 24, however, they will need to fin more than just one guy stepping up, they need a team effort, like they got against ND.

Injuries are also a problem for the Redstorm. They already lost Anthony Mason Jr for the season to injury and will likely be without starting point guard Malik Boothe once again. Justin Burrell has been playing with a mask after breaking facial bones in practice back in December, he has not seemed to be at his best since the injury. Adding to the injury list is Rob Thomas, the redshirt sophomore who has a long history of injury problems (among others) that have kept him off the floor. Thomas pulled a groin and did not play in the second half versus UConn on Thursday.

Villanova’s leading scorer this year is Dante Cunningham, who is averaging over 17 points and nearly 8 rebounds a game. Junior Scottie Reynolds is still capable of carrying the offensive load, too. For evidence of that, you need not look much further than his 40-point outburst in an OT win at Seton Hall which accounted for the Wildcats’ lone conference win to this point.

Look for Villanova to extend the defensive pressure in the half court to make it difficult for SJU to run their offense with freshman Quincy Roberts handling the point guard duties with Boothe out. This is where VU is at their best and should lead them to victory as 14 ½ point favorites.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the web:

St. John’s Sees Light After Brutal Stretch (NY Times)

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Villanova 70
St. John’s 60

SJU RENEWS UCONN RIVALRY TONIGHT

2009-01-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

by Zach Smart

St. John's, a program that has dwindled, significantly, should be ready to go tonight. The Johnnies pulled off a heart-racing, hard-to-believe 71-65 upset of St. John's to open the New Year on a high note. The inevitable ecstasy would turn to agony, however, as the Johnnies were drubbed by the nation's top-ranked team in Pittsburgh.

Against the Panthers in the first half, some lingering effects of the Notre Dame upset were evident. The Johnnies played neck-and-neck with the Panthers, seizing a three-point lead following D.J. Kennedy's baseline jumper with 5:36 remaining.

The Panthers were suddenly in the midst of a first have dogfight.

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With the game log-jammed at 29, DeJuan Blair's putback of Gilbert Brown's missed free throw broke the tie. It was a veritable microcosm of the game, Blair fighting for position and ripping down boards with reckless regard for his opponent.

Blair, the homegrown Pitt product and high school teammate of St. John's DJ Kennedy, scored 23 points and ripped down 15 boards.

With under two minutes remaining in the half, Sam Young slammed on the breaks in transition, lofting the ball high in the air. Floating somewhere between the arena ceiling and the hardwood, the freakish Gilbert Brown jammed home the alley to give Pitt a 41-36 halftime edge.

The Panthers broke the game open in the second half, ripping off a momentum-rolling 16-6 lead that gave them a 64-48 lead by the half's midway mark.

So, the tri-state area rivalry renews itself tonight at 7 PM at MSG.

No.4 UConn (14-1, 3-1 Big East) is no Pitt, but they're front-loaded with super-sized bigs that could clog up the key and keep the Johnnies from attacking the cup.

Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 beanstalk, loves to influence, alter, manipulate, and change the trajectory of shots by guards and forwards audacious enough to take the ball to the rack on him.

Thabeet, a junior and surefire NBA lottery pick, hasn't been the presence he was last year. He had only two blocked shots against Cincinnati and looked lost and listless against Georgetown. The Huskies have won three consecutive games since then and will look to conclude the road swing with a victory that will help them in the conference race. The Huskies are currently tied for fifth place with Providence, who scored two Big East wins over downtrodden programs.

It should be an intriguing homecoming for Kemba Walker, the point guard who played at New York City power Rice High school last year. Walker is familiar with Madison Square Garden, aka "The Mecca," having played there in AAU tournaments and various high school games with former UConn Husky Curtis Kelly. He knows as good as anyone that the Huskies will need to bring their 'A' game.

"We can't sleep on them," said Walker during an interview with the Hartford Courant.

"We have to go as hard as every other game. Coach told us that they always play us hard."

The rivalry has been one-sided these past 10 years. The Huskies have won seven straight since Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor and company suffered a loss in 2002.

Last year against the Johnnies, Jerome Dyson tied a program record with nine steals and A.J. Price scored 25 points as the Huskies rolled to an 81-65 route. Dyson's nine steals in a game tied Scottie Burrell. Burrel played for the Charlotte Hornets during the "Grandma Ma" Larry Johnson era and won a ring with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in 1998. He originally set the record in 1990 against Maine.

Dyson, who loves to play at the Garden and beat up on the on-the-bubble teams, should have his hands full this time around. Last year, around this time, Dyson was virtually nonexistent in the UConn Huskies system.

The Rockville, Md. native was arrested along with former Husky Doug Wiggins, for an alcohol-related incident in which a small amount of marijuana was found near the car. When Dyson failed a drug test following the incident, he was suspended for around a month.

The Huskies seemed to be better without their go-to scorer, winning five straight, with three of the wins coming against nationally-ranked opponents. Dyson, who entertained thoughts of eventually bolting for the NBA draft at the beginning of his sophomore season, was in a brief funk once he returned. Out of the groove he'd been in at the first half of the system, Dyson's stock plummeted before he returned to formidable form.

It was UConn's recruitment of the aforementioned Wiggins that renewed the rivalry with UConn off the court. Wiggins was committed to Norm Roberts before reneging on his commitment just weeks before the signing period when an opening appeared on the UConn roster. Wiggins de-committed verbally from the 'Storm and then signed with UConn the next month, touching off some verbal jousting from the SJU head coach towards the UConn staff and it had internet message boards buzzing.

Now, to make this rivalry complete, the Redstorm need to compete more on the court. Is tonight the night?

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: UCONN AT ST. JOHN'S

2009-01-15T07:17:00.001-08:00

St. John’s will look for an instant replay tonight as they try and upset the second straight top-10 opponent to visit Madison Square Garden in two home games. Back on January 3rd the Redstorm stunned Notre Dame, 71-65, behind DJ Kennedy’s double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Tonight, Connecticut brings their lofty national ranking to the Garden and will look to leave with it intact.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

Huskies Make Turn in Fine Form (Middletown Press)
Second Half of Season Starts Tonight (Norwich Bulletin)
Johnnies’ Rob Thomas Up to Huskie Task Tonight at Garden (NY Daily News)
Huskies Make the Turn (TheDay.com)
It’s Homecoming Day for Walker (TheDay.com)
Huskies Bracing for Back Nine (Connecticut Post)
UConn Plays St. John’s at the Garden (Courant)

UConn enters the contest with an overall record of 14-1 on the season and 3-1 in the Big East. The Huskies have rallied for three consecutive wins since opening conference play with a 74-63 home loss to Georgetown. This is the third and final leg of a three-game road swing for Jim Calhoun’s squad, coming up with a 61-55 win at West Virginia and an 81-72 win at Cincinnati.

In the victory at Cincinnati, AJ Price shook off the cobwebs from his perimeter game by pouring in 22 points and Jeff Adrien had another day at the office with a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double for the victors.

St. John’s hung with #1 Pittsburgh for the first half on Sunday afternoon in the Steel City before the Panthers overwhelmed SJU after intermission in a 90-67 loss for the ‘storm. SJU turned the ball over 24 times as they continue to miss point guard Malik Boothe.

As usual, expect a very large contingent of UConn fans to invade the Garden tonight, giving it a strong feeling of a game being played in Hartford, or even Storrs, when the two teams take the floor. The Huskies will also look to use their size and strength in the paint with 7’3 Hasheem Thabeet and Adrien to take away the scoring opportunities of SJU. Pressure from Price and freshman point guard Kemba Walker in pushing the pace of the game will also be a detriment to SJU who will be without a point guard. In the loss to Pitt, Quincy Roberts, a freshman filling in for Boothe, had just one assist against 8 turnovers.

The oddsmakers are listing the Huskies as 12 ½-point favorites, but that seems to be a road line, we feel UConn will feel much more at home than this line indicates and they should role and get their offense moving with some easy buckets and a stingy defense making things very hard on SJU. It will be quiet different than playing against Notre Dame…

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Connecticut 78
St. John’s 63

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

2009-01-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2009

The newly anointed #1 team in the country will play their first game EVER as the top dog in the country when the undefeated Pitt Panthers host the Redstorm of St. John’s on Sunday at the Peterson Events Center.

Pitt has been off a week and basking in the glow of being the country’s top rated team, according to the AP and the coaches poll. In their last outing they hammered Georgetown, 70-54, at the Verizon Center.

St. John’s has also been itching to get back on the floor as the Redstorm stunned Notre Dame at Madison Square Garden in their last outing. SJU is 1-1 in Big East play and rebounded from a 21-point conference opening loss to Providence with the win over the Irish.

Here are some pregame stories and previews from the internet:

Panthers Repeat ‘Bye Week’ Routine (Post-Gazette)
Homecoming for former Schenley Star DJ Kennedy (Tribune-review)
Fields Unfazed by Ranking (FoxSports.com)
St. John’s Ready for Date With #1 Pittsburgh (NY Times)
Pitt Prepares for Life at the Top (Tribune Review)

The early college basketball betting lines have Pitt as a 19 ½-point favorite on Sunday. The Panther ripped SJU last season at Madison Square Garden despite a huge offensive outburst from Anthony Mason Jr. Mason is out for the season with a knee injury and point guard Malik Boothe is also out with injury. The Redstorm do not match up well with the Panthers and DeJuan Blair and Sam Young will be tough to handle inside for SJU.

Defensively, Pittsburgh is still very strong and Jermaine Dixon has quickly established a reputation of being another lock down defender for the Panthers. In addition, Pitt can bring Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown off the bench as well, both with potential to be elite defenders in the Pitt mold. The key to some of Pitt’s recent success is the upgraded offensive production from the pair as they both average 10 PPG in the two Big East contests to date played by the Panthers.

SJU got a career game from DJ Kennedy, who had 20 pts and 10 rebounds in the win over Notre Dame last week. Kennedy was a high school teammate of DeJuan Blair, so it is a homecoming for the 6’7 G/F. Kennedy could be pressing a little trying to show the hometown crowd what he has while going up against the No. 1 team in the country that he is so familiar with.

If there ever was a game to get used to being No. 1 in the Big East, this is likely the one for Pitt. They should have a very lively crowd ready to welcome the #1 Panthers as they have not played at the Peterson Events Center in 25 days (3-0 on the road since their 12/17/08 win over Siena). This is a game they should win comfortably, although the oddsmakers seem to have put a rather large number on this one for two teams more than willing to play a slower pace.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Pittsburgh 76
St. John’s 58

HUGE PITT STOP FOR ST. JOHN'S

2009-01-09T08:55:00.001-08:00

By Zach Smart

Norm Roberts finally took the first major stride in bringing basketball back to New York City Saturday, as the Johnnies delivered an improbable 71-65 victory over Notre Dame at Madison Square Garden last Saturday. For years, Roberts has been trying to revive an ailing program, one that abruptly dipped under the bridge following Mike Jarvis’ disastrous stay as head coach.

While Roberts’ team has been the walking wounded, an injury-plagued team that bares more resemblance to “The Infamous Infirmary” than a Big East team entertaining NCAA tournament thoughts, their win against Notre Dame could be a major steppingstone.

They withstood a 28-point performance from Luke Harangody and went on to win, behind 20 points from D.J. Kennedy.

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Pretty wild when you think about the fact that St. John’s beat Notre Dame who defeated Georgetown who defeated previously no.2-ranked Uconn. If you think that’s odder than Woody Harrelson’s penchant for earthly products (word around the campfire has it this guy even wears footwear made out of hemp), think about the NCAA as a whole.

During a normal stretch in the NCAA regular season, Boston College stuns previously top-ranked North Carolina in a major upset, and then falls to Harvard. That’s crazier than a nut-house rat.

Roberts and St. John’s hopefully won’t be riding a major high from last week. Their ecstasy can soon turn into agony as they head to Pittsburgh for a 12:00 PM date with the country’s top-ranked program.

Pittsburgh has molded their own version of earth, wind, and fire in inside presence DeJuan Blair (14.2 PPG, 12.5 RPG), scoring threat Sam Young (19.5 ppg) and battle tested, veteran point guard Levance Fields (6.5 APG).

It should be an interesting homecoming for the aforementioned Kennedy, a Pittsburgh native who’s shown he can score in clusters this season. Kennedy, a versatile 6-foot-5 sophomore, has been averaging 13 points to go with 7.3 boards.

His scoring, however, has been more than inconsistent. He’s the kid who lit up Long Island for 23 but managed just two points in a 70-56 loss to Miami. He scored 16 points against Eastern Michigan but dropped just 7 in a 2-for-10 showing in a loss to Providence.

So, for a team that’s still searching for their identity after a season-ending injury to former go-to-guy Anthony Mason Jr., Kennedy needs to take it upon himself to lead. Norm Roberts likes his toughness and his all-around game, but both Kennedy and sophomore Paris Horne (13 ppg, 45 percent FG) need to bring their full offensive repertoire every night. The games against Bethune-Cookman, NJIT, and St. Francis N.Y. are no more.

One familiar face that Kennedy will be reunited with on Saturday is Blair, another homegrown Pittsburgh product. Blair grew up roughly 600 yards from the Peterson Events Center at the Pittsburgh Hill District.

Fitting, because it took Blair roughly 600 yards to skyrocket to Big East school stardom.

Freshman year was a sprint and not a marathon for Blair, who was a Consensus Freshman All-America selection after averaging 11.6 points and 9.1 rebounds.

-Young has become one of the premier scorers in the Big East. If he really erupts one of these games, he will pass Carl Krauser for the most points scored in a game at the Peterson Events Center. Krauser gave Syracuse a 32-spot back during the 2005-06 campaign. He scored 33 in a 14-point win over Belmont back on Nov. 25.

-Beyond Young and company, Pittsburgh has oceanic depth with veterans Tyrell Biggs, Gilbert Brown and Jermaine Dixon, the younger brother of NBA player and former Maryland star Juan Dixon.

-Boxing out Blair, who had an eye-popping 17 boards during the Panthers’ victory over Georgetown, will be quite the daunting task. The Johnnies don’t exactly have the personnel to contain him. Sean Evans, however, has shown flashes of excellence (19 points and 13 boards against Marist), and will be put to the test Saturday.

-It’s too bad Malik Boothe is still hurt. One of the game’s intriguing subplots would be the point guard matchup. Levance Fields and Malik Boothe are both New York players that bring that New York savvy, though Fields has had a much more prosperous college career. Both players employ a pass-first, dish-before-swish mentality though Fields has never been afraid to launch the big shot.

ST. JOHN'S UPSETS NOTRE DAME IN THE GARDEN

2009-01-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2009

by Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY - Make no mistake, St. John’s 71-65 victory over tenth ranked Notre Dame was decided on the Madison Square Garden floor. The seeds of this victory though, were sown in the film room, coach’s offices and meeting areas on the St. John’s campus in Queens.

* One of the first things St. John’s coach Norm Roberts did following a twenty one point Near Year’s Eve loss at Providence was to call a team meeting. Roberts simply stressed that his tem had ‘to lay it all on the line’. something they did not do at Providence. Roberts also addressed each individual to remind them of their specific role.

* In studying Notre Dame tapes, Roberts and his staff noted that Luke Harangody, the Irish low post threat, is a prolific passer out of a defensive double team. “We decided to play Harangody one on one ,” Roberts said. “We didn’t want to double him and give up wide open looks on the perimeter and let them shoot threes.”

During the contest St. John’s showed great resiliency. They had the ball and a chance to make it a two possession game with seconds left in the first half. A turnover answered by a Harangody lay in at the buzzer cut the lead to one at the break.

In the second half St. John’s built a seven point lead with just under ten minutes to play. Notre Dame responded with a 7-0 run. The Red Storm, never surrendered the lead, dug in and regrouped. In the stretch St. John’s made the plays to seal the verdict.

“Today we got a great win over one of the best teams in the country,” said D.J. Kennedy of St. John’s “It was a 40 minute effort and everyone contributed.” A 6-6 sophomore forward Kennedy led the way with 20 points 10 boards. St. John’s had four players in double figures. Other Storm notables were…

* Justin Burrell with 18 points and some tough defense on Harangody to make him earn everything he got.

* Paris Horne, a 14 point scorer who defended exceptionally well on the perimeter forcing ND’s Kyle McAlarney into a 10 point (4 of 12 night).

* Rob Thomas with 10 points 5 rebounds off the bench.

Harangody did some damage leading the way with 28 points on 12 of 24 shooting. No one else could step up for Mike Brey’s club as the Irish shot 4 of 17 from three. “Give their defense a lot of credit,” Brey said. ’They were aware of hugging (locating) our shooters.”

St. John’s played mostly man to man but Roberts did a nice job of occasionally throwing in a zone or 2-2-1 pressure for a few possessions to keep the Irish off balance.

Attendance was 9,807, a good percentage ND fans. Legendary coach Lou Carnesecca visited the Storm locker room following the game. ND is 10-3 and St. John’s is 10-4. Both are 1-1 in the Big East.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: NOTRE DAME @ ST. JOHN'S

2009-01-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2009

Notre Dame heads to Madison Square Garden to met St. John’s on Saturday afternoon. The Irish, despite two losses in their pre-conference schedule, have remained in the top 10 and are currently ranked #7 in the country.

The Irish opened Big East play with a 92-82 win at DePaul and will look to start off with back-to-back road wins ahead of Monday’s date with Georgetown at the Joyce Center. In their win over the Blue Demons, old reliable Luke Harangody dominated the paint with 26 points and 16 rebounds and senior Zach Hillesland added a career-best 17 points in the win.

St. John’s started fast on New Year’s Eve sprinting out to an 11-0 led on Providence in Rhode Island. However, the Redstorm turned into a pumpkin well before midnight as PC stormed back to bury SJU 75-54.

Sean Evans led SJU in their conference opener with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Redstorm was without point guard Malik Boothe, out with an injury, and Justin Burrell has not found his comfort zone since returning to action wearing a mask due to facial fractures suffered earlier this season. SJU is already without Anthony Mason Jr, their leading scorer from a year ago, who will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury suffered in the season’s second game.

Here are some of the pregame stories and previews found on the web:

Cool Hands Carried Irish (South Bend Tribune)

Native New Yorker Kyle McAlarney returns home for the contest and look for the outside half of the dangerous inside/outside duo of McAlarney and Harangody to have a big game. Once K-Mac hits a few shots to loosen the defense, Harangody will go to work inside and SJU has few answers for the Irish offense that can rack up the points.

The latest college basketball odds have the Irish as a 9 1/2-point road favorite. We would like to see St. John’s prove they can keep up with an offense as potent as the one they will see on Saturday.

Prediction:

Notre Dame 75
St. John’s 63

ST. JOHN'S BLOWS EARLY LEAD IN BIG EAST OPENER

2009-01-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

11-0 run to start game wasted in blowout loss to PC

By Zach Smart

Providence— Norm Roberts knows they are no “easy outs” this season.

Those games were taken care of before Big East play kicked off. The Johnnies got off to their best start since the 1994-95 season by scoring victories in guarantee games against a groundbreaking bad NJIT and other smurf-size programs.

So, heading into the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence Friday night, he knew his team would need to be at full force. With point guard Malik Boothe, go-to-guy Anthony Mason Jr. sidelined with injuries, and freakishly athletic forward Justin Burrell fresh off a nagging injury, the Johnnies were nothing short of...well...shorthanded.

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The absence of these three vital cogs, along with an ineffective five minutes from the ever-soft 6-foot-11, 265-pound Center Tomas Jasiulonis (scoreless with one board as he continues to be on a short chain in Roberts' system this season) presented a gap wider than the Sargasso Sea.

Randall Hanke turned in his best performance of the season, and the Friars' mauled the Johnnies to the beat of 75-54.

It was as much as the Friar fans, who braved the snow and arctic, jam-packed highway roads to get the game, could have asked of their senior center. Providence, which improves to 9-4, had been waiting for a breakout game of that type from Hanke.

NBE predicted the Friars would stamp a 73-63 victory. Hanke's performance, however, ran parallel with the Friars' dismantling of the Johnnies, who hope to revive an ailing program this season.

Hanke scored a season-high 17 points in just 18 minutes, hitting his shots at a 7-for-10 clip.

The towering 7-foot Center scored with ease, getting his first two point on a layup off a deft feed from Jeff Xavier.

Hanke added a pair of free throws and then connected on a jumper, followed by a quick lay-in. The back-to-back buckets helped keep the momentum rolling as Providence, which withstood an early 11-0 Red Storm run, held a 33-25 edge at the intermission.

The Friars upped the lead to 40-27 early in the second, reeling off a swift 6-0 run following a Paris Horne bucket. The head-spinning run prompted Roberts to call for a 30-second timeout.

The lead ballooned to 65-47 after a 7-0 run.

The spurt featured five points from Hanke and culminated with a trifecta from Weyinmi Efejuku (thank God I wasn’t announcing this game).

The snowstorm outside the gym, one which left more empty seats than a box office snooze-show (the summer flick “College” was terrible by the way, almost as bad as “Eurotrip”), ran parallel to the perfect storm inside the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

With Marshon Brooks (15 points) scoring nine points and helped facilitate a titanic 29-8 run.

The run left Roberts irate and gave the Friars a 29-19 lead that they wouldn’t squander.

Sheraud Curry, who scored 16 points and had eight dimes, was exceptional. He was a major part of every spurt and gave an efficient account of himself.

Geoff McDermott, who hands out assists like a fraternity house hands out cups of jungle juice, snared nine boards and Jonathan Kale chipped in with 10 points.

The lack of a bench and abysmal life from beyond the arc (2-for-17) hurt St. John’s, which was led by Sean Evans and Paris Horne.

Both players paced the Johnnies with 16 points apiece.

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

2008-12-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

December 31, 2008

The Keno Davis era enters the Big East schedule in his debut season as the Providence Friar basketball coach on New Year's eve when PC hosts St. John's at the Dunkin Donuts Center in downtown Providence.

While neither team is looking like they are completely out of the running to appear in your March Madness betting pools when the NCAA Tournament roles around, both have not quite doomed their season yet.

Here are the articles on the web previewing the contest:

As Big East Season Opens, Question is, Is PC Ready (Providence Journal)
St. John's at PC Match-ups (Providence Journal)

While St. John's sits at 9-3 on the season, the pre-conference period has not been a real healthy one for Norm Roberts' club. They lost their best player, Anthony Mason Jr., for the season to a knee injury. They have yet to beat anyone of significance, losing to three ACC squads (Va Tech, Miami and BC), two of which were in the Garden, and will play the Big East opener without their starting point guard, Malik Boothe, because of injury and still have Justin Burrell rounding into form after breaking facial bones earlier this month.

Providence enters the game with an 8-4 mark, with losses to Northeastern in Davis' debut, Baylor, St. Mary's (CA) and at Boston College as well. PC has a win over Rhode Island to their credit and has shown, at times, to be capable of scoring some points.

With the injury concerns of SJU, especially playing without their point guard in this one, I like the Friars to get a home win as Keno Davis collects his first Big East win.

Prediction:

Providence 73
St. John's 63

New Area Code For SJU Awaits

2008-12-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

St. John's will open conference play at Providence New Year's Eve

by Zach Smart

The best start since the 1994-95 season, when St. John’s was still somewhat of a credible program (see Lopez, Felipe for more on that one) must have been too good to be true.

The Johnnies, despite losing go-to-guy Anthony Mason Jr. to season-ending injury, started off the season in a fashion that indicates credibility may be restored.

SJU stamped nine wins in their first 12 games, falling to Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami of the ACC.

The VT loss came during the championship of the second-tier Aeropostale Holiday Festival tournament, an event such an afterthought along the college basketball landscape that a meager 2,000 fans showed for the championship. That’s at the world’s most famous arena widely regarded as the Mecca of basketball (Madison Square Garden), I might add.

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So, while the fanfare may be lacking the young freshman and sophomore firepower is on a different boat.

V-Tech outclassed the Johnnies, 81-67, though sophomore Sean Evans showed fight in the second half. Evans finished with 13 points and eight boards, as the Johnnies’ sizzling seven-game win streak was snapped.

Of course, the wins that St. John’s scored over teams like Cornell, Long Island, Eastern Michigan, NJIT, and Bethune-Cookman were only a preamble to bigger, stiffer competition.

After all, we know that the puppies can’t dance with the pit bulls.

Harkening back on it now, the Johnnies have never really benefitted from a schedule that’s about as challenging as catching a date via Myspace.com

This Big East slate shall be a serious test of their manhood, now that the young guns have established chemistry and gotten the kinks out against lesser opponents.

The stakes are immediately raised.

The New York hoopheads want a raging Red Storm Resurgence and they want it now.

Whether or not they will get it may just put Norm Roberts’ job security in jeopardy.

Even the boo birds have flown north to St. John’s this winter, adamantly calling for Roberts to clean out his office immediately.

So, it appears SJU is the only place in Queens where you can get a Bronx cheer.

These jeers, that have been persistent since the first game of the season (remember were talking about New York fans here, sometimes the Knicks feel like they are in enemy territory during home games), are almost always directed at Roberts.

Roberts, who supplanted the God-awful Mike Jarvis (Google “Jarvis Doesn’t Jive” by littyhoops.com, for more on that one), is often targeted for the Johnnies’ recruiting shortcomings.

Never mind all of that right now. This is about winning and winning with what you have, even if it’s a nucleus of neophytes that Roberts is confident will come to fruition.

Paris Horne has quickly evolved, averaging 12.6 points to complement DJ Kennedy. Horne was named to the Big East’s weekly Honor Roll following a week in which he shouldered the burden of leader for the Johnnies.

The rapid ascension of Horne and the aforementioned Evans has helped cushion the loss of Mase, who fell out with a torn peroneal tendon in his right foot.

If anyone knows about rapid ascensions, it’s Providence College guard Marshon Brooks. PC is the first Big East matchup of the season for the Johnnies.

After a second-rate freshman campaign (3.3 points in under 10 minutes per game), Brooks has skyrocketed to school stardom. He now averages 13.5 points, four boards and helps facilitate the offensive attack as a guard/swingman. His coming out party came against Sacred Heart, when he hung 30 on the Northeast Conference foe.

The smooth, serene close of the out-of-conference slate gives way to the circus opening of the Big East schedule.

Will the young, sophomore-laden team be able to hold their own against the Big East sharks of the big NCAA ocean and buck the latest college basketball odds?

Game Notes:

--Not to add salt to the wound, but the Johnnie’s could definitely use the services of Mason Jr. and Malik Boothe for this game. Mason Jr is out for the season and a thumb injury will likely keep Boothe, their starting point guard, out of action a little longer.

-Justin Burrell (10.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 55 percent FG shooter) is a freakish and strong athlete (the broken backboard support he broke on a dunk against NJIT are indicative of this) who can counter the athleticism of Providence, who have the upper hand down low.

-St. John’s is severely undersized in this one. They don’t have the size that Providence does with 7-foot center Randall Hanke and the absence of Mason opens the seas for boardsmith Geoff McDermott.

-McDermott, a 6-foot-7 point forward, is averaging a team-high 8.2 boards and is extremely versatile. He is the senior playmaker for the Friars.

-Weyinmi Efejuku (Thank God I’m not announcing this game) is the leading scorer for Providence, averaging 13.8 points.

-Oceanic depth will play a major role in the outcome of this game. The Friars have some shooters in Marshon Brooks, Brian McKenzie, Jeff Xavier, and Sharaud Curry. They’ve also got guys that can pop off the pine and score buckets.

So, the Johnnies’ bench needs to step it up and supplement Kennedy. Dele Coker, Quincy Roberts, and Rob Thomas, I’m talking about you guys.

ST. JOHN'S FALLS IN FESTIVAL FINALE

2008-12-21T19:58:00.000-08:00

December 21, 2008

by Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY - A day after handily defeating Marist in the semifinal, St.John’s met their match. Virginia Tech defeated the Red Storm 81-67 before slightly over 2000 at Madison Square Garden. The win gave Virginia Tech a second straight Aeropostale Holiday Festival title. Tech defeated St.John’s is last year’s championship.

St.John’s, playing minus the injured Justin Burrell and Anthony Mason (out for the season) fell behind 9-3 early. The Storm got right back into it largely on the strength of their three point shooting. Paris Horne led the way with 11 for the Storm and shot 3 of 6 beyond the arc.

The second half saw Tech build on its 39-35 halftime lead. Sean Evans of St.John’s was limited to three minutes the first half due to foul trouble. The 6-8 sophomore had a strong second half, finishing with 13 points 8 rebounds. The Storm however shot an icy 0 of 8 beyond the arc the second half, a performance that makes for long NCAA Basketball Odds against a quality opponent like the Hokies. Credit that to the Tech zone that trapped the wings and extended deeper the final twenty minutes. “We mainly went 1-3-1 to keep our guys out of foul trouble,” Tech coach Seth Greenburg said. “In my eighteen years of coaching I don’t remember ever playing as much zone.”

Offensively the Hokies also exhibited good crisp ball movement, finding the likes of A.D. Vassallo who scored a game high 24 points. Malcom Delaney added 22 points, handed out 8 assists and earned the Lou Carnesecca Most Valuable Player award. “In the second half, Greenburg said, “we made better decisions on offense. We screened and read the defense.”

“We competed,” St.John’s coach Norm Robers said. “But we hit a five or six minute stretch where we didn’t execute and gave up too many offensive rebounds. Against an ACC team a stretch like that can change the game. But give them credit. They (Tech) wore us down.”

Members of the All Tournament team were :
KJ Matsui, Columbia
Ryan Schneider, Marist
DJ Kennedy , St.John’s
Sean Evans, St.John’s
A.D. Vassallo, Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is 8-4. St.John’s falls to 9-2 , the other loss to another ACC team, Boston College in the Pre-Season NIT. ACC ‘tour’ for the Storm continues as they host Miami on Saturday at noon at the Garden.

St. John's Hopes To Continue Success As Big East Slate Nears

2008-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

By Zach Smart

The Felipe Lopez replica jersey that once hung proudly on the window at Modell's on Yonkers Ave. has since been removed. There's doubt that most people today would even recognize the name. There's a considerable feeling that most would just question the decision to showcase the old-school jersey.

After the hype, high expectations, and hearsay about the kid once synonymous with New York City basketball went by the wayside (Lopez played four mediocre seasons in the NBA before taking his game to the CBA and over-the-waters), the likeness was removed.

Lopez authored a storied stay at St. John's, becoming an All-Big East selection as a fabulous freshman and scoring 1,927 career points at the school, behind only some guy named Chris Mullin and the late, great Malik Sealy.

Ask most, and Lopez' story is not unusual. A kid from a New York City perennial power turns heads during his time with the Johnies and either falls off at the next level or exits prematurely, chasing hoop dreams. See Cook, Omar or Barkley, Erick, for more details. It's become a vicious cycle, a destructional pattern. Mike Jarvis didn't exactly help alter the program's already-dented perception.

Now, with Norm Roberts at the helm, the program is focused on getting the city's youth back to St. John's. The Johnnies have dwelled under bridge of obscurity these past few years, with promising campaigns underscored by recruiting troubles, lack of chemistry and underachieving players.

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This season, the Johnnies already drove into a gap, one that wasn't self-inflicted. It was a tough pill to swallow as Anthony Mason Jr., who led the Red Storm with 14.4 points and 4.4 boards last season, jumped out of the fold.

In his highly-anticipated senior season, Mason played just three games--highlighted by a 24-point performance in a win over Cornell--before falling out with a torn peroneal tendon in his right foot.

Mason Jr., the son of former New York Knicks warhorse Anthony Mason, suffered the season-ending injury during the Preseason NIT.

SJU, however, has stepped it up in Mase's absence, reeling off a six straight victories since an 82-70 loss to Tyrese Rice and Boston College on Nov. 18.

Though their out-of-conference schedule has been softer than marshmallows, front-loaded with teams that swim with that can only swim with the plankton of the big NCAA ocean (i.e. the reeling, new lower grounds-shattering NJIT), they've developed an identity.

DJ Kennedy has come into his own.

The 6-foot-6 guard/forward has established himself as the go-to-guy, posting 14.3 points per game. He lit up Long Island and Cornell for 23 and 22, respectively, during the first two games of the season. While his consistency has been called into question (He did his best Houdini impression against Boston College, Loyala-Chi., and the aforementioned NJIT), the onus is on him to fill up the stat sheet.

Leading the Johnnies into a new area code and a high-rent district, however, will have to be a cohesive effort. The roster is littered with freshman and sophomores, but Norm Roberts is confident that point guard Malik Boothe is up for the task.

The half-pint local product is averaging 9.3 points and 5.3 dimes, with sophomores Paris Horne (12.5 ppg) and Justin Burrel (10.6 ppg), a freakish athlete who broke the backboard during the NJIT beatdown, emerging as his primary targets.

Horne, a Delaware native who’s beginning to flower, was named to the Big East Honor Roll. He’s accompanied by Louisville’s Samardo Samuels, Marquette’s Lazar Hayward, Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, and Seton Hall’s Jeremy Hazell. SJU’s 8-1 start is the best since the 1994-1995 season, with Lopez running the show. The Johnnies improved to 7-0 at home this year with a 77-59 trouncing of Bethune-Cookman. It was the Sean Evans show early on, as the 6-8 forward scored the game’s first nine points.

Will the young, sophomore-laden team be able to hold their own against the Big East sharks of the big NCAA ocean and buck the latest college basketball odds?

“I chose the path we are on,” said Roberts, who hears the “Fire Norm!” chants despite the win streak. "I chose to bring in eight freshmen. I chose to do that for our program (to) build a foundation. We have to take our lumps in order to be good. We are playing against quality - not good teams, but great teams (in this league)."

Recruiting Update: St. John’s

2008-12-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

By Zach Smart

Top-flight recruits have become a rarity at St. John’s in this day and age, though the signings of guys like Malik Boothe and Justin Burrell brought some resurgence for a New York City-based, Christian school that prays some of the city’s talented youth stay home.

Right now, it would appear that Norm Roberts suffers from the same disease that has been encountered at Maryland.

In a high school hotbed climate, it’s hard to get kids to stay home. Especially when so many of the city’s youth follow the NBA pipedream.

In a city where IS8 games tend to generate more interest than the Knicks do, young guns are courted by a number of high-end basketball coaches—Jim Calhoun (UConn), Jamie Dixon (Pitt), and Jay Wright (Villanova), to name a few.

Some of the New York area players just flat-out fit into the other coaches’ style and system better.

St. John’s has bit the bullet before, and they will continue to scour the city playgrounds and Long Island/Westchester powerhouses for talent.

“We're going to try to recruit the best kids in New York no matter what. We're always going to try to," said Roberts earlier this year.

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“You know, sometimes kids that live in a rural area will say, ‘I’m sick of living in this rural, country area. I want to go somewhere in the metropolitan area.’ Sometimes you have the city kids say, ‘I’m sick of living in the city, I want to go somewhere else.’ And that’s what happens. What we’ve got to do, is get the guys that are the best, the guys that want to stay home, that want to be here and make them as good as they can possibly be.”

Trevon Hughes, a New York native who plays for Wisconsin and Tyshon Edmonson, a freshman guard from Kentucky who plays for St. John’s, is perhaps indicative of this statement.

“It’s always been that way,” Roberts continued, harking back on the days of Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson, the golden age of St. John’s basketball. “St. John’s, for a long time, did not get everybody. Ed Pinckney went to Villanova, Rod Strickland went to DePaul, Kenny Smith went to North Carolina but what happened here is they got Mark Jackson. You didn’t worry about other guys going (out of New York). So we’ve got to deal with the guys we’ve got.”

The Johnnies have already secured a pair of NYC-bred ballers in Omari Lawrence and Dwight Hardy.

Lawrence, a 6-foot-4 guard, chose St. John’s over Georgetown, Marquette, Pitt, Xavier, and Memphis. Hardy, who starred at the NYC’s JFK before prolonging his career at Indian Hills Junior College in Iowa.

With the recent hiring of guys like Kimani Young and the presence of Director of Basketball Operations Billy Singleton, Roberts definitely has help with recruiting pitches. The New York state of mind will hopefully lure the highly sought-after youngins into staying put, remaining in the stomping grounds and competing for the odds of a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Right now, the Red Storm are still chasing Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson, one of the country's top guards and a super scorer with an NBA body. They've also kept a close eye on Mount Vernon's Sherrod Wright, a quick-strike shooter who can go to the tin and create his own shot. Wright, a product of Mount Vernon High School, will play a schedule front-loaded with national powers this season. They have also thrown their hat in the ring for Patterson (NC) School's Vincent Council, a transplanted NYC point guard who has already left the big city for peace and quiet. Adding a little more local talent each year will certainly increase the NCAA Basketball Odds for SJU in the future of dancing again in March!

ST. JOHN'S SPRING RECRUITING PREVIEW

2008-12-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

November 30, 2008

Now that the early signing period is over for college basketball, many teams are looking forward to the spring signing period as their is an usually large number of uncommitted players available this season.

So while NYC fans might be looking at the NFL Odds of the Jets and Giants lining up for the Superbowl, there are a few following a recruiting story that is quite intriguing in Queens.

St. John's of the Big East added a pair of early period signees in NYC natives Omari Lawrence and Dwight Hardy.

With the decision to part ways with verbal commitment Malik Stith, St. John's was expected to have an open scholarship when the spring signing period arrived.

However, that might not be the case senior wing Anthony Mason Jr. was lost for the season with a knee injury in just the second game of the year. Mason is expected to pursue a medical redshirt, which would give him the last available scholarship for next season.

Of course, a sure sign of spring is the annual exodus of players out of the SJU program. So, it is an almost certain expectation that a scholarship (or scholarships) will become available. With no current scholarship juniors on the 2008-2009 roster, there is a serious problem in the balancing of the classes at SJU to begin with, so some movement in their large sophomore class might occur.

If that were to happen, the obvious #1 target of Norm Roberts' desire is Lance Stephenson, aka 'Born Ready.'

Of course, with Stephenson, plenty of opportunities are available for the 6'5 manchild, including the professional route ala Brandon Jennings.

SJU has also been following another NYC native in the prep ranks, Vincent Council, and Thomas Jefferson senior guard Keith Spellman this fall. A couple other unsigned area players that could be in the mix the longer they stay open in recruiting process include Tevin Baskin and Sherrod Wright.

ST. JOHN'S SIGNING REVIEW

2008-12-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

November 18, 2008

When your campus is located on the doorstep of dozens of the top high school basketball prospects year in and year out, keeping those players home is a key to improving your college basketball odds of competing for titles.

In his tenure as head coach of St. John's, Norm Roberts has not had much luck in interesting the top players of NYC to come play for him. However, the 2008-2009 recruiting class might begin to signal a change in that luck.

In the early signing period for basketball, the Redstorm inked a pair of NYC natives as South Kent Prep shooting guard Omari Lawrence and NYC native Dwight Hardy, who is currently attending Indian Hills (IA) Community College.

St. John's is also getting a little more of a positive vibe in the Big Apple with a couple recent hires to Roberts' administrative staff of Kimani Young and Oswald Cross do give the Redstorm a much more positive image and influence in NYC circles. Cross coached current SJU power forward Justin Burrell in high school and was a coach of the NY Panthers AAU team last summer that Lawrence competed with. Young was the director of the New Heights AAU program that has several of the area's top 2010 prospects in its program.

One SJU commitment, Malik Stith, did not sign with the Redstorm. It was rumored to be the case for sometime, so when it began public that SJU and Stith had parted ways, it did not come as much of a surprise.

The 'storm is in a little bit of a scholarship pinch...they do have one available for the spring, but unless other players leave (an annual rite of spring with SJU), that is the only 'ship for 2009 and 2010 available.

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2008-11-13T06:12:00.000-08:00

November 13, 2008

COMMITMENT ALERT: Dwight Hardy, 6-foot-3 guard from Indian Hills (IA) CC, originally from the Bronx.

According to Indian Hills CC coach Jeff Kidder, St. John's helped 6-foot-2 guard Dwight Hardy find his way from John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx to Indian Hills Community College in Iowa after High School. Now, Hardy will return home to NYC as Hardy to St. John's (ZagsBlog.net) is official as he signed a letter of intent yesterday, the first day of the early signing period.

Projected 2009-2010 Roster:

Seniors: None
Juniors: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G), Sean Evans (F), Dwight Hardy (G)
Sophomores: Quincy Roberts (G), Ty Edmondson (PG), Phil Wait (C)
Freshmen: Malik Stith (PG), Omari Lawrence (SG)

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Things have not gone well for St. John's. Last season marked another of no post-season which was filled with embarrassing losses at Madison Square Garden. This season, again, they are picked near the bottom of the conference.

Norm Roberts Looks to Take Back NYC on the recruiting trail and he has needed a recruiting victory to keep the local talent home and increase SJU's college basketball odds of winning. So, the news from this past summer of Omari Lawrence's commitment should not be taken lightly as it could be a sign of things to come. With an upgrade in local connections for his coaching staff, the embattled SJU coach hopes this is just the beginning.

Now comes the news that the Redstorm will have another local product join the program for the 2009-2010 season as former John F Kennedy guard Dwight Hardy will come back east to finish his college eligibility. Hardy has been playing for JUCO power Indian Hills CC in Iowa for coach Jeff Kidder the last two seasons.

“Dwight Hardy is a great teammate, a great student," coach Kidder told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.net. "He will have a terrific two years at St. John’s after he’s done here.”

At JFK in the Bronx, Hardy was a scorer extraorinaire, averaging nearly 40 points a game as a senior. St. John's helped him find his way to Kidder's program and have stayed in touch every since. The Redstorm have had trouble scoring, so a big-time scorer like Hardy is worth adding, even if it really jams up the projected junior class of the projected 2009-2010 roster. Hardy, on paper, makes eight players in that class, with no seniors. Something has to give...

With Omari Lawrence, SJU is getitng a very athletic guard that can defend and attack the basket. Lawrence is improving on his guard skill set, meaning his ball handling, decision making and shooting, so his upside potential is quite impressive. However, the biggest impact he might have is being the 'first' to commit and could lead to others.

Lawrence was actually the second 2009 commitment for the Redstorm as Malik Stith, a native of Long Island, committed to St. John's early this spring after completing his senior season at East Mecklenberg High School in North Carolina. Stith will prep one season at Bridgton Academy, the same institution that has sent current SJU players Paris Horne and Justin Burrell to the Redstorm program.

Stith had a big season at East Mecklenberg and his play this spring for the United Celtics impressed the St. John's staff enough to earn a scholarship offer. Others involved with Stith at this point were Wichita State, Winthrop and George Mason, but more would have been involved if they knew his academic situation and that he would be in the class of 2009.

Stith, the Southwestern 4A player of the year, made the boys all-state first team in North Carolina as he led East Mecklenberg to the class 4-A North Carolina High School basketball championship by scoring 20 points in the final game, a 72-63 win over Apex. He also added 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the game and his ability to handle the ball was the key component to running out the clock. Stith is a very good ball handler who is exceptionally quick with the ball. He will be a perfect compliment to Malik Boothe and give SJU another top-notch ball handler.

However, murmurs have grown louder and louder that Stith might not be joining the Redstorm program for 2009-2010 and at this moment, it would register as somewhat of a surprise if a letter of intent is received by SJU in the early signing period. With that news, one scholarship still remains open for SJU.

The biggest name attachec to St. John's recruiting efforts remains Lance Stephenson, the uber-talented 6-foot-5 guard from Lincoln (NYC) High School. 'Born Ready' has been in the spotlight as the 'nect one' from NYC for several years and the baggage that can be accumulated with having that title has certainly attached itself to Stephenson. Many do believe, however, if he does decide to play college basketball, staying in NYC and playing for St. John's is a real possibility. However, an equally possible scenario is Stephenson following a similar path of Brandon Jennings and playing professionally overseason out of high school in preparation for his future NBA career.

With the likely scenario of an open scholarship in the spring, St. John's will likely wait on Stephenson. They would also be wise to follow some available point guards and could be in the mix for players such as DeAndre kane of the Patterson school, a former high school teammate of DJ Kennedy, and Trinity Catholic (CT) High School forward Tevin Baskin, who recently told NBE he is 're-opning' his recruitment and will be a hot spring commodity for schools with an open scholarship.

Roberts recently received a vote of confidence from the St. John's administration, hoping to give him a lift on the recruiting trail, and signed a new rollover contract. However, the uncertainty of his future still hangs over the program like a 'storm cloud' and will continue to handcuff his recruiting. The recent hirings of Kimani Young and Oswald Cross do give the Redstorm a much more positive image and influence in NYC circles and the impact should be felt in 2009, and has been with the commitment of Lawrence, as well as 2010 as Jayvaughn Pinkston, Ashton Pankey and Devon Collier all played under Young on the AAU circuit this past year and SJU has made an early pitch for players such as Doron Lamb and others with NYC ties. Of course, as luck would have it, the scholarship situation for 2010 is very unclear for SJU with possibly, on paper, none available unless players leave the program. Players leaving the program has been a regular occurrence and with the large number of projected juniors on the roster for the 2009-2010 squad, something very well could happen to open up a couple spots for the class of 2010.

We will see if this indeed is the spawning of a new Redstorm.

ST. JOHN'S: A 2008-2009 TRICK or TREAT?

2008-10-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

October 31, 2008

Norm Roberts, armed with a contract extension, hopes to bring his St. John's Redstorm back to prominence in the near future. Once a staple in the annual March Madness betting pools, the Redstorm have a hard enough time just qualifying for their conference tournament under Roberts, let alone the Big Dance in March.

Missing the Big East's year-end party at Madison Square Garden, the Johnnie's second home, has been a huge source of frustration for the St. John's fans. Patience in the fanbase has reached a point beyond wearing thin and many have expressed their exasperation towards the program, especially since Roberts was 'rewarded' with a contract extension this past offseason. An extension that even rival head coach Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall publicly questioned.

It looks like the SJU administration is dedicated to standing behind coach Roberts for the near future. With a very high percentage of his line-up (over 80%) being freshmen and sophomores in this strong conference, the 'Storm still look to be another season or so away from challenging for a spot in the Big Dance. it is a long climb up in the Big East, and St. John's better have a few tricks up their sleeves to give their fans a treat.

NORM ROBERTS LOOKS TO TAKE BACK NYC

2008-10-24T05:41:00.001-07:00

St. John's head coach looks to take back home turf

by Zach Smart

With additions to the administraton staff in the St. John's basketball program of Oswald Cross and Kimani Young this summer, Norm Roberts is reaching out to the New York City high school and AAU programs for some help. The help he needs is to convince local hoop stars to stay home for college basketball, Roberts spent some time at the Big East media day talking about the challenges of keeping the talent home.

“We’re going to try to recruit the best kids in New York no matter what. We’re always going to try to,” said Roberts, who already secured 2009 guard and local product Omari Lawrence.

“But the key is, they’re not always going to stay home. I think people tend to forget that they don’t look at it from the opposite side. You know, sometimes kids that live in a rural area will say, ‘I’m sick of living in this rural, country area. I want to go somewhere in the metropolitan area.’ Sometimes you have the city kids say, ‘I’m sick of living in the city, I want to go somewhere else.’ And that’s what happens. What we’ve got to do, is get the guys that are the best, the guys that want to stay home, that want to be here and make them as good as they can possibly be.”

Roberts continued,“St. John’s, for a long time, did not get everybody. Ed Pinckney went to Villanova, Rod Strickland went to DePaul, Kenny Smith went to North Carolina but what happened here is they got Mark Jackson. You didn’t worry about other guys going (out of New York). So we’ve got to deal with the guys we’ve got.”

In today's game, recruiting is the lifeblood of your program. Recruiting is a sport within the game of college basketball and is a year-round topic. Staying ahead of public perception and increasing your college basketball odds of winning can be accomplished on the recruiting trail.

'Born Ready' Could Face Charges, School Discipline

2008-10-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

By Zach Smart

Lance Stephenson can rule the world with his eyes closed. Bible truth.

The dynamic 6-foot-5, 200-lb. wing has evolved into somewhat of a New York City icon over the past few years. He’s been featured big time sports TV stations like MSG, been on the cover of basketball magazines all around the country, and has a trio of personal highlight reels that pop up whenever you Youtube his name. Stephenson’s high school highlight clips have generated approximately 88,911 hits since they were posted a year ago.

Stephenson has also carried the torch proudly as the face of New York City basketball since 2006. He’s emerged into a highly sought-after guard whose game has drawn interest from a number of top-flight Division-I schools, including Kansas, USC, North Carolina, and St. John’s. Keeping him in the city is a big key for St. John's in increasing their NCAA Basketball Odds and moving up in the ranks.

Oh, and Big East schools such as Seton Hall and Pitt have also shown heavy interest in the deft scoring machine.

Oh, and he’s still not old enough to purchase lottery tickets or tobacco products. The 17-year-old’s celebrity-like status has the potential of hurting him in some ways, as it has other New York guards who have been hyped up to the brim before their emergence as stars.

With Stephenson’s recent trouble with the law, however, we don’t know what to think. The news about Stephenson’s alleged groping of a 17-year-girl earlier this month has been all over the web. It was printed on page 58 of today’s New York Daily News sports section—alongside a bunch of professional sports stories—under the headline, “Lance Could Face School Discipline.”

Browsing the title of Mark Lelinwalla’s story, I wasn’t sure what to think. He’s ascended to such celebrity status that they are calling him by his first name. He may be the second most-celebrated athlete named Lance on the planet right now, second only to that Tour De France bicycle guy.

Though it’s a small story, I figured an in-house story of this ilk wouldn’t be blown up into huge, potsy-like proportions. Now it’s headline news that’s polluting the internet worse than underage porn.

According to the Lelinwalla story, Stephenson is anticipating disciplinary action from Lincoln High after “allegedly groping a 17-year-old girl earlier this month. The kid that has created more basketball buzz than the latest pair of Air Jordans, who the growing NYC hoops fan base knows simply as “Born Ready” has denied the charge. The charge is listed as a Class B misdemeanor.

“Disciplinary action from the school is pending, depending on the findings of the investigation,” explained Margie Feinberg, the Lincoln High Department of Education spokeswoman.
“The school is working with police on this case. The (alleged) victim is receiving counseling.”

Reports have proved that the situation has not had any affect on the recruiting process, chiefly due to the fact that nothing has happened yet. The college coaches that are drooling over the kid from perennial power Lincoln will not let this little incident stop them.

Knowing Lance Stephenson only makes this whole situation much harder to believe. He’s a well-mannered, respectful kid who always has a crowd of friends cheering for him and needs surgery to get his face out of the permanent smile position its stuck on.

Only time will tell.

The legend of Lance, who's recent controversy has been blown up during pre-election mayhem, will likely not be stained by this one incident, regardless of what happens.

Stephenson’s lawyer, Alberto Ebanks (any relation to former Bishop Loughlin stud and current West Virginia freshman forward Devin Ebanks?) has pegged the charges as “preposterous,” according to the Daily News.

“Where’s the proof?” Asked Ebanks.

2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 14) ST. JOHN'S

2008-09-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

September 27, 2008

After (finally) qualifying for their first Big East Tournament under Norm Roberts in the 2006-2007 season, it was back to the ‘norm’ for St. John’s in 2007-2008 as their young and inexperienced squad again missed out on participating in the conference’s year-end party at Madison Square Garden. A team dominated by freshman struggled to a 5-13 Big East record and finished 11-19 on the season. Not exactly what fans had in mind, a rebuilding season in year four without any postseason appearances in the NCAA or even NIT to this point.

Roberts now enters his fifth season at the helm of the Redstorm and owns a career mark of 48-67 as the head coach with St. John’s and a 20-46 record in regular season Big East action. Despite the poor results on the court, there is some hope that inroads are being made off the court as a revamped staff has given SJU some strong local recruiting ties in the New York City area. Already one highly coveted area player, Omari Lawrence, has committed for the class of 2009. The hope for the future might be getting slightly brighter, but this season’s outlook remains somewhat gloomy.

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Comings:

With Norm Roberts’ future cloudy throughout much of the past year, recruiting was difficult for St. John’s. In the spring, Roberts signed a new 5-year rollover contract and three recruits as well. Quincy Roberts and Tyshwan Edmondson will both add depth to a backcourt that was hit by graduation and transfer losses. Phil Wait, originally from England, adds size to the class, standing at 7-foot-1, but injuries might limit his season.

Goings:

The young Redstorm squad had just one senior last season, Eugene Lawrence, but once again they were hit by the transfer bug as Larry Wright and Mike Cavataio. Wright was the team’s third leading scorer and most reliable perimeter shooting threat, but often seemed to be in the doghouse last season. Cavataio never seemed to have much of a chance at much playing time in the Big East. Lawrence was the rock in the SJU starting line-up and split time running point with Malik Boothe. His experience and toughness were key attributes on the floor.

Net Impact:

There really are no big gains or big losses out of the SJU program when looking at the net impact of what is coming and going from their program. Lawrence and Wright were key contributors, but Edmondson and Roberts have more potential, but probably will not be realizing that potential right away. Wait could be a candidate for a redshirt as a knee injury and the need to add strength and weight might make him more productive if he spends a year fine tuning his body. Overall, the improvements for SJU will have to come from within, and there is something to work with…

2008-2009 Backcourt Outlook:

St. John’s will have a very inexperienced backcourt next season between their point guard and shooting guard. Sophomores Malik Boothe and Paris Horne have the inside track at the starting positions and will be backed up by the freshmen pair of Quincy Roberts and Tyshwan Edmondson.

Boothe is a true point guard and the diminutive (5’9) floor general will be asked to carry a large portion of the load this season as he takes over fully for Eugene Lawrence. Boothe played his high school basketball at nearby Christ the King and as a freshman he contributed three points and two and a half assists a game in 19 minutes of action. In Big East action, Boothe saw a big increase in his time and even had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists against South Florida (both career highs). Boothe will not give you a lot of offense and is not much of a deep ball threat (just 5 made three’s last season), but he is a true point guard with a feisty attitude that will try and set the tone for the ‘storm this season.

Paris Horne also received some added run down the stretch and showed glimpses of being a reliable deep threat, something this team will need desperately. Horne scored 12 in a loss to Marquette and connected on nine of 14 from three-point land over the last eight games of the season. Roberts and Edmondson add some athleticism and size to the backcourt and will press for time right away.

Another potential factor in the backcourt mix is sophomore DJ Kennedy. The versatile Kennedy can play all three perimeter positions and the 6-foot-6 wing’s ability to handle the basketball, defend and rebound will make him a valuable asset to St. John’s.

The best player on the squad is senior Anthony Mason Jr. The son of a former NBA player has definitely put in his dues for the Redstorm. Despite battling nagging injuries throughout last season, Mason still averaged a team-best 14 points a contest. He also produced back-to-back 29 point outbursts in losses to Pittsburgh and Louisville where at times he seemed to be the only SJU threat to score. Mason also gives SJU a little bit of everything with his ability to defend, rebound and set-up teammates. He is the type of player that, if surrounded by more talent, could complete a contending team, but at St. John’s he is asked to shoulder the load and produce big numbers.

2008-2009 Frontcourt Outlook:

Sophomore Justin Burrell returns after a very strong freshman season in which the 6-foot-8, 235 pound rock averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds a game. He did find things a little tougher in the Big East as he shot just 41% from the field in conference play and wore down the stretch, averaging just 7 points and less than 4 rebounds a game in the last nine contests despite still playing over 27 minutes a game. That is really poor production, but much of that can not be placed on Burrell as he had virtually no help inside last year. Burrell still has loads of potential and should be ready for a complete season as a sophomore.

In order for Burrell to reach the level expected of him he will need senior Tomas Jasiulionis and sophomore Ayodele Coker to be able to man the middle together. Coach Roberts has spoken highly of Coker this offseason and the 6’10, 270 pound center has the physical tools to excel in the Big East. He still has a ways to go in order for his basketball skills to catch up to the physical tools, but again, Burrell and Coker definitely have the potential to be a very solid frontcourt as they mature and reach their basketball potential.

Jasiulionis is a 6-foot-11 skilled big man that is slowly learning to thrown his weight around in the Big East. However, that usually leads to fouls as he still does not seem comfortable with the physical and athletic posts of the Big East. Jasiulionis scored just 18 points in the course of the Big East schedule last season, he just is not going to give you any offense, something SJU will need, however.

Rounding out the frontcourt is athletic Sean Evans, a 6-foot-8 forward who is just now starting to concentrate on basketball, and Rob Thomas, a redshirt sophomore who is trying to resurrect his career after knee injuries and academics have sidelined him much of the last few years. Evans, the former Philly-area football prospect was a late addition to the Redstorm program prior to last season and he also has the potential to be a quality performer as he learns the game. His highlight last season was a 12-point, 9-rebound performance in a win over Providence. Evans also saw increased time as the season wore on and definitely adds solid depth on the boards and defensively. Thomas is a wildcard, if he can show some of the ability that made him a highly coveted inside/out forward earlier in his high school career, SJU will get a big lift from a player that can score points, something they certainly need. Hopefully another off season of conditioning and strength training has Thomas looking more like his old self than the shadow of it we saw last season.

2008-2009 Team Outlook:

St. John’s is a team that will have to rely on defense and toughness this season as scoring points might be something they struggle with, especially in the Big East. Without a strong perimeter scoring threat, defenses will collapse around Justin Burrell in the paint and cut off the slashing abilities of players like Anthony Mason and DJ Kennedy, forcing SJU to beat them from the outside, a scenario that greatly decreases the College Basketball Odds of the Redstorm winning.

The potential to be a good defensive team is there. Players like Burrell, Ayodele Coker and Sean Evans show potential to be good in the frontcourt, but that potential is going to be put to the test in the rugged Big East. On a team with just two seniors and no juniors, improving upon last year’s numbers in the conference will be a tough task. I expect SJU to look quite better, at times, especially in their out of conference schedule, but over the course of 18 games in the Big East, they are going to, again, take their lumps and, unfortunately, have a season much like the ‘norm’ under Norm Roberts in 2008-2009.

2008-2009 Big East Prediction: 5-13

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2008-08-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

August 20, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Omari Lawrence, 6'3 SG from New York City.

The Redstorm landed a highly coveted local prospect as Omari Lawrence is Headed to the Big East (NBE Basketball Report) and has pledged to the Redstorm, giving Norm Roberts a much-needed recruiting victory.

Projected 2008-2009 Roster:

Seniors: Anthony Mason (F), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
Juniors: None
Sophomores: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G), Sean Evans (F)
Freshman: Quincy Roberts (G), Ty Edmondson (PG), Phil Wait (C)
2009 Commitments: Malik Stith (PG), Omari Lawrence (SG)

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Things have not gone well for St. John's. Another season of no post-season which was filled with embarrassing losses at Madison Square Garden. Now, the news of Omari Lawrence's commitment to the program gives a little pep in the step of the suffering SJU faithful.

Norm Roberts has needed a recruiting victory and keeping local talent home has been a very tough job. So, the news of the Lawrence commitment should not be taken lightly as it could be a sign of things to come. With an upgrade in local connections for his coaching staff, the embattled SJU coach hopes this is just the beginning.

With Lawrence, SJU is getitng a very athletic guard that can defend and attack the basket. Lawrence is improving on his guard skill set, meaning his ball handling, decision making and shooting, so his upside potential is quite impressive. However, the biggest impact he might have is being the 'first' to commit and could lead to others.

Most notably, the SJU staff will begin putting the pressure on AAU and prep school teammate Kevin Parrom, a 6-foot-5 small forward that would be an excellent addition. In the paint, Jordan Williams, a 6-foot-9, 250 lb big body and 6-foot-8 James Padgett as well as Tevin Baskin a 6'7 jumping jack forward, are also high on the SJU wishlist and the interest from them in the redstorm seems to be brewing quite nicely of late. Any combination of two of those players and the St. John's program has a nice step forward, especially in their own backyard.

Lawrence is actually the second 2009 commitment for the Redstorm as Malik Stith, a native of Long Island, committed to St. John's early this spring after completing his senior season at East Mecklenberg High School in North Carolina. Stith will prep one season at Bridgton Academy, the same institution that has sent current SJU players Paris Horne and Justin Burrell to the Redstorm program.

Stith had a big season at East Mecklenberg and his play this spring for the United Celtics impressed the St. John's staff enough to earn a scholarship offer. Others involved with Stith at this point were Wichita State, Winthrop and George Mason, but more would have been involved if they knew his academic situation and that he would be in the class of 2009.

Stith, the Southwestern 4A player of the year, made the boys all-state first team in North Carolina as he led East Mecklenberg to the class 4-A North Carolina High School basketball championship by scoring 20 points in the final game, a 72-63 win over Apex. He also added 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the game and his ability to handle the ball was the key component to running out the clock. Stith is a very good ball handler who is exceptionally quick with the ball. He will be a perfect compliment to Malik Boothe and give SJU another top-notch ball handler.

Seems like the ritual every spring in the program is who can get out first, this past year it was Larry Wright and Mike Cavataio leaving the St. John's program. The 'storm went o-fer in the early signing period, but managed a trio of late period signees, including a dip into the international talent pool as they added Phil Wait, a 7'1 and 265 lb center from Manchester, England.

Wait spent this past season at the Gran Canaria Basketball Academy in Spain and also has played at Proctor Academy in the New England Prep School ranks. Whiel playing in the US, schools like Providence and Rhode Island were very interested in Wait.

Like most European-esque players, Wait will have to get stronger and tougher to play at a high Division 1-A level and be effective. His year at a basketball academy in Spain hopefully helped in this regard. St. John's desperately needs some effective size on the court this season.

Norm Roberts' long-term future was very uncertain with the Redstorm throgh last season and that obviously was not going to help on the recruiting trail. Despite that uncertainty, Roberts and staff were able to land a solid commitment from Harrisburg High School's Quincy Roberts in the 2008 late signing period. The 6'4, 190 lb guard was one time a commitment for Miami (FL), but opted not to sign last fall and re-opened his recruitment. Roberts' recruitment had been rather quiet throughout the season, but after averaging over 18 points a game, along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists, the Mid-Penn all-conference selection suddenly saw a spike in his recruiting as he quickly became one of the top unsigned prospects left on the recruiting board. After considering Virginia as well, Roberts decided to join the Redstorm program and pledged to Norm Roberts.

Ty Edmondson also committed to St. John's this spring and you can place him on the St. John's roster for 2008-2009. Edmondson is an athletic and tall guard that will help run the show for St. John's, giving Malik Boothe help handling the ball next season. A very strong senior season was punctuated by winning the slam-dunk contest in the Kentucky-Ohio All-Star game. As a senior, Edmondson averaged 18.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals at UHA helping the Blazers to a 30-5 record helping the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) District 8 and Region 2 championship.

Roberts recently received a vote of confidence from the St. John's administration, hoping to give him a lift on the recruiting trail, and signed a new rollover contract. However, the uncertainty of his future still hangs over the program like a 'storm cloud and will continue to handcuff his recruiting. The recent hirings Kimani Young and Oswald Cross do give the Redstorm a much more positive image and influence in NYC circles and the impact should be felt in 2009, and has been with the commitment of Lawrence, as well as 2010 as Jayvaughn Pinkston, Ashton Pankey and Devon Collier all played under Young on the AAU circuit this past year.

We will see if this indeed is the spawning of a new Redstorm.

RED STORM HOST ELITE LOCAL TALENTS

2008-06-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2008

In the last couple weeks, both Lance Stephenson (class of 2009) and Tobias Harris (class of 2010) have made unofficial vists to Queens to check out St. John's and visit with coach Norm Roberts.

“Tobias…came away very impressed with what coach Norm Roberts is doing at St.John’s,” according to his father, Torrel Harris Sr. “Tobias stated to me it looks like coach Roberts is really trying his best to get St. John’s back to the elite level,” Mr. Harris informed the NBE Basketball Report in the story about the Tobias Harris Tour Stop at St. John's.

“It seems like Coach Roberts has a great plan for his young team to improve each day in order for St. John’s University to get to that next level,” Mr. Harris remarked.

The stop at St. John’s and the trip to WVU is all part of a Busy Summer for Harris that has also included the stop at Virginia, an earlier stop at Kansas and, at least, planned upcoming trips to Indiana, Louisville, Marquette, Rutgers, Maryland, Florida, Connecticut, Arizona, Memphis and Syracuse.

As for the visit from Stephenson, he made it clear after words that St. John's is a viable option to land him. It is no secret he is close to his father, Lance Sr., who has also coached his son in several AAU events with the Raising Champions squad. Staying close to home for the Lincoln HS star could become a real option as the recruitment moves along.

“Oh yeah, I was really looking at St. John’s, Stephenson commented in anarticle posted at the NBE Basketball Report. “I think I can bring New York back [to prominence], so I’m really looking at that right now.”

Stephenson told Alex Schwartz yesterday his top schools are ”USC, St. John’s, Kansas, UCLA, and Tennessee.”

But, before St. John’s fans get too excited, the process is not nearly over yet. “I don’t have a leader right now,” Stephenson cautioned.

Even schools like North Carolina, Kentucky, Memphis and Indiana are not ready to be ruled out according to Lance, “I’m still looking at the schools, but I’m more focused on the other [first five] schools, then I’m going to focus on the others.”

ST. JOHN'S 2008-2009 SNAPSHOT

2008-06-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2008

Head Coach: Norm Roberts
2007-2008 Record: 11-13 (5-13 Big East)

Returning Players:
Anthony Mason, Senior (Forward)
Tomas Jasiulionis, Senior (Center)
Rob Thomas, Sophomore (Forward)
Justin Burrell, Sophomore (Power Forward)
Malik Boothe, Sophomore (Point Guard)
Ayodele Coker, Sophomore (Center)
DJ Kennedy, Sophomore (Guard/Forward)
Paris Horne, Sophomore (Guard)
Sean Evans, Sophomore (Forward)

Incoming Players:
Ty Edmondson, Point Guard
Quincy Roberts, Shooting Guard
Phil Wait, Center

Graduated:
Eugene Lawrence, Senior (Point Guard)

Transferred Out:
Larry Wright, Sophomore (Guard)
Mike Cavataio, Freshman (Guard/Forward)

Open Items/Issues:
Norm Roberts survived another season at St. John's without even a trip to the Big East's conference tournament. In fact, he was rewarded by the administration at St. John's with a new 5-year rollover contract. Shortly after the news, Roberts got busy on the recruiting trail adding much needed depth on the perimeter with Ty Edmondson and Quincy Roberts as well as a live body for the paint, Phil Wait. The recruiting did not stop there as the Redstorm also picked up an early 2009 commitment from point guard Malik Stith out of Virginia.

Even with the existence of a new contract, the pressure to win from fans and boosters will only intensify this coming season. Playing in front of embarrasingly small crowds at Madison Square Garden was bad enough, but losing by margins of 24 and 32 was even worse. Or, how about Pittsburgh winning six games on the Garden floor with St. John's winning just once on the hallowed floor, and that came against Marist.

My, how the mighty have fallen...

Summary:
As expected, with such a young team, St. John's was unable to imrpove upon their 7-9 mark of 2006-2007 last year. Is there hope this season? Well, it will depend on how much improvement they get from last year's freshman class. The biggest thing Norm Roberts' crew has going for them is the pair of forwards in Anthony Mason Jr. and Justin Burrell. Mason is one of the best small forwards in the conference and on many occassions last year he seemed like the only player on the floor for the Redsorm capable of scoring a basket. Burrell is a strong and athletic big forward that should continue to improve as his skills mature. He is learning not everything can be a dunk at this level.

While Mason and Burrell are better than average for the Big East, not much else is for SJU. The center position could have Burell sliding down to fill it if Tomas Jasiulionis, Phil Wait or Ayodele Coker can not find any consistency in the paint offensively of defensively. I do beleive Coker will eventually be a solid contributor and Wait sounds promising if he can get stronger and more acclimated to the American style of the game.

A big key is Rob Thomas having a year under his belt, continued conditioning and strenghening exercises for his knee. If he can resemble his old self, SJU could find another capable scorer.

Perimeter shooting is going to be a big weakness for SJU as Larry Wright, their best three-point threat has transferred. Malik Boothe will run the point, but the small point guard is not much of an offensive threat. Ty Edmondson was brought in late to give a little more pop from the point and the wing guards will rotate in and out with DJ Kennedy, Paris Horne and freshman Quincy Roberts competing for time.

St. John's seems to be a lot like Seton Hall heading into next season. While they definitely could be improved on some levels, they are unlikely to be closing much of the gap between them and the teams in the top half of the conference. What makes it difficult, some of the teams below them might be improving faster and will threaten to pass them this season. It is going to be a tough chore to eclipse last year's five Big East wins, getting closer to NIT-eligible might be their meager goal for 2008-2009.

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2008-06-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

June 6, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Phil Wait (C), 7'1, 265 lbs from England

Projected 2008-2009 Roster:

Seniors: Anthony Mason (F), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
Juniors: None
Sophomores: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G), Sean Evans (F)
Freshman: Quincy Roberts (G), Ty Edmondson (PG), Phil Wait (C)
2009 Commitments: Malik Stith (PG)

The recruiting news has certainly picked up around St. John's the last five or six weeks and the Redstorm added another late addition yesterday with Adam Zagoria reporting Phil Wait to St. John's (zagsblog). Wait helps bring some size that Norm Roberts and his team desperately needs.

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Things have not gone well for St. John's. Another season of no post-season which was filled with embarrassing losses at Madison Square Garden. Seems like the ritual every spring in the program is who can get out first, this past year it was Larry Wright and Mike Cavataio leaving the program. The 'storm went o-fer in the early signing period, but managed a couple late period signees and also added a 2009 commitment prior to the Memorial Day holiday and this week, they dip into the international talent pool at add Phil Wait, a 7'1 and 265 lb center from Manchester, England.

Wait spent this past season at the Gran Canaria Basketball Academy in Spain and also has played at Proctor Academy in the New England Prep School ranks. Whiel playing in the US, schools like Providence and Rhode Island were very interested in Wait.

Like most European-esque players, Wait will have to get stronger and tougher to play at a high Division 1-A level and be effective. His year at a basketball academy in Spain hopefully helped in this regard. St. John's desperately needs some effective size on the court this season.

Malik Stith, a native of Long Island, committed to St. John's recently after completing his senior season at East Mecklenberg High School in North Carolina. Stith will prep one season at Bridgton Academy, the same institution that has sent current SJU players Paris Horne and Justin Burrell to the Redstorm program.

Stith had a big season at East Mecklenberg and his play this spring for the United Celtics impressed the St. John's staff enough to earn a scholarship offer. Others involved with Stith at this point were Wichita State, Winthrop and George Mason, but more would have been involved if they knew his academic situation and that he would be in the class of 2009.

Stith, the Southwestern 4A player of the year, made the boys all-state first team in North Carolina as he led East Mecklenberg to the class 4-A North Carolina High School basketball championship by scoring 20 points in the final game, a 72-63 win over Apex. He also added 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the game and his ability to handle the ball was the key component to running out the clock. Stith is a very good ball handler who is exceptionally quick with the ball. He will be a perfect compliment to Malik Boothe and give SJU another top-notch ball handler.

Norm Roberts' long-term future is very uncertain with the Redstorm and that is obviously not going to help on the recruiting trail. Despite that uncertainty, Roberts and staff were able to land a solid commitment from Harrisburg High School's Quincy Roberts in the 2008 late signing period. The 6'4, 190 lb guard was one time a commitment for Miami (FL), but opted not to sign last fall and re-opened his recruitment. Roberts' recruitment had been rather quiet throughout the season, but after averaging over 18 points a game, along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists, the Mid-Penn all-conference selection suddenly saw a spike in his recruiting as he quickly became one of the top unsigned prospects left on the recruiting board. After considering Virginia as well, Roberts decided to join the Redstorm program and pledged to Norm Roberts on Tuesday morning.

Ty Edmondson also committed to St. John's last month and you can place him on the St. John's roster for 2008-2009. Edmondson is an athletic and tall guard that will help run the show for St. John's, giving Malik Boothe help handling the ball next season. A very strong senior season was punctuated by winning the slam-dunk contest in the Kentucky-Ohio All-Star game. As a senior, Edmondson averaged 18.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals at UHA helping the Blazers to a 30-5 record helping the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) District 8 and Region 2 championship.

With the late additions of Wait, Edmondson and Roberts and the early commitment of Stith, St. John's has just one scholarships open for the 2008-2009. There have been indications that SJU remains involved in potential late qualifiers such as DeAndre Kane out of Schenley HS in Pittsburgh, former teammate of DJ Kennedy, and Sean Kilpatrick out of White Plains HS in New York. Both guards are quality recruits, but their academic situations raise questions on what class they will end up in. Another recruit that has definitely picqued the interest of St. John's is 6'5 shooting guard Donald Williams. The Louisiana native prepped this past season at Progressive Christian Academy in Maryland after failing to qualify out of high school. Williams recently completed a successful visit to the SJU campus and is also considering Marquette. Williams is a 2008 recruit.

If nobody is added for the class of 2008 at this point, St. John's will continue recruiting for the 2009 class with three scholarships available. With point guard taken care of, help up front and on the wing are the likely points of emphasis, four targets that get a lot of attention from St. John's include NY Gaucho AAU teammates Tevin Baskin (6'6 forward) and Dan Jennings (6'8 PF/C), Lincoln (NYC) HS 6'8 PF/C James Padgett and Linden (NJ) HS center David Bruce. Kevin Parrom is another player the Redstorm has been looking at very closely and the rumored addition of Oswald Cross to the SJU staff could help a lot in his recruitment, along with that off AAU teammate Omari Lawrence. Other wings on the list for Norm Roberts include Mount Vernon's Sherrod Wright and James Stukes of NYC.

Roberts recently received a vote of confidence from the St. John's administration, hoping to give him a lift on the recruiting trail, and signed a new rollover contract. However, the uncertainty of his future still hangs over the program like a 'storm cloud and will continue to handcuff his recruiting. Winning this season (2008-2009) still seems like a longshot in the Big East, but might even be too late to help with the recruiting of the class of 2009, which most will sign prior to the season beginning, but it would show progress, and that is what SJU desperately needs ASAP!

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2008-05-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

May 27, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Malik Stith (PG), 5'11 from Eash Mecklenberg (NC) HS

Projected 2008-2009 Roster:

Seniors: Anthony Mason (F), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
Juniors: None
Sophomores: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G), Sean Evans (F)
Freshman: Quincy Roberts (G), Ty Edmondson (PG)
2009 Commitments: Malik Stith (PG)

Long Island native Malik Stith is heading back home. Stith, who completed his senior year at East Mcklenberg High School last season has verbally committed to St. John's and will join Norm Roberts' squad after a year at prep school. Stith to St. John's (zagsblog) is the first commitment for the Redstorm in the class of 2009.

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Things have not gone well for St. John's. Another season of no post-season which was filled with embarrassing losses at Madison Square Garden. Seems like the ritual every spring in the program is who can get out first, this past year it was Larry Wright and Mike Cavataio leaving the program. The 'storm went o-fer in the early signing period, but managed a couple late period signees and also added a 2009 commitment prior to the Memorial Day holiday.

Malik Stith, a native of Long Island, committed to St. John's recently after completing his senior season at East Mecklenberg High School in North Carolina. Stith will prep one season at Bridgton Academy, the same institution that has sent current SJU players Paris Horne and Justin Burrell to the Redstorm program.

Stith had a big season at East Mecklenberg and his play this spring for the United Celtics impressed the St. John's staff enough to earn a scholarship offer. Others involved with Stith at this point were Wichita State, Winthrop and George Mason, but more would have been involved if they knew his academic situation and that he would be in the class of 2009.

Stith, the Southwestern 4A player of the year, made the boys all-state first team in North Carolina as he led East Mecklenberg to the class 4-A North Carolina High School basketball championship by scoring 20 points in the final game, a 72-63 win over Apex. He also added 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the game and his ability to handle the ball was the key component to running out the clock. Stith is a very good ball handler who is exceptionally quick with the ball. He will be a perfect compliment to Malik Boothe and give SJU another top-notch ball handler.

Norm Roberts' long-term future is very uncertain with the Redstorm and that is obviously not going to help on the recruiting trail. Despite that uncertainty, Roberts and staff were able to land a solid commitment from Harrisburg High School's Quincy Roberts in the 2008 late signing period. The 6'4, 190 lb guard was one time a commitment for Miami (FL), but opted not to sign last fall and re-opened his recruitment. Roberts' recruitment had been rather quiet throughout the season, but after averaging over 18 points a game, along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists, the Mid-Penn all-conference selection suddenly saw a spike in his recruiting as he quickly became one of the top unsigned prospects left on the recruiting board. After considering Virginia as well, Roberts decided to join the Redstorm program and pledged to Norm Roberts on Tuesday morning.

Ty Edmondson also committed to St. John's last month and you can place him on the St. John's roster for 2008-2009. Edmondson is an athletic and tall guard that will help run the show for St. John's, giving Malik Boothe help handling the ball next season. A very strong senior season was punctuated by winning the slam-dunk contest in the Kentucky-Ohio All-Star game. As a senior, Edmondson averaged 18.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals at UHA helping the Blazers to a 30-5 record helping the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) District 8 and Region 2 championship.

With the late additions of Edmondson and Roberts and the early commitment of Stith, St. John's has two scholarships open for the 2008-2009 season and still might be beating the bushes for a JUCO big man and are also involved in potential late qualifiers such as DeAndre Kane out of Schenley HS in Pittsburgh, former teammate of DJ Kennedy, and Sean Kilpatrick out of White Plains HS in New York. Both guards are quality recruits, but their academic situations raise questions on what class they will end up in.

If nobody is added for the class of 2008 at this point, St. John's will continue recruiting for the 2009 class with three scholarships available. With point guard taken care of, help up front and on the wing are the likely points of emphasis.four targets that get a lot of attention from St. John's include NY Gaucho AAU teammates Tevin Baskin (6'6 forward) and Dan Jennings (6'8 PF/C), Lincoln (NYC) HS 6'8 PF/C James Padgett and Linden (NJ) HS center David Bruce. Kevin Parrom is another player the Redstorm has been looking at very closely and the rumored addition of Oswald Cross to the SJU staff could help a lot in his recruitment, along with that off AAU teammate Omari Lawrence. Other wings on the list for Norm Roberts include Mount Vernon's Sherrod Wright and James Stukes of NYC.

Roberts recently received a vote of confidence from the St. John's administration, hoping to give him a lift on the recruiting trail, and signed a new rollover contract. However, the uncertainty of his future still hangs over the program like a 'storm cloud and will continue to handcuff his recruiting. Winning this season (2008-2009) still seems like a longshot in the Big East, but might even be too late to help with the recruiting of the class of 2009, which most will sign prior to the season beginning, but it would show progress, and that is what SJU desperately needs ASAP!

ST. JOHN'S EXTENDS CONTRACT OF NORM ROBERTS

2008-05-09T12:15:00.001-07:00

It seems that, much to the dismay of St. John's fans, Norm Roberts is going to the the head coach of the Redstorm for the foreseeable future. St. John's and Roberts Agree To a Renewed Contract (CSTV.com) that spans five seasons. The rollover agreement replaces the orignial five year deal Roberts signed in 2004.

Under Roberts, the rebuilding project in Queens has been rather slow. The Redstorm have yet to participate in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT under his direction and have only qualified once for the Big East Tournament.

Since Roberts first season in 2004-2005, the following players who entered the Redstorm program did not finish their eligibility with St. John's:
Dexter Gray
Cedric Jackson
Rodney Epperson
Jermaine Maybank
Ricky Torres
Qa'rron Calhoun
Larry Wright
Avery Patterson
Derwin Kitchen
Mike Cavataio

Next season's projected roster has nine of the 11 players in the freshman (2) and sophomore (7) classes.

Projected 2008-2009 Roster:

Seniors: Anthony Mason (F), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
Juniors: None
Sophomores: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G), Sean Evans (F)
Freshman: Quincy Roberts (G), Ty Edmondson (PG)

Good luck in the Big East next season!

NORM ROBERTS LOOKS TO STAFF CHANGE

2008-05-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

May 7, 2008

Norm Roberts is looking to shore up St. John’s recruiting in New York City and keep star forward Justin Burrell from transferring, he might be doing so in one hire with Oswald Cross. Cross is the former coach at the highly successful Our Saviour Lutheran High in the Bronx and is reportedly close to joining Roberts' staff in an administrative position with the Redstrorm.

Oswald currently works with the Long Island Panthers AAU program and is the former high school coach of Burrell’s, who has been considering a transfer, according to reports. SJU May Cross Paths With Coach (NY Daily News) Cross and make their position stronger in NYC. Cross is also a mentor to St. Ray’s forward Kevin Parrom, one of Roberts’ top local prospects in the Class of 2009.

Not sure if this move is more of desperation for Roberts.

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2008-04-30T05:23:00.000-07:00

April 29, 2008

COMMITMENT ALERT: Quincy Roberts (G), Harrisburg (PA) High School and Ty Edmondson (PG), University Heights (KY)

Projected 2008-2009 Roster:

Seniors: Anthony Mason (F), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
Juniors: None
Sophomores: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G), Sean Evans (F)
Freshman: Quincy Roberts (G), Ty Edmondson (PG)

It has nearly been a year since the last time we reported on a commitment for the St. John's basketball program and now two pull the trigger in two days as Quincy Roberts from Harrisburg (PA) and Ty Edmondson of University Heights Academy in Kentucky end the drought. Norm Roberts needed backcourt help with the recent transfer of Larry Wright and he followed up the news of Roberts to St. John's (zagsblog) with Edmondson to St. John's (zagsblog) being announced on the heels of the first commitment.

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Things have not gone well for St. John's. Another seaso of no post-season, filled with embarrassing losses at Madison Square Garden. More transfers out of the program dominate the news in he spring and, until April 29th, no recruiting news to speak off at all, unless you count the numerous area prospects that have opted for other schools for their college careers.

Norm Roberts long-term future is very uncertain with the Redstorm and that is obviously not going to help on the recruiting trail. Despite that uncertainty, Roberts and staff were able to land a solid commitment from Harrisburg High School's Quincy Roberts. The 6'4, 190 lb guard was one time a commitment for Miami (FL), but opted not to sign last fall and re-opened his recruitment. Roberts' recruitment had been rather quiet throughout the season, but after averaging over 18 points a game, along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists, the Mid-Penn all-conference selection suddenly saw a spike in his recruiting as he quickly became one of the top unsigned prospects left on the recruiting board. After considering Virginia as well, Roberts decided to join the Redstorm program and pledged to Norm Roberts on Tuesday morning.

It is late in the process and St. John's still has three scholarships open and could use some post offense and another point guard. Adam Zagoria recently took a look at the St. John's Recruiting Options (Zagsblog) in the backcourt. Karon Burton, 5'7 point guard from the powerful Chester program is an intriguing option at this point. Burton is a flamboyant lead guard and has a connection with Quincy Roberts as the two Penssylvania hoop stars are Bonded by Tragedy (SI.com) after losing their fathers.

Other players on the radar include Ty Edmondson of University Heights (KY) High school, Bobby Maze of Hutchinson (KS) CC, Stefan Bonneau on SUNY-Orange and Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains, all guards and all with question marks of if they are Big East-level players. Another big man on the radar is Jordan Henriquez who is likely to attend prep school next season.

Now, you can take Edmondson off the list of possibilities and place him on the St. John's roster for 2008-2009. Edmondson is an athletic and tall guard that will help run the show for St. John's, giving Malik Boothe help handling the ball. A very strong senior season was punctuated by winning the slam-dunk contest in the Kentucky-Ohio All-Star game. As a senior, Edmondson averaged 18.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals at UHA helping the Blazers to a 30-5 record helping the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) District 8 and Region 2 championship.

With no players left in the rising junior class, St. John's might be wise to go the JUCO route to fill a couple holes and try to balance their roster just a bit. Either way, the seven-player sophomore class makes roster distribution difficult and the pickings are definitely slim at this point in time.

Quincy Roberts and Ty Edmondson are solid additions, especially for the later signing period, but the Redstorm and coach Norm Roberts still have work to do and little to work with as the Class of 2008 thins out rapidly.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S @ NOTRE DAME

2008-03-05T06:52:00.001-08:00

March 5, 2008

Notre Dame looks for their second consecutive undefeated season at home when they host St. John's on senior night at the Joyce Center. The Irish have already locked up an NCAA bid while the Redstorm are still battling Providence and DePaul for the last spot in the Big East Tournament.

Here are the local media preiews and game stories on tonight's contest:

Numbers Show Irish Not Selfish (South Bend Tribune)
Kurz Has No Time for Nostalgia (SB Tribune)
Kurz Just Leads by Example (Chicago Tribune)
Irish Senior Reflects, Looks Toward NCAA's (Journal Gazette)

Notre Dame closes their 2007-2008 home schedule as a 16-point favorite against St. John's. The Irish fans will also get the opportunity to celebrate the career of steady and consistent Rob Kurz, whose leadership and unselfishness has left an obvious stamp on this team the last two seasons.

The Irish have not lost in the Joyce Center in more than two seasons and will look to keep that streak alive tonight. Already having clinched a bye in the Big East Tournament, the Irish will look to better their NCAA seed and have a better opportunity for Rob Kurz to win his first NCAA game. After missing the Big Dance as a freshman and a sophomore, the chance to dance was short-lived last year when the Irish were knocked out of th e1st round by Winthrop.

Tonight against the Redstorm, Notre Dame will look to pound the ball into their unstoppable force, Luke Harangody. Kurz should also have another stat-stuffing game with points, rebounds and assists and doing what is necessary to make things easier for Harangody.

The Irish also have too much perimeter firepower, led by Staten Island hative Kyle McAalarney to give the Redstorm much of a chance keeping up in this game.

St. John's rallied behind the news that embattled head coach Norm Roberts will return next season and beat Seton Hall over the weekend to pull even with Providence and DePaul for the last Big East tournament spot. The Redstorm have to win at least one more game in order to qualify, but with tonight's road trip to Notre Dame and a home date with West Virginia this weekend, the possibilities are not looking favorable. However, they do have somethign to play for, so the effort should be there, even if they are likely to come up short.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Notre Dame 84 St. John's 67

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

2008-02-27T06:12:00.000-08:00

February 27, 2008

Georgetown looks to continue their quest for a Big East regular season championship and can not afford to slip up with Marquette and Louisville remaining on the schedule after tonight's meeting with St. John's.

For the Redstorm, another disappointing season winds down. After a three game winning streak provided some hope for this year and the future, SJU has lost four straight, scoring just 51 points a game and losing by an average margin of 18.5 PPG.

Here are the local media pregame stories and previews on the game:

Redstorm Can't Match Hoyas' Rise
Too Soon For St. John's to Quit on Norm Roberts (Staten Island Advance)
A Young Hoya Drives With a Steady Hand (Washington Post)
Georgetown is Next on Storm's Horizon (NY Post)

Goergetown and St. John's, longtime rivals and original cornerstone members of the Big East conference, met earlier this season in Madison Square Garden and the opposite directions both programs have moved in has never been so obvious. Georgetown, on the home floor of the Redstorm, handed SJU their worst Big East loss ever in a 74-42 defeat. The score was 41-14 at the half!

John Thompson III and Norm Roberts were hired to restore their programs' good names. Georgetown was in the Final Four last season, St. John's looks like their will miss the Big East Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons. Not the direction the SJU fans were hoping for.

Georgetown is a 17-pt favorite tonight, and again, I see St. John's struggling to score points against the Hoyas. Georgetown's defense stifled the Redstorm in the earlier meeting, holding them to 10 field goals in the entire game.

Offensively, Georgetown can come at you in many directions, Jesse Sapp is strong in the open floor, Jonathan Wallace can spot up and hit the three-pointer, DaJuan Summers is bursting with potential as an inside/out offensive threat and Big East Preseason Player of the Year Roy Hibbert mans the middle. Freshman Austin Freeman provides another new element to the mix as a scorer and off the bench comes Patrick Ewing Jr and Vernon Macklin, along with Jeremiah Rivers. The options to put the ball in the basket are endless.

For St. John's, they are not so lucky. Their offense basically starts and stops with Anthiny Mason Jr. Although, when Mason was injured, the 'Storm reeled off three straight wins, two with him unavailable and the first one with him limited because of injury. In his place, sophomore Larry Wright looked to regain some of the form that had people excited about him as a freshman and other players became more involved. However, they are in another swwon with a four-game losing streak and hardly competitive for LONG stretches in each game.

Again, Georgetown will score snough and St. John's will not. The Hoyas could very well be looking ahead to their tough close to the Big East schedule, but on their home floor, they should have an easy time with the Redstorm.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 74 St. John's 55

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

2008-02-20T06:53:00.001-08:00

February 20, 2008

Marquette has won two in a row impressively and now they head out on the road to take on St. John's. The Redstorm have followed their three-game winning streak with back-to-back losses where they scored a combined 85 points.

Here are the local media previews and game stories on tonight's contest:

Stepping into the Fray (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Storm Read for a Rumble (NY Post)

The Golden Eagles are coming off their punishing of Pittsburgh Friday night and now look to finish the Big East schedule strong. It was an up and down first 2/3 of the conference schdule for Tom Crean's club, but wins over Seton Hall and Pitt in impressive fashion look to have righted the MU ship.

St. John's, well...their young squad has certainly taken their lumps. A three-game winning streak over South Florida, Rutgers and Providence showed the team is capable of gutting out a few wins, but their last two have been more of the same. Their young squad is very prone to horrendous offensive play against solid defensive teams, so the ball pressure that Marquette will apply will make scoring a very difficult chore for the 'storm tonight.

Marquette definitely is not the prettiest team to watch. They extend ball pressyre with physical guards. Not a great shooting team by any means, Marquette likes to attack the basket for their points in transition or in the halfcourt. A team in a zone with long and athletic players could give them fits (Louisville, UConn), but that is not the make-up of St. John's.

Marquette is about an 8-pt favorite, and with how difficult it will be for SJU to score points, I think the Golden Eagles cruise past that number.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Marquette 70 St. John's 58

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

2008-02-13T06:31:00.001-08:00

February 13, 2008

The theme continues tonight with Cincinnati looking to avenge an early defeat on the road to St. John's. The Redstorm beat Mick Cronin's Bearcats 70-58 earlier this season in Queens and now UC will look to even the season series at home.

Here are the local media pregame previews and stories on tonight's match-up:

Cronin Finds Kindrid Spirit (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Don't look now, but Norm Roberts and St. John's blow into Cincinnati riding a three game winning streak. Two of those wins have come on the road (South Florida and Rutgers) and their last two, including a thrilling win over Providence on Saturday, have come with leading scorer Anthony Mason out with an ankle injury.

While Mason has been out, the Redstorm have seem the re-emergence of shooting guard Larry Wright. The sophomore scored 16 in the win over PC and is averaging over 14 in the three-game winning streak.

Prior to the three-game rally, St. John's only had one conference victory, and that came over the Bearcats early in January. Since that game, the Redstorm has been a team languishing near the bottom of the standing fighting for a bid to the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden while the Bearcats have stayed around the upper half of the standings. Sitting at 6-5 with home games against St. John's and South Florida in their next two games, the Bearcats can solidify their position with a win tonight.

The Redstorm have picked it up on the defensive end of the court and they have the ability to be a tough defensive team. Sometimes it takes time for a young group to learn to maintain that intensity on defense, but over the last three games they seem to be coming around.

Cincinnati is also winning games in a similar fashion. They are not going to score a lot of points on most nights and rely on Deonta Vaughn a great deal for their offense. John Williamson is a tough forward as well. This promises to be a low-scoring affair and could come down to the wire.

The Bearcats are 6.5-pt favorites and should be able to pull it out in the end, but a confident SJU squad is likely to give them a tough battle as St. John's looks to sweep the season series.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Cincinnati 64 St. John's 59

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

2008-02-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

February 9, 2008

The Provience Friars travel to New York City to take on the St. John's Redstorm in a Big East conference showdown Saturday afternoon. Just one game seperates the two teams in the conference standings and that one game could be the deciding factor between participation in the Big East Conference Tournament or staying home in March.

St. John's has come back to life a bit with wins over South Florida and Rutgers in the last week. Although those wins do not really mean a whole lot, since they were the two teams below SJU in the standings, they both did come on the road and has put St. John's in position to challenge for a spot in the conference's Garden Party next month.

The most impressive item out of their two wins was that the victory against Rutgers came without the services of their best player, Anthony Mason Jr, who missed the contest with an ankle injury.

Against Rutgers, St. John's was not pretty, winning 52-45, but they hunkered down on defense, hit the boards hard and scrapped their way to a win. They have players who are athletic and strong, just not overly skilled on offense. After being beaten badly in their previous three games, they have turned things around and now have a chance to pick up more steam at home.

Providence needed a 2nd half rally to save, at least momentarily, their season. While dropping four consecutive games to drop to 3-6 in the Big East, pressure was mounting as fans were getting louder and louder with their 'Fire Welsh' chants in reference to PC head coach Tim Welsh. In 10 seasons as the Friars' head coach, Welsh has no wins in the NCAA Tournament. This was the year they hoped would change that, but a preseason injury to Sharaud Curry has limited the point guard to just 8 minutes all season and he is officially out for the year.

Without Curry, PC has been VERY inconsistent offensively. They rely on the perimeter shooting touch of Dwain Williams, Brian McKenzie and Jeff Xavier for most of their offense. Geoff McDermott battles a sore knee to play the forward spot and the effecient Randall Hanke makes good of his opportunities, but he has a tendency to be pushed around the post too often.

With the lack of a true point guard, the Friars are not able to consistently distribute the ball to make scoring easier for their players. They will pressure St. John's with their outside shooting and if Weyinmi Efejuku can give Tim Welsh what he is looking for in terms of consistent effort, the Friars should have too many offensive options for SJU.

The Redstorm was effective packing it in against the poor shooting Scarlet Knights on Wednesday, but that strategy will be hard to execute against a better shooting Providence club. Freshman Justin Burrell is an athletic forward who faces an interesting battle against McDermott. Larry Wright has had a disappointing season as a sophomore for the 'Storm, but he is capable of scoring, if Mason Jr. is out or limited because of his ankle, they will need Wright to provide some scoring punch, otherwise, it will be very tough for SJU to score points, even against a defense that allows a lot of them.

With Mason being an unknown, I have to side with the deeper and better shooting Friars in this one.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Providence 67 St. John's 58

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S @ SOUTH FLORIDA

2008-02-01T12:57:00.001-08:00

February 2, 2008

Not much really to talk about this game as two teams likely heading nowhere meet in South Florida. To me, the Bulls are possibly the most disappointing team in the conference as they do have the talent to be doing more. Kentrell Gransberry is a load inside and Dominique Jones put up some good numbers earlier this year against solid competition. The Bulls have some more experience and being on their home court should result in a win.

St. John's is reeling right now. Their offense is atrocious and Anthony Mason Jr looks to be the only players capable right now of scoring against Big East competition. They are inexperienced and lack offensive talent. They do have some athleticism, but the season is quickly getting out of control.

NBE Blogger Prediciton: South Florida 70 St. John's 59

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

2008-01-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2008

Georgetown looks to strenghten their hold of the Big East conference lead in the standings in the next few games as they face St. John's, Seton Hall and South Florida. Tonight at St. John's is the lone road game of the next three.

On the other hand the young St. John's squad is struggling under Norm Roberts. The Redstorm have lost 11 of their last 14, including last week's home disaster to Pittsburgh. In his fourth year at the helm for SJU, the lack of progress the Redstorm have made as a program under Roberts is starting to get noticed by more and more. Sure, there is eight freshman on the roster...but, by year four, the foundation should have been laid.

Weaker Foes Lie Ahead for Georgetown (Washington Times)
Down on the Farm and Up in Washington, Hoyas' Wallace Excels (NY Times)
Ewing Has Big Hand in Hoyas Success (Washington Post)

The Hoyas may be 6-1 in the Big East, but they have not exactly been cruising to victory night in and night out. The narrowly escaped with a home win over Georgetown on a last second 3-pter by Roy Hibbert, survived in OT against Syracuse as the Orange missed potential game-winners at the end of regulation and OT and on Saturday they survived Morgantown on a late three by Jesse Sapp and a last second, game-saving block by Patrick Ewing Jr. The Hoyas have been taking the opponents best shots, and although it has not always been pretty, the 6-1 record sure looks nice in this crazy conference.

Not much has been positive for St. John's, although the individual play of Anthony Mason Jr has been impressive. In losses to Pittsburgh and Louisville last week, the Redstorm managed a meager 114 points combined in the two defeats, Mason Jr scored 58 of those points. Can anyone else on this team score? Not really. St. John's strengths are in their raw athletic ability and toughness, although for a group of freshman, that is not a lot to hold their hat on in the toughest and most physical conference in the country.

In the end, this is the case of too much talent and too much experience on hand for Georgetown, who are 10-pt road favorites. The Hoyas may not look to run up and down and score a lot of points and the Redstorm will gladly play at that pace, but the Hoyas are MUCH more effecient offensively and will pull away for victory.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 74 St. John's 58

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

2008-01-25T11:46:00.001-08:00

January 26, 2008

Hopefully for Norm Roberts and his young St. John's Redstrom, Wednesday night will be the low water mark of the season. The Redstorm, playing their first Big East game at Madison Square Garden, were pounded by Pittsburgh 81-57 in front of a crowd that barely filled 25% of the season.

Louisville has been playing well and bounced back from a tough loss at Seton Hall with a dominating win over South Florida on the road. The Cardinals seem to have their injury woes behind them and are moving forward. Not quite in a stright-line, but progress is evident.

Prior to the Pitt debacle, St. John's played West Virginia tough in Morgantown and there seemed to be some hope. Against the Panthers the only bright spot was Anthony Mason's 29-pt performance. The rest of the team combined for 28 as a colelctive group.

Now the 'Storm travels to Freedom Hall and you do feel a little but of pity towards the young group. Louisville looks to have a clear advantage at every position on the floor and if you went with a 2nd five from Louisville against the SJU top 5, you would be hard pressed to find more than one SJU advantage.

But, the play the games for a reason. St. John's does have some athletes that can get up and down the floor and defend with vigor. If they find anyone willing to consistently knock down a few shots, they would improve greatly. The best candidate seems to be sophomore Larry Wright, but he seems to have falled out of favor with the SJU staff.

Louisville needs to play to their strengths, get the ball in deep to their post players and take advantage of some excellent passers for players at non-guard positions. Louisville has a mix of experience and as much raw talent as anyone in the conference, but they also need to show a maturation in managing the game with consistent effort and shot selection. There are times when they can be downright dominating defensively and others when they allow poor play to snowball. At home against the young Redstorm, I look for a dominating defensive performance and will likely get it.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Louisville 73 St. John's 52

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

2008-01-23T05:23:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2008

The Pittsburgh Panthers head to New York City to meet the Redstorm of St. John's. The Panthers return to Madison Square Garden where, earlier this season, they had one of their biggest victories in recent memory, but in the same game, suffered a tough loss as well. St. John's will hope to surprise the Panthers, yet again, on Broadway.

Here are some local media previews and stories on the game:

The Future is There for St. John's (Big East Basketball Report)
Former High School Teammates Reunite When SJU Battles Pitt (NY Daily News)
Pittsburgh Perseveres Without Injured Starters (NY Times)
Storm Brace for Pitt Stop (NY Post)
Pitt Hopes for Reversal of Fortune (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Shooting Practice Pays off for Panthers' Benjamin

The last two times that Pittsburgh has entered Madison Square Garden to face the Redstorm under Jamie Dixon, the Panthers have lost. It has not been an issue of playing under the bright lights of Broadway as Dixon has guided the Panthers to wins over Alabama, Memphis and Duke in non-conference games at MSG and Pitt has won seven Big East Tournament games in his four seasons as the head coach in the World's Most Famous Arena. However, the Redstorm have been effective in keeping the game bogged down and low scoring, much like Cincinnati did in the Bearcats' 62-59 win over Pitt last weekend.

The Panthers sport quite a New York City flavor themselved with area natives such as Ronald Ramon, Keith Benjamin and Tyrell Biggs from the area as part of their 8-man rotation. Injured players Levance Fields and Austin Wallace are also New York City natives. Sometimes going back home is tough on players, but Pitt's success in other contests in New York City throws that theory out of the window.

Earlier this season Pitt knocked off Duke in front of a large Duke contingent on national TV, 65-64 on a Levance Fields 3-pter in the waning seconds. In the game, Pitt lost senior G/F Mike Cook for the season with a knee injury and Fields, who is out until at least mid-February, went down with a foot injury in their next game. Without two starters, the Panthers have a much smaller margin of error. Foul trouble, especially with DeJuan Blair, and some inconsistent shooting nights from the perimeter will make many games without Fields a struggle. That really bit them in their last outing.

St. John's is a young team still trying to find their footing in the Big East. The Redstorm have lost 9 of 12 and had a disappointing loss at Carnesecca Arena in their last hime game when they let a 9-pt second half lead slip away and turn into a 60-54 loss to DePaul. Last week they hung tough on the road against West Virginia showing more energy and dominating the boards in a 73-64 loss.

The 'Storm will need to continue that energy tonight on the defensive end and on the boards against a Pittsburgh team that will likely be showing more life on the floor than they did in their last outing. Both teams need to take care of the basketball. St. John's might be a little short-handed with Eigene Lawrence hobbling, freshman Malik Boothe could be called on more often and he would be in charge of applying ball pressure to the Panther guards, which is an area other teams can exploit in the absence of Fields. St. John's is also moving Ayodele Coker into the starting line-up to give them added toughness and size to face the Panthers.

If St. John's can control the tempo and keep this game on pace to be played in the 50's, with the first team to 60 winning, they can follow the plan that has led to their previous two victories against Pitt. Pitt plays well in transition with Sam Young finishing and DeJuan Blair finding room inside. If the game slows and the Redstorm can pack in a zone defense, it could become a perimeter shooting contest, something neither team particularly excels at and plays more into the favor of St. John's in staying in the game and stealing it late.

I look for Pittsburgh to have a little more life tonight and pull it out as a 55.5-pt road favorite.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Pittsburgh 67 St. John's 60

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S @ WEST VIRGINIA

2008-01-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

January 17, 2008

St. John's kicks off a stretch of games with West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Georgetown tonight with a trip to Morgantown. The Redstorm are 1-3 in Big East play and their young squad will really begin to learn about life in the Big East the next couple of weeks.

West Virginia loves to play in the Coliseum and they are home tonight, fresh off an 81-61 win over Syracuse last Sunday. The Mountaineers average just 55 PPG on the road (0-2) in conference play, but at home it is a different story as they average 80 PPG (2-0) with wins over SU and Marquette.

Here are the local media previews on tonight's game:

WVU Win Streak on Line vs. St. John's (Times West Virginian)
Streaks at Stake as WVU Welcomes St. John's (Journal Gazette)
WVU's Butler Has to Play Smarter (Daily Mail)

This one looks to be a big mismatch. West Virginia is an experienced and deep group that excels on their home court. St. John's does play up to 11 players, however, seven of them are freshmen and life away from home has been difficult.

St. John's will scrap and compete, especially on the defensive end. They have some length and athleticism, but their youth can cause breakdowns and WVU will make you pay for breakdowns with lay-ups and 3-pt shots.

The Redstorm will look to get points in the middle, the soft spot of West Virginia. Freshman Justin Burrell could have a big game with points and rebounds, but they will need someone else to step up offensively and keep pace with West Virginia. Anthony Mason Jr is certainly capable, but he will likely be the one guy Bob Huggins game plans against, forcing someone else to step up, with the Redstorm, I am not sure if there is anyone else at this point.

West Virginia will likely have four or five offensive weapons on the floor at all times, led by 3-pt marksman Alex Ruoff and the athletic Joe Alexander. Darris Nichols will run the effecient offense and WVU should cruise, again, on their home floor as 16-pt favorites.

NBE Blogger Prediction: West Virginia 78 St. John's 59

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

2008-01-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

January 12, 2008

DePaul travels to New York to take on the St. John's Redstorm in a high noon Big East match-up. DePaul comes into the contest with a 2-1 record in the Big East after opening conference play with a three-game homestand. A loss to Georgetown was preceeded by wins over Villanova and Providence to begin conference play.

Here are the local media previews on the game:

Along for the Roller-Coaster Ride (Chicago Tribune)
Inconsistent DePaul Heads off to St. John's
Keeping Talent at Home Not Easy for St. John's, DePaul (Daily Herald)
SJU Has to Start Stormin' (NY Post)

On the season DePaul is 6-8 anf just 2-4 away from home, including 1-2 in true road contests, losing at Kansas and at Creighton by double-digits. Their lone road win was a 70-64 decision over Detroit.

In their three conference games, freshman Mac Koshwal has averaged a double-double (12 pts and 10 rebounds) and has benefited from improved consistency of their point guard play. Leading scorer on the season, Draelin Burns, has struggled a bit in conference play, averaging just 11.3 PPG while shooting a miserable 28.6% from the floor (10-35) and 9% from the arc (1-11). To win on the road, DePaul will need their veteran leader to show them the way.

Despite Burns' difficulty on offense, a few other players have picked up the slack, especially Will Walker (12 PPG in BE action) who has hit seven of 14 3-pt attempts in the three conference games. Dar Tucker is another exciting freshman in a league full of them and has showed his talents with 29 points over the last two outings.

Points could be difficult to come by as the Redstorm are a very good defensive team. Their starting line-up has very good athletic ability at the wing positions and excellent length. The Redstorm has lost a couple tough road games (at UConn and Syracuse) but had a win over an improving Cincinatti in between. The Redstorm is 7-7 on the season and have been led by Justin Burrell in conference play. The athletic freshman forward is averaging 17 PPG and nearly 8 rebounds in conference action. He shows an outstanding touch from the foul line, going 13-13 from the stripe in conference play. Anthony Mason is looking healthier and healthier each time out and he is filling up the stat sheet and contribues nearly 14 PPG in conference play.

One mystery has been the disappearance of Larry Wright from the regular rotation. Wright showed potential as a freshman and on a young team, he was being counted on to step up this season. He has averaged just 12 minutes a game in conference play, but shows he can still put some points on the board in a hurry, scoring 29 points in those 36 minutes. Eight of his nine field goals in the last three games have been from beyond the arc.

Scoring is the key for St. John's. They seem to have too many players in the rotation that do no offer much of a scoring threat, but nearly everyone can defend and rebound. If Norm Roberts can find a way to unleash the offensive talents of Wright, Rob Thomas and others while keeping up the defense, SJU becomes a very tough out, especially at home.

This game will be determines by which team makes shots. Playing at home against a team playing their first conference road game, I expect SJU to be more comfortable and that should lead to a better shooting afternoon.

NBE Blogger Prediction: St. John's 66 DePaul 60

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEWS: ST. JOHN'S @ CONNECTICUT

2008-01-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

January 8, 2008

Connecticut and St. John's enter tonight's Big East contest both at 1-1 in conference play. The Redstorm split last week with a loss at Syracuse and a home win over Cincinnati. The Huskies earned a road win ovr Seton Hall before dropping a tough one at Notre Dame.

UConn has the advantage in this game in nearly every category, but the Redstorm will scrap and claw on the defensive end for the full forty minutes. They will have to find the right combination of scoring inside and out to keep pace with the high octane Huskies, so look for them to try to slow the pace down and force the game to be played in a halfcourt setting.

The Huskies want to run, run and run some more. AJ Price and Jerome Dyson are a guard combination that fits that style of play really well. Their size, strength and athletic ability in the frontcourt will be tough to match for the Redstorm.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Connecticut 80 St. John's 64

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

2008-01-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

January 5, 2008

Talk about a team whose fortunes have turned around in a big way! Cincinnati looked like they were headed to another abysmal Big East campaign under Mick Cronin, mired in a 5-game losing streak and sitting at 4-7 on the season. They had shown some improvement against a very tough schedule, but even a win over Miami (OH) did not erase the opinion that the Bearcats were likely headed to a finish amongst the bottom two of the conference.

Then, under the radar of many New Year's day plans, the Bearcats go to Louisville and knock off one of the two preseason conference favorites, 58-57.

Now, Cincinnati heads to St. John's looking for a second straight road win and with four of their next five at home, maybe the tide can turn for UC.

The game will not be easy, despite the feel good win over Louisville, they will be facing a mad Redstorn squad who have lost six of their last eight games. Like UC, SJU is full of freshmen, but getting home could be the elixir for what ails SJU as five of their last eight have been away from home and two others were at Madison Square Garden in the Aeropostale Holiday Festival.

While on a trip to Hawaii, SJU did get the serviced of Anthony Mason Jr back, who had missed most of the OOC schedule with an injured ankle and Rob Thomas became eligible and provides the potential for more depth and scoring bunch in the front court.

SJU does have some experience with Mason, a junior, and senior Eugene Lawrence running the point. Sophomore Larry Wright was expected to have a breakout season, but he has struggled thus far and has seen his playign time cut considerably recently. After that, the team relies on freshmen, including Justin Burrell and DJ Kennedy who have been playing very well early in their careers.

SJU has some tough defenders with good athleticism and solid frames. They need to be more skilled with the ball offensively and Wright's struggles and Mason's injury has limited their scoring ability.

There was nothing pretty about Cincinnati's win over Louisville if you were not a Bearcat fan. Cincinnati turned the ball over 16 times, attempted just six free throws, they were outrebounded, but they did play defense. Louisville shot just 36% from the field and made just 3-23 from beyond the 3-pt arc. They got just enough offense and hit an uncharacteristic 57% (8-14) of their 3-pt shots. They got solid play from their veterans (Jamual Warren, John Williamson and Deonta Vaughn) and a pair of freshmen, Anthony McClain and Rashad Bishop, provided big contributions on both ends of the floor.

Although the contest is on ESPN Classic Saturday night, a classic is probably not what we will get. With both teams not being the best at shooting the ball, but strong defensively, a new dorm could be built in Queens with the bricks we will see. On their home floor, I do think St. John's finds enough offense to pull out a very close and tough win.

NBE Blogger Prediction: St. John's 63 Cincinnati 58

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

2008-01-02T06:03:00.001-08:00

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

BIG EAST 2007-2008 PREVIEW: 14) ST. JOHN'S

2007-09-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

September 23, 2007

ST. JOHN'S ESSENTIALS:

Official Website of the St. John’s Redstorm

Official 2007-2008 St. John’s Roster & Bios

Meet Coach Norm Roberts

Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden: The Homes of the Redstorm.

2007-2008 St. John’s Redstorm Schedule

OVERVIEW:

Norm Roberts enters his fourth season at St. John’s still in search of returning the Redstorm to their past glory in the Big East conference. Strides were made in the 2006-2007 season in which Roberts guided the ‘Storm to their first Big East Tournament appearance in four seasons, however, a post-season appearance in the NIT or NCAA Tournament still alludes St. John’s under Roberts and getting that to change in the 2007-2008 season might be a tall order.

Due to graduation and a continuous revolving door of players leaving the program, the Redstorm are forced to ‘rebuild’ already under Roberts. However, due to their previous lack of success, it is unclear exactly what they are trying to ‘rebuild’ when in reality, it looks as though they are starting over with seven incoming freshman joining just four returning players with Big East experience. St. John’s will be looking for contributions from up to eight players who have never competed at the Division 1-A level, not exactly the formula for success in this conference (see Connecticut and Cincinnati circa 2006-2007, as examples.

It has not been all bad for that long, in 2002-2003 St. John’s was the NIT Champions, following an NCAA appearance in 2001-2002, a 2-seed in 1999-2000 and a run to the Elite 8 in 1998-1999 under Mike Jarvis. However, his lack of recruiting and some off the court issues quickly led to the bottom falling out with a disastrous season in 2003-2004 which led to Jarvis losing his job and Roberts coming into the picture for the 2004-2005 season. Brought in with a reputation as a strong recruiter with discipline, he looked like a good fit for a school in need of a lift in both areas, especially in the local circles.

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However, while John Beilein was able to take West Virginia from a similar situation after a 1-15 conference record in the 2001-2002 Big East campaign to the Elite 8 in 2004-2005 West Virginia also saw a coach leave in-season and had another leave quickly after being hired after the season because of a lack of institutional control and pending NCAA penalties, Roberts has not seen such success and, after losing over 60% of their scoring and 53% of their rebounding in Big East action from last season, matching their seven win conference total of a season ago, even with two additional conference games, is a tall order,

2006-2007 SEASON:

For the first time in four seasons the Redstorm qualified for the Big East Tournament, which is played on their home court at Madison Square Garden. They did so by posting a 7-9 conference mark, which was highlighted by two-game home sweep of Syracuse and Notre Dame in a 48-hour period in January. They also started Big East play with a nice win over DePaul and finished the season with a win over Providence. In between St. John’s managed wins over Cincinnati, South Florida and Rutgers.

The Redstorm were never able to develop any consistency. Following up their stirring wins over the Orange and Irish, St. John’s bombed in their next two, losing by 26 at Pitt and by 24 at home against Georgetown. They also suffered a 27-pt loss at West Virginia and a 24-point loss at Louisville, being completely outclassed in those contests.

From that 2006-2007 squad, Lamont Hamilton, the team’s leading scorer and rebounding on the season has graduated. Also, Aaron Spears and Daryll Hill (plagued again by injuries) have used up their eligibility. However, the biggest blow to their ‘Storm’s chances this season was the transfers of Avery Patterson, Qa’rraan Calhoun and Ricky Torres, forcing the Redstorm to be very inexperienced this coming season. Eugene Lawrence and Anthony Mason are returning starters and Mason has the potential to have a very big year, however, he can not do it all alone for St. John’s.

THE BACKCOURT:

Two players return for 2007-2008 with experience in the St. John’s backcourt, senior Eugene Lawrence and sophomore Larry Wright. Lawrence was one of the top assist men in the Big East last year, averaging 5.6 on the season. However, with Lawrence, you also get a lot of turnovers, four per game, from the physical point guard. Lawrence doesn’t score a lot (about 7 PPG), but will have to assume more of an offensive mindset with the lack of experience around him.

Larry Wright showed some nice promise as a freshman, but averaged just 3.8 PPG in under 13 minutes of action in conference play last season. Wright did hit 46% (12-26) from 3-pt range in Big East play and he has exciting athletic ability which makes him a break-out candidate in his sophomore season. One thing is for certain, St. John’s is going to give him plant of chances to score and perform this year.

The Redstorm also add three newcomers to the backcourt in Malik Boothe, Paris Horne and DJ Kennedy. Boothe is a true point guard who will take care and deliver the basketball with great care. He is also a tenacious defender, although just standing 5’8. Boothe is a local NYC product and should be a very good point guard in the future. Horne is a 6’3 wing guard out of Delaware who prepped last season Bridgton Academy. Horne will be asked to provide some scoring pop from the outside. DJ Kennedy also joins the squad out of Pittsburgh’s Schenley High School. The multi-dimensional 6’5 G/F handles the ball very well and is an excellent passer for his size. He has excellent athletic ability, but needs to sharpen his skills to be highly successful in the Big East. He is ready to compete athletically and should see time early on.

THE FRONTCOURT:

St. John’s top returning player is junior forward Anthony Mason. The 6’7 small forward could be one of the most exciting players in the Big East and began to take his game to another level down the stretch which included improved consistency, averaging over 16 PPG in the last six Big East contests. Mason also led SJU in rebounding during league play. He combines great size and athletic ability with an inside/out game on the wing, hopefully the lack of bodies at SJU will not force him to play more of a ‘4’ position.

The only other returning player from last season is Tomas Jasiulionis, who averaged just 1.6 PPG in 8 minutes of action in league play. He will be pushed for time inside by freshmen Ayodele Coker and Justin Burrell. Both newcomers have exciting upside, but are still working on developing their basketball skills as there are still relatively new to the game. Coker is 6’10 and is already strong enough to play in the Big East. He is not afraid to mix it up in the post. He will help out on defense and rebounding, but expect him to pick up fouls quickly early on. Burrell is an exciting physical specimen that will try to dunk everything he can. To be as successful as he can be, he will have to improve his hands and learn more offensive moves to score inside against the bigger players in the conference. As Coker and Burrell develop, they should be a fine duo in the post for SJU in the future, but expect their baptism by fire to be rocky this season.

Adding depth in the frontcourt will be freshman Mike Cavataio on the wing and Sean Evans at forward. In most instances, both would be likely redshirt candidates, but SJU needs players now and both could be pressed into action. Cavataio could use a year to get stronger and Evans will be in his first year concentrating on basketball as the former football prospect has decided to pursue a career on the hardwood.

The final member of the St. John’s roster is forward Rob Thomas, who was forced to sit out last season to shore up his academics and then suffered a knee injury last spring. Thomas was not expected to be eligible until the second semester this season but now he will have to rehab even harder to get in shape, something that plagued him towards the end of his prep career. When in shape and on his game, Thomas is a dynamic offensive weapon inside and out, but it is to be determined how long it will take him to get backup to speed or if he can.

2007-2008 PREDICTION:

Last season, Connecticut welcomed in a recruiting class of seven highly touted freshmen and had a couple players with returning with Big East experience. St. John’s is in a similar situation this season, although their incoming players are not as highly regarded in recruiting circles and UConn was coming off an Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament and St. John’s did not even make it to the Elite 8 of the Big East Tournament. The Husky situation showed how tough it is to win with youth and inexperience dominating your roster in this league. I like some of the pieced that St. John’s has in place for two or three years down the road, however, player retention has not been strong in the program of late. Expect this team to struggle night in and night out, however they will also play hard and could steal a few games on the defensive end at home. It would be a minor surprise to see them qualify for the Big East Tournament, although that should be their goal. Anything more would be gravy.

BIG EAST PREDICTION: 5-13

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2007-05-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

May 12, 2007

COMMITMENT ALERT: DJ Kennedy, 6'5 G from Schenley HS, Pittsburgh (PA)

Projected 2007-2008 Roster:

SENIORS: Eugene Lawrence (G)
JUNIORS: Anthony Mason (F), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
SOPHOMRES: Larry Wright (G), Qa'rraan Calhoun (F)
FRESHMEN: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Mike Cavataio (G/F), Paris Horne (G), DJ Kennedy (G)

DeJuan Blair and DJ Kennedy, teammates on Schenley High's Pennsylvania State Championship team will both be playing in the Big East next season. Blair signed with Pittsburgh last fall and Schenley's Kennedy Picks St. John's (pittsburgh Post-Gazette) last night.

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St. John's pulled off a mini recruiting coup with the late period addition of DJ Kennedy our of Pittsburgh. For several years, it was Pittsburgh coming into the NYC area and plucking players like Chris Taft, Carl Krauser, Ron Ramon, Keith Benjamin, etc, but here, St. John's goes into the steel city and picks up a quality player in Kennedy.

This past season at Schenley HS, Kennedy teamed with Pitt recruit Dejuan Blair to win a state championship. Kennedy averaged over 17 PPG and showed the ability to slash to the basket for points and knock down big free throws under pressure time and time again. Kennedy is a versatile player that can handle the ball very well at 6'5 and, like Blair, is an excellent passer for a high school player (especially for a non-point guard). Kennedy is not a great shooter, but he can get on a roll and he has the confidence to knock them down when needed. The St. John's staff got in the race for Kennedy late, but they earned the commitment when Kennedy pledged to St. John's over finalists Georgia and New Mexico State. At times in the last couple months Pittsburgh, Marquette, Xavier and Wisconsin were seen monitoring Kennedy's progress as well and he took a visit last fall to Kansas State when Bob Huggins was still their coach.

The Redstorm now have a seven-member freshmen class for 2007-2008 with the late additions of Kennedy, Paris Horne and Mike Cavataio, along with previous commitments from Ayodele Coker, Malik Boothe and Justin Burrell. The Redstorm will also add the services of Rob Thomas whi is sitting out this season and should be eligible to play by second semester next season. However, Thomas might be out for the entire season due to a knee injury that required surgery in early April. I am a little surprised the Redstorm did not opt to add some frontcourt depth with their last scholarships at this time. With the graduation of Lamont Hamilton and Aaron Spears, they are left only with Tomas Jasiulionis and freshman Ayodele Coker with the ideal size to play the post positions in the Big East. However, in the spring period, the pickings are usually slim and if you can add soem talent, which SJU did, you managed to accomplish something very good on the recruiting trail.

This is a very solid group of recruits for Norm Roberts. I would not expect anyone to come in and set the conference on fire, but over the course of four-year careers, they have added some solid college players. Justin Burrell is one that could really blossom as he has all the physical tools to be a stud in the Big East, but has only been playing basketball a few years. Coker has loads of potential for a big man and Boothe looks like a classic true point guard. Kennedy also should fare well in his career. Now, the key is keeping these kids at St. John's as nine of Roberts' previous 14 signees have not made it to the end of their eligibility with the Redstorm.

St. John's can continue their efforts with the class of 2008, but they currently have only two scholarships open for the class. Another big man to play strong inside, probably as a PF, will probably be the biggest priority. We will continue to monitor their prospects as we move towards spring.

ST. JOHN'S 2007-2008 SNAPSHOT

2007-05-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2007

Head Coach: Norm Roberts
2006-2007 Record: 16-15 (7-9 Big East)

Returning Players:
Eugene Lawrence, Senior (Point Guard)
Anthony Mason, Junior (Forward)
Tomas Jasiulionis, Junior (Center)
Qa'rraan Calhoun, Sophomore (Forward)
Larry Wright, Sophomore (Guard)
Rob Thomas, Freshman (Forward)

Incoming Players:
Justin Burrell (Power Forward)
Malik Boothe (Point Guard)
Ayodele Coker (Center)
Mike Cavataio (Guard/Forward)
Paris Horne (Guard)

Graduated:
Lamont Hamilton
Daryll Hill
Aaron Spears

Transferred Out:
Avery Patterson
Ricky Torres

Open Items/Issues:
St. John's is still actively recruiting for the 2007 class as they currently sit with two scholarships open. The urgency to add talent this spring multiplied with the news that Rob Thomas underwent knee surgery to repair torn ligaments and is most likely out for the season. With Avery Patterson and Ricky Torres transferring out, adding to the long list of recruits not panning out for St. John's under Norm Roberts (Dexter Gray, Cedric Jackson, Derwin Kitchen, etc), the Redstorm heads into the 2007-2008 season with just five healthy returning players.

St. John's has added two spring signees, Paris Horne from the NE prep school scene, and NYC CHSAA all-league performer Mike Cavataio. With two scholarships open, Norm Roberts has been diligently pursuing prospects this spring and is eagerly awaiting the decision of 6'6 G/F DJ Kennedy of Pittsburgh, PA who is deciding between Georgia, New Mexico State and St. John's.

Summary:
At the minimum, Norm Roberts had to make the Big East Tournament last season. He accomplished the minimum as the Redstorm got into the tournament for the first time in four seasons as the conference's 11th seed. It is true that Roberts took over a program in dire need of a lift as the Redstorm was driven into the ground under Mike Jarvis and their influence in NYC was minimal among recruits. The situation was not too different from what Pittsburgh and Georgetown had sunk to under Ralph Willard and Craig Esherick. In their thrid years, Ben Howland had Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16 and John Thompson III had Georgetown in the Final Four in year #3. St. John's sits in the most fertile area of basketball talent in the NYC/NJ metro area and has a jewel of an on-campus practice facility recently constructed. Year #4 is not a year that Norm Roberts can afford to go backwards in.

Recruiting has improved for SJU and their local haul of Burrell, Boothe and Cavataio shows they are doing better on the homefront. Anthony Mason and Qa'rraan Calhoun are a promising pair of forwards that will get a nice teammate in Burrell. Boothe will team with Eugene Lawrence to give the redstorm steady floor leadership, but this team still lacks a scoring punch and depth in the frontcourt that has size and strength. Ayodele Coker was a recruiting coup, but he is raw offensively and with only Tomas Jasiulionis to look towards for depth, the middle will be exposed on the defensive end by Redstorm opponents. Larry Wright showed flashes of scoring bunch as a freshmen, but they will be asking an awful lot of him this year at the 2-guard, probably more than he can give night in and night out.

It is going to be a tough task for St. John's to improve upon their standing next year. This might be their best incoming group of players under Roberts, but the injury to Thomas (who was not going to be eligible the 1st semester anyway) and more defections make this an inexperienced and thin team, not exactly what he planned for his fourth season. Of the five teams that finished behind them last year, only South Florida suffered similar losses in production due to graduation/transfers. Everyone has more returning and similar, if not better, recruiting success over a two-year period. This team will have to scrap to play in the Big East Tournament next season.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ Louisville

2007-02-21T06:13:00.000-08:00

February 21, 2007

The red-hot Louisville Cardinals look to strenghten their hold on one of the four Big East Conference Tournament byes when they welcome the St. John's Redstorm to Freedom Hall for a game telecast by ESPN2.

The Cardinals have won three in a row, including road wins over Pittsburgh and Marquette, and return home with a national ranking and a 9-4 Big East mark. The Cards have a favorable schedule down the stretch with a trip to Connecticut and a home game with Seton Hall to close out the Big East slate.

St. John's has put themselves in solid shape to make the Big East Tournament, holding a 3-win lead in the standings over South Florida, Rutgers and Seton Hall. After tonight, the 'Storm host Duke this weekend before wrapping up conference play with Providence on March 4th.

Here are a few pregame articles found on the internet this morning:

Cards Expected to Go Without Palacios (Louisville Courier-Journal)
Cards Get the Message: Slump is Over (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Pitino Wary of Johnnies (NY Post)

It has not been an easy transition for Louisville from Conference USA to the Big East. Last season the Cardinals barely qualified for the Big East tournament and a series of injuries had Rick Pitino's squad off to another slow start this year. However, in the last month, Louisville has won seven of their last nine games as they have rounded back into shape after getting everyone healthier. Also, their highly regarded freshman class has matured on and off the floor, meaning minutes for Derrick Caracter, more minutes for Earl Clark and more consistent play out of Jerry Smith (Saturday's hero) and Edgar Sosa.

St. John's got off to a slow start in the Big East, losing four of their first five games. However back-to-back home wins over Syracuse and Notre Dame gave the Redstorm some life and since then they have beaten the teams they were supposed to (Cincinnati, USF & Rutgers). In Norm Roberts third season, it was the year they were supposed to take a step forward as a program. It looks like they have, maybe not as big of a step as hoped, but they have shown progress.

Tonight, Louisville is a 12.5-p favorite at home. They are a deep team, even though they are likely without Juan Palacios in this game. They are also a versatile team with athletic and long wings to match with St. John's strength. The Redstorm have a bit of a tendency to lose big on the road to quality teams, that could be a trend that continues tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Louisville 68 St. John's 54

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ Providence

2007-02-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

February 17, 2007

It will be interesting to see what kind of mind frame each team will be in on Saturday. Both teams are making the quick turnaround from playing Thursday night in games that had very different results impacting their season's hopes.

Providence is coming off a loss at Notre Dame that saw the Friars let another opportunity for a meaningful road win slip on by. Providence is 4-1 at home in conference action, so they will look to rebound and continue their home success on Saturday afternoon. At 15-9, they have no room to let another game slip by them in conference play, so a motivated Friar team should be on the floor Saturday.

St. John's looked to have put the final touches on a qualifying record for the Big East Tournament on Thursday night. It almost seemed like a sense of accomplishment has overcome their program. After three straight years of no conference tournament, there is cause for some celebration, especially after a slow start in the conference. St. John's has won five of their last eight, so they have played better of late. However, they are still just 1-5 on the road in conference play.

This is a game Providence should win and, at home, shoudl win easily. Hopefully the sting of losing to Notre Dame and Pittsburgh in tight games in the last week does not take too much out of them. St. John's might just relax a bit, but them and the road has not mixed well at all this season.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Providence 73 St. John's 62

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Rutgers @ St. John's

2007-02-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

February 15, 2007

St. John's looks to continue to solidify themselves a spot in the Big East Tournament when they welcome the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to New York City. A 6th conference win would give the Redstorm a 3-game lead over Rutgers, Seton Hall and South Florida, as well as keep them ahead of UConn (in wins) for the last spot for the BET.

Rutgers needs this game and a minor miracle to reacy Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament. At 3-9, with only two wins over Cincinnati and an overtime win over Seton Hall, the first year of the Fred Hill era is not looking to end very promising.

Here are the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

Webb is Savoring Final Games (Star-Ledger)
Uphill Trek to Garden Begins With Beating St. John's (Courier-News)
Rutgers-St. John's Scouting Report (Courier News)
Storm out for Revenge (NY Daily News)
Johnnies Crank up for Big Finish (NY Post)

Tonight in Carnesecca Arena, the St. John's Redstorm will look to earn their 6th conference win of the season and virtually assure themselves of a spot in the Big East Tournament, a first under Norm Roberts. In order to do so they will have to handle the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this evening.

The Redstorm are 8.5-pt favorites tonight and should have too much offensive firepower for Rutgers. With Lamont Hamilton inside and athletic forwards like Anthony Mason and Qa'arron Calhoun in the mix and a steady point guard like Eugene Lawrence, the Redstormshould be able to put points on the board at a greater pace then the offensively challenged Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers is still waiting to find some consistent offensive output. JR Inman is their leading scorer anf rebounder, but their offensive output from the rest of the squad has been pretty non existant, especially from a consistency standpoint. Marquis Webb and Jaron Griffin each have had solid games, but more than not, their shooting touch has been missing.

NBE Blogger Prediction: St. John's 67 Rutgers 58

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ Syracuse

2007-02-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

February 11, 2007

On Sunday, the Syracuse Orange look to avenge their earlier loss suffered at Madison Square Garden at the hands of St. John's when the Redstorm visit the Carrier Dome. Syracuse looks to re-start their season and build some momentum that has seen them lose four of their last five games to fall to 5-5 in the Big East and right smack dab on the NCAA bubble.

St. John's is also playing for something, the first trip to the Big East Tournament for their current players. Since the game is played on their home turf, Madison Square Garden, the Redstorm have been stung by not making the conference party the last couple seasons. They are on the cusp this year at 5-6 and are trying to fend off several teams behind them, but have a tough finish compared to a few teams chasing them.

In their first meeting, St. John's got off to a quick start, but the Orange recovered and the game was back and forth from then on. However, as they have done a few times of late, Syracuse crumbled down the stretch and Avery Patterson hit the big shots to pull it out for SJU.

Syracuse struggles in the halfcourt as their point guard play is very suspect and their frontline struggles scoring in any kind of half-court offense where they must create. They need to rely on Demetris Nichols and feed their top offensive threat the ball as much as possible and work off of him, but nobody on the floor seems to understand that, and that is where their point guard play falls short.

Syracuse will depend on their zone to defend St. John's, and that is not a bad idea as the Redstorm really struggle shooting the ball, especially away from home. The Orange have the ahtletes to defend Lamont Hamilton, but whichever team can get the other in foul trouble will have the edge. After publicly being testy with the officiating in their loss to UConn on Monday, look for Jim Boeheim to work the officials very hard on Sunday and get the benefit of some calls.

Syracuse should take this one at home.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Syracuse 70 St. John's 60

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2007-02-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

February 9, 2007

COMMITMENT ALERT: paris Horne, 6'3 G from Bridgton Academy

Projected 2007-2008 Roster:

SENIORS: Eugene Lawrence (G), Avery Patterson (SG)
JUNIORS: Anthony Mason (F), Ricky Torres (SG), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
SOPHOMRES: Larry Wright (G), Qa'rraan Calhoun (F)
FRESHMEN: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Mike Cavataio (G/F), Paris Horne (G)

As St. John's spent a lot of time keeping tabs on early period signee Justin Burrell at Bridgton Academy, they really got to know his teammate, 6'3 guard Paris Horne. That familiarity paid off for both sides as earlier last week as St. John's Adds Fast-Rising Prep School Guard (CSTV).

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Paris Horne is another Prep School kid that used his play this season in the prep ranks to gain a major conference scholarship offer. When St. John's offered the 6'3 shooting guard, he was ready to make the commitment. Horne is a strong guard that likes to get to the rim and will do many things well on the floor. He needs to work on his perimeter shot, but he has the physical tools and confidence to be a tough Big East performer for the Redstorm. Originally from Delaware, Horne had interest this winter from schools such as California, St. Bonaventure and Boston College as he excelled at several Prep School events by showing a fearless style of attacking the basket, no matter who was in his way.

The Redstorm now have a six-member freshmen class for 2007-2008 with the late additions of Horne and Mike Cavataio, along with previous commitments from Ayodele Coker, Malik Boothe and Justin Burrell. The Redstorm will also add the services of Rob Thomas whi is sitting out this season and should be eligible to play by second semester next season. I am a little surprised the Redstorm did not opt to add some frontcourt depth with their last scholarship at this time. With the graduation of Lamont Hamilton and Aaron Spears, they are left only with Tomas Jasiulionis and freshman Ayodele Coker with the ideal size to play the post positions in the Big East.

St. John's can continue their efforts with the class of 2008, but they currently have only two scholarships open for the class. Another big man to play strong inside, probably as a PF, will probably be the biggest priority. We will continue to monitor their prospects as we move towards spring.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: South Florida @ St. John's

2007-02-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

February 7, 2007

The fact that only 12 of the 16 teams in the Big East conference qualify for the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden has been a point of controversy since the league exanded to 16 teams. However, one of the reasons I like that is because this otherwise meaningless game has a lot riding on it. South Florida and St. John's, along with Seton Hall and UConn, are the teams battling for the last two spots at the year-end conference party. Tonight, two of them go head to head as South Florida tries to catch St. John's and make their move.

Here are the pregame stories and previews we have found on the internet this morning:

USF Center Has Big Presence, Big Heart (St. Petersburg Times)
USF Has No Room for Error (Tampa Tribune)
It's a Big One for Storm (NY Daily News)
Johnnies Need Mase's Muscle (NY Post)

Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW

South Florida has definitely shown some improvement. They have won three conference games after winning just once last year in the Big East. The Bulls are coming off a home win over a ranked Notre Dame club after narrowly missing an upset against Marquette in their previous outing. The addition of big Kentrell Gransberry to the line-up mid-year has given the Bulls an added dimension in the middle and the return to health of point guard Chirs Howard has helped stabilize the most important positions on the floor. This allows McHugh Mattis and Melvin Buckley to do what they do best and they have more depth with Jesus Verdejo, Solomon Bozeman, Melvyn Richardson, Ade Saaka and Chris Capko rounding out the rotation, giving coach Robert McCullum his deepest rotation since joining the Big East. The Bulls are at 3-6 and are still looking for their first road conference win in their short Big East history.

St. John's has won three of their last five to inch upwards in the standings and currently sit at 4-6 in the conference. The Redstorm also owns a home win over Notre Dame, as well as Syracuse, and is coming off a road win at Cincinnati. The emergence of freshman Qa'rron Calhoun has added a little moe versatility to their frontcourt, but they will hope to have Anthony Mason healthy for this one. The athletic sophomore suffered a painful finger injury in the win over Cincinnati, but will give it a go tonight. The Redstorm hopes will likely depend on senior Lamont Hamilton. When he is on the floor and active, the Redstorm will have the advantage tonight. If he is limited by foul trouble, St. John's will have a tough time tonight.

Until the Bulls win their first conference road game, I can't pick them with any confidence away from home. The fact this is a true road game and being played at Carnesecca Arena also makes things a little tougher for the 3.5-pt underdog Bulls.

NBE Blogger Prediction: St. John's 65 South Florida 60

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ Cincinnati

2007-02-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

February 4, 2007

The Big East gives us an appetizer to the Superbowl with St. John's travelling to Cincinnati to meet the Bearcats. After the excitement of a pair of upset wins at home over Syracuse and Notre Dame, St. John's came back to Earth with a loud thud in losses to Pittsburgh (72-46) and Georgetown (72-48). At 3-6, the Redstorm are still very much in a fight to qualify for the Big East Tournament, something they have been unable to participate in for the last three seasons.

The Bearcats have lost eight ot nine and sit at the bottom of the conference with a league record of 1-6. Only a stirring come-from-behind OT upset win over West Virginia has found them on the right side of the scoreboard in the last nine game. Even after losses to Pittsburgh and Georgetown, Mick Cronin thought his team was improving, but after a series of defensive lapses in their loss to Louisville on Wednesday, Cronin was left fuming about the play of his Bearcats.

If St. John's can keep Lamont Hamilton on the floor and out of foul trouble, they should be in good shape. However, in their four preview conference road games, they have lost on average by 20 points. The Bearcats should have an angry chip on their shoulders in a building that they do tend to play tough in. Cincinnati has athletes, as does St. John's, so it will be which team can make shots, whoch neither has been known to do consistently.

When in doubt, take the home team in a close one.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Cincinnati 64 St. John's 63

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Georgetown @ St. John's

2007-02-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

February 1, 2007

The last two teams from the upperhalf of the Big East conference to wander into Madison Square Garden were sent home with a 'L' courtesy of the St. John's Redstorm. St. John's will look to increase their home winning streak to three games tonight when the Georgetown Hoyas come to New York City. Georgetown has won four in a row and they begin a two-game road trip tonight in NYC which will also include a trip to Louisville this weekend.

Here are the pregame stories and previews on tonight's game we have found on the internet this morning:

Hoyas Have Been Handling With Care (Washington Post)
Ewing Jr. Follows Dad's Path to Garden (NY Times)
Hill's Career Could Be Done (Newsday)
Hill May Be Done at SJU (NY Post)
Knee Troubles Shut Down Hill (NY Daily News)

Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW

It is a tough time for St. John's fans today as the news is out that senior guard Daryll Hill will be sidelined for up to 4-6 weeks to try and rehab his injured knee. The best case scenario looks like he might be available for the Big East Tournament if the Redstorm can qualify, but the level of impact he would have is unknown. Hill was a true NYC legend, earning the nickname 'Showtime' for his play in the Rucker Park summer league and averaged 20 PPG as a sophomore for the depleted Redstorm. A bothersome knee has hindered his play the past two seasons and has forced him to shut it down for the time being.

Without Hill, the Redstorm will have to get more production from Larry Wright and Ricky Torres and hope to see consistent offense from Avery Patterson at the 2-guard. Eugene Lawrence is a tough point guard, but their backcourt offense just has not come around with a hobbled Hill. Tonight they have to score against one of the toughest defenses in the country. Georgetown counters St. John's existing strength with size and athletic ability in the frontcourt and will make it very hard for St. John's to score.

On offense, the Hoyas will look to get the ball inside to Roy Hibbert in position to score and run their backdoor cuts from there. If St. John's goes to zone, Jeff Green and Dajuan Summers can step away from the paint and hit out to the 3-pt range and crash the boards with Hibbert. Georgetown has too many options for St. John's to keep up offensively.

Georgetown is a 7.5-pt favorite and a predicted 10-pt winner by the Pomeroy Computer. Georgetown should be able to cover that number.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 65 St. John's 54

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ Pittsburgh

2007-01-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

January 27, 2007

The St. John's Redstorm had quite a week with wins over Syracuse and Notre Dame at Madison Square Garden. Now they look to take their run on the road by travelling to Pittsburgh to meet the 1st place Panthers.

Pitt rebounded from their first conference loss against Marquette last Sunday by turning back Cincinnati, 67-51, as the Panthers showed off their conference leading touch from beyond the arc.

St. John's has had some recent success against Pittsburgh, beating Pitt at home the last two seasons. The Redstorm can be a difficult match-up for the Panthers as they are a team that has some solid athletes and do not mind playing a low-scoring game. St. John's can be physical on the perimeter, but they do not have the same depth inside as Pittsburgh.

In the past, St. John's also had very good success when zoning the Panthers and watching them shoot blanks from the perimeter. This year's Pitt team moves the ball extremely well and shoots the ball better than anyone in the conference from beyond the arc. They will need that shooting touch in this game to hold off the pesky 'Storm.

St. John's will look to use Lamaont Hamilton to take Aaron Gray away from the basket. Hamilton is comfortable in facing the basket and his play last year was the difference in the game as SJU held off a Panther rally to win at Madison Square Garden. Like Pitt, the SJU guards are not the quickest of foot, but Pitt will have to make sure Avery Patterson and Larry Wright do not get hot from the perimeter, because when they do, St. John's will be very dangerous.

I expect this game to be closer than many predict as St. John's is playing with some added confidence. However, this Pittsburgh team spends less time watching someone dribble and more time moving the ball and finding the open man and making shots. As long as they make shots, they will win this game.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Pittsburgh 71 St. John's 62

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Notre Dame @ St. John's

2007-01-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2007

Notre Dame hits the road tonight and heads East to New York City to face the St. John's Redstorm. The Redstorm were nearly left for dead last week, but their stirring upset victory over Syracuse has re-energized Norm Roberts' team. They have won two games in the conference, both at Madison Square Garden, and will look to make it #3 tonight. Notre Dame is 4-2 in the conference this year, good enough to be in a tie for 2nd place with Marquette, Syracuse and Louisville, but they have yet to win a game on the road in the conference, losing so far to Georgetown and Villanova in games they fell behind early and lost by at least 15 points each.

Irish Need Fast Start in NYC (South Bend Tribune)
Things Bouncing SJU's Way (NY Daily News)
Storm Wary of a Letdown (NY Post)
Irish Seek Comfort on Enemy Turf (Chicago Tribune)

Both teams will look to get out of the gate fast. Notre Dame will look to avoid digging an early hole, like they did against both Villanova and Georgetown, and St. John's will look to build more confidence by getting off to a quick start, like they did against Syracuse on Sunday, racing to a 13-2 lead out of the gate.

The Redstorm has been quite an enigma this year. Expected to show overall improvement, the St. John's offense has been downright offensive at times. They score very little in the paint and their perimeter shooting continues to me more cold than hot. Avery Patterson was supposed to give them a lift from the perimeter, but he has struggled shooting the ball at just 31% in Big East play (19-61) from the floor and 33% from beyond the arc (13-39) which most of the production coming against DePaul (5-9 from 3-pt range) and in a key 7-pt burst in 30 seconds late in their win over Syracuse. The Redstorm will need him to hit from the outside as it gives more room to their gang of slashers to attack the basket. Anthony Mason and Eugene Lawrence can also connect from long range, but it is not really their strength. Inside, they will need Lamont Hamilton to put pressure on the Notre Dame frontline with his ability to score and Aaron Spears needs to give them good minutes against Luke Harangody inside.

St. John's s not always very pretty on the offensive end, but they can play defense and tend to work very hard on that end of the floor. The young point guard tandem for the Irish, Tory Jackson and Jonathan Peoples, will have to take care of the ball against the physical Lawrence and ultra-quick Larry Wright and Daryll Hill (not the threat he used to be). On the wings Russell Carter will attack the basket and keep you honest while knocking in shots from deep and Colin Falls is still there to be accounted for because of his 3-pt marksmenship. Inside is where I see the biggest advantage for the Irish as Rob Kurz and Harangody will always give a consistent and smart effort in the post. Kurz is an excellent passer and rebounder who can step away and make you pay. The Irish can also come with Luke Zeller and Zack Hillesland to shake it up.

The Irish have gotten use to playing without sophomore Kyle McAlarney, a NY Native, but th enews that he has been expelled from Notre Dame ends any hope of him returning this season. Not sure if the final decision will cause any distraction to the team.

The Irish are a 5-pt favorite according to the oddsmakers. I think St. John's brings another solid effort, but in the end, too much shooting from Falls and inside play will get the Irish over the hump for their first conference road win, but it will not be easy!

NBE Blogger Prediction: Notre Dame 65 St. John's 62

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2007-01-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

January 22, 2007

COMMITMENT ALERT: Mike Cavataio, (G/F) St. Francis Prep (NYC)

Projected 2007-2008 Roster:

SENIORS: Eugene Lawrence (G), Avery Patterson (SG)
JUNIORS: Anthony Mason (F), Ricky Torres (SG), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
SOPHOMRES: Larry Wright (G), Qa'rraan Calhoun (F)
FRESHMEN: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C), Mike Cavataio (G/F)

After spending Sunday afternoon watching the St. John's Redstorm upset the Syracuse Orange at Madison Square Garden, the leading scorer in the CHSAA Mike Cavataio Commits to St. John's.

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A native of the Forest Hills neighborhood in Queens, former Christ the King player Mike Cavataio has chosen to play his college ball for Norm Roberts and the St. John's Redstorm. Cavataio is back on the court this season after sitting out last year following his transfer from Christ the King to St. Francis Prep. Cavataio is making up for lost time leading NYC's CHSAA in scoring at 25.3 PPG. Cavataio had been offerd scholarships by Hofstra, Lehigh, Boston U and Manhattan, but St. John's has swooped in and got a commitment from the 6'5 G/F that is best described as a basketball player. He does a little bit of everything well on the court and gives added versatility to the Redstorm.

The Redstorm now have a five-member freshmen class for 2007-2008 with the addition of Cavataio along with previous commitments from Ayodele Coker, Malik Boothe and Justin Burrell. The Redstorm will also add the services of Rob Thomas whi is sitting out this season and should be eligible to play by second semester next season. The Redstorm have one more scholarship currently open for the 2007-2008 class and I think they would be rather wise to find a strong post presence that will rebound and give them some points. Coker and Tomas Jasiulionis are the lone post players on the roster with several combo forwards, so adding some depth to the frontline willing to bang down low would be a wise move in balancing the talent on the club.

We will continue to follow the Redstorm in their pursuit of a player for the final scholarship, but if one is not found, having three to offer in 2008 is not a bad plan either.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ DePaul

2007-01-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2007

In a rematch of the conference opener for both teams, won at Madison Square Garden by St. John's, DePaul looks for revenge in a game that still stings a little bit. Tonight they have the reeling Redstorm at home as St. John's looks to break their three game losing streak since their win over the Blue Demons.

I know New York City and Chicago are major league sports towns all the way, but doing a quick search this morning, I found VERY little interest in this game among any of their local newspapers.

Depaul is coming off a win at Rutgers where their athletic teams used a smothering defense to limit offensively-challeneger Rutgers to 37 points. St. John's is nearly as offensively defecient as RU, but the Redstorm does bring some solid athletes and a toughness on the defensive end that usually makes the game a bit closer.

DePaul will have the two best players on the floor in Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler, both will be looking to redeem themselves after the conference opening performance against SJU. They also have some depth in the frontcourt that does make them a formidable challenger in the Big East as the season goes and if one of their three potential point guards would finally take the reigns of this team, they might reach their potential.

St. John's, just a frustrating team to figure out, but maybe they just are not really good at all, again. They still struggle shooting the ball or playing defense inside. They have some athletes, but sometimes play some basketball that is tough to watch, especially when they have the ball. Not a very good recipe for success on the road.

The oddsmakers have made DePaul a 12-pt favorite and Pomeroy predicts the outcome in DePaul's favor by 13-pts. It should be as easy, but I think the Redstorm put up a fight tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 67 St. John's 59

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ Seton Hall

2007-01-11T05:11:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2007

St. John's and Seton Hall meet at Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands with both teams entering play with 1-1 conference records. Both teams got off to a good start in the conference, winning their opening games at home (SHU over Rutgers and SJU over DePaul) but found the road a little less to their liking last weekend when the Redstorm were thrashed at West Virginia and Seton Hall lost by 22 at Providence.

Here are a couple pregame articles:

SHU/SJU Scouting Report (Courier News)
Seton Steamroll Still Haunts SJU (NY Post)

Although this game is played on Seton Hall's home court, the home court advantage will be negligible as the Pirates have not been drawing many fans to come out and see Bobby Gonzalez's initial SHU squad. With the Redstorm making the short trip across the river, there should be no travel difficulties getting them out of their routine.

Last year when these two teams met in this venue, St. John's was cruising with a 20-pt lead with under 10 minutes to play, but the Pirates roared back and won the game in overtime.

St. John's definitely has the height advantage against the smaller Pirates and will look to take advantage, especially with Lamont Hamilton inside. Seton Hall will look to use pressure and zone defenses to force SJU to hurry up and shoot from the outside. The 'Storm shoot an awful 35% from the floor as a team, but they do hold opponents to 33%, which is impressive. They will have to locate Jamar Nutter and hope he doesn't get his shooting touch back. If he is hitting, it should create room for Eugene Harvey and Brian Laing to do their damage. St. John's does match-up fairly well defensively here and should be able to use their size advantage to control the boards and get some easy baskets.

Seton Hall will try to push tempo and avoid, at all costs, anything resembling a halfcourt game. Coming off the bench with Paul Gause and Larry Davis, the Pirates are likely to go small often. They will have to be hitting their perimeter shots, because they wont score much inside.

A big game for both treams. I think St. John's, despite being 3.5-pt underdogs, is a little deeper as a whole and will hold on to their lead this time.

NBE Blogger Prediction: St. John's 66 Seton Hall 64

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: St. John's @ West Virginia

2007-01-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

January 6, 2007

The Mountaineers wrap up their six game homestand in a match-up of conference unbeatens when they host St. John's Saturday afternoon. The redstorm are coming off a surprising 9-point home win over DePaul, while the Mountaineers are the talk of the conference by opening conference play by beaing Connecticut and Villanova.

St. John's is an interesting case study. In their win over DePaul, 10 players scored, but nobody had more than nine points. Aaron Spears returned from a suspension for violating team rules to score some key baskets and senior Daryll Hill hit some key baskets down the stretch. The Redstorm is athletic and physical and will look to disrupt the flow of the fluid WVU offense.

The Mountaineers have been riding the hot-shooting of Frank Young, the only returning starter for WVU scored 47 pts in the first two league contests and hit eight of 13 3-pt shots in their win over Villanova earlier this week. In that game, the Mountaineers attempted 44 shots in the game, 37 of them were behind the arc.

This Mountaineer team still does not hit the boards much and is a little more prone to turning it over than before. They still utilize the 3-pt shot often and have a bunch of shooters and their 1-3-1 still causes all kinds of confusion. St. John's will scrap with you,but they are prone to poor shooting efforts and turnovers, playing right into the hands of WVU and coach John Beilein.

I think this will be a tight game, as it was last year when they met at Madison Square Garden, but the Coliseum is a tough place to play and WVU heads to the road with another shot of confidence.

NBE Blogger Prediction: West Virginia 63 St. John's 58

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ St. John's

2007-01-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2006

It is only January 3rd and here is a game that both teams MUST have in order to get their seasons pointed in a healthy direction. DePaul has recovered from a slow start to win some good games, all of which have been at home. Now they travel to Madison Square garden for a game they should win. St. John's was supposed to be improved this year, but they have not been impressive in their pre-conference schedule, which included a double-digit loss to Hofstra at Madison Square Garden in their last game.

Here are some pre-game stories:

Storm Moves Due East (Daily News)
Storm Begins Big East Play (NY Post)
Conference Play Serves a Midseason Reprieve (Newsday)
Demons Turnaround Impresses Wainwright (Sun Times)
Demons Streak Into 2nd Big East Season (Chicago Tribune)

Sammy Mejia, along with other native New Yorkers Karron Clarke and Cliff Clinkscales, return to New York City to play in the Garden for the first time in Big East play. Last year they faces St. John's at Carnesecca Arena and failed to make the Big East tournament. Mejia should be coming off a confidence booster after scoring 40 pts, 27 inthe first half, as DePaul pulled away in the second half to demolish Northwestern State. The Blue Demons boast a talented duo in Mejia and Wilson Chandler that has the potential to be the the best pair in the conference. Mejia does it all for Jerry Wainwright's squad, leading them in scoring (16 PPG), rebounding (7/game), assists (2.9) and even turnovers. Chandler, the high-potential soph, chips in 15.7 PPG, 6.4 rebounds and a team high 1.5 blocks/game. The Blue Demons are still a little soft inside and are still looking for a consistent third scoring option to develop a mentality to step-up and assist their top two on a reliable basis.

St. John's is still a mystery to many observers as they can go through long stretches just looking BAD. Led by Lamont Hamilton (14 PPG and 8 rebounds) and JUCO transfer Avery Patterson (13.8 PPG and 38% 3-pt shooting), the Redstorm have had their share of awful games offensively. With Daryll Hill still struggling with injuries, they do not have that breakdown offensive threat from the perimeter. Eugene Lawrence runs the point, but turns it over too much for a point guard that does not score as much to make up for it. Anthony Mason has shown signs (11 PPG), but can be nowhere to be found for loing stretches as well.

I do think St. John's will put it together at times this year, but right now they are certainly struggling and have already seen Aaron Spears (suspended) and Derwin Kitchen (left school) sap some of their depth and the failure of Hill to round back into form has been detrimental to their chances. Right now, DePaul has the confidence and as a road favorite (3.5 in Vegas and projected 8-pt winner by Pomeroy), they should be too much for the Redstorm tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction: DePaul 68 St. John's 62

BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: ST. JOHN'S

2006-10-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2006

COMMITMENT ALERT: Ayodele Coker (C), South Kent Prep School (CT)

Projected 2007-2008 Roster:

SENIORS: Eugene Lawrence (G), Avery Patterson (SG)
JUNIORS: Anthony Mason (F), Ricky Torres (SG), Tomas Jasiulionis F/C)
SOPHOMRES: Larry Wright (G), Qa'rraan Calhoun (F), Derwin Kitchen (SG)
FRESHMEN: Justin Burrell (PF), Malik Boothe (PG), Rob Thomas (F), Ayodele Coker (C)

With starting big men Lamont Hamilton and Aaron Spears both being seniors, the Redstorm and coach Norm Roberts made Ayodele Coker a priority recruit several months ago. Over the weekend, those efforts paid off as Storm Lands 6'10 Coker.

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As mentioned in our earlier St. John's recruiting update, Ayodele Coker was a priority for the Redstorm staff as they needed to add size. After taking a weekend visit and attending the "Storm Fest" on the St. John's campus, Coker opted to commit to St. John's over Pittsburgh and cancel visits to Indiana, Notre Dame and Kentucky and resist overtures from Florida. Coker is a 6'10 post player that plays hard all the time. he does not give up space easily inside or an easy two points. Like most big men, he is still developing his skills on the offensive side of the floor, but reports of his improvement have been common all summer. On a very loaded South Kent team last year, Coker averaged a very modest six point and seven rebounds a game playing with Gilbert Brown (Pittsburgh), Rob Thomas (St. John's), Mathew Bryan-Amanning (Washington '07), etc.

With Coker, St. John's now has two players in the recruiting class who averaged less than 7 PPG as juniors, as Malik Boothe averaged the same at Christ the King HS last season. However, these are players that will fit in and contribute in any situation as they will do the little things. Coker will set screens, box out and play physical 100% of the time. Boothe is small, but packs a defensive punch on the perimeter and is an ultimate true-PG. The other new commit for 2007 is the ultra-athletic and strong PF Justin Burrell. St. John's also got word in the last month that Rob Thomas, also from South Kent, did not make it academically to play in 2006-2007, but the plan is for him to suit up by the second semester in time for the 2007-2008 season. Not sure if he will still be classified as a freshmen (which will make him one of the oldest frosh in a long time), but the plan is for him to be with the Redstorm.

With the final scholarship currently open, the Redstorm have many irons in the fire with players of all different positions, mostly at the SF spot. One combo forward that SJU would love to nab is Tyrone Nash, who recently spurned several 2006 offers, one from Kentucky, to prep another year. Nash is also spotted often around the SJU campus. Another player the Redstorm have been seen evaluating very intensly this summer has been Hamidu Rahman, the 6'11 NJ native now playing at American Christian in PA. Rahman is another big body that takes up space and is improving as he develops more and more basketball skill. Both Coker and Rahman play against top-flight competition year-round and are learning to use their large frames against other players their size. Another player known for using his size is Brian Williams of NYC (now playing at Harmony Prep in OH). Williams is another player that many high-majors, including the Redstorm, have evaluated often. Williams does have to control his weight and improve his conditioning, but he has excellent hands and is more advanced with his footwork than many at this stage. He is not afraid to pummel an opponent with his size. Brandon Walters of Lincoln, HS in Brooklyn is not as physical as the other big man targets, but he has some impressive upside with his athletic ability and skills to step away from the hoop to knock down a jumper out to the 3-pt line. Walters is a high-upside player that could turn into an excellent player as he gets stronger and more intense inside.

With Coker in the fold, the Redstorm could still look to add more size, but I expect Tyrone Nash to be the player they pursue the hardest. If that doesn't work out, I could also see them looking towards the JUCO ranks for a big man later in the recruiting season. With only Tomas Jasiulionis and Coker on the roster in the post, another big body ready to contribute might be a good idea.

In any event, things are definitely more exciting now with Norm Roberts. Now, winning on the court will help give the program another push to finish the rebuilding on the recruiting trail.

2006-2007 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 9) ST. JOHN'S

2006-10-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

October 9, 2006

Slowly, but surely, St. John's has been improving and moving up in the conference standings. However, with just nine conference wins and no Big East tournament appearances in the last three years, there is still a little bit of hesitation in getting too excited just yet.

With a trio of seniors likely in the starting line-up (Lamont Hamilton, Daryll Hill and Aaron Spears), this is a key season for St. Johnn's to prove to those around college basketball that they are firmly entrenching their program as a future challenger in the Big East. They have added a solid recruiting class and look for some improvement from a couple sophomores in helping the Redstorm and Norm Roberts' quest for a .500 Big East season and a return to post-season play.

St. John's battled the injury bug last year, losing Daryll Hill for a significant amount of time and seeing Anthony Mason also go down with injury just as he was looking to blossom. Still, the Redstorm showed improvement and the scrappy bunch was always competitive, despite not having much depth to plug in the holes for the injured players. Only Ryan Williams is gone from graduation and Dexter Gray and Cedric Jackson transferred out of the program, but they each should be replaced with their incoming players. JUCO shooting guard Avery Patterson might be the most anticipated as he adds the element of perimeter shooting that SJU sorely has missed in the past few seasons. Derwin Kitchen was originally a Florida commitment, but he was not admitted into UF, so after a prep school season, the Redstorm were able to swoop in the quality combo guard. A third guard in the recruiting class is Saginaw, Michigan's Larry Wright, a quick and athletic guard who can score. Another player expected to play a significant role this upcoming season is Qa'rraan Calhoun, a 6'8, 215 lb freshmen forward from Bridgton Academy. Look for Calhoun to back-up both forward spots and, along with Patterson, see a lot of time this season making the Redstorm a deeper squad.

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One bit of disappointing news with the incoming class is that Rob Thomas will be ineligible for this coming season. Thomas is a 6'7 forward that can score all over the court, but he could not make the grade academically at this time. His story has been well-chronicled in the last year and he has overcome many obstacles to get this far, hopefully he can stick it out a little longer and we see him playing in the Big East before long.

The added depth the new players will provide should help the starters be more effective since they do not have to carry the load on their own. The electric Hill returns after struggling with injuries and his role as a junior, where his scoring average dropped from over 20 PPG to under 12 last season. Hill is a player that excels with the ball in his hands, creating opportunities for himself and his teammates with excellent quickness and ball-handling. However, the offense can get bogged down when players spend too much time watching him dribble and it has taken a good number of shots in the past for him to get his points. Quite often, the point guard duties are handled by Eugene Lawrence, a junior. Lawrence is one of the strongest guards in the conference and plays physical on defense and hits the boards. His lack of offensive skills allows him to get others involved more frequently, but his turnover numbers are quite high (as are Hill's). For this team to continue to improve, they must take care of the ball much better. Sophomore Ricky Torres, a sweet-shooting guard, also returns and looks for a bigger role as a sophomore.

The starting frontline returns intact with the productive Hamilton and the solid Spears anchoring the post positions. Hamilton showed the ability to step away from the basket last year and play more of an inside-out game with the presence of Spears. Hamilton still needs to improve his toughness inside in this conference, but he no longer has to go it alone. Spears is a big body with nice hands and touch inside, but he needs to become more aggressive on the boards. His rebounding numbers in Big East play were disappointing. At the small forward spot in the athletic Mason. Like his father, he combines a high basketball IQ with good all-around skills. As his body fills in, he will become better and better at finishing inside at the rim and as he fine-tunes his shooting touch, he will be an even better all-around threat. Another sophomore, Tomas Jasiulionis, is a Euro big man that is still learning the Big East game, but offers size and skill that could develop into a solid player adding depth to the Redstorm line-up.

St. John's is also aided by a schedule that does not have them playing Marquette or Villanova. They do have to play Syracuse and DePaul, two very good teams twice, along with Providence, who is solid, two times each, so it is definitely no breeze. The pieces are in place for this to be a post-season team and if you can get to .500 in the conference, you can be in the discussion for the NCAA tournament.

So, will the Redstorm reach their potential? I am going to put that responsibility on Daryll Hill as he has the ability to be a difference maker. If Hill can better assimilate himself into the system and be the leader the 'storm needs, it should allow the other pieces to fall into place. Hill likely wont have to average 20 PPG for this team to win, but he will need to be more effecient with his offense and his distribution of the ball for this team to keep improving. He has a better supporting cast, especially on the perimeter, than he has had at any time, so his development as a complete player will tell the story of this season.

Things are improving at St. John's and Norm Roberts has a firm control over his team and his expectations seem to be very high for his players. If they can live up to those, it should be another step forward in the right direction for the St. John's program.

Projected Big East Record: 8-8

ST. JOHN'S DOWN AN ASSISTANT?

2006-08-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

August 29, 2006

Today on Dick "Hoops" Weiss' Blog, Weiss scoops a story that St. John's assistant Chuckie Martin has been contacted by John Calipari about the opening on his staff created by the departure of Tony Barbee who left for the head job at UTEP. Roger Rubin in the NY Daily News reports in the Sports Wire that Martin has accepted the offer.

UPDATE ON A COUPLE SJU TARGETS

2006-08-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

August 18, 2006

The regular Recruiting Buzz feature by the writers at Scout.com for FoxSports.com was updated yesterday and summarizes a couple Big East commitments (Trevor Mbakwe - Marquette and Carlton Scott - Notre Dame). Mike Sullivan also profiles the recruitment of Mike Scott who has Big East schools such as St. John's, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Seton Hall seriously involved and Pittsburgh has shown some interest as well. Scott originally signed last year with Temple and the Maryland native will spend a post-grad season at Hargrave Military Academy. Sullivan also gives an update on Jabari Edwards who has fielded calls from St. John's, Seton Hall and West Virginia.