Northeastern Surprises St. John's 78-64

            Perhaps the only solace St. John's fans can take concerning yesterday's 78-64 loss to Northeastern yesterday is that Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Villanova, Big East rivals all have suffered losses like this. to mid major clubs stocked with lots of uppercalssmen who've been through the grind of college basketball games and seasons before.  And while the Red Storm's loss might not have the impact of the other three on the national polls, it is the kind of loss that young Big East teams like St. John's may find costly as they try to earn a post season berth.

            The Huskies brought with them experience in the form of three starting juniors and one starting senior. Junior guard Joel Smith fired in an opening trey from the left side just seconds into the game. It would be one of seven triples he'd score and one of 9 the Huskies would make on18 tries.

            The Huskies also brought with them toughness that showed itself statistically in the rebounds column where they outdid the Red Storm 45-19. And while the rebounds margin can be partially explained by St. John's zone defense and the absence of block-out responsibilities that comes when teams play that way, there was more trouble.  Northeastern seemingly got to every ball on the floor, came up with every rebound in traffic and when it counted out toughed a St. John's team that has both talent and toughness but, with six newcomers may still be learning to compete for 40 minutes.

            To their credit St. John's did fight back after coach Bill Coen's team sprinted to a 26-14 advantage in the opening 20 minutes. Smith and Jonathan Lee's  deep shooting and tough work inside gave them the early advantage but the Red Storm rallied behind God'sgift Achiuwa, who bounced back from three subpar games to finish with 17 points and 9 rebounds, and Nurideen Lindsey, whose tough off balance jumper from the key as the buzzer sounded sent St. John's to the locker room trailing by just 33-31.

            The Johnies outscored Northeastern 6-2 out of the locker room and briefly  took their first lead at 37-35 They led again 43-42 when Sir'Dominic Pointer drove in for a dunk, but unlike two other veteran mid=major teams that the Red Storm faced earlier this season, Lehigh and William & Mary, Northeastern, to use coach Mike Dunlap's phrase "pushed back harder".

`                       Smith put in two threes sandwiched around a Jonathan Lee layup that gave the Huskies a 50-43 lead and the two teams traded baskets after that.  A Harkless triple with just under 8 minutes left got the Red Storm to within 4 at 59-55. But that's when the Huskies delivered what would be the battle's final blow, an 11-0 spurt over a little less than 4 minutes that provided a 70-55 lead they'd never relinquish. In addition to Achiuwa's strong game Lindsey finished with 16 points for St. John's which went to 4-3 with the loss. Dunlap once again subbed running the team while coach Steve Lavin continues to follow a modified schedule following prostate cancer surgery. St. John's, which plays at Kentucky in the Big East/SEC Challenge Thursday drops to 4-3 with the loss.

            Smith led 4 double-figure scorers for Northeastern with 29 points. The Huskies improved to 3-1 on the year with the win.

            

St. John's Drops Second Straight in 2K Consolation

              As they got off to a 3-0 start this season, the young 2011-12 edition of the St. John's basketball team had struggled in two areas that would eventually hurt them; slow starts and free throw shooting. Last night, with a second chance to beat a consensus top 25 team in Texas A&M those two things combined to help the Aggies hang a 58-57 loss on the Red Storm in the consolation game of the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden yesterday

            Coach Billy Kennedy's team used a potent inside attack and made all four of their three point shots in the opening 20 minutes and took what would be their largest lead of 23-12 with just under 8 minutes to go in the first half, as the Red Storm   meandered through the opening 20 minutes.  They finally rallied behind Moe Harkless and Phil Greene to pull to within 32-30 at halftime. Greene, who started yesterday in place of Malik Stith had his second straight strong game. Though he scored just 10 points his energy on defense and ability to get in the lane on offense gave St. John's a needed spark in what was shaping up to be a dreary early evening.

`           Texas A&M started the second half as strongly as they started the first, bumping their margin back up to 40-30 with just 2:35 elapsed. Junior power forward Ray Turner, who finished with 16 points led his team to a dominant effort in the paint as the Aggies outscored the Red Storm 38-18 from in close.  Almost despite this, St. John's enjoyed a huge advantage in free through attempts. And ultimately the fact that St. John's could not take advantage of that proved to be their undoing.

            Elston Turner's jumper with 9 seconds left gave the Aggies the margin of victory. And while Nurideen Lindsey's misses after he drove the lane with 2 seconds left were the most glaring misses because of when they occured, everyone had a hand in what was a terrible night at the line for St. John's; one that cost them a game they could've stolen despite not playing well.

            For the game they missed 16 free throws (21-38) they were even worse in the game's last moments. And while they came close in their first two tests against the kind of teams they'll see in the Big East there's clearly still some work to do.

`Mississippi State beat Arizona 67-57 in tonight's championship game as tourney MVP Arnett Moultrie led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Late Surge Lifts Arizona Past St. John's in 2K Classic

                             For much of last night's 81-72 loss to Arizona, it looked as if a brand new St. John's team would follow a familiar script. Despite a nearly brand new roster, this year's talented and fast freshmen played a game that was very similar to the kind that last year's senior dominated squad would play.

              They withstood an early barrage of threes from Arizona, which included a pair from junior swingman Kevin Parrom, the former St. Ray's and South Kent star who made an emotional return home after suffering a gunshot wound while visiting family in the Bronx nearly 8 weeks ago. They withstood it by establishing a quick transition game, converting quickly to offense off of both misses and makes to offense, pushing the tempo and getting to the line.

              And just as he had been against UMBC, the guy who set the pace was Nurideen Lindsey.  In his Garden debut the sophomore from Philly scored a game high 18 points including a spectacular reverse layup in the first half, and an amazing double cross-over lefty drive in the second that brought ooh's and ahhs at first and the St. John's portion of the crowd to its feet.    

              St. John's trailed 44-41 at the intermission, but after a slow beginning the Red Storm, sparked by Phil Greene, Lindsey and  Mo Harkless gave St. John's a lead as Arizona cooled off briefly from three point range.  Harkless' 13 point 9 rebound effort included a quick drive to the baseline for a dunk and a beautiful assist to D'angelo Harrison on a back cut. Greene finished with 12 points, 7 of which came consecutively during the run that gave St. John's the lead while Lindsey who continued to push the tempo despite early foul problems gave St. John's its largest margin at 66-58 with a steal and layup with 7:17 left.

              Moments later Lindsey would pick up his fourth personal foul, and St. John's offense stalled.  A 16-2 Arizona run that followed essentially ended the ballgame and even though coach Steve Lavin got Lindsey back in during the run he picked up his 5th foul a moment later. By then though, the momentum had already moved to the Wildcats.

              Jordan Hill led the Wildcats with 15 points while Parrom added 6 points and 5 assists for the winners. Another former St. Ray's player, freshman Sidiki Johnson went scoreless while appearing briefly. St; John's will face Texas A&M in the consolation game while Arizona faces Mississippi State in the title game tonight.                                                                                    

Lindsey Sets the Pace and Leads St. John's over UMBC

              Sophomore guard Nurideen Lindsay paced a balanced attack in what was the team's best effort of the season as they scored a convincing 82-59 win over Maryland Baltimore County at Carnesecca Arena yesterday.

              "I think there was a breakthrough in terms of our sustained effort and intensity," coach Steve Lavin said.  "That was a mature point for this time of the season".

              That effort gave St. John's its first halftime lead of the season and while the margin (39-34) was modest there was a concerted effort on the part of Lavin's young charges to avoid the early struggles of the first two games.

              "We were all trying to go in the same direction early.  That's something we talked about the last couple of days, " said Lindsay. It was his effort that got St. John's kick started. He penetrated well both in transition and in their half court offense, found his teammates, especially forwards God'sgift Achiuwa and Moe Harkless for easy hoops and did an exceptional job rebounding.  Ten of his 15 points 7 of his 10 rebounds and 5 of his 9 assists came in the opening 20 minutes. A nice in and out move by Phil Greene gave him space to connect on a tough jumper as the halftime buzzer sounded, and then a small adjustment by the coaching staff helped the youngsters take that advantage and run with it, so to speak.

              "We inverted the game a bit," was the way Steve Lavin described a move where they allowed Lindsey and Greene to push the ball up while nominal starting point guard Malik Stith got out on the break and got opportunities to finish plays.  The  result was a 9-1 run to open the second half and bump the lead to 13 points.  St. John's  approach after that was one that Lavin happily described as "methodical" as they pushed the lead past 30 and got all 5 starters into double figures scoring. While Lavin admitted that there are still things to "clean up from an execution standpoint" the sustained effort and execution was a welcome site as they take a step up in the level of competition Thursday against Arizona at Madison Square Garden.

              In addition to Lindsey's near triple double effort Achiuwa had 15 points and 8 boards. Harkless added a game high 18 points, freshman D'angelo Harrison added 17 while Stith added 11. For UMBC a pair of local players, Brian Neller of Christian Brothers (NJ) Academy and Chase Plummer of St. Patrick's (NJ)  led the scoring with 13 and 12 points respectfully. Former All Hallows guard senior Chris De La Rosa, who is the America East Confrence's leading returning player missed the game and has yet to play this season following off season foot surgery.  A pair of talented local forwards who are perspective recruits for St. John's Chris Obekpa a senior at Our Savior New American (LI)  and Mike Young a junior at Hudson Catholic in New Jersey both visited the campus and attended the game yesterday.

God'sgift is Perfect in Lavin's Return

                            While his return to the sidelines may not have gone smoothly for St. John's coach Steve Lavin, the night ended perfectly, with a 78-73 win thanks in large part to a perfect shooting night from center God'sgift Achiuwa.

              Lavin said he had made the decision to return to the bench at 3:30 following a return to practice on Monday.  He walked on the court moments after his players had begun warm ups and was greeted with a warm and loud ovation by a home crowd that hadn't quite filled up yet.

              When the game began he got an early glimpse of some of what his team had struggled with even as they began the season 2-0.  They shot poorly, hurting themselves with quick shots and did not rotate or rebound well in their zone defense.

              Behind  their post player point guard  combination of juniors C.J.  McCollum and Gabe Knutson Lehigh moved ahead quickly.  Dr. Brett Reed's team took and made good shots throughout the first half. And with Knutson providing a safe sure handed target in the middle of their press break offense they attacked St. John's pressure for scores effectively. A pair of free throws by McCollum with 5:30 minutes remaining in the first half gave Lehigh its largest margin of 16. St. John's then rallied and cut the lead to 7 but when Lehigh's Holden Griener found Jordan Hamilton for a trailer 3-pointer the Mountain Hawks led by ten 43-33 at the break.

              St. John's did not fare much better in the opening minutes of the second half. Knutson followed in a Mackey McKnight miss to move Lehigh's lead back to 13 with just over 15 minutes left.  Lehigh held that margin until foul trouble forced Knutson from the game and that, combined with a terrific effort from Coach Lavin's young team brought St. John's back.

              Knutson picked up his third personal foul with just 14 minutes left and while St. John's did not put a big dent in the deficit immediately Lehigh's  offense clearly struggled to move the ball without their big, sure handed, smart passing target in the middle.

              St. John's had cut the lead to just 7 on two free throws by Achiuwa.  When Knutson was subbed back in a moment later it appeared that he had restored order for Lehigh. Trailing by 7, the Mountain Hawks moved the ball and got McCollum an open look for a three pointer. Knutson then stole the ball and that led to a  Griener layup again. 

              St. John's trailed by a 60-48 margin with 8:38 when Achiuwa, who shot 6-6 from the field and 9-9 from the charity stripe made the biggest play of his perfect shooting night, driving to the bucket for a basket and drawing Knutson's fourth personal foul. By the time Knutson re-entered the game with 6:31 left the Red Storm had trimmed the deficit to 4, and had reversed the momentum Lehigh had had in its favor throughout the game A Moe Harkless three pointer tied the game at 64 and after the Mountain Hawks regained the lead briefly took the lead for good 67-66 on a steal and basket by Sir^Dominic Pointer, whose hustle and quickness at the top of their zone pressure has made pressure defense their most effective weapon in this early season.

              "The good news is they demonstrated resiliency and determination to come back after being down more than double digits," Lavin said. While those two attributes have carried the team through some rough patches early, tonight's effort likely got an extra boost from their coach, who showed a resiliency and determination of his own as he deals with circumstances infinitely more significant than a ballgame.

              Achiuwa led St. John's with 21 points and 8 rebounds while Harkless and Nurideen Lindsey added 15 points apiece.  McCollum led Lehigh with 19 points while Knutson added 16. Local product Conroy Baltimore, a freshman from Stepinac High did not score in 6 minutes of action off the bench   St. John's takes on Maryland Baltimore County at 2pm on Sunday before resuming the 2k Coaches vs. Cancer tournament a week from today, November 17th vs.. Arizona at Madison Square Garden.

St. John's Presses the Issue for Season Opening Win

                        

            For the first 20 or so minutes of last night's  74-59 win over William & Mary it looked like a very young and athletic St. John's team was on the verge of getting an early and painful lesson.

            Coach Tony Shaver's squad moved the ball patiently and smartly against the Red Storm's zone defense and found senior forward Quinn McDowell early for some great looks. And as the Tribe shot their way to an early advantage St. John's looked like a team trying to make up the deficit all at once. While there weren't many turnovers there were an awful lot of quick shots taken and shots taken without good ball movement. William & Mary took a 33-26 lead into half time and when Kendrix Brown found McDowell open for a jumper for the first basket of the second half it looked like the Tribe was ready to stage an early season upset.

            At that point St. John's young squad was able to speed the game up where they needed to, on defense. As they picked up the tempo, got some steals and turnovers they also eschewed the three point shot in favor of driving the ball inside. Sophomore guard Nurideen Lindsay scored 15 of his 19 points in the second 20 minutes and when he wasn't finishing plays for scores he was setting up both God'sgift Achiuwa and Moe Harkless who each chipped in 17 points and added 9 and 8 rebounds respectively.

            Even as they extended their pressure, St. John's also did a much better job of defending against the three in the second half.  After the Tribe had made 7 triples in 21 tries in the first half St. John's covered shooters much better in the second limiting them to just 11 attempts and 4 makes.

            For St. John's, which takes on Lehigh in round two of the 2k Sports Classic for the benefit of Coaches vs. Cancer D'Angelo Harrison added 14 points. McDowell led the Tribe with a team high 20 points while Julian Boatner added 12.

            The Red Storm played the game without head coach Steve Lavin, who continues to recuperate from prostate cancer surgery on Oct. 6th 

Metro Classic Player Evaluations Part II

The Boros

Omar Calhoun 6'4" SG Christ the King HS (2012) It took the senior class' best prospect a while to get started but once he did he showed why he enters the season with such a lofty standing.  He scored just 7 points in the opening two quarters but in the second half and especially at "winning time" in the fourth quarter he was spectacular, beginning a decisive rally with two tough three pointers and finishing it with a part of his game that's often overlooked, free throw shooting. He finished with 32 points total but scored 17 in the final 7-plus minutes. Several players had big games for the Boros but the UConn bound senior was the difference.

Jordan Washington  6'8" PF/C Pathways HS (2013) Like Lutheran's Kenton Facey Jordan made an excellent impression with his ability to run the floor and get on the glass.  He's not quite the leaper that Facey is but his running helped create several single coverage post-up situations in which he sat low in the pivot made himself wide, attacked the ball catching it and finished.  He also helped create some tempo with outlet passes.  While I think the small court at Molloy may have helped his transition ability a bit there's no question that this is the most focused and effectively he's played when I've seen him.

Leroy Fludd  6'6" PF/SF Boys & Girls HS (2012) Leroy was his typically solid self posting 16 points  and 9 boards. He held his ground inside and did well when he needed to guard players away from the basket.  He's a classic "glue guy" and coaches will love his intangibles. He comes with a reputation as an undersized inside player and while that may still be true on offense he's more versatile as a defender.

Thaddeus Hall  6'5" SF Thomas Jefferson HS (2012) Thaddeus provided a great spark in the third quarter after the two teams came out with the score tied at 51 at intermission. He gave his team a bit of everything , scoring in transition, with his jumper and even with a great hustle tip in basket.  Most importantly he was a disruptive force in the passing lane getting deflections and steals to set up easy opportunities for himself and his teammates. If he brings the kind of energy he showed last weekend to every game he'll have a great senior season.

Tyliek Kimbrough 5'10" PG Boys & Girls HS (2012) Especially in the game's opening moments Tyliek did a terrific job giving a talented team a sense of direction.  He pushed the ball up smartly, made great decisions both passing and driving to the basket and was typically solid right throughout. Although he's transferred from Loughlin to Boys & Girls he figures to assume a leadership role quickly and do it very well.

Daniel Dingle 6'6" PF/SF St. Raymond's HS (2012) He showed good versatility offensively connecting on two three pointers and driving whenever he got a mismatch.  He rebounded well and as he always does led by example with his hustle and toughness.

Metro Classic Player Evaluations Part I

              Last Sunday's Metro Classic which saw the Boros team pull away late for a 119-105 victory over the 'burbs a week ago Sunday featured many outstanding individual performances on both sides.  Some of the players I'll discuss here are players I know well while some are youngsters I'm seeing for the first time and am anxious to see again. It was an excellent game as the players on both sides went right at each other and played hard at both ends of the floor.  Here are some player evaluations.

The Burbs

Kenton Facey 6'8" PF/C Long Island Lutheran HS (2013) Just a junior, the transfer from Upper Room Academy was the most impressive of a number of power forwards and centers for both sides.  He finished with 26 points and got those primarily by hitting the offensive boards although his output did include a short jumper from the elbow and one from the baseline. He showed extraordinary quickness off the floor solid hands and a good touch around the basket.  His progress with his new school team will be interesting to follow because it will give scouts and coaches a chance to see what he can do with touches in the post and in the key area. His athleticism is big time but he may need to add some strength to play at the highest level.  Schools at all levels will keep an eye on him because with his junior year just beginning he's got a lot of time for both his body and game to grow.

Randy Stephens  6'4" G Mt. Vernon HS (2012) I was able to see Randy early in the summer at Rumble in the Bronx playing for the Westchester Hawks and liked what I saw then. Sunday he may have been the 'burbs best player, finishing with 20 points, creating opportunities for teammates and providing length and activity on defense. His first step is deceptive because it's long and although he's very left handed he can use his right hand well enough to get to the rim although he doesn't finish with it.  Reports have a slew of mid major programs getting involved with him. Those schools and others should keep in mind that the talented youngster is originally from Ossining and beginning just his second season in coach Bob Cimmino's program so an already fine prospect should continue to improve.

Isaiah Cousins 6'3" SG Mt. Vernon HS (2012) it took Isaiah a while to get started on Sunday but once he did he was terrific. He showed off a fine three point stroke that's effective in part because he gets easy lift off the. And as the game progressed he finished plays driving to the basket and, like his teammate Stephens played with good energy defensively.  Cousins, Stephens and Mt. Vernon seem to be poised for a great 2012-13 season.

Travis Whitfield 6'4" SG St, Mary's (LI) HS  (2012) It was very curious to talk to some of the folks from Long Island about Travis because to a person they all mentioned that he really didn't play a key role on last year's fine St. Mary's squad. That said he looked like a guy who had the look of a D-1 prospect.  He's long and athletic and shoots the ball pretty well. While his strength and handle may limit him to playing at a low major level, he should draw looks from those schools initially and may draw looks from other programs as he improves his stock with increased playing time.

Mike McCahey  6'4" SF/SG Clarkstown South HS (2012) Mike has drawn a lot of interest this summer primarily because of his shooting ability and while he didn't get many looks at the basket Sunday when he did he showed off that pure stroke.  He made just two in five tries but even the ones he missed were 3/4 of the way down and his shooting was accurate despite a long time between each look so despite the fact that he couldn't establish a rhythm his shooting mechanics were rock solid. As an athlete he's more sturdy than fast and even though he doesn't get off the floor he mixes it up under the basket and he'll secure any rebound or tipped ball he gets to. He's reportedly drawn interest from mid majors but his struggles with lateral movement may limit him to small forward at those levels. Coaches will love his shooting and like his ability to play in a team defensive concept. For him to make a good basketball choice of school it will be as much about the defensive system and team as it will be about level of play.

St. John's Survives Against St. Mary's 77-70

              For a bit over 30 minutes, St. Mary's College gave St. John's future opponents an idea of how best to attack them. They moved the ball smartly against the Red Storm's zone and used the three shot as an equalizer against their size inside. Despite strong games from the Red Storm's two best inside players, Moe Harkless and God'sgift Achiuwa a Devin Spencer jumper gave St. Mary's it's largest lead at 56-48 with a shade over 9 minutes to go.

              St. John's found its footing from that point as Achiuwa  Harkless and Nurideen Lindsay sparked the offense on a 29-16 run that decided the game, But while their offense was essential equally if not more important was the defensive effort of Sir'Dominic Pointer, who provided the energy to lift what had been a listless Red Storm defense to that point. It was fitting that his steal and slam gave St..John's its largest lead at 71-60 and provided an exclamation point to a 77-70 win.

              Offensively, St. John's did well in the areas they'd be expected to playing against a team that could not match their size and strength. They out rebounded St. Mary's by a 48-14 and had decisive margins in second chance and fast break points.

              But the Red Storm hurt themselves in areas that traditionally hurt young teams. They shot just 1-13 from three point distance (compared to 13-34 for the Seahawks) and missed 20 of 42 free throws.

              In spite of those struggles on offense it's the defensive limitations that might take longer for a young team like St. John's  to solve.  Even as they got torched from three point distance they did not switch from their zone to man to man defense, perhaps in part because with essentially an eight man rotation foul and fatigue concerns prevent them from doing so.

              Monday against William & Mary the season tips off for real and despite some good work down the stretch the young guys still have lots of work to do.

              Harkless and Achiuwa each had double doubles with Harkless leading 4 double figure scorers for the Red Storm with 20 points. Devin Spencer scored a game high 25 for St. Mary's