Red Storm Passes First Test In Hoops For Heroes Classic at MSG

 

     Time will tell if Sunday’s 85-71 win for St. John’s over New Mexico at Madison Square Garden will provide the springboard that elevates the Red Storm to an NCAA tournament berth. The battle of the Pitinos, father and son coaches, headlined the proceedings and while Dad’s team beat his son’s defending Mountain West Conference Tournament champions, they know new and difficult tests will follow starting on Thursday when they meet Baylor in the Bahamas. On Sunday the energy, toughness and ability to make winning plays led to an important win against a very good club. The game helped raise funds for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

     ‘I thought we played really good defense in the first half, coach Pitino said of the effort that saw the Johnnies sprint to an 11-point half time advantage. “They (New Mexico) put pressure on you in pick and rolls.”

   The Johnnies were ready, starting Deivon Smith and RJ Luis in a move Pitino said was “just about matchups”. “We had to have Deivon on their point guard (Donovan Dent) to start the game”.

    Starting Smith had a positive impact on the offense as well. The numbers will say that he scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half but his ability to guard Dent with a little help from Zuby Edjifor hedging screens and his ability to push the pace with his quick handle helped the Johnnies put the Lobos back on their heels at times. New Mexico came in as one of the fastest paced teams in the country but they struggled at times with the pace St. John’s, Smith and RJ Luis in particular set.

    Luis finished with 21 points 11 rebounds and a career high 7 assists. He continued the outstanding defense on Dent that Smith provided to start the game He guarded him effectively using his size, length and an agility that he likely did not have last year due to shin splints. His 11 boards led the way as part of a great team effort on the boards for St. John’s who outrebounded the Lobos 49-32. Edjifor added 10 boards to go along with 13 points.

    St. John’s lead by 16 points with 1:27 left in the opening stanza when a quick 5-0 burst by the lobos trimmed that margin to 40-29 at the intermission. Kadary Richmond who finished with 14 points 8 rebounds 4 assists and 4 steals, tipped in the basket to open the second half for the Johnnies to keep the Lobos from extending that rally. Seven turnovers were a blemish on an otherwise fine performance many of his fine plays, including finding Aaron Scott and RJ Luis with passes on baseline cuts, came as New Mexico crept to within single digits.

    Smith and forward Aaron Scott combined on two three-point baskets that may have been the biggest momentum stoppers of all. With 7:16 left after New Mexico pulled to within 63-59 on a great seal and score by Nelly Junior Joseph. Smith had his own shot blocked but retrieved the miss and found Scott who connected on a right-angle triple that pushed St. John’s margin back to 7. Moments later with 4:30 left and St. John’s up by nine Scott became the passer, reversing the ball to Smith who buried a long triple of his own.

    St. John’s had taken and passed a great test on Sunday, one that Luis said the team needed before facing Baylor and Georgia for certain and either Tennessee or Virginia in the middle 2^nd of 3 games.  The Gauntlet, as Rick Pitino called it will be crucial as the Red Storm tries to build a tournament worthy resume

Johnnies Roar Back to Beat Quinnipiac 96-73

 

       Trailing 39-35 at the intermission, St. John’s seemingly flipped a switch and looked like the team fans saw at Carnesecca Arena for last week’s win over Fordham. The final result, a 96-73 win for the Johnnies was not in any way indicative of how close the first 20 minutes had been

            “Give them credit they made us play bad”, Rick Pitino said. “They moved the ball well and shot the ball well. Pitino said.

    Miami of Ohio transfer (and New Jersey native) Ryan Maybury blistered St. John’s defense connecting on 5-8 triples in the opening 20 minutes while point guard Savion Lewis of Half Hollow Hills East on Long Island controlled his team’s space and pace beautifully to take full advantage of Maybry’s hot start. Pecora’s squad also seemed to frustrate the Johnnies with what looked like a match-up zone defense. Pitino cited his team’s very first offensive possession to explain their first half struggles against coach Tom Pecora’s zone defense. “Zuby pops out and takes a 3 right away”, he said. “You can shoot the three but you need to create some movement before you do.”

   St. John’s was able to change the game’s momentum quickly. R.J. Luis’ inside work helped spark a 13-4 run to wipe out the first half deficit. His inside play combined with Devian Smith’s fine passing opened things up for smooth shooting sophomore forward Brady Dunlap. Perhaps his best sequence in what was his best game came during a 16-4 that he started with 8 straight points. The stretch included a pair of 3’s and a tough two pointer where he flashed into the key and made a quick release two pointer. He finished with a career high 20 points on 6-9 shooting from the floor and 5-8 from beyond the arc. Pitino credited Dunlap’s hot shooting with breaking the game open and also cited Smith, who finished with 10 assists to go along with 13 points. Luis had a double double of his own scoring a game high 24 points and adding a career high 13 rebounds. Simeon Wilcher scored in double figures with 14 points. Kadary Richmond despite a quiet scoring game had 6 assists and 6 boards. Reserve center Vincent Iwuchukwu’s numbers were modest (6 points and 6 boards) in 15 minutes but his running the floor and presence at the rim gave the Johnnies a lift.

     Last but not least it’s worth noting that even as he praised his team’s ability to achieve a 61-point second half, he sounded an ominous warning. It was also unexpected since it referenced the Saturday game vs. New Mexico that follows Wednesday’s game vs. Wagner. With the Lobos’ win earlier this week vs. UCLA he said “If our transition defense is like that (in the 1^st half) against New Mexico they will kill us.” Even for a Hall of Fame coach family bragging rights still matter.

St. John's Throttles Fordham in 2024 Season Opener

 

    In last night’s season opening win over local rival Fordham at Carnesecca Arena St. John’s shot 54.5% from the field. Not bad considering that the team devoted much of their preseason work to defense.

    “This year it’s been about 80/20”, coach Rick Pitino said of his emphasis on defense in practice. He explained further that the bulk of that time has been spent on the basics, half court man to man defense.  “We haven’t focused on pressing, haven’t focused on 2-2-1.  All we’ve been doing is working on our man defense our switching defense.” He then explained why, harkening back to last season’s slow start which many fans believe cost them an NCAA tourney bid he said, “….we knew we had to be ready early in the season because of Quinnipiac, New Mexico and then the Bahamas. We have a long way to go but we’re getting better.”

   The emphasis on defense may have been one of several factors that helped the tesm play free and easily. Especially in the first half they eschewed the 3-point shot in favor of a dominant effort both in the paint and in transition. Sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher finished with a team high 17 points+ on 7-9 shooting from the floor. That he shot just 1-2 from beyond the arc may worry some fans but it’s likely a sign that he’s simply more comfortable as a sophomore and will go to his bread-and-butter middle game while taking the three when he can shoot in rhythm.

           “Especially in the beginning of the season last year trying to figure everything out. From the pace of the game to the physicality of everything with a year under my belt and having so I can grow and become a better player Everything just feels like I’m just going with the game and not really thinking too much,” Wilcher said.

The comfort he described is likely aided by two transfer portal additions Kadary Richmond and Devian Smith.  Richmond played, with new teammates, the kind of game that Big East fans have come to expect from his time at Seton Hall and New York hoops fans know from his time at PSAL power South Shore High. He finished with 16 points 10 rebounds and 5 assists. He and forward Aaron Scott another portal addition from North Texas State helped provide a mobile and physical presence that can help the defense all season long. Smith added a team high 6 assists and provided steady pressure on the ball defensively. St. John’s led by 14 at the half and broke the game open as Scott and sophomore forward Brady Dunlap found the range from beyond the arc. Jackie Johnson III a senior transfer from UNLV kept Fordham within hailing distance in the 1^st half and finished with a game high 23 points. The Johnnies will play Quinnipiac at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday at 2pm.

 

Johnnies Face Tough Road Following a Disappointing Garden Debut

 

      St. John’s will head into their game Thursday against North Texas facing an early test. They will try and bounce back from an 89-73 loss to Michigan in a game that was supposed to be a grand Garden opening for Rick Pitino and the Johnnies but turned out to be considerably less than that.

    Michigan’s backcourt of Nimari Burnett and Dug McDaniel combined for 47 points while posting career highs of 21 and 26 points respectively. They may provide an example of what can be effective team building in this new age of college hoops. Burnett, is a long athletic wing who transferred to Ann Arbor from Alabama. McDaniel, on the other hand is a sophomore at Michigan a rare (these days) returning player who’s well known to recruiting gurus in these parts for his good work at Pope Paul VI High School in Washington DC.

   Burnett torched the Johnnies from the start scoring 15 of his team’s first 16 points and finishing the 1^st half with all of his 21 points. After Chris Ledlum’s free throw gave St. John’s a 31-29 advantage Burnett’s third 3-ball of the opening half gave the Wolverines the lead for good. Michigan closed the half with an 11-3 spurt and lead 48-38 at the intermission.

            Pitino was succinct and to the point (play on words intended) when he described McDaniel’s performance by saying simply “he dominated us” That choice of words may have been a reaction more to what he saw on the court than what he read on the stat sheet. McDaniel set an early tone of physicality for his team and ran their offense perfectly. And in the second half while Burnett was quiet he took on a share of the scoring load, adding 16 of his 26 in the latter 20 minutes.

    Pitino admitted that St. John’s played terribly at both ends of the floor but said that the dysfunctional offense surprised him the most. “They went one-on-one way too much,” Pitino said of his team. “That was surprising because we hadn’t seen that from our guys.”

            Hopefully the quick turnaround and a trip to Charleston will provide the fresh look at things the team now seems to need. This early season adversity is an important test St. John’s must pass.

  Congratulations to Joel Soriano Joel scored the 1000^th point of his career in the 1^st half of tonight’s game. The senior from Stepinac HS scored a team high 15 points and had 6 rebounds for the Johnnies.

 

 

 

 

St. John's Roars Back From First Loss With win Against DePaul

 

   St. John’s flipped the script from Sunday’s loss at Iowa state, which saw them start the game trailing 17-2, and roared out of the gate in their Big East opener against DePaul. They used a 12- 0 start to seize control of the game early and earn a decisive 86-67 win over the Blue Demons, raise their record to 9-1 overall and, for the moment at least, give them a share of 1^st place in the Big East Conference.

     “After our performance at Iowa State we wanted to pick it up a little bit”, said Joel Soriano who led the way with 17 points and 13 rebounds for his 8^th double double of the season. “We emphasized a lot of moving of the basketball and buckets in transition. When we move like that it’s beautiful basketball.”

     The “beautiful basketball” to which the Johnnies’ leader referred to produced an effort that was both well balanced and efficient. In addition to Soriano’s 17 points four other Johnnies, Andre Curbelo, Dylan Adde-Wusu, Posh Alexander and David Jones all hit for double figures. And they shot a combined 50.8% from the floor that included outscoring the Blue Demons 50-38 in the paint.

   DePaul closed the margin to six points with 9:06 left in the first half when Ahmad Bynum converted a pass from Da’Sean Nelson to make the score 24-18. St. John’s responded with a run of their own when Dylan Adde-Wusu and Rafael Pinzon worked a give-and go for a Pinzon layup and included a flurry of activity that saw Curbelo connect on helpers to both Soriano and Alexander for baskets. The Johnnies took a 40-29 margin into the locker room and bumped it to 45-29 when Alexander hit Montez Mathis for a deep triple in the opening moments of the second half.

   A 12-5 DePaul run that featured 5 points by Philmont Gebrewhit and a triple by K.T. Raimey trimmed the deficit to 50-41, David Jones and Da’Sean Nelson traded buckets before St. John’s reasserted control of the game. Despite a poor shooting game from beyond the arc, their ball movement passing and cutting helped them build a margin of 24 in the game’s closing moments. “I talked about taking the sense of urgency up many notches”, coach Mike Anderson said. “Defensively that was our most consistent effort…I think the game rewarded is with a win in conference play against a DePaul team that’s going to scratch and claw.”

Notes and Observations: New Jersey native freshman Zion Cruz led DePaul with 14 points while Earl Penn a graduate transfer forward from LIU-Brooklyn contributed 6 points and 7 boards.

Pinzon had his 3^rd straight strong game off the bench for St. John’s scoring 9 points while adding 4 rebounds and a pair of assists, one of which was a pretty drive and dime play to Soriano for a dunk.  When evaluating Pinzon’s progress, it’s worth noting that because of illness and injury last night marked his 20^th college game. Under more typical circumstances that would put him 2/3 of the way through his freshman season right about the time when good players begin to figure out what they can do at the “next level”.

 St. John’s next faces New Hampshire on Saturday at Carnesecca Arena at 6 pm.  Coach Bill Herrion’s squad will be coming off a win vs. ACC foe Boston College on Tuesday that featured a 34-point 14 rebound performance from junior forward Clarence Daniels as well as a 20-point 8 rebound effort from redshirt junior and former All Hallows (BX) standout Nick Johnson

Curbelo Takes MVP honors, Leads St. John's to Empire Classic Title in OT over Syracuse

 

   David Jones’ pull up jumper from the right side 2:11 left in the extra session gave St. John’s the lead for good at 69-67.  Syracuse’s Joe Girard, perhaps fatigued from being chased by a diligent Red Storm defense missed the front end of a one and one.  At that point Posh Alexander and Andre Curbelo, the two point guards that many worried might not be able to work together combined in a way that even the most optimistic Johnnies’ fan might not have imagined.

   Curbelo initiated the set play against the Syracuse zone. Posh set a screen for him at the right elbow. When Curbelo passed him the ball he quickly shifted a pass to Joel Soriano, who tried to power in a dunk and missed. For one of the few times in the game and at the rim a Syracuse defender was called for a foul. Soriano’s first free throw crawled over the rim and gave the Johnnies a 3-point lead. He calmly swished the next one, pushing the lead to 4 with 1:27 left. Curbelo then stole a Syracuse pass and then scored on a goaltending call. After ‘Cuse’s Jesse Edwards scored in the lane it was up to Curbelo to cap his MVP performance. Dribbling to the foul circle, probing a now extended zone defense. He found Jones again for a triple that affectively ended the ballgame, provided the final margin of victory (76-69) and gave St. John’s the Empire Classic Tournament Championship in a game that was held at new venue (Barclay’s Center) but had the feel of an old-fashioned Big East slug fest played at MSG or the Carrier Dome.

     St. John’s opened the game determined to make Joe Girard work for every point. They had, after all, watched him torch Richmond for 31 points in the Orange’s opening round win. While that strategy worked thanks to Posh Alexander, Montez Mathis and Dylan Adde-Wusu’s sharing the task, the Orange found scoring elsewhere, primarily in the person of freshman guard Judah Mintz who scored 16 of his team high 20 points in the opening half.

   Even when the Johnnies tried to get some traction in the first half, they seemingly sabotaged the effort. After Curbelo connected on a deep triple to cut what had been an 11-point deficit to 3 with six seconds left. Mintz took a quick pass from talented sophomore Benny Williams who converted a 3-point play to give the Orange a six point margin.

   Syracuse briefly bumped their margin back to 10 points when Girardi connected on a long 2-pointer on what may have been his only clean look of the game.  To their credit St. John’ kept coming. After Curbelo and Syracuse’s Chris Bell traded triples to make the score 50-40 with 15:08 left in the game the Johnnies went on 16-2 run. Jones gave them their first lead of the 2^nd-half when he followed in his own miss and completed a 3-point play with 9:28 left. A moment later Mathis connected on two free throws to complete the run and give the Red Storm a 56-52 lead. The Johnnies led by 65-61 after a bucket by Curbelo 2:39 left in regulation. After that senior center Jesse Williams scored four straight points on two free throws and a post-up. With the game tied at 65 the Johnnies forced a tough shot from Symir Torrence to force the extra 5 minutes. Both teams turned the ball over on their first possession of OT and that set the stage for the Johnnies. Jones and Curbelo provided the offensive spark while Adde-Wusu, whom coach Anderson subbed in for Mathis because he “wanted someone with fresh legs” to guard Girardi provided the defensive effort. “I like gritty”, Anderson said when asked to asses his team’s potential after the game. He got plenty of that from Adde-Wusu and the rest of his charges and they earned a terrific in season tournament win against an old but still hated rival.

 

Notes And Observations: Curbelo finished his MVP effort with a career high 23 points on 9-13 shooting that included a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. Jones and Soriano each had double doubles.  Jones had 19 points and 13 rebounds while Soriano added 18 and a career high 14 rebounds. Posh Alexander’s modest numbers (7 points and 4 boards in 44 minutes) should not diminish in anyone’s eyes how well he’s playing. He did a terrific defensive job on Mintz in the 2^nd half but continued to set up easy baskets for his teammates (5 assists). He demonstrates the ability to see plays develop no matter where he’s positioned in the offense. That ability will help the process of two dynamic and ball dominant point guards learning to play well together. Last but not least an observation about starters playing heavy minutes.  Curbelo played 40, Jones all 45, and Posh 44. I think that was done primarily because of the importance of the games with respect to rankings and a possible at-large tournament bid. I suspect the staff will go back to trying to develop the bench in these next few games. If they can succeed even a little bit the Johnnies may have some more options when they need them most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curbelo's Late Buckets Lift St. John's Past Temple For Empire Classic Showdown vs. Syracuse

 

        Andre Curbelo worked through a game that saw him shoot 4-14 from the floor and commit 6 turnovers. Fortunately for him, and for St. John’s, he saved his best work for when it mattered most.

     The former LuHi star and Illinois transfer converted two tough right-handed drives while moving down the left side to give St. John’s the lead for good in what would ultimately be a 78-72 win over Temple in the first round of the Empire Classic at Barclay’s Center last night.  The first of those drives came after the Owls’ Zach Hicks connected on a trey to give his team a 72-70 lead. Curbelo was fouled as he banked in the layup and made the free throw to give St. John’s a 1-point margin. On Temple’s next possession, his partner in the backcourt Posh Alexander forced Damian Dunn, the Owls leading scorer, to dribble the ball off his foot. Curbelo then made a similar right-handed drive down the left side, a little closer this time perhaps, but with the same result save for the foul, gently banked in off the glass.

  Prior to Curbelo’s heroics, Hicks’ basket that had briefly given Temple the lead came following a turnover where St. John’s tried to force an inbounds pass along the sideline to Alexander. It’s worth noting because the ups and downs of the game’s final sequence were indicative of the entire game for St. John’s

   The Johnnies began the game shooting terribly (4-25 at one point and 0-8 from 3-point distance in the first half) and Temple took advantage with the help of one of the Big 5’s best shooters Khalif Pratt who scored 13 of his 17 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Owls lead by as many as 13 in the first half but St. John’s countered using terrific pressure defense and inside scoring.  A 20-5 half closing run gave them a 32-30 margin at the break.

   Temple started quickly in the second half with a 10-3 run before St. John’s responded with a run that included 6 points from David Jones as well as key baskets from Alexander and O’mar Stanley, who was a perfect 4-4 from the floor and provided great energy and toughness on defense.

   The game see-sawed back and forth with both teams making clutch plays until the stage was set for Curbelo’s clutch baskets. Montez Mathis who, as his coach Mike Anderson suggested “looked like a mature senior” lead the Johnnies with 18 points. Joel Soriano finished with 15 points and 12 boards all while engaging in a terrific battle down low with Temple’s Jamille Reynolds who finished with a game high 21 points. Reynolds’ individual point total may have been higher but that should take nothing away from Soriano’s effort. In a fast-paced game and despite foul problems, he provided a tough and strong presence in the lane. With the Johnnies’ win and Syracuse’s 74-71 overtime win over Richmond the stage is set for a clash between two old Big East rivals.  It’s perhaps fitting that they will be playing for a championship in Brooklyn, where two of their greatest players, Chris Mullin for St. John’s and Pearl Washington for Syracuse, honed legendary games.