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A disturbing trend started for St. John’s against Indiana. It continued with games versus St. Francis Brooklyn and NJIT, and was again an issue Friday night during the loss to Kansas.
Of the Red Storm’s problems — from defensive rebounding shortcomings to turnovers to underperformance of the newcomers — poor starts to games are at the top of the list. Four of the Johnnies’ last five games have included bad first halves. It was the reason they lost at Indiana and contributed to the 20-point blowout loss to eighth-ranked Kansas at UBS Arena.
St. John’s is starting flat and digging itself into holes. Posh Alexander said the Red Storm came out “lazy” in the narrow win over NJIT. Julian Champagnie said the team understood it had to play harder in the second half against Kansas, which is an admission that it didn’t play hard enough in the opening stanza.
My solution: Shake up the starting lineup. Insert Dylan Addae-Wusu and O’Mar Stanley, two guys who play with energy and passion, in place of the struggling Joel Soriano and Stef Smith.
It doesn’t have to be a permanent change. But something has to be done after this run of poor starts. Addae-Wusu, who had minor ankle surgery in late September, looked fully healthy in the loss to Kansas, scoring 16 points and adding four assists while committing just one turnover. He had a burst that had been lack ing for St. John’s, and he got into the lane and to the free-throw line. Addae-Wusu has started the second half of games a few times after poor first halves for St. John’s. Coach Mike Anderson might as well put him in to start.
I have liked what we have seen from Stanley in spots. He’s athletic and has rebounding potential. He makes mistakes — all freshmen do — but those miscues aren’t from a lack of effort. Let’s see more of the intense freshman.
Even more than what those two players could provide in starting roles, a message needs to be sent. The status quo isn’t acceptable.
I’d also play freshman guard Rafael Pinzon — who returned Friday after missing the previous three games due to a fracture in his left ring finger —and junior forward Esahia Nyiwe a lot more. The transfers have to be much better. Make them earn it. The threat of lost playing time is sometimes the best motivator.
Following the loss to Kansas, a number of fans suggested that St. John’s misses its departed transfers, so I checked how those players are performing.
Greg Williams Jr. has been up-and-down at Louisiana, much as he was at St. John’s. Marcellus Earlington has had some nice games, but also some quiet performances, for San Diego. Vince Cole and Rasheem Dunn are both shooting poorly for Coastal Carolina and Robert Morris, respectively. Josh Roberts has enjoyed some nice moments for Manhattan, but is not a difference-maker so far in the MAAC.
The former player performing the best is Isiah Moore, who is averaging 13.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists for Southern Mississippi. He’s the one guy St. John’s could use, although the forward’s repeated disciplinary issues last year made his return very unlikely.
Bottom line: My mind hasn’t changed. The Red Storm did upgrade in talent this offseason. It just has yet to translate.
Key stat through seven games: St. John’s is plus-2.1 in turnover margin after being plus-3.8 last year and plus-5.6 the year before. The Johnnies are committing 16 turnovers per game.
In talking to several people around the team this week, it is the No. 1 issue that is holding this group back right now. These are unforced turnovers, careless mistakes that are leading to easy transition baskets.
It starts with Alexander, who is committing 3.5 turnovers per game compared to 2.3 last year. He has to find a happy medium between fast and reckless. So does this team.
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