Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

Hope you all are staying healthy!! Let's review the Johnnies

OUT:
*Mustapha Heron
*Nick Rutherford

STAY:
*David Caraher
*Josh Roberts
*Greg Williams
*Marcellus Earlington
*Julian Champagnie
*Rasheem Dunn
*LJ Figueroa

IN:
*Johnathan McGriff (redshirted)
*Vince Cole (JuCo)
*Isaih Moore (JuCo)
*Dylan Wusu
*Posh Alexander

My 0.02: Wasn't a great year but it did have its moments in the first year of Mike Anderson. Good wins over my Jays, Providence and Marquette as well as wins in the non-con over West Virginia and Arizona. There were also games vs Seton Hall, Butler, Georgetown and Xavier where they were just a few feet away from winning. I like that Anderson has his boys playing their butts off and they're establishing an identity. Pressure defense, forcing turnovers and playing fast. I think Champagnie is a future star. Williams and Earlington should also continue to get better. IMO the Johnnies should at least be an NIT team and maybe on the bubble for an NCAA bid.

What say you?

I honestly thing they will be better than that. Creighton had a really tough time guarding their offense and things should improve for the Johnnies with another year in the system. Wouldn't shock me to see them in the top 4 of the league.

LJ staying for sure?

A bit too early for this IMO. St. John's never retains their entire roster and very few athletes are transferring at the moment.

IF everyone comes back, then the OP isn't high enough on the Johnnies. You say we should be an NIT team who may play onto the bubble, but that's what we were this year. We finished #62 in NET and all the bracketologists had us in the NIT. Also, we were 2.5 games away from the Big East Title. We won 3.5 out of our last 4.5 games and all but 1 of those games were against Tournament teams. None of our major pieces are graduating (Heron wasn't a factor with his injuries) and we have a good JUCO class coming in.

In short, if the roster actually looks like the OP then I don't see how we wouldn't be a projected Tournament team. Probably would be picked to finish 5th in the Big East.

they need help upfront. they have been outrebounded in all but one of their BE games this year. looking at who's coming in and staying, I don't see that changing much next year.

BEhomer wrote:they need help upfront. they have been outrebounded in all but one of their BE games this year. looking at who's coming in and staying, I don't see that changing much next year.

Size is important but as Creighton proved this year, it ain't everything

OmahaGuy wrote:

BEhomer wrote:they need help upfront. they have been outrebounded in all but one of their BE games this year. looking at who's coming in and staying, I don't see that changing much next year.

Size is important but as Creighton proved this year, it ain't everything

when you have 3 dynamic guards like Creighton does it cures a lot of ill. Most teams can't afford that. 3 of them all in top 6 in BE in 3pt %. you put them in most teams and they instantly become 3 best shooters in that team.

OmahaGuy wrote:

BEhomer wrote:they need help upfront. they have been outrebounded in all but one of their BE games this year. looking at who's coming in and staying, I don't see that changing much next year.

Size is important but as Creighton proved this year, it ain't everything

Wait...wait...wait... I hope you are not intimating that the game has fundamentally changed and that smaller, more nimble lineups that can switch on D, and exploit the 3 point line is what college coaches should aspire to put on the floor. Hmmm.... who would have thought that was a good way to go?

GumbyDamnit! wrote:

OmahaGuy wrote:

BEhomer wrote:they need help upfront. they have been outrebounded in all but one of their BE games this year. looking at who's coming in and staying, I don't see that changing much next year.

Size is important but as Creighton proved this year, it ain't everything

Wait...wait...wait... I hope you are not intimating that the game has fundamentally changed and that smaller, more nimble lineups that can switch on D, and exploit the 3 point line is what college coaches should aspire to put on the floor. Hmmm.... who would have thought that was a good way to go?

Lol true. Though I'm not sure if Nova was downplayed because of a lack of size like CU was. But you'd know more than I

If you spent some time on Nova fan boards you’ll see comments like: “we need a rim protector.” Many thought JRE is a 4, not a 5. That’s probably true but if he was able to hit the 3 at a 35-40% clip instead of 30ish%, then Nova would have been Top 5 instead of Top 10. CU looked like a Nova-type team this year—talented guards and wings who could fill it up and be enough of a pest on D to minimize size disadvantages.

I really think the Johnnies, as constituted, could play like that as well. Add a player or two who can shoot the rock and they’ll be really dangerous. MA has brought a work ethic that serves them well.