St. John's Post Game: Closing Out

Down 4 with 6:14 to Go...
Corey Stokes hit his sixth (and last) three point attempt to bring the 'Cats to -2, 61-63. The Johnnies brought the ball up to their end of the floor and passed around the perimeter looking for the seam in the Wildcats' zone. A Horne pass to Evans in the low post (Justin Burrell was playing the other forward position and blocked out of action by Dom Cheek) brought a one-on-one with Antonio Pena and a score with time expiring. Evans missed the and-one (Pena fouled him on the score), and what followed for the next minute and 50 seconds was three St. John's empty possessions, interleaved with four Villanova possessions, Wayns scored on a lane drive and an and-one on the fourth possession. Neither team seemed ready to seize the moment, but having drawn to within one of the Red Storm, Villanova seemed to forget why they were there. The Red Storm peeled off a 16-4 run over those last four minutes, two scores from the field (runners) and 12 points from the line.

The Athletic Department website posted the official boxscore and the AP wire story, "No. 15 Villanova Upset by No. 23 St. John's, 81-68", lead with emerging Big East Player of the Year contender Dwight Hardy's 34 point outing, a career-high for the senior guard. The breakdown by halves...

Opponent:			St. John's University
	1st	2nd	Game
Pace	34.3	34.0	68.3
	Offense				Defense
	1st	2nd	Game		1st	2nd	Game
Rating	105.0	94.1	99.6		119.5	117.6	118.6
eFG%	50.0	45.8	48.2		62.1	45.8	54.7
TORate	11.7	23.5	17.6		17.5	11.8	14.6
OR%	25.0	23.5	24.3		25.0	36.8	31.4
FTA/FGA	29.0	58.3	41.8		24.1	108.3	62.3
FTM/FGA	16.1	41.7	27.3		17.2	75.0	43.4
ARate	76.9	77.8	77.3		85.7	40.0	66.7
Blk%	3.2	0.0	1.8		3.4	4.2	3.8
Stl%	8.8	14.4	11.6		5.8	6.0	5.9
PPWS	1.02	1.04	1.03		1.27	1.10	1.18
2FG%	50.0	50.0	50.0		54.5	40.0	45.2
3FG%	33.3	28.6	31.0		44.4	50.0	45.5
FT%	55.6	71.4	65.2		71.4	69.2	69.7
%2FG	44.4	31.3	38.2		29.3	40.0	34.6
%3FG	41.7	37.5	39.7		58.5	15.0	37.0
%FT	13.9	31.3	22.1		12.2	45.0	28.4

Runs, Getting the First & Last Word...
A few of the posts this season have looked at the impact of play in the first four minutes of each half. The Redmen opened the game with a six minute, 20-7 run, that put the 'Cats on their heels and set the tone for the rest of the game. The Wildcats found themselves in a hole that they spent the next 30 minutes digging out. A comparison of efficiencies for that six minute stretch...

	FGM	FGA	3FGM	3FGA	FTM	FTA	OReb	TO	Pts	Poss	ppp
St. John's	7	10	4	5	2	3	1	1	20	11	1.82
Villanova	3	10	1	6	0	2	2	2	7	11	0.64

The Johnnies' efficiency during the opening minutes was enough to sustain them when Villanova mounted a counter punch through much of the first half. Their eFG% was 90.0%, a reflection of their super 4-5 from beyond the arc. Their PPWS, 1.75, shows the effect of both their three point shot conversion and their trips to the line. Villanova's shooting numbers, 35.0% and 0.64 respectively, were as unimpressive as their points per possession. Though the Wildcats counter punched with a 29-21 run of their own through the end of the first half, the 1.26 points per possession (29 points in 23 possessions) was not efficient enough to overcome St. John's own 21 points in 23 possessions (0.91 ppp). By the 36 minute mark the Wildcats had cut the deficit to 1, 64-65, but the Johnnies' last run, 16-4 over the last four minutes turned back Villanova in convincing fashion. The numbers illustrate how the Red Storm closed out the game convincingly...

	FGM	FGA	3FGM	3FGA	FTM	FTA	OReb	TO	Pts	Poss	ppp
St. John's	2	2	0	0	12	16	1	0	16	8	2.00
Villanova	1	8	0	5	2	3	2	0	4	8	0.50

One of the more remarkable stats from those last eight St. John's possessions (a 2.00 ppp is pretty remarkable) is that the Johnnies had no empty trips. They scored at least one point every time they took possession of the ball in those last four minutes. A team cannot lose if they score everytime they touch the ball. During a sequence when the Wildcats desparately needed to hang empty trips on the Red Storm, they could not. Not once. During those two runs, the Johnnies outscored the Wildcats 36-11, a huge deficit to overcome. Tough enough to overcome a single 20-7 run, credit the 'Cats that they could close to one. Overcoming two double digit runs in a single game? Almost impossible. Credit St. John's -- while they could, and often did, mount double digit runs on opponents last season, they rarely mounted two double digit runs in a single game.

Numbers...Next
St. John's raises their record to 19-9 overall and 11-5 in conference play. The Johnnies last beat a ranked team on the road on January 17, 2002 (Boston College). The Red Storm finish the season with a last road game at Seton Hall, then return to the Carnesecca Arena on campus to play South Florida. Villanova's record drops to 21-8 overall and 9-7 in conference play. The Wildcats close out the season on the road. First stop is South Bend and a game against Notre Dame. The 'Cats then close the book on their 2011 series with Pittsburgh by taking on the Panthers at the Pete next Saturday.

Guest Contributor: Pico Dulce -- St. John's Scouting Report

Pico Dulce of Rumble in the Garden blog ran off a scouting report on the Red Storm...

Starting Five & Rotation Notes
Dwight Hardy G 6'2" and listed at 195 (which I don't believe) - he has a lot of nicknames and takes a lot of shots for the Red Storm. He's become very accurate in the last month. You may heave heard something about him.

Paris Horne G 6'3" - an ace defender, and finally able to use his combination of athleticism - strength and speed, defensive agility and leaping ability - to help the team win in ways that don't show up on the scoreboard.

DJ Kennedy G/F 6'5" - a tenacious dirty-work player who will pick up rebounds and is a dangerous defender in the Red Storm's press and in transition defense.

Dwayne Polee II F 6'7" - a long freshman getting his feet wet with a number of starts, he has a developing jump shot.

The Red Storm go maybe 8 deep, with forwards Justin Burrell and Sean Evans logging time in the post, along with point guard Malik Boothe.

Justin Burrell is 6'8" and looks like a basketball player. Half the time, he plays like a basketball player; he's been motivated and focused recently, so his active brand of basketball - physical, strong, and liable to catch a Technical foul - will be on display.

Sean Evans, the Philly native, has re-blossomed into a bit of a low-post force. He's doing a lot more right now than he did in the previous 3 seasons, not breaking off of the offense to make dribble moves that go nowhere (I hope he was breaking off of the plan. If that was the plan, well...). Evans can bang in the paint and hold his space.

Malik Boothe is all of 5'9" but he has been a defensive sparkplug. No quarter asked, none given. He's happy to try and pull the ball right out of another players' hands, passes decently, and is much better at making an end-of-shot-clock jumper or drive than in the past.

Defense First
St. John's whole system is based off of their defensive pressure. It's not constant; they press off of made shots, generally, and the press tends to slow teams down a bit, restricting transition opportunities. At times, they will crank it up with Paris Horne and Malik Boothe guarding ballhandlers close; there will be traps around halfcourt at times. When the press is broken, there is often an open 3-pointer waiting to happen.

In the halfcourt, the Red Storm mostly play a matchup zone. Some games it looks better than others, and they give up a number of three-pointers in the zone - for periods of the game. Late in the game, they tend to better identify developing threats and mark them well. Even with the open threes, the zone is effective. The Red Storm spring traps in the corners to force turnovers or passes that lead to turnovers. The team reacts well in the zone, forcing cross-court passes that can get a little wild.

On Offense
On offense the team moves the ball up quickly to test the defense. Off of misses and of turnovers, DJ Kennedy will likely be in the middle, looking for a streaking Justin Brownlee or Paris Horne going to the basket; sometimes Kennedy's the recipient of those passes. Dwight Hardy is often guarded, and gets many of his points off of a screen-and-roll and a dribble. He's become awesome at attacking a little bit of daylight for a drive and layup/ foul or a mid-range jump shot.

His job as point guard is in name only; he gets to handle the ball because he's uniquely able to take advantage of small breakdowns in the defense. But his ability to attack draws defenders; he'll pass the ball off, and get it back when he's better able to attack his man.

Vulnerabilities & Conclusion
The Red Storm have been susceptible to size for much of the season; Justin Brownlee is less effective against bigger defenders, though he is using his offensive versatility more than in the past. But the team has trouble scoring on longer, taller teams like Cincinnati; expect them to have some struggles against Yarou and Pena if they can't coax those two out of the paint. The forwards have shown a willingness to pass out of trouble (and to rotate to places to accept passes when their teammates are in trouble), and they look more effective, even if the shots aren't falling. Justin Burrell has shown signs of being a creative post player once more, so there's a chance that he might be able to go to work on Villanova.

Overall, the Johnnies are playing smart, smart basketball. I don't think they'll win - but that's mainly because I'm a pessimist. The team is really clicking despite their weaknesses, and they've become a real joy to watch.

greyCat Notes...Pico is absolutely correct about his last point -- this Johnnies team has been fun to watch. I caught them at the Garden for the Notre Dame and Pittsburgh games this season and the team has taken a 180 degree turn from 2010 and earlier editions. This is a very dangerous St. John's team.

On Dwayne Polee -- when asked in the Pitt post game presser about next season's team, Coach Steve Lavin suggested that getting starts and minutes this season for Polee would pay dividends next season as he would be one of the experienced players the staff could rely on to bring next season's freshmen along.

Catch Pico's "5 Questions..." features with VUHoops.com (they discuss indispensable players, the bigs turnover problems and "Jay Wright to..." rumors) and Nova Blog (they explore confidence issues, Mo Sutton's suspensions, futures for Corey Fisher, etc.) over at Rumble in the Garden. Pico has also combined material from his "5 Questions for..." features with a scouting report I sent over yesterday and produced an entertaining breakdown of the Wildcats and Johnnies game tomorrow.

Guest Contributor Pico Dulce: Preview of Villanova at St. John's

Villanova travels to Madison Square Garden on Saturday to play the St. John's Red Storm. Pico Dulce of the east coast bias and Johnny Jungle Blogs shares his thoughts about the St. John's Red Storm and what the Wildcats can expect when they tip off at noon.

Things you should know about St. John’s:

The fans have found the team frustrating in Big East play. Personally, I believe people’s expectations were pretty high for a team that won 6 conference games (and a Big East tournament game) last year, beating the lame, the weak, and Notre Dame and Georgetown, who played like a little bit of both. St. John’s scored about .11 points per possession less than their opponents last year, and returned the same core. Familiarity breeds greater efficiency in college ball, but that’s a huge gap to make up – even if the name stars left the league. So far this year, the team is .5 points per possession below their opponents.

Something I strongly believe: this team is improved. “Improve” is a far cry from “contend”, and the fans are upset about not contending. Rightfully so; 6 years, with any extra leniency for the moral high ground and better relationships with AAU players, is a long time for fans to watch a team struggle to get near .500 on the season. And coming off another loss where the Red Storm seemed to have a chance, and once again lose it in a flurry of poor play, defensive breakdowns, and the usual scoring drought… things aren’t going well.

St. John’s has a lot of depth – and now Anthony Mason Jr. is back. So 10 guys will see court time in most games. The team’s point guards are not scorers; the points come generally from a plethora of wing players. Style-wise, you’ll see a lot of ball screens with the occasional off-ball screen for a shooter; St. John’s doesn’t pick and roll much, the screens are intended to give the ballhandler a clearer look at the basket. Defensively, there will be some token pressure and the occasional zone look, but the team is best – and usually – in the halfcourt man with bigs coming out to bother opposing ballhandlers.

The closest thing to an alpha dog player for St. John’s is DJ Kennedy, who will go to the basket in crucial midgame situations; his jump shot is vastly improved, his drives are crafty, and his rebounding is solid. At the end of games, Dwight Hardy has been the guy; he can drive and shoot the 3-pointer. Against smaller teams, Justin Brownlee and Sean Evans are solid rebounders and can score off the dribble… or make mistakes off the dribble. Paris Horne is a scoring threat from the outside; when he drives to the hoop he never seems to get the call. Justin Burrell has been more aggressive in looking for his shot. Anthony Mason Jr. hasn’t been crisp with the jump shot yet, but contributes with rebounding and length on defense.

Speaking of defense, Dele Coker has made some strides this year in playing without fouling, rebounding better (I am surprised he wasn’t credited with any boards against U Conn, he was positioned well on the glass and boxed out) and swatting shots. Burrell and Justin Brownlee can block some shots as well. Paris Horne is considered the team’s tough perimeter defender, but DJ Kennedy can defend well.

Thanking Pico for his thoughts, I want to add that I will be at the Garden, hosting a live blog for the folks at Rush the Court. After you open the game thread on your favorite message board, open a second tab, come over to Rush the Court and contribute to the commentary and dialog live from the game.

Oh Canada! After the Storm

Rolling Through Ottawa
As I noted at the end of the UQAM post Sunday morning, the Johnnies hung a 17 point win on the Carleton Univesity Ravens, possibly the high point of their Canadian Excursion. The Ravens, rebuilding from the loss of Aaron Doornekamp (who played for the Canadian National Team before heading off to Italy to begin his professional career), looked to a few of their younger players to fill the void left by Dornekamp. After trailing by 4 at half-time, the Red Storm blew past the Ravins in the first 5½ minutes of the 2nd half, and never looked back. The efficiency stats for the team...

							FTA
Team	Pace	eFG%	ORtg	PPWS	OR%	TO%	FGA	Ast%	Stl%
St. John's	60.5	53.7	117.3	1.14	18.5	5.0	31.5	36.0	8.2
Carleton	60.5	45.6	89.2	1.01	25.0	21.5	40.0	55.6	3.3

In a game whose pace was the most "DI like" of the quartet, the Johnnies put on one of their better offensive performances. Reflecting the level of their competition, St. John's defensive numbers were the worst of the trip. Each team negated the others offensive rebounding, neither team had many 2nd chance opportunities. By comparison though, the Johnnies did get the worse of the deal, grabbing a very slight 18.5% of their misses. The disadvantage went unnoticed because the Red Storm shot so well...

Nicks & Dings...Or Weary Legs?
The evening tilt against the Ottawa University Gee Gees, while counted as a win, was less impressive. Ottawa University, typically the bridesmaid to Carleton's domination in the CIS post season tournament, put up a surprisingly strong effort as they took the Red Storm down to (literally) the last seconds before bowing by a single point, 74-73. The efficiency stats suggest this was a loosely played game between two up tempo clubs, each of whom managed to lose over 20% of their possessions (Gee Gees -- 27.9%, Red Storm -- 22.6%)...

							FTA
Team	Pace	ORtg	eFG%	PPWS	OR%	TO%	FGA	Ast%	Stl%
St. John's	74.4	99.4	53.6	1.12	37.9	22.8	37.5	50.0	17.3
Ottawa	74.4	98.1	51.9	1.12	25.0	28.2	49.1	54.2	9.3

Comparing St. John's eFG% and PPWS in the two games and I found a surprisingly consistent accuracy (even the FTA/FGA suggests the same level of "aggression" on offense/defense between the two games). The biggest difference was turnover rates -- versus the Ravens the Johnnies lost 5% of their possessions, while versus the Gee Gees the Johnnies lost a disappointing 22.8%. Their turnovers nearly negated their shooting. St. John's steals (17.3%) was due in large measure to Malik Boothe and Justin Brownlee, who combined for 9 steals. Coach Roberts went with a short rotation, using only 8 players (all of whom played double digit minutes). His starters (Boothe, Brownlee, Evans, Horne and Kennedy) combined to play 71.3% of the minutes, extremely high for an exhibition game. The staff decided to leave Anthony Mason Jr. behind due to a minor injury, and that decision seemed to set the tone for the trip. Justin Burrell played only 8 minutes in the 1st game (versus McGill), while Quincy Roberts, after logging 20 minutes versus McGill, received only 9 minutes in the UQAM game and did not appear in either of the Sunday games (and was also rumored to be slightly injured). Rob Thomas and Kevin Clark, both (deep) bench players did not see the floor versus the Gee Gees, despite logging minutes versus Carleton, UQAM and McGill.

Summing Up the Players
I have compiled the efficiency stats for those who logged any time in the 4 game tour...

									FTA
Player	%Min	%Poss	ORtg	PPWS	eFG%	OR%	TO%	Ast%	FGA	DR%	Blk%	Stl%
Boothe	49.2	20.9	93.6	1.18	53.3	3.6	26.0	16.0	93.3	5.1	0.0	5.4
Brownlee	52.3	22.8	100.4	1.25	62.1	5.1	16.8	6.9	17.2	17.7	6.6	4.5
Burrell	19.7	40.8	118.4	1.80	100.0	9.0	33.2	0.0	25.0	4.3	0.0	0.0
Clark	3.7	16.2	89.8	1.00	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Evans	48.6	28.3	103.0	1.27	63.3	14.6	19.4	9.9	23.3	32.9	1.4	2.8
Hardy	69.7	19.1	107.6	1.30	64.5	1.3	10.0	3.8	7.9	2.4	0.0	1.9
Horne	69.1	20.6	118.1	1.33	61.8	9.0	9.4	7.4	29.4	14.6	3.0	4.4
Kennedy	66.0	29.6	100.7	1.13	52.3	12.1	12.0	10.9	39.5	25.5	5.3	1.5
Lawrence	47.9	19.7	84.0	0.91	40.0	5.5	14.1	9.9	35.0	22.8	1.4	4.2
Roberts	36.0	19.7	95.6	1.10	55.0	0.0	9.4	4.3	0.0	2.3	0.0	3.7
Stith	59.8	16.0	97.8	0.99	41.7	4.4	10.5	12.7	66.7	8.4	0.0	1.7
Thomas	10.6	16.5	138.5	1.80	90.0	0.0	19.1	9.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Granted 4 games (about 160 minutes of playing time per player) is a very small sample from which to draw conclusions. Efficiencies for players logging < 10% of the playing time is even dicier. Take those numbers with an even bigger grain of salt than the others. The four game mix does however, provide an opportunity to see (I caught the streaming video from Carleton Sunday. It was wonderful to see a college basketball game over Labor Day...) the team and review the numbers. A few things occur to me as I look over the box scores and the spreadsheets.
1. The true freshmen are well, true freshmen. Stith and Lawrence had PPWSs =<0.99 and ORtgs in the range of the mid 80s (Lawrence) to the mid 90s (Stith), very typical of freshmen. They will be good players in time, but I doubt they will be game-changers, or players that will have an immediate impact on St. John's play.
2. The JUCOs hung with the veterans, which is a good sign. When I read that Justin Brownlee, a forward out of Chipola College in Florida had committed to St. John's my first question was "Where is this guy going to get time?". The team has a serious supply of forwards. Brownlee fit in. With the limited time he still managed to produce points fairly efficiently. The same holds for off guard Dwight Hardy, who will provide another outside threat to compliment junior Paris Horne. Though Hardy seems to be a bit shy when it comes to contact (see his FTA/FGA), his shooting efficiency was 2nd to Horne, as he converted 38.9% of his 3FGAs on his way to scoring 51 points (tied for 2nd on the team with Horne, behind DJ Kennedy). With an In/Out rating of -39.5, he was the "most outside" player on the team, among those who logged 20% or more of the playing time. Horne by the way, had a very good run over the weekend too. Tied with Hardy with 51 points, he shot an outstanding 42.9% from beyond the arc, making him the 3rd most effective shooter on the team, behind Evans and Hardy. Outside scoring was a significant shortcoming for the Johnnies' offense in 2009, the Horne/Hardy tandem, if as effective during the season as they were in Canada, could make a big difference for opposing defenses.
3. Malik Boothe is still his own worst enemy. The junior point guard had an eFG% of 53.3, along with a PPWS of 1.18, among the best on the team. But his ORtg was still below 100 because his turnover rate was an abysmal 26.0%, extremely high for a point guard. Boothe offered a mixed bag of numbers -- very good shooting, tops on the team for Stl%, abysmal turnover rate and a too modest 16% assist rate -- which may well make rotation decisions difficult during the regular season. Malik Stith, the freshman pg, offered less effective shooting numbers (translated into a modest eFG% and PPWS), but assisted at about the same rate as Boothe, but with a smaller turnover rate.
4. Kennedy & Evans continue to be the best rebounders on the team. Burrell logged too few minutes for accurate measure, but Evans and Kennedy continued where they left off last season. On the defensive boards, the newcomers Brownlee and Lawrence proved to be credible rebounders. The Carleton game was unusual for St. John's in that it was the only time on the Canadian Tour, and only 11 times (out of 34 games)last season that the Johnnies were outrebounded. Especially interesting given the Ravens had lost Doornekamp, their big rebounder.

Caveat Emptor!
The Canadian Junket offers many positives, no wonder the NCAA banned them. Aside from giving the team an excuse to conduct full practices in late August (an especially bad time for pickup game injuries), the northern tours allow teams to travel relatively cheaply as they play other, collegiate-level (admittedly largely -- but not exclusively -- DII level) competition under the supervision of their college coaches. The Canadians have a chance to compete with some outstanding American programs, and both sides learn and benefit from the early exchange. The strongest new players to emerge on the Villanova team when they took their Canadian Tour in the 2007-08 season were (true) freshmen Malcolm Grant and Corey Stokes. From Stokes it was expected, but Grant was a surprise of sorts. The 3rd freshman guard, Corey Fisher, struggled very publicly during the tour. Stokes appeared completely lost in a number of early season games, saw his minutes diminished while he regained his focus. Grant, after a handful of early season heroics, faded to the bench, and received virtually no minutes during the Wildcat's season ending run to the Sweet Sixteen. Corey Fisher's time slowly grew during the season, and by March it was he, not Grant, who drew the rotation minutes during the NCAA run.

Oh Canada! St. John's North Country Tour

A Very Quick Preview
The NCAA banned these excursions as this fall, St. John's, having signed the contract to play before the ban, is exempt. The Johnnies may be one of the last universities to head North to get an early start on season with an extended exhibition. St. John's is scheduled to play a pair of "double headers" with 4 CIS university squads, McGill University, University of Quebec at Montreal, Carleton University and Ottawa University, over a two day period. Though technically these games are not double headers (St. John's will travel from McGill to UQAM's gym on Saturday, and from Carlton's facility to Ottawa's on Sunday), the schedule is fairly strenuous, and the staff will be forced by circumstances, to reach deep into the bench to keep pace. Between the two days, Sunday's schedule should be the more challenging, as the Johnnies face the Carleton University Ravens, winners of the CIS Championship in 6 of the last 7 seasons. The CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sports) is the Canadian counterpart to the NCAA, and like the NCAA, they sponsor a nationwide post season tournament to determine a "national" champion. Carleton's coach, Dave Smart, has coached the Canadian National team for a number of years, leading them in a number of international competitions. The Ravens have been a regular stop for high-major teams heading North for the Labor Day Weekend, Coach Smart's squad has faced Villanova and Louisville out of the Big East in prior tours, defeating Alabama and playing Illinois of the Big Ten very closely.

The University of Ottawa Gee Gees are most likely the second most difficult stop on the tour. The Gee Gees finished 2nd in their conference (the OUA - East Division...not sure about the OUA abbreviation) to Carleton last season, and placed 5th in the CIS Tournament. The Johnnies will face the Gee Gees about 6 hours (and a cross town trip) after they complete their game with Carleton. The University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) Citadins (roughly translated, "townies" or "urbans") finished with an 8-8 record in their conference last season (the Quebec Conference), but did not compete in the CIS Tournament. McGill finished in a last place tie in the Quebec Conference in 2009, though the Redmen did have 17-15 record overall.

There is no reliable way to compare teams from the two organizations, but in the past Carleton has been described as a mid-major level program (RPI in the 70-110 range?), while the others scale down accordingly.

The Red Storm Beats...the Redmen?!
In an unusual case of nom deja vu (no pun intended...ok, maybe), the Red Storm defeated the McGill University Redmen, 90-55, this afternoon in Montreal. The game was competitive for the first quarter as the Redmen led the Red Storm 20-12, but St. John's turned on the burners in the second quarter to take a 52-26 lead into the locker room at the half. McGill never got back into it -- walk-on Kevin Clark was the last of 12 Red Storm players to whom the staff allocated minutes. McGill's website posted a recap of the game. Anthony Mason did not make the trip, the staff is playing it safe after he tweaked a hamstring in Thursdays practice. Only Dele Coker did not see action. Processing the box score (.pdf format) yielded these efficiency stats for the teams...

						FTA
Team	Pace	ORtg	eFG%	TOV	OR%	FGA	Ast%	Stl%	PPWS
St. John's	84.2	107.0	59.0	19.0	35.7	22.4	23.7	22.6	1.21
McGill	84.2	65.4	42.1	33.3	9.4	22.8	52.4	5.9	0.87

The pace, 84.2, tags this as an exhibition game. Among the high-majors, only North Carolina (and a few others) play routinely for that many possessions. Some of the good news...
1. The Red Storm logged an offensive rating of 107.0, one of the best offensive performances they have had in Coach Roberts' tenure. Check the PPWS -- at 1.21 the Johnnies were efficient from the floor, but also finished at the line when they were fouled.
2. Turnovers (TOV) and field goal efficiency (eFG%) showed improvement over last season.
3. Limiting McGill to an offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) of 65.4 is strong. It suggests that St. John's defended the shot well (indeed, note the Redmen's eFG% -- 42.1 is borderline stymied), provided very few 2nd chance opportunities (OR% of 9.4 is crushing on the defensive boards), and forced an extraordinarily high number of turnovers (TOV -- at 33.3 means McGill lost 1 in 3 possessions, most likely without getting a shot off).

A few areas of concern for the staff might include an offensive rebound rate of 35.7 and an assist rate of 23.7. In Big East snagging 35.7% of their misses would be very good, but given the Red Storm's absolute control of the defensive boards, I would have expected something over 40%, most likely in the range of 45-55. Strong shooting (except 3 pointers) may account for level of offensive rebounding. A "good" assist rate tends to depend on the type of offense the staff implements. Traditional half court sets and many (but not all) motion-oriented offenses rely on pick and roll, penetration and kick-out, or screens with catch-and-shoot plays. Frankly I am not familiar with the offense Coach Roberts runs. But whatever it is, it is not designed to have players shooting 18.8% from beyond the arc. The breakouts for the players...

							FTA
Players	Min%	Poss%	Shot%	eFG%	PPWS	ORtg	FGA	OR%	DR%
Hardy	65.0	18.9	23.0	40.0	0.80	77.3	0.0	0.0	4.8
Stith	65.0	11.7	6.9	66.7	1.54	140.5	200.0	5.5	24.0
Lawrence	57.5	18.0	18.2	42.9	0.86	68.7	0.0	6.2	21.7
Horne	52.5	14.2	17.1	75.0	1.50	143.7	0.0	0.0	17.9
Roberts	50.0	16.8	20.9	64.3	1.29	127.2	0.0	0.0	6.3
Brownlee	47.5	27.9	22.0	50.0	1.13	80.7	28.6	0.0	19.7
Kennedy	47.5	22.3	25.1	50.0	1.06	112.2	37.5	15.0	26.3
Boothe	37.5	24.0	15.9	100.0	1.84	132.0	75.0	9.5	16.7
Evans	35.0	28.7	34.1	50.0	1.00	94.8	0.0	30.6	35.7
Burrell	20.0	38.8	29.9	100.0	1.79	122.5	25.0	35.7	15.6
Thomas	17.5	18.5	25.6	66.7	1.33	147.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
Clark	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.00	0.0	NA	0.0	0.0

I sorted the table by Min%, though the starting lineup was Burrell, Boothe, Roberts, Horne and Kennedy, those five did not get the largest allocation of minutes. The starters in fact logged about 42% of total minutes, again consistent with exhibitions (particularly those which are over by half-time). Along with the familiar faces on offense (Burrell, Kennedy and Evans), it appears that JUCOs Dwight Hardy and Justin Brownlee will bring something to the table. Hardy however, will have to do better than 0-5 from 3 point range if the Johnnies offense is to have a credible perimeter game. Otherwise it just becomes too easy to concentrate on the front court players and shut the Reds' offense down.

The latest word from Montreal has St. John's beating UQAM by 40, 102-62. I will post the breakdown later.