There weren’t any secrets about what kind of team St. John’s was supposed to be this season. After finishing next-to-last in the Big East in shooting percentage last season, the Red Storm knew the only chance for success this season was to play stellar defense and grab every loose ball.
So who are the impostors who have been wearing St. John’s jerseys the last three games?
In what can only be described as alarming, the Red Storm have given opposing teams the green light to score. And in losing two of those three games to Connecticut and Boston College, the Red Storm were outhustled.
“It’s killed us,” St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis said about the team’s inability to get to loose balls. “We’ve just gotta go get it. We have to have guys running into each other. And right now we don’t.”
Because St. John’s (11-7 overall, 4-4 in the Big East) has not done the things it needs to do to win ugly, its chances of gaining an NCAA Tournament at-large berth have been greatly diminished. St. John’s plays Virginia Tech (9-11, 2-5) today at Alumni Hall, and the Hokies are scrappy if nothing else.
Just ask the Connecticut Huskies, who got embarrassed in a 95-74 loss at Tech Wednesday night. St. John’s won 62-59 in Blacksburg two weeks ago but blew a 16-point lead and had to scrap for a win over a team that has yet to get to the Big East Tournament.
That was the last time the Red Storm played to form. They held the Hokies to 41.7 percent shooting, forced 17 turnovers, and the second-chance points were a virtual draw (14-13, Tech).
Since then, in six halves of hoops against Connecticut, Miami and Boston College, St. John’s has held the opposition to less than 50 percent shooting only twice. BC knocked down 64 percent of its shots in the first half of Wednesday night’s 84-82 win.
“That’s absurd,” said freshman swingman Tim Doyle. “We’ve been trying to be more aggressive on defense and that means gambling some times. When we’ve gambled, we’ve lost.”
The loss to BC showcased the Red Storm’s flaws. Not only did the Eagles shoot 53.6 percent from the field, but they also had 19 second-chance points, compared to just 10 for St. John’s.
When the Red Storm were trailing 69-67, BC’s Craig Smith went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end but Ryan Sidney tracked down the rebound and fed Troy Bell for a layup.
It was one of the 40 plays Jarvis said contributed to the loss. BC won all the hustle stats. The Eagles had more offensive rebounds (16-12), more steals (5-2) and went to the foul line 26 times, making 16, compared to 11-of-14 for St. John’s.
“I don’t think it’s an effort thing,” said Doyle. “I think we have to play smarter defense. We have to be more physical. And we have to do the things that don’t always show up in the boxscore. It might not be pretty, but it wins games.”