{"id":184852,"date":"2021-02-21T21:46:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-21T18:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/st-johns-crumbled-under-pressure-at-worst-possible-time\/"},"modified":"2021-02-21T21:46:40","modified_gmt":"2021-02-21T18:46:40","slug":"st-johns-crumbled-under-pressure-at-worst-possible-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/st-johns-crumbled-under-pressure-at-worst-possible-time\/","title":{"rendered":"#St. John\u2019s crumbled under pressure at worst possible time"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#St. John\u2019s crumbled under pressure at worst possible time<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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You could see it in the rushed shots. The heavy volume of 3-point attempts. The desperate hunting for steals that led to easy layups.<\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s pressed Saturday night. It\u2019s youth was app<\/a>arent. In a must-win game<\/a>, it could feel the pressure. Once it got down in the second half, the hole was dug deeper \u2014 too deep to rally from in a devastating 88-83 home loss to DePaul, the worst team in the Big East.<\/p>\n

It was obvious this was new for this team. Being expected to win is different. After winning six straight games, the Johnnies have lost two of three, falling to Butler and DePaul. They have struggled as the hunted.<\/p>\n

When your best player is a sophomore (Julian Champagnie), your most important player is a freshman (Posh Alexander), and one of your key reserves is also a freshman (Dylan Addae-Wusu), there will be learning lessons. This was one of them.<\/p>\n

For a few weeks now I\u2019ve said Alexander is St. John\u2019s most valuable player. It has been abundantly clear in the two recent losses. When he\u2019s not at his best, this team struggles. This season, when Alexander doesn\u2019t score in double figures, St. John\u2019s is 3-7, and it is 0-6 in league play. It\u2019s a lot to put on the shoulders of a freshman.<\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s didn\u2019t bring the needed effort and intensity from the jump, and this team isn\u2019t good enough to spot anyone 14 points. Coach Mike Anderson felt the Johnnies looked past DePaul after beating them by 13 on the road earlier this season. Champagnie said they didn\u2019t play with a sense of urgency until it was too late.<\/p>\n

You can fault the coaching staff or the players. It\u2019s on everyone. It may end up costing this group a real shot at the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

Greg Williams Jr. played just 10 minutes in the loss and was a non-factor. He took a knee to the lower back early on and wasn\u2019t the same, the lower-back injury that has hampered him for weeks now flaring up. A junior and a team captain, Williams has been sorely missed in the losses to Butler and DePaul. He\u2019s one of the team\u2019s best shooters, a quality defender and ball-mover.<\/p>\n
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\"St.
Greg Williams Jr. shoots during St. John\u2019s loss to DePaul on Feb. 20, 2021.<\/figcaption>
Robert Sabo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

While Williams was mostly absent during the team\u2019s win streak, you had to expect regression from others. That\u2019s where Williams would be so vital. With Rasheem Dunn struggling mightily on Saturday, shooting 1-for-10 and committing six turnovers, Anderson could\u2019ve turned to Williams. The back prevented him from doing that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m intrigued to see how this team responds to the worst loss of the Anderson era. The remaining schedule is difficult \u2014 a trip<\/a> to No. 10 Villanova on Tuesday followed by home games against Providence and Seton Hall following an eight-day layoff. But remember, this group was left for dead at 1-5 in the league. It picked itself off the mat. The Johnnies are in an incredibly tough spot, having to go to Philadelphia and face the Wildcats, who will be out for revenge after their lopsided loss to St. John\u2019s in Queens on Feb. 3. The Red Storm\u2019s very best will be needed. Forget any Bracketology and NET talk. St. John\u2019s has to find a way to win Tuesday or the only way it is going dancing is by winning the Big East Tournament.<\/p>\n
The offseason mission for this coaching staff is simple: Find a quality big man. It is a gaping hole and has been for years, dating back to the previous coaching staff. George Washington graduate transfer Arnaldo Toro hasn\u2019t been the answer. Josh Roberts has seen his playing time dwindle and hasn\u2019t been nearly as effective of late. Isaih Moore has been a bright spot, but he would be better playing next to a true center.<\/p>\n

DePaul crushed St. John\u2019s inside, out-scoring them 58-18 in the paint. Butler had similar success. Providence\u2019s Nate Watson had his way against the Johnnies in a recent game. St. John\u2019s is last in the Big East in rebounding margin at -2.0 and next to last in defensive rebounding percentage at 69.3 percent. It has nobody who can score in the post. And while recruits Esahia Nyiwe and O\u2019mar Stanley may help, neither is a proven commodity.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#St. John\u2019s crumbled under pressure at worst possible time” You could see it in the rushed shots. The heavy volume of 3-point attempts. The desperate hunting for steals that led to easy layups. St. John\u2019s pressed Saturday night. It\u2019s youth was apparent. In a must-win game, it could feel the pressure. Once it got down…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":184853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/St.-Johns-Julian-Champagnie.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[94465,72026,94562,81251,72027],"class_list":["post-184852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2-21-21","tag-college-basketball","tag-greg-williams","tag-julian-champagnie","tag-st-johns-red-storm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}