Just about every college basketball analyst in the country is picking Villanova to win the big east. They have a high profile coach and they are coming off a terrific season that ended with a tough loss to Uconn in the NCAA tournament. Xavier is also garnering some votes with many predicting a second place finish for the Musketeers.
It is predictable really for most experts to assume St. John's would be led by D'Angelo Harrison. With many calling D'angelo the team's best player, he is a senior leader and leading returning scorer. It is only natural to assume that he will be the main factor in the teams success. Or is it?
D'Angelo officially won me over on December 21, 2011. My first year as a St. John's season ticket holder. St. John's was getting run out of their own gym in Queens by Texas Pan-American University. The team had just lost a couple of games to Detroit and Northeastern and point guard Nurideen Lindsay inexplicably left the team. To this day I don't know what provoked Nurideens decision. He would wind up going to Rider and not doing much. There was some quote at the time that basically said he came to Queens to play for coach Lavin and with Coach getting sick that wasn't happening. His attitude was selfish at a time when the team really needed him. Ironically the guy he didn't want to play for, Mike Dunlap, would be hired as an NBA head coach the following season. I've been a Johnnies fan since 1985 when I was 12 years old and St. John's was ranked #1. That 2011 team is my favorite St. John's team of all time. Phil took over at point, D'Angelo, Dom, Gift, Mo, Malik and Amir just in the nick of time. Toughest 7 kids I ever saw, battled every game and had 13 great wins.
Texas Pan-American had a 6 foot guard named Aaron Urbanus that was killing St. John's in the first half. The kid was quick and excited to be playing in New York, and it showed. The Johnnies were not playing well and went into halftime down by eight points. I don't know what D'angelo ate or drank at halftime. Maybe he had a power bar, i'm not really sure. What I am sure of is Harrison came out and scored the first seven points of the second half. St. John's would erase the deficit and win going away. Harrison announced his presence as the emotional and scoring leader of a very young team, and from that day he has maintained that position. Until now.
St. John's hasn't had many players like Rysheed Jordan. He is that once in a generation combination of size, strength, speed, and agility with handle. At times he looks like he can jump over the backboard. The explosiveness of his moves at the rim and how he elevates with such force are extremely rare. Rysheed is a very talented point guard in a two guard's body. He is a matchup nightmare. We saw glimpses of this last year only to be derailed time and time again by adversity. Going into the Villanova game the team was starting to peak only to have adversity strike yet again. This time with the tragic loss of Rysheed's aunt just before he was to play in front of his hometown.
With a year under his belt, and a dominant Chris Obekpa guarding the rim, Rysheed will be the best player in the big east this year. This is not a prediction or wishful thinking, only my heart felt conviction telling me it is so. The combination of Rysheed Jordan with Obekapa would be enough to have the makings of a good team. You add the fact that D'angelo is going to see more open looks this year than he has had in his first three years combined and this season has all the makings of championship season. With a projected lineup of Rysheed, D'angelo, Obekpa, Keith Thomas and either Dom or Phil starting at the three there is reason to be excited. Listening to Walt Frazier during last nights Knicks broadcast he spoke about the importance of a solid starting rotation.
Walt was talking about the importance of chemistry and being in shape. He mentioned how Red used to make a point to get his starters in shape for the start of the season and not tinker with lineups too much. You have to pick a rotation and stick with it said Frazier. "Depth can be a wonderful thing but it can also be problematic if not used correctly".
Prophetic words indeed. It is my prediction that Coach Steve Lavin will in fact put together an 8 man rotation and let them play. No walk-ons starting vs. Georgetown this year, just a healthy dose of our starting five with a sprinkle of Dom, Jamal and maybe Alibegovic or a Delarosa brother.
Does anybody agree with me and think St. John's will win the Big East?