A preview from Basketball Prospectus, from one of my favorite places for basketball news and stats. The St John’s entry for the Big East Team profiles is ¾ down the page.
The summary:
1- St. John’s changed their style of offense from an interior oriented offense to the 3rd most 3-pt attempts in Big East conference play. As mentioned, this is partly because the team had an actual shooter (who had the green light) and Anthony Mason (who always has a green light) and perhaps reflects a tendency by both to not drive inside for the higher percentage shot and foul shot opportunities.
2- Despite early results, Lawrence’s outside shooting was the best among last year’s starters; but he only attempted 100 attempts because he was always on the floor. Also, he turns the ball over, but all St. John’s fans know that part.
3- The team will be young (we KNOW that) and author John Gasaway notes that Burrell will be looked to be a star; Mason shot with the frequency of a star but without stellar results (his effectiveness was mercurial like the moon); and Jasiulionis is a shot blocker but will be able to show what the rest of his skills look like.
4- And the team is going through a complete roster turnover, which bodes for rough times in Queens.