An ugly win is still a win, right? St. John’s eked out a win against Marist that shouldn’t have been so close. The Storm had a seven point lead going into halftime; so of course, the Red Foxes cam out on fire and the coaches had no answer for them. The team played well with Malik Boothe on the court, even though he had no assists. Jasiulionis was the star, as it were—scoring a career-high 12 points, pulling down 5 sloppy rebounds, only fouling once and hitting his first career three-pointer.
Which immediately made me ask, why isn’t he taking an outside shot a game? Why is Tomas so afraid to shoot? He’s not a good scorer inside, so take a shot when left wide open to keep the defenses honest.
Mason and Kennedy were excellent with their passing, especially off the drive. The ball movement was solid, and I could even see what Coach Roberts is aiming for—drive and kick offense. He’ll need a better penetrating point guard, however—Boothe hasn’t shown an ability to break down his man and Geno just isn’t quick enough.
As for Geno, he got away with some fouls and made some solid plays down the stretch. But Marist’s back up point guard Jay Gavin shot his way into a competitive game; his ability to get off shots is an indictment of the defensive pressure on him.
The game should never have been that close; Anthony Mason was slick getting into the lane all evening and nailing off-balance jumpers; he had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block with his dad watching.
Reviewing the Keys to the Game:
This is MY MOTHERF**KIN’ HOUSE! St. John’s got their turnovers, but turned the ball right back. Marist played scrappy enough that it was hard for St. John’s to get into a good flow, especially in the second half. The team played good defense and pressured the Marist guards, but didn’t make any runs to put the game out of reach. Maybe St. john’s is just a really good MAAC team, and not Big East worthy…
We Love What You’ve Done With Your Game. Anthony Mason Jr. was still awesome and effective. But he didn’t get the start; Coach Roberts addressed his status after the game:
"I don't know if Mase will stay as the sixth man as of right now. He is comfortable with that right now. Mason knows he will get his minutes and get out there playing quite a bit."
Larry, DJ, Justin: Welcome Home. Kennedy made plays, and the team hounded McCroskey into foul trouble. But Justin had a pedestrian 10 point, 7 rebound, 2 assist effort on 9 shots (no free throw attempts), while Wright had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and only played 18 minutes, though his playing time is all on Coach Norm Roberts. St. John’s fans might have thought Larry was the truth but now, I’m beginning to wonder…
A tough Virginia Tech team is next at 3:30 (approximately) ET.