Postgame notes: St. John's vs St. Thomas Aquinas: five guard lineups, Adonis Delarosa, and more

This is only an exhibition game so we can say, no Obekpa, no problem for the Johnnies.

Even though they trailed 27-16 in the 1st half, D`Angelo Harrison and Phil Greene IV changed the game with six combined three pointers in the first six minutes of the 2nd half to lead the team to a victory.

Before we move onto the regular season and the Johnnies first matchup of the year vs NJIT, there are a few things that caught our eyes today.

5 Guard Lineup:

With Chris Obekpa out with an ankle injury (he should be available for Friday's game against NJIT), the Johnnies experimented with a five guard lineup that consisted of Harrison, Jordan, Pointer, Greene and Branch. This lineup creates mismatches on both ends of the floor and gives the players on the court more of a chance to get out on the fast break.

"I thought the smaller group of four seniors and Rysheed made a nice run with the defensive pressure applied and pace that we are able to play at," Lavin said after the game.

Phil Greene added, "I like [the five guard lineup] a lot, everyone is interchangeable. On defense we can switch it around because no one out there is a big man."

Lavin realizes that they can't play with a five guard lineup for 40 minutes in Big East play but it does show how versatile this roster can be.

Harrison and Pointer inside:

What will continue to give Lavin the confidence to be able to go to that small lineup?

D`Angelo Harrison and Sir'Dominic Pointer 's domination of the paint today. Harrison grabbed 10 boards with 7 of them being on the offensive end. Pointer had six rebounds, five blocks and scored a majority of his points in the paint. Obviously these two cannot be relied on for rebounding but it can only help with Keith Thomas ruled ineligible.

Adonis Delarosa:

The freshman didn't play a single minute in the first exhibition matchup but was very effective against the Spartans. Not only did Adonis play 15 minutes (the most for any bench player) but he showed his strength and powerful post moves. Another positive to take out of Delarosa's performance was his free throwing shooting. He was four of five from the line.

Phil Greene:

Phil Greene is back on track. After going scoreless vs Humboldt State, the senior came to play today, scoring 21 total points, while shooting 80 percent from beyond the three-point line. Beware Big East: Don't leave Phil open for the corner three.

Turnovers:

The Johnnies had 21 total turnovers vs Humboldt State last week but only had 13 today. At times they did look sloppy but not even close to as sloppy as last week. If they can keep the turnovers down during the regular season this offense has a chance to be difficult to stop.

Rysheed Jordan:

Rysheed Jordan had zero turnovers today and put up 17 points. Lavin was not happy that Rysheed had zero rebounds at the half but he did say that the sophomore guard has "the skills of a big man."

Questions or comments? As always, feedback is encouraged.