by SJHooper » Sun Jan 01, 2017 7:27 pm
The St. John's team since their trip to Syracuse has been completely different. There is more ball movement, more knowledge of roles, and with Williams, we have been rebounding better and getting more offense inside which was a huge issue early on. Sima left and this team has blossomed. He was a soft player who could not handle quick passes and played without confidence. The tandem of Owens and Williams has been really fun to watch. Tons of shot blocks, solid rebounds, and they can make baskets. Williams was essentially left for dead not too long ago and showed us literally nothing for his entire tenure here until now. Maybe he's finally healthy and has his rhythm back in the game. Ellison has also improved a ton offensively. I remember last year he missed layups consistently. This year he is showing some real capability shooting as well. LoVett finally looked healthy again. LoVett/Ponds are a top 3 if not top freshmen guard tandem in college hoops. The bad news is that they will probably pursue professional hoops whether it's the NBA or overseas early. Would love to see them as seniors it would be incredible. If Ponds stays 4 years he seriously may challenge Mullin's scoring record for the best in school history.
We got tons of turnovers that we then turned back over instead of converting which drove me nuts. Also, I've never seen a player get away with so many offensive fouls as Billy Garrett. The guy literally extends his arm completely almost every drive. Not only does he never get called, but the ref would call LoVett for the defensive foul to make matters worse. Also, who is that doofy DePaul player who was shooting 3's like FT's? If he wasn't close to perfect from 3 this would have been a 10+ pt win much more comfortable. Still can't believe Ahmed missed that bunny dunk with no one within 10 ft of him...he dropped the ball going up. Never seen that unless it was a foul.
All in all, great gritty win, no letdown, and onto Creighton where we have nothing to lose and a ton to gain. I killed this team early and I've been eating crow for breakfast, lunch, and dinner after the past 3 games. I hope to continue, crow is delicious. Still very early on, but we are showing signs of life and improvement.