| Why You Care: Guard Dylan Darling had shot 0-for-4 from the field against Kansas when St. John's had the ball with 3.9 seconds and a chance to win in their second round matchup. Coach Rick Pitino wasn't exactly riding the hot hand when he drew up a back-screen pick-and-roll to get the ball in Darling's hands, but then again, there really was no hot hand to feed.
The Johnnies were able to get past Kansas despite a brutal performance shooting the ball. Darling and his fellow guard Oziyah Sellers shot a combined 2-for-8 from the floor. Zuby Ejiofor, the Big East Player of the Year, launched four three-pointers and made not one of them. Overall, St. John's shot 36% from the field in the win.
Per KenPom ratings, St. John's offense was 41st in the country in offensive rating; since 1997, every single national title winner has sported a top 40 offense. Maybe the Red Storm are a rounding error away from making the cut, but the larger point remains β if this contest turns into a run-and-gun affair, Pitino's team is likely to get outgunned.
Duke is hoping to get guard Caleb Foster back into the lineup as he deals with a fracture in his foot suffered several weeks ago. Foster returning would give St. John's another capable scorer to deal with, another player they'll have to clutch, grab, and bang around as much as they possibly can. Cayden Boozer has filled in admirably for Foster in the meantime, averaging 14 PPG in the tourney.
The more scoring there is tonight, the worse it'll be for St. John's. Let's see if it can control the tempo and gunk up the works of an incredibly efficient Blue Devils offense. A win's a win, even the ugly ones. | 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home