Over Analysts of St. John’s Exhibition Victory

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D’Angelo Still Had to Score in Bunches

I was more than impressed with D’ Angelo Harrison. Not only did he do his usual scoring in bunches, but he played hard on both ends of the floor.

While it’s a great sign that Harrison seems committed to play on both ends of the floor, it’s troubling that his teammates still relied on his offense as much as they did. With the influx of new talent and the return of veterans, the hopes were that the Johnnies would not have to have Harrison go bonkers to win games. Alas, it didn’t work out that way — even in a game against a lowly opponent.

Harrison finished with 29 points, a pair of crucial free-throws at the end of the game and zero assists. Yeah. ZERO ASSISTS.

However, the lack of a number higher than zero in the assist category was not for a lack of trying. Well, at least not early on. Harrison was seemingly trying to get his teammates involved by penetrating and dishing, but the rest of the Red Storm were more than content to settle for long jumpers. Also, outside of a few instances, the Johnnies never made that extra pass or used a Harrison dish to drive to the rim themselves.

I would like to blame this on chemistry, but most of these players have played together for some time now. Putting the blame on Harrison for his volume-shooting might have been easy in the past, but it now appears there might have been a reason for some of his 25-foot bombs.