St. John’s basketball: 4 things to watch for this season

No. 3 Thing to Watch for St. John’s basketball: 

How Will the Freshmen Contribute?

While St. John’s has a roster full of newcomers, most have experience playing college basketball.

Mike Anderson only brings three freshmen into Queens this season, Rafael Pinzon, O’Mar Stanley, and Drissa Traore.

Traore will likely redshirt this season but Pinzon and Stanley will see the floor this season.

Pinzon provides a different dimension to the St. John’s offense in that he can be a change of pace point guard from Posh Alexander in addition to creating his own shot and being more comfortable off the dribble.

The question surrounding the Puerto Rico native is how quickly will be pick up the defensive system of Anderson and can he crack the rotation at the end of games with his playmaking ability and ability to knock down free throws.

O’Mar Stanley could see the most time of the St. John’s freshmen as the forward is undersized for a power forward but plays with the physicality and tenacity of a grizzled veteran in the Big East.

Stanley is willing to constantly run the floor and fight on the backboards to secure loose balls.

That will quickly pay dividends in Anderson’s system. The question surrounding him is can he do enough offensively to consistently stay on the floor?