St. John’s basketball most important player is abundantly clear

The most important player for the St. John’s basketball program is abundantly clear. 

It has only been two games for the St. John’s basketball program but it seems clear who the most important player is for the Johnnies.

Junior star Julian Champagnie is the team’s best player, there is no debating that, but the most important player for the Red Storm is sophomore point guard Posh Alexander.

The improvements in the Brooklyn, New York native’s game have been impressive from his freshman to sophomore season.

Alexander is posting 15.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game on 73.7-percent shooting from the floor (11-of-15) and 66.7-percent from downtown (6-for-9).

The shooting numbers are impossible to sustain for the reigning Big East Freshman of the Year but seeing the statistics dramatically jump from last season are eye catching.

Last season Posh Alexander averaged 13.7 points per game while shooting 54.9-percent from the field and 41.8-percent from 3-point range in victories and just 7.3 points per contest in losses.

ALSO READ: St. John’s continues hot shooting in domination of St. Peter’s

Alexander shot 38.7-percent from the floor and a startling 8.0-percent (2-for-24) from downtown in those defeats.

St. John’s goes to another level offensively when its point guard is making his perimeter jumpers as head coach Mike Anderson filled the roster with more capable offensive players around his stars than a season ago.

“Whether it be Dylan [Addae-Wusu], Julian [Champagnie] or Posh [Alexander], they set the table for us,” Anderson said following the team’s victory over St. Peter’s on Saturday.

“These guys follow their leads.”

St. John’s basketball point guard put emphasis on shooting this offseason

Following offseason thumb surgery, Posh Alexander knew that he had to improve his shooing entering his sophomore season once he was able to get on the court.

“I worked on my shooting a lot in the summer. I feel like I’m shooting well and building up my confidence. I focus on it in practice every day, so I just had to bring that to into a game setting,” Alexander said after St. John’s season opening victory over Mississippi Valley State.

Anderson said one of the next steps in his point guard’s development was to lead the Big East in assists per game, a goal that is very achievable this season.

ALSO READ: St. John’s dropped by Stony Brook in first road game

“[Posh] is a guy who passes the rock and does it extremely well, as you can see he had nine assists today,” Julian Champagnie said on Saturday evening.

“Our expectations for Posh [Alexander] are super high, we expect him to perform like that and he always does.”

Posh Alexander and the rest of the St. John’s squad will get its first true test of the season as the Johnnies hit the road to face the Indiana Hoosiers in the Gavitt Games on Wednesday night (9:00 p.m, FS1).

“I’m trying to be a leader. I trust my team and I want the team to trust me to take shots and facilitate on the offensive end. I want to get everyone involved and be a good teammate,” Alexander said.