The St. John’s basketball team has found its groove over the last six weeks of the season behind a dominant frontcourt and inspired play from Dylan Darling at point guard, but there still has been something missing from the Johnnies.
It’s been the rest of the backcourt. The heralded transfer crop of Oziyah Sellers, Ian Jackson, and Joson Sanon have not been as consistent as many people would have imagined.
Sellers, in his last eight games, is just 7-for-30 from 3-point range and is shooting a 35.6-percent from distance this season, which would be a career-low outside of his freshman year at USC in which he only attempted 19 triples. Â
In this eight-game stretch, Sellers has only made more than one 3-pointer in a game once when he went 3-for-6 in a victory against DePaul. In his last three games, he’s shooting 1-for-11 from deep.
However, he has been able to impact the game in other ways whether it be his willingness to rebound or lack of turnovers. Still, the Red Storm need him to be a threat from the outside to reach its celling and Rick Pitino wants his sharpshooter to continue to let it fly this season.
His running mate in the starting lineup, Ian Jackson, has been a different story recently for the Johnnies.
He’s found himself on the bench for prolonged periods, including the second half on Saturday against Providence when the Red Storm only had seven available scholarship players after four were ejected following the fight.
Jackson was pulled prior to the skirmish, with 16:12 remaining, and didn’t return to the floor until there was 1:09 left. Granted, Dylan Darling was unstoppable for the Red Storm but just days before the game Rick Pitino said that he wanted to find time for Darling and Jackson to play together on the court so he could play his natural position of shooting guard.
It felt like there was no better time with a severely limited rotation.
Jackson has not played more than 15 minutes in each of St. John’s last three games and in the last four contests he’s shooting 32.1-percent (9-of-28) from the floor and 3-of-12 from 3-point range.
He’s proven to be a gifted scorer, which is something St. John’s will need down the stretch of the season, but it remains the other things with Jackson – defense, rebounding, intensity – that has limited his time on the court.
Joson Sanon has slid into a complimentary role on St. John’s, playing around 17 minutes per game, he still can impact the game with his shooting, especially his willingness to take 3-point shots.
Sanon's average from distance is very similar to last season at Arizona State, 36.9-percent to 35.7-percent, but if he can emerge as another microwave scorer off the bench for the Red Storm, it will take the pressure off everyone on St. John’s.
Regardless, St. John’s needs more production from its backcourt outside of Darling’s heroics and starting against a struggling Marquette (9-17, 4-11 Big East) team on Wednesday night (9:00 p.m. ET, TNT) in Milwaukee would be a great place to start.