The St. John’s basketball team closed the preseason on a high note with a dominant victory over No. 7 Texas inside Madison Square Garden and a lot of things revealed itself for the Johnnies in the process.
Tounde Yessoufou, Ian Jackson, and Keyshawn Hall flashed their scoring potential and displayed why they could be one of the most dynamic offensive trios in the country this season.
Freshman center Theo Edema bursted upon the scene as the best frontcourt player on the floor, finishing the victory with a game-high seven rebounds which included four offensive rebounds, while point guard Quinn Ellis continued to show why he will be one of the most consistent players in the nation.
Yet there are some takeaways that many people aren’t talking about coming off of the best showing in an exhibition game this preseason for St. John’s.
The shooting woes continue
Rick Pitino has stressed that he believes his team can shoot the 3-point ball at a high percentage, but it hasn’t shown on the court during the preseason.
St. John’s connected on just 29.4-percent (5-for-17) from the outside against the Longhorns after making under 24-percent against both Drexel and Rutgers. In the preseason, the Red Storm made only 23.6-percent (18-of-76) of its 3-point shots.
Last season, St. John’s shot 33.2-percent from distance and 30.4-percent two years ago – both resulting in Big East regular season and tournament championships for the Johnnies.
Ian Jackson and Keyshawn Hall are both quality shooters from beyond the arc, but St. John’s is going to need to see the ball go through the net often in the early portion of non-conference play on a much more consistent basis.
Winning without much from Babacar Sane is important
St. John’s is continuing to express optimism that Babacar Sane will win his legal battle and be eligible for the entire season but there is a scenario where the Senegalese forward does not play for the Red Storm and the Johnnies proved against the Longhorns that they can beat a good team without a major contribution from him.
Sane played 12 minutes against Texas, registering four points and two rebounds while freshman Theo Edema also played 12 minutes and was much more impactful with four points and seven rebounds.
Babacar Sane has a very high ceiling, but as Rick Pitino has mentioned, he needs a lot of coaching and refining on his game. At the very least, the victory and performance of the team should provide confidence for St. John’s that they can still have a very successful season if the worst-case scenario does unfold with Sane.
Casper Pohto looked like a serviceable backup point guard
Quinn Ellis is going to command most of the minutes at point guard for St. John’s this season and the depth behind him is one of the biggest questions that the Johnnies must answer.
Entering the matchup against Texas, it felt like Ian Jackson and Keyshawn Hall were the players that Rick Pitino trusted the most with the basketball in their hands – which still could be true.
Ellis played 56 minutes in the quadruple overtime game against Rutgers as Casper Pohto and Avery Brown did not get off the bench.
However, Pohto was given more playing time against the Longhorns and proved to be worthy of spot minutes behind Ellis. He did not score in nine minutes but registered two rebounds and an assist while the Johnnies outscored Texas by nine while he was on the floor.
Casper Pohto only played six minutes in the blowout win over Drexel, but it appears he is proving that he can handle limited minutes as the backup point guard while Columbia transfer Avery Brown registered another ‘DNP’.
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