Justin Crosgile offered by St. John’s

Amidst the carnage, St. John’s is interested in a scoring lead guard; recruiting offer made to Justin Crosgile, class of 2009.

Justin Crogsile (Scout.com profile here) article from Zagsblog:

Crosgile said St. John’s assistant Chris Casey called him Tuesday night to make the offer.

“He’s real cool,” Crosgile said. “He’s telling me their team is really young. They’re doing alright, not too good this year. But they have a young team. He’s just saying if he had a guy like me to come there, it would be a great step up in scoring.”

Game #19: St. John’s 42, Georgetown 74: Hoyas Dog Out Weakening Storm

We scored more than St. Louis’ low! 1-7 in Big East conference.

Lou Carnesecca left the game while giving an interview– he saw a breakaway dunk, I think, and cut his conversation about the LAST time St. John’s was worked over by Georgetown in 1982… this game was embarrassing. And at least that St. John’s team won 20+ games, got to the tournament, and had players like Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson and Wennington hanging around. They played against Patrick Ewing! Last night’s team made Vernon Macklin and Patrick Ewing (starting in place of injured DaJuan Summers) look like future all-pros.

The Hoya fans made much more noise than the Red Storm fans, who I think are at stage 4: depression.

Last night, St. John’s suffered its worst loss margin in their Big East history, losing by 32 in a game that wasn’t that close until garbage time… which coincided with the beginning of the second half. Really, the game was over when St. John’s couldn’t find a field goal until 4:30 left in the first half. That’s 15:30 of basketball time before they scored from the field; they had three free throws before that. What was the score, 24-5? 31-5? (31-7) I was in a haze watching that game. St. John’s scored the second field goal, by the way, with :35 seconds left in the half.

Georgetown’s whole roster played, it seemed, with some tall walk-on named Bryon Jensen stroking a three-pointer at the end of the game. Everybody has their one liners ready:

NY Post:

The fans - and only an announced crowd of 9,924 showed up for last night’s St. John’s-Georgetown game at the Garden - don’t even care enough to boo anymore.

Oh, there was a mock cheer when Justin Burrell banked in a jumper with 4:34 left in the first half. That was the Red Storm’s first field goal and trimmed their deficit against the Hoyas to 31-7.
St. John’s has lost six straight, matching its longest streak since 2005-06. The Red Storm had no player in double figures. Even worse, they had no players with floor burns.

Not true. Lots of floor burns, but no scoring.

NY Daily News:

“We didn’t play very well and that’s totally my fault,” said an angry coach Norm Roberts, who for the second straight Garden game heard St. John’s fans calling for his head. “It’s totally my fault, the way the team played. We’re going to play much harder. We’re going to play much better. It’s not the kids’ fault. It’s my fault.

“I take total blame for that game.”

Roberts also was very adamant after last Wednesday’s loss to Pitt when he said, “I chose this path,” referring to his building of the program. One has to wonder if the mounting weight of the losses is beginning to fray his nerves.

The displeasure of the program’s supporters is mounting and attendance at the Garden is sliding. According to one person familiar with his thinking, university president the Rev. Donald J. Harrington was thrilled at how well Roberts cleaned up the mess that was the St. John’s program after the 2003-04 season, but he is growing concerned about the current direction of the program.

I hope that’s true, and if so, it’s about time. Though you can’t trust this man to make a great hire…

Newsday:

Remarkably, the Hoyas’ primary defensive weapon, 7-2 Roy Hibbert, was limited to seven minutes in the half because of foul trouble. He played a total of 19 minutes, scoring 11 points. His backup, 6-9 sophomore Vernon Macklin, led all scorers with a career-best 18 points.

The Hoyas, who won their previous two conference games by a combined three points, extended their lead to 53-14 by scoring the first dozen points of the second half before freshman guard Malik Boothe sank a breakaway layup and Mason followed with a floater in the lane, his first of three baskets.

Washington Times:

The last time Madison Square Garden witnessed such a beating Roy Jones Jr. was unloading combinations on Felix Trinidad.

Defensively, the Hoyas were merciless, seemingly contesting every pass, shot and dribble en route to holding the Red Storm to a 2-for-16 shooting performance in the decisive half. In fact, the Hoyas were so dominant defensively that the crowd of 9,924 fans took a break from booing long enough to roar sarcastically when St. John’s forward Justin Burrell made the Red Storm’s first field goal with 4:34 remaining in the half.

Georgetown Voice:

The Red Storm did not score their first field-goal until 4:34 were left in the first half, and they would only convert nine more in the entire game, finishing an abysmal 10-47 (21.3 percent) from the floor. St. John’s also committed 14 turnovers, never looking comfortable on offense and struggling to execute until the final buzzer. Their 42 points were the lowest total allowed by the Hoyas this year and only six more than the lowest score ever in the Big East, set by Boston College in 1988.

Washington Post:

St. John’s (7-12, 1-7) came into the game having lost seven of its previous eight games, and was ranked near the bottom of the conference in several offensive categories. The New York Post, in Wednesday’s editions, searched for “a reason to believe that St. John’s can snap its five-game losing streak with a shocking upset of Georgetown” and offered up “Angelina Jolie was once married to Billy Bob Thornton” as hope.

But after five minutes, it was fairly apparent that the Red Storm wasn’t going to pull off the upset. Burrell stumbled and fell twice before the game was a minute old, and point guard Eugene Lawrence — the lone scholarship senior — had trouble just keeping control of the ball.

ESPN’s game flow chart is hilarious:

It didn’t even bother me. We all know this team is wildly flawed. I am going to get to that player-by-player analysis this weekend while I am on my way to or in New York. The competitive moments in this game came with Mike Cavataio on the floor, and when the team actually ran a little… more on that later.

Scoop Jardine, Doug Wiggins, Big East Forde Tough, Ducks, and a St. John’s Fan Rant

+ Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine was part of a jack of some kid’s student’s ID card; his cousin rang up $115 of food. I hope he gets a short suspension and some community service, because that just sounds like some dumb college stuff to me. He’s no pariah, he’s just got a cousin who’s a jerk. Reminds me of this kid named Mason at my undergrad.

+ Jerome Dyson and Doug “Calhoun HATES Me!” Wiggins were caught drinking Vodka and Cognac aka Yak, leading to their suspension. Rough day, fellas? I mean… damn, what happened to beer?

+ If you didn’t know, the Big East has a lot of tough teams, says Pat Forde. St. John’s isn’t really one of them, but they make you think they are for 25 minutes.

+ Oregon’s Athletic Director apologized for the Duck fans’ behavior toward Kevin Love.

+ Dave from Johnny Jungle has a fan rant about following the St. John’s Red Storm on Storming the Floor.

Pre-Game Articles on Game #19: St. John’s vs. Georgetown

Articles + Blogs on tonight’s game against the Georgetown Hoyas:

+ From HoyaSaxa (and thanks to them for the link), here is an excerpt (read the rest of the preview and sharp player analysis):

If St. John’s is going to make a run Wednesday, it begins with Anthony Mason, Jr. Since returning to the team from injury on Dec. 15, Mason has been the team’s best scorer, particularly in recent games. Mason scored 29 points in consecutive games against Pitt and Louisville, accounting for more than half the Johnnies’ points against Louisville alone. His 43 percent shooting average leads the team, which reluctantly says that the rest of the team just isn’t getting it done from the offensive side of things.

Eugene Lawrence returns as the St. John’s point guard. While a good passer and assist set-up man, his shooting has tailed off in Big East play, and he is averaging under four points a game. 6-6 D.J. Kennedy has shifted over to guard, with inconsistent results. Kennedy is shooting 35 percent from the field, struggles from outside, and has a 0.54 assist to turnover ratio. Better suited as a small forward, Kennedy is evidence of St. John’s depth issues at guard which hurts the Redmen in games with smaller and quicker backcourt players.

An encouraging development for St. John’s has been freshman Justin Burrell. A candidate for all-freshman honors this season, his 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds have been solid, but his recent games have proven less so. Burrell was 3-9 in a loss to Pitt, 2-10 at Louisville. Burrell is not an outside shooter and figures to score on second chance points.

St. John’s weaknesses are evident: poor shooting, inconsistent rebounding, and a reliance on Mason to carry the load against teams that can otherwise shut him down.

+ By the numbers, HoyaHoops also has a preview.

+ NY Post’s Lenn Robbins looks for signs of hope from… uh… thin air. At least the Post has a pregame article up…

As the Giants prepare to pull off one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history, we seek for a reason to believe that St. John’s can snap its five-game losing streak with a shocking upset of Georgetown tonight in the Garden.

Here is what we have come up with:

In coach Norm Roberts’ first season, when he had just two legitimate Big East Conference players in Daryll Hill and Lamont Hamilton, the Red Storm, which would win just nine games that season, avenged a 66-57 loss at Georgetown with a 76-67 home win.

Angeline Jolie was once married to Billy Bob Thornton.

The Mets yesterday beat out the Yankees and Red Sox for Johan Santana.

In Roberts’ first season, the Red Storm upset NC State, 63-45, to win the Holiday Festival.

“If we get that win and upset a team like Georgetown it’s going to feel really good,” said freshman guard Paris Horne. “We’re kind of in the slumps right now and we are trying to fight our way out. If we can pull out a win it will feel really good and will give the team more confidence to move on.”

+ The Georgetown Hoyas’ Jonathan Wallace grew up on a farm. My dad has a farm. We’re inextricably linked.

+ Ewing’s Hand in Hoyas’ Success: “Little Pat” is thinking about coaching if the professional career doesn’t pan out… He should get some time in Europe. Hey, if Grady Reynolds can get some run (albeit in Poland), so can Patrick Ewing Jr.

+ Weaker Foes Lie Ahead for Hoyas:

Given the combination of Georgetown’s recent success at Madison Square Garden, the Red Storm’s atrocious start and resulting attendance issues (St. John’s averages only 6,984 fans at MSG this season) and Georgetown’s sizable New York alumni base, tonight’s venue is unlikely to qualify as a true road atmosphere….

[If DaJaun Summers can’t play], expect the Hoyas to rely even more heavily on senior center Roy Hibbert. After a slow start, the 7-foot-2 preseason All-American has elevated his play since the start of the Big East schedule, averaging 14.7 points and 7.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Most worrisome, if Summers can’t go, his 5.4 rebounds disappear with him to the bench, exacerbating the board woes of a roster that ranks 15th in the Big East in rebounding margin (minus-4.0). But Ewing has been coming on of late, averaging more rebounds (5.0 to 3.6) in fewer minutes since he became a reserve.

I think that Hoya in the picture up there is grabbing his dog-bone.

Game #19: St. John’s vs Georgetown Hoyas

St. John’s faces the #6 ranked Georgetown Hoyas tomorrow at 7.00 pm ET at Madison Square Garden.

Low on time, energy, and I am getting to know my new computer… so this will be short, and more will be added tomorrow. You should read Johnny Jungle’s preview of the game at Calm Before the Storm.

St. John’s plays the last of the very tough games tomorrow, and have a 4 game stretch where they might be competitive– against Cincy, Providence, Rutgers, and South Florida. I’m sure the fans for all of those teams say the same thing about playing against St. John’s.

Meanwhile, Hoya fans should be excited; their team is winning most of its games and are an excellent offensive and defensive team. And yet… there is the feeling that the Hoyas could lose to anyone on any night. The team obviously centers around 7′2″ Roy Hibbert. DaJuan Summers has been fantastic, defending and scoring well from the power forward position, and blocking shots and stealing the ball. Summers might be injured, and the son of New York’s favorite center, Patrick Ewing Jr, would take his place.

Though he doesn’t get to the free-throw line very much, Austin Freeman has been spectacular on offense, hitting 70% of his 2-point shots and 40% of his threes. Jessie Sapp The team’s relative weak point is at the point guard position, where Jonathan Wallace continues to be a steady hand, with Jeremiah Rivers as his backup. Jerry Rivers? Doc Rivers’ son has the same name as Geraldo Rivera’s rumored original name (the rumor is apparently false)?

The stats for anyone on this team might seem underwhelming; but the Hoyas play at one of the most controlled paces in the nation.

Keys to the Game:

Stop Turning the Ball Over. Point blank. This team has to find a way to not have their dribbles and catches interrupted by flailing hands, poorly placed passes, overexuberance to make a play, or my the thin air. Those turnovers disrupt the defense, lose the home crowd (which will be half Georgetown Hoya anyway) and eliminate any offensive confidence.

Like Being at the Bunny Ranch with a Fistful of Twenties… There’s nothing to lose now. Someone else has to score. Kennedy has to take those open shots. And if hes not, Paris Horne is also a capable defender… I would not be surprised to see Coach Roberts taking Horne off the bench for a spell. The again, the score will be on the lower side, if Georgetown isn’t careful, and Kennedy is better for a lower scoring game with his hustle. But one day Mason’s shot won’t be falling, and this team might score in the 30’s. In the games that the Hoyas lost, they gave up many attempts from the foul line; St. John’s has to move to the basket and get the Hoyas out of position, and draw some fouls. And hit those shots.

Hold the Line. The interior defense has to hold their places. Defend the hoop. Make them take jump shots. The perimeter players can’t give their men open looks.

The Mets Acquire Johan Santana

Holy F**K!!!

Holy F**K!!!

HOLY JOHAN

We have Johan FREAKING SANTANA!!!!!!!

AAAAGGGHHHHH!!!

From USATODAY, who broke the story:

The deal is pending the Mets and Santana reaching agreement on a six- or seven-year contract extension and that Santana passes a physical; they have been granted a 48 to-72-hour window to do so. Santana has a no-trade clause that he will waive if agreement is reached on a contract extension.

The Mets paid a high price in prospects to land Santana, agreeing to send the Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey.

The deal would give the Mets the much-needed ace at the front of their rotation. Santana won the American League Cy Young Award in 2004 and 2006 and is 93-44 lifetime. He went 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA for the Twins last season. Santana has struck out at least 235 batters each of the past four seasons.

While the deal drains much of the talent out of the Mets’ farm system, they did manage to hold on to top prospect Fernando Martinez, an outfielder. Instead, they headed the package with Gomez, who turned 22 in December and spent 58 games with the Mets last year.

Jason Kidd Comes With the Truth: He Wants to be Traded

From NJ.com and ESPN, Jason Kidd states:

“I’m not mad at anybody,” Kidd told the Web site. “Sometimes, when you ride a wave, you get to the end and that’s all there is. That’s where we are.”

“It used to be if I got a triple-double, that was an automatic win,” Kidd said. “That’s just not the case now. We tried to make this work. We’ve found out it doesn’t. It’s time for us all to move on.”

This has been “does he want to be in Jersey” question has been dragging out for a long time.

More:

Kidd is not exactly being treated like a pariah, but word spread quickly among his teammates about his trade request — even though the team deliberately didn’t pass out the daily press clips — and one teammate found it odd that he was seen eating breakfast alone yesterday at the team’s hotel.

A letter from a reader to the Newark Star-Ledger’s Dave D’Alessandro on Jason Kidd, the rumors of his petulant behavior and off-court life, and this article from Charley Rosen, which talks about Kidd halfway down:

Hi, Dave: Who is the real J-Kidd? With such awesome virtues displayed on the court — i.e. selflessness, composure, max effort, competitiveness, sacrifice, desire, awareness, vision, anticipation — I assume that he’d be kinda similar in ‘real’ life. If you didn’t see it already, check out Rosen’s 2 paragraphs on Kidd: What a nasty picture painted. Despite Hall of Fame caliber play, he’s been traded from every team he’s played on (and counting), the numerous past and current personal problems, issues with so many of his coaches, the migraine strike. . . .Hmmm. Who is this guy?
Rich Wong

RW: The short answer? Don’t know, don’t care. Great player, good guy, but that’s where my interest really ends. There are certain things even public figures should keep private, and the rest of us have to accept that you can’t know someone unless they let you in; that you can’t know a people, a place, a family, an individual, a process, or anything until you know precisely the forces that shaped their motives and spirit. So the truth is, the only people who know the guy are the ones who know the secret handshake. And since that’s the case, we reach for the impertinent crap that we think defines his character - stuff such as tantrums in the boss’s office (inane - he wasn’t even in the office that day), his girlfriend’s pregnancy (also totally untrue), crotch-grabbing at 2 a.m. (can’t wait to read that court transcript), the great migraine strike of ‘07 (which will forever be unsubstantiated), and oh, dear diary, I can’t wait to read what tomorrow will bring. The point being: This has been a really stupid two years, Kidd has been engulfed by the trappings of fame or victimized by a public thirst for the sensational (take yer pick), and rest of us are sick of playing How’s Jay’s Head every two weeks. His amazing real-life adventures don’t really have any impact on his team, and he is tired of being in the presence of those who believe the opposite to be true. Which is why he hasn’t spoken with the media in a week and may not do so until the last ding-dong of eternity.

St. John’s is better than two teams?!

From Basketball Prospectus, a look at teams’ in-conference efficiency.

Looking solely at a team’s conference games holds several evaluative benefits. First, unlike games in November or December, there are an equal number of home and road games to consider. Even more important, the opponents in conference games are blessed, by definition, with similar resources….

Lastly, if you’re interested in how a team is going to perform in March (and that pretty much takes in all of us), conference play constitutes the most recent and therefore relevant information. For me, conference play constitutes the regular season in college basketball.

So what do we find so far in 2008?

Key:

Through games of January 28, conference games only
Pace: possessions per 40 minutes
PPP: points per possession
Opp. PPP: opponent points per possession
EM: efficiency margin (PPP - Opp. PPP)

Big East: Beware Seton Hall…or at least their schedule

                                     Opp.

                     Pace    PPP     PPP      EM

1.  Louisville       66.0    1.04    0.92   +0.12

2.  Georgetown       61.9    1.07    0.97   +0.10

3.  Pitt             64.5    1.10    1.01   +0.09

4.  West Virginia    63.6    1.05    0.97   +0.08

5.  Connecticut      70.6    1.10    1.05   +0.05

6.  Marquette        70.0    1.05    1.02   +0.03

7.  Syracuse         70.4    1.01    1.00   +0.01

8.  Seton Hall       70.5    1.07    1.06   +0.01

9.  Notre Dame       74.2    1.02    1.02    0.00

10. Providence       68.6    1.06    1.06    0.00

11. DePaul           68.2    1.02    1.05   -0.03

12. Villanova        71.2    1.03    1.06   -0.03

13. Cincinnati       66.3    1.02    1.05   -0.03

14. St. John’s       68.0    0.92    1.04   -0.12

15. Rutgers          66.4    0.90    1.04   -0.14

16. S. Florida       64.6    1.01    1.15   -0.14

Despite what you see here, Notre Dame has somehow insinuated themselves near the top of the Big East standings. That means either their performance or their place in the conference pecking order is about to change. As it stands now, a team that’s making just 43 percent of its twos in-conference doesn’t have the trajectory to scare anyone come March.

Elsewhere in the conference, note that resurgent Seton Hall is not only scoring points in abundance, they also have a sweet schedule laid out for them. They’ve already gone to Pitt and lost. They don’t go to Louisville this year. Their toughest remaining games are at Georgetown and at West Virginia. As incredible as it sounds, a 13-5 conference record after an 0-3 start is within the realm of possibility for the Pirates.

Big East Basketball Rankings for the Big East Bloggers Power Poll (1/28/08)

My Big East Basketball Rankings for the Big East Bloggers Power Poll

Here are my rankings for the Big East Bloggers Power Poll; see the cumulative rankings here.

1. Georgetown – I guess they’re still the class of the league, but when I watch them… I don’t see “dominance.”
2. Louisville – I don’t think they’re very good at scoring, but they hit timely shots and their defense is bananas. Terrence Williams is a hell of a passer.
3. Marquette – They’re getting a touch of that “we can lose to anyone” feeling.
4. Notre Dame – Real good, real sharp, I really can’t put them above the other teams on the list.
5. Pittsburgh – They’re getting great performances out of a shoestring roster.
6. West Virginia – Awesome some days, mediocre others. I don’t understand why they’re inconsistent.
7. Connecticut – They’ll rise this week after the win over Louisville.
8. Syracuse – Great talent, gross defense.
9. DePaul – I have no idea how this is happening.
10. Cincinnati – The Bearcats are coming on behind Deonta Vaughn.
11. Seton Hall – Jamar Nutter and NuNu Harvey are coming along nicely; Brian Laing is playing well also.
12. Villanova – ‘Nova’s having a REAL bad stretch right now—not playing defense, and the outside shots aren’t falling with the regularity they need. Their style always walks the tightrope…
13. Providence – Underwhelming talent and underwhelming scorers. Is Tim Welsh on the hot seat?
14. Rutgers – WTF?!! Two wins? Beating Pittsburgh?! WTF!! They’re building confidence with hot shooting; and tough defense/ shot blocking; but they turn the ball over too much and they won’t be able to sustain that level of scoring.
15. South Florida – Now they have 2 Big East players in Kentrell Gransberry and Dominique Jones.
16. St. John’s – My boys are the dregs. Only Anthony Mason Jr. can score. Coach Norm Roberts is definitely on the hot seat.

Player of the week: Anthony Mason Jr.
Freshman of the week: Mike Coburn. Hell, Rutgers wins? Someone has to get accolades!

Game #18: St. John’s 57 at Louisville 67

St. John’s Red Storm Men’s Basketball falls to 7-11 on the season, 1-6 in the Big East.

I was going to refer to the Bataan Death March—long trudge towards a goal, whippings and beatings all along the way for the team, interminable length—but no one has jumped ship on the team (besides the fans and the newspapers, who no longer attend the Saint John’s Red Storm out of town basketball games), no one has been hurt (besides the players’ and coaches’ confidence), and there are no dead bodies along the wayside, just losses. It’s the 100th year of St. John’s basketball, and this team has set the storied tradition back about 90 of those years.

Of course St. John’s lost. It would be foolish to think otherwise. First the Keys to the game:

Turn the Page: This game had some fight but looked much like the last one—Mason Jr. hits his shots, everyone else is unable to score, turnovers, fumbled passes, not enough Justin Burrell.

Handle: Too many turnovers. The team couldn’t handle the press, taking time outs often.

Pack It In: The Louisville Cardinals got easy shots from outside, and Terrence Williams flirted with a triple double. Sean Evans showed some ability blocking shots away from his man, but as always, the defense looked confused when presented with a solid-passing big man. Caracter and Padgett got some good looks inside.

Anthony Mason Jr. looked real sharp shooting/ scoring (7-11 3pt). A bit Kareem Rush-like—not as athletic or forceful as JaRon Rush, not as good of a shooter as Brandon, but money in the bank… along with the iffy positions on defense, and the hold-your-breath-he-might-lose-the-ball handle; he had 5 turnovers.

The team looked like it had offensive sets, just not the players to execute them. Geno Lawrence had 1 point and 4 assists, and this year, he is a continual no-show in the games, especially offensively. DJ Kennedy is afraid to shoot the ball, even when he has his stand-still jump shot wide open. Dele Coker and Paris Horne played a minute each. Larry Wright went 1-7 with 5 points and 3 assist (I like the idea of him doing something else on the stat sheet when the shot’s not falling). The game was never as close as the final score– at least, not competition-wise. One almost thinks Pitino took it easy on the Storm.

Georgetown on Wednesday. More posting to come.