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It Begins and Ends With D'Angelo
Though on any night, St. John's can turn to anyone of their starters for steady production, it begins and ends with D'Angelo Harrison who has been the alpha and omega for the Johnnies so far this season. This season the senior Harrison is making himself a contender for Big East Player of the Year. He's been efficiently averaging 22.1 points per game throughout his career and has back-to-back 20-point games. At this point he is converting 46 percent of his tries and has been the constant steady that the Johnnies need for offensive production and in transition too.
Lock Down on Defense
Though its against Fordham, who are 3-4 on the year and should be an easy match up, St. John's will still be on defensive lock down against the Rams. They have been steals off the transition and crashing the boards with efficiency on defense. In their last three games, none of St.John's opponents reached the 60 point mark, as Fairleigh Dickinson was held to 52 points, Syracuse was held to 57 points, and Niagara to 57 points as well. Overall they've held five out of their eight opponents to under 60 points over the span of forty minutes of play. What they are doing off the ball has been one the greatest strengths for this team and will be going forwards as well.
Work In and Then Out
Its no secret at this point, St. John's is having a bit of trouble from beyond the arc this season. While they have found hot hands in the past few games such as D'Angelo Harrison against Syracuse, the Johnnies have been unable to hit the three ball with consistency. They have gone halves this season without hitting a three, as was the case against Minnesota. Despite this they have been able to work around the problem by swinging the ball into the paint, hitting Chris Obekpa underneath the basket or getting points off the transition. They have the potential to be dangerous from beyond the perimeter, if they can hit their stride. It will most likely be a continual work in progress for the Johnnies this season.