Long Beach St. vs. St. John's: 3-Point Preview

Bending but not Breaking

Despite pulling off the victory against St. Mary's last Friday, the game proved just how thin the frontcourt is for St. John's, but also how malleable they are as a side.  Brad Waldow of St. Mary's gave St. John's a lot to handle, but the Red Storm were able to weather the storm brought on by St. Mary's.  They are currently ranked 41st in the nation in rebounds per game, but the problem has been consistency on the boards.  While the Johnnies are extremely efficient on defense, their apparent lack of depth in the frontcourt may be a cause of concern going forward.  Especially as they will soon be heading into Big East play.

Give it to the Hot Hand

So far in every game for the Red Storm their has been a prevailing hot hand that has carried the team to victory.  Some nights it has been Sir'Dominic Pointer leading the charge, other nights it has been Rysheed Jordan or D'Angelo Harrison leading the way. While it may be a bit of a cliche to say give to the guy that's hot, for St. John's its been their guiding light for quite a few games this season, especially in the wake of apparent areas that the team lacks in depth.

Get the Bench Involved

The game against St. Mary's also proved to Steve Lavin that the lack of depth in certain areas of the starting lineup needs to filled with a heavily involved bench.  While St. John's starters have been fantastic so far this season, by this point they need an extra boost to make up for what they lack.  Against St. Mary's, Lavin was able to give a number of players minutes.  Among them Joey Delarosa made his season debut as Chris Obekpa was limited due to foul trouble and Amar Alibegovic received more minutes as well.  As Big East play comes close, the Johnnies will need that extra depth to get by, last game proved that and it may be seen again tonight against Long Beach State.