When practices starts, the defensive work begins.
Of late, that’s been St. John’s focus, improving at that end of the floor as the league season nears. In discussing his team’s strong second half against Princeton last Sunday, coach Chris Mullin pointed to the defensive end as the impetus, and he’s harped on that with his players.
“It’s going back to the daily grind, consistently working at it, everybody making defense fun, making that a thing, getting stops, flying around on defense,” redshirt junior guard Justin Simon said in a phone interview. “It’s going to take everybody stepping up their level of focus, energy and effort, and be that defensive force we know can be even with [forward] Sedee [Keita] out.”
St. John’s enters Sunday’s meeting with Wagner at Carnesecca Arena as one of nine undefeated teams in the country, at 9-0. A victory would equal the program’s best start since the 1982-83 season, when Mullin was a sophomore. A sellout crowd is expected. There is excitement around the program that a special season is in the making.
But there are issues that need to be addressed, particularly on the defensive end. The absence of Keita, out since the second game of the season following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, has factored in.
There is hope the 6-foot-9 redshirt sophomore will be back for the Big East opener against Seton Hall on Dec. 29. Without him, Mullin has relied on a small lineup anchored by 6-foot-7 forward Marvin Clark II.
But St. John’s has rebounded well without Keita — it is plus-eight overall on the glass since he’s been out — yet it has not defended the perimeter as expected for such a long and quick team. Despite a soft non-conference schedule that has included just two top-100 opponents, the Johnnies are allowing the opposition to shoot 36.8 from 3-point range — which is tied for the 287th-worst mark in the country — and are giving up 71.9 points per game, 192nd in the nation.
Of St. John’s nine opponents, seven have scored above their season average. In the win over Princeton, the Tigers made 13-of-31 3-pointers, many of them uncontested. Winless Mount St. Mary’s, shooting 29 percent from distance as a team, made 12-of-31 attempts against the Johnnies. St. John’s has struggled to stay in front of opposing guards and the need to double in the post has opened up the 3-point line. Inconsistent intensity and lacking a rim-protector hasn’t helped matters, either.
There is a connection, as Mullin said after the Princeton game. St. John’s is at its best in the open court. When it gets stops, transition opportunities follow. When it doesn’t, the game slows down.
“I know we can be so much better on both ends,” Simon said. “Our coaching staff knows that. We know that as players. It’s on us taking it to another level of play.”
