St. John’s resurgence a credit to its defense

 

Posh Alexander has led St. John’s renaissance on defensive end as Red Storm has embraced its identity. (Photo by the New York Post)

By Anthony E. Parelli (@reportedbytheAP)

Mike Anderson’s calling card has always been defense. For most of this season, however, a surprisingly explosive St. John’s offense has been hindered by a lack of efficiency on the defensive end. 

Anderson’s trademark 40 Minutes of Hell looked more like 40 minutes of open jump shots, late closeouts, foul trouble, communication problems and untimely lapses. While that doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well, it was the sad reality for a team that was designed to be led by its tenacity on its own end of the floor. 

 

But headed into Saturday’s contest with Utah Valley, St. John’s had won two of its last three, led largely by a much-improved defensive effort. In the three games prior to Saturday’s tilt, St. John’s held opponents to 66.6 points per game on 43.1 percent shooting from the floor and just 32.3 percent from 3-point range. The Red Storm also averaged six blocks and eight steals in that span. Even throughout the struggles the Johnnies have faced this season, they still remained near the top of the Big East in steals and turnovers. 

 

St. John’s put a bow on its non-conference slate Saturday, cruising to a 98-76 victory over the visiting Wolverines. Posh Alexander set a career-high with 20 points, Julian Champagnie got back on track with 19 and Vince Cole (15), Isaih Moore (13) and Rasheem Dunn (11) all reached double digits on the scoreboard.

 

While St. John’s allowed Utah Valley to shoot 60 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from distance, a deeper dive shows a continued focus from the Red Storm on the defensive end. St. John’s had seven blocks in the contest, won the turnover battle by a decisive 22-4 margin, and had 13 steals compared to Utah Valley’s one. The Johnnies had 101 attempts from the field to Utah Valley’s 64. 

 

“We're starting to look like a more athletic team,” Anderson said after the game. “And we’re doing it from the defensive standpoint.”

 

For the majority of the season, the phrase “free Josh Roberts” had more than made its way around St. John’s Twitter, and once Anderson finally obliged, the defense, not so coincidentally, has taken off. 

 

After starting virtually every game for Anderson a season ago, Roberts found himself in the doghouse for one reason or another, unable to even sniff the floor even when St. John’s would go nine and ten men deep into its rotation. The junior had four blocks and seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action Saturday, and while his offensive limitations are well-documented (four points on 2-of-4 shooting), Roberts has been far and away St. John’s best presence in the low post. Even at just 6-foot-9, his strength, athleticism and body position allow him to compete with the 7-footers he routinely has to face in the Big East.

 

Roberts’ reemergence has also had a trickle-down effect on Moore, who has seemed much more relaxed and efficient coming off the bench. The long, athletic former junior college All-American had 13 points and six boards in 14 minutes of action Saturday. 

 

While no one would mistake Utah Valley for a blue blood program, the Wolverines’ 6-11, 245-pound big man, Fardaws Aimaq, came into Saturday leading the country in rebounding at 15 boards per game. While Aimaq finished with 13 rebounds, only three of those were on the offensive end, a facet St. John’s has struggled with at times this season. 

 

We’ve seen enough of Alexander to know that he plays every second at a full sprint, but it’s been encouraging to see that effort start to translate more consistently on the offensive end. The freshman has scored a combined 38 points in his last two contests, has displayed an improved shooting touch to complement his prowess around the rim, and is starting to take over the role of secondary option to the Big East’s leading scorer in Champagnie, something the Johnnies desperately need if they’re to continue their late run.

 

Saturday’s win may not make waves outside of the program, but it had to be exactly what Anderson had in mind when he scheduled the game this week to break up a nine-day layoff for the Red Storm. St. John’s struggled to handle this kind of competition early in the season, but there were no such issues this time around.

 

Whether that translates once Big East play picks back up Wednesday against DePaul remains to be seen, but it will start and end, as it always has, with defense.