A JUMP-START FOR JOHNNIES
Anderson has Storm ahead of schedule
THE expectations were similarly low. The big addition was a new coach. How much could that change a team’s fortunes? In retrospect, quite a lot. The first example is last season’s Islanders. They lost John Tavares and brought in Stanley Cupwinning coach Barry Trotz. The result was a stunning season nobody saw coming, a second-place finish in the Metropolitan division and an opening-round playoff series win.
The second example is St. John’s. It’s too early to make an exact comparison, but there are early signs the Red Storm are following the Isles’ formula, which shows how much impact an experienced, good coach can have.
The Red Storm were picked to finish ninth in the Big East after losing leading scorer Shamorie Ponds and fellow starters Justin Simon and Marvin Clark II. Chris Mullin was gone after four mostly disappointing seasons as coach. In came the 59-year-old Mike Anderson, who some experts thought was a poor fit, a Southern guy coaching in the Northeast for the first time.
But through 13 games, St. John’s looks fortunate it wound up with him. At 11-2, the Johnnies have defeated the two best teams on their schedule — No. 16 Arizona on Saturday night in San Francisco and No. 25 West Virginia — and will enter the Big East season with an actual shot to earn back-toback NCAA Tournament berths for the first time since 1999-2000. In the least, it doesn’t appear like Anderson’s streak of never having a losing season in 17 prior years as a head coach will come to an end.
Look, there’s no telling where this season goes from here. The Big East is incredibly deep. There are no bad teams. But few expected this program to be 11-2 right now, to be playing this kind of gritty, defense-first, relentless team basketball. St. John’s is tied for 17th in the country in forcing turnovers (17.92), 11th in rebounding (43.1) and 29th in field-goal percentage defense (38.2 percent). It is one of three teams, along with Marquette and Memphis, to have a top-75 defense while playing at a tempo ranked among the 25 fastest.
The Johnnies are performing as the Knicks promised they would — like a bunch of dogs. It is why they were able to beat West Virginia and Arizona despite shooting a combined 34 percent from the field in the two games.
I thought St. John’s could reach the NIT if LJ Figueroa and Mustapha Heron — the lone returning contributors — played like All-Big East first-team selections. I never imagined this kind of start, and certainly not with
Heron being inconsistent and now missing the past two games with an ankle injury.
Anderson has given this team an identity, something it has lacked for years. It is a tenacious group that outworks the opposition, that is in top physical condition and is uncomfortable to play against. Anderson and his staff have gotten a ton out of the supporting cast, from the surprising production of sophomores Josh Roberts, Marcellus Earlington and Greg Williams Jr., all of whom hardly played a year ago, to getting the most out of newcomers like Damien Sears, Julian Champagnie, Nick Rutherford and Rasheem Dunn.
Anderson has consistently played 10 guys, creating significant depth, four players averaging in double figures in points and nine players logging at least 14.7 minutes per game. Everyone on the roster is contributing.
A local high school coach who has been critical of St. John’s in the past texted me during the Arizona upset, “Coaching Matters.”
It was rather ironic that Anderson picked up a signature win out West, in a game that was scheduled specifically for Mullin to return to the Bay Area, upsetting Arizona, an 11-point favorite led by projected one-and-done top-10 pick Nico Mannion.
Mullin, who now works as a television analyst for the Warriors, did not attend the game. Had he, the Hall of Fame player would’ve seen what his teams so frequently lacked — constant defensive intensity, quality rebounding and depth.