St. John's Basketball: 4 factors to consider for 2018-19

There’s a lot on the line with St. John’s Basketball for the 2018-19 season. Here are four important factors for the Red Storm’s success.

This year’s roster may be the best roster Chris Mullin has had without a doubt. It also happens to be the first roster in which Mullin recruited every player making this season very important for the Red Storm. The pressure is on for Mullin to produce a solid season to please the Red Storm faithful.

Success this season all depends on Heron

Among the many things the Red Storm need to be successful this coming season, Mustapha Heron is definitely number one on the list. Herron is seeking a hardship waiver which would allow him to play this season instead of sitting out due to transfer regulations. Word on whether or not Herron will be granted the waiver may take a while as the NCAA has to review his case.

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Heron, who averaged 15.8 points per game at Auburn, provides a lot of size at the two guard spot for Mullin. His size and athleticism combined with his ability to score will compliment Shamorie Ponds which could make them one of the best backcourts in college basketball. If Heron is not given the waiver, the Red Storm will most likely start Mikey Dixon in his place. Although Dixon showed that he can score at Quinnipiac where he averaged, he doesn’t have the same impact as Heron does. The Red Storm would do well with either Dixon or Heron however whether or not Heron can play could take St. John’s from a ranked team to an unranked team.

The season really starts at the end of December

In recent years, the Red Storm have done very well against non-conference opponents early in the season. Take last season for example where the Red Storm were 11-3 against non-conference opponents before they started playing Big East teams. They then went on to lose 11 straight games to Big East teams. The bottom line is, what happens early in the season to non-conference opponents means little to nothing in the grand scheme of things. Sure it’s good to get off to a hot start, however, don’t get your hopes too high because you beat Molloy by 28.

Everyone needs to be healthy

Last season the Red Storm had a pretty solid roster that had the potential to be a bubble team come tournament time. However, that was not the case as Marcus LoVett went down with a knee injury which lead to him leaving St. John’s for good. Ponds also had injury troubles last season which kept him out for some games last season. The injury plague also left the Red Storm with, at times, a six or seven man rotation. Although the Red Storm did fairly well considering what they dealt with in terms of injuries, they could have had a better season and probably would’ve made at least the NIT.

Making the NIT is par for the course

As a fellow Red Storm fan, I too hate settling for the NIT. However given the past few seasons, making the NIT should be considered moving in the right direction. Sure the Red Storm have a tremendous roster this year however at their worst they should at least make the NIT.

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Setting the bar at the NIT is a reasonable measurement of improvement for this upcoming season despite the fact that this team should make the big dance without a doubt. However, if the Red Storm don’t make the NCAA Tournament and make the NIT, I don’t want to hear that Mullin should be fired. Remember that this is still a rebuilding program.

St. John’s Basketball: 4 factors to consider for 2018-19

By Nick Bello | Jul 31, 2018