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St. John’s Basketball: Red Storm’s keys to success against Loyola Maryland

By Nick Bello

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John's Red Storm talks to Marvin Clark II #13 prior to the game against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Head coach Chris Mullin of the St. John's Red Storm talks to Marvin Clark II #13 prior to the game against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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St. John’s Basketball is back in action tonight for their home opener! The question is, can they start off on the right foot?

College hoops are finally back in the wonderful borough of Queens as the St. John’s Red Storm are set to take on Loyola Maryland at Carnesecca Arena. Red Storm fans have had to wait for what seems like an eternity, to see the Red Storm in action with the most talented roster of the Chris Mullin coaching era. Here are the keys to tonight’s game.

Have to Be More Organized On Both Ends

Last Thursday, the Red Storm took on Maryville, a division two team from St. Louis. The Red Storm went on to win 71-56 in what was a competitive game until the end of the second half really. The fact of the matter is, they should’ve blown them out, however they struggled on the defensive end when their 1-2-2 press would break down, leading to easy buckets.

The same chaos was seen on the offensive end as well as the Red Storm had poor shot selection and many bad possessions throughout the night. Hopefully these issues were due to nerves and being unfamiliar with each other in game situations.

Defense Has to Be Better

As mentioned, the defensive breakdowns that happened Thursday night can’t keep happening if this team wants to do well this season. The 1-2-2 press worked well to cause chaos for Maryville however the press also caused self inflicting chaos for the Red storm who struggled to get back to their assignments once the press broke down. With Mustapha Heron back tonight after sitting out with a concussion last week, his size will definitely be beneficial for this press as he can get into the passing lanes easier if they decide to put him up with Shamorie Ponds and Justin Simon.

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Another area where they have to be better on defence is their ability to close out on three-point shooters. This problem is partially due to self inflicting chaos from the press but there is no excuse for not being able to close out on shooters. This is a problem that they had last year and it is something they definitely need to clean up especially one Big East play comes around.

Keep The Stars Fresh

For a game against a team like Loyola Maryland (no offence), the Red Storm should try to get out to an early lead and continue to build on that and eventually sit the starters in order to save them down the road when they are really needed in Big East play. It is expected that this game could be a blowout so there is no reason why the bench shouldn’t get any action later in the game.

The preservation of players is something that is going to be key for the Red Storm as doing so obviously prevents injury down the road. Later in the season last year, the Red Storm had a lot of injuries which ended up leading to their demise.

dark. Next. St. John's Season Preview

Mullin and his staff must learn from history and do their best to preserve their team for a postseason run.