Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Providence, SJU trending oppositely
478. . . . St. John's Red Storm. 10. player
I had high hopes for St. John’s heading into Big East play. The Red Storm put together several very strong non-conference performances and were therefore firmly in the mix as a contender for an NCAA Tournament bid. Through the first few games of conference play, though, the level of hope is starting to diminish. While this team has shown flashes of its potential, it sits winless through three games with the losses coming to Butler (H), Xavier (A), and Georgetown (A).
It is important to mention, though, that none of these defeats are incredibly destructive. Losing on the road in the Big East is nothing to be ashamed of and it doesn’t hurt SJU’s resume all that much. Additionally, even a home loss can be forgiven when it comes against a Top 10 team in the nation. The real issue here is how the team has performed. The Red Storm have made their fair share of runs during conference play but have trailed for the vast majority of their contests.
St. John’s needs to find a way to score effectively in the halfcourt. The Red Storm rank dead-last in the Big East in adjusted offensive efficiency and they will need to experience a resurgence on that end of the floor in order to succeed. The team is creating turnovers defensively at a very high rate but that will not mean much if it cannot find the bottom of the net offensively.
St. John’s resume is still worthy of being an early candidate for an NCAA Tournament bid (or at least a spot on the bubble), but it is trending in the wrong direction. The Red Storm’s home meeting with DePaul is starting to look like a “must win”.