WBB: Duke v St John's - Fresno

[-bdbd]

Is anyone going to do a pre-game analysis of St Johns? How do we match up with them?

From their website, they have only lost one of their last 12 games - by 30 in the Big East Tournament to U-con. They did edge out U-con (away) during the season, but also got blown out by Notre Dame (who edged Duke at the buzzer). They also lost to Harvard among their 9 losses (24-9 overall). They lack bench depth - in the OK game only one bench player got more than 12 minutes. Mcpherson and Smith seem to be the bigger scoring threats, but there's offensive balance. They are not a great rebounding team, but aparently play tough defense - turning over OK Monday 19 times.

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/sched/stjo-w-baskbl-sched.html

Game is listed as next Sat. with a 9:04PM Eastern start time on ESPN....

[uh_no]

Is anyone going to do a pre-game analysis of St Johns? How do we match up with them?

From their website, they have only lost one of their last 12 games - by 30 in the Big East Tournament to U-con. They did edge out U-con (away) during the season, but also got blown out by Notre Dame (who edged Duke at the buzzer). They also lost to Harvard among their 9 losses (24-9 overall). They lack bench depth - in the OK game only one bench player got more than 12 minutes. Mcpherson and Smith seem to be the bigger scoring threats, but there's offensive balance. They are not a great rebounding team, but aparently play tough defense - turning over OK Monday 19 times.

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/w-baskbl/sched/stjo-w-baskbl-sched.html

Game is listed as next Sat. with a 9:04PM Eastern start time on ESPN....

I think that's the key to us....both teams are, as you point out, seemingly short on the bench. I think it comes down to duke's offense (as it seemingly always does)...I don't think they can put up the performance they had last night again, but if St. Johns starts forcing them into turnovers, it could be an uphill battle....now I certainly don't think St. Johns can run away with it, but I think if duke finds themselves down 7-8 points, they may find it hard to come back against a very good defense.

I picked St. Johns, but am looking forward to a really good game.

[burnspbesq]

St. John's will want to control the tempo; they average only 62 points per game (compared to our 75.4). Both teams allow around 55 points per game. Our field-goal percentage defense is marginally better.

We're bigger at pretty much every position, but not by a big margin. Statistically, the biggest difference is in rebounding margin, where ours is better than +7 and theirs is only +0.6. We need to look to pound the ball inside, play inside-out, and go to the glass.

The biggest issue for St. John's is that we have four players who can go for 20-plus on any given night, three of whom shoot 39 percent or better from three-point range. If they decide that they want to make somebody other than EWill beat them, who do they help off? The biggest issue for us is that beating UConn has given St. John's an enormous amount of confidence.

[burnspbesq]

Also worth noting: St. John's is 5-9 when opponents score 60 or more, and 19-0 when opponents score less than 60. Duke has been held under 60 only twice this season, by Notre Dame and UConn.

[burnspbesq]

As of this morning there were still plenty of tickets available through Ticketmaster, and I was able to get a room at a Hilton Garden Inn less than a mile from the arena.

Who else is coming?

[Indoor66]

As of this morning there were still plenty of tickets available through Ticketmaster, and I was able to get a room at a Hilton Garden Inn less than a mile from the arena.

Who else is coming?

I would love to but it is too far from Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

[CameronBornAndBred]

As of this morning there were still plenty of tickets available through Ticketmaster, and I was able to get a room at a Hilton Garden Inn less than a mile from the arena.

Who else is coming?
Not me, but that's awesome! I hope you have lots of company in blue joining you.