I got my first look at the St. John’s men’s basketball team Monday night and I wasn’t impressed. Ranked 17th nationally, the Johnnies beat Long Beach State by 17 at Carnesecca Arena. St. John’s played without one of their best players, Rysheed Jordan who was said to be out sick with the flu. When their other top player D’Angelo Harrison picked up his second foul just five minutes into the contest, the team’s lack of depth was obvious.

Without Harrison and Jordan, the Johnnies were rudder-less on offense. Harrison eventually returned and St. John’s righted the ship in the second half to blow out Beach but the Johnnies will struggle in Big East Conference play. I would say a Big Dance berth is no cinch despite their current lofty ranking.

St. John’s has no inside game other than what junior Chris Obekpa gives them when he darts in and out of the lane. Slimmed down and more polished offensively than last year, Obekpa (pictured above) is listed optimistically at 6-10. The fans call him “O-Block-Pa” because he has a knack for the blocked shot. Against Long Beach, Obekpa had sixteen points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots. He expends great effort. Problem is, there’s nobody really capable of spelling Obekpa when he gets into foul trouble or needs a breather. Johnnies coach Steve Lavin is trying to work in big guy Joey De La Rosa, a senior who transferred in from Florida International but Joey D doesn’t appear ready to contribute on the big stage. His little brother Adonis (me and Steelers fan Mike saw him play last spring for Christ the King) was supposed to give Lavin some minutes in the paint this season but hasn’t played because of some nebulously-explained eligibility quandary. On Monday night, Adonis was dressed. He participated in the warm-ups but looked out of shape. During timeout huddles featuring passionate instructions from Lavin to his team, Adonis could be seen trying to have conversations with people in the crowd.

This is not to say St. John’s isn’t stocked with talent on the wings. Harrison, Greene, Branch and Pointer are all playmakers and scorers but none of the four appear interested in playing around the hoop much. When the outside jump shot isn’t falling, St. John’s appears desperate – and the opposition knows what to do with Obekpa in those instances.

I bought a ticket on StubHub for just $6.25 (fees included) a few days before the game. Normally, you can’t find a seat at Carnesecca on the resale market much below face but there were scores of cheapies available for this one. Attendance was 5014. It was a quiet crowd.

The Long Beach State squad is in the middle of a non-conference slate of games that makes zero sense given their status as a mid-major. They played Texas in Austin on Saturday, came to New York for the Monday nighter against the Johnnies and then returned home to the west coast Tuesday. They fly back across the country this weekend to play Syracuse on Sunday and then go to Louisville next Tuesday before going back home again. While a program of its ilk wants to play big-name opponents, you can’t fly cross-country and back twice in the span of a week or so and explain it as rational to those at the school who believe student-athletes should get some kind of breather after final exams. A report in the San Diego Union-Tribune says Long Beach State coach Dan Monson aggressively schedules elite programs on the road because they’re known as “buy” games – and the newspaper says Monson gets a significant cut of the money obtained from his school’s participation in those contests. That this type of arrangement is allowed under NCAA rules is beyond me.