When Lou Carnesecca slipped into his seat in section 7 during the introduction of starting lineups just before Tuesday night’s St. John’s/Bucknell contest, the current Johnnies head coach Steve Lavin looked away from his team and turned his attention to the 88-year-old hall-of-famer in a two-tone sweater.
Lavin made sure Carnesecca knew his unassuming entrance was noticed and that his towering presence was appreciated. Lavin and his assistants waved several times at the beloved old coach who rarely misses a home game at the venue bearing his name.
And then it was game time at Carnesecca Arena.
This St. John’s team is easily the most talented roster assembled by Lavin since his arrival in 2010 and it may be the most promising Red Storm squad top to bottom since Carnesecca retired in 1992. The front line is loaded with versatile big guys who are fast and strong. The backcourt includes two great shooting guards in D’Angelo Harrison and Phil Greene IV. What makes this season a potentially special one is the addition of freshman point guard Rysheed Jordan out of North Philly. St. John’s typically fails to get any of the top-rated point guards out of New York City much less elsewhere. But Lavin has shown an immediate knack at landing big recruits. Jordan could have gone anywhere but he chose the campus on Union Turnpike. He boldly wears uniform #23.
On Tuesday night, Jordan looked out of sorts. He turned it over twice just after the halftime intermission and got flustered repeatedly on D when hit with a pick. Lavin benched Jordan with three minutes gone in the second half and the Johnnies down 9. That left Greene and Harrison to share the point. Suddenly, St. John’s came to life thanks in part to hot shooting by Greene and some big blocked shots by Chris Obekpa. Known as “O-Block-Pa,” Obekpa had seven swats on the night and St. John’s recorded 13 blocked shots as a team.
St. John’s beat Bucknell 67-63. The Johnnies were a 7.5 point favorite going in.
Jordan didn’t return to action after his benching. His cause wasn’t helped by the clear shift in momentum immediately after he sat. There appeared to be some pouting from Jordan as he watched his team rally.
I didn’t see Jordan play in high school but those who did say he is capable of great things in all phases of the game. Current Johnnies teammate Max Hooper compares him to Rajon Rondo. Lavin is the perfect guy to nurture Jordan’s development. All of his motivation techniques are pulled from positive places. Even though there’s talk Jordan could be one and done, Lavin knows a deep run in the Big Dance likely will require Jordan manning the point.
When it came time to explain the delicate subject of Jordan’s benching vs. Bucknell, Lavin emphasized he wasn’t in any way quitting on his star recruit. Rather, Lavin said Jordan is still trying to grasp a new defensive technique known as the “zone slide” and will soon be up to speed. “We’re trying to develop as a team for the long haul yet we still need to win enough games to position us for the postseason. Our view of Rysheed has never changed because we get to see his gifts on display every day in practice,” said Lavin.
Attendance was announced at 3963. Capacity is 5602. St. John’s could probably fill the building if it wanted but the tickets are too expensive. The cheapest non-student ticket is $25. Why not price upper level seats at 10 bucks and sell the place out?
Tip-off for this one was pushed late to 830 PM for television. The newly-constituted Big East Conference is in the first year of a new, long-term deal with Fox Sports that puts nearly every single conference basketball game on national television. Most of the games are carried on the new channel Fox Sports 1. This is great for St. John’s which always plays a pretty good non-conference slate and has most of those games on FS1, too. Not only do the Johnnies appear on TV all over the land but it puts guys like Bill Raftery and Dick Stockton in your arena which adds a little buzz. That legendary pair (pictured above before the game) called the contest for FS1 and garnered lots of attention from the game’s participants and fans.
Raftery will more often be paired with Gus Johnson, Fox’s #1 voice on hoops. What’s nice for Raftery is that his contract allows him to continue working for CBS during the NCAA tournament.
Perhaps wanting to avoid traffic, Carnesecca left the game with a minute to go. He turns 89 on the 5th of January so I guess it shouldn’t be alarming he appears frail while climbing steps. I last saw Carnesecca in person at a St. John’s baseball game the spring before last and he was moving around without a problem. His continuing support for St. John’s basketball after a remarkable career has been a source of great inspiration during the program’s lean years. His presence adds dignity to a game in decline from mutual deterioration of commitment between student-athletes and institutions of higher education.
-Gone from press row at St. John’s games this year is the great sportswriter Lenn Robbins. After a 16-year run at the Post, Robbins took a job in September with the Brooklyn Nets. He’s now in the unusual position of being an in-house content producer for the NBA team’s web site. Robbins will cover other events at the new arena on Atlantic and Flatbush and he’ll be the voice and face of the Nets on other media platforms too. Robbins was easily the best college sports scribe in this town and his jump across the line separating journalism from something completely different would be cause for concern at first glance. But Robbins has actually remained pretty insightful in his new role. He covers the Nets at both home and on the road and has done some wonderful reporting via Twitter during the team’s practice sessions. He’ll likely have an access advantage but probably won’t be inclined to criticize members of the organization funding his existence. It’s not an ideal arrangement for those who have long enjoyed reading his work but so far, so good. I miss his St. John’s coverage but his Nets stuff has been excellent to date.
-While I agree with Francesa’s contention that MLB’s process to punish A-Rod is flawed, Mike risks looking silly for his stubborn support for a guy with a shaky, inconsistent alibi. Francesa has stood nearly alone among pundits here in backing A-Rod. The Lightning Rod’s staged hearing walkout and subsequent beeline to cozy up with Mike yesterday was openly mocked by most of Francesa’s colleagues covering baseball. Worse, Francesa got wrongly dismissive when a caller told him both Jon Heyman and Ron Darling approved of MLB’s handling of the case. Mike claimed Heyman, Darling and the rest of the talking heads on the MLB Network can’t be trusted to be objective given MLB’s control over the network. Probably not a good idea by Francesa to offend two significant friends and contributors to his own show.