The Friendly Jesuit Match-Up

Saint Joseph’s Hawks pulled away with a win against Fordham Rams. Phil Martelli said himself that if the game was played away, they would not have won. The Hawks broke their four game losing streak. The team stopped feeling sorry for themselves and kept their heads up after being winless the past 26 days. James Demery, Shavar Newkirk, and Aaron Brown earned their first Atlantic 10 win.

Chris Wilson had a career night with 23 total points. Most of his points came from behind the arc. With making five of nine three point attempts. Despite having a noticeable limp in the second half, Wilson scored 12 points. Both DeAndre Bembry and Chris Wilson were six for six from the free throw line, and as a team the Hawks were 19 for 22. Besides free throws, another that factor that separated Saint Joseph’s from Fordham was the amount of second chances. The Hawks had 17 more rebounds than the Rams, which helped them to have 14 second chances.

Recently, the biggest concern for the Hawks has been turning the ball over. Between the Fordham and VCU, the Hawks have 36 turnovers. St. Joe’s knows how to handle the ball. They may not have shooting skills, but they do have ball skills.

In conference play, James Demery is averaging 8.8 points per game. He is also making a positive difference defensively as well. James Demery will be an impactful part of the team moving forward. He has become a valuable piece of the team. Any fan can tell that his confidence has grown by the fact that he has become more assertive. The power that he attacks the rim at is why the initially Hawks offered him a contract.

James Demery can also contribute with strong perimeter defending. It appeared that Demery and Bembry took turns defending Fordham’s best shooter, Eric Paschall. They held him to 16 total points. Perimeter defending was supposed to be one of the stronger parts of this year’s team. The two wing guards have athleticism that St. Joe’s needs to take advantage of. 

- Pants

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Radio Show: #29 10-24-14 (S3E9)

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Lack of National Attention of the World Series

Happy Happenings

Flyers are Average

Chris Wilson - SJU MBB PG Interview


Links:
Ronald Roberts Sixers Dunk

Hawk Weaknesses

With the season almost upon us many SJU fans are asking where are the Hawks weakest this season and where can we expect them to fall short. The team unfortunately lacks veteran leadership, perimeter shooting, and the ability to rebound.  

The most apparent area where St. Joe’s falls short is in veteran leadership. The team only has two returning starters for the season in Chris Wilson and DeAndre Bembry. As we all know the team thrived last season from the veteran leadership, it will be big shoes to fill with the team missing Langston, Halill, and Ron. The lack of veteran leadership might force Phil to be more vocal in the locker room. Last year not only the three captains, but all the seniors would speak their mind during half-time. DeAndre Bembry mention that Darius Quarles was vocal at half time during the University of Rhode Island game going into half-time behind. Chris Wilson is an ultimate team player and leads by example. While Chris is always doing the right thing, DeAndre is a player that will lead the team with scoring and performance. Like last year, captains are not the only ones that can make a difference. Look for Aaron Brown to be vocal player. He is another team player, which is evident by his patience after sitting out last year due to transferring and only playing a limited role at WVU. It is also likely that this team may take a few games to play together and run the court as a unit. However, the leadership on this team should bring the team together within a few games.   

Going off of that fact, there is another form of weakness that was created from losing Langston and that is in perimeter shooting. Langston provided the team with a great amount of confidence to shoot the ball from three when it was most needed. The perimeter shooting is going to have to come from Bembry, Wilson, and Miles. Bembry and Miles are the main perimeter possibilities. Wilson is not a consistent perimeter shooter, although he is successful when he is not under pressure. It is simply not likely that the team will be able to recreate last year’s perimeter shooting success. Langston Galloway is one of a kind and is even a better shooter than a majority of NBA players that play the shooting guard position. This upcoming season the Hawks will have to find new and different ways to score points to make up for the missing perimeter shooting. Another weakness the team will face is the fact that they have inexperience underneath the basket.

With the loss of both Halil and Ron, the ability to rebound may have gone out of Hawk Hill with them. This team is going to have real problems rebounding and creating points from underneath. Javon Bauman and Jai Williams will be big men that will have the responsibility of rebounding this upcoming year. This team is a very young and talented team, which has the potential to become outstanding in the near future.

-Brett and Glen 

THWND time to Prove the Experts WRONG

VCU, George Washington, Dayton, UMass, Richmond, RIU, LaSalle. Mark those games on your calendars SJU fans, because those are the 7 teams that the “experts” say are better than St. Joe’s. SJU is predicted to finish 8^th in the A-10 this season after their amazing run of winning the A-10 Championship last season. Considering their three most productive players last year are no longer with the team, many believe the experts may have been too kind. Since the team only has two returning starters, there is no doubt that the Hawks are not the same as they were last season. Hopes are not high on HawkHill. No-one, not even the coaches have the expectations of winning the A-10 Championship. That is because this team is building towards the future. The plan is to make a run in a year or two at the A-10 championship and the NCAA tournament. In a couple years, winning the A-10 and entering the NCAA tournament are real possibilities. SJU has the potential to be the number one team in the A-10 in a year or so, but we will have to see growth throughout this season. However, last year the top 6 teams in the A-10 went dancing in the NCAA tournament. So, if the Hawks get in the top 6 of their conference they could be in the tournament two straight years.

As we said in our last article, the most important player this season for the Hawks will be DeAndre Bembry. The team’s chances of making a run will fall on his shoulders. Bembry has condensed his shot and will be taking on the number one scoring role for the Hawks. But the real questions lay in the other players, such as Aaron Brown and Isaiah Miles. These are two players that are coming into the season with a lot of expectations for St. Joe’s. If the Hawks want to compete and move up from being ranked 8^th, they will have to get production from Bembry, Miles, and Brown. Besides Bembry, Miles is expected to take on a larger scoring role as well this season. Since Papa is out for the season, Isaiah has one less person competing against for playing time. Miles is officially the guy. What fans saw from Miles last season was flashes of brilliance and head scratchers. Miles has the potential to score double digits each game. He just needs to become more consistent. Miles’ time has come and SJU coaches are expecting Miles to consistently show that he can consistently score. Aaron Brown, who can be seen as a veteran on this team of young guys, will have to provide both leadership and scoring ability. Brown will have to fill what is missing from Halil. Like Halil, Brown is not afraid to speak his mind. Brown will provide also provide additional athleticism. Miles and Brown are two guys that will have to have an impact on each game this season if the team wants to perform at the highest level.

This is going to be a season of growth and potential. However, the 8^th spot does not give this team justice. DeAndre and Chris proved last season that they could be leaders and now that they have been named captains, expect bigger things from them. This team has the potential to make it to the 5^th spot, if and only if all of their players give them what they need. The pressure will be on this team, but they will strive to become A-10 Champions. REPEAT!

-Brett