Here at LittyHOOPS, one thing is for certain.  We live and die by the Red Storm.  Right now, as the 2002-2003 college basketball season is about to kick off, the oxygen is aplenty.  Led by the most underrated player in the country, and my dark horse for Player of the Year, Marcus Hatten, we expect St. John’s to turn a few heads this season and come March be dancing for awhile…  

  MARCUS, MARCUS, and more MARCUS.  Last season, led by do-it-all guard Marcus Hatten the Red Storm surprised many doubters by winning 20 games and receiving a bid to the NCAA tournament.  Despite a first round loss to Wisconsin, St. John’s season exceeded expectations.  With 4 starters returning, a deep bench intact, and the arrival of a true NYC point guard in lefty Elijah Ingram, the Johnnies are poised to make a run for the Big East title.

  Hatten a senior from Baltimore arrived last year as a JUCO transfer and immediately became the heart, soul, and big time talent of the team.  Coach Mike Jarvis gushes on his performance last year saying,  “Hatten was incredible”.  The untimely departure of Omar Cook for the NBA (or CBA, or his prominent job flipping ground beef at Burger King as Omar the Cook) left St. John’s without a true point guard.  Hatten, who can only be described as a shooting guard, took control of the team and spent the season running the point, as well as shooting, passing, locking down the opponents top player, creating turnovers, and proving himself to be a true iceyhotstunta.  Marginal help came in the ever-shrinking bulldog Anthony Glover, and a duo of awkward power forwards who love to shoot 3’s in Donald Emanuel (thank god he’s outta here) and Kyle Cuffe.

  The addition of Ingram drastically improves the dynamics of the squad. A cookie cutter NYC point guard, Ingram will electrify the Garden with his ability to dish the ball and get to the basket.  This will allow Hatten to play off the ball and finally get some open looks.  Hatten, who was the first newcomer to ever lead the Big East in scoring, should be even a bigger scoring threat this year now that opponents can no longer shine a spotlight on him.

The rest of the Johnnies are a bunch of scrappy role players that will have to be effective inside.  Glover, a grad student senior gained a year of eligibility by graduating in May.  Although vertically challenged, Glover possesses tremendous strength and is quite effective when he is patient and doesn’t force things down low.  Sophomore forward Eric King showed promise as the season went along and may be the next star for St. John’s.  King is hungry around the basket, and can also step back to hit the mid-range jumper. Junior Kyle Cuffe will come off the bench to provide solid minutes at either forward position.

The center position for the Johnnies is scarier then riding the broken Cyclops at Coney Island.  The three-headed freak show of Abe Keita, Mohamed Diakite and 7’3” fan favorite Curtis Johnson must be able to provide some production or the Storm will be forced to play a small, up-tempo lineup.  After three years of hard work, and numerous surgeries on his crooked feet, Johnson may be shedding the “project” label from his name and actually contribute as a behemoth monster inside.

Projection

How far can St. John’s really go?  If they can sustain the grittiness and competitiveness of last season, with a year of experience under their belt, and the promising Ingram successfully running the show the Johnnies can be one of the most dangerous teams in the country.

With 6 players hailing from NYC, and the tutelage of wise head coach Mike Jarvis, the Storm bring a street ball flavor to the court and are rarely intimidated.  Always exciting, spirited and true, the Johnnies are the best team in college basketball to watch.  Fellow Queens native and St. John’s fan, the rapper Nas says it best:

“You heard about it, you see about it
You read about it, it's in your papers
It's in your daily news
New York chronicles, every day…
New York state of mind baby, check it out”

For now LittyHoops is a not for profit, not for any productive purpose ( other then giving  college kids with too much time on their hands something to do, and college basketball fans something to read). If you would like to contribute to LittyHoops.com before it dominates the entire world give us a holla at Litty@LittyHoops.com

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