Holiday Festival
Wow, St. John’s brought a sneaky-good trio of competitors together for this tournament. No Virginia Tech this year, but also – no Marists. St. John’s picked the wrong year to start sniffing glue (as they say in Airplane!). These are tough opponents all around, even the reduced Davidson squad. Strangely enough, this set of teams feature coaches whose names always seem to come up (especially on message boards) as candidates for the St. John’s job if the current staff should be removed. Anyone else think that’s strange?
20-DEC Hofstra (CAA) RPI: 104 With solid guard play from Charles Jenkins from Springfield Gardens, Nathaniel Lester, and freshman Chaz Williams… and a host of other New York City-area players, Hofstra has the look of a possibly dangerous squad… except for the fact that sometimes, they couldn’t score in a skee-ball game let alone on the basketball court. they were very good at defending the basket, though, with their bigs, and Jenkins had free rein to let shots go when he wanted. They could rise a bit this year and be a more dangerous opponent.
Hofstra Pride blog: Defiantly Dutch
Hofstra Pride message board: CAA Zone – Hofstra
21-DEC (winner of) Davidson (SoCon) RPI: 69/ Cornell (Ivy) RPI: 115 Davidson was a tough game to play even before Steph Curry suited up. Some solid players have chosen to sign their letters of intent with the Wildcats, and Bob McKillop knows how to get a lot out of his teams. Consider that they managed to defend well against bigger teams with small players in the post.
Davidson Wildcats blog: Wildcats Pride
Davidson Wildcats message board: Davidson Cats Forum
Cornell played St. John’s tough last year without their player of the year, point guard Louis Dale. St. John’s shot very well against the Big Red, but will have to improve the defensive effort to beat them if they face each other this year. The Ivy Leaguers feature a number of solid shooters, some size at center, and some quickness at point guard. St. John’s can beat them by playing smart basketball, and winning the battles on the offensive glass; Justin Burrell tied his season high with 11 rebounds in that game.
Cornell Big Red blog: The Cornell Basketball Blog
Below is the December 20-21 Holiday Festival preview from the St. John's fan sites, East Coast Bias and Johnny Jungle. This article was published during the preseason. For The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center, click here.
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