With seven freshmen and nine newcomers on the roster, St. John’s will probably suffer through a fair share of mistakes made by inexperienced players this season. But on opening night, the Red Storm thrived off the miscues of an opponent’s young point guard.
St. John’s overcame a rough first half in which the Red Storm fell behind William & Mary by seven points. After the break, St. John’s amped up the pressure, and the Tribe’s freshman point guard, Marcus Thornton, couldn’t handle it. Thornton finished with seven of William & Mary’s 21 turnovers.
Sophomore Juco transfer Nurideen Lindsey was a frequent tormentor of Thornton. One of the Red Storm’s much-heralded newcomers, Lindsey did a little bit of everything, shooting 8-of-12 from the field en route to 19 points. And he added four assists and five steals.
Running Lindsey’s’ stats through the Total Impact Quotient player rating system, the Red Storm have plenty of reason to be excited, even after only one game. The explosive sophomore guard put up a TIQ of 34.4 for the game. That’s on par with the likes of Georgia Tech’s Iman Shumpert last season.
Yes, it’s only one game against an opponent that doesn’t figure to be on par with most Big East opponents. But on a team filled with youngsters, St. John’s needs a reliable stat stuffer. The one troublesome stat for Lindsey in the Red Storm’s 74-59 victory was his four fouls. Given Lindsey’s ability to contribute at both ends of the court, the Red Storm need Lindsey to play smart in addition to aggressive. The team doesn’t have the depth to replace his production with several freshmen academically ineligible until late December.
