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ASU Basketball: 2019 NCAA Tournament Roundtable

By Trevor Booth

DAYTON, OH - MARCH 14: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils reacts against the Syracuse Orange during the First Four of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 14, 2018 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
DAYTON, OH - MARCH 14: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils reacts against the Syracuse Orange during the First Four of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 14, 2018 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 13: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John’s Red Storm celebrates after he draws the foul in the second half against the DePaul Blue Demons during the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 13, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 13: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John’s Red Storm celebrates after he draws the foul in the second half against the DePaul Blue Demons during the first round of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 13, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Key to Beating St. John’s

Five players on the Red Storm average 30 or more minutes. None exceed 6-feet-7 inches tall.

This might sound old-school, but the Sun Devils’ best approach is to pound the paint. Expect Romello White to get plenty of post touches and Zylan Cheatham to receive isolations around the elbow.

If ASU can implement their strength, that will open up perimeter scoring and the perceived rebounding advantage. That should take the energy out of St. John’s small ball approach. – TB 

To break down St. John’s, the best resource ASU might have is its own game footage from last season. The 2017-18 version of the Sun Devils lived on the perimeter, shooting a high volume of 3-pointers.

Chris Mullin’s current team resembles the group Bobby Hurley coached a season ago. Four players (Shamorie Ponds, Mustapha Heron, L.J. Figueroa and Marvin Clark II) shoot 35 percent or better from distance for the Red Storm and each has connected on at least 48 triples.

Without a dominant post player on the Red Storm roster, ASU can focus its attention to running St. John’s off the 3-point line. If it can successfully limit perimeter scoring, it’ll leave St. John’s scrambling for an in-game adjustment. – ZP 

St. John’s is one of the Big East’s best offensive teams, and a key component to that is Shamorie Ponds. He’s the Red Storm’s leading scorer, averaging almost 20 points per contest.

If ASU wants to force St. John’s into a rut, it has to neutralize Ponds. In games where Ponds scored 20 points, St. John’s is 11-3. But St. John’s is just 10-9 when he has failed to hit that mark. – CF

It’s as simple as this. Shut down Shamorie.

Easier said than done, but with three elite defenders in Martin, Dort and Cheatham, ASU can keep it fresh all game long and make Ponds adjust to a new defender every few minutes.

If the Sun Devils can effectively keep the ball out of his hands and lock a defender on his hip, ASU should be able to emerge with a double-digit victory. – RG

While St. John’s ended its season very similar to how ASU did last season, they can still be a very dangerous team for one reason – Shamorie Ponds.

Ponds averages a team-high 19.5 points on nearly 46 percent shooting. If the Devils can slow him down, they have a good shot at getting past the Red Storm and moving on to the Round of 64 against Buffalo.  – BW

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