St. Joseph’s Hawks
Atlantic 10 (20-13, 9-7)
St. Joe’s was a great story back in the days of Jameer Nelson and Delonte West. They made it all the way to the regional final that year behind their NBA guards. Unfortunately for Coach Phil Martelli, this season has been marred by the controversy of his not releasing Todd O’Brien from his scholarship after his transfer. Despite that black mark, St. Joe’s has put together a season worthy of a postseason bid. Martelli, no matter what you think of his handling of the O’Brien situation, has the chops to coach up lesser known players. He has done it again this season.
Big Wins: 11/30 Drexel (62-49), 12/10 Creighton (80-71), 2/25 Temple (82-72)
Bad Losses: 12/4 at American (60-66), 1/7 Charlotte (52-57), 2/22 Richmond (49-52)
Coach: Phil Martelli (17 seasons at St. Joseph’s)
Why They Can Surprise:
St. Joe’s has a lot of scoring options. They have four primary scorers that average double figures. They shoot 47% from the field as a team. They can hang with a lot of big conference teams on the stat sheet. They score over 70 points per contest, which puts them in the top third in the country. The Hawks aren’t a particularly big team, but they are second in the nation at blocking shots (7.2 per game). They hold opponents to less than 40% from the field. As long as they don’t go into a lull offensively, they have a good recipe for success. Carl Jones is their leader at 16.8 points per game, and he shoots over 80% from the foul line. He can take over.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The Hawks are one of the worst teams in the country at maintaining possessions. It’s a good thing they score a lot of points because they have a horrible turnover margin against the competition. Despite their success at holding opponents to a low field goal percentage, they give up a lot of points from behind the 3-point line. Eventually they are going to run into a sharp-shooting team from long range. They are going to have to stop those shots better than they did in the regular season. If they are forced to change their playing style too often to adjust to what teams are throwing at them, the Hawks will have a tough time advancing.
Probable Starters:
Langston Galloway, Sophomore, Guard, 15.8 ppg, 2.3 apg
Carl Jones, Junior, Guard, 16.8 ppg, 3.2 apg
Daryus Quarles, Sophomore, Guard-Forward, 4.9 ppg
Halil Kanacevic, Sophomore, Forward, 8.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.7 bpg
C.J. Aiken, Sophomore, Forward, 10.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.6 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Ronald Roberts, Jr., Sophomore, Forward, 10.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg
Chris Wilson, Freshman, Guard, 3.4 ppg, 2.8 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.0 (77, 5)
Scoring Defense: 68.0 (203, 8)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.0 (41, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 39.6 (27, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.5 (128, 7)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.0 (91, 5)
Free-Throw Percentage: 69.7 (147, 7)
Rebound Margin: 1.7 (125, 6)
Assists Per Game: 14.5 (59, 6)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.1 (133, 7)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
St. Josephs 2008 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Oklahoma
St. Josephs 2006 NIT First round win over Rutgers
St. Josephs 2006 NIT Second round loss to Hofstra
St. Josephs 2005 NIT Opening round win over Hofstra
St. Josephs 2005 NIT First round win over Buffalo
St. Josephs 2005 NIT Second round win over Holy Cross
St. Josephs 2005 NIT Quarterfinal win over Texas A&M
St. Josephs 2005 NIT Semifinal win over Memphis
St. Josephs 2005 NIT Final loss to South Carolina
St. Josephs 2004 NCAA Round of 64 win over Liberty
St. Josephs 2004 NCAA Round of 32 win over Texas Tech
St. Josephs 2004 NCAA Regional semifinal win over Wake Forest
St. Josephs 2004 NCAA Regional final loss to Oklahoma State
St. Josephs 2003 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Auburn
*all team stats through 3/4
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
