The St. John’s chief in assists isn’t Dylan Darling, the one true level guard on the roster.
It isn’t Oziyah Sellers, who began the season because the Crimson Storm’s main ball handler, neither is it Ian Jackson, who final month changed Darling within the beginning lineup.
No, the Johnnies’ main help man is 6-9 ahead/middle Zuby Ejiofor, whose proficient passing out of the put up has helped unlock the St. John’s offense.
“When he touches the ball, I feel like I have no defender near me,” Sellers stated forward of Tuesday night time’s recreation towards Marquette at Madison Sq. Backyard.
“The attention he draws is crazy.”
Ejiofor entered Tuesday averaging a team-high 3.1 assists per recreation — almost a full help greater than anybody else.
He’s been even higher in that space of late. Within the 5 video games earlier than Tuesday’s, Ejiofor averaged 4.2 assists. These included a Dec. 31 win at Georgetown by which Ejiofor dished out a career-high seven assists, in addition to Saturday’s 90-73 win at Creighton by which the senior completed with six.
“I’ve watched a lot of film and spent a lot of time just reading the defense,” stated Ejiofor, who can also be the Crimson Storm’s main scorer and rebounder.
“Coming off last year, I knew I was going to be expecting a lot more double teams, so it was important for me to work on my weaknesses and see areas where I could exploit the defense when the double teams come.”
The Crimson Storm’s points at level guard are well-documented.
After final month’s loss to Kentucky, head coach Rick Pitino stated it was “our fault as a staff for not having a big-time point guard that makes people better.”
Then earlier this month, Pitino acknowledged he checked out potential in-season additions earlier than deciding towards bringing one in and saying he wouldn’t revisit that possibility.
However the current emphasis on Ejiofor’s play-making has helped decide up among the slack. Saturday’s win marked the fourth time in 5 video games that St. John’s scored at the least 84 factors.
“I said to the team, ‘The difference between last year’s team and this year’s team is those guys threw Zuby the ball in the low post,’ ” Pitino stated. “Once they started throwing it to him, a light bulb went off.”
For Ejiofor, the technique is easy.
When an opponent tries to defend him one-on-one, Ejiofor appears to attain. However when the double-team comes, Ejiofor is ready to seek out an open teammate.
“All the double teams and people going after him have made him a good passer,” Pitino stated. “He reads defenses very well. Our best play from a percentage standpoint is throwing it into him, getting people to come after him and throwing it back out.”
Ejiofor assisted on 5 3-pointers within the first half of Saturday’s win in Omaha, together with three by Lefteris Liotopoulos, who scored a career-high 17 factors that afternoon.
“Every time I pass the ball out of the post and see a guy knock down a shot, it feels good because everybody’s fully engaged,” Ejiofor stated. “When everybody’s engaged offensively, the defense follows suit.”
