St Francis Blue Ribbon Report -- Fairfield Stags Hoops Forum

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Date Posted: 08:34:22am 11/16/05 Wed,
Author: JoeStag
Subject: St Francis Blue Ribbon Report

Below is a summary of Blue Ribbon Magazines take on St Francis. Looks like their lineup will be 6-1 Tristan Smith (11ppg) who used to play for St Johns, and 6-7 Devon Neckles (7ppg) who is their best rebounder and shot blocker. Besides those 2, they have 3 experienced players that are in the 6-4/6-5 range that seem to be athletic and mult talented. Christian Brown (11ppg), Allen Sheppard (11ppg), and Sean Danzler (7ppg). Tristan Smith, Danzler, and 6-7 Finnish player, Sami Pekkola, are top 3-point threats. Pekkola led St Francis in their Exhibition win with 4-5 from the arc. Terriers do have some height in 6-9 Lex James from a JUCO. He origianlly committed to Rhody a few years ago, but did not do much in their exhibition. St Francis could also go small with 3 guards as they have a few PG's that could replace last years star Tory Cavalieri.

Blue Ribbon Overview
---------------------

Nash will begin his first season with plenty of questions, the biggest beginning whether he can sell his coaching style to a veteran group of players that includes four seniors.

The key player he won't have from last year's team is point guard Tory Cavalieri (15.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.8 apg), who came close to leading St. Francis to an upset win over Seton Hall in his senior season. "He was the heart and soul of the team," said Nash.

Three seniors the new coach will count on are 6-1 guard Tristan Smith (11.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg), 6-4 swingman Christian Brown (11.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and 6-7 forward Devon Neckles (7.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg).

Sean Dantzler, a 6-4 guard, is also part of the core group, but missed last season because of injuries. He connected on 55 three-pointers two seasons ago and averaged seven points. "He's our best pure shooter and can add another dimension to our team," Nash said.

After arriving from St. John's and sitting out a season, Smith made his presence known right away last year with 26 points against Army in his debut. The southpaw can play at either guard spot and provide some instant offense; he hit 33 three-pointers last season in 25 games. He also finished second on the squad with 39 steals. "He can hit threes in bunches, and he can score in bunches," Nash said.

Smith's backcourt mate, Brown, has proven to be a steady presence in the starting lineup. Brown ranked second on the team in minutes (28.7) and three-pointers (52), and posted a team-high 86 defensive rebounds.

Adding further depth at guard is 6-2 sophomore Nick Jones (6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg), who started 23 games last season and collected 22 steals and 63 assists.

Neckles was slowed by injuries as a junior but appeared in 19 games and finished second in the conference with 43 blocks. He also led the team in rebounds, an area the Terriers struggled in, getting out-rebounded by 6.1 per night. "We needed some help and needed to address some size and rebounding," said Nash, who hopes a healthy Neckles, a few role players and a new addition can solve the problem.

Two candidates to help on the glass are 6-8 sophomore James St. Roberts (3.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and 6-8 junior Brian Franklyn (0.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg), who was buried on the bench last year. St. Roberts, who blocked 22 shots and was active on the boards, started 20 games because of Neckles' injuries and could be the complete package inside. "He has the biggest up side," Nash said. "He's big, strong and can score."

Also joining the mix is 6-9 junior Lex James from City College of San Francisco. James originally planned to attend Rhode Island out of Automotive High in Brooklyn, but he ended up at CCSF before returning home to the Terriers.

Freshman John Gooden, a 6-6 product from Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx, also could battle for playing time. He spent last season at Gunnery Prep in Connecticut.

Sophomore Sami Pekkola (4.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg) has the size at 6-7 to play inside in the NEC, but the native of Finland has more of an outside game, hitting 22 three-pointers last season.

The same can be said for NEC Rookie of the Year Allan Sheppard (11.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg), a 6-5 junior who prefers to play outside the paint. "He's an undersized four man with a ton of talent on the perimeter," said Nash, who won't mind using Sheppard more inside. "He's a [power forward] who wants to be a [small forward]."

Besides addressing the rebounding problem, the other concern for the Terriers going into the season is replacing Cavalieri. Two players, 6-0 junior Ruandy Melo (2.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.31 apg) and 5-10 red-shirt freshman Jamaal Womack, will get that chance. Melo should have the edge in the fall battles because he has already played college ball, backing up Cavalieri last year in 26 games. "Ruandy knows how to run a team," Nash said. "[With Womack], we need to ease him into it a little bit."

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: B
FRONTCOURT: B-
BENCH/DEPTH: C-
INTANGIBLES: C

The team will miss Cavalieri's fire in the backcourt, but has plenty of depth and experience at guard. The key will be finding forwards to run with and settling on a point guard.

The other concern is adapting to a new defensive style. While the Terriers will continue to run the motion offense, on defense they will scrap their full-court style for a half-court system. "They used to press a lot, but we will be more of a half-court defense," Nash said. "We have a lot of long and lanky guys." Nash hopes a veteran group will translate into a successful season. In the wide-open NEC, there's no reason for the Terriers not to be in the postseason tournament this year and give their head coach a nice start to his career.

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