St. Joseph's 2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule

St. Joseph’s Hawks - Atlantic 10 (21-12, 9-7)

Seed: #11 - East Region

RPI: 41

Big Wins: 2/4 Villanova (77-55), 3/6 Xavier (71-66), 3/14 vs Xavier (61-53)

Bad Losses: 12/4 Holy Cross (66-71), 2/18 La Salle (89-90), 2/28 Saint Louis (55-64)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2004, Elite Eight loss to Oklahoma State

Coach: Phil Martelli (6-4 in 4 NCAA appearances)

Probable St. Joe's Starters:

• Tasheed Carr, Junior, Guard, 10.9 ppg, 5.6 apg, 4.1 rpg
• Darrin Govens, Sophomore, Guard, 9.7 ppg, 2.4 apg
• Pat Calathes, Senior, Guard, 17.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.3 bpg
• Rob Ferguson, Senior, Forward, 11.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.2 bpg
• Ahmad Nivins, Junior, Forward, 14.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.2 bpg

Key St. Joe's Roleplayers:

• D.J. Rivera, Sophomore, Guard, 4.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg
• Garrett Williamson, Sophomore, Guard, 5.4 ppg, 2.7 apg

Why St. Joseph's Can Surprise:
As a team, St. Joseph’s shoots almost 40 percent from three-point land. Pat Calathes, a 6-10 wing, hits over two per game, as does guard Darrin Govens. Unlike Govens, Calathes does a lot more than shoot three’s. Calathes will use his height to create some major mismatches. He has the speed of a guard, but is not opposed to using his height to his advantage around the basket.

The last superb long range shooter on the team is 6-8 power forward Rob Ferguson. He has the best three-point shooting percentage on the team at nearly 44 percent. With Calathes and Ferguson hoisting up three’s, the Hawks have a couple big guys who can hit the three with consistency and that is big trouble for the opposing defense. St. Joe’s does not just shoot well from three, but they shoot well from everywhere, including the charity stripe.

Why St. Joe's Can Disappoint:
Logically speaking, if your small forward is 6-10, you would think rebounding would not be a problem. But it is and it is not Calathes fault. He grabs a team high 7.5 boards per contest. Ferguson does decent enough for a guy who spends a lot of time on the perimeter and fellow starting forward Ahmad Nivins grabs a respectable 5.9 rebounds per game. The problem is the lack of depth up front. There are practically no other options and Ferguson and Nivins play about 33 minutes per game. Barring foul trouble, Ferguson and Nivins will probably play even more minutes in March. And they better grab more boards. Interestingly, Calathes, Nivins and Ferguson all average 1.2 or 1.3 blocks per game. Despite all the tall bodies around the basket on the defensive end, the Hawks opponents shoot a decent 43.6 percent from the floor and Coach Phil Martelli would definitely like to see that number go down a bit.

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Who To Watch:
Point guard Tasheed Carr fits into a lot of categories. He can hit the three-point shot, although at a much lower percentage than some of his teammates. He can also help out on the glass and averages over four rebounds per game. The transfer from Iowa State is also a solid defender, but of course it is his ball handling and passing ability that is most valuable to the team. Carr dishes out 5.6 assists per game and has a solid 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Carr is one of four players who average double figures in the scoring column and even when somebody is not scoring, somebody else will be and that is difficult to stop. Then it is just a question of St. Joe’s stopping the other team.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 74.0 (80 th in nation, 6 th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 67.7 (144, 7)

Field-Goal Percentage: 47.9 (25, 2)

Field-Goal Defense: 43.6 (157, 10)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.4 (97, 7)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 39.1 (22, 3)

Free-Throw Percentage: 72.1 (75, 6)

Rebound Margin: 0.2 (176, 7)

Assists Per Game: 14.9 (74, 5)

Turnovers Per Game: 12.8 (51, 3)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Second Round loss to Louisville

By Joel Welser
CollegeSports-fans.com Guest Writer

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