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2016-17 Season Preview: La Salle Primer

10/11/2016, 11:15am EDT
By Josh Verlin

John Giannini (above) and the Explorers have high hopes for 2016-17 after a dismal last season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2016-17 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 11. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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2016-17 La Salle Explorers Primer
Coach: John Giannini, 13th season (184-192, .489)
Last Year: 9-22 overall, 4-14 Atlantic 10; lost in Atlantic 10 quarterfinals (Davidson, 78-63)

The 2015-16 season was one to forget for Giannini, who hedged his bets that he could develop a young team while a talented group waited for the year to follow. But a rotation that began with just nine scholarship players -- including two freshmen and a sophomore who’d never played a Division I minute -- was shortened to as few as six thanks to some early-season injuries, and by January it was clear that the Explorers couldn’t wait for the year to end.

Hope for this year are sky-high, though, with a trio of transfers that waited out last year in order to bring La Salle back to the level it was in 2012-13, when the Explorers went on a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16. If Giannini and his staff can put all the pieces together, this is a team that could be one of the best non-power conference squads in all of Division I hoops.

Key Losses: SG Karl Harris (2.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg), F Rohan Brown (3.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg)

None of the three pieces that departed from last year (little-used freshman Dusan Majstorovic also transffered) could be described as irreplaceable, especially considering who’s actually replacing them. Brown is the only graduating senior, though the 6-6 forward leaves more of a hole in the leadership/attitude department than he does on the stat column; he scored a total of 226 points in 111 games, and never averaged double-digit minutes until last year, when he saw 18.3 mpg. Harris, a 6-5 wing, averaged 2.6 ppg and has a nice upside, though he would have struggled for playing time on this year's roster; Majstorovic was a late addition to the team last year and wasn't quite good enough for the Atlantic 10. Considering who's joining the roster, this is a group that's not going to be missed for a second in terms of on-court production.


Freshman guard Saul Phiri (above) has a college-ready body and will challenge for playing time immediately. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

New Faces: F/C Demetrius Henry (RS-Jr./South Carolina, Faith Baptist Christian, Fla.), G/F B.J. Johnson (RS-Jr./Syracuse/Lower Merion, Pa.), SG Saul Phiri (Fr./Putnam Science, Conn.), PG RaShawn “Pookie” Powell (RS-Soph./Memphis/Dr. Phillips, Fla.), Cian Sullivan (Fr./St. Andrew’s Prep, R.I.)

This group represents an enormous injection of talent, size, athleticism and high-major experience into the La Salle rotation, as well as a promising pair of freshmen that should play big roles in this program’s future, just perhaps not the immediate one. All three transfers, the latest in a line of former high-major players who’ve come to 20th and Olney for the second act of their college careers, will look to follow in the footsteps of Earl Pettis (Rutgers), Ramon Galloway (South Carolina), Ty Garland (Virginia) and others who’ve made it a successful move.

Each one of the trio should play a huge role (and could start) right away. Henry, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound post, averaged 3.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in under 20 minutes per game as a sophomore, and comes to La Salle with 48 career starts; he’s got a wiry-but-strong frame, with long arms that should make him a terrific shot-blocker and rebounder in the A-10, and an above-the-rim finisher for a strong cadre of guards.

Out on the perimeter, Powell becomes the third point guard on the roster, but he’s got a chance to jump right into the starting lineup in what is almost certainly going to be a four-out offense. At 6-1, 170 pounds, the Orlando native is a strong on-ball guard on both ends of the floor, and averaged nearly three assists per game as a freshman despite playing only 15 minutes. Johnson (6-7, 185) had a sharpshooter’s reputation in high school but never had the consistent minutes at Syracuse to show that off; no matter what, he provides Giannini with another scoring option who can guard multiple positions.

Then there are the freshmen, who Giannini needs to be the core of the team in two years when all the upperclassmen are gone. From early returns in practice, it looks like Phiri, a physical 6-4 guard, will challenge for bench minutes right away; he's already a tough defender and will carve himself a nice role if he can limit his mistakes offensively and knock down open shots as well. Sullivan, who's a legitimate 7-foot-2 with an even bigger wingspan, will likely redshirt as long as the team's other forwards stay healthy; with continued work on his body, he's got a chance to be a very intriguing player a year or two from now.

Starting Frontcourt: F/C Demetrius Henry (DNP), F/C Tony Washington (7.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg)

Giannini has four more weeks to figure out his lineup, so we’re going to leave a little bit of room for flexibility at the moment; this is a rotation that could certainly see some shifting as the season goes on, with the vast majority of the roster capable of playing as many as 30 minutes or as few as 10 on any given night.

If Giannini wants to go with a bigger lineup, he could easily play the 6-9 Henry at the ‘4’ and the 6-11 Washington in the middle, and then adjust accordingly. Though Henry isn’t a true pick-and-pop big man, he’s got the ability to knock down the 15-foot jumper, which will open up space for Washington to patrol down low. In La Salle’s four-out offense, either Washington or Henry could play the ‘5’, but the guess is that Henry gets the minutes advantage with his edge in the athleticism and overall basketball IQ categories. Either way, expect both to play significant roles all season long.


Leading scorer Jordan Price (above) is back to lead a very talented perimeter group. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Starting Backcourt: PG Pookie Powell (DNP), SG Jordan Price (19.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg), SG Cleon Roberts (12.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg), SF B.J. Johnson (DNP)

This is a group that has a chance to be one of the more formidable collective perimeter threats not just in the Atlantic 10 but in all of college basketball. Price, another former transfer (Auburn), already has 1,164 points in his two years in an Explorers uniform; a big bodied, 6-5 guard, he played nearly 38 minutes per game last year and had to shoulder an unhealthy burden. With more offensive weapons around him, he should become a more efficient scorer (.390 FG% last year) and could be sniffing the NBA Draft by year’s end.

Price’s right-hand man the last two years has been Roberts, who -- like Price -- transferred to La Salle during the 2013 offseason; he has already scored 690 in an Explorers uniform, and is just 26 away from 1,000 when you add in the 284 he scored as a freshman at Georgia Southern in 2012-13. But though he's played more than 2000 minutes over the last two years, Roberts could see himself as the team's sixth man if Powell and Johnson take up starting spots while Henry and Washington both get the nod as well; either way, he's sure to play plenty, just not the 36.7 minutes per game he averaged a year ago.

Bench: SG Saul Phiri (DNP), F Yevgen Sakhniuk (6.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg), PG Johnnie Shuler (9.6 ppg, 3.0 apg), G Amar Stukes (5.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg)

The bench will actually be five deep, though whether that extra man is Roberts, Johnson, Henry, Washington or someone else is still to be determined. But all four of the above players will also factor into the rotation, as they all bring something different to the table. Shuler, a 5-11 junior who started 30 games a year ago, will likely serve as Powell's primary backup unless he can improve upon his 33.0 percent 3-point shooting from his sophomore year. Stukes, a Philly native and La Salle HS grad, is a physical 6-3 guard who's played 1,600 minutes in his first two seasons on campus; now a redshirt junior, he's going to have to fight for time on this roster, but (like Shuler) his struggles from the 3-point line (30.8 percent last year) are holding him back.

If anybody's going to take a step forward from last year in this group, it's likely to be Sakhniuk, who's a junior though he's only in his second year of competition. Battling through injuries, the 6-7, 235-pound forward only played in 19 games a year ago, but he's a hard-nosed combo forward with a solid post game who will benefit from all the talent around him; in practices, he looks much more well-adjusted to the pace of the game and is finally healthy for the first time in a while.

No matter who's joining them on the bench, competition for minutes is going to be intense all season long; expect to see fluctuations occur as different players heat up and cool down over the course of four months.

Three (ish) Games to Watch
1. vs. Villanova (Dec. 6). The Wildcats haven’t lost a Big 5 game since Dec. 5, 2013 against Temple, and unless either Penn or Saint Joseph’s can end the streak in the days preceding this one, it’ll be a 16-game city winning streak on the line when La Salle plays host at the Palestra against the defending national champions. The Explorers have a six-game tuneup to be ready for this one, and though games at Temple and against Lehigh are sure to provide a challenge, none of those six teams (also Delaware, Tex. Southern, Drexel and Bucknell) are quite up to the caliber of Jay Wright’s squad. La Salle certainly has the talented to hang with Villanova for 40 minutes, but whether they have the mindset to do so against a team that’s always locked in won’t be known until that night.

2. @ Dayton (Dec. 30), @ Rhode Island (Jan. 12). Okay, this is technically cheating. But though  both of these games are too good not to mention, we also couldn’t leave out the final two months of the season. The Flyers’ home court is always one of the toughest to win on in the country, and this is an experienced Dayton squad coming off a 25-win season and NCAA appearance. Though Rhody was just 17-15 last year, the Rams return most of their rotation and get E.C. Matthews back after a year lost to injury. With very winnable home games in Saint Louis/Duquesne sandwiched in between these two tests, a victory in just one of them would mean a 3-1 start to the A-10 slate with two big home games (George Washington, Davidson) to follow. Win both after a good non-con showing, and poll votes are likely.

3. vs. Saint Joseph’s (Feb. 18). It's pretty much a guarantee that whichever conference game between the two city rivals that also counts as a Big 5 contest is going to show up on this list, and this year it's at friendly Tom Gola Arena. Current Atlanta Hawk DeAndre' Bembry and St. Joe's took both meetings last season by a combined 47 points, but the tide might be turned this season as Bembry, Isaiah Miles and Aaron Brown have all graduated, leaving a rather young Hawks core behind them. Saint Joseph's hosts the first contest between the two, on Jan. 28.

Three Keys to Success
1. Develop rotation. There’s legitimate competition at each position in the lineup, with arguably four starting spots up for grabs -- only Price is really guaranteed to be out there for tip-off against Temple in the season opener on Nov. 11. The starting point guard job is a three-way battle between Powell, Shuler and Stukes; Washington and Henry will compete for minutes up front with Sakhniuk, while Johnson, Roberts and Phiri will compete for time on the wing. It's almost a guarantee that someone (or multiple someones) on a roster won't be thrilled with their minutes or role; how well the staff can divvy up the minutes and keep everybody happy will be crucial to their overall mentality and success.

2. Rebound. The Explorers' four-out lineup won't ever be the most dominant rebounding team in the country, but there's no doubt it's an area in which the program needs to drastically improve from a year ago. In 2015-16, La Salle was out-rebounded by an average of seven boards per game, which was the 10th-worst mark in all of Division I hoops. It'll certainly help having Henry in the lineup alongside Washington, but they'll also need more from Sakhniuk and a good effort from Johnson to prevent them from getting crushed on the glass night after night.

3. Flip the 3-point line. Last year, La Salle made 34 percent of its 3-point attempts, while opponents shot 37.4 percent from beyond the arc. For a team that's going to put up a ton of 3-pointers yet again, it needs to flip those percentages, and there's reason to think they can improve on at least one aspect of that. New assistant coach Matt Brady, who spent the last eight years as James Madison's head coach, actually had the No. 1 3-point field goal percentage defense last year, as the Dukes held opponents to 28.7 percent while making 35 percent of their own takes. There's a lot of potential shot-makers on this year's team, as well as some better defensive length on the perimeter, so it's certainly achievable.


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