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2017-18 Midseason Analysis: La Salle Explorers

01/02/2018, 2:15pm EST
By Josh Verlin

B.J. Johnson (above) and La Salle are 7-7 after winning their Atlantic 10 opener on Saturday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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With the season at its midpoint and most of the non-league games in the record books, the CoBL staff is taking a peek around the City 6 to see how each of the teams have fared this far.

Here’s a look at the La Salle Explorers, which opened Atlantic 10 play with an 83-60 win over Saint Louis on Saturday:

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Record: 7-7 (1-0 Atlantic 10)
Key Players: B.J. Johnson (21.8 ppg, 9.1 apg), Pookie Powell (17.9 ppg, 3.1 apg)
Big wins: vs. Temple, vs. Mercer
Bad losses: vs. Drexel

Things we learned...

Johnson and Powell will have to carry this team

Though La Salle has five players in their fourth or fifth year of college basketball in the rotation, two in particular have shouldered the load early on in the season. Fifth-year senior B.J. Johnson and redshirt junior guard Pookie Powell are combining for nearly 40 points per game, more than half the team’s average output, and the only two players on the team in double figures. Another fifth-year senior, Amar Stukes, is playing a workman-like 36.1 ppg, but has played more of a complementary offensive role (7.9 ppg, 3.0 apg, 2.9 rpg), and a final fifth-year senior, Tony Washington, hasn’t quite turned into the dominant post force the Explorers staff was hoping (6.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg), picking up 3.6 fouls/game in only 23.3 minutes/game. With Johnson currently out with a sprained ankle, Stukes (20 points) stepped up in the win over SLU, but he shouldn’t be counted on that type of production consistently.

Miles Brookins is a nice piece inside
The Explorers coaching staff had high praise for freshman forward Miles Brookins this offseason, and though the rookie hasn’t been a standout in the mold of St. Joe’s Taylor Funk, he’s carved out a nice role in his first season and looks to have a bright future at 20th and Olney. A 6-foot-9, 210-pound post player, Brookins spent his high school years at Mater Dei (Cali.) going against one of the nation’s top 2018 prospects, 7-2 center Bol Bol, and clearly benefited from those reps. Through his first 12 games -- he missed both the Temple and Bucknell outings -- Brookins is averaging 3.7 ppg and 1.6 rpg in 11.9 minutes, and he’s hit 63.6 percent of his shots (14-of-22) and 80 percent of his foul shots (16-of-20). He’s got soft hands and solid footwork, and though he’s still learning defensive positioning and playing with full assertiveness, Brookins has displayed a lot of tools that suggest he’ll develop nicely over the course of his four years.

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Things we still don’t know...

When will B.J. Johnson return?
Don’t let the result against Saint Louis fool you -- La Salle needs Johnson on the court if it wants to make any kind of noise in the Atlantic 10. The versatile 6-7 wing has had his best season despite his 3-point shot not quite falling (31.8 percent) at the clip it did a year ago (36.2 percent), upping his rebounding average by nearly three per game while playing over 36 minutes. But he’s missed the last two games after going down with an ankle injury, and it’s not clear exactly when he’ll be back; he’s “game-to-game” availability-wise. If he can make it back soon, La Salle has a chance to get hot; the Explorers don’t play a team ranked in the top 100 in KenPom -- they’re No. 128, which is actually fourth-best -- from Jan. 10 to Feb. 10. But if he misses more than a few games, it could cost them a few seeds by the time the A-10 tourney rolls around.

Can La Salle string some wins together?

After a three-game winning streak to start the season, the Explorers have not been able to find any type of groove. They’ve looked strong in some games, like beating Temple by four at home or even in a nine-point loss at Villanova, the closest battle anybody in the Big 5 has given the Wildcats in a few years. But in other games, they’ve been hurt by strings of offensive lapses, like in a 57-46 loss to Miami (Fl.) or in a 72-70 loss to Drexel early in December. They’ve got a tough pair upcoming against Rhode Island on the road and then VCU at home, but following that are a string of winnable games: @ UMass, @ Duquesne, vs. Fordham, @ Richmond, vs. UMass. If there’s any chance to start stringing some wins together, that’s as good a chance as any.

Updated Prediction
It’s been a disappointing non-con for the Atlantic 10, with some teams not living up to expectations and others hurt badly by injuries. So despite an up-and-down non-conference that includes a great win over the Owls and an equally perplexing home loss to Drexel, La Salle is right in the mix with its experience and talent, even though the Explorers aren’t the deepest team around. If Johnson gets back in the next 4-5 games, La Salle could make a strong run at an NIT appearance, though it’ll likely take an A-10 championship to go back to the NCAAs; if he’s out longer, they might be lucky with a lower-tier postseason tournament bid.


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