Associated Press
Darrin Govens needs to be top scorer.
Hawks basketball at a glance
Coach: Phil Martelli (278-167 in 14 years at school)
Last season: 17-15, (9-7 Atlantic 10)
Last league title: 1997
Last NCAA berth: 2008
PROJECTED STARTERS
G Darrin Govens, Sr. 12.5 pts. 2.7 reb.
G Garrett Williamson, Sr. 5.5 3.7
G Carl Jones, Fr 25.0 4.0
F Idris Hilliard, Jr. 9.2 5.5
C Todd O'Brien, So. 4.4 4.3
KEY RESERVES
G Justin Crosgile, Fr. 24.5 pts. - reb.
F Bryant Irwin, So. 3.1 1.6
G Chris Prescott, So. 2.8 0.6
F Carl Baptiste, Fr. 21.8 12.0
*Note: Statistics for Jones, Crosgile and Baptiste are high school; those for O'Brien are Bucknell (2007-08).
It all comes down to ... Can this team score enough to win. Martelli wants his team to play faster and get up more shots because, without Ahmad Nivins' great percentage, the coach is sure his team is going to shoot around 40 percent. Factor out Nivins last season and the other Hawks shot 39.8 percent. Only Idris Hilliard (53.1 percent) shot better than 40 percent among the regulars.
Shouldering the load: Darrin Govens is going to have to average 15 points or more and not have games where he hardly scores at all. Hilliard was a very good complementary player last season, but will need to do much more this season. Garrett Williamson, a superior defender, great athlete and a player with a big heart, is going to have to make open shots. He put up hundreds per day this summer, so the desire is there.
Numbers to watch: 65. If St. Joe's can get there on a semiregular basis, they can win some games. If not, this could be a very long season. Shooting percentage will matter. They just can't have too many games when they shoot in the mid- to low-30s. That is simply too much to overcome.
Key stretch: If this team is still a factor in mid-February, the five-game run of at UMass, at Xavier, Temple (Palestra), at Charlotte and at George Washington will be a real test of their resolve.
