St. Joseph's must replace 3 team leaders

NEW YORK - Langston Galloway, Ronald Roberts, and Halil Kanacevic accounted for nearly 59 percent of St. Joseph's points last season on a team that won the Atlantic 10 championship and came extremely close to stopping Connecticut's NCAA title run before it even began.

Certainly, Hawks coach Phil Martelli misses all three of them as he starts his 20th season on Hawk Hill, but not for reasons of numbers and production.

"We lost really, really good players," Martelli said Tuesday during A-10 media day at the Barclays Center. "But I'll be honest with you - we lost great teammates. We won a championship last year because we had great teammates across the board. To their credit, that same idea of being a great teammate has stayed with our team, has really been a part of what we've seen last spring, last summer, and now in the fall."

With Galloway, Roberts, and Kanacevic taking their leadership skills and their 1,476 points from last season, the Hawks must find players who can complement their two returning starters - A-10 co-rookie of the year DeAndre' Bembry, who earned a spot on the preseason all-conference team, and point guard Chris Wilson.

There is plenty of competition for the spots. Martelli noted that two of his bench players from last season - junior Isaiah Miles and sophomore Javon Baumann - have played well in practice.

"I've been really impressed with Isaiah," he said. "I thought he had a good summer and I think he's had a very, very good fall. It's a matter of him staying with that and not kind of disappearing, which he has a tendency to do. Javon has been better. That's not taking anything away from the younger players but those two guys, having been on the team last year and where they are this year, they've taken a step forward."

Martelli said a benefit for his younger players was having the opportunity under NCAA rules to work with the coaches for a specific number of hours in the summer and fall.

"It is going to be significant to us getting to those decisions sooner rather than later," he said. "Now we have to find out if we have players who can in some way, shape, or form fill their shoes. It's not going to be easy."

As for the 6-foot-6 Bembry, a sophomore who averaged 12.1 points and 4.5 rebounds last season, Martelli is impressed by his continued development and his leadership skills.

"His shooting stroke is much improved, much more confident," Martelli said. "In these early practices, I've been blown away by his passing ability. He really is very, very creative. His vision is to be seen and to be appreciated."