[Rosiak's Blog] Game 32: St. John's (Big East Tournament)

[ToddRosiakSays]

Game 32: St. John's (Big East Tournament)


Mar. 10, 2009 6:30 p.m.  




New York -- Always respectful of those who came before him and the history of the game, Buzz Williams is looking forward to his first game as head coach on the sideline at Madison Square Garden, 'The World's Most Famous Arena.' 

"I'm very humbled, to be honest with you," he said Tuesday afternoon, not long after taking in a 64-59 victory by St. John's over Georgetown there in the first round of the Big East Tournament. "I never thought I'd be here. Obviously, I'm a long way from home. There were more people as I was walking to The Garden times 20 than where I'm from.

"I'm glad God has given me this opportunity, and I'm excited that it's with these guys I'll coach tomorrow."

MU (23-8) arrived in town Monday afternoon, not long after dropping to 21st from 13th in the Associated Press' media poll, and has a pair of what Williams termed"excellent" practices under its belt after dropping an 86-79 OT decision to Syracuse on Saturday -- the team's fourth straight.

The Golden Eagles went for just 55 minutes Tuesday at John Jay University, and the extra day off afforded by their fifth seeding figures to help Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews, who have played nearly every minute of each game since Dominc James went down with a broken foot.

MU's matchup with 13th-seeded St. John's might jog the memories of a few fans; the same two teams squared off on the first day of the Big East Tournament back in the 2006-'07 season, with the Golden Eagles notching a 76-67 victory.

The Red Storm (16-16) enters having won its first Big East Tournament game since 2003, and will have the added advantage of playing on one of its two home courts (St. John's also plays some of its game at its on-campus venue, Carnesecca Arena).

"I’m not sure what their home typical home crowd is, but it was definitely a home crowd in relation to St. John’s vs. Georgetown," said Williams. "You can tell they have experience there. I think almost every player on their team is from New York, obviously Coach (Norm) Roberts is from New York, so there’s a lot of pride in the tradition of St. John’s, obviously the Big East and what it’s meant to their program.

"And they’ve won their last two games against Georgetown at The Garden, so we’ll play them there tomorrow at the same time."

MU also has a 73-59 victory in its pocket from the teams' Feb. 14 meeting at the Bradley Center, a game in which the Golden Eagles forced 24 turnovers and registered 14 steals.

MU at least should have fresher legs than St. John's; the Red Storm got just 19 minutes (along with just four points and three rebounds) out of four players off its bench in the Georgetown game.

Conversely, point guard Malik Boothe (who figures to be a decent matchup for Maurice Acker at 5 feet 9 inches) and shooting guard Paris Horne both played all 40 minutes, while forwards D.J. Kennedy and Sean Evans each played 38.

Williams listed transition defense and playing ball screens as top priorities for the Golden Eagles heading into this one. Since James went down they've struggled getting back on defense, while Williams also noted St. John's set 88 ball screens in the game on Feb. 14 -- most of which were to try and free up either Horne (who had 23 points and is the leading scorer on the year) or Kennedy.

Here is a link to season statistics for St. John's, and here is a link to our live Big East Tournament scoreboard, which also has a box score from the Georgetown-St. John's game.

The Golden Eagles have been able to get some fun on on their trip as well, including dinner at ESPN Zone on Monday night and an excursion to Nike Town on Tuesday afternoon.

"There's a difference in what you call sightseeing and what me and the players call sightseeing," joked Williams. "We're interested in video games and gear." 

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http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/41057072.html

[rocky_warrior]

I think almost every player on their team is from New York, obviously Coach (Norm) Roberts is from New York

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
We're DOOMED!

Is Elmore doing the game?