It was a win that in normal years would have me stating without doubt…
By Anthony Bosco
If ever a team gutted out a win it was the St. John’s Red Storm Sunday. Led by point guard Omar Cook, St. John’s simply refused to lose, winning an epic battle in double-overtime.
It was a win that in normal years would have me stating without doubt that the Red Storm is for real, that the team has turned the corner and that an NCAA appearance is all but a lock. But not this year, no way, no how.
The way the season has gone, I wouldn’t bet one red cent on the next game — even if I was a betting man — no matter who the team’s next opponent happened to be, be it the Duke Blue Devils or the Tigers of Queensborough Community College.
Well, that’s stretching it, but you get the point.
Erratic is just one word that describes the Red Storm’s season. Early in the year the team showed all the promise everyone expected, beating Kentucky to open its slate, then followed that with a hard-fought loss to Kansas, then ranked No. 4 in the nation. Things were looking good.
What was to follow were the obligatory games against local schools, games the Johnnies usually sweep through with little or no drama. And that’s how it looked to be going, with strong wins over Stony Brook and Niagara setting up the team’s trip to the BB&T Classic and a date with Mike Jarvis’ old team, George Washington.
And what followed was the team’s worst performance of the season, an 85-75 loss to the George Washington Colonials that was as disheartening as it was ugly.
The team followed the loss with a win over a struggling Michigan team, but would not taste victory again for nearly three weeks. Three straight losses followed, two to teams St. John’s has owned in recent years, Fordham and Hofstra, and one to Ohio State, a team that has been a thorn in the Red Storm’s side since the NCAA tournament two years ago.
Jarvis righted the ship somewhat just before the Big East season opener, beating Manhattan and San Francisco before opening up the conference slate against Virginia Tech, a 25-point win.
Heading into the team’s first meeting with Connecticut, then ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation, St. John’s record stood at 7-5 when it probably should have been more like 10-2.
The team fought tooth and nail with UConn, but lost the game in overtime, 82-80. St. John’s responded with four straight conference wins over Boston College (73-71, Rutgers (80-71), Villanova (82-70) and Miami (67-63), ending a streak in which the Johnnies went 7-1.
Then disaster.
The team’s second date against the Hokies of Virginia Tech should have been a guaranteed win, but, as seems to be the case this year, nothing is a lock with this squad.
Virginia Tech earned only its second ever Big East win by stunning the Storm, 65-59. Jarvis spoke afterward of how dangerous a game he thought it was coming in, a message apparently lost on his young players.
St. John’s responded the way it should have, coming back to New York and defeating Connecticut, 60-55, and improving to 11-7 overall, 6-2 in the conference.
But instead of improving from there the Storm was shot down again, this time by the resurgent Providence College Friars and then again by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in back-to-back road games. In both games St. John’s had a lead at halftime after overcoming a slow start. And in both cases the Red Storm let the game slip away in the second half.
Truth be told, I thought St. John’s could have won both games, no matter what the other teams’ record or talent. Before Notre Dame and Providence went on their game-deciding runs, or, in other words, before SJU’s offense evaporated, I did not see any overwhelming evidence that they would lose, Troy Murphy and John Linehan notwithstanding.
So, you have tough consecutive road losses leading up to this weekend’s trip to Miami against a Hurricane team that historically has given the Red Storm fits. So what happened, a double-overtime thriller that St. John’s guts out behind Cook’s Herculean effort.
Mind-boggling.
The team has relied on Cook all season, for it is clear that when he is not on the floor this team just falls apart. Unlike last year when Chudney Gray could adequately spell Erick Barkley at the point, there is no such back-up this season.
That is not to say that Sharif Fordham is not a good player, because he is, especially defensively. But he cannot create like Cook.
And the upperclassmen leadership of guys like Reggie Jessie, Anthony Glover and Donald Emanuel does not seem to be translating onto the court. Quite simply, they have not played all that well, with the exception of Emanuel, who has found more playing time almost by default.
Right now this team seems one-dimensional. Cook and Willie Shaw are the go-to guys and everyone else is secondary. But if both are cold, points are at a premium. If the team has any hope of winning the Big East Tournament and making the NCAA Tournament, everyone has to contribute consistently.
The team’s most recent win should be filed away and forgotten, for it will not help them against Duke, Georgetown or Boston College. Only consistency will, something this team has showed very little of this season.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
