Over the Airwaves

Garden to Jungle

February 23, 2011 by Timmy Dimas 1 Comment

The Worlds Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden is becoming a jungle with the newly ranked 23/25 St. Johns Red Storm basketball team.

If you have attended St. Johns games over the past years as a fan you were one of maybe 1,000 of the 6,000 even in attendance. The first Big East game 8 of the 10 seniors played was against Pittsburgh and the last Big East game 8 of the 10 seniors played was against Pittsburgh, three differences to note though.

St. John's Madison Square Garden — Madison Square Garden has come alive and St. John's fans are the ones who have been awoken.

First, attendance for the first game was 5,219. The last game attendance was 14,514. Second, the sea of red was a sea of red for the last game while the first game was a mere puddle. Lastly, St. John’s actually won this game and how nice of them to do it in front of their fans. The people who the players say are the reason for their success.

“First time we played it didn’t feel like the garden, I mean it was but not attendance now I can’t see two seats consecutively empty.” said senior forward Justin Burrell, “Other teams use to have more fans out there.”

Justin couldn’t have been anymore right. Screams of “Let’s go (insert other Big East team)” drowned out the faint sounds of “Let’s go Johhnies”. Avid fan TJ Acierno said security at the garden use to force the student section to sit down because there were only 15 people actually standing. Now the number of students, fans and alumni out number the amount of security in the section so the red storm flows loud and proud behind each basket.

“Having fans behind you gives us a little more of an edge” said senior guard Paris Horne when recollecting about his garden experience.

Sean Evans took a similar approach as Horne did. “We feed off the fans. It helps us play when fans help us with support.”

This year the garden has been a jungle of johnnies. It has been a Johnny Jungle and that doesn’t look to change anytime soon. With the rejuvenation of St. Johns basketball thanks to Head Coach Steve Lavin the garden will continue to rock harder then Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire could make it.

Sean Evans said that Coach Lavin has to be “the best Scrabble player ever” when talking about Lavin’s ways with words. Here’s a 14 point word that you can expect from St. Johns fans attendance at Madison Square Garden; Stability.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered?

February 23, 2011 by Daniel Martin 2 Comments

Steve Lavin is getting advice from an unlikely source.

“The FedEx guy who delivers packages to my place was raving about Dwight Hardy, as if I hadn’t seen the game,” Lavin joked, with a smile. “He’s a big basketball fan so he gets excited. He says stuff like, ‘Watch out for Rutgers, Coach. They’re tough.’”

Whether it was that bump from the postman that has pushed this St. John’s team over the top or something else entirely, the Johnnies stand at #23 in the AP Poll as they face DePaul (7-19, 1-13) at Carnesecca Arena Wednesday night.

In front of a projected sell-out crowd, the Red Storm will be playing with a numbered ranking next to their name for the first time in a decade and the buzz on campus is palpable. “It’s been crazy,” said guard Paris Horne. “It’s been a lot of pats on the back.”

Even with the recent success that has brought national media attention, a spot in the Top 25, and a reenergized fanbase, the Johnnies know they walk a tight rope. With two games this week, a single loss likely means falling from the rankings once again. But, Coach Lavin says it comes with the territory. “You play with a bigger bull’s eye on your chest. The higher you climb on the mountain, the thinner the air gets.”

Filtered through Lavin’s frequent metaphors, the message is still clear: it is solely about basketball at St. John’s. The team discussed possible distractions in practice and is taking things as they come. With such an experienced, senior-laden team, this is the best possible time for this program to have media attention thrust upon it. The sudden spotlight that includes frequent exposure on ESPN, CBS, and major sports radio has made for some interesting circumstances. Both Coach Lavin and the players have become increasingly grateful for unlimited cell phone plans.

“From the court [after the win over Pittsburgh] to the locker room, I had 56 texts messages on my phone,” forward Justin Burrell said. But, that number just scratched the surface of Lavin’s, who said he received between 400 and 450 messages in the 8 hours following the win.

After five wins over Top 15 teams and important road wins over West Virginia and Marquette, the Johnnies enter their game against the Blue Demons in an unfamiliar position: as favorites. First year head coach Oliver Purnell and his team have struggled this season. Inheriting a program that has not had a winning season since 2006-2007, DePaul is still not a team to be taken lightly.

As guard Paris Horne explained, “We still have a lot at stake. [The Blue Demons] have nothing to lose, so why not come out and try to beat us?”

And that is exactly what they will try to do.

Led by 6’8” Big East Freshman of the Year Candidate Cleveland Melvin (14.2 ppg, 5 rpg), DePaul has just one win in Big East play, but has taken a few quality teams down to the wire. After getting their first conference win over Providence on February 17^th, the Blue Demons lost in overtime to #14 Villanova by 2. Previously, they have lost by just 2 points to West Virginia, 3 points to Cincinnati, and 4 points on the road to Louisville.

Melvin, a Baltimore native, is a long, athletic swingman who runs the floor well and plays his best basketball when he can showcase his athleticism in the open floor, scouts say. He can also be a force on the defensive end, rotating off his man to alter shots, averaging 1.5 blocks per game.

The Red Storm will find themselves in a situation much like Villanova did when the Wildcats met DePaul February 19^th: a ranked team, perhaps looking past DePaul to a match-up with a ranked team on the horizon. The Blue Demons are perfect for the role of spoiler, especially with St. John’s coming off a big win over Pittsburgh.

The key for the Johnnies will be setting the pace of the game from the outset. It has worked against NCAA powerhouses and the formula stays the same against a team like DePaul. It seems clichéd at this point, but the Red Storm will stay focused on controlling the basketball, working the clock, and forcing turnovers on the defensive end.

After the loss to Fordham earlier in the year when St. John’s blew a 21 point lead on the road, the Red Storm began using an offensive set primarily to consume clock and conserve big leads. This typically includes running the shot clock down to as little as 15 seconds before running a play. “We slow the game down and make them play our pace,” Horne explains. “We run our pace and try to get a good shot every time.”

That controlled pace has translated into success and prime position heading toward selection Sunday.

The often-literary Steve Lavin put the above success into poetry this week by distributing Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” to each of his players. The line that opens the second stanza reads, “If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;/If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;” and concludes with “…. you’ll be a Man, my son!”

The Johnnies have tournament dreams that could soon be realized, so long as they do not let those dreams become the only thing they see.

Storming Top 25

February 21, 2011 by Daniel Martin Leave a Comment

It’s been a long time coming.

For the first time since November 28^th, 2000, the St. John’s Red Storm are ranked in the Top 25.

After almost cracking the polls last week, settling in at number 31, the Johnnies beat Marquette on the road and scored another big upset at Madison Square Garden by beating Pittsburgh to make their way to #23 in the national AP Poll and #25 in the USA/ESPN coach’s poll.

Many things have changed since the last time St. John’s cracked the Top 25. On November 28^th, 2000, Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women, Part 1” was the biggest song in the country. Jim Carrey’s holiday hit “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was #1 at the box office. Florida was still sorting through ballots to declare a winner in the 2000 Presidential Election.

Now, a decade later, the Johnnies have shaken the monkey from their backs and put themselves in a position to control their own destiny with less than 3 weeks until Selection Sunday.

On a team that is essentially the same from last year, returning all five starters and over 90% of their scoring, much of the credit for this season’s success seems to belong to the coaching staff.

And deservedly so.

Steve Lavin has been just the coach this program was looking for when they hired him last year. Icon/SMI

Steve Lavin has been worth every penny thus far for St. John’s. Inheriting a team that had trouble last season closing out games down the stretch, Lavin has been the play-caller in last second victories over Rutgers, Georgetown, and Pittsburgh. Those games, had they gone the other way, would mean the difference between the position they sit in right now and watching another NCAA Tournament from home.

But the most important part of Lavin’s time in Queens has been off-the-court. He has been a superb ambassador for the St. John’s program, becoming the wind to push them from the doldrums, back into the national spotlight. Lavin has made the rounds in the New York and national media, appearing on 660AM WFAN and 1050 ESPN Radio New York, as well as Sportscenter and his appearance today alongside Dwight Hardy on ESPN First Take. He has reformed the program’s image from “fallen powerhouse” back to legitimate contender in the Big East and a tough matchup come tournament time. And, with the second-ranked recruiting class in the country, the Red Storm want to cement themselves in this spot for a long time to come. Most importantly though, he has earned the respect of his players, leading by example.

“He’s calm. He’s the calmest out of everybody, just sitting there smiling and tells us we’re going to win the game and to stick with it,” the normally soft-spoken Hardy said of the first year head coach. “He talks to each of us individually as the huddle breaks. He tells us what he wants from us and to play basketball the way we’ve been playing since we were five years old. He’s a wonderful coach.”

Dwight Hardy has been the driving force behind the Red Storm’s success all season, averaging over 17 points and tallying 10 games of 20 points or more. Since Coach Lavin made him the starting point guard during an injury-plagued early season for starter Malik Boothe, Hardy has flourished.

After dropping 20 points, including a magical reverse lay-up with 42 seconds left, to sink the 13th ranked Georgetown on January 3^rd, Hardy has taken his game to another level. On January 30^th, at the Garden against 19-1 and 3^rd ranked Duke, Hardy played all 40 minutes and led the Red Storm to the program’s most meaningful victory in a decade. He scored 26 points on 9/13 shooting and committed just one turnover to stun the reigning National Champions.

He has set and broken his career high for points three different times this season, dropping 30 in a loss to Fordham, 32 on the road at UCLA, and 33 the next game in St. John’s upset over #9 UConn on February 10^th.

Dwight Hardy sunk #4 Pitt with a baseline layup February 19th. Anthony Gruppuso/US Presswire

And the latest installment of Hardy’s heroics came Saturday at the Garden, when he danced along the baseline and hit a tough lay-up with 1.2 seconds left to beat #4 Pittsburgh. He finished the game with 19 points and just one turnover, on his way to being named Big East Player of the Week for the second week in a row and third time this season.

His transformation from a contributing bench player last season to a headlining superstar is a big part of the reason the Johnnies are in position to going dancing in March. Lavin’s move to put Hardy at point guard means the ball is in his hands every play, where it is most likely to be a problem for opposing defenses. Hardy’s ability to create off the dribble, especially in clutch situations, opens up the floor not only for himself, but for everyone else around him.

Recent wins by the Red Storm have put them exactly where they want to be, in control of their own fate coming down the stretch. With four games to go before the Big East Tournament, St. John’s could finish with its first 20-win season since 2001-2002. Of the four remaining games, they will undoubtedly be favored in three (vs. DePaul, at Seton Hall, vs. USF) and have an interesting and winnable match-up with Villanova on the road this Saturday.

“I am really proud of our kids to be able to win two games in a three day stretch, which is very difficult to do in the Big East,” Lavin said after the Johnnies’ win over Marquette on Wednesday. “The quick turnaround and having to play two high quality opponents…gives you the opportunity to rehearse for NCAA Tournament conditions.”

If St. John’s succeeds in making the NCAA Tournament, there will be serious talk about Coach Lavin being named Big East (or perhaps even National) Coach of the Year, to which he will most likely respond with at least one reference to a sports or film figure (as he often does in interviews). Dwight Hardy will also make a strong case for Big East Player of the Year, which he would accept in all his humbleness, were he to win. But, regardless of awards and accolades any one individual may attain on this team, the chatter and speculation is quickly turning into fact: college basketball is back in New York City.

DJ Kennedy Passes Walter Berry

February 17, 2011 by Timmy Dimas Leave a Comment

Let the scoring watch begin for senior forward, DJ Kennedy.

Last night versus Marquette, Kennedy scored 15 points adding to his career total which now sits at 1432 points. Those 15 points also allowed him to pass not one but three guys on St. John’s scoring list. Lavor Postell, Walter Berry and Willie Glass all stood ahead of Kennedy and now stand behind him. Kennedy started the season as number 32 on the list and now is in sole possession of number 14.

Postell played at St. Johns from 1996-2000 scoring 1,427 points. Berry played from 1984-86 scoring 1,424 points and Willie Glass, a teammate of Berry for two years, played from 1983-87 scoring 1,419 points.

The 6’5” senior out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been a four year starter for St. John’s and a jack of all trades with his ability to score, pass, rebound and defend as well as be a leader on the court for his teammates.

Coach Lavin on Kennedy: “DJ will be the central figure in terms of what we do offensively. His experience, skill and confidence position him as one of the premier players in the BIG EAST. DJ’s determination, passion and leadership will set the tone for what we can accomplish as a team this season.”

Kennedy came out of high school ranked 35^th in the nation at his position and was being recruited by Georgia, New Mexico State, Wisconsin and Xavier but choose St. John’s as his destination.

Kennedy is averaging 10.4 points per game on 47.6% shooting and grabbing 5.4 rebounds per game as well.

Kennedy has a chance to pass some more people as he wraps up his career here at St. John’s. Look out for who’s next right here on Johnny Jungle.

Getting Down With the Brownlee

February 16, 2011 by Timmy Dimas Leave a Comment

justin brownlee vs gtown — Justin Brownlee is breaking out into a serious scoring threat for this St. John's Red Storm team this season. (Icon SMI)

Twice awarded with MVP honors, second leading scorer on the team, Justin Brownlee has become a staple to St. Johns success this season.

Earlier in the season Lavin spoke of Justin, “Justin has an outstanding sense and feel for the game. He is silky-smooth and explosive athlete with a diverse skill set. We will need him to impose his will on both ends of the floor for us to have a successful season.”

Brownlee is averaging 12.5 points per game on 49% as well as grabbing close to 5 rebounds a contest and hitting 70% from the free throw line. He has had big shots for the Red Storm this season. Against Ball State he nailed a three that helped gave momentum to give St. John’s the win in the first round of the Great Alaskan Shootout. In conference play he had the game winning layup against Georgetown off a Dwight Hardy miss and Brownlee recently had the game winning lay-up verse Rutgers.

The junior college transfer senior from Georgia has been a big surprise to many people this season. 6’-7” and 230lbs with the ability to score and defend, Brownlee has the chance to be the first St. Johns player since Omar Cook in 2000 to be drafted. He has found his way into some mock drafts right now being projected as a late second round pick.

The soft spoken Brownlee said at St. Johns Media Day, “I want to go out every night swinging. Fight every game to the finish and never let up.”

St. Johns has a real good chance to make it into March Madness. Having four wins against Top 25 teams, the third nationally ranked strength of schedule, and a top 25 ranking in the RPI ratings the Johnnies are bursting out of the bubble and into the dance floor.

One of the biggest reasons is because of Justin Brownlee.

“We want to win the Big East. It’s our conference. I don’t know how many years its been since we won it but we want to bring it back to St. John’s this year.” the soft spoken Brownlee exclaimed.

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