Gonzaga PreGame Links

On Friday morning, D.J. Kennedy, the St. John's senior swingman, awoke in his third-floor apartment off campus, lifted his upper body with his heavily tattooed arms and attempted to put weight on his legs.

As he stood up, his right knee buckled.

"I thought it was just a bad dream," said Kennedy, who had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee the previous afternoon during a Big East quarterfinal loss.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/03/15/2011-03-15_march_madness_ncaa_tournament_dj_kennedy_inspires_st_johns_teammates_to_win_for_.html#ixzz1GffTVZpC

NY Post Pep Rally Video covered by Lenn Robbins

http://www.nypost.com/video?vxSiteId=a89dc16f-1771-485a-8c76-3ebbf3072361&vxChannel=PostSportsFeed&vxClipId=1458_1178309&vxBitrate=300

Zags video of pep rally and story

http://www.zagsblog.com/2011/03/15/do-it-for-d-j/

One by one, the members of the St. John’s basketball team boarded the green-and-white Peter Pan bus named Indian Princess that was waiting behind Taffner Fieldhouse, parallel to Union Turnpike, to take them to Republic Airport in Farmingdale for a flight they have dreamed about for so long, for too long. . . . forever.

A charter flight into the teeth of March Madness, with a return flight on Cloud 9 — with a Sweet 16 berth on board with them — on their radar.

Sean Evans stepped outside Taffner and put his video recorder to work, aiming it at Richard Kwiecinski, their regular-season bus driver. D.J. Kennedy, the fallen comrade who is such a source of inspiration for the Johnnies, handed a crutch to Kwiecinski, standing at the door of the bus, and made it up the steps with the help of a crutch in his left arm. Kennedy had been buoyed by a call from Chris Mullin wishing him well and telling him he was a fantastic pro prospect.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/johnnies_all_business_as_they_journey_cGMTxxMRZ5lWeTrDp3AwbN#ixzz1GkD4cFqk

These are some goofy guys. But in a good way.  A video for the Zags' senior guard, Steven Gray.

2010-2011 Gonzaga Men's Basketball Senior Video

Matt Santangelo, star guard on the 1999-2000 Gonzaga team, knew the moment had arrived.

The 10th-seeded Zags, from the obscure West Coast Conference, were playing in just their second NCAA Tournament and getting a chance against one of college basketball’s powers in a second-round game.

“St. John’s was the Big East Tournament champs, and ESPN was saying they were the hottest team in America,” Santangelo told The Post. “We were finally getting a shot at an East Coast team. We beat Stanford the year before, but that was West Coast versus West Coast so no one cared. This was West Coast versus East Coast.”

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/beating_st_john_put_zags_on_map_Wrs7gWcs0F1TjHOgzzE8TK#ixzz1GmiHRRaj

This is a coach who goes back a few years with Steve Lavin, who recruited against him back in the day, who watched Lavin’s remarkable rise from obscurity to John Wooden’s old chair at UCLA and then the inevitable fall that back-ended it, and who has watched closely what has happened at St. John’s this year.

“This is going to sound worse than I mean it to, which is the reason I don’t want you to use my name,” he said the other day, after Lavin’s Johnnies were eliminated by Syracuse from the Big East Tournament, but not until the Orange were forced to bleed for every possession. “But I think Lav’s greatest strength is that it never occurs to him that he’s the smartest kid in class.”

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/lavin_has_lifted_storm_by_leaning_SH1owk99RQigEal7YQgWRI#ixzz1GmjS8gz9

When Gonzaga takes the Pepsi Center court tomorrow night and its legions of fans from the Great Northwest are raising the noise level to avalanche decibels, it would be easy for the Bulldogs to experience a surge of confidence after getting their first look at St. John’s.

The Zags, led by 7-foot center Robert Sacre, surely will be encouraged by the glaring size advantage they will have over the Johnnies.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/sju_in_for_scrap_against_tourney_ynvrtiGPfRfE8ldeilFHDI#ixzz1GmkFTe39

When you think of the stereotypical Cinderella school, Gonzaga jumps right to the top of the list. The Zags, playing out of the West Coast Conference, are one of the most consistent mid-major teams in the country, and are even beginning to fall from the Cinderella role because of their prolonged success at a high level under head coach Mark Few.

If you are looking for a Cinderella run like Butler's from a year ago in this season's brackets, look no further than Gonzaga's first-round opponent—St. John's.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/sports/st-john-s-driven-by-deep-roster-strong-schedule-1.2514554

The slipper, as they like to say in Spokane, Wash., still fits.

But don't call Gonzaga a Cinderella. The Bulldogs are back in the NCAA Tournament for a 13th straight year, locking up an automatic bid to the Big Dance on March 7 with a 75-63 victory over St. Mary's in the West Coast Conference championship game in Las Vegas.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has always objected to the term "mid-major" because he feels it is a way for other coaches to put smaller programs such as his on a different tier and decrease the perception of parity that is prevalent in college basketball.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/03/16/2011-03-16_march_madness_ncaa_tournament_gonzaga_denver_altitude_stand_in_st_johns_way_to_o.html#ixzz1GmmLvCS2

It was a conversation that Sean Evans would have never imagined three months ago.

No player went through a more radical shift in roles than St. John's 6-8 senior forward. A starter for the last two seasons, he had become a role player. His attitude after St. John's made the coaching switch from Norm Roberts to Steve Lavin wasn't good, and both he and Lavin had begun to think it might be time for him to transfer. Lavin had even instructed those around him to "draw up the papers."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/03/16/2011-03-16_march_madness_ncaa_tournament_st_johns_senior_sean_evans_steps_in_for_injured_dj.html#ixzz1GmnIle8j

Sean Evans and D.J. Kennedy had met before arriving at St. John's, competing against one another at tournaments across Pennsylvania.

Once Evans (Philadelphia) and Kennedy (Pittsburgh) became roommates and moved off-campus together, they discovered other similarities. Both were raised by single mothers, both had people close to them killed and locked away in jail.

"We grew closer and closer," Evans said.

"We're like brothers," Kennedy agreed.

Now they are bound by another bittersweet connection: As No. 6 St. John's prepares for its first NCAA Tournament game against No. 11 Gonzaga Thursday night in Denver, Evans will help answer the question: Can St. John's survive without Kennedy?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704662604576202890749380116.html

Quick Lunardi preview


Tourney Team Preview: St. John's - ESPN Video - ESPN

Tourney Team Preview: Gonzaga - ESPN Video - ESPN

Take Your Pick: SJU vs Gonzaga - ESPN Video - ESPN

Gottlieb on why he changed his pick to St. John's

It is easy to understand why St. John's is a likable team, led by a likable coach and a likable star.

Steve Lavin? He's never going to make anyone forget the master strategists of his craft, but he doesn't take himself too seriously and, of greater consequence, he doesn't berate his kids.

Dwight Hardy? Raised in the shadows of Yankee Stadium, he had to play community college ball in the Iowa cornfields to get from the Bronx to Queens, leaving him with many of the qualities that endear one to fellow New Yorkers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oconnor_ian&id=6225636

DENVER -- The game that St. John's -- both coach Steve Lavin and his players -- credit as the turning point of their season was, ironically, a loss to lowly Fordham back on Dec. 11.

The Red Storm blew a 21-point second-half lead but in the process figured out that they're better off playing in two gears offensively -- slowing the pace at times, instead of just pushing the ball on the fast break at every opportunity.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/columns/story?columnist=darcy_kieran&id=6221882

The last time St. John’s played in the N.C.A.A. tournament, in 2002, the appearance was later wiped from the record books for various infractions. It was as if it never happened at all.

This year’s St. John’s team is bent on making a more lasting, positive impression.

The long-awaited return of one of college basketball’s powers begins in earnest on Thursday night, when St. John’s, 21-11 and seeded sixth in the Southeast Region, will play No. 11 Gonzaga (24-9) at the Pepsi Center.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/sports/ncaabasketball/17hoops.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1300363807-pAM6SfmIDheV1iJyk2eZuA

DENVER — During the leaner times in Gonzaga's bumpy basketball season, Marquise Carter would call home, or talk to his older brother. He was frustrated, having just jumped from junior college to a program where the intricacies of the Zags' myriad offensive sets had him in a fog.

"Keep working, and stay coachable," said his brother Nate, who played at Oklahoma.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegesports/2014517347_zags17.html

It took nine years – and 66 teams being called on Sunday – but St. John’s has finally returned to the big dance.

With each accomplishment this season the Johnnies started creeping back into the national spotlight; beating six ranked teams, cracking the top 25 and earning a bye and reaching the Big East tournament’s quarterfinals. But Sunday marked the season’s coronation as St. John’s earned a number six-seed in the NCAA tournament. Though, not without a brief scare.

St. John’s was assured of an at-large bid based on the strength of their season – or as assured as a team can be when their fate is in the hand of the tournament’s selection committee.

http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2011/03/16/sports/top_stories/doc4d7e5028ce2b8721627404.txt

DENVER — Time to live the dream.

This is the moment that this veteran St. John's team has been waiting for. There will be 10 seniors on hand Thursday night when the sixth-seeded Red Storm (21-10) faces No. 11 Gonzaga (24-9) in a Southeast Region Round of 64 meeting at Pepsi Center. Each one endured a drawn-out wait for a chance to play in the NCAAs.

All had chosen St. John's when it was an unpopular pick. The recent campaigns have been filled with disappointment and losses. Finally this season, with coach Steve Lavin coming aboard, it has all come together.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/03/17/2011-03-17_march_madness_ncaa_tournament_what_st_johns_basketball_needs_to_do_to_beat_gonza.html#ixzz1GrHPTaXX