St. John's is ready for the big stage
Paris Horne of the St.Johns Red Storm lays the ball up over James Beatty of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second round of the 2011 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament. (March 9, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
DENVER -- They have waited years for a moment like this.
Now that it's here, these St. John's seniors refuse to look past it. They're focused on the task at hand, they said, determined to prolong their stay in the NCAA Tournament past Thursday night.
"My first three years here, we haven't really done so well," guard Malik Boothe said Wednesday. "To turn it all the way around our senior year makes it all the more special."
Calm and composed, the players sat in their locker room at Pepsi Center discussing the whirlwind of the past 48 hours. Though favored against No. 11 seed Gonzaga, the sixth-seeded Red Storm finds itself 1,800 miles away from home and in unfamiliar territory. The Bulldogs (24-9) have the NCAA Tournament experience, so St. John's will have to rely on its own toughness to get over this postseason hurdle.
But Thursday's game is an opportunity to show the country that St. John's basketball not only is back, but ready to hold its own in the tournament.
"We're so confident because at the end of the day, it's just basketball," forward Justin Burrell said. "We've been playing this since we were in the fourth grade, some longer. So we're confident in our skills and who we are."
The Red Storm players said they're neither anxious nor intimidated. Sure, there are nerves, just like before any game, Sean Evans admitted. "But the jitters will be gone when the lights come on and the game starts," the 6-8 forward added.
Evans will start for D.J. Kennedy, whose season ended with an ACL injury suffered a week ago in the Big East Tournament. But filling the shoes of their most versatile player, and best defensive asset, is too big a task to put on just one player.
"I think we all have to step up and do the little things that he did on the court while he was playing with us," guard Dwight Hardy said.
Nevertheless, Evans said he plans to shoulder the bulk of Kennedy's responsibilities.
"I think I am putting more pressure on myself knowing that I have to step up more now that D.J.'s down," he said. "So I'm going to step up offensively and defensively as much as my team needs."
But for St. John's to be successful against Gonzaga, which boasts two 7-footers and shoots 47.9 percent from the field (36.6 percent from three-point range), the Red Storm will have to keep standout guard Steven Gray out of the paint and keep the Bulldogs off the boards.
"We really have to impose our will on them, impose our style of play," Burrell said.
They'll also need to stay true to their game plan and preparation, said Steve Lavin. The coach also reiterated the team's desire to "do it for D.J." And in turn, Kennedy said he plans to be St. John's loudest cheerleader.
"All the things that I came here for, I feel like I accomplished: making the tournament, turning the program around," the 6-5 senior said. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to play in an NCAA Tournament game, but I accomplished all my goals and I definitely feel my team can go a long way without me.
"It isn't about me, it's about the team, it's about the group, the family we have. Just to be able to show them that, I think that'll inspire them to play good basketball."
