Outside of Pittsburgh (and we partisans scattered about the country), the loss to St. John’s was about the Red Storm’s play and a glorious weekend honoring their “legends.”
The Red Storm did in Pittsburgh — and did the Redmen proud.
On the day St. John’s honored 10 former coaches and players who were all at the school when it was using its old nickname, the Red Storm knocked No. 9 Pittsburgh from the ranks of the unbeaten, 55-50 Saturday.
“This was a perfect day. Nobody could have written a script like this,” said Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, one of those honored at a halftime ceremony.
The Red Storm are getting used to winning against ranked teams, having beaten No. 17 Louisville 68-56 on Tuesday, also at Madison Square Garden.
“We are not just playing for ourselves,” St. John’s guard Daryll Hill said. “St. John’s has that history and we are trying to bring it back like it was before.”
And the players of the past made gave the players of now some love.
Mullin was at the Garden yesterday to watch a new generation of local kids like Lamont Hamilton, Daryll Hill, Eugene Lawrence, Ryan Williams and Phil Missere lead the Johnnies on a trip down memory lane, St. John’s stunning previously unbeaten Pittsburgh, the No. 9 team in the country, 55-50.
This was the biggest win yet for St. John’s second-year coach Norm Roberts, whose record is now 10-6 and 3-2 in Big East play. Mullin made a special trip to the locker room afterward to congratulate the players.
“He told us he was proud of the way we represented St. John’s,” Hamilton said.
As for the game itself, the NY writers were treating it like a “back to the future” thing.
On a day when St. John’s honored the heroes of its celebrated past at the Garden, the Red Storm gave everyone in attendance a taste of what it was like back then.
The Johnnies put a perfect ending on a weekend dedicated to their illustrious history with a stunning 55-50 upset of No. 9 Pittsburgh, one of only three remaining unbeaten teams in Division I at the start of the day. Though the crowd was a meager 6,942, those who showed up got to experience a day on par with any of the program’s best from the past; it ended just like one, too, with the fans mobbing the team at center court.
“The way the crowd reacted, you could feel it in here,” said legendary coach Lou Carnesecca, one of 10 St. John’s greats bestowed “Legacy Honors” during the weekend. “It was a big slice of old time. They couldn’t have played any harder.”
Hey, why mess with the obvious storyline?
Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Dick McGuire and Lou Carnesecca sat several rows behind the St. John’s bench yesterday taking a wonderfully nostalgic trip back in time. On the Garden court were players wearing the jerseys Mullin, Jackson and others once donned when they gave everything — even blood — to uphold the honor of playing for the Catholic school in Queens that could.
“During one timeout I noticed Mark Jackson holding up his fist, telling us to stay strong,” said St. John’s wingman Ryan Williams. “You could feel their energy throughout the building. This is what St. John’s basketball used to be.”
And this is what St. John’s is becoming again after yesterday’s 55-50 win over No. 9 Pittsburgh.
With their previous win over Louisville, the legends stuff then knocking off Pitt, well this isn’t exactly hyperbole.
At the culmination of the most satisfying basketball day for St. John’s in the 21st century, Lamont Hamilton stepped to the foul line with 12 seconds on the clock and the chance to slay a giant.
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In claiming its third consecutive Big East victory — equaling its entire conference win total from last season — and second in a row over a Top 25 team, St. John’s (10-6, 3-2) gave reason to believe its days as a bottom-feeder are near an end.
The St. John’s players had a swagger going after the game.
Lamont Hamilton secretly rooted for Pittsburgh over the last few weeks. The St. John’s senior wanted the Panthers to be unbeaten by the time they came to Madison Square Garden yesterday.
“We wanted to be the first ones to beat them,” Hamilton said. “Everyone on the team felt that way. We wanted to do it.”
That is what being undefeated means to other teams — it puts the bullseye on the undefeated. Right Florida and Duke?
Despite leading for almost the entire game, Pitt nearly wore them down to steal away the fairy tale ending.
St. John’s (10-6, 3-2 Big East) had an 11-point lead with 8 minutes 10 seconds remaining, but the Panthers (15-1, 4-1) stormed back with a 12-0 run to go ahead with 2:39 left. St. John’s could have folded, but clamped down on defense instead.
“We knew Pitt is a terrific basketball team and that they would come back strong in the second half,” St. John’s Coach Norm Roberts said. “I was extremely proud of our guys. No matter what happened, a turnover, whatever, they would concentrate on the next play and move on.”
Now as for the view from Pittsburgh, well I think this fits the conventional wisdom that would be accurate.
Pitt began the season with 15 consecutive victories because it was patient, shared the basketball and played tougher than every one of its opponents.
Pitt didn’t do any of those things, or much of anything else for long stretches of the game yesterday against St. John’s, and the Red Storm handed the Panthers their first loss of the season, 55-50, at Madison Square Garden.
Pitt (15-1, 4-1) lost the game in the first half when it went scoreless for the first 6 1/2 minutes, and St. John’s raced to a 14-0 lead. Pitt played its worst half of the season, shooting 27 percent and committing 12 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
The Panthers got away from their game plan and attempted 12 3-pointers in the first half. They made only two and trailed by 12 at the intermission, 31-19.
“This was a good learning experience for us,” Pitt junior forward Levon Kendall said. “We got away from our game plan, and it cost us. We have to stick to the things that have been working for us all year or we’re going to keep losing.”
Pretty much tracks the overall opinion. I wouldn’t necessarily call the learning experience good, but I’m quibbling.
Krauser agreed with Kendall and what Coach Dixon said.
“You can’t sit here and whine about a loss,” Krauser said. “Those guys played great. They got ready for us. We didn’t play our game. We got away from the things that we do great. We came out way too anxious and we just lost.”
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“It’s a tough loss, but the only way it’s going to turn into a bad loss is if we don’t turn around and learn from it,” Kendall said.
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“I didn’t recognize our team on how we played early. Our patience wasn’t there,” Dixon said. “Clearly, it wasn’t our day.”
Pitt’s next opponent is the marquee on ESPN’s Big Monday at 7 pm. A frustrated Syracuse team that has lost 2 straight games to UConn then Villanova. Not to mention a smart coach who is playing the bunker mentality by complaining about the schedule trying to hurt them. Syracuse has McNamara and a Freshman named Rautins who are perimeter shooters. Pitt’s perimeter defense will be tested again.
