Here's the fun part about falling in love with a basketball team all over again. Around Madison Square Garden, at least two-thirds of the 11,832 spectators wearing red and hollering about St. John's, were visibly nervous as the final seconds drew blood. and widespread anxiety.
The Johnnys should have killed Providence in the first half, but they didn't.This is what the Red Storm should have done after the Friars ambushed them to start the second half. Really They ran toward the bus as the first pushed a dozen or so people. did not do it. So now it's time for free throws. Brady Dunlap, who had hurt his ankle butt, fired one shot. he missed. He shot again.
I missed again.
And then I realized what was flashing before the eyes of the unbelieving true believers inside the old gymnasium. This will end badly. This would negate the buzz that was really building around this team. This was an impending disaster…
Then RJ Lewis Jr. somehow snuck in behind Providence's rebounder. He hooked the ball. It wasn't official until Lewis sank a free throw and then harassed Jayden Pierre into rushing a 3, but when the buzzer finally sounded and Johnnys fans finally exhaled, it was 75- It was a home win with a score of 73. The team achieved a 4-1 record in the Big East for the first time since 2001 and tied for first place in the league.
“If you can win and learn, that's great,” Rick Pitino said.
Even better, the faithful who came to the Johnnys' first conference game at the Garden feel a kind of tortured emotion that would never be consumed if the program was trapped in a vacuum of irrelevance. I was able to do that. good bye. The Villanova game sparked some old-fashioned enthusiasm for this team. The first few minutes Wednesday (10-0, 20-5 lead) added to the jubilation.
And the near collapse at the end filled me with emotions of anxiety, panic, fear, and ultimately relief.
“It was ugly at the end,” said Dannis Jenkins, who had a great performance all night, posting 16 points and eight assists, and a cynical toughness that Coach Pitino hopes will rub off on other players. Ta. “But wins like that make you a team.”
“I truly believe that if we had won by 20 points, we would have gone to Creighton and gotten our asses handed to us,” Pitino said.
Check reality. That could still happen Saturday afternoon, when Johnny travels to Omaha's CHI Health Center to play against the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays are No. 22 in the Associated Press poll, the only Big East schools besides UConn and Marquette ranked. St. John's is still developing.
But Pitino vowed from the beginning that the team would be better in January than it was in November, and he reminded everyone Wednesday. [in the season’s second game] It wasn't very good. ” And he seems confident that February and March will be even better than they are now. Until proven otherwise, these things are known to everyone, not just him.
“I have high aspirations for them,” he said of the team. “I have high expectations for them.”
It was a good night for them despite a stumbling block at the end. Providence is clearly devastated by the loss of Bryce Hopkins. But they were still a tough, well-coached team, dominated by guard Devin Carter (31 points, 13 rebounds). And while the Johnnies played two warm-up games at the Garden, including a no-show loss to Michigan and an easy win over neighborhood rival Fordham, this was their Big East debut here.
There were plenty of Providence fans scattered all over the place, but as Pitino acknowledged, it's incumbent on Providence, Villanova and UW alumni as much as St. John's fans to fill the Garden for now. It was still a great night in the old gymnasium. Providence briefly took the lead in the second half, but the Flyers faithful cleared their throats. St. John's survived. That's what it sounded like.
“The Garden is a place that everyone dreams of playing in,” he said, signing his University of Massachusetts scholarship papers on the Garden floor while watching the Minutemen and Marquette play an NIT game in March 1970. said Pitino, who has been telling the story for many years. Every time I hear the starting lineup, I am reminded of my memories at MSG. ”
(So it's time to chill out about UConn coming to Carnesecca Arena to celebrate Louie's 100th birthday next year, okay? UConn is the Garden's nemesis. So far, Louie is the most memorable Georgetown, the opponent he fought against, is an enemy in Alumni Hall. The Hoyas should help him celebrate his 100th birthday next year. End of story.)
On Wednesday, Pitino's team made some new memories and almost caused more than a little nervous breakdown among the frenetic team. good. Every day, pain overcomes indifference. Especially here.
