SOUTH
ORLANDO – Huddled together at center court in Orlando Arena, their arms draped across one another’s shoulders, the players stepped from side to side, their bodies swaying to a beat of their own.
St. John’s had ended its practice session with the same ritual it goes through before the start of every game.
It’s a poor-man’s version of the hora, but this is no bar mitzvah the Red Storm is attending. It’s the first round of the NCAA Tournament, a time when some highly seeded teams will come out tight and struggle while others will take care of business and advance.
“We are St. John’s!” exclaimed the St. John’s players as they broke the huddle.
“We are The Rockettes,” joked coach Mike Jarvis as he watched his loosey-goosey players leave the court with smiles on their faces.
It was a strikingly different scene from last year when St. John’s went through a regimented, tense practice at the United Center the day before making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in five years. St. John’s (25-8), seeded third in the South Regional, showed no signs of being nervous for tonight’s game against 14th-seeded Samford (24-5).
“Today I feel more comfortable than last year,” said St. John’s sophomore Ron Artest. “This year we’re doing more joking but we’re still taking the game seriously. We’re well rested and just ready to get it on.”
Last year the Red Storm looked like a team that just wanted to get it over with. The Red Storm, seeded seventh, was toppled by 10th-seeded Detroit, 66-64.
Don’t expect an upset today. Samford is the team that should have the jitters. The Bulldogs are making their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and even their coach, Jimmy Tillette, is concerned about how his players will respond.”
“Do we feel like we deserve to be here?” said Tillette. “Is the event bigger than we are? You know, the psyche.”
Psyche goes a long way toward determining who is successful in this tournament. Senior forward Tyrone Grant declared his troubled right hand 90 percent healed. The memories of the crushing, season-ending 82-63 loss to Connecticut in the Big East Tournament Championship game had been left in New York.
Does it matter that Samford didn’t play a Top 25 team this season? Does it matter that teams which St. John’s lost to this season have a combined record of 147-37 whereas the teams it beat have a combined record of 301-274?
“I’m concerned when my kids come in and are anything different than they normally are,” said Jarvis. “I can’t remember having a team that was too loose or too tight. I always felt that my teams have been pretty much the same. And this team has been pretty much the same.”
St. John’s held a more serious two-hour practice yesterday morning at Walt Disney’s Wide World of Sports Fieldhouse. Then the players watched the first inning of the Braves-Astros exhibition game.
St. John’s tight? Uh-uh.
“All year we’ve been having a lot of fun,” said Grant. “This is part of what’s been happening all year. We’re just having fun out there, but we’re still prepared for the team we got to play, which is Samford. Plus we had a practice earlier so when you get an opportunity to play it cool, you play it cool.”
The Red Storm is so cool they decided to alter their dance routine. Even assistant coach Kevin Clark was allowed into the huddle.
“One time somebody said, ‘Double up,” said Artest. “We always go one [step], one [step]. Somebody said, ‘One, one-two.’ We doubled up today. We got soul. We got that rhythm.”
As far as St. John’s is concerned, let the Big Dance begin.