As St. John’s finished off Xavier on Wednesday night, as it manhandled this likely NCAA Tournament team down the stretch in Cincinnati, the same thoughts kept bouncing around my head.
Where has this been? Where was this focused effort? This attention to detail? This stingy defense? This ball-moving offense?
Where was this team hiding?
This was the team the Big East coaches picked to finish fourth in the conference. This was the unit that was expected to make the NCAA Tournament and possibly even end the Red Storm’s 22-year drought without a tournament victory.
Wednesday night, Mike Anderson’s team looked the part. Julian Champagnie performed like one of the premier wing-forwards in the country. Posh Alexander, on just one good ankle, created chaos on defense and controlled the game on the other end of the floor. Transfers Joel Soriano, Aaron Wheeler, Montez Mathis and Tareq Coburn all made significant contributions. This was the best body language they had shown in weeks, a belief they would find a way to win a big game.
“I know what the team is capable of,” Champagnie told The Post on Thursday as St. John’s prepared to host Butler on Friday in Queens. “It’s a breath of fresh air to play like that.”
It was also the kind of performance that has been lacking far too often, the reason the Johnnies aren���t in the NCAA Tournament picture. Consistency has eluded this group.
The ability is clearly there. We’ve seen it in blowout wins at Xavier and Seton Hall, and the near victory at No. 24 UConn. Even at less than their best, the Red Storm really should’ve knocked off No. 8 Providence, Seton Hall and UConn at home, three games decided by a total of 13 points. Win just a few of those, and this season is vastly different. The tournament isn’t a pipe dream.
I fully expect this to be an offseason of what-ifs. What if Wheeler found his game earlier? What if St. John’s managed to win a few of those aforementioned home games? What if Alexander didn’t miss arguably the team’s two most important home games last week due to his right ankle injury?
The team, though, doesn’t appear to be operating like all is lost. Champagnie said the Johnnies don’t have time to look back. That can happen after the season. Give Anderson, his staff and their players credit for not mailing it in. For playing as hard as they did down the stretch against Villanova and for 40 minutes against UConn without Alexander, and putting together arguably their best game of the season on Wednesday at Xavier.
There are plenty of reasons to find fault with St. John’s (14-11, 6-8 Big East), to be frustrated, infuriated and disappointed with how this season has unfolded. But effort isn’t one of them.
“All we can do now is watch that film [of our tough losses] and see where we messed up. I know the guys are not done. We’ve played our hardest,” Champagnie said.
He added: “That’s what we’re striving for, to win these next [few] games and go into the conference tournament with some momentum. I feel like we’re still in the mix.”
St. John’s is 3-0 in its last three games at full strength. It’s remaining schedule is relatively soft, including home games against Butler, Creighton and Xavier, and road contests at DePaul and Marquette. A 4-1 finish isn’t out of the realm of possibility. That could lead to a top-six seed in the Big East Tournament and at least the makings of a passable résumé that currently includes two Quad 1 wins, only one sub-Quad 2 loss and a NET ranking of 78. Maybe the NIT isn’t so inevitable. Crazy things can happen in March — just look at last year’s Big East Tournament won by the eighth seed, Georgetown.
Wednesday night showed there is plenty of fight left in this team. Perhaps, it was a preview of the weeks to come. In the least, St. John’s is giving its fans a reason to still believe.