PHILADELPHIA – With all the public speculation about Norm Roberts’ job the last couple of years, it’s only fitting that things are starting to come together for his team. The feeling was that this would be the time – and certainly, the speculation has been that it’s make-or-break – for St. John’s to break through.
The Red Storm came to Philadelphia in the Philly Hoop Group Classic and took home two big wins. A big second half rally gave them a win over a good Siena team on Friday night, then on Saturday they held off Temple 55-48 in a game that wasn’t far from being a true road game. With those wins, they are 5-0 for the first time in Roberts’ tenure, but there’s more than just the record that signals this as a potential turning point.
The core of this team is a group of juniors that came in over two years ago. It appeared that Roberts was finally gaining traction in recruiting New York kids, as Malik Boothe and Justin Burrell headlined the group. They certainly haven’t been alone, as D.J. Kennedy, Sean Evans and Paris Horne also start now. As a group, they had a rough go of it at first, going 11-19 as freshmen before making the CBI Tournament last year and finishing with a 16-18 mark. They took their lumps and had promising signs along the way, and now they look ready to turn the corner.
And they, along with their coach, believe they deserve to be lauded for it.
“I think these guys deserve buzz,” said Roberts. “They’ve tried so hard, they want to represent the school, their team, their families the right way. It would be great for them to get that buzz. But we also know you’ve got to earn the buzz. You have to earn it, you have to continue it, be consistent, and we’ve just got to work toward that.”
In all but one season of Roberts’ tenure, the Red Storm has knocked off a ranked team. That means they’ve certainly been capable and is a reflection of the hard work that Roberts has preached all along, although the talent and experience hasn’t been there. With wins hard to come by at times, it’s been difficult to keep up the confidence of the team. As they start winning games, the confidence has to be soaring, because they are seeing a bottom-line reward for the hard work.
“We took our lumps, we never complained about it, we never made excuses about it,” said Boothe. “We just continued to play, and I think this year is a year that we can go out there and get a little bit of buzz.”
Added Burrell, who seemed to come back to life a bit in Saturday’s win: “We work extremely hard. It’s been unfortunate that our freshman and sophomore years, we weren’t able to put things together, but we definitely deserve the buzz. We’re improving.”
The players added that they would not have won Saturday’s game last year. There, Temple made a run in the second half on a few occasions, but the Red Storm never relinquished the lead. In fact, after the Red Storm went up by 10 at one point, the Owls never got within one possession as the Red Storm had answers every time they were on the verge.
“We’ve grown up so much,” said Burrell. “Last year, we would have thrown that game away. Just in the closing minutes right there, we turn the ball over and they come down and get a dunk. We kept our composure, we came back down and we take care of the ball on offense. Last year we definitely wouldn’t have done that.”
Kennedy has been the team’s leader, as the team’s top scorer had a big second half in the win over Siena and made several big shots in the second half against Temple. He’s always been capable of being more than a scorer, and he’s largely done just that before starting this season very well. Roberts was happy that he started going to the basket once his jumper wasn’t falling, and the results showed. Boothe noted that Kennedy’s nickname is “Big Play”.
The players knew this team would get better, although they didn’t want to admit that they would take their lumps. Those times weren’t easy, but they appreciate that good times appear to be on the way. Roberts is keeping them grounded, knowing that they haven’t arrived yet, but the way they are playing suggests they are well on their way. This weekend showed it, and it had the outcome they hoped for when the team agreed to play in the event.
“I wanted this weekend because I think it’s a great springboard, hopefully, for the rest of our season,” Roberts said. “I knew they would be very difficult games because they were on the road, and I knew playing here would be like playing Temple at home, and it’s part of the maturation process.”
They are doing this without Anthony Mason, Jr., who is still several weeks away from returning, as well as Rob Thomas, another scorer who will only make them deeper. If they can integrate them into this team without issue, they will only be more dangerous, and that turning point will be ever closer.
