Jimmy V Classic Got Better as the Night Went Along
by Ray Floriani
NEW YORK – The night didn’t start out too well. The elevator taking us to the press room on the 6th floor of Madison Square Garden was not functioning. We, including Hoopville managing editor Phil Kasiecki, assembled on the freight elevators which the players often use. We exited on the fourth floor – still two to go. There was another elevator, but it was not working. “Don’t worry,” I tell Phil, “I know this place.” We use a stairway to get to the sixth floor. At the top of the stairs is a door – great, but it doesn’t open from our end. We knock on the door and luckily a young lady from the promotions department was passing by and opened it to let us in. All of us, especially the Michigan Sate radio crew who actually woriied about being stranded in an MSG stairwell, were happy and relieved. From there, it got better.
Revenge? Not really
A year ago, St. Joseph’s ventured to Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas and left with a 40-point beating. St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli will be quick to note it could have been worse, only Kansas mentor Bill Self was gracious. In the opener of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, the Hawks showed how much difference the year made with a 70-67 victory. For Martelli, the greatest joy and satisfaction was not any payback motive. Rather, it was his team buying into a game plan.
“We wanted to jam the lane and they came out hitting threes,” Martelli said.
Down 17-4 early, Martelli called time out to reinforce his game plan and emphasized that the Hawks believe in it. The percentages would catch up to Kansas and the marksmen would cool off outside the arc. The Hawks listened, believed and slowly chipped away, and after a Dwayne Lee three at the halftime buzzer, only trailed 34-31.
St. Joseph’s victory was possible largely due to senior guard Chet Stachitas, who scored a game high 27 points. Stacithas had a 17-point second half and was 6-of-7 from beyond the arc.
“What I like about Chet’s three point shooting,” Martelli said, “is that they are open shots, which means his teammates are delivering the ball and he is properly being screened. He is the type of player we should enjoy. He plays the way we all used to play – he’s constantly in motion.”
While Stachitas’ performance was big for St. Joe’s, they also received a shot in the arm fron two players who played their high school ball just a few miles away on the other side of the Hudson River. Lead guard Dwayne Lee scored 13 points and handed out seven assists while defending in a solid forty-minute night, while freshman forward Ahmad Nivins came off the bench for an 11-point, five-rebound contribution. Both Lee and Nivins are products of powerhouse St. Anthony’s of Jersey City, N.J.
“If you are from Jersey City, just getting a loaf of bread there means you’re tough,” Martelli said. “After playing for coach Bob Hurley at St. Anthony’s, Lee and Nivins must think I’m like Pope John Paul II,” Martelli added in jest.
St. Joe’s improved to 4-1 while Kansas dropped to 3-4. Said Kansas coach Bill Self: “We have had a tough three weeks. It has been a little frustrating because we haven’t experienced success. We are not that far off.”
Self has a combination of 11 players who are freshman or sophomores on his roster. Some of them, like freshmen guards Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush plus forward Julian Wright, are talented. They key is consistency. Rush, for example, had 10 points in the game’s first six minutes, then finished with only 13. Again, consistency and patience are keys.
“You have to learn how to play to finish people,” Self said in reference to his young group, “and we haven’t done that.”
In the nightcap, Michigan State defeated Boston College 77-70. In a physical, defensive battle over the course of the first half, BC took a 27-26 lead into the locker room at intermission. Early in the second half, Michigan State got a few baskets in transition, continued to attack the glass and went on to post the victory.
Maurice Ager, who benefited by the Spartans’ second half transition, led Michigan State with 22 points. Jared Dudley of BC paced all scorers with 23, while teammate Craig Smith also came up big with 18 points. In the second half, Paul Davis was a huge factor for Tom Izzo’s club, as the 6-11 senior center scored 14 of his 18 points following the halftime break. Davis added 7 boards and was 6 of 6 from the charity stripe.
Notes
- A good representation of NBA scouts were in attendance for the doubleheader.
- The Garden scoreboard keeps a rundown of key games. One of the intriguing matchups on the board was the Villanova-Bucknell contest, won by Jay Wright’s Wildcats. A Kansas media relations representative was asked if he was rooting for ‘Nova against Bucknell. “Oh, we try to not even bring up that Bucknell game (first round of last year’s NCAAs),” he courteously responded.
- Speaking of St. Anthony’s, coach Bob Hurley and assistant Damiel Ling were in attendance at the Garden.
- Hurley noted the 6-9 Nivins was a baseball player who really only had a year and a half of seriouas basketball under his belt before heading to St. Joe’s. Needless to say, Nivins is still emerging as a player and can can get significantly better down the road.
- Nivins on the transition from high school to college: “The biggest thing was the academics. I knew I could compete as a player on this level but here you have to work extra hard every day. I’m trying to leave it all ‘on the floor’ each time I go out there.”
- Martelli on the win: “It’s great, but tomorrow we will be back in practice at 4:30 and we’ll try to improve. That’s the whole thing with us, it’s trying to be better each day whether if it’s practice or a game.”
- Patience is the key word in Kansas. The Jayhawks are young and there will be growing pains. Still, this club will get better as the year progresses.
- St. Joe’s will be a strong team this season, probably good enough for a 6th straight A-10 regular season title. Defenitely good enough for a 6th straight post season tournament appearance. Their inside play is fair but Martelli does a wondeful job of utilizing strengths and minimizing team weaknesses.
- Freudian Slip: Michigan State fans not happy with a call in the BC game, yelled ‘what are you, Big East refs?’ It’s still a bit hard to get used to, but Boston College is in the ACC.
- A significant win for Michigan State following a November with two losses in Hawaii. The Spartans did a nice job handling BC’s physical presence, then showed the ability to get out in transition.
- Tom Izzo believes the BC win was significant. He’s right, as Michigan State responded to a tough challenge at Madison Square Garden and came away with a hard-fought win. The struggles of Hawaii are now in the rear view mirror.
- Boston College is not really a top ten team, but the Eagles are a good, physical club that should do well in the ACC. This will be a learning year for Al Skinner and Co. Gone are the familiar Big East foes. Now it’s new teams, venues and styles to face. That could be something to keep in mind as conference play progresses.
