One shining moment
It was no secret; Saint Joseph's was tight. Seven days after its shocking blowout loss to Xavier in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament, the team that had marched through the regular season with a perfect 27-0 record had suddenly lost its swagger and bravado. As experts across the country questioned the Hawks' No. 1 seed and head coach Phil Martelli detailed his concerns for the inside game of 16th-seeded Liberty in Wednesday's pre-tournament news conference, it seemed as if St. Joe's had suddenly remembered who it was: a tiny, 3,900-student school that had no business challenging college basketball's elite.
Enter Jameer Nelson. With his teammates looking dazed in the opening minutes, the 5-foot-11 senior jetted from the top of the key to the baseline to intercept a pass for an eyepopping steal. He then dribbled down, crossed over and splashed a 3-pointer from 22 feet. He followed with a layup in traffic, another jumper from the top of the key, and then another layup. The score was Nelson 9, Liberty 1, but, more important, you could almost hear the collective sigh of Martelli and the rest of his players. Oh, yeah, we have Jameer Nelson and no one else does.
"I wasn't trying to take over," said the understated Nelson after the game. "After I hit a couple, Delonte [West] took the point and just tried to get me the ball."
Despite Nelson's comments, Martelli was well aware of what Nelson's start did for his team's confidence. "After last week, I think Jameer knew he had to lead us offensively [Thursday]," said Martelli. "He's really a marvel at understanding what this team needs."
Player who impressed me
All you really hear about Saint Joseph's is the play of Nelson and junior guard West, but the Hawks' third-most-valuable guy doesn't even start. Senior reserve guard Tyrone Barley is the linchpin of St. Joe's ferocious man-to-man defense and takes a lot of pressure off both Nelson and West because he's able to pick up the opposing team's point guards at three-quarters court. Although Barley, a senior co-captain, played his usual flypaper defense and was 2-of-3 from behind the arc against Liberty, his biggest contribution might have been before the game.
"A lot of guys looked really nervous today," said Martelli. "I take my hat off to Tyrone Barley and Jameer as well for really getting guys ready to play. We have to shake those feelings before Saturday."
Courtside confidential
Jameer Nelson has a tattoo on his back that goes straight across his shoulders. You can only see the ends of it when he has his uniform on. It says "All Eyes On Me." ... Nelson headed back to the locker room just four minutes before the game because he had forgotten his warm-up shooting shirt. Only Martelli was in there and the two shared a quiet moment. "This is what great players live for," Martelli told him. Jameer just nodded and headed out to the floor. ... Saint Joseph's new pep band looks to be low on actual students and high on middle-aged, grey-haired guys with beards. Are these guys actually enrolled on Hawk Hill? Whoever's playing, they do carry a nice tune.
Long-term prospects
Since their 87-67 drubbing at the hands of Xavier a week ago, it has been fashionable to call the Hawks overrated and undeserving of a No. 1 seed -- but make no mistake, Saint Joseph's is a legitimate Final Four contender. Much is made about the Hawks' unimposing front line, but no one really talks about how well their big men -- junior John Bryant and sophomore Dwayne Jones -- deny opposing post players the ball and how effective the team is at coming over to help when the ball does go inside. Any way you slice it, this is a team that has held opponents to a stifling 39.4 percent shooting this season. the Hawks' half-court man-to-man swarms so effectively that most teams are forced to concentrate on just holding on to the ball instead running any real plays.
"Last game was the first time that we let our offense dictate how we played," said Nelson of the Xavier debacle, during which the Hawks allowed the Musketeers to shoot an embarrassing 71.3 percent from the field. "Today our goal was to get back to playing the kind of defense that we've been playing all year."
The Hawks do have real concerns on the backboards. They came into the tournament being outrebounded by almost four a game, unheard of for a team that spent most of the season near the top of the national polls, but their defense at full throttle can more than make up for their backboard deficiencies. Saint Joseph's will be in for a war against a smart-and-crisp-passing Texas Tech team Saturday, but it says here that they won't slip up until the regional final, when they'll probably face either Oklahoma State or Pittsburgh -- two teams with point guards (Carl Krauser at Pitt and John Lucas III at OSU) good enough to navigate their teams through the Hawks pressure.
