JCMJ College Hoops Q&A: Tim Sullivan of the New York Post

Third installment of the JCMJ College Hoops Q&A...This week we have Tim Sullivan of the New York Post breaking down the Big Apple College Hoops scene (Yes, that still includes St. John's).....


JCMJ: There have been positives (win vs. Syracuse) and negatives (Sunday's first half performance against Duke) for St. John's this season. How far away are the Johnnies from at least competing for an NCAA bid?


TS: Not too far, not too close. What you’ve seen in each of Norm Roberts’ three seasons is these little midseason spurts. They beat an undefeated Pitt team at home last season, went on a run, then went back to reality. This season, they beat Syracuse and Notre Dame back to the back at the Garden, both teams were ranked. Then, they fell back to reality, once again. What the Red Storm fans need to do, is not let those spurts get to their heads. As soon as they win a few games, all of a sudden, they think St. John’s is back. It doesn’t work that way these days. The reality is, when the Garden has a decent crowd and those ranked Big East teams go there in the midst of a road trip, they can get knocked off no matter how weak or strong St. John’s is. It happens all the time, all teams lose road games in the Big East. But -- and that’s a big but -- it doesn’t mean St. John’s is back. They’re still at least two players away from regaining a place in the league’s upper echelon. And really, when you start at the bottom like Roberts did, it probably takes four years in the Big East to build back up anyway. St. John’s is in Year Three of that school of thought. Teams like Rutgers and Seton Hall are in Year One. So, all is not lost with the Johnnies. There are Big East programs in worse shape than theirs. Of course, those programs didn't score 10 points in a half against Duke, so who knows.


JCMJ: The Red Storm are now in their 3rd full season under Norm Roberts. Is Norm Roberts the right man for the job?

TS: Taking the good with the bad, I believe he is the right man. He’s established himself as a player in the the New York recruiting circle, which wasn't easy. When St. John’s began to fall off the map, non-New York Big East schools began to pounce on New York talent. It’s tough to keep a kid in the city, it’s tough to sell a kid on the city, when St. John’s isn’t a serious Big East player. If a city kid is Big East talent, and he wants to win, he needed to go elsewhere. And they did just that -- Carl Krauser went to Pitt, Jessie Sapp went to Georgetown, Eugene Harvey went to Seton Hall, Malcolm Grant committed to Villanova, etc. But now, Roberts has enough connections in town and has won enough -- just enough -- to make enough headlines around the city. But it would really be in his best interest to beat Providence this week and make the Big East Tournament. He needs that. They need that.


JCMJ: Will making the Big East Tournament for the first time since 2003 be a moral victory for St. John's?


TS: No moral victories when a tournament is played in your building and you have to sweat just to make it. Even if they do make it, St. John’s could be out of the tourney before most people realize they were in it. What they need, though, is the win over Providence that would seal the Big East bid, and most likely in turn, set up an NIT berth. The NIT committee will always favor a New York team, so St. John’s will play at home as long as they’re alive. Roberts -- as small as it may seem to many -- could truly benefit from an NIT title. It would help with ticket sales, it would help with recruiting, and quite frankly, it would help give this crew some experience touching the hardwood in the month of March. And believe me when I say, the NIT will do everything in their power to keep the Red Storm alive. But again, like the Big East Tournament, they have to make it first.


JCMJ: Who is the best college hoops team in the Big Apple this season?

TS: Hofstra, hands down. The Pride have battled inconsistency all season, and they lack a true inside presence, but Tom Pecora’s three-guard system is lethal and despite all the bumps in the road, they still surpassed 20 wins again, they lost just once at home, and they could well win the CAA Tournament. Once again, however, they are on the bubble after probably being Team No. 66 last season. That could happen again this year, and the only way to eliminate that drama, would be to win the league. Not an easy chore. But in a down year throughout the area, Hofstra is clearly the best team, senior guard Loren Stokes is the best player and Pecora is the best coach. It is truly an overall classy operation being run out in Hempstead.


JCMJ: Marist appears to have the best chance to make the NCAA Tournament out of all the NYC teams. With Jared Jordan and Will Whittington, what are the chances of the Red Foxes pulling off a first round upset?

TS: I’m not sold on Marist at all. I love the program, I love the way it's being run, I love the atmosphere that's been created. But I clearly thought they’d run right through the MAAC in what is a terrible year for the conference, and the Red Foxes have simply struggled to put teams away. They’ve gone overtime with some inferior teams, they’ve flat out lost to other inferior teams, and they just seem to go through stretches where they’re asleep. I’m not even sure they’ll win the MAAC Tournament, and if that’s the case, they’re going to the NIT. But if they get their act together, win the league next week, and punch their ticket to the Big Dance, expect a No. 13 seed and a quick exit. Jordan is a serious player, though, and a great kid. He’s clearly on his way to the next level. But Whittington, also a class act, is too hot and cold and the bench doesn’t have enough of a role to have an impact against a high seed from a power conference. Matt Brady is a tremendous coach, and, who knows, his reliance on the three-pointer -- depending on whether or not Whittington is hot -- could lead to an upset. But it’s unlikely.


JCMJ: The troubles of Iona have been well documented this season, have you ever seen a team with as much hard luck as the Gaels until they won their first game?


TS: Iona is an amazing story. The injuries hurt, the academic problems as well. Bad, bad luck, for sure. But, the reality of the situation is that even if Jeff Ruland had all the luck in the world this season, he wasn’t going to finish .500. This team was brand new, they had little experience, they had no bona fide offensive threats, and to start it off, they had eight straight road games to open the season! Incredible. In the end, they got more press than they deserved. New York loves a story, and that losing streak was certainly a story. But the reporters and cameras are gone now, and there are the Gaels, still with a long way to go. The streak is over, but the problems aren’t. They can’t score, they can’t stop people from scoring. Ruland keeps saying “they’ll be back,” and it’s tough to doubt him with his track record. But a comeback won’t be easy.


JCMJ: Final question, you are in charge of St. John's, what changes are made to make the Johnnies a contender again?

TS: A couple of things. First of all, win that Holiday Festival. You can’t welcome these mid-major teams into the Garden in late December, and not win the tournament. Hofstra, while not an upset, got them this season in that festival. St. John’s, as long as its going to set a primarily soft schedule early on, needs to break out of the box 10-2, 11-1, something like that. Get a buzz, make some noise, make the back page, get people talking for the right reasons early in the season. No upsets before New Year’s. Second of all, boost that marketing department, get those ticket sales up. The Garden is such a special place to see college basketball, get that building buzzing again for all games, not just vs. Duke.


Check out more of Tim's work at The New York Post