I've wanted to see St. Joseph's on the Jays' schedule for a long time. A similarly-sized Jesuit school from Philadelphia, they remind me of Creighton in some respects. On the basketball court, they're one of the best-coached, hardest-working teams in the Atlantic 10...a league that itself reminds me of the MVC. From watching St. Joe's on TV, you could tell they were well-coached.
And sure enough, one of the most enjoyable things about yesterday's battle was watching two great teachers coach their teams. Non-conference teams coming into Omaha, their coach getting schooled by Dana Altman, and the resulting message board posts lamenting the fact that their coaches' faults were exposed by a better coach...these things are so predictable, its almost a cliche at this point. It happens three or four times a year!
But from the outset, it was clear Phil Martelli was a brilliant teacher in his own right. Falling behind big early after his defense was Hibmatized (two Pierce Hibma three pointers in a span of 25 seconds, just two minutes into the game), he calmly called timeout to keep his team in the game. His team came out, hit shots, and kept the game close. And during those timeouts, he spent his time actually teaching his players, instead of whining to the officials (which he certainly would have had every right to do, given the uneven job the refs did). Not to name names, but some coaches who've brought teams into Omaha spend more time whining than they do coaching their players to perform better.
His Hawks were not deep, but they were athletic and they played good fundamental basketball. They denied open looks, and they continually made adjustments to take away things Creighton was exploiting. It was a chess match, really, watching the move-counter move of two extraordinary teachers of the game putting their teams in position to succeed.
In a first half that saw seven lead changes and two ties, it was clear to even the least attentive fans that these were two pretty evenly matched teams, with two great coaches battling to give their team a tactical edge. It was a 50/50 game, frankly, the kind of game in which one big swing of momentum might put one team or the other over the top.
The second half was more of the same, with six ties and five lead changes. Creighton came out of the locker rooms with a flurry of points, quickly turning a 35-34 halftime deficit into a 42-37 lead. The crowd was starting to stir, and Martelli called a timeout to regroup. His team responded and tied the game at 42 before the under-16 timeout.
Over the next six or seven minutes, the teams continued jostling and battling for the lead, despite Creighton, in particular Josh Dotzler, doing everything they could to hand the game to the Hawks. I hate to pick on Dotzler, but what a schizophrenic day! 10 assists and 7 turnovers? Talk about Jekyll and Hyde. The worst stretch came from the 12:27 mark to the 10:12 mark -- 2 minutes and 15 seconds that saw Dotzler turn it over four times in five possessions. The other possession? P'Allen Stinnett turned it over. Nice. The crowd was restless, as an uncharacteristically bad stretch from their backcourt threatened to tip the scales in St. Joe's favor for good.
Indeed, as the under-8 timeout approached, St. Joseph's had built their biggest second-half lead of five points, 55-50. Chad Millard hit one of two free throws to send the game into the under-8 at 55-51, Hawks.
And then...an amazing thing happened. Coach Norman Dale came on the video board, and gave a rousing pep talk.
Along with another guy in my row, I had been trying in vain to get people in my section to make noise all day. But after that video, which ends with the team slow clapping, the crowd spontaneously stood in unison -- the entire arena, clapping, yelling, screaming. Perhaps more amazingly, the crowd continued doing so as St. Joseph's inbounded the ball. Did the Jays fed off the crowd? Here's the sequence coming out of that timeout; you tell me.
7:50 SJU inbounds
7:38 SJU turnover by Tasheed Carr
7:29 CU basket by P'Allen Stinnett
7:10 SJU misses an ill-advised rushed shot
7:03 CU's Josh Dotzler rebounds, drives the length of the court, scores
6:26 SJU turnover on Ahmad Nivins
6:08 CU three-pointer by P'Allen Stinnett
5:43 SJU turnover on Tasheed Carr
With each successive turnover, the noise ratcheted up. With each bucket, the decibel level grew. By the third SJU turnover in four possessions, the place was in a state of pandemonium. The Hawks were clearly rattled. It had gone from 55-51 SJU to 58-55 Jays in two minutes.
But then Martelli called them over, settled them down, and they calmly began running their offense, getting good shots, and managed to build a lead again. I'm telling you, this guy can flat-out coach.
The Jays grabbed a one-point lead at the final media timeout, 61-60. Great coaching can take you to a certain point, and then you need big time players to make plays. Dane Watts was that guy on Sunday, and he put the team on his shoulders. The senior simply refused to let the Jays lose. It was the sort of singularly dominant performance you expect, nay, require from your senior leader in a close game such as this. And he delivered. On both ends of the court, he willed the team to victory.
And yet, it almost wasn't enough. As they came upcourt with 1:09 to go, they trailed 67-63, needing a three pointer badly. Another senior, the under-appreciated Nick Bahe, drilled a wide-open three from the corner to cut the lead to one. And then the Dane Watts Show premiered.
After a quick bucket from Tasheed Carr (one of those "an easy layup is the same as a foul" things), Watts scored an easy layup at the other end. 69-68 with 22 seconds left. After a quick foul, Pat Calathes missed the second of his two free throws, leaving the door open a crack.
The Jays got the rebound, Watts was fouled, and as the entire arena held their collective breaths, he sank the first free throw and then the second. A final defensive stop, highlighted by forcing a desperation heave from 30 feet, sent the game to overtime.
Before the extra period, the classic bedside pep talk from Adrian to Rocky, followed by the awesome Rocky II training montage, got the crowd into a frenzy. Let the record show that this is officially the first and only time that both Hoosiers AND Rocky II have been utilized in the same game. If the game had gone double-OT, the Cheers clip with Norm starting a slow clap by tapping his pencil on the bar would have had to make an appearance too!
In the extra period, the Jays made 17 of 18 free throws. Think about that. 17 of 18! Watts hit 7 of 8, the last miss costing him a 30-point game. The parade to the charity stripe, and the Jays ability to knock down the shots, enabled them to pull away to a 90-84 win.
What a game.
POLYFRO HEEE-HAW PLAYER OF THE GAME: Hmm, this is such a tough decision...wait, no its not. Dane Watts. Period. End of discussion. 8-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 12-15 from the line, 29 points, 8 rebounds, 32 minutes. That's the way you will your team to a victory. That's the way you earn a virtual taste of the sweet generic Mountain Dew!
You bet.
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