St. Joes looks to start new postseason streak
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - March 20, 2008 Well, the Hawks are back - but with an extra "1" in the seed.
The 11th-seeded Hawks (21-12) return to the NCAA field Friday
against No. 6 seed Oklahoma in their first trip since grabbing a
spot atop the bracket.
Since then, St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli figures his team
has been plagued by the "out of sight, out of mind" syndrome.
"What can happen when you're in a non-BCS conference is,
(people wonder) where have you gone and what have you done?"
Martelli said. "We've had terrific years since that '04 team
played in the regional final."
The Hawks even had postseason success, making it to the NIT
final in 2005. But the short-lived NCAA glory faded into a memory.
This group is more Ordinary St. Joe's than the last NCAA team
that went 27-0 in the regular season and had two NBA first-round
draft picks. The Hawks squeezed into the field with an at-large
berth after losing to Temple in the Atlantic 10 championship game.
Both the Hawks and Sooners (22-11) have enjoyed turnarounds
since having postseason streaks end last season. For the Hawks, it
was the end of a six-year string, a paltry thing compared to
Oklahoma's 25-year streak that was the nation's longest.
The painful memory of staying home in March lingers for the
Sooners, even those who weren't around to endure it.
"We remember how it was last year," said freshman forward
Blake Griffin, an All-Big 12 Conference selection. "That feeling
was so close, watching games on TV and seeing teams losing and you
see the seniors in the last game they play on the college level.
"For me, it just kind of puts things in perspective and gives
you more excitement to play."
If that doesn't do it, a much longer look back might. The
Sooners made it to the national championship game following their
last tournament visit to Birmingham two decades ago. Plus, they
made it to the Final Four in '02 and a regional final the following
season.
And if that fails to motivate? Oklahoma players can just listen
to coach Jeff Capel, who logged plenty of tourney time as a Duke
guard and played in the 1994 national title game.
"He tells us stories, a lot of stories about his former teams
and what it takes to win games at this level and what it means to
be in the NCAA tournament," center Longar Longar said. "He helps
us in so many different ways to focus and understand that every
game is win or go home from this point on."
Capel's advice: Have fun and have a "sense of urgency," a
hard-to-achieve blend of emotions.
"All year long you try to get your guys to believe this, but
when you get to this point every game really could be the last for
this group," he said. "You really want to try to savor each
moment and really try to lay everything on the line to try to
extend your season."
The Hawks have only two players with NCAA tournament experience.
Fifth-year senior Arvydas Lidzius, a little-used reserve, was on
the team in 2004 and starting point guard Tasheed Carr made the
tourney with Iowa State in 2005 - making him the most familiar
player to his former Big 12 rivals.
Clearly, St. Joe's is embracing the underdog role.
"Throughout the whole season, we have been pretty much seen as
the underdogs," forward Rob Ferguson said. "We're kind of used to
it. I think it kind of gives us a little extra chip on our
shoulder."
The Hawks also get to play a team from one of those BCS schools
that get more TV time and headlines.
"It's just a wonderful feeling all around," center Ahmad
Nivins said. "You watch those big schools all year long and wonder
how you'd match up with a team like that, and now you get the
chance."
Plus, that '04 run ended with a 64-62 loss to Oklahoma State.
Remember, St. Joe's?
"I have a twitch every time I hear Oklahoma, to be honest with
you, but that's just me," Martelli said.