In his last press conference before today’s Big East Conference Tournament at the Garden, St. John’s coach Norm Roberts offered up impassioned praise for his players — for their blood and sweat, for their commitment and hard work, for their pride in wearing the Red Storm uniform.
This has not been the breakthrough season that fans were hoping for, but it has not broken their will or camaraderie.
If today’s game against Connecticut (17-14, 7-11 Big East) turns out to be the last in the Roberts era, the record will show that coach and players had each other’s backs to the end.
“All we can do is the things that we control,” said Roberts. “What we control is our energy, our effort, our focus. We’re going to give the kids 100 percent every time, and I expect them to give us 100 percent every time.
“Life is life. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t. That’s part of it. We’re all big boys and we’ll deal with whatever situation.”
The coaches are mature men, but the players are boys who are maturing. So don’t think less of rock-tough point guard Malik Boothe for showing some deep-felt emotion when asked about the team’s inner support.
Boothe “manned-up,” as Roberts would say, composing himself and returned to the interview room where the 5-foot-9 junior from Queens illuminated the program’s pain at not being able to get over the hump.
“I haven’t lost like this since we’ve been losing now,” said Boothe. “And I think to get that little taste that we were getting earlier in the season, it was great. And I just want to feel that all the time.”
The Red Storm must win at least two games in this tournament to get on the NIT bubble. It is not where Roberts (80-99 overall, 33-72 Big East) hoped to be in his sixth season as coach.
The Red Storm, seeded 13th, posted back-to-back wins over Louisville and Notre Dame in mid-February that had the program on the cusp of success.
But a 59-50 home loss to Seton Hall, which played without Eugene Harvey (hand) and lost star Jeremy Hazell to a cut hand, started a late-season swoon.
At 16-14 (6-12 Big East), St. John’s didn’t win any more league games than it did last season, when many were hailing the conference as the greatest ever. It didn’t post any more wins despite having a junior-heavy roster.
“I feel like, ‘Yea, we have to continue to play,’ ” said junior Sean Evans. “Because we did a lot of good things this season and to go out on a loss and not be able to play anymore isn’t really a failure but isn’t what you want to have happen and what you thought the end of your season would be.”