Dwight Hardy watches St. John’s when he can, when the six-hour time difference from Italy allows him to, and he feels as if he is watching a replay, watching this St. John’s team go on a run like his team did three years ago, turning an 11-8 start into the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in nine years.
“I definitely remember that feeling,” Hardy, The Bronx product playing for Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna in the Italian League, told The Post via email before red-hot St. John’s met Seton Hall at the Prudential Center Thursday night.
“I still think about it to this day. It felt like we were unstoppable, and no matter who we played against we were going to give them the best we had.”
However, there are differences. The 2010-11 team, full of seniors, was as hungry as a college basketball team could be, yearning to win after so much losing, knowing it was their last chance. The current group is loaded with highly regarded prospects and was predicted to be a factor in March. The Big East was better then, too, with Syracuse and Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Notre Dame all still in the conference.
“The main reason we were able to make the NCAA Tournament after [we started] 11-8 is because we never stopped believing in each other and also knowing that it was our last chance to do something special,” Hardy said, sounding like current players D’Angelo Harrison and Sir’Dominic Pointer. Even in the darkest of times this season when the losses were piling up, St. John’s never lost that belief, and kept on saying it could reach all of its preseason goals.
St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin has used that 2010-11 team as a rallying cry, pointing out to his players that group didn’t click until February, winning 10 of 12 games, and still had enough time to play its way into the tournament, much like this team seems to be doing.
Hardy, that team’s star who hit numerous game-winning shots, said the season turned when St. John’s hammered Duke by 15, ranked third in the country at the time. It was a victory that told the Johnnies they could compete with anyone. This St. John’s team has had that belief, after narrow losses to No. 1 Syracuse and No. 8 Villanova, but its confidence seems to have shot up after Sunday’s victory over then- No. 13 Creighton, its sixth win in seven games.
“There are definitely similarities between the 2011 team and this team,” Hardy said. “They now have the experience. They’ve been together for a while now so I think everything is starting to come together and they are playing well as of late.”
The biggest common denominator, Hardy said, is Lavin, and the confidence he instills in his players. He never panicked during the slow start, partly because his teams have always gotten better as March nears.
“It’s something about Coach Lavin — he gets his teams playing great at the right time of the year,” Hardy said. “I believe that if this team can keep on winning for the rest of conference play they will have a shot to make the tournament.”