Greetings from Saint Joseph's Hawk Hoop Club

[JoeCabrey]

Andrew Nicholson is off to a terrific start. I wish I could make the trip back to Olean to see the match-up with Ahmad. Two big guys with ridiculous field goal percentages. The Bonnies woke some people up with road wins at Rutgers and at Bucknell, and showed toughness doing so in one and two overtime periods.

The Reilly Center has the ability to be a tough road venue. What type of crowd are you expecting with the students still on break?
The last time I was there was in 2004 and that pre-game crowd was off the charts. They even had a guy repel down a rope from the ceiling with the game ball!

If anyone wants to stop by for some pre or post game banter visit us at xsorbit31.com/users5/hawkforum/index.php

Except for Wednesday, and should we meet in Atlantic City, good luck the rest of the way!

[tomangelone]

It's tough to say, really. With the students gone, the RC won't be nearly as hostile--some might even call it a morgue when school isn't in session. However, I'd imagine a pretty decent crowd Wednesday night.

In my opinion, one of the biggest shames of the "scandal" was the loss of pop in the Bona-Joe's rivalry. These teams used to play some BARN BURNERS and I'd love to see the two Catholic schools re-ignite a strongly competitive series. Nivins is certainly a load down low and he will undoubtedly give Nicholson his biggest challenge to date. I'm really looking forward to the match up.

[sbuSTUDent2005]

No kidding Tom. In the 2003-2004 matchup, the RC was by far the loudest place I have ever been to. While we went on to lose by 50 as that prick Martelli kept a full court press on the entire game, it was still a great atmosphere to be in.

[tomangelone]

I also recall some of the great games between these two during the '90s. Wasn't there a great double or triple overtime game in the A-10 tournament during the David Vanterpool years? If I'm not mistaken, SJU won the game, but it was a real doozy. In addition, we had a thrilling win on Hawk Hill in 2000 with a big three pointer from Eric Siegrist. The following year, which was the freshman campaign for Marques Green and Jameer Nelson, these teams played an incredible overtime game in which SJU needed a half court prayer from Nelson to send it to OT. I'd love to see the intensity get back to that level. For that to take place, it's all on us to re-attain that level of competition.

[bonasfan]

I know of quite a few upperclassmen who will be back on campus early for this game. I hope we can give'em hell. Go Bona's!!

[JoeCabrey]

Jan 12, 2009 17:27:57 GMT -5 sbuSTUDent2005 said:

No kidding Tom. In the 2003-2004 matchup, the RC was by far the loudest place I have ever been to. While we went on to lose by 50 as that prick Martelli kept a full court press on the entire game, it was still a great atmosphere to be in.

It was a great atmosphere. As far as the Hawks that was the night they had a chance to set the school record for most consecutive wins to open a season and the starters played an unbelievable first half. You may not recall that two of the starters only played 16 and 19 minutes total, the third 24 minutes, and Jameer and Delonte only 6 minutes of the second half.

Phil did have a chance to discuss his full court pressure in the first half with Mary Palmer though. Happily an apology and some NCAA tickets to see the Hawks advance in Buffalo past Texas Tech repaired that ill advised outburst.

scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=240240179

Agree 100% on the previous intensity of the rivalry. There were some terrific games and that play Jameer made to send the Fiedhouse game into overtime remains one of his signature moments on Hawk Hill.

[wgt]

JoeCabrey…Excellent & accurate post on Phil’s confrontation with Mary. Good point on mins played by the two super star guards but why the press on a game that was well in hand? We were embarassed by 51 pts. Mary expressed what all in attendance & listening wondered. She did feel better after the apology from the Coach & the tix (more so the apology). I also remember the university extending an apology for Phil’s behavior. There have been other moments at the RC which, I am sure you are aware, have created some animosity: Nelson’s choke sign to the crowd in the closing secs of a close game won by the Hawks, Sarah’s dad coming on the court to “defend” his daughter –Hawk because the Bona student running with the Bona flag touched her as she did her figure eights around the court especially by the Bona bench & of course little Phil Jr always at the end of the bench getting engaged with the students in the end court bleachers. I know 2 people who know Phil well & swear he is the nicest guy in the world. I have no doubt he is. But on the hardwood at the RC the best does not come out in him. We will have to hit on all cylinders to have Martelli leave the RC a humbler coach.

Here is an article on the exchange between Martelli & Mary the day following the incident. I’m hoping that Ms. Palmer will be in the crowd on Wed


ESPN
Olean, N.Y.
The Hawks offensive output was their most since scoring 116 points in a win over Wheeling Jesuit to open the 1991-92 season. The school record is 128 against Nevada-Reno in 1971.

Hawks coach Phil Martelli proved to be overly sensitive in a game in which his team was never threatened.

With 4 minutes left in the first half, a middle-aged female fan behind the Saint Joseph's bench criticized Martelli for pressing the Bonnies despite enjoying a 25-point lead.

Martelli snapped back, yelling, "Shut up, you nitwit." A few seconds later he turned around again and added: "You should be embarrassed by your own team, you moron."

The fan, Mary Palmer, took offense to Martelli's response.
"I had respect for that man until tonight," said Palmer, who's been regularly attending Bonnies games for 18 years. "It took my breath away when he turned and yelled at me for making an acute observation."

[JoeCabrey]

I admit the first half was completely dominating, Jameer didn't miss a shot all night, and continuing to press probably seemed excessive.

It had nothing to do with the score, and it wasn't meant to disrespect SBU either. It was simply how Phil wanted the Hawks to play, with that defensive pressure, and shooting threes. The Hawks opened that magical season defeating higher ranked Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden. That was a game played at a very high level by both teams. Then for a bit they were always good enough to win, but not great, and found themselves escaping at the buzzer twice as Jameer buried a very long shot to win at Old Dominion and had to do it again against the California Golden Bears in the Pete Newell Challenge.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GLGORPxmg8

After that Martelli changed the tone with a bold statement. Look - we're nationally ranked and have already beaten the team ranked higher than us. If we want March to be all that it can be we need to play against our own previous best. Not the opponent, not the score. This doesn't mean we take anyone lightly, but rather that each opponent is a chance to test ourselves to see if we are having constant individual and team improvement.

That changed things and the Hawks started to run off 15, 20, 25 point runs while giving up a just few fieldgoals almost ever game. Each time out the intent was to do better, and on that night, fired up at the prospect of breaking the school record for most wins to open a season, they were just sensational, leading 62 - 27 at the half.

Even the bench players were caught up by the emotion of the night and they shot 14 - 19 in Olean including 5 - 9 for threes. If our bench always shot 73.68% that year we would have gone to the Final Four!

I do recall the choke sign (and what he heard about that from the staff afterwards) and as someone sitting behind the SJU bench also heard some of the language directed at Jameer's father before the 2004 game even started. Nothing anyone should be proud of, and I hope the rivalry can resume its intensity without anything else that reflects poorly on either program.

[457dev]

Welcome Joe

I team-teach with a St. Joe's grad. Great guy