GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Carmelo Anthony and his teammates know they are facing a must-win in Game 2 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden or they could go back to Indiana down 0-2.

“We don’t want to do that, we don’t want to do that,” Anthony said Monday at practice. “We want to take care of business here on our court. We feel like we gave them a game yesterday, which we did. And we’ll redeem ourself tomorrow.”

Anthony said his injured left shoulder was “fine” and downplayed attention to his declining shot production.

In the last four games — including three losses — he is 35-for-110 from the field and 2-for-22 from the arc.

“As far as shots go, I’m not going to overanalyze that or start putting that under a microscope because the shots that I’m taking, I know I can make,” he said. “They’re just not going in at this point for whatever reason it is….I’m not thinking twice about the shots that I’m missing.”

Asked if he needed to attack the basket more, he said: “I have to, that’s what I do. That’s what we succeed at. We start from the inside out, especially when we not making jump shots and things like that from the outside. We have to attack the basket and try to take advantage of that.”

J.R. Smith has also struggled mightily for the Knicks. Since the suspension in Game 4 against Boston he has shot, 3-for-14, 5-for-14 and 4-for-15.

“It helps to get to the free throw line some,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “They gotta continue to shoot in practice and when they [are] taking shots, they gotta try to take better shots.”

He added: “I think they’re capable of doing that, and only time will tell.”

Anthony also downplayed criticism of the officials, who appeared not to give Anthony the benefit of the doubt on several calls.

“Them guys, they officiated the game to the best of their ability yesterday,” he said. “I’ll leave it at that. As far as my mindset, I’m attacking. That’s my goal.”

Kenyon Martin suggested after Game 1 that Anthony should play more small forward as opposed to power forward so he doesn’t get beat up as much, but Anthony said it’s not a concern.

“I think K-Mart is coming from a concern standpoint as a teammate from me getting beat up so much, but we’ve been dealing with the same thing all year long,” Anthony said.

“I think I committed one foul on David West. I think David West scored maybe once or twice when I was guarding him at the power forward position….I don’t think they’re doing anything great other than they out-worked us yesterday.”

Asked if he was considering moving Anthony back to the three, where he spent part of Game 1 when he played alongside Tyson Chandler and Martin, Woodson said, “No, not right now. It’s too early in the series.”

He said he wasn’t concerned that Anthony was getting beat up by bigger defenders like West and Roy Hibbert.

“Melo’s played big guys all year,” he said. “The last I checked statistic-wise, we’ve been pretty damn good this year with Melo playing at the four spot so I don’t see any reason to change at this point now.”

Even with Amar’e Stoudemire eyeing a possible return in Game 3 Saturday in Indiana, the Knicks cannot afford to enter that game down 0-2. As things stand, they have already surrendered their homecourt advantage and now must increase their effort level to match the young Pacers in Game 2.

“It’s very critical,” Woodson said. “We can’t go back to Indiana down 0-2. We gotta do everything that we can that’s possible to win the game.”

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NEW YORK -- In this interview from the Jordan Brand Classic, Syracuse-bound point guard Tyler Ennis of St. Benedict’s Prep talks about St. Ben’s run to the ESPN NHSI final, the Orange’s future, fellow Canadian Andrew Wiggins and Saturday’s Jordan Brand Classic.

**For the SNY.tv documentary on Ennis and his voyage from Canada to Newark, click here.

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NEW YORK — New York native Dakari Johnson is returning home this week for the Jordan Brand Classic, which takes place Saturday at Barclays Center.

It’s been quite a week for the 6-foot-10 Johnson, who last weekend won the ESPN National High School Invitational with coach Kevin Boyle’s Montverde (Fla..) Academy team.

After the game, he guaranteed a Kentucky national championship in 2014.

In this video interview with SNY.tv, Johnson talks about the NHSI title, playing with five other Kentucky All-Americans in the Jordan Classic and his guarantee.

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NEW YORK — Rob Fulford coached a virtual Dream Team on Thursday.

At various points during practice for the Jordan Brand Classic, the Huntington (W.V.) Prep coach fielded a five of Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle and Chris Walker up front, with Andrew and Aaron Harrison in the backcourt. Walker is committed to Florida, while Randle and the Harrisons are bound for Kentucky.

“That’s not a bad mix right there,” Fulford told SNY.tv in the above interview. “Obviously, there’s a ton of talented kids here.”

College coaches were not permitted at the practice, but a gaggle of NBA scouts watched from the stands. All 30 NBA teams have requested credentials to Saturday’s game at the Barclays Center, and with good reason. Five of the top 10 projected picks in the 2014 NBA Draft were in the gym on Thursday.

The 6-foot-7 Wiggins is the projected No. 1 pick in 2014 and has yet to decide between Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina and Florida State.

“Andrew, he’s a different kid,” Fulford said. “He’ll make his decision when the time is right.”

Asked if the six Kentucky commits in the Jordan Classic were in Andrew’s ear, Fulford said: “I don’t think those guys are swaying him….Either he’s going to come or he’s not.”

Wiggins kept a low-profile with the media on Thursday and likely will do the same when it’s time to make the announcement that the whole basketball world is awaiting.

“I don’t see a press conference,” Fulford said. “He doesn’t need the attention….Knowing him he’ll just have somebody else tweet it for him.”

Wherever Wiggins does land, Fulford says that school will be getting a special player and person.

“He’s special on and off the court,” Fulford said. “That’s the biggest compliment you can give Andrew, how humble he his, how personable he is toward everybody.

“He’s a special kid and we’ve been privileged to have him in Huntington and with our Huntington Prep family. He’s going to be a really special player wherever he goes.”

**For more stories on Andrew Wiggins, click here.

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I can’t say I ever thought we’d see Mike Rice and Rutgers basketball make Saturday Night Live.

But here we are.

And Melissa McCarthy is the perfect person to do it.

McCarthy plays Sheila Kelly, the coach of the Middle Delaware State’s women’s basketball team, who threatens her players with a baseball bat, forces them to serve her dinner in the gym and throws toasters at them.

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By GARRETT MILEY

Special to ZAGSBLOG

PHILADELPHIA —  Sir’Dominic Pointer drained a game-winning jumper at the buzzer as St. John’s shot 55.2 percent after the break to erase a 12-point second half deficit and advance into the NIT Second Round with a 63-61 victory on the road against St. Joe’s.

“I’ve never hit a shot like that in college,” Pointer said after the game.  “It just felt good and to celebrate it with my teammates felt even better.”

Pointer finished with 15 points, including a career-high three 3-pointers, seven rebounds and five assists to lead St. John’s (17-15), while JaKarr Sampson added a team-high 16 points to go with five rebounds.  Phil Greene IV finished with 10 points, Jamal Branch had nine points and five assists, and Chris Obekpa added six points, eight rebounds and three blocks.  After shooting just 36.4 percent (12-of-33) in the first half, the Red Storm fired at a 55.2 percent clip (16-of-29) in the final stanza.

St. John’s advanced to face Virginia in the second round with the game date and time to be determined

Johnnies coach Steve Lavin called Pointer’s shot “poetic justice” because of “how bad he felt for embarrassing our program and our school and letting his teammates down.”

Pointer was suspended one game after getting into a fight at Notre Dame March 5.

This is a critical time for Lavin and the Red Storm.

After blowing a chance to make the NCAAs by losing eight of 10 down the stretch, the NIT represents a chance to get players like Pointer and Sampson postseason experience.

“For where we are, in the of infancy stage of program, in terms of the evolution of our program and rebuilding, this is a big moment,” Lavin said. “We all wanted to be in the NCAA Tournament but this was the first postseason game for our team. Not a member of our team on scholarship has been to the postseason. And now to get a postseason win makes it even more important as we move forward in building this program.”

Pointer is a perfect representation of where the St. John’s program is at this very moment. Young, inexperienced, immature at times, but undoubtedly talented.

“Couldn’t be prouder of him coming off of the Notre Dame fight and the embarrassment and shame he went through,” Lavin said.  “I want to see the breakthrough and reward for handling and responding to the discipline the right way and that was just to go back to work and apologize to his teammates. It was authentic and real. Dom’s one of the more authentic people I’ve been around in my life.”

Looking ahead to next year when this NIT run ends, St. John’s has the potential to be one of the top teams in the new Big East.

If Sampson and/or suspended guard D’Angelo Harrison return and combine with forward Orlando Sanchez (who was recently granted a waiver and will be eligible to play next season), St. John’s could have one of the most formidable teams in the league.

“Youngest team in school history, the youngest team in country,” Lavin said.  “We were given a fresh start and new beginning in the NIT and we’re hoping we make a run this year. Regardless, this is all about a gateway to next year.”

On the recruiting front, St. John’s is one of the three finalists for Rysheed Jordan, the highly sought after point guard from Vaux Roberts, who will announce April 15.

Jordan is also considering UCLA and Temple, and Temple head man Fran Dunphy watched him Tuesday in Philly.

Still, Pointer pointed out that the Red Storm are not a finished for this year.

“We’re a young team,” Pointer said.  “But learning…Just learning.”

(With wire services)

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]]> http://zagsblog.com/video/pointers-game-winner-lifts-johnnies-over-st-joes-in-nit/feed/ 0 adamzags http://zagsblog.com/video/st-johns-bubble-pops-villanova-poised-for-the-ncaa/ http://zagsblog.com/video/st-johns-bubble-pops-villanova-poised-for-the-ncaa/#comments Thu, 14 Mar 2013 02:56:03 +0000 Adam Zagoria http://zagsblog.com/?p=91000 ]]>

By MATT SUGAM

Special to ZAGSBLOG

NEW YORK – And now they wait.

Five weeks ago, Steve Lavin had a young and hungry St. John’s squad poised to make its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.

But the Johnnies lost key players down the stretch to suspensions and lost for the seventh time in eight games, falling to Villanova, 66-53, in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The No. 7 Wildcats will face No. 2 Louisville tonight at 7 p.m.

Whatever bubble dreams the Johnnies (16-15) had of making the NCAA Tournament have popped.

Their hopes of continuing their season now hinge on an NIT bid, and the Johnnies must wait until Selection Sunday to learn their fate.

“It’s really difficult,” Big East Rookie of the Year JaKarr Sampson said after putting up 13 points and nine boards. “You just have to sit around and just wait. Being in this position we wish we could have won this game and advanced to the next round, so there’s a lot of sitting around just waiting to see what we’re going to go.”

Meantime, Jay Wright and Villanova (20-12) all but solidified their spot in the Big Dance after notching their 20th win of the season behind Mouph Yarou’s 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals, Ryan Arcidiacono’s 15 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds and JayVaughn Pinkston’s 12 point and 9 boards.

Since the Big East first received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 1982-83, 97 percent of the Big East teams with 20 wins made the NCAA Tournament.

For now, Wright downplayed his program’s case for an NCAA bid.

“We’re going to take whatever the committee decides,” Wright said. “I told you that before we came up here, I still feel good.  I still feel real good.  As long as we can play, I’m going to keep going for the next game.

“I knew there was a chance we could lose this one, and it would be a long week at home waiting.  Right now I’m not going to think about that.  I’m just going to think about Louisville.”

Lavin doesn’t just think the the Wildcats are an NCAA Tournament team. He believes they are a squad that can make some noise in March Madness.

“Villanova’s an excellent basketball team,” Lavin said. “They’re very capable of making a run in the NCAA Tournament.”

Something he hopes his team can do next year.

Lavin said he believes “98 to 100 percent” of his team will be back. That two percent depends on if Sampson opts for the NBA or not and if leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison returns after being suspended for the remainder of the season four games ago.

And so, Lavin thinks his team can aspire be what Villanova is.

“We’re playing a team tonight that’s going to be in the same situation we are next year, a hungry group of players that last year didn’t get to the winner’s circle, didn’t get to experience the NCAA Tournament,” Lavin said. “So you have a physical basketball team that’s determined to have a run in the NCAA Tournament.

“That will be us next fall.  Like them, when you have a resolve because you’ve been knocked down or beat down as we have, that’s when you move forward.  We have to have that resolve in this off‑season.”

Photo credit: News Day

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NEW YORK — A brutal season filled with injuries, losses and off-the-court distractions has come to a merciful close for Seton Hall.

The No. 12 Pirates went down swinging, giving No. 5 Syracuse all they could handle until the Orange went on a second-half run and put the Big East Tournament game away, 75-63, at Madison Square Garden.

Beset by injuries, he Pirates (15-18) lost 12 of their final 14 games and finished 3-15 in the Big East regular season.

Still, they summoned one last fight against the Orange, taking an early lead and then keeping it close until Syracuse used an 11-2 second-half run to take control.

“Seton Hall, they’re not a great team but they played great today,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.

Now coach Kevin Willard and the Pirates can exhale, take a vacation, get healthy and look forward to what could be a promising year in the new Big East in 2013-14.

Several players have had or or will require medical procedures, including Patrik Auda (foot), Brandon Mobley (shoulder), Aaron Cosby (knee, ankle), Brian Oliver (ankle) and Haralds Karlis (face).

“We had guys break their foot,” said Willard, who looked exhausted and frustrated for much of the season. “We had guys their their shoulder out. We had guys blow out every ankle, every ligament in their ankle when guys tear their MCL.

“I think that was maybe my frustration.”

Kyle Smyth was the only senior on the team and he closed his career by crying on Willard’s shoulder.

“I think any collegiate athlete when it comes to the end, it’s very emotional,” he said. “Ending it with the guy I started off with, that really meant a lot.”

While it remains unclear if any players will leave the program — Would it shock anyone if Kevin Johnson transferred? —  the Pirates are expected to return a solid core in Fuquan Edwin, Gene Teague, Tom Maayan, Mobley, Oliver, Auda and Karlis.

They add point guard Sterling Gibbs, who will be the starting floor general after sitting out the year per NCAA transfer regulations.

And they must still decide what to do with recruit Jerron Wilbut, who was recently involved in a robbery but would’ve been a key player next year at the two guard spot.

They will likely be in the market for a couple of JUCO guards to fill the spots vacated by Aquille Carr, who has said he will play overseas, and possibly Wilbut.

But going forward, they enter a new league that won’t feature Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati or arch-rival Rutgers and should be somewhat easier to navigate.

That league will feature the Catholic 7 and is expected to add Butler, Creighton and Xavier.

“I think that’s what everyone’s excited about,” Willard said. “It’s really not a new league. It’s kind of just like a restart. From that standpoint, being able to come back here and play in the Garden, I think it’s a great treat.”

Photo: Star-Ledger

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With the last Big East Tournament as we know it set to tip off today, here is a video and a few news updates to keep you posted.

**Above is the SNY Big East Tournament preview featuring Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco. The league also formally announced Tuesday that the Catholic 7 would get to keep the “Big East” name going forward, and said it would soon provide more information about “the expected broadcast media deal, season-ending tournament and additional members of the new conference,” which are expected to be Butler, Creighton and Xavier.

“We think it all worked out logically,” Aresco told SNY, “in terms of the name, the Garden and the finances.”

**At 5 p.m. today, the Big East will announce Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year. Georgetown’s Otto Porter Jr. will be named the Player of the Year.

**For the Big East Tournament schedule, click here.

**Meantime, the Big East officially announced that Notre Dame will head to the ACC on July 1, joining Syracuse and Pitt, meaning that the 14 teams in this current Big East tournament will go to three separate leagues next year.

“This decision makes sense for the Big East,” said Aresco.  “In view of Notre Dame’s expressed desire to join the ACC on an earlier timetable, the Big East and Notre Dame were able to arrive at an acceptable resolution. The Big East can now focus fully on its future alignment and rebranding efforts. I want to thank the Notre Dame administration and Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick for their efforts in moving toward this orderly transition.  Notre Dame has been a valued member of the Big East and we wish them well.”

“From the time of our decision to join the ACC we have stressed our commitment to ensuring that our departure was achieved in a collegial manner,” Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said.  “This agreement realizes that intention and we are very grateful to the members of the Big East and Commissioner Aresco for helping to facilitate this orderly and timely transition.”

Here’s how it breaks down:

NEW BIG EAST / CATHOLIC 7

DePaul

Georgetown

Marquette

Providence

St. John’s

Seton Hall

Villanova

ACC

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

AMERICA 12

Cincinnati

Louisville (to ACC in 2014)

Rutgers (to Big Ten in 2014

USF

**UConn (not eligible for Big East Tournament)

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NEW YORK — The enduring image of the Knicks’ 99-93 loss to the Miami Heat Sunday afternoon was LeBron James stealing a J.R. Smith pass on the perimeter in the game’s final seconds and gliding downcourt for an uncontested dunk.

In the end, it was James, the presumptive NBA MVP, overcoming a third-quarter knee injury and putting up 29 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists to will his team to its 14th straight victory before a capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden.

It wasn’t the Knicks making a statement by moving to 3-0 against Miami this season, and throwing some intrigue into the Eastern Conference playoff situation.

It was James and his cohorts making the statement that they are still the NBA’s top dog, despite any fantasies the Knicks may have to the contrary.

“We don’t compare ourselves to Miami,” Carmelo Anthony said after James held him to eight of his 32 points on 3-of-11 shooting in the second half. “Miami’s Miami. We New York. We’ll see them when we see them again. We’re not thinking about that.”

After an 18-5 start, the Knicks (35-21) once had harbored thoughts of challenging the Heat for the No. 1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference.

But since then they are 17-16 and are now trail the front-running Heat (43-14) by 7 1/2 games in the East.

With 16 more games to go in the brutal month of March, they better focus on keepng pace with Indiana, the team they trail by 1/2 game for the No. 2 seed.

For a half, the Knicks looked like the team that beat Miami twice this season by 20 points each and won at San Antonio.

Anthony was on fire for 24 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first half, and Jason Kidd looked reborn in putting up 12 points on 4-of-5 from the arc. The Knicks led 59-45 at the break.

But just as quickly, the Knicks’ offense fell apart in the second half. Kidd managed just two points after the break. J.R. Smith, who is ostensibly the second banana to Anthony, suffered through a woeful 5-of-18 shooting performance, including 3-of-14 from deep.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Smith said. “We played well for the whole game. The turnovers killed us, my three especially…We just have to move on to the next one.”

Knicks coach Mike Woodson called out Smith after the game, and justifiably so.

“He has to mix it up,” Woodson said. “That is something he and I will talk about. When you are not making your threes you have to get something close or get to the free-throw line. He is learning how to be a good scorer but we have to help him.”

With Smith, Kidd and Steve Novak (0-for-3, 0 points) struggling from deep, and Woodson limiting Amar’e Stoudemire to 21 minutes because he wanted to go small, James suffocated Anthony in the second half despite going down with what could’ve been a serious knee injury at the 6:04 make of the third when he tried to corral a Dwayne Wade alley oop.

“I was concerned but I had a doctor look at it,” James said. “I will be alright. It might be a little worse the next day. Hopefully, I believe, I will be in the lineup tomorrow.”

Anthony had his own knee and rib injuries to deal with.

He went to the locker room late in the first half to get treatment.

“I came back ,got some treatement at halftime,” Anthony said. “Ice and stim. More by knee than my arm.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, though.”

Mostly, though, it was James outplaying his Olympic teammate and friend in the second half, shutting him down defensively and taking over for 19 of his team-high 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

“He is a great player,” James said of Anthony. “You try to make it tough for him. You have to contest and live with the result.”

While James has two legitimate stars next to him in Wade and Chris Bosh — the trio combined for 65 points — Anthony doesn’t have that.

He has Smith, who is probably given more freedom than he deserves, Stoudemire, who may never be the player he was, and Tyson Chandler, who will never be confused with an offensive force.

“As far as his shooting percentage or just him as a player, what he’s able to do out there on the court, he’s playing at a very high level right now,” Anthony said of James. “Miami’s playing at a very high level.

“When you have the big three playing the way they playing, especially right now, it makes it tough for a lot of of people. You never know where it’s going to come from.”

The Knicks had a chance to make a statement on a national stage.

For one half, they did.

But not for two.

And now Anthony is right. The Knicks can’t compare themselves to Miami.

They have their own issues to deal with.

**For Video, Notes & Quotes, read the NBA.com notebook here.

Photo: NY Post

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