Robinson Can-do-No-mo

In 2008 Robinson Cano looked trade able. In 2010 Robinson Cano has looked like the best player on The New York Yankees and the last person to be traded.

Cano is hitting .387 with 9 home runs and 21 RBI's with 36 hits and 23 runs scored. He has been Mr. All Around and seemingly the most scariest batter in a Yankee line up which has Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texieria, and Derek Jeter.

If Cano finishes the year this strong at the end of the year I'm willing to name him the A.L. MVP without a doubt.

Twitter: TimmyD_WSJU

From Hot to Flop

After an unbelievable 9-1 home stand that took The New York Mets from the bottom of the N.L. East Division to the top in a week and a half The Mets went into Philadelphia and got run out of town.

After a great opening series win where Johnathan Niese earned his first victory of the year, The Mets defeated The Phillies 9-1 behind home runs by Jeff Franceour, David Wright and two by Rod Barajas.

The second game featured Mike Pelfrey, the MLB Leader in ERA (o.69) vs the best pitcher in the game today Roy Halladay. After 3 innings of solid outings by both pitchers, Pelfrey would give up 6 runs in the bottom of the fourth and Halladay would go on to throw a complete game in which the Phillies won 10-0.

In the rubber match between the teams The Mets sent out Johan Santana and the Phillies sent out Jamie Moyer. David Wright would put the Mets up 3-0 with a home run but the Phillies would score 2 runs one of which came off the bat of Ryan Howard in the bottom of the first. The Mets would go up 5-2 at one point but then came the fourth inning and Santana looked like Pelfrey. He gave up 8 runs in the inning and The Mets would go on to lose 11-5.

Mets head off to Cincinnati to face the Reds and look to get hot once more. After a week where they dominated series and one of which they swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in less then 24 hours The Mets would return to same old form. Can they pick it up or was that the highlight of the season for Mets fans.

For more on the New York Mets as well as everything MLB follow me on twitter at TimmyD_WSJU

Playoff wrap up

Boston Celtics finish off the Miami Heat last night 96-86 and win the series 4-1. The move on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers, who finished off the Chicago Bulls 96-94, in the second round of the playoffs.

The Dallas Mavericks got a much needed win last night defeating The San Antonio Spurs 103-81. Great performance by Caron Butler who scored 35 points, a career playoff high. Spurs lead series 3-2.

The Lakers got a little shaken up the past two games by the Oklahoma Thunder the past two games but got back on track last night getting another win at the Staple Center 111-87. Lakers lead the series 3-2.

For more playoff coverage follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU

Daniel Murphy all but set to return...but to the Minors?

With the new found star at first base, Ike Davis, The New York Mets have to make a decision on what to do with Daniel Murphy. Murphy who started last year in left field but then moved to first base after ex-Met Carlos Delgado was injured. Murphy was expected to be The Mets everyday first basemen this season but after a spring training injury and the emergence of Davis it looks like their is no spot for Murphy.

...Or is there?

Couple of reports have been The Mets could send him down to the minors for a month to get his swing back then be brought up to pinch hit and come off the bench to fill in during day games in left field or first base. Other reports have been The Mets could try and have him work on his second base skills and bring him up next year to play second base at the major league level.

Nothing is for certain on those scenarios but what is for sure is that Murphy has lost his job at first.

Mets on Fire

After winning their first series of the season against The Chicago Cubs, The New York Mets have swept the Braves to win their second straight series and defeated The Los Angeles Dodgers twice on Monday during their double header, due to the rain out on Sunday night, which gave them their third straight series win. They have moved Jose Reyes to the third spot in the order and so far it seems to be working just fine.

The Mets have won 6 of their last 7 and look to get their second sweep in a row and of the season today at 1pm.

Ike Davis the young phenom first baseman has yet to let the Mets fans down hitting .333 on 27 at bats with 1 home run and 5 RBI's. It looks as if the Mets have found their 1st basemen of the future.

For all thing Mets and the rest of the MLB follow me on Twitter at @TimmyD_WSJU

Revis, Cromartie and...Wilson

Last night The New York Jets drafted Corner Back Kyle Wilson out of Boise State with the 29th pick in the first round of The 2010 NFL Draft.

Wilson was considered by most NFL Draft Analyst as one of the top Corners in this draft and some went out to say he was the closest thing to now teammate Darrelle Revis.

On Kyle, Jets Coach Rex Ryan said that he will be the starting nickelback and will compete for the job of primary punt returner.

Wilson said he felt right at home and he couldn't have dreamed it any better. He really couldn't have. Wilson will becoming to play for the best defensive mind in the game in Coach Ryan and for the best defense (on paper) in the NFL.



For more on Day 2 of the NFL Draft and all Jets picks follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU

Bronco turned Dolphin

Brandon Marshall the Pro Bowl Receiver has been traded to The Miami Dolphins from The Denver Broncos for what is believed to be a second round pick in this years upcoming draft and a draft pick next year.

In four years will the Broncos, Marshall has 327 receptions for 4,019 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also owns the record for most catches in a game with 21.

09-10 Highlights of Brandon Marshall with the Broncos

For more on Brandon Marshall and all other NFL news follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU

A Steel in Gothem City

Earlier last night news broke that Santonio Holmes of The Pittsburgh Steelers had been traded to The New York Jets for a 5th round pick in this years upcoming draft.

Santonio Holmes in three years has 235 receptions for 3,835 yards and 20 touchdowns. He will always be remembered for his late heroics in Super Bowl XLIII when he made the tremendous catch in the corner of the end zone to seal the win for the Steelers over The Arizona Cardinals with a final score of 27-23. He was named Super Bowl MVP with 9 catch's for 131 yards and of course the touchdown in the final seconds.

Holmes is involved in a legal issue which could cost him the first four games of the season but, if suspended, when he returns Holmes will line up on the field with Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery as well as Tight End Dustin Keller for the Jets with Mark Sanchez behind the ball at Quarterback.

Darrelle Revis had this to say via Twitter, "Wow we got Holmes, this is crazy. We making big moves this off-season. Putting the pieces together to get closer to that super bowl ring."

Revis is right, The Jets are making moves. This off-season they have signed Pro Bowler's LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Cromartie, and Nick Folk as well as Brodney Pool. They are still in negotiations with Defensive End Jason Taylor.

The Jets have put themselves in prime position to grab that Super Bowl. The season is still 5 months away but Vegas is sure to have those Super Bowl odds up very soon and expect the Jets to be at the top of it.

For more coverage of the New York Jets and all NFL follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU

Return of Reyes ... Same Mets

After losing their opening series to The Florida Marlins 1-3 The Mets would go on to face The Washington Nationals just win the first game behind the stellar performance of Mike Pelfrey and the bats of Rod Barajas and Jeff Franceour (Both hit two home runs) and then lose their next two games.

After their great showing Friday night winning 8-3 New York would go on to lose 4-3 and 5-2.

In the game they lost 4-3 they left the bases loaded three times including in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to win it. Barajas the pinched hit just to line the ball into left field and a miraculous diving catch by Willy Harris sealed the deal for the Nats.

Todays game, Sunday, Johan Santana the ace of the Mets gave up a triple, two walks and a grand slam to Josh Willingham all in the first inning. Mike Jacobs would be the only run producer hitting a 2 run home run for the less so 'Amazin Mets.

Jose Reyes, the big story in the past two games, returned from his injury stint to go 1-4 in Saturdays game and 1-4 in Sundays game as well. The Mets win 74% of their games when he scores 1 run and 80% when he scores 2 runs so in short for the Mets to be successful he has to be the leader of their runs.

The Mets are off Monday and will face The Colorado Rockies in their next series. They will go on the road to face the Rockies as well as the St. Louis Cardinals this week and return home to face The Chicago Cubs next week.

For more news on The New York Mets and everything MLB follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU

McNabb looking good in his new 'Skin

Donovan McNabb had worn out his welcome in Philadelphia with The Eagles but he hasn't worn out his welcome in the NFC East. Last week Philly traded McNabb to The Washington Redskins for draft picks. Of course everyone has questioned the move. Why in your division? Not enough given back for him. But it's all done now and McNabb is a 'Skin. The question is now, what do the Redskins do with their 4th pick in this years NFL Draft.

I will go out on a limb and say the 'Skins should draft Dez Bryant the star wide out from Oklahoma State. Without a doubt the best wide receiver in the draft the 'Skins need to give McNabb another weapon to go along side Santana Moss and Antwan Randel El.

The other route they could go is trade their pick to The Denver Broncos for Brandon Marshall. They could go with an inexperience WR or do they go with a safe and star wide out in Marshall. Either way the only hole in the 'Skins offense is their wide receiver depth. They need to give Donovan more weapons to work with and they could possibly win the division this year.

For more NFL talk follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU

A Fin flying in Jets

Jason Taylor, the defense end who spent much of his career with The Miami Dolphins, could possibly be wearing his rivals colors this upcoming season. The New York Jets have shown great amount of interest in Taylor and brought him in to give him a show around the facility. Reports are the Jets offered him a 2 year deal and Coach Rex Ryan said to Taylor he'd have 15 sacks in New York. Now all that waits is Taylor's decision.

Also the Jets are looking at former Pro Bowl Kicker Nick Folk to replace Jay Feely who signed with The Arizona Cardinals last week.

For more Jets information follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU

Tiger on the Prowl

As Tiger Woods took the course Augusta erupted with applause for him. The support hasn't gone away and neither has the game that Tiger has had all his career. He finished the day in 6th place (-4). He hasn't lost his stroke and is on a fierce move to do what he does best and that is win.

Tiger said earlier in the week he would be more calm on the course, no traditional fist pumping or golf club throwing. That didn't last. Tiger missed a chip shot and flung his club and walked around in frustration. I guess some habits can't be broken.

Follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU for more updates from Augusta and Tiger Woods as well as all other major sports

Opening Series...Not So Amazin'

The 2010 Major League Baseball season for The New York Mets started like it had the past 4 years, with a win. After that though it's been up in the air.

After a terrific showing in the first game, beating The Florida Marlins 7-1 behind the arm of ace Johan Santana, The Mets would go on to lose the next to by the scores of 7-6 and 3-1.

The 7-6 loss featured John Maine having trouble getting out of any of his five innings and the Mets offense blowing chances to score runs. Key moment: When Fernando Tatis was thrown out coming home on a wild pitch with bases loaded and David Wright at bat.

The 3-1 loss showed not the pitching problem but the hitting problem. Jonathon Niese had a great game going 6 strong innings and giving only up 3 runs. The offense though left 7 men on base.

Mets take on The Washington Nationals this weekend. Jose Reyes is expected to be in the lineup for Saturdays game. Hopefully he can be a stark to the offense in crucial moments.

Follow me on Twitter @TimmyD_WSJU for all sports related issues

Final Lap from being Dun

Steve Lavin and St. Johns has grabbed another coach on to the dream team coaching staff. First was Tony Chiles now its Mike Dunlap. Dunlap is very qualified coaching as an assistant in College and NBA for many years as well as being head coach at Metro State, Cal Lutheran and overseas in Australia.

Dunlap had been offered to be the interim head coach at The University of Arizona but turned it down.

Dunlap will be welcomed heavily here in New York and hopefully he is one more piece to rebuilding this basketball team.

To read more on the story check out johnnyjungle.com who broke this story earlier this morning.

Rut in the Gutters

Just when Fred Hill thought he was safe it looks like he's gone, and not just him. Reports are after Hill's altercation at a Rutgers Baseball game, he can be released by Rutgers only a month after being told his job was safe. The other problem for Rutgers is Point Guard Mike Rosario looks to be leaving as well. Other reports came in saying he would be asking for permission to transfer else where. Three possibilities are Michigan State, USC and Florida. No official announcement has been made for either of these gentlemen but word of the firing could be announced as soon as todya and Rosario could be let go as soon as Friday.

And The New Coach of St. Johns...... Steve Lavin

For three weeks me and my fellow St. Johns supporters have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of a head coach for this St. Johns team. First we had our hopes for Billy Donovan. He said no. Paul Hewitt would follow in the steps of Donovan and turn down the job stating he did not want to move his family from their comfortable environment. Then we turned to Seth Greenberg, Al Skinner and Fran McCaffery. Greenberg was a no, McCaffery signed with Iowa and Skinner was never offered a deal. It got to the point were we could open the newspaper, go to the job listings and you would see "St. Johns Head Coaching position - we don't care if you don't have experience we just need a coach." Well someone came calling. Whom you may ask. Non other then Steve Lavin.

Steve Lavin was the former UCLA coach from 1996-2003. He had a record of 145 wins and 78 losses. He took the Bruins to six NCAA appearances and five of the six times he brought his team to the Sweet 16 including an Elite 8 bid in 1997. He guided UCLA to also six straight seasons of twenty plus wins and in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament he is 10-1. So his track record shows everything St. Johns wants in a coach. Not to mention he recruited NBA Stars like Trever Ariza, Baron Davis, Jason Kapono and a slew of other players. The only main problem is he hasn't coached since '03. He stepped aside from coaching and joined ESPN as a College Basketball Analyst.

He may be a little rusty but you can expect him to be on his A game and hopefully bring St. Johns back to basketball royalty in the next couple years. With a bunch of seniors next year and 7 scholarships to play with after next year Steve Lavin has the chance to start great and just go up from there.

-Kujtim 'Timmy' Dimas

As always follow me on Twitter @TCaspDeez for all coverage of sports news.

Sweet 16 - Elite 8 - Final 4

What a week it has been in college basketball. Two more #1 seeds down and a Cinderella riding her pumpkin carriage back home to Indy. Here is an overview of what happened this past week in a March Madness that has truly scene ... Madness.

Sweet 16:

Midwest : #5 Michigan State defeated #9 Northern Iowa 59-52 without star point guard Kalin Lucas. #6 Tennessee defeated Evan Turner and #2 seed Ohio State 76-73. Evan Turner had two chances to tie the game but his second attempt was blocked by JP Prince as the buzzer sounded.

West: #1 Syracuse was the second number 1 seed to fall in the tournament losing to #5 Butler 63-59. #2 Kansas State took care of #6 Xavier is a wild game that went into two overtimes and saw an unbelievable shot by Xavier's Jordan Crawford from near half court to send the game into its second OT.

East: #1 Kentucky took care of #12 Cornell 62-45. #2 West Virgina defeated #11 Washington 69-56.

South: #1 Duke beat the Robbie Hummel-less #4 Purdue 70-57 and #3 Baylor ended #10 St. Marys and Omar Samhan's run in the tournament.

Elite 8:

Michigan St. beats out Tennessee and its last second half court heave to make it to the Final 4. Score 70-69. Butler continues its run winning its 24th straight game defeating Kansas State 63-56. Duke Defeats Baylor 78-71 and remains the last #1 seed as Kentucky falls to West Virgina, who was without Daryl 'Truck' Bryant, 73-66.

Final 4 Match ups: West Virgina vs Duke & Michigan State vs Butler.

Two five seeds and a 1 vs 2 match up is how this tournament that has scene upsets and a bunch of different Cinderella runs comes to a finish. Can Duke beat West Virgina an all around team who is getting Bryant back for the game and can Butler take in the home crowd atmosphere, only playing 6 miles from their university take down a Tom Izzo led Michigan State team who is still without Lucas in the game. Only April 3rd can tell us. For me I will be rooting for the hometown team Butler and the last Big East team in the tourney, West Virgina to make it to the finals with West Virgina winning it all.

-Kujtim 'Timmy' Dimas

As always follow me on Twitter @TCaspDeez for all your sports related news.

An Usually Sweet Sweet 16

When the nation filled out their brackets most of them had the higher seeds making the Sweet 16. No one could have predicted a 12, 11, 10 and 9 seed still playing basketball and playing at a very suburb rate.

12th seed Cornell beat number 5 Temple by 13 points. They went on to face number 4 seed Wisconsin last night and won again but by a bigger gap, 18 points. They will now face the top seed in the Eastern Bracket, Kentucky this weekend.

10th seed St. Marys beat out 7th seeded Richmond then went on to face the 2 seed Villinova in a game where people thought 'Nova could take the win. They were wrong as St. Mary's behind a tremendous effort by big man Omar Samhan's 34 points beat 'Nova 75-68. They are going to face 3 seed Baylor later in the week.

The Washington Huskies are the 11th seed that has pulled upsets of its own in the Eastern Bracket as well. They defeated 6th seeded Marquette and then went on to blow out 3 seeded New Mexico by a final score of 82-64.

Last but not least 9th seeded Northern Iowa first beat 9th seeded UNLV then did the impossible by taking out the top seed in the Midwest Bracket and a team a lot of people chose to win it all, The Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 69 to 67. They are slated to face 5th seed Michigan State later on in the week and with the possibility that Michigan St. best player Kalin Lucas being out for the rest of the tournament after injuring his leg against Maryland, Northern Iowa could find themselves in the Elite 8 come next week.

The outlook for the Sweet 16 is as followed.

Thursday: #1 Syracuse vs #5 Butler at 7pm, #11 Washington vs #2 West Virginia at 7 30pm, #6 Xavier vs # 2 Kansas State at 9 30pm and lastly #12 Cornell vs #1 Kentucky at 10pm.

Friday: #6 Tennessee vs #2 Ohio State at 7pm, #10 St. Mary's vs #3 Baylor at 7 30pm, #9 Northern Iowa vs #5 Michigan State at 9 30pm and finally #4 Purdue vs #1 Duke.

All games can be seen on CBS and I promise you folks, when it comes down to this time of the year rankings don't matter. Northern Iowa, Washington, Cornell and St. Mary's are perfect examples why

-Kujtim 'Timmy' Dimas

As always follow me on twitter @TCaspDeez for all your up to date sporting news

An Attempt Against the Odds

In the 2009 NBA Draft Brandon Jennings was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks at number 10. Next to his name did not say a college or high school he came out of but it said Lottomatica Virtus Roma (Italy). If you didn't know why that title was placed next to his name it was because he skipped out on going to Arizona St. to play college basketball and headed off to Europe to by pass the NBA's 1 year college rule, make money and prepare himself for the draft. Was this a sign of trends to come, yes in the case of Jeremy Tyler it was.

Jeremy Tyler skipped his senior year of high school and the chance to play at the University of Louisville with Coach Rick Pitino and made his jump to professional basketball signing a 1-year $140,000 deal with Maccabi Haifa of the Israel Premier League.

That was then this is now. Tyler has left Maccabi Haifa due to "Personal Matters" according to team owner Jeffery Rosen.

Tyler is now team-less and because he played professional basketball he is ineligibly to play college basketball. He must now find a new team and continue to shape himself if he wants to make his way to the NBA.

Though Brandon Jennings can't be blamed for what happened to Tyler he can be seen as the reason for it. Jennings was a highly touted prospect who was said to be NBA ready straight out of high school and he has proven it thous far in the NBA. Jeremy Tyler was a highly touted player as well who chose to choose the path of Jennings to make it to the NBA. He is now home in San Diego gearing up for his next chance at professional basketball. I wish the best of luck to the 6-11 big man and hope his career turns out for the best as Jennings did.

-Kujtim 'Timmy' Dimas

As always follow me on Twitter @TCaspDeez for all things sports related

A New Era Begins

In 2004 Norm Roberts was hired as Coach of St. Johns Basketball. Today March 19th, 2010 Norm Roberts was fired as Coach of St. Johns Basketball.

After months of talk about Roberts being fired, late last night Norm Roberts, his attorney and Athletics Director Chris Monasch met together and Norm was notified that he would be let go. This morning all the reports were made and the St. Johns Community and the rest of the College Basketball world was let know of the decision.

Norm Roberts will be remembered for the work he put in on and off the court. Though his record did not reach the highest of expectations, he came into a organization that was dropped for greatness after the sex scandal that took place in 2004 and helped rebuild the respect and dignity from a school that had lost it. And on the court he got his message across to his players to not just play hard but play with unbelievable passion.

Chris Monasch went to say that " This job is better now then it was 7 years ago thanks to Norm." That statement there alone is something Norm Roberts fans and critics can all agree on.

Now is the search for the new coach to lead this team into battle next year. Names have been thrown left and right about who will be here next year. Seth Greenberg of Virgina Tech, Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech, Fran McCaffery of Siena and a bunch of the other names.

All talks of Chris Mullen and Mark Jackson as candidates are irrelevant to this situation. Monasch has come out and said that St. Johns is willing to spend money and that they are looking for a proven winner.

For who ever the coach is they have a chance to win now with 7 seniors next year and win after that because they will have 6 scholarships to work with and bring in who they want.

For St. Johns they need to hit a home run with the coaching decision or they will most certainly fall even further down from College Basketball grace.

Kujtim 'Timmy' Dimas

As always follow me on Twitter @TCaspDeez for all sports related topics

A Stormy Night

On a day the fate of Rutgers Coach Fred Hill and Seton Halls Bobby Gonzalez were witnessed there was the last remaining of the "Tri-State Coach's" still to see his. Norm Roberts led his squad into NIT battle with The Memphis Tigers last night in hope of keeping his season going as well as making a better case to keep his job for another year.

Fred Hill will remain coach of Rutgers and Bobby Gonzalez will not be the coach of Seton Hall. Two coach's down one to go.

The win that Norm Roberts would have wanted didn't come, but the loss that he feared came. The heartbreaking loss to Memphis last night 73-71 came on a Wesley Witherspoon layup at the buzzer after Anthony Mason Jr. hit a game tying three pointer from deep three point land. As the ball lingered on the side of the rim the hope of Norm Roberts fell as the ball did in the wrong direction. Both teams came out firing from three point land but it came down to a layup that will send the Red Storm home after just one game into the NIT.

For Anthony Mason Jr, who is a Memphis native, this was his last game in a St. Johns uniform. For DJ Kennedy, Paris Horne, Malik Boothe and the rest of the team this is the last game of the season with another year to go. For Norm Roberts this loss could be the one to send him packing.

-Kujtim "Timmy" Dimas

Follow me on Twitter at TCaspDeez for all sports related news

A Tiger in a Storm

After Wednesday's loss to Marquette at Madison Square Garden it was figured St. Johns was done for the season and the next day all the rumors came out that Coach Norm Roberts was to be fired that day.

Well people, you're 0 for 2.

St. John's season is yet to be over and Norm Roberts is still the coach.

St. Johns learned yesterday that they have been invited to the National Invitational Tournament, also known as the NIT, as a 6th seed. They will face 3 seeded The Memphis Tigers Wednesday at 9pm in Memphis.

So the season is not over and The Red Storm have more to play for. Question is how long will they last in the NIT and how many wins will it take to secure Norm Roberts job for another year.

My answers to these questions are, Memphis a beatable team. Their bench is weak according to a source of mine and if St. Johns can tire them out they can win the game. We all know St. Johns has a deep bench that can come in and contribute so it shouldn't be a problem. If St. Johns wins they will have to face the winner of Mississippi and Troy.

I feel for Norm Roberts to keep his job, he has to go far and not win 1 or 2 games but get deep into the NIT Bracket and I'll go as far as a final four appearance to secure his job for at least another year.

Lots of questions still remain for this St. Johns Red Storm team but still a lot of basketball to be played before some of them can be answered.

- Kujtim 'Timmy' Dimas

As always follow me on Twitter @TCaspDeez for all sports insight.

A last chance for hope for the Storm, blown away

From the North Press Box of Madison Square Garden where I sat readying to broadcast St. Johns vs Marquette game yesterday, a ray of hope was in me that St. Johns could pull out this victory and move on to face Villanova today at 2pm but Lazar Hayward and the rest of the Marquette team had different ideas.

Marquette came out firing in the first 5 minutes of the game, knocking down threes with ease. St. Johns coach Norm Roberts would go on to call a timeout after Hayward knocked down back to back three's and The Johnnies started to get back on defense and play a little better and cut the Golden Eagles lead to 10 going into the half, 27-17.

As the second half began, St. Johns looked fresh and sharp and had put the first half behind them. They came out aggressive and attacking the paint, causing turnovers which resulted in to fast break points.

After two dunks by Justin Brownlee, St. Johns had a 46-42 lead and the hopes in the Garden were at an all-time high but not for long. Marquette came back and answered with what they do best and that was three pointers and took the lead with one minute remaining in the game, 55-53. They would extend it to a four point lead but after a D.J. Kennedy it was down to two points. Marquette's Maurice Acker missed a 1-1 free throw situation giving St. Johns the ball down two but Malik Boothe's heave at the end just missed sending St. Johns home.

The games maybe over but there is still one big thing to get done and thats the coaching decision. Will Norm Roberts go or will he stay. Ask Marquette's Coach, Buzz Williams he would probably say Roberts should stay. Williams said during the press conference, " Norm isn't given the credit he deserves."

But whether Norm stays thats left to be scene but St. Johns has to go back to Queens and ready themselves for next year. Two things they should take with them is UConns Coach Jim Calhouns statement which was, " St. Johns is a top 5, 6 team next year in the Big East." and Also Marquette's Coach Buzz Williams statement saying "If you were to ask my team who the hardest playing team in the Big East is, they'd say St. Johns." As a broadcaster and fan I couldn't agree with those statements anymore.

Back to Back Wins for the Red Hot Red Storm

With 12 seconds remaining, on the road and with a bunch of fans on edge of their feet, St. Johns DJ Kennedy stepped to the free throw line to take and make both of his free throws giving St. Johns a one point lead 69-68 on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish which would ultimately be the final score after Troy Jackson misses a pair of 3's in the closing seconds.

The St. Johns Red Storm have claimed two straight victories against two Big East teams and possibly crushing those two teams chances at the big dance come March. First win coming against Louisville at Madison Square Garden and second coming last night against Notre Dame at the Joyce Center in South Bend Indiana.

Last nights game we saw even more things St. Johns was able to do that many haven't seen before. For the second game in a row The Johnnies hit over 73% of their free throws. They had a 20-11 assist to turnover ratio and they shot 50% from behind the arc.

Dwight Hardy, the leading scorer for St. Johns last night with 16 points, was making 3 pointers like it was just layups to him. Converting on 5-7 from three land and adding a spark off the bench.

Justin Burrell had another superb performance off the bench with 12 points 4 rebounds and 3 assist. Anthony Mason Jr. and DJ Kennedy both had 12 points 5+ rebounds and 4 assist to help St. Johns go 4-8 in Big East play and 14-10 overall record for the season.

Tonight was another night of two halves but for St. Johns, like their win over the Cardinals on Thursday, both halves belong to them.

Malik Boothe hit a buzzer beater to secure a lead for the Red Storm going into half 37-34. He had another great showing scoring 7 points and dishing out 5 assist and here's a fun fact, St. Johns is 6-2 when Boothe scores over 5 points. Not only offensively but defensively Boothe did a wonderful job. He held his man Troy Jackson to 1-10 from the field and 5 turnovers.

For this St. Johns team this wasn't just a win. It was a confidence builder in a game where Coach Norm Roberts said that "This is one of the toughest place to play in". And according to Mark Fratto, The Red Storm Director of Athletic Communications, said via Twitter "When Coach got to the locker room postgame, the whole team picked him up and carried him around. FAMILY" Through highs and lows a family always sticks together and St. Johns is definitely sticking together.

St. Johns looks to grab another Big East win this Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena against The Seton Hall Pirates (14-9, 4-7 Big East). Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

With six games remaining St. Johns looks to make up for a season people thought could be theirs. Two of the remaining six games are against Nationally Ranked Syracuse Orange and The Pittsburgh Panthers. Both games which could be big boosters for a chance to the NIT or even March Madness.

Follow me on twitter @TCaspDeez for more in College Sports and Major League Sports

The Storm is Coming

On a night when St. Johns honored the old school and rocked out in their new school look, there was a ray of hope on the future of this team for this season and next years.

After five straight losses, leaving them at 2-8 in the Big East, The St. Johns Red Storm came out with energy in the first half and made sure they didn't render it in the second. Aggressive defense and smart offensive work by the whole team helped The Red Storm men beat down Big East foe The Louisville Cardinals 74-55 at Madison Square Garden last night.

In the first half we as spectators saw what we have seen all year around in the first half from St. Johns. A strong 20 minute, well rounded and focused team. Samardo Samuels seemed to be the only man St. Johns could not stop in the first half allowing him to score Louisville's first 10 points in the game. He would only finish with 18 which shows you how good the defense did in reacting to their only problem on the night.

What stood out the most to me was their consistency and smart ball movement as well as their ability to maintain their lead through the whole second half. St. Johns has blown 6 half times leads this season, most recently to West Virgina this past Saturday at the Garden. But last night everyone stepped into their roles at different parts of the game which made it difficult for The Cardinals to keep up or defend one single player.

Justin Burrell was again a big time show for this team. Scoring 14 points which racks up his total to 5 out of the past 7 games in double digit scoring and grabbing 8 rebounds. All of this coming off the bench which has been something he wants to continue doing according to Coach Norm Roberts. The obvious scoring leader for St. Johns was D.J. Kennedy who scored 15 points hitting 9-10 free throws on a night where St. Johns shot a superb 77.8% from the line. "We got to build on this" is what Kennedy exclaimed after the game to reporters and that is definitely something they must do.

But there is one player I want to give a lot of credit to and that is Malik Boothe. Boothe is the starting point guard for this team and the floor general. He isn't going to be the one that scores a lot of points or dish out a bunch of assist but more of the guy that gets his teammates going. Last night though Malik Boothe scored 8 points, going 3-4 from the field as well as 2-2 from the line. He added 3 assist and 3 steals and really seemed determined to get into the paint. There were a bunch of times while he was driving where he was jabbed in the eye and at one point you'd figure he'd put some goggles on just to avoid another incident but he didn't. He showed his toughness and strong pursuit in helping this team get a victory which was definitely much needed.

All around this game was a solid effort. Norm Roberts said " I thought we made big plays, not shots, but plays at the gut of the game." That coach is something I will agree with you there. I never saw more and-one plays from St. Johns this season then last night. They were persistent in getting in the paint and muscling their defender down. St. Johns usually a good three point shooting team, really went away from it and took the game to the paint.

This was a great victory but the road isn't going to be easy here on out. Next up St. Johns travels to the home of The Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sunday to prove that this win last night wasn't just a win...It was a step into the right direction for a team that many have turned their backs to.

Follow me at (TCaspDeez) for more St. Johns info and other college basketball insight.

Thank you to ESPN for all the stats from last nights game and The New York Post for the picture

All-Star Weekend

There is nothing better as a sports fanatic then watching an underdog team like the Saints win the Super Bowl in the NFL then a week later, watch the biggest and brightest stars collide in The NBA All-Star Weekend. From the Rookie v Sophomore game to the Saturday Night Showcase where players will compete in the Skills Competition, 3-point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest and then on the night were couples will be snuggling by the fire celebrating Valentines Day, The top NBA players will step on the court in Dallas, Texas and put on a show that is always at the top of my entrainment list.

So I thought it would be nice to break down each night and the events that will take place and give you my predictions on the way things will turn out.

Friday Night -

The Rookie vs Sophomore game will showcase the future of the NBA.

The Rookie Line-up looks like this. Omri Casspi (Kings), DeJuan Blair (Spurs), Stephan Curry (Warriors), Tyreke Evans(Kings), Jonny Flynn(Timberwolves) Taj Gibson (Bulls) James Harden (Thunder) Brandon Jennings (Bucks) and Jonas Jerebko (Pistons)

The Sophomores are Micheal Beasley (Heat) Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) Danilo Gallinari (Knicks) Eric Gordan (Clippers) Brook Lopez (Nets) Kevin Love (Timberwolves) O.J. Mayo (Grizzlies) Anthony Marrow (Warriors) and Russell Westbrook (Thunder)

Overall view, many people can say the Sophomores are going to runaway and I will have to agree with this. The Sophomores have the names and the numbers to back it. Besides Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings, the Rookies don't really have another name I mean you could throw in Stephan Curry but other than that, they are undersized and out matched. The Sophomore team has two players named to the Olympic team, Mayo and Lopez. A big man that is probably top 5 in the league right now in Brook Lopez and a bunch of guys that can score at will like Gordan, Westbrook, Marrow etc. This will be an enjoy able game but if your looking to pick a winner your best bet would be the Sophomore.

MVP - O.J. Mayo

Saturday Night

This is probably my favorite night of the whole weekend. From the Skills Contest to the Dunk Contest and throw in the 3-Point Contest in between.

In the Skill Contest will feature rookie guard Brandon Jennings, last years winner Derrick Rose, an MVP in Steve Nash and a rise star in the league Daron Williams. I was going to say Derrick Rose would repeat but after his hip injury that happened last night against The Orlando Magic I don't think he will participate. So in that case I will go with the the rook. The winner of the Taco Bell Skills Contest will be Brandon Jennings of The Milwaukee Bucks.

3-Point Contest is the time where the shooters get to take all their shots. For the Miami Heat and last years winner Daequan Cook. For The Denver Nuggets, Chauncey Billups. The rookie in the contest Stephan Curry from The Golden State Warriors. The Phoenix Suns Channing Frye. The New York Knicks Danilo Gallinari and The Boston Celtics Paul Pierce. Pierce is the best 3 point shooter in the contest shooting it at .47% but I guess you can say it doesn't matter at this moment in time because its going to be on who's going to shoot the best at the given time and thats why I am going to say Stephan Curry will be the winner of the 3-point Contest.

And my favorite, favorite part of the night. The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Well will be graced a night before during the Rookie vs Sophomore game by the first ever Dunk-in. Eric Gordan and DeMar DeRozan will compete to see who will get the forth slot in the dunk contest. For the people that are already in the contest, The Knicks Nate Robinson, the 2-time defending Dunk Champ will go up against the Charlotte Bobcats Gerald Wallace, and L.A. Lakers Shannon Brown. These guys are all deserving competitors but I am kind of upset LeBron James backed out...again, but to pick from these guys here I am going to go with Gerald Wallace. The guy has the hops and the creativity to leave some people stunned and I will give him the nod for the win this weekend.

So to recap Saturdays events - Skills Contest winner will be Brandon Jennings. 3-point Contest goes to Stephan Curry and the Dunk Contest winner will be Gerald Wallace.

Now to move on to Sunday night. The All-Star game where all the stars of the league stand together and put a show on for the fans.

The Starting Line-up for the East is LeBron James (Cav's) Kevin Garnett (Celtics) Dwyane Wade (Heat) Allen Iverson (76ers) and Dwight Howard (Magic). The reserves for the East are Al Horford (Hawks) Chris Bosh (Raptors) Paul Pierce (Celtics) Gerald Wallace (Bobcats) Joe Johnson (Hawks) Rajon Rondo (Celtics) and Derrick Rose (Bulls).

The Starting Line-up for the West is Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets) Tim Duncan (Spurs) Kobe Bryant (Lakers) Steve Nash (Suns) Amar'e Stoudemire (Suns). The reserves are Paul Gasol (Lakers) Kevin Durant (Thunder) Dirk Nowitzki (Mav's) Chris Paul (Hornets) Brandon Roy (Trail Blazers) Chris Kaman (Clippers) and Daron Williams (Jazz)

Those were the line ups but there have been some changes. Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Brandon Roy and Chris Paul are all out of the All-Star game. David Lee of the Knicks, Chauncey Billups of the Nuggets, and Jason Kidd of the Mavericks have been added to replace the injured players.

This will be a great match up with who ever is playing. I say the East will win and the MVP will be LeBron Jame.

This All-Star weekend will be a lot of fun and entertaining. Catch all the the action live on TNT and ESPN.

Follow me on Twitter ( @TCaspDeez ) for all sports related news.

Special Thanks to NBA.com for all the information.