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.