00:00They're still dancing.
00:01Rick Pitino's St. John's Red Storm are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
00:08They're going to face one-seeded Duke on Friday.
00:11So let's relive the Johnny's weekend.
00:13Of course, we'll look ahead a little bit with our NCAA Hoops reporter
00:17and co-host of Eye of the Red Storm, Zach Braziller.
00:20Zach, appreciate you hopping on with this, man.
00:23I know you took the red eye from San Diego last night.
00:25Welcome back to the rainy weather here in New York.
00:28But kind of let's talk about what's gone viral after that win over Kansas.
00:34Rick Pitino's reaction or a lack of reaction on the game winner.
00:40That looked like the reaction of a coach that's been there before
00:44and understands that the job's not finished.
00:50Yeah, look, it was pretty cool.
00:53I don't quite understand how you could do that.
00:57I would probably be jumping up and down.
00:59You know, it reminded me of Jay Wright.
01:02You know, I remember when Villanova won the title at the buzzer.
01:06Chris Jenkins hit that three.
01:08And Jay basically didn't react.
01:12He just kind of went to shake the hand of the North Carolina coach Roy Williams.
01:19I mean, it's, you know, it's pretty impressive composure, man.
01:25I'll tell you, you know, to not kind of â so, look, he did celebrate a little after.
01:31Obviously, he gave a fist pump and, you know, obviously.
01:34But, no, I mean, no doubt he's been there before and he acted like it.
01:40Yeah, I mean, you could tell Rick Pitino was locked in on this one.
01:44And, again, when I say the job's not finished, it looked like he, you know,
01:47briefly was excited about the moment but realizes now the business has really started.
01:53So, you know, they did their thing out in San Diego.
01:55Zach, you saw it.
01:56You saw the defensive master class against Northern Iowa in the first round.
02:01And then they gutted out that gritty win against a national powerhouse in Kansas.
02:05So, take us, Zach, to school on this one, man.
02:07What did we learn about this year's Johnnies in the big dance over the weekend?
02:14Yeah, look, I felt for a while this team was better prepared to go on a run for the tournament
02:20just because they have more size and they can shoot.
02:24They haven't been a great three-point shooting team this year, better than last year.
02:27But they've now hit 21 threes in two tournament games.
02:30And that's the most they've hit in back-to-back games all year.
02:34And Bryce Hopkins hit six and Ian Jackson's contributing.
02:39Joe Son Sanen and Sellers can make them.
02:42They do have guys who can make threes.
02:44So, you know, and then their toughness.
02:47You know, we've seen that for basically ten weeks that when, you know, adversity hits,
02:56they find a way.
02:57We saw in the Big East title game when UConn made a big run.
03:01We've seen it, you know, look, they're 21-1 in their last 22
03:05and they've had plenty of tough moments and they just have found ways to win.
03:11It took Rick Pitino three years to turn this program around, first Sweet 16 since 1999.
03:18What does going back to the Sweet 16 mean for the St. John's program and the fan base?
03:25And how far do you think this team can take it after seeing them this weekend?
03:32It's a huge step, man.
03:34Like, you look at the last two years, they've been terrific.
03:38Win the Big East regular season of Pulseian titles.
03:40But this was like the one thing missing was going on a run in the tournament.
03:46You know, I felt like this, they had to get there.
03:50They had, yesterday's game was the game they had to win.
03:53You know, they lose to Duke.
03:56Yeah, obviously we're disappointed, but I think this win makes this a great year.
04:02A sensational season.
04:04You know, 30 wins again.
04:06You know, the slow start and now this just incredible last 10 weeks.
04:12You know, look, I think if they get by Duke, they're going to the Final Four.
04:17I don't, this is going to be a really tough game.
04:20Duke is terrific.
04:21They obviously have Boozer, one of the best players in the country.
04:22They have a lot of size, length.
04:25I think they're the number one defensive efficiency team in the nation.
04:29It's going to be a really tough game.
04:30They're underdogs by six and a half.
04:33But look, man, winning count them out.
04:36I mean, this team is, this team has been incredible.
04:40I mean, for a while now.
04:42You know, and now they have, you know, when you win a game like they won yesterday, you have, it
04:48creates a belief that, you know, anything is possible.
04:52And they got a lot of time now to prepare and few coaches are better when you give them time
04:59than Rick Pitino.
05:00You know, they will be prepared.
05:01They will be ready.
05:03I expect there to be a lot of decent men of St. John's fans there Friday night in D.C.
05:08So, yeah, look, they beat Duke.
05:10I think they're going to the Final Four.
05:11We'll see if they can do it.
05:12Well, you know, I've been talking St. John's with you, you know, last, what, three, four years since I got
05:17this job.
05:18And I've never heard you speak with so much confidence about a St. John's team until just now.
05:24You've covered this team, this program for a long time now.
05:28How does this team or this squad stack up against some of the best St. John's teams of all time?
05:35It's easily the best team since 98, 99.
05:38The, you know, Ron Artest, Bootsy Thornton, Eric Barkley, LeVar Postel team that went to the Elite Eight and nearly
05:47went to the Final Four.
05:50I wouldn't put it above that team, but they're clearly the best team since then.
05:54You know, look, you obviously, you have the Final Four team with Mullen and Bill Weddington and Mark Jackson.
06:01That, you know, that team was incredible.
06:05But, yeah, it's, it's the, this is the best team this century.
06:09And it's led by the best St. John's player this century, Zubi Ejiofor.
06:13Can they, you know, rise above?
06:17Yeah, keep winning.
06:19Keep winning and, and they could, you know, then, then we could, we could maybe put them in the same
06:24breath as 98, 99 and, and all that.
06:27But, yeah, it's this century.
06:29It's the best St. John's team.
06:30And they're better than, like, I think they're better than last year.
06:33I do.
06:34You know, I think their size, their shooting ability, you know, Zubi Ejiofor is a better player than anyone St.
06:42John's had last year.
06:45You know, I, yeah, I think they're a better team than last year.
06:49You kind of touched on it a little bit earlier about the early preview between St. John's and Duke.
06:57I mean, Duke's, it's not going to be an easy game for, for St. John's to beat these guys, but
07:02how do you see St. John's kind of attacking Duke and how do they pull off this win on Friday?
07:11You know, it's going to be a lot of what they did against Kansas.
07:14Make threes, force turnovers.
07:19Scoring inside will not be easy.
07:21There's no question about that.
07:24So, they're going to have to kind of pick and choose their spots.
07:26But, yeah, look, can they force turnovers?
07:30You know, odds are the Duke point guard, Caleb Foster, will still be out.
07:34I know John Shire said there's an outside chance he's playing, but he's coming off foot, you know, a broken
07:40foot where he had surgery.
07:41Yeah, it'd be a shock if he plays and is any kind of a contributor.
07:45So, then, you know, you have Caden Boozer as the point guard.
07:50He's a freshman.
07:51So, yeah, I mean, it's going to be them defending, creating turnovers, scoring off turnovers, making threes, and hopefully riding
08:01Zuby.
08:01And, you know, to me, it's kind of the same formula as Kansas.
08:06They got to make, you know, double-digit threes again.
08:11And they got to find a way to win.
08:13It's obviously a tall task.
08:16There's no question about it.
08:17But, like I said, this team has proven that they deserve, if you're a St. John's fan, your belief.
08:25And I think every St. John's fan will go in this game thinking they have a shot.
08:29All right, we're going to officially put this weekend to bed.
08:32But before we do, since Rick Pitino didn't have a reaction to the game winner, can you show us your
08:38reaction to the game winner?
08:41My reaction was, oh, man, I've got to write really fast.
08:45There we go.
08:46We'll take it.
08:47We'll take it.
08:48Like the great writer you are.
08:49All right, Zach Brazile.
08:50Appreciate you hopping on with this, my man.
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