Who'd have thought that a country boy from Birmingham, Alabama, who spent his coaching life in places like Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fayetteville, AR, Birmingham, and Columbia Missouri could survive in the gritty, crowded, contentious metropolis of New York City?
Who'd have thought that he would have connected so quickly, and gained the confidence of so many, and put a stamp on a once storied program in just two seasons?
Yes, we finished last year strongly, but heck, we were still 5-13 in conference, and once you start praising someone for that, you look at Norm Robert's conference records at St. John's, and you trick yourself into thinking he was pretty good too.
He builds a team for this year mostly of guys who were overlooked, under recruited, and not deemed worthy of major conference play. They appear to have a shot at the NCAAs before the season began, but when they start conference play at 1-5, the familiar SJU fan lament of "Here we go again", ever present in the backs of our minds, moves to the front and out the mouths of some. Coach Mike's response, "It's okay, we're still learning."
Then suddenly and without warning, the team catches fire, winning 8 of 9 games, and creeping into the national narrative. NCAAs a distinct possibility. Two stars who should be here a while. A formidable cast who collecitvely play a frenetic defense that hits like a tornado. Wins against very good teams. Coach''s response to his kids, "Don't believe the press clippings. One game at a time. One possession at a time." It will prove helpful.
Almost predictably for fans ("Here we go again"), a home game against a DePaul team with only one conference win, bursts the NCAA dream bubble with a devastating loss. VIllanova punishes us, and to boot, we lose our catalyst and most exciting player, Posh, to what could be a nagging thumb injury. Coach's response, "Just keep playing. The season isn't over."
Last night, could have, and perhaps should have been, another loss as a season of hope faded into the sunset. After all, in just two games, the dream of an NCAA post season evaporated, and we were without a kid who may well be Big East rookie of the year AND defensive player of the year. All too easy to collapse, give up, move on. But they didn't. Credit: Coach Mike Anderson and staff.
Frankly, I had moved on emotionally. I didn't get too high during all the wins, and I didn't get too low during the losses. But sports is about winning, and the chance of the dance was gone.
Thank God we have CMA at the helm of our program. We sometimes had the classic argument, "As great as Bobby Knight was as coach, would you want him coaching your kid?" In that sports argument, lots of reasons on both sides. Ask the same question about Coach Anderson, and there's no argument whatsoever. Serious coach. Gentleman. Treats the school, the game, and his kids with the utmost of respect. Cares about them as individuals and athletes. Maybe the perfect coach for St. John's, for New York, and for the tumultuous times we have experienced.
Biggest win of the season? No, not by a long shot. But if this was boxing, this was a young contender rising and then getting knocked down to the mat. Easy to stay down. Maybe in a Rocky movie, the corner yells stay down, while his wife says, "Get up." Coach got his team to get off the mat, stay focused, and beat a long time nemesis. Even then, down by 11 at halftime, could have tanked, but rose up and dominated.
As fans we don't get sold on a team or coach in one game. But if you needed one game in one roller coaster season to say, "He's our guy. I mean, really our guy." this was it.
