Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's the Boomer and Geo podcast from WFAN. And we're coming to you live from the Bill Ford Tough Studio. Boomer Esiason, Greg Giannotti. It's Boomer and Geo on the fan. Simulcast across the country on CBS Sports Network and wherever you are on the free Odyssey app. Good Monday morning. St. John's in the Sweet 16 as they end up beating Kansas in dramatic fashion. Shouldn't have been that hard.
Should have been a hell of a lot easier than that. But it's been since 1999. I was in Bellport High School. Boomer was sitting next to Al Michaels in a booth. Al was down in Tampa doing radio in Florida. And... Eddie and Jerry, well, they were here doing the same stuff that they're doing now.
But it's a really, really long time ago, and I am thrilled as they match up with the number one overall seed, Duke, on Friday, 7 o'clock. That is going to be amazing. This is what every St. John's fan wanted and expected when Rick Pitino got here, and we got it.
Chapter 2: How did St. John's achieve a Sweet 16 appearance?
Good morning, Bloomer.
How are you?
Yeah, I'm doing great, G, and I gotta tell you, man, some great, I mean, absolutely great games in college basketball this weekend, including the St. John's at Kansas game. This game, at the beginning of it, was so intense and so, like, physical, and I was so glad that the officials were gonna let him play. There's no question about it that St. John's needs that ability.
to be able to play this kind of game. And the fact that they were asking Rick Pitino, you know how they do those interviews in the middle of the game? And he basically looked at the camera and said, they don't think we can shoot. And it turned out that they could shoot. And they did make some big shots, especially... three-point shots, which is such a big part of this.
And now two games in a row, St. John's has shot well from the three-point line. I can't say enough about Zuby Ejiofor. I mean, he's just – he's all over the basketball court, defensively, offensively, big plays. Everything seems to start and end with him. But I have to say that, you know, we thought that they – at least I thought they were going to get to this point.
Now, they beat one of the best basketball players in college basketball in Peterson. Now they're going to face the Boozer brothers. And that's going to be another, you know, obviously hill to climb, if you will. But, you know, defense is the thing that keeps you in games all the time.
And quite frankly, the only thing that I saw yesterday that maybe bothered me a little bit, and I, you know, on a text story with a bunch of buddies, I'm like, why is Rick Pitino asking for a replay when it was – it wasn't obvious that his player didn't touch the ball. Yeah. When, in fact, later on in the game, there were a couple replay scenarios.
Two of them.
Two of them that would have went their way had he would have saved it. And I know this is after the fact that I know in the heat of the moment, it's completely different. And every team has a different way of going about it. I'm not sure how. That was a first guess, though. It was a first guess for me. I mean, I had the benefit of the replay.
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Chapter 3: What were the reactions to St. John's buzzer-beater victory?
You had the benefit of the replay. But to me, at that point in the game, it didn't seem necessary at all. Right, exactly. And the other thing, too, is remember what Gene Steratore said. He said, you know, I can't tell, obviously. It has to be clear and distinct that this is, you know, the ball wasn't touched by the St. John's player. I can't tell that.
And if I can't tell that, then I can't overturn the call that was on the court. So, I mean, that's the one thing that bothered me because I think we would have been talking about that a lot more this morning had they lost. Final Four. Yeah. And the reason I did was because of the way that they play defense. I wasn't expecting the three-point shooting that they've shown over the last two games.
And, you know, when you see the Sweet 16, there are four teams left that have a five seed or higher and or lower, however you want to look at it. And, you know, and that, of course, is St. John's at a five, Tennessee at a six, Iowa at a nine, and Texas to play in game at 11. And Iowa just was humble. That was an unbelievable game yesterday. Tennessee is a really great story as well.
But for those of us who live around here and have been wondering where the St. John's basketball program has been, well, the last two years, Rick Pitino has resuscitated it. And I'm telling you, this game yesterday was unbelievably exciting. Yeah, and it's New York basketball the way we like it, even though it's a little bit ugly.
Might be the Knicks of the 90s. Yeah, right.
It's maximum effort. I mean, it's ugly at times. There's stretches where offense is nowhere to be found. But it is defense.
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Chapter 4: What insights did Rick Pitino share about the team's performance?
It's intensity. It's big moments. These guys caring. I mean, it's great. Two things that I love to... hear and see with people who haven't watched this team throughout the year, which is the broadcasters or people that are associated with the teams that they are playing, is the broadcasters keep saying, I can't believe how hard they're playing all the time. The whole year's been this way.
Right, exactly. But they're like, wow, they just are relentless how hard they're playing. And it was a couple of times, too, where I could see behind the bench, whether it was coaches or people that were associated with the program with both Northern Iowa and Kansas early on in the game, where they had this look on their face like, oh, God. This team is different. They're physical.
They're suffocating. And honestly, they should have run them right out of the building. Now, good for Kansas. Great program. Great coach. Star player. They were able to get back into it. But they should have run them out of the building. They were beating them up. How about the fouls at the end of the game? Well, of course. I mean, you had four fouls to give. I mean, it's amazing.
You don't really get to see that much. Well, it never happens in the NBA because they made a rule against it. Yeah, exactly. But this is one of the reasons why you try not to foul, and this is how you use your fouls at the end of the game to try to reduce the amount of time that the opposing team has to hit a winning basket and to have Dylan Darling be the darling of the tournament yesterday.
After not scoring all game long and just calling his own number and taking it right to the basket and then having that little scoop lay in. And then you see the way the teammates react to him. Yeah, I mean, of course. I mean, these guys love one another. Rick Petito, it's funny. I'm sure Jerry will play it. But, you know, he's in that timeout. Dylan Darling's calling for that play.
That is his play and the one that you saw where he goes right to the basket and scores. And Rick agrees. And then, like, two seconds later, he's like, wait a second. This guy hasn't shot the entire game. But he's like, wait, I kind of like that. And, of course, it was amazing. Just beats the buzzer, and everybody's going crazy.
And I wish—I mean, I thought we were going to come in here today and say, wow, St. John's just dismantled two teams. But maybe this was a good thing that they had to get this scare in them from Kansas heading into the Duke game, and they're not getting too cocky. Not that I think that they would, but—
In this game, too, there was a point where a 10-point lead felt like a 20-point lead because of how unbelievable they are defensively. I mean, they are just in your face. You could see the frustration. I can't imagine how frustrated. You saw it on Bill Self. Well, especially at the beginning of the game. Yeah.
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Chapter 5: How did St. John's defense play a role in their success?
Absolutely. They were like, what the hell are we getting ourselves into? And the thing is that when you play a team like this, and I'll equate it in football terms of playing the 2000 Ravens, playing the 85 Bears, they were so quick and so fast and so relentless and so much into your face. that there wasn't a lot of time to make decisions.
And decision-making in sports, especially when it involves either skates or running up and down for lunatics for 40 minutes, like college basketball is this time of year, you can't... You can't replicate that in practice. No. You could try to tell your players, this is the way it's going to be. This is what we have to do. And then all of a sudden, out come the bad passes.
You can't get the ball inbounds. You end up throwing it away. I just – it's one thing after the next, and it starts adding up. And, again, this is one of the reasons why – just really knowing the St. John's team and how they play and what they're predicated on and the foundation that Coach Patino has built and how this team really has come together.
I mean, it was – the defense is the impressive part of it, but the other part of it is it's just like when they needed a bucket, they got one. And when they needed to get the bucket to win the game, they got one. You know, that is – and look, they had to play some – They play tough basketball. When I look at Duke, who do they beat? They beat, what, Siena and they beat TCU. Yep.
So, again, their numbers are going to be skewed because they're playing, you know, these high seeds or low seeds. However, how do you do that? Is it high seeds or low seeds? So is Duke the higher seed? Yeah, the higher seed, yeah. Yeah. Right, so the lower seed is the one that's the bigger number.
Right, right.
So they're playing these lower seeds, you know, and it's like, all right, so they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. Yeah. And by the way, they weren't perfect either. No, I mean, but they're also the number one overall seed in the tournament, and they're Duke, so, you know, Rick Pitino's got to give them the proper respect. But, I mean, you could...
The way that this team played, how relentless they are, I mean, you'll put them up against anybody. I mean, I really believe that. Now, Duke's going to be more athletic. They're going to have better scores on the team. But I don't think that St. John's can't suffocate them like they've suffocated so many opponents throughout the year and then hit enough shots to be able to win the game.
And that's really what it comes down to is hitting those three-pointers. I want to point out, you know, I know it came down to Dylan Darling, but there was a – When Kansas had all the momentum in the world, they cut it to 62-61. And St. John's goes back down the floor. And Hopkins hits that three.
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Chapter 6: What challenges will St. John's face against Duke?
Yeah, I mean, and all the crap that we talk about in collegiate athletics and the things that turns people off. And I understand that St. John's pays their players a lot of money. But there's one thing you can't deny. I mean, these guys are not here just to collect money and then try to get to the NBA. These guys are here to win. That's Kentucky. Yeah, right. Exactly.
Well, it's also Darren Peterson. You know, that's a guy that he, I mean, as talented as he is, his dream was never to win a national championship. So it's situations like that. That's why I love this team so much. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that swirls around them. Yes, there's a nil collective with this team as well, but there is no denying that this group has a mission.
They want to win, and they're playing their asses off. They're not thinking about anything. Anything else but winning that game in that moment. And you can't say that about every collegiate athlete these days. It's protecting their future. It's protecting their money. And I'm not going to blame them. But this group is out there.
I mean, it is maximum effort from the opening tip to the final buzzer. And it's just, it's ugly basketball at times, but it's still very, very fun to watch. But I totally understand your point of view. Because there is a turnoff factor because of the amount of money that players are making.
and you know for those of us who you know played under scholarships and weren't allowed to make money it is a little disconcerting and it's a little off-putting there's no question about that but what balances that is the just the the quick nature of college basketball especially when you get to march madness yeah and you watch these players and how much it really look i i'm not gonna sit here and say that peterson didn't want to win i i thought he did everything well we could to help the team win but
I'm not saying he doesn't want to win. It's just that's not his dream. His dream is to be the number one overall pick in the NBA. These guys' dream is to beat Kansas. Yeah, I understand. And I kind of agree with that, especially with this team and as unselfish as this team has been. And then when you hear Zuby being interviewed. Yeah. I mean, how do you not like that guy?
How do you not appreciate who that guy is? And he's the ultimate leader of the team. I mean, that's his team, but it's not his team. You know what I mean? Like, they're all in this thing together, and Patino's put a bunch of kids together that really believe that they can win. And, you know, they're going to go through Peterson. Now they've got to go through the Boozer brothers.
Yeah, I mean, you're talking lottery picks all over the place. But this is, as you mentioned prior to this weekend, because you had them going to the Final Four, it's one of those things where if they do, you're talking about potential of beating Kansas, Duke, and UConn to get to the Final Four, which is crazy. If UConn makes it and St. John's makes it, it's St. John's No. 4.
And by the way, they started hitting shots yesterday too, last night. Yeah. So, I mean, I said that I would be thrilled if they made it to the Sweet 16 and played their ass off and gave Duke a great game. I couldn't be too disappointed with that.
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Chapter 7: What are the ticket prices for the upcoming Sweet 16 games?
Not a player, not a coach, not the SID. Now, the fans might have been complaining about it, but Rick has, I mean, that's the mentality. As opposed to sitting there, oh, woe is me, and I can't believe it, blah, blah, blah. No, screw that. Go out there and beat these guys.
If you believe that you should have been treated differently, you're better than what they say you are, well, now you've got an opportunity to prove it on the biggest stage possible against Duke on a Friday night. 7 o'clock, baby. Down in D.C. Oh, God, it's going to be unbelievable. It really is. You don't want to fast-forward your life. You know what I like? I like the 5 o'clock start. Yeah.
But I have to say, man, I had a hard time falling asleep last night. Well, of course. You jacked up. You got the juices flowing. Oh, my God. You got those juices flowing, man. Oh, man.