Early Look: St. Peter’s Basketball

The Boiling Point: A quick look at the Peacocks, winners of the MAAC Tourament and Purdue’s first round opponent in the Big Dance.

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Not too long ago, Purdue was in the Big Dance for the first time in years and was hoping to surprise people. Well, the times have changed for the now No. 3-seeded Boilers:

"“The Peacocks had to wait a while, but when they found out it was Purdue, the players began dancing and clapping. Even though they’ll be going into the matchup as heavy underdogs, they sure seem like a confident bunch.“‘I’m happy [to have gotten this far], but I’m never satisfied,” said senior guard Wes Jenkins, who missed the first two months of the season with a knee injury, only to lead the team in scoring (12.8 PPG) since his return. “I won’t be satisfied until we win it all now.'”"

For a quick look at the Peacocks, including what coach Jon Dunne has seen of Purdue, follow the jump.
For a start, the Peacocks got to the Big Dance by winning their conference tournament, despite being the No. 4 seed. To do this, they used their “nitty, gritty defense”… sound familiar? St. Peter’s ranked second in the nation in opponent’s field goal percentage (37.4) and 12th in the nation in opponent’s points per game (59.5). The Peacocks also beat Alabama 50-49 Nov. 22.

"“At the end of the day, our focus is defense,” Leon said. “At the beginning of the year we weren’t playing as good defense. But I told these guys, ‘Defense wins championships. Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.'”"

"“We’re gritty and we’re scrappy,” Jenkins said. “We’re not the most exciting team to watch. I wouldn’t wanna watch us if I were a fan.”"

The problem for the Peacocks is regardless how tough your defense is, when you have just one person taller than 6-foot-7 on the roster it may be tough to shut down a 6-10+ All-American center.

Not that they have any idea what they’re up against:

"“Hopefully the staff has started watching film already, because we know nothing about Purdue,” Dunne said. “I haven’t seen them too much this year. I’m just looking forward to getting started and figuring out a gameplan. Just getting going. It’s just a great night for our school.”"

Not that St. Peter’s appears to be made up of the brightest people in the world, but how on earth have you not seen any of Purdue this season? I know you’re caught up in your team and your league and all that jazz, but this is a team that played on national TV five consecutive weekends, among other times. You haven’t seen anything from them?

Another dumb comment:

"“I feel like whenever you step on the court you gotta have a chip on your shoulder because at the end of the day, when you say you play for St. Peter’s, everyone says ‘Huh? Is that DI, DII, DIII?'” Belin said. “That’s where my chip comes from. I want them to know this is a DI program and we’re good basketball players here. We’re not just some kids that were just picked up from the park. We’ve got talent.”"

Really bud? You wouldn’t switch places with David Lighty right now if you could? Interesting.