More on St. Joes.
Feb 25, 3:55 AM EST
Everyone Contributing at Saint Joseph's
By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Saint Joseph's is more than just a two-man team.
When the Hawks need a defensive stop, Tyrone Barley gets the assignment. A 3-pointer? Look for Pat Carroll or Chet Stachitas to take the shot. Dwayne Jones and John Bryant have been steady in the frontcourt.
Turns out there are more contributors to the Hawks' special season than the dynamic backcourt of Jameer Nelson and Delonte West. All have been needed at some point to help keep the second-ranked Hawks undefeated (24-0, 13-0 Atlantic 10) going into Wednesday's game at Massachusetts.
"I think people think that this is the Jameer Nelson and the Delonte West story," coach Phil Martelli said. "Our greatest strength is the group and what each guy brings to the group. They all bring that special ingredient."
The other Hawks don't mind if they're underestimated. They wouldn't want it any other way.
A lot of people think if they shut down our guards, they can beat us," Barley said. "We have so many other ways of beating you. If one of them has an off night, we'll get it done."
Barley, a 6-foot-1 guard and a career reserve, lost his chance to move into the starting lineup when Nelson returned for his senior season.
The Hawks, though, often use a four-guard lineup, leaving Barley defending the other team's best shooter. Against Temple on Saturday, Barley and West double-teamed and frustrated David Hawkins, holding the nation's third-leading scorer to only 13 points on 5-for-21 shooting.
"I take a lot of pride on defense. If someone scores on me, I feel like I let the team down," Barley said.
Martelli credited Barley with making Nelson into a better player with stout defense in practice.
"Barley makes him better everyday," Martelli said. "Tyrone has a such a fierceness about him that he never wants to get beat. If Jameer can beat Barley, he can beat anyone in games."
Should anyone slip by, he runs into Jones, a 6-11 center, or Bryant, a 6-7 forward. Jones and Bryant each only average seven points a game because Saint Joe's is so dependent on guard play, but both are the only beef the Hawks have inside.
Jones had three straight double-doubles in the middle of the season, and recorded six blocked shots in a season-opening win against Gonzaga. Jones has heard all season about how the Hawks' weakness inside - they've been outrebounded 869-786 - could hurt them in the NCAA tournament.
"I take notice to it. I take everything kind of personal," Jones said. "I played with a chip on my shoulder."
So did Carroll after he started the season so slowly that Martelli briefly considered a lineup change. Instead, his faith was rewarded when Carroll went 22-for-30 from 3-point range over a five-game stretch early in the A-10 season.
Carroll is shooting 47 percent from 3-point range and is the only other Hawk averaging double digits (10.1 points). His long-ball presence takes pressure off the other guards.
"Had we had to keep going with just Jameer and Delonte, I don't know if we'd still be undefeated," Martelli said. "We had to make sure that he understood that we weren't calling it a slump. The shots were going to come."
They have all bailed out the Hawks at times. But as valuable as their contributions have been, the rest of the Hawks know their postseason run will go as far as Nelson and West take them.
"They deserve all the recognition they get," Carroll said. "Without them, this team wouldn't be where we're at right now. Those are the two main guys that really make this team go."
Nelson said the Hawks couldn't be thinking about a No. 1 seed without his teammates.
"Everybody contributes, everybody brings something to the table," he said. "We understand we're all in it together."
IMO these guys will be extremely dangerous in the Ncaa tourney
