Little St. Joseph’s has large task at hand against mighty Stanford

Steve Addy

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

SAN DIEGO -- The little Catholic school with the talkative coach just picked up an even taller order.

And St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli is already yukking it up in preparation to play top-ranked Stanford on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA West Regional.

"(Stanford) just ran out of the court, and they must have the tallest smart guys in America," Martelli said, his delivery as snappy as any late-night comedian.

"I didn't know there were that many smart tall guys. I don't know how they do it. My big guys are dumb. I've never recruited a smart big guy."

Ba-dum-bum!

"They have a guy who's a tree, I think," Martelli said. "How do you put that on your resume? 'Activities in college -- I was a tree.' And that's a smart guy, right? He got into Stanford."

The one-liners and rimshots will continue at least through Saturday, thanks to ninth-seeded St. Joe's 66-62 win over No. 8 Georgia Tech in Thursday's regional opener at Cox Arena.

Toting the small-school banner on behalf of Philadelphia and the Atlantic 10, the Hawks became the latest team with an opportunity to eliminate top-seeded Stanford in the second round. The Cardinal, 89-60 winners over UNC-Greensboro, have been beaten in the second round the last two years.

Even before Stanford tipped off against UNC-Greensboro, Martelli assumed his club would have to face the Cardinal on Saturday. He knows all about Stanford's second-round history, and hopes to make any uncertainty work to his team's advantage.

"Maybe there's a sports psychologist out there who can tell me how to use it," said Martelli, whose wacky coach's show has become must-see TV for St. Joe's fans. "I'd like to think there's something psychological about the second round for (Stanford).

"But, hey, we've been watching the second round (on TV) for the last few years. I just hope we loosen up and get into a game where we can score one more point than they do."

The Hawks' victory over Georgia Tech turned into that sort of game, but not because they wanted it that way. St. Joe's (26-6) shocked the Yellow Jackets for a 41-24 halftime lead, and pressed it to 46-28 two minutes into the second half.

But Georgia Tech quickly rallied to within 50-47 and it remained close the rest of the way.

Before the game, the teams got into a brief argument at center court because St. Joe's felt Georgia Tech was warming up on its side of the floor. The Yellow Jackets taunted the Hawks, reminding them that the Atlantic Coast Conference is superior to the A-10.

On the court, St. Joseph's made Georgia Tech pay for those remarks.

"I did not know it had happened," Martelli said. "Seriously, before the game, I stay in (the locker room) and pray. I have a whole series of prayers. I've got every saint covered. I've got saints they threw out. I still pray to them, since I figure they had to be good at one time."

Maybe the saints will preserve Martelli and St. Joe's for one more round.