* For some reason, my New York Times didn’t come this morning. So I checked it out online, wanting to see what type of coverage the paper gave the city’s premier college hoops team. Not much. It consisted of 5 paragraphs, taken off the AP wire in the Mens Roundup section along with blurbs about other games.

The New York Post did have a local writer cover the game. His opening paragraphs mentioned A-Rod and a lone recruit sitting in the front row of the 1/3d filled Garden. The Daily News also had a beat writer covering the game. His short game story ended with a forlorn quote from Norm Roberts. “We had an opportunity today. We didn’t make the best of it.”

Which is to restate the obvious. St. John’s basketball is now a non-factor on the New York (and national) sports scene. I’m advised that Johnnies’ coach Norm Roberts, a good basketball technician in a dead end situation, is approaching Dead Man Walking status. Those in the know feel the only thing that can pull the school out of the doldrums is a coach with a strong personality and presence (to go along with recruiting and coaching ability) and a commitment by the school to upgrade its Naismith-era facilities. (Note: The above paragraph can be reread by inserting the name DePaul instead of St. John’s, Chicago instead of New York, and Jerry Wainwright instead of Norm Roberts.)

* If you’re looking for a dark horse for the Final Four, you might set aside long held prejudices and consider John Calipari’s Memphis State Tigers. They battered Gonzaga in Spokane Saturday. They can play. One of the intriguing questions this post season will answer: Is Tyreke Evans this year’s Carmelo Anthony? Stranger things have happened.

* The Los Angeles Lakers won in Boston and Cleveland last week, the latter with a sub-par Kobe Bryant, down with the flu. To win this year’s NBA title, one of those Eastern Division teams — or Orlando — is going to have to sweep at home and steal a game in LA, The Lakers are a lock for the league’s best record. Because they are clearly the league’s best team at this point.

* Mike Brey says he’s going to open up all the starting jobs at Notre Dame before Thursday’s match up with Louisville. If any of the Irish subs could play, one would think they’d have already been getting significant minutes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Brey pulled a Digger on Thursday and pulled the green unis out of mothballs for the ESPN tilt.

* I pray Dickie V’s health is good enough for him to withstand the strain he’ll put on himself going apoplectic Wednesday night as you-know-who plays you-know-who at you-know-where in college hoopdom’s greatest you-know-what.

* Bellarmine won two more last week. I caught part of the Knight’s game on Thursday. Despite some recent setbacks, Scotty Davenport’s guys still run their offense more efficiently and with more precision than any other team I’ve seen this season, live or on TV. And the Knights’ mascot remains the ugliest in all of college sport.

– Seedy K