Nelson driving force behind No. 12 St. Joe's

Jameer Nelson stood 40 feet from the basket on Saturday and there was very little he could do.

No. 12 Saint Joseph's (4-0) was getting a tough game from an unexpected source against Old Dominion.

Leading 72-70 with under 15 seconds to play and the shot clock perilously low, the senior point guard received the ball just within the tip-off circle.

With few options available, he did what he has been doing for four years.

He did the same thing that made a player from a mid-major school, who is generously listed at 5'11", a preseason first-team All-American, a Wooden Award candidate, reigning Big 5 Most Outstanding Player and a likely lottery pick in next year's NBA Draft.

He did the impossible.

The "little point guard who could" hit a 38-foot jumper to seal the win.

"I don't know that he could surprise me," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said. "The only thing that would surprise me is if he didn't dare to be great; that would surprise me because he dares himself to be great every time he goes on the court."

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Nelson is clutch.

Everyone who has seen the dynamic point guard play agrees that he rises to meet every big moment with which he is presented, consistently making the right decision as to whether to shoot or pass the ball to a teammate.

At last year's NCAA Tournament the Hawks suffered a 65-63 overtime defeat at the hands of Auburn. Nelson helped force overtime with acrobatic threes and daring drives through the lane. He scored 32 points, including two ice-water-in-his-veins free throws with a half-second remaining in regulation to tie the game. He tallied 13 of the Hawks' last 15 points in regulation. That great play cemented his status as one of the top junior point guards in the nation.

And everyone knows where the top junior point guards go.

This summer, Nelson announced his intentions to test the waters of the NBA Draft. However, with a glut of first round prospects at the point guard position, Nelson's stellar numbers from last season-- 19.7 points and 4.7 assists per game -- were overwhelmed by another number: seven.

Seven point guards were taken in the first round.

"They aren't going to take eight or nine point guards in the first round and he was the next guy," Martelli said.

As he does with such ease on the basketball court, Nelson made the smart move under pressure. On June 19, he withdrew his name from consideration.

"I was elated for him because I could tell from his demeanor that the decision he had made was the right decision for him," Martelli said. "All along that was the most important thing -- that the decision had to be right for him, not for me or for his teammates."

The right decision appears to be a profitable one for Nelson as well. Instead of likely receiving a non-guaranteed contract as a second-round pick, he is now potentially looking at millions from being a high first-round selection.

"I think now the idea is to play his way into the lottery," Martelli said.

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Of course, when shots go up, they don't always go down. No matter how good a player is, if the ball is always in his hands at the end of the game, the key basket sometimes clangs off iron.

The great ones know how to forget that.

On Jan. 19 last season, the Hawks fell to Rhode Island, 58-57.

Nelson missed a late free-throw with a chance to clinch the game, allowing the Rams to complete a 7-0 run to end the game.

"He was devastated," Martelli said. "When you set a standard as highly as he has set his standards it's OK to feel poorly because it's such a challenging position to be put in."

The ninth-year coach helps his fourth-year star keep these events in perspective -- and not just in terms of basketball.

"If that is the worst thing to ever happen to you in life then you lead a very blessed life," Martelli said.

Nelson is the type of player who does not need to have every shot fall to contribute to his team's success. While outside shooting is certainly important to the game of any guard, it was his penetration and passing that led St. Joe's to its biggest win of the season -- a 73-66 victory over then-No. 10 Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden.

He scored 20 points and had 10 assists despite an off-night from the field. He has 18.8 points, 7.5 assists and 5.5 boards per game on the season.

As was especially apparent in the opener against the Zags, it is hard to follow through on his jumper with the weight of a program on his shoulders.

"I think the pressure of the national stage and living up to the hype of being a first-team All- American in the preseason hurt his shooting," Martelli said. "Some guys would fall flat on their face and never recover, but despite not shooting well he did what he did best, lead his team to victory."

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Mark Macon starred for Temple from 1987 to 1991. He averaged over 20 points during his career, and eventually was picked No. 8 in the NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He led the Owls to two Elite Eight appearances.

That star is the best recent Philly area player to compare to Nelson's clutch ability.

"Mark Macon was a lot like that for Temple," Martelli said. "He was a big time clutch performer. These guys are very unique because those that dare at the end of a game dare to fail. Jameer's not afraid to fail."

Nelson grew up in nearby Chester, Pa., so he knows the Big 5 and its history. While securing a spot in the first round of the NBA Draft was his primary reason for returning to school, securing a position as one of the top players in the history of the best college basketball town in the nation certainly is a nice fringe benefit.

"There are only a few guys who come along like him in every program's history and, in their long and storied history, he's as good as anyone they had," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.

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A year ago the Quakers (2-2) kept him largely under wraps -- he shot only 4-for-15. However, he had five assists and tallied 18 points in the Hawks', 66-48, win.

It will be largely up to Penn guard Charlie Copp to keep Nelson in front of him. Copp does not have any illusions about the difficulty of the task he faces.

"Everyone knows he's probably the best point guard in the country," Copp said.

Yet, the senior has played well against big time opponents this year. He held the Big Ten's preseason Player of the Year, Devin Harris of No. 15 Wisconsin, to 4-for-14 shooting.

"My whole thing is just trying to contain Nelson," Copp said. "He's going to do a lot of things, create a lot of things but I just want to make the things he does as hard as possible."

Dunphy understands that the job of defending Nelson is too big for any one player on the Quakers' roster -- as it has been too big for any player in America.

"We can't just allow [Copp to guard him] by himself," Dunphy said. "We're going to have to play good team defense on him."

Freshman guard Ibby Jaaber may have the size and speed necessary to give Nelson trouble. He pays respect to what Nelson has accomplished, but is not intimidated by the player he could be staring down on Saturday.

"Sometimes he's out of control," Jaaber said. "He's a 27-per cent three-point shooter and if we rebound the ball well, don't give up second shots that can work in our favor."

"We don't want to give up any penetration to the middle of the court because that opens things up," he added. "We want to force him baseline as much as possible and force him into bad decisions. It's a difficult task but I think we can do it."

It's difficult indeed.

It should be to guard a player who makes the impossible look routine.

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