The right hip, Brady Dunlap assured, is no longer an issue.
His recent shooting woes have nothing to do with it.
The sophomore wing just has to make shots.
over Quinnipiac earlier in the season. Robert Sabo for NY Post
“I’m not shooting as well as I’d like to be shooting,” Dunlap said on Tuesday over Zoom as St. John’s prepared to meet Bryant at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday night. “It’s kind of bothering me, it’s kind of my role on the team, even though the coaching staff isn’t really going to [harp on it]. They think I’m playing well, yada, yada, yada, but I need to make shots.”
Dunlap entered this season viewed as an important piece for the Johnnies, a court-spacing 6-foot-7 sharpshooter who would help keep defenses honest against St. John’s slashing guards and wings.
Lately, that hasn’t been the case, Dunlap is 1-for-11 from distance in the past three games after missing the win over Virginia with the hip problem.
He received a cortisone shot for the hip after St. John’s trip to The Bahamas and an MRI exam revealed a slight labrum tear, his father Jeff told The Post.
The shot has seemed to alleviate the discomfort.
Doctors told Dunlap he can play through the injury.
He isn’t one to make excuses.
When Jeff has asked him about the hip, Brady has said that he’s fine.
“I tell him, I want to see your speed come back,” the elder Dunlap said. “Brady’s gift athletically is running speed — he’s fast. He’s not a high flier. He’s quick to fill lanes, quick to get up the floor, quick to get back. Hopefully that’s coming.”
Dunlap’s role for St. John’s is a difficult one, a bench player whose main job is to knock down perimeter shots.
He’s averaging only 4.9 per game in 17.1 minutes.
There’s a lot of pressure to take advantage of those opportunities.
“I’ve talked to many coaches at all levels that have told me that one of the hardest jobs in basketball is to be the shooter off the bench,” Jeff, a longtime Division I assistant coach at N.C. State, Georgia, Cal State Fullerton, Loyola-Chicago and Western Michigan, said. “It’s a unique position, it’s a unique responsibility, but he’s gotta take that challenge on and he has to get better at it.
“He’s gonna have his games where he lights it up and everyone is going to go crazy, say that he’s arrived. And he’s going to have games where he goes 0-for-7 and everyone is going to wonder why he’s on the team. It’s an extreme spectrum that you run. He’s got a helluva role.”
St. John’s is shooting only 33.2 percent from 3-point range, an expected weakness that could limit this team.
The hope was that Dunlap would take a step forward this year and be capable of being a major factor in that department.
“In games, I think sometimes I get nervous because I’m only going to get five or six shots and I have to make those shots for the team because obviously we’re not a great 3-point shooting team,” Dunlap said. “Sometimes I catch the ball, I get a little tight because I feel the importance of the shot. I have to relax and shoot the ball higher and trust myself and trust my training. But at the same time, it’s just basketball and I could go out against Bryant and make five or six [3’s].”
Rick Pitino believes in him, giving Dunlap the start in last Saturday’s win over Kansas State.
The Hall of Fame coach doesn’t talk to him about his shooting — he is certain the shots will drop soon.
That the player who began the year making 9-for-19 from range, and was known as a four-star prospect for his shotmaking, will find it.
“He’s, believe or not, praised me for some of my defensive stops that I’ve had. Feels like I’ve progressed a lot on the defensive end from last year,” Dunlap said of his interactions with Pitino. “That one game I had seven rebounds, although I didn’t have any against Kansas State, which hurt, he praised me for that. He doesn’t really bring up the shot.
“But at the same time, I’m not an idiot and I understand how important shooting is for this basketball team. I’ve got to be more of a knockdown guy just to space the floor out.”