St. John’s is getting again its engine — simply in time for the largest stretch of this joyride of a season.
After lacking three of the final 4 video games with a bruised proper shoulder he injured on Jan. 11, senior level guard Deivon Smith is predicted to return Saturday in opposition to Windfall on the Backyard.
He has had a number of full practices since receiving a second cortisone shot, and is able to go.
“I’m feeling good. I’m not fascinated by it,” the 6-foot Smith mentioned Friday. “Mentally, that was the final half, simply taking hits, getting on the market and operating. I’m fairly good now.”
His mindset is straightforward: “Simply play laborious, [use my] motor, let the sport come to me — identical stuff that you just guys had already been seeing. I hope my shot goes in. I’ve been engaged on it.”
This recreation kicks off a troublesome seven-game stretch that features one contest in opposition to No. 9 Marquette, two with No. 25 Connecticut and a second assembly reverse Creighton — the three different prime groups within the Massive East.
St. John’s (18-3, 9-1) saved on profitable even with out Smith, coming into the matchup with Windfall using a seven-game win streak.
It’s off to its finest begin by 21 video games because the 1985-86 marketing campaign and has its highest nationwide rating, at No. 15, in a decade.
However getting Smith again ought to solely assist the Johnnies.
With out him, they needed to rally from massive deficits at dwelling in opposition to Xavier and Georgetown, and the offense fell from forty ninth in effectivity to sixty fifth.
“It was a unique sort of group,” coach Rick Pitino mentioned. “The tempo wasn’t as quick. He offers us extra tempo. We had nice measurement, we may swap all 5 positions. That’s factor.”
Smith makes St. John’s transition recreation go, is the group’s finest 3-point shooter at 39.2 p.c and is a robust defensive rebounder regardless of his measurement.
The dynamic lead guard is averaging 10.3 factors, 5.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals, and St. John’s has outscored the opposition by 178 factors with Smith on the ground throughout 463 minutes.
That averages out to 10.5 factors higher per recreation than the opponent in his 17 appearances. Solely RJ Luis (13.3) and Zuby Ejiofor (13.1) are extra precious by this metric.
Smith additionally has the perfect defensive score on the group, of 88.3 per 100 possessions, in accordance with BasketballReference.com.
It is usually the Tenth-best mark within the nation. Whereas Smith makes St. John’s smaller, it’s laborious to say they’re not considerably higher with him.
“I feel we gambled. We went longer than we should always need to get him 100%,” Pitino mentioned. “We gambled that we may win with out him — it was a giant gamble and it paid off. Now I feel he’s over the hump.
“He’s an awesome numbers man. He’s going to have steals, assists, rebounds, factors. All through his profession, he’s been a man that checks the bins.”
Whereas Smith was out, Kadary Richmond’s play picked up significantly. Over the past seven video games, the Seton Corridor switch is averaging 12.2 factors, 5.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds and a couple of.5 steals.
Richmond had no selection however to be extra aggressive with out St. John’s different prime playmaker on the ground. However Pitino doesn’t count on a dropoff.
“We have been group after they each performed collectively. We’re going to inch him again into the lineup and see what occurs,” Pitino mentioned. “Kadary’s simply getting higher, not due to [Smith’s] absence. Is the ball in his fingers a little bit bit extra? Sure, however the ball will nonetheless be in his fingers rather a lot.”