St. John’s is coming off per week wherein it beat two ranked groups and moved into the High 10 of the Related Press rankings for the primary time because the closing ballot of the 1999-2000 season.
The Pink Storm sit on their own atop the Huge East, have received 10 straight video games and are in play for a high 4 seed within the NCAA Match.
They’ve generated appreciable nationwide buzz.
However Rick Pitino doesn’t see a completed product. In actual fact, the Corridor of Fame coach believes the Johnnies have loads of room for enchancment, notably on the offensive finish.
“The beauty of us is, I might say, we’re 60 % of the best way doubtlessly [of how good we can be],” Pitino mentioned throughout a Q&A session after a screening of the primary episode of the brand new Vice TV docuseries, “Pitino: Pink Storm Rising,” which chronicles the St. John’s season. “We’re not an excellent offensive workforce. We don’t cross actual properly, we don’t shoot actual properly, and we will get so significantly better at that.
“Deivon [Smith], seven, eight video games in the past, was an important participant, and he hasn’t come again from [his shoulder injury] but. Now we have to get him again [playing well]. However we will be so significantly better, which excites me.”
The ninth-ranked Johnnies (21-3, 12-1) are coming off an exciting win at then-No. 19 Connecticut, the back-to-back defending nationwide champions.
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It was St. John’s first win at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., in entrance of followers since 2000.
Pitino, nevertheless, doesn’t consider it was a very good efficiency by his workforce.
His employees discovered 35 errors, most notably in failures to field out, resulting in a uncommon efficiency wherein the Johnnies have been crushed on the glass by 10.
That they had a scoring drought of 6:31 within the second half.
“Our poorest sport within the final 10 was Connecticut. Have been we thrilled with the win? Sure, no query. We performed terrible in opposition to Connecticut, terrible,” Pitino mentioned. “Now you wouldn’t suppose that, however we did. We had 35 unhealthy performs. Usually, this time of 12 months, you’re in all probability at 17 or 18.”
St. John’s nonetheless discovered a strategy to win, largely as a result of Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis took over down the stretch.
Richmond scored all 12 of his factors after halftime, eight coming in a 14-1 run that gave the Johnnies the lead for good.
The Seton Corridor switch has been at his finest in successful time.
“The nice ones can carry it to a brand new stage in crunch time, and he brings it to a brand new stage,” Pitino mentioned.
It was round this time final 12 months that St. John’s took off, making a spirited late run on the NCAA Match that finally fell quick.
That group made a February leap. Luis believes this workforce can do the identical.
Although final 12 months’s workforce received considerably higher on the defensive finish, these Johnnies are hoping to do the identical offensively.
“There’s simply a lot room for enchancment, which could be very scary to myself and my teammates,” Luis mentioned. “Now we have that a lot of one other stage that we will attain.”
Pitino talked up St. John’s subsequent opponent, Villanova, a behavior of his.
The Eric Dixon-led Wildcats are coming off a formidable house win over Xavier and are making 39.9 % of their 3-point photographs.
They should end the 12 months robust to get into the NCAA Match image, and a win over the Johnnies would give their résumé a serious enhance, one thing new for the Queens program.
“We’re now not the hunter, we’re being hunted proper now, and our guys know that,” Pitino mentioned. “We all know we’ve received to carry it. However the one factor about this workforce is they bring about it. They actually do. Generally I choose up the stat sheet and say, ‘How the hell did we win this sport? I don’t get it.’
“If I picked up the statistics of this basketball workforce [without knowing our record], I’d say we’ve received six, seven video games. Critically. However the coronary heart, the protection, the pressured turnovers, the offensive rebounding, the possessions which are gained by all of these issues really are wonderful.”