Rick Pitino, St. John's looking for consistency ahead of Big East opener vs. Xavier
Rick Pitino of St. John's reacts in the first half against Fordham at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The main event is about to begin for St. John’s in its first season under coach Rick Pitino.
The Red Storm (7-3) hasn’t exactly been consistent through 10 non-conference games and now it must be the best it’s been when it opens Big East play against Xavier (6-5) Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Carnesecca Arena.
St. John’s has beaten good foes like Utah, won close games like a one-pointer against North Texas and prevailed in a true road test at West Virginia. On the other hand, it has blown second-half leads in losses to Dayton and Boston College and were non-competitive against Michigan.
With this as the backdrop, Pitino was asked before Tuesday’s practice whether the Storm is ready for Big East competition.
“I don’t know – everything for me with this team is a guess,” Pitino said. “As you look at the schedule sometimes you play, ‘What would our record be?’ I was hoping, at best, it would be 8-2, so we are not far off that. The Boston College game was a very big disappointment.”
This also is Pitino’s first Big East game since his 2012-13 Louisville team defeated Syracuse in the conference tournament title game at the Garden – its third Big East championship in five seasons – en route to winning the national championship.
He said that returning to the Big East cauldron is “exciting” but he also feels, “apprehensive because you have to get ready for these teams in a very short period of time with 14 new players. Our system is based off relentless defense – what I’ve always called the “mother-in-law defense” of constant pressure and harassment – [and] we are nowhere near that yet.”
The Musketeers and coach Sean Miller aren’t exactly the team they expected to be after 6-9 forward Zach Freemantle was lost to September foot surgery and 6-8 forward Jerome Hunter has been sidelined all season by a medical issue. Still it played No. 1-ranked Purdue tough in an eight-point loss and No. 3 Houston tough in a six-point loss.
“We are getting better and we are improving,” Pitino said. “We are playing against a [Xavier] team that's a much better team than us right now. [I’m] not saying they have better talent, but [it's] a much better team. It [plays] a system that beat UConn twice last year, beat St. John’s twice, and . . . Sean is not just an outstanding coach.
“Whether or not we are ready for that system remains to be seen.”
Joel Soriano, in his third season with the Storm, has a perspective that will inspire many St. John’s followers.
“This is probably one of the deeper teams I’ve played on,” he said. “We shoot the ball way better than past teams, we are more connected and I think we are very ready for the Big East. It’s going to be tough for sure, but we are up for the challenge.”
Defensive letdowns have dogged the Storm, but it's coming off its best defensive performance in Saturday’s win over Fordham. It held the Rams to 25.4% shooting, including 2-for-18 on threes, but more importantly “we took a big step forward defensively with our intensity,” Pitino explained.
Luis on the mend
RJ Luis, who hasn’t played since Nov. 25 because of shin splints, was cleared for some basketball activities and did 20 minutes of shooting on Monday. Pitino said Luis – who in his one game was impactful as a scorer, rebounder and defender – has been limited to running in a pool and “is probably about three weeks away.” His shin issues, which date to before his transfer from UMass, will likely have to be managed all season and Pitino said, “I’m not sure we’re going to see the best of RJ this year” though he does expect him to contribute.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
