Rick Pitino doesn’t think surging St. John’s has even hit its ceiling yet
St. John’s is coming off a week in which it beat two ranked teams and moved into the Top 10 of the Associated Press rankings for the first time since the final poll of the 1999-2000 season.
The Red Storm sit all alone atop the Big East, have won 10 straight games and are in play for a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament.
They have generated considerable national buzz.
But Rick Pitino doesn’t see a finished product. In fact, the Hall of Fame coach believes the Johnnies have plenty of room for improvement, particularly on the offensive end.
“The great thing about us is, I would say, we’re 60 percent of the way potentially [of how good we can be],” Pitino said during a Q&A session after a screening of the first episode of the new Vice TV docuseries, “Pitino: Red Storm Rising,” which chronicles the St. John’s season. “We’re not a very good offensive team. We don’t pass real well, we don’t shoot real well, and we can get so much better at that.
“Deivon [Smith], seven, eight games ago, was a great player, and he hasn’t come back from [his shoulder injury] yet. We have to get him back [playing well]. But we can be so much better, which excites me.”
The ninth-ranked Johnnies (21-3, 12-1) are coming off a thrilling win at then-No. 19 Connecticut, the back-to-back defending national champions.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
It was St. John’s first win at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., in front of fans since 2000.
Pitino, however, doesn’t believe it was a particularly good performance by his team.
His staff found 35 mistakes, most notably in failures to box out, leading to a rare performance in which the Johnnies were beaten on the glass by 10.
They had a scoring drought of 6:31 in the second half.
“Our poorest game in the last 10 was Connecticut. Were we thrilled with the win? Yes, no question. We played awful against Connecticut, awful,” Pitino said. “Now you wouldn’t think that, but we did. We had 35 bad plays. Normally, this time of year, you’re probably at 17 or 18.”
St. John’s still found a way to win, largely because Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis took over down the stretch.
Richmond scored all 12 of his points after halftime, eight coming in a 14-1 run that gave the Johnnies the lead for good.
The Seton Hall transfer has been at his best in winning time.
“The great ones can bring it to a new level in crunch time, and he brings it to a new level,” Pitino said.
It was around this time last year that St. John’s took off, making a spirited late run at the NCAA Tournament that ultimately fell short.
That group made a February leap. Luis believes this team can do the same.
Though last year’s team got significantly better on the defensive end, these Johnnies are hoping to do the same offensively.
“There’s just so much room for improvement, which is very scary to myself and my teammates,” Luis said. “We have that much of another level that we can reach.”
Pitino talked up St. John’s next opponent, Villanova, a habit of his.
The Eric Dixon-led Wildcats are coming off an impressive home win over Xavier and are making 39.9 percent of their 3-point shots.
They need to finish the year strong to get into the NCAA Tournament picture, and a win over the Johnnies would give their résumé a major boost, something new for the Queens program.
“We’re no longer the hunter, we are being hunted right now, and our guys know that,” Pitino said. “We know we’ve got to bring it. But the one thing about this team is they bring it. They really do. Sometimes I pick up the stat sheet and say, ‘How the hell did we win this game? I don’t get it.’
“If I picked up the statistics of this basketball team [without knowing our record], I’d say we’ve won six, seven games. Seriously. But the heart, the defense, the forced turnovers, the offensive rebounding, the possessions that are gained by all of those things truly are amazing.”
