Pitino said, “Georgetown can definitely beat us” and a couple other things.
Your Georgetown Hoyas (8-16, 1-12) will host the St. John’s Red Storm (14-12, 6-9) on the night of Wednesday, February 21st. Tipoff at Capital One Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on FS1, with Alex Faust and Tarik Turner on the call, as well as a radio broadcast on The Team 980 with Rich Chvotkin in his 50th season. Pitino’s Red Storm is the only BIG EAST team the Hoyas have yet to see this season.
Midweek matchup against St. John’s on deck @CapitalOneArena!
️ https://t.co/2uoL7LBvzw#HoyaSaxa x @GeorgetownHoops pic.twitter.com/RawHvXp3tB
— Georgetown Hoyas (@GeorgetownHoyas) February 19, 2024
With the matchup of first-year head coaches Ed Cooley and Rick Pitino, much of the focus will be drawn to progress—or lack there of—over the first season for each respective team. Neither coach appears to be happy with their squad’s defensive identity. More particularly, after their loss to Seton Hall on Sunday night, Pitino took an aggressive approach with his players: calling them unathletic with poor lateral movement. Ouch.
Here’s some video from the Rick Pitino show tonight https://t.co/TPLQ41Q4k4 pic.twitter.com/P8Hqheux3o
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 19, 2024
Frankly, it’s not a great look and the anti-Pitino folk will hang their hats on this as unacceptable leadership. This humble lunch blog contributor has often said that the chef who buys groceries does not get to complain about the ingredients. Pitino see his team as on the wrong side of the bubble and in need of hard, public motivation. Some lousy second-half efforts may have recently been phoned in by the Johnnies, but there are many better ways to get a response from student-athletes. Still, among all the soundbites, Pitino gave some interesting and not-untrue rationale as to his disappointment in his team’s defensive abilities (see more quotes below).
With blown halftime leads in 4 of the last 5 games (not the home win over DePaul), the scouting report may be out for St. John’s. With slow starts at home for Georgetown in much of conference play, one might suggest the same for the Hoyas—except the expectations were much higher (and remain to be) for the Johnnies this season. They aren’t really close.
Folks are drawing parallels from Rick Pitino’s rant to Ed Cooley’s roster building. Yes, both had a short recruiting cycle, but the two programs are hardly in identical positions. While St. John’s started with a POTY contender in the middle and stuffed their roster with high ranking transfer portal products, Ed Cooley added only a select few transfers this offseason and chose to leave 3+ scholarship spots open—especially in a thin frontcourt. Both coaches, honestly, are familiar enough with the BIG EAST and should have built better rosters if they were really looking to lay foundations for now or the future. Of course, time will tell.
The Johnnies’ defense is not that bad, considering. Some might even say it’s pretty good. Many basketball fans would swap their team’s KenPom ratings with St. John’s. The Johnnies’ adjusted defensive efficiency (98.8) is good enough to be ranked 45th. The Hoyas adjusted defensive efficiency (112.3) is ranked 307th. You don’t have to be a math minor (I was) to figure out who is in the better position.
As some of the articles below explore further, Slick Rick has been in similar positions before. Pitino had the 42st ranked defense in his first year at Louisville (2002). Over the next 15 years, Louisville had 9 top-5 defenses and 13 top-25 defenses.
Cooley, had the 238th ranked defense in his first year (2012) at Providence before ranking 78th, 94th, 42nd, 28th, 40th, 36th, 41st, 27th, 74th, 44th, and 92nd over 2013-2023. Cooley did have the 19th ranked defense in his last year at Fairfield in 2011.
NB: For reference, at KenPom, John Thompson III had the 97th ranked defense in 2005 before rankings of 46, 21, 6, 36, 42, 55, 9, 4, 91, 33, 81, and 58 in 2006-2017. Ewing’s defenses (as coach) ranked 119, 133, 125, 49 (!), 228, and 240 over 2018-2023. Craig Esherick’s defenses were ranked (gulp) 19, 19, 29, 19, and 44.
So, yes, even the pickiest fans understood a Georgetown (re-)build would take time, but no one expected a 300th ranked defense that is worse than any of Ewing’s adjusted defense rankings on KenPom.
And, yes, even with Pitino publicly embarrassing his team in that press conference, this humble lunch blog contributor is quite envious of their top-50 defense. As all fans who understand Georgetown’s identity should be.
On KenPom, St. John’s adjusted defensive efficiency (98.8) is good enough to be ranked 45th, which the Hoyas adjusted defensive efficiency (112.3) is ranked 307th.
I am envious of their defensive issues. https://t.co/UqYlO8dKFM
— Philadelphia Hoyas (@PhillyHoyas) February 19, 2024
Here are some incredible Pitino quotes (h/t @DalyDoseOfHoops and others):
- “If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year.”
- “We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling.”
- “I’ve been .500 in the first year, but I’ve always enjoyed the first year. I’m not going to lie to you, this is the most unenjoyable experience of my life.”
- “… because the game has to be played a certain way with fundamentals and this has been so disappointing.
- “We just lack toughness. We just don’t move our feet on defense.”
- “I knew this summer that we were in trouble.”
- “And really it’s not about losing, because even in winning when I watch the film, I see unathletic plays, I see people that don’t handle the ball, that are just interested in taking quick shots.”
- “We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited. We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach. It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.”
- “I don’t think we were gonna win the first year anyway. This has been the most unenjoyable experience I’ve had since I’ve been coaching, and not because of record. The defense is just atrocious, and we just foul every time.”
- “DJ’s been the saving grace on a very difficult experience.”
- “I couldn’t evaluate their toughness, to be honest with you. I didn’t have time to evaluate their toughness. Altogether, this is a different environment. You could build toughness, but this is different times where you’re changing your team almost every year.”
- “Look, I don’t want to say the wrong things, but I’m very disappointed in my team. Oh, and credit to (Seton Hall). They were the epitome of toughness.”
- “Look [] Joel’s slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court. Chris Ledlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway’s slow laterally. Brady’s physically weak, Drissa is slow laterally.”
- “After I spent the summer with them, I knew it was gonna be a difficult year. I knew it. I’m hoping we could finish over .500 for the season.”
- “It’s not the job. You could be at Missouri and recruit slow players. Believe me, it’s not St. John’s. We had to put together a team at the last second. We will never, ever, do that again.”
- “Do we have shitty facilities? Yes, we do. But we’re doing something about that.”
- “To be honest with you, Zach, I’m just getting ready for Georgetown, because Georgetown can definitely beat us.”
- “(Sha) did a wonderful job without NIL being exorbitant. Every one of his kids is really, really tough.”
- “I think they’re very respectful. They hear, but they don’t listen. It’s taken me two months to get them to throw bounce passes. It’s slow progress.”
- “I’ve been disappointed almost every game in this team, with the lack of toughness.”
- “I’m sure when you lose, everybody’s disappointed. I’ve been disappointed for different reasons, not the final score.”
- “I tried to get AJ Storr, I tried to get others. There were circumstances that had to be done over, that were out of my control. We had to bite the bullet and clean certain things out, academically as well as athletically. It’s what had to be done to start over.”
No amount of postgame finger-pointing to the players’ shortcomings should distract from the fact that Rick Pitino is ultimately responsible for evaluating and constructing the roster.
— Rumble In The Garden (@rumbleSBN) February 19, 2024
Here are the links:
Rick Pitino unleashes on St. John’s facilities, players following loss to Seton Hall | The Athletic
Seton Hall limited St. John’s to 33.8 percent shooting from the floor (23-of-68) and 24 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-25). The Red Storm committed 15 turnovers. Pitino did not hold back when discussing individual players, singling them out for their movement and physicality on the court.
“Look: Joel [Soriano]’s slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court,” Pitino said. “Chris Ludlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway’s slow laterally. Brady [Dunlap]’s physically weak, Drissa [Traore] is slow laterally.”
Pitino said that the team “lost this season the way we recruited.” He said that the players don’t align with how he coaches.
“We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach, with speed, quickness, fundamentals, strength and toughness,” Pitino said. “It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.”
The Red Storm has nothing on us.
This week both the women’s and men’s teams will take on St. John’s at home. The women play first at the McDonough Arena Tuesday February 20th at 7pm. The men will play Wednesday the 21st at 7pm at Capital One Arena. We are SO ready. pic.twitter.com/YA18dWxYbU
— Georgetown NIL Store (@GeorgetownNIL) February 19, 2024
Now, it’s a matter of record that, while Pitino’s entire college-coaching career has been a case study in program rehabilitation, he has never had a complete first-year turnaround. Mostly, he has taken over programs that were dying or decaying — file St. John’s under the latter — and sold a system and a promise in Year 1 before starting to do serious winning in Year 2.
At Boston U., it was 17-9 followed by 21-9 and a regular-season ECAC-North title. At Providence, it was 17-14 followed by 25-9 and a rollicking ride to the Final Four. At Kentucky, it was 14-14 in Year 1, 22-6 and a regular-season SEC title in Year 2. At Louisville, it was 19-13 his first year followed by 25-7 and a Conference USA championship his second. And Iona went from 12-6 (though they did win the MAAC Tournament) in 2021 to 25-8 in ’22.
On one hand, this is exactly the blueprint. The Johnnies are still probably going to hit 18 wins. It is only a delicious irony that, if they do, they will match what Mike Anderson did his final season before being shamefully dismissed for cause so St. John’s could scrape together the shekels to pay Pitino.
Rock bottom.https://t.co/gA4HS0jH5m
— Rumble In The Garden (@rumbleSBN) February 19, 2024
St. John’s Falls to Seton Hall, 68-62 | St. John’s University Athletics
The St. John’s men’s basketball (14-12, 6-9) fell to Seton Hall (17-9, 10-5), 68-62, on Sunday at UBS Arena.
Red Storm point guard Daniss Jenkins posted 17 points, six assists, five rebounds, three steals and one block against the Pirates. St. John’s center Joel Soriano finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.
Seton Hall was led by Al-Amir Dawes, who finished with a game-high 19 points and hit three 3-pointers. Kadary Richmond recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds while Dre Davis had 15 points and seven boards for the Pirates.
Soriano scored 11 of the team’s first 25 points and put the Red Storm up by 11 with a jumper from the free-throw line at the 8:11 mark. St. John’s outscored the Pirates 13-5 over the next five minutes to build its largest lead of the contest. Jenkins scored five points during the spurt, including his second 3-pointer of the half, before a pair of free throws from Nahiem Alleyne and a layup by Zuby Ejiofor extended the lead to 38-19 with 3:09 on the clock.
Seton Hall managed to trim the deficit to 12 by intermission with Richmond’s putback layup, followed by four free throws from Dawes. St. John’s led 41-29 at the break.
Half
St. John’s – 41
Seton Hall – 29St. John’s has its largest lead in Big East play this season. But feels like it should be much bigger. Still 20 minutes to go need to close this one out. #sjubb
— TorresOnSJU (@TorresOnSJU) February 18, 2024
Pirates Overcome 19-Point Deficit to Down St. John’s, 68-62 | Seton Hall University Athletics
St. John’s extended their lead to 19 with 3:09 to go before halftime before the Pirates started being aggressive and getting to the foul line. Davis scored the Pirates’ next four points before a layup by Richmond and four-straight points at the free throw line by Dawes capped off a 10-3 run that closed the first half and trimmed its deficit to 12 at the break, 41-29.
Seton Hall flipped the script in the second half and it started on the defensive end. The Pirates went on an 18-4 run that turned an 11-point deficit in to a two-point lead, 47-45, with 8:15 to go. In that span of 11-plus minutes, The Hall held St. John’s to just one made field goals as the Red Storm went 1-of-10 from the floor. After St. John’s drew within one with 7:58 to play, Dylan Addae-Wusu (Bronx, N.Y.) converted a traditional three-point play that made it a two-possession game and it gave the Pirates their largest lead of the game to that point, 50-46.
St. John’s went back in front by one, 53-52, on a three-point basket with just over five minutes left but The Hall used a 9-0 run, highlighted by a Dawes three at the top of the arc that made it a four-point game, that gave the Pirates a commanding 61-53 lead.
What an impressive comeback and win by Seton Hall. The Pirates improve to 5-5 Q1 which is very good for a bubble team.
If Seton Hall wins out at home they’ll be in the NCAA tournament. Think they can still get in by winning 2 of 3 at home, while avoiding a loss to DePaul.
— Brad Wachtel (@Brad_Wachtel) February 19, 2024
St. John’s vs. Seton Hall men’s basketball preview and game thread | Rumble In The Garden
Back in his introductory press conference last March, Rick Pitino named Joel Soriano the team’s captain. The first three months went smoothly for Soriano, but he’s been put to task after a stretch of uncharacteristically poor performances. He was benched in his last game against Providence, but his woes continued by fouling out after scoring 9 points on eight shots. Zuby Ejiofor was more efficient in his time on the floor and he helped ignite the Red Storm’s first half rally after falling into an early 13-point hole.
The on-court results hint to another start for Ejiofor, but Pitino could go back to the big man he christened as this season’s team captain. On Friday night’s edition of MSG Network’s Red Storm Report, Rick Pitino said he pointed out instances where Soriano could give better effort and mentioned that Soriano had “a few good days of practice”. We’ll find out Pitino’s decision at center shortly before tip-off.
Second-Half Sloppiness – I didn’t even bother creating a new sub-header for this section because this has been a months-long storyline haunting St. John’s. Wednesday night’s game was the fifth time St. John’s lost a conference game despite leading at halftime. Their first half plus-minus in those five games were +27, while their second half plus-minus slides to -59.
Rick Pitino throwing his current cast under the bus only makes those he will target with a full offseason of recruiting feel even more special and want to play for him. He is playing chess via the media. It’s refreshing and the Johnnies are lucky to have him.
— Casual Hoya (@CasualHoya) February 19, 2024
Media Series 2024: Maryland, Georgetown, Indiana State, & Dayton — Three-Man-Weave | THREE-MAN-WEAVE
The crowd was far better than I anticipated. I had heard going in that attendance numbers weren’t great this season (or the past few), and with the Hoyas sitting at 8-17 (1-13) now on the year that isn’t too surprising. But Hoya faithful showed out and the students were strong in numbers. Villanova was a large draw, I’m told, due to alumni living in Philly and likely a healthy contingent of actual Nova fans in attendance. But the arena destroyed any potential for a real college atmosphere.
It didn’t matter how many fans were there – you couldn’t hear them. The whole thing felt hollow. Georgetown basketball deserves far better.
Game and Player Notes: Georgetown started hot, and the bench was very into the game. I saw the passion in the benchwarmers, and it seemed we might be in for an upset special. (Side note: while I appreciated the passion, it’s really hard to see over Ryan Mutombo when he stands up – he’s very tall).