St. John’s coach Rick Pitino didn’t mince his words after Sunday’s 68-62 loss at Seton Hall. The 71-year-old was active after the game, criticizing the team’s facilities, watching his players and declaring his first season at St. John’s “one of the best experiences of my life.”
“Do we have facilities? Yes, we do,” Pitino said. “Having facilities has nothing to do with not having protection.”
It was a promising start for St. John’s at UBS Arena. The Red Storm led 41-29 at halftime. St. John’s biggest lead was 19 points. Seton Hall erased a first-half deficit with 8:13 left in the second half when senior guard Al-Amir Dawz converted. St. John’s went up by one point, 53-52, with 5:22 left, but that would be the Red Tide’s last lead. Seton Hall went on a 12-2 run to go up 64-55 with 1:03 left. Dawes finished with a game-high 19 points, while senior guard Kadari Richmond had a double-double with 18 points (14 in the second half) and 11 rebounds.
Seton Hall held 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 Tide made 15 changes. Pitino didn’t hold back when discussing individual players, selecting them for their movement and physicality on the court.
See: Joel [Soriano]”He’s slow on the sidelines, he’s not fast on the court,” Pitino said. “Chris Ludlum is sideways, Sean Conway is sideways. Brady [Dunlap]Drisa is physically weak [Traore] It’s sideways.”
Pitino said the team lost the way we were hired this season. He said that the players do not adapt to the way they train.
“We’ve recruited the opposite of a coach with speed, quickness, fundamentals, strength and toughness,” Pitino said. “It’s a good team, they work hard, but they’re not too difficult.”
After beating Providence at home on January 10, St. John’s was 12-4, ranked 34th in the NET and looked well on its way to the NCAA Tournament in Pitino’s first season. Since then, the Red Storm have lost eight of their last 10 games to fall off the bubble. This time they have to win the Big East tournament to get into the dance.
In his first news conference since taking over last March, Pitino said, “A lot of these players probably won’t be back on this team because they probably aren’t the right fit for me.” He kept his word and brought in 11 new players, but lost standouts like AJ Storr (Wisconsin), David Jones (Memphis), Posh Alexander (Butler) and Omar Stanley (Boise State). Now he is blaming the many players he brought in not enough.
It’s reminiscent of Pitino’s famous “Larry Bird ain’t walking in that door” rant when he was coach of the Boston Celtics — even though he was responsible for many of the roster issues.
This is classic Pitino. When things aren’t going well, he really gets it wrong. The good news is, at least in his college career, things won’t stay miserable for long under his coach. Pitino has won two national championships (the 2013 title in Louisville was later vacated) and has appeared in seven Final Fours. He is the first coach to take three different schools (Providence, Kentucky and Louisville) to the national semifinals. Pitino coached in the NBA with the New York Knicks (1987 to 1989) and the Celtics (1997 to 2001). Prior to St. John’s, Pitino coached Ion from 2020 to 2023 and led the Gaels to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
After Sunday’s loss, St. John’s is 14-12 and ninth in the Big East Conference standings. The Red Storm’s next game is on the road against George Town on Wednesday. Pitino — a Hall of Fame coach — didn’t exude confidence.
“I’m getting ready for Georgetown because Georgetown can definitely beat us.”
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(Photo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)