After sounding off following an embarrassing loss to Seton Hall on Feb. 19, St. John’s Men’s Basketball head coach Rick Pitino came under fire from the New York media.
“As St. John’s season spirals out of control, Rick Pitino resorts to an old stand-by: blaming everyone in the room except himself,” said New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro on X.
“This is just classic Pitino. When things aren’t going well, he’s truly miserable,” Lukas Weese and Brian Bennett from The Athletic wrote.
Amid overreactions from the peanut gallery, the hall-of-famer nor his players allowed the outside noise to become a bother. If anything, his postgame comments served as a wakeup call for the tournament-hopeful Johnnies.
Their response could not have come at a better time.
Since the blunder against their local rival, the Red Storm have ripped off four straight victories, including much needed triumphs over now No. 10 Creighton at Madison Square Garden and Big East bottom-feeders DePaul in Chicago.
The latter offered a historic display for St. John’s, tying their record for most points scored in a conference game with 104. The last time they accomplished this feat, a new millennium was on the horizon and Felipe Lopez was leading the Red Storm to the Elite Eight.
St. John’s recent performances not only pass the eye-test, but offer encouraging metrics heading into March Madness. According to KenPom, this is where the Pitino and co. stand after their late season surge:
To the casual fan, these numbers may not mean much. But, when given context, few become glaring.
First, their ranking of 28. This places St. John’s as the fourth highest ranked team in the conference, ahead of conference rivals and fellow bubble teams Villanova (17-13) and Seton Hall (19-11).
Second, their overall record. Currently sitting at 18 wins, a victory over Georgetown this Saturday and one in the Big East Tournament would push the Red Storm to the magic number of 20, making it very hard for the NCAA committee to keep them out of The Big Dance.
Third, their adjusted defensive efficiency (AdjD). Formerly the Achilles heel to this year’s roster, St. John’s now boasts a better defensive efficiency number than powerhouses such as No. 15 Kentucky and No. 16 Alabama.
Finally, and potentially the most important, adjusted tempo (AdjT). This is calculated based on the amount of possessions a team has per game, accounting for both offensive rebounds and forced turnovers. The Red Storm sit above previously mentioned Alabama, No. 8 North Carolina and No. 12 Illinois.
The metrics don’t tell the full story, but they certainly help.
Thanks to a heavy dose of Jordan Dingle, who has found the shooting touch that helped him become the second leading scorer in the nation last season, paired with the always reliable Daniss Jenkins and team captain Joel Soriano, St. John’s is on the brink of their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019.
Will the Johnnies go dancing? What appeared to be a far-fetched dream just two weeks ago now seems very likely.
