Rick Pitino isn’t backing down from comments he made criticizing his St. John’s team and the school following its loss to Seton Hall on Sunday.
The St. John’s coach told Newsday that he’s “fine with what I said” on Sunday as he explained that his comments, which included critiques on the conditioning of individual players and the program’s facilities, weren’t meant to tear down anyone.
“I truly wasn’t ripping anybody,” Pitino reportedly told Newsday. “I was pointing out exactly — in a monotone voice — why we lost … I am not always calm and certainly not when I rip someone … I was not ripping anybody.
“I sometimes want my players to hear my words and read my words. That was my intention [Sunday].”
St. John’s recent skid might have hit a low point in Sunday’s loss to Seton Hall. The Red Storm led by as many as 19 points in the first half, but they only scored four points in the first 12 minutes of the second half, allowing the Pirates to storm back to take the lead en route to a 68-62 win.
With Sunday’s loss, St. John’s is 2-8 in its last 10 games and has fallen to 14-12 (6-9), putting a once-promising season on the brink of missing the NCAA Tournament. Pitino, who is in his first year in Queens, said Sunday that this season has been “the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime” as he took issue with his team’s defense.
“We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling,” Pitino told reporters after Sunday’s game. “If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year.
“Joel (Soriano’s) slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court,” Pitino added as he individually critiqued players. “Chris Ledlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway’s slow laterally. Brady (Dunlap’s) physically weak, and Drissa (Traore) is slow laterally.”
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In his comments to Newsday, Pitino said that it was a “point of emphasis” for St. John’s to not foul Seton Hall, which ranks second in the conference and 17th in the nation in free-throw percentage (77.5%).
“I was asked the question ‘why do you blow second-half leads?’ And I can tell you sometimes it’s missed free throws at the end of the game and [opponents] make free throws,” Pitino reportedly told Newsday. “Sometimes it’s a turnover. Sometimes it’s bad shot selection that leads to run-outs. It’s not the same reason every time.
“But it’s the same reason every time of why you foul: You foul because you take a bad shot, you get caught in a bad situation defensively, and you are not overly quick laterally. So when you go to [defend] the basket, rather than beat them to the spot, you foul. That’s what I was trying to point out.”
Time is ticking for Pitino to turn things around in his first season at St. John’s. The Red Storm have five regular-season games left to try and position themselves well enough in the Big East Tournament to possibly make a run, hoping to show the selection committee that their 12-4 start to the season wasn’t a fluke.
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But as it sits in ninth place in the conference standings, St. John’s might have a slim margin for error. FOX Sports’ Mike DeCourcy had the Red Storm as one of his “first four teams out” in his latest bracketology, which was released before Sunday’s loss. While four of St. John’s final five games are against the three other teams in the bottom four of the Big East standings, a loss to any of those teams might be an ultimate blow to its tournament hopes.
Pitino isn’t even sure though that his team can defeat an 8-17 Georgetown team on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app) as he told reporters Sunday that the Hoyas “can definitely beat us.” That led Pitino to make a glaring admission about his team.
“We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited,” Pitino said. “We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach. It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.”
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