Championship season is here, and it’s Big East tournament week. Today, Pitino’s St. John’s (19-12, 5th in Big East) squares off against Seton Hall (20-11, 4th in Big East). The Pirates swept the regular season home-and-home series, but the Red Flash are -4.5 (55% projection) to win today’s match-up (2:30 p.m., FS1). Will it be the start of something special for St. John’s?
Apparently, St. John’s is back after finishing the regular season on a five-game winning streak. Nearly everybody I know is penciling the Johnnies to make the Big Dance and Head Coach. Rick Pitino is being hailed as a genius. That’s after the very same folks tore into him after St. John’s lost to Seton Hall several weeks ago.
The Johnnies are now winning instead of being labeled as underachievers. But here’s the truth: the five-game run doesn’t make up for this season’s disappointment. So, from where I sit, a turnaround assessment comes if Pitino’s charges win the Big East Tournament and advance to the national tournament.
Beating the Pirates this afternoon would be a good start, but it isn’t sufficient, not for a decorated coach of Pitino’s standing. He has won a national championship (we could say two, but the NCAA vacated his Louisville team’s 2013 championship) and taken three different teams (Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville) to the Final Four.
While UConn is undoubtedly the class of the conference, St. John’s is a good club, albeit an underachieving one. That designation can change in a matter of days if the Johnnies can go on a run. The first step is against Seton Hall this afternoon, then it’s likely on to play the Huskies (-15.5 today v. Xavier) in a Friday marquee match-up. It’s not hyperbolic to assert that SJU can beat UConn if the team shoots well and players defend.
This is Pitino’s time of the year (March Madness), and it is his place (Madison Square Garden). I remember watching his Louisville Cardinals play there, and Pitino always seemed to get the most out of his players when they played at MSG. Plus, this year’s team is hot at the right time.
Despite Seton Hall beating the Johnnies twice this year, it’s hard to defeat a team thrice, and given Pitino’s pedigree, asking for the Johnnies to capitalize in the Big East Tournament shouldn’t be too much. It’s the least that he can do to validate his $3 million per salary.
