St. John’s 80-66 win over No. 15 Creighton on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden was the program’s signature win of the season. Head coach Rick Pitino needed the win just as much as his team. Here’s why.
It has been a disappointing season for Pitinio and St. John’s fans. St. John’s is 16-12 overall for the season, 8-9 in Big East play. His team blew large leads in road contests vs. Creighton and Marquette in January and imploded in February against Seton Hall after taking a 19-point lead.
The Seton Hall loss, in particular, struck a nerve for Pitino. In his post-game presser, he talked about how this season has been the most unenjoyable experience of his career as a head coach. He then went on an inane rant about his players not being good enough and then whined about the facilities. He did everything except blame himself.
While Pitino’s rant (and that’s what it was) may have motivated the team, it was still a self-serving and pathetic public expression. The reality is this: if Pitino gets credit when his team plays well, he also needs to take the blame when it doesn’t. After all, it’s his job to find and develop players that fit well with his brand of basketball, and that quest is (at best) a work in progress.
Pitino figured RJ Luis would be the focal point of his offense, but his point guard has struggled to the extent that he’s now a reserve getting limited minutes. In addition, Joel Soriano, Brady Dunlap, and Chris Ledlum failed to make the kind of impact envisioned for them in 2023-24. Conversely, the bright spot is Iona transfer Daniss Jenkins, who produced a season-high 27 points on Sunday.
While the team’s offense hasn’t been exactly a work of art, the defense has been Pitino’s bigger disappointment. That is not something Pitino is used to, and he has difficulty dealing with it. One thought is that Pitino overrated his players’ abilities. Another take is that the players didn’t get the time to mesh together defensively.
Whatever the reason for the team’s malaise, the bottom line is always wins and losses. Before the current modest winning streak (consecutive wins this past week vs. Georgetown and Creighton), St. John’s had up-and-down January (4-4) and February (3-4). A win in Indianapolis on Wednesday vs. Butler would level the 2024 portion of the schedule at 8-8, and (let’s face facts) that’s nothing to write home about.
But at least we can say that almost everything went right against Creighton. The shots went in (42% shooting), St. John’s forced 13 turnovers, and had 24 assists on the day. After Creighton cut the deficit to 57-52, Jordan Dingle and Jenkins spearheaded St. John’s 15-4 run by scoring the last 15 points to seal the victory for the home team.
Pitino could use more games like that, and his team will have that opportunity in the next three games, which are winnable with DePaul and Georgetown following Butler. The all-important Big East Tournament comes next. To get a March Madness bid (as I see it), SJU has to win all three of its remaining regular-season games and then get Ws in at least the same number of conference tournament games. Six more wins would mean finishing the year at 22-12.
Rick Pitino brought hope to New York City, but things haven’t worked out as he and fans had expected. He can blame the players all he wants, but another angle on the situation is that the outcomes are more on him than the players. The big question is whether Pitino can salvage the season.
