St. John's coach Rick Pitino didn't mince his words after the Red Storm lost 68-62 to Seton Hall on Sunday. The 71-year-old grumbled about his post-game availability, criticized the team's facilities, lashed out at his players and described his first season at St. John's as “the most unpleasant experience of my life.”
“Do we have sy facilities? Yes, we do,” Pitino said. “Having SY facilities has nothing to do with not being guarded.”
It was a promising start for St. John's at the UBS Arena. At halftime, the Red Storm led 41-29. St. John's largest lead was 19 points. Seton Hall erased its first-half deficit 8:13 into the second half when senior guard Al-Amir Dawes converted a layup. St. John's went up by one point, 53-52, with 5:22 left, but it would be the Red Storm's last lead. Seton Hall went on a 12-2 run to improve to 64-55 with 1:03 left. Dawes finished the game with a game-high 19 points, while senior guard Kadary Richmond finished with a double-double of 18 points (14 in the second half) and 11 rebounds.
Seton Hall limited St. John's to 33.8 percent shooting from the floor (23 of 68) and 24 percent from distance (6 of 25). The Red Storm committed 15 turnovers. Pitino didn't hold back when talking about individual players, highlighting them for their agility and physicality on the court.
“Look: Joel [Soriano]“He’s slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court,” Pitino said. “Chris Ludlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway is slow laterally. Brady [Dunlap]He's physically weak, Drissa [Traore] is laterally slow.”
Pitino said the team “lost this season the way we recruited.” He said the players didn't agree with the way he coached.
“We recruited the opposite of how I coach: speed, quickness, fundamentals, strength and toughness,” Pitino said. “It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.”
As of Jan. 10, after beating Providence at home, St. John's was 12-4, ranked 34th in the NET, and appeared to be well on its way to the NCAA Tournament in Pitino's first season. Since then, the Red Storm have lost eight of their last ten games and have fallen out of the bubble. At this point, they would have to win the Big East tournament to get into the dance.
When Pitino held his first press conference after taking office last March, he said: “A lot of these players probably won't come back to this team because they probably won't be a good fit for me.” He stayed true to his word, bringing in 11 new players and lost productive players such as AJ Storr (Wisconsin), David Jones (Memphis), Posh Alexander (Butler) and O'Mar Stanley (Boise State). Now he accuses many of the players he brought in of not being good enough.
It's reminiscent of Pitino's famous “Larry Bird isn't walking through that door” rant when he was coach of the Boston Celtics – although he was also in charge of most of that roster.
This is just classic Pitino. When things don't go well, he's really unhappy. The good news is that, at least in his college career, things won't stay bad for long under his tutelage. Pitino has won two national championships (Louisville's 2013 title was later vacated) and appeared in seven Final Fours. He is the first coach to lead three different schools (Providence, Kentucky and Louisville) to the national semifinals. Pitino also coached in the NBA with the New York Knicks (1987 to 1989) and Celtics (1997 to 2001). Prior to St. John's, Pitino coached Iona from 2020 to 2023 and led the Gaels to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
After Sunday's loss, St. John's sits ninth in the Big East conference standings at 14-12. The Red Storm's next game is on the road against Georgetown on Wednesday. Pitino — the Hall of Fame coach — didn't exude confidence.
“I’m just getting ready for Georgetown because Georgetown can definitely beat us.”
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(Photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)