Rick Pitino feels like his St. John’s basketball team is in a similar position as last year.
The Johnnies, again, are coming off a 1-2 week prior to Thanksgiving with a crushing loss in the final minute, a blowout win, and uncharacteristic showing in the finale of the trip.
Last season, the Red Storm only lost three more times after its disappointing journey to the Bahamas and the hope is that they can find some of that same magic after a troubling trip to Las Vegas beginning on Saturday night (8:00 p.m. ET, Peacock) when hosting Ole Miss (5-3) at Madison Square Garden.
“This is a very easy team to coach,” Pitino said on Thursday. “The reason I think we are going to be a very good basketball team is that they want it as much as the coaching staff.”
The team’s rebounding and defense has been a major weakness thus far but it’s not too different from last year at this time of the season, according to the Hall of Famer, before turning into one of the best defensive teams in the country.
Pitino showed his team clips of defensive sequences from last season during its Bahamas trip and Big East play and noted how similar they look at this point.
“They know [rebounding] is a weakness, they know talking defensively is a weakness, and they’re willing to make the corrections,” he explained. “I think they’re like last year’s team. I think they have weaknesses like last year’s team, but I think they will develop into a very strong team capable of winning the Big East again.”
The message has resonated in the locker room behind captain Zuby Ejiofor, who knows St. John’s has to kick things into high gear relatively quickly.
“We don’t have too much time to waste,” Ejiofor said. “You can’t really think about the past, but all you can do is control what you do here in the now and what you do in the future, so if we’re looking forward to having a successful season, we’re going to have to make some changes.”
Against power competition, St. John’s is giving up an average of 88.0 points per game on 45.2-percent shooting and in its losses the numbers rise to 90.3 points per contest on 48.4-percent shooting.
After its meeting with the Rebels, No. 23 St. John’s (4-3) will have another week off before hosting Iona (6-2) on Saturday, December 13 as Big East play begins on Tuesday, December 16 against DePaul (5-3) and serves as a final tune-up for a monster neutral site matchup in Atlanta against No. 18 Kentucky (5-3) in the CBS Sports Classic.