It was a new look for the St. John’s basketball team – one that it hasn’t really had a lot of practice with this fall – but it appears the Johnnies are ready for November.
In an intrasquad scrimmage at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Rick Pitino rolled with what many believed was going to be his starting five – Oziyah Sellers, Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon, Bryce Hopkins, and Zuby Ejiofor – and they showed why they might be one of the best collections of talent in the sport.
“Today’s the first time that we’ve had domination like this,” Pitino said at halftime of the scrimmage about his starting group, which was up approximately 20 points at the time.
The result was a near 40-point victory, 103-64, but it was the manner in which they played that was the most impressive, beating their teammates with their scoring ability from inside and beyond the arc as well as defensive pressure, athleticism, and physicality.
"I feel like that's a strong five, whether that's the five we go with or not." Sellers said after a 30-point outing in the scrimmage. "I like playing with all the guys. I feel like we move the ball, share the ball all together, we all buy in on the defensive end."
The group of reserves, which was headlined by Dillon Mitchell, Kelvin Odih, Ruben Prey, and Dylan Darling was limited to just 32-percent shooting from the floor and 9-percent from 3-point range while being out-rebounded by 13.
“They’re not the defensive team of last year yet, but I think they’re all highly intelligent, very mature team. Whatever you ask them to do, they’ll give you 100 percent.”
It won’t be long before St. John’s finds out just how good this team is with a date against Alabama coming in the second game of the season and its week in Las Vegas for the Players Era Invitational, playing Iowa State, Baylor, and another high major opponent.
Expect the Red Storm to treat its exhibition game against Michigan (Oct. 25) like a regular season game so it is primed heading into the gauntlet.
“We’re definitely not thinking about the past. You know, it was a great year, but we move on. There’s going to be some new challenges this year as far as being the top dogs and teams really getting to know what St. John’s is about,” Zuby Ejiofor explained.
“We’re just competing. The biggest thing is staying grounded and not thinking too far ahead of the season and taking it one day at a time.”
St. John’s is expected to be ranked inside the Top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll on Monday, which would be its highest placement to begin a season since it was No. 10 ahead of the 1991-92 campaign.