St. John's enigma of a season rages on after potentially disastrous loss to Georgetown

Skepticism has heated up as St. John's has now dropped five of eight since starting 12-0, but Chris Mullin insists Red Storm still has NCAA Tournament potential. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK -- You say that I'm the boy who could make it all come true

Well, I'm tellin' you that I don't know if I know what to do

- John Mellencamp, "Ain't Even Done With The Night"

Four years ago, with its program heading toward a state of disarray following the departure of Steve Lavin and imminent exits for both Chris Obekpa and Rysheed Jordan, St. John's -- as it has been apt to do many times over its storied history -- turned to beloved son Chris Mullin to extinguish whatever slivers of flame remained before they could escalate into a full-scale blaze.

A humbling first season in which the Red Storm lost all but one of its Big East Conference games was a foundation campaign upon which a 14-win season -- and soon after, a 16-win effort the following year -- was built in the hope that year four, this current season, would be the breakthrough for a talented roster boasting the likes of Shamorie Ponds, Justin Simon and Marvin Clark, and that was before adding Mustapha Heron from Auburn over the summer.

A 12-0 start only stoked the long-raging inferno on the corner of Union and Utopia, with a last-second officiating gaffe ending the unbeaten streak against Seton Hall. A 20-point blowout over a Marquette team that today looks like the potential team to beat in the Big East silenced the critics. Two weeks later, a similarly-styled win over Creighton quelled the cynics that emerged from the woodwork following an uncharacteristic home loss to DePaul. Now, with a make-or-break three-game road trip looming larger and more ominously than ever after Sunday's 89-78 loss to Georgetown, a game in which the Red Storm had multiple chances to ensnare throughout the afternoon, the skeptics that linger now have a larger -- and more audible -- voice as the hand-wringing and disappointment has reached yet another unforeseen and unwanted crescendo.

"I think we gotta regroup and get back to our winning ways," Ponds assessed as St. John's (15-5, 3-5 Big East) looked engaged in the opening minutes, feeding off Clark and LJ Figueroa, the latter in his latest revelation as the most valuable player in the Red Storm arsenal, to hang with the Hoyas until -- as has been the case far too often since the schedule shifted to conference play and the quality of opponents ramped up exponentially for a team whose best non-league win was an overtime victory over VCU that may or may not have been aided by questionable officiating -- the ball stopped moving, the defense grew stagnant, and Georgetown simply out-hustled St. John's when it mattered most. And to make matters worse, perhaps the most scathing criticism of the effort presented Sunday may have come from its star player.

"I feel like, as a team, we're all parting ways," Ponds matter-of-factly revealed. "It's not as together as it was in the beginning."

Naturally, blame for the chasm within the locker room walls has been placed upon Mullin, whose job as head coach is to maximize the talent he has -- and this roster, on paper, can rival any of its contemporaries in the Big East -- and further develop it into a winning outfit. But far too often, the Hall of Famer and two-time Olympic gold medalist has become nonchalant himself, and the activity in huddles and timeouts has been spearheaded by assistant coach Greg St. Jean more frequently than by the man commanding a million-dollar-plus salary to lead his alma mater. So how, then, does Mullin take command of a team that, in the words of Heron, was "going through the motions" in the first half of a game that could very easily be considered a must-win given the names of Creighton, Duke and Marquette appearing in succession in the next three games on the Red Storm ledger?

"We're 15-5," he reiterated, glossing over the marked difference between St. John's conference record and non-league start. "Quite frankly, I thought Georgetown played a hell of a game. They made some tough shots, I think they got their confidence up and it kind of carried them. We played great, complementary, unselfish, hustling defense, we had a bunch of tip-ins that could have tied it or taken the lead. Would we have liked to play better in the first half. Yeah, but these games are tight. All these Big East games come down to one, two possessions, but to me, it's more playing through those times where maybe it looks like it's not coming, but we're still trying hard and playing hard. The flow of the game's going to come and go."

"I just think they're kind of down because they missed an opportunity to get a win," Mullin continued when questioned about the lack of commitment to the greater good voiced by his players, who shared the same press room dais he did Sunday afternoon. "I thought they played hard, but I think you've got to give the other team credit, too."

Sounding much more morose Sunday than he did two weeks prior after losing to DePaul, where Mullin declared St. John's would go for the jugular against Creighton, the coach faces yet another crisis beginning Wednesday, when the Red Storm takes to the road to visit Creighton in what may just be the Big East's most intimidating home court. Add to that Duke and its cadre of NBA Draft picks on Saturday, then a Marquette team who could conceivably be ranked inside the Top 10 by the time it welcomes the Johnnies to Milwaukee, and the bottom may be falling out faster than Mullin or his players can save it. But be that as it may, both players and coach are ready for the opportunity that awaits.

"I wouldn't say we're desperate," said Ponds. "Like Mustapha said, we just gotta take it one game at a time. We know that coming up, we've got a three-game stretch, three tough games, we've got to take it one game at a time. We know we can win, we've just got to get back to those ways."

"What else would you rather do?" Mullin said of the high-reward stretch his team is about to face head-on. "We're going to go to Creighton, it's going to be a packed house, we're going to go to Duke -- I haven't been there since 1981 -- then we play at Marquette, the best offensive team. What else would you rather do in life? If you're not excited about that, then, jeez. Every day is an opportunity."