If THIS St. John’s shows up consistently, Big East season could yield massive payoff

Kadary Richmond caps off first-half layup as St. John’s captivated crowd with dominant win over DePaul in Big East opener. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/St. John’s Athletics)

NEW YORK — Time and time again, no coach proves he or she is more adept and sending and conveying messages than Rick Pitino.

Leading up to his St. John’s team opening its conference season Tuesday against DePaul, the two-time national champion did not take the Blue Demons—cannon fodder for Big East opposition for the majority of DePaul’s near two-decade membership in the league—lightly. Instead, he told the media that the Chicago school was being disrespected in a sense with regard to the point spread on Tuesday’s game, urging anyone who would listen that the contest would be a war.

Message received.

The Red Storm led from the start Tuesday, and unlike previous affairs where it would let an opponent hang around and make things interesting into the second half, there was less doubt as the game went on, becoming an 89-61 rout by the time the final buzzer sounded.

“I was shocked,” a candid Pitino revealed. “We were sick over this game. We were preparing as if it was the last game of the season and we had to win it because of the way (DePaul) shoots the ball. But our defense was absolutely brilliant. This was our best game by far, in so many different areas. I thought all the guys were terrific. Their focus was absolutely great. I can’t tell you how blown away I am by the score here.”

“We got a lot of guys on our team who can just go,” Simeon Wilcher added. “That’s part of the reason why you see so many changes in the starting lineup, because it doesn’t matter who’s out there. They all could go out and there and have 30 if they want to. It’s just a testament to the guys and what they’ve been working on. Everybody will eat, which is a testament to what happened (Tuesday).”

Does Wilcher, the sophomore who spurned North Carolina when the opportunity to receive more minutes closer to his New Jersey home opened up shortly after Pitino’s hire, see a trend continuing after firing such an impressive opening salvo?

“A thousand percent,” he declared. “And we’re just gonna keep getting better as the games go on.”

Wilcher was among the most efficient players for a 9-2 Red Storm outfit Tuesday, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. RJ Luis added 19 of his own, Zuby Ejiofor contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, and Deivon Smith—who shows more of the classic explosive guard game Pitino rode to a national championship behind Russ Smith and Peyton Siva a dozen years ago—flirted with a triple-double through his nine-point, eight-assist, six-rebound effort. Then, there was Kadary Richmond.

Richmond, the much-hyped Seton Hall transfer who is still acclimating to a different style on this side of the Hudson, turned in perhaps his best effort as a Johnny, chipping 18 points into the winning cause and supplementing the offense with seven rebounds. But while his coach is still giving him a reasonable amount of leeway almost halfway through the year, Tuesday’s performance was no shock to those with whom the Brooklynite goes to war on an everyday basis.

“Kadary was just being Kadary,” Wilcher deadpanned. “It’s not like, ‘whoa, what is that or who is this?’ We know who he is and we know what he does, day in and day out. I feel like he’s figured everything out that he needs to. He’s just going out there and being himself.”

St. John’s has done an excellent job of putting to rest an underwhelming—in terms of record—Bahamas trip last month, erasing the aftertaste of a heartbreaking loss to Baylor and hard-fought loss to Georgia with four consecutive wins. Pitino’s second-year teams usually make the most marked jumps during his tenures, and this group seems to be on track to replicate that trend as the Red Storm builds off of a 20-win campaign a year ago. The man in charge of the renaissance, though, is trying to be realistic as he looks ahead.

“I think we played great (Tuesday),” Pitino reiterated. “I think we have the potential to be an outstanding team, I haven’t seen it except the Virginia game and (Tuesday). Are we taking a quantum leap? We’ll see when we play Providence on the road for the first Big East road game, in probably the toughest environment in the Big East. We’re four points away from probably being ranked in the top 5 of the nation, but we didn’t get the job done (against Baylor and Georgia). You’ve gotta not fall in love with yourself.”

Preparing for a marathon, but living in the moment, the St. John’s players are taking notice of such potential, caring not for independently formed narratives and merely committing to displaying a cohesive and efficient product for 40 minutes at a time. Smith seems to have noticed a change in results under that mindset.

“Honestly, it’s fun,” he opined. “I think once we put all the stuff we can’t control to the side, and just lock in and play for each other, we play our best basketball.”