RJ Luis (12) has been focal point in St. John’s 4-0 start. Red Storm goes overseas this week for Baha Mar Hoops Championship. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/St. John’s Athletics)
Rick Pitino’s second-year teams have, statistically, been markedly improved from those of his first year at the helm of his respective program. Four games into St. John’s second season under the aegis of the Hall of Famer, that trend appears to be sustained.
With double-digit victories in each of its first quartet of contests, the Red Storm has parlayed the results into a national ranking entering this week’s Baha Mar Hoops Championship in The Bahamas, and should St. John’s get past Baylor and either Tennessee or Virginia before closing the weekend with a separate game against Georgia, a number inside the Top 10 is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
“They’re big and they’re strong,” Pitino’s son, Richard—the head coach at New Mexico—said Sunday after his Lobos found out the hard way in a 14-point loss to the Johnnies inside Madison Square Garden. “They’re bigger than a lot of teams, and they’re really, really good. That’s a team that’s gonna sit in the Top 20 all year, that’s a team that’s gonna be right there for the Big East title.”
A major part of the early impressions can be attributed to RJ Luis, the junior forward who transferred in from UMass last year and still averaged 11 points per game while battling injuries. With a full season of Pitino’s vaunted individual player development sessions under his belt, the Miami native has looked like St. John’s most valuable player through the first two weeks of the young campaign, averaging nearly 18 points and eight rebounds per contest as he is closer to full health than any other point during his tenure in Queens.
Following the St. John’s win Sunday, Richard Pitino conceded that Luis was a “legit NBA prospect” and that New Mexico’s inability to contain him was more due to the explosive wing “just being a really good player.” Luis took the compliment to heart, but highlighted his improvement and commitment to being a two-way player as the primary impetus behind his resurgence.
“It feels good to take that high praise, but you just gotta keep working hard,” he said. “I’m thankful that I’m healthy, I put in a lot of work with my craft and now I’m stepping up as one of the best defenders, me and Aaron (Scott). I’m gonna guard the best player, I’m a playmaker, I’m a scorer, really just playing both sides of the ball. I feel like there’s nothing really stopping me right now.”
Heading into the matchup with Baylor (Thursday, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network), Luis may be the flag-bearer for the Red Storm, but several of his other teammates have made improvements. This includes Kadary Richmond, whose beginning to the season may not be gaudy in terms of statistics, but has pleased Pitino as the Seton Hall transfer continues to acclimate himself to a new style of play and new set of demands.
“We’re the second-fastest team in terms of pace, so this is new to Kadary,” the coach reiterated. “I think he has so much more in his game, so much more. He is a great talent, an unbelievable talent, and as he just gets his body to play at this pace for the entire game, he’s gonna have more assists, more points.”
“We adjusted his style—and with Deivon (Smith), it’s easy for him to adjust to this style—but once he gets used to playing like this and Kadary gets used to it, it’s only gonna benefit them. They just have to learn to use each other a little bit more. Certain guys are not even close to their potential, and it’s interesting because it’s the older guys that are not close to their potential, which is interesting.”
And as the players adjust, so too does the man in charge of preparing them for life after college and life after basketball. Pitino admitted last year’s team may have been thrown into the fire too soon, but insists that this season—with four holdovers from last year on the roster—has provided a much more palatable return, with an equally high upside that seems to be ascending with each passing day.
“I’m still learning and growing as a coach,” Pitino said. “I think when you stop learning, it’s time to retire. You have to learn a whole new brand of basketball with all new players, the portal, the NIL. It’s a new game. Some people want to get out because it’s new, I’ve just adjusted. We weren’t ready defensively last year. I probably should have played a little more zone because of our deficiencies, but I wanted to build a defensive culture by playing man. We were ready (Sunday), our man defense is still going to a lot better as players get in better shape.”
“I think I know the team really well. I think we’re a good, solid basketball team, but I think we have greatness potential. We’re just solid now, we’re a good, solid team, but when you have all new players, you’re not supposed to be great in November. We just want to keep getting better defensively. I wouldn’t trade any of these guys, I think they’re going to get a lot better as the season goes along.”
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