By ADAM ZAGORIA
One day ahead of the Providence-St. John’s game at Madison Square Garden (6:30 p.m. FS1), Rick Pitino said his former school “hit a home run” with its current coach.
“Obviously, Providence is very dear to me,” said Pitino, the 71-year-old Naismith Hall of Famer who led Providence to the Final Four in 1987. “They hired [Kim English] who has only been a head coach for two years. … I think they hit a home run because everything I’ve seen in five different films [of their games] tells you that their coaching is outstanding. I think they have a terrific young coach, who is going to give them winning teams for years. I’m very impressed with the way that they play defense. I’m very impressed with how hard they play. I’m very impressed with their strategy.”
Providence (11-4, 2-2 Big East) was ranked No. 23 in the nation before losing forward Bryce Hopkins to a season-ending ACL injury in last week’s loss to Seton Hall. They lost that game and then fell to Creighton, 69-60, on Saturday.
“Like us they had a major injury, much more serious than us because they lost [Bryce Hopkins] for the season and they played Creighton to the wire the other night [on the road],” Pitino said. “I’m very impressed with the Friars. There is not a college I think more highly of than them. My greatest two years in coaching were there and I had some really good runs, but those two years are closest to my heart.”
St. John’s (11-4, 3-1), meantime, has won three straight and is in a four-way tie atop the Big East. Pitino is still jelling a team with 12 new players, including 10 transfers, especially on the defensive end. He has his eye on peaking for March Madness. St. John’s is currently projected as an NCAA Tournament team by many bracketologists.
“Everything’s a work in progress,” Pitino said. “Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled with the wins we have had, but this is not a great basketball team by any stretch of the imagination. We have so much room for improvement.
“What I am hoping for is that come March, we are a really good basketball team. There’s no reason for this team to be a great basketball team right now. They have had major injuries and they are all new to each other, new to me. … It’s not going to happen overnight with us. We are building a culture, we are building fundamentals, we are building different offenses and defenses in our program and it’s going to take some time. But I am hoping by March we will be a much better basketball team than we are now.”
One major injury he is referring involves UMass transfer RJ Luis, who has missed time with shin splints and a hand injury. Pitino believes the 6-foot-5 wing, who is averaging 11.4 points and 5.4 rebounds, has NBA potential.
He went for 11 points and 7 rebounds in Saturday’s win at Villanova.
“I just like competing,” Luis said. “It really doesn’t matter what it is. Just enjoy being on the court and doing anything the team needs me to do to help us win.”
The Providence game will be back at Madison Square Garden, where Pitino would prefer to play the majority of St. John’s games. He is hoping to play UConn at Carnesecca Arena next season, but there’s no assurance that will happen.
Wherever they play, Pitino says the team will have to prove it can win on a consistent basis to draw fans in large numbers.
“It takes winning, but I also think it takes time,” he said. “You’re not like the Jets, the Giants, or the Knicks where people just show up whether you win or lose because the tickets are so expensive. … College basketball is different. This is not college football. Football is an entirely different sport today, unlike it was 20 years ago. Football has taken over this country and with basketball, you’ve got to market it properly, you’ve got to win, you’ve got to build a base.
“So much of St. John’s [fanbase] is subway alumni, people that didn’t attend here. Those subway alumni can leave in a matter of days if you don’t give them a good product.”
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