Rick Pitino, the coach of St. John’s basketball team, expressed concerns about the team's defensive performance, emphasizing the need to focus on defense. Pitino mentioned that the team's reliance on offense could lead to a poor finish in the Big East. He also acknowledged the need for improvement in physicality and reducing fouls. Despite these concerns, St. John’s recently achieved an emphatic win over Fordham, with the defense showing significant improvement. Pitino also commented on the potential addition of Gonzaga to the Big East, expressing reluctance due to travel concerns.
“I told the guys, if you’re going to rely on your offense. you’re going to finish dead last in the Big East. We’ve got to do something about our defense. We [took] baby steps tonight and that’s what I wanted to see.” On St John’s win over Fordham: #sjubb https://t.co/08OBTTdd9Y https://t.co/FgjRtEyogj
Now on @njdotcom Rick Pitino is not a fan of Gonzaga potentially joining the Big East: ‘100 percent no’ https://t.co/zxb46GJdnW @StJohnsBBall @UConnMBB @ZagMBB
St. John’s defense clamps down for emphatic win over Fordham https://t.co/SAOS1Vp0zG https://t.co/KItfETdk3T
Tobin: “People will walk away and give up on us, say we’re not very good, and I get that, I understand that. I still think we can change that, and we’re gonna try our damnedest to get that done.” #MAACHoops #GaelNation
Tobin: “All the issues we have can be solved. You’re hoping that a loss like tonight, which, quite frankly, is embarrassing for everybody who’s a part of that, you’d like to think this might be a little bit of a wakeup call. This was not a game in any way, shape or form.”
Tobin: “The floodgates opened, they made some shots and we didn’t respond. For 10 minutes, I thought we played hard. We’ve gotta play better, harder and longer than that.” #MAACHoops #GaelNation
Tobin: “I’m obviously disappointed in how we’re playing. With us right now, we’re not playing hard enough or tough enough to win. That’s just how it is. Until we do that, we’re gonna be where we’re at.” #MAACHoops #GaelNation
Rick Pitino on the #StJohns win vs Fordham and how the team needs to improve on defense https://t.co/YbtfiFUgTj https://t.co/xGcctnpPSX
Was it the pizza? St. John's responds to Boston College loss with best defensive performance of the season in rout of Fordham: https://t.co/08OBTTdd9Y #sjubb
St. John’s defense clamps down for emphatic win over Fordham https://t.co/GL5fOoeIqx https://t.co/ka1mK5gIYh
St. John’s rips Fordham behind Joel Soriano’s double-double https://t.co/mud4wWg9Oq https://t.co/atFhAUf150
‘Sean Miller is a great coach..we’re going to have to play great to beat them’ Rick Pitino on @XavierMBB
Pitino: “I haven’t even looked at Xavier yet. All I know is (Sean Miller’s) one of the best coaches in the nation, bar none. We’re gonna have to play great to beat them…Carnesecca’s a tough place to play, as I’m finding out.” #sjubb #LetsGoX
Rick Pitino on @ZagMBB in the Big East ‘Let’s do it’ if it’s Men’s basketball only. Not in favor of adding all the sports b/c of travel. https://t.co/rfDB2FafQM
Pitino on Gonzaga joining the Big East: “100 percent, no. I don’t feel like getting on a plane for five or six hours. Tell (Hurley) he could go join their conference. But if they want to join for basketball only, hey, let’s do it.” #sjubb
Pitino: “Physically, we’re a weak basketball team at a lot of positions. That’s why I like Conway out there, because he’s not afraid to get physical.” #sjubb
Pitino: “We just made some really silly plays down the stretch.” #sjubb
Pitino: “We just foul too much. We’ve been fouling too much, and not good fouls. If we don’t take care of the basketball and play much better defense without fouling, Xavier will beat us. But we took baby steps tonight, and that’s what I wanted to see.” #sjubb
Pitino: “I told the guys if we’re gonna rely on our offense, we’re gonna finish last in the Big East. From an offensive standpoint, we wanted to get Sean in there because he moves without the basketball so well. We needed more out of that position and he gave it to us.” #sjubb
Soriano: “Today, I felt we needed to take a big step on defense a team. We needed to work on the little things today.” #sjubb
Dan Hurley talking Big East: "Maybe Gonzaga will want to join a really good basketball league. I know (Big East) commissioner Val Ackerman was here tonight."
St. John’s looking to quickly fix ‘abominable’ defense ahead of Fordham matchup https://t.co/d8E41PXEjV https://t.co/CaUWjTifcp
Now on @njdotcom Rick Pitino says his St. John’s roster construction focused on offense at the expense of defense https://t.co/HjurFFqjPw