Pitino told media during Monday’s availability that for the Red Storm to play great basketball, they need to talk on defense
We have always heard that one shouldn’t talk too much. For the St. John’s men’s basketball team, they aren’t talking enough according to Rick Pitino.
After the Red Storm gave up 77 points to Bryant last Wednesday, their most in a regulation game this season, Rick Pitino sounded off on the lack of defensive communication as a significant reason why St. John’s has yet to realize its incredible potential.
“One of the reasons why we aren’t where we need to be is we do not communicate,” Pitino said in Monday’s media availability, “To be a great defensive team, you must verbally communicate, and we have people who are very quiet. We’ve emphasized, we’ve emphasized, we’ve emphasized, and it is still very difficult.”
With their size and athleticism, this year’s Red Storm team can follow in the footsteps of previous Pitino-led teams who boasted lockdown defense. St. John’s ranks 18th in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom and are holding opponents to 43.5% shooting from two-point range to claim the 23rd-best inside-the-arc defense in the nation. However, they also sit in the bottom half of the country in three-point defense, allowing opposing teams to make 34% of their attempts from deep.
As St. John’s are about to begin an arduous Big East season against the DePaul Blue Demons on Tuesday night, who are top ten in the nation in three-point percentage and three-point attempt rate, Pitino acknowledged the need for cohesion on the defensive end and called out specific players to speak up to their teammates.
“Kadary [Richmond], Aaron [Scott], and R.J. [Luis] don’t talk. They’re very quiet people,” Pitino said, “Simeon [Wilcher] and Aaron are 50/50; they’ll talk sometimes.”
Pitino then said Sadiku Ibine Ayo, Brady Dunlap, Deivon Smith, and Zuby Ejiofor all frequently communicate when they’re on the floor, but it’s been a grind to get the entire team on the same page.
“We’ve been trying to get them to talk since the summer, and it’s very difficult to get players to change their personalities between the lines. We work on it every single day, and we beat it like a dead horse,” Pitino commented, “I tell them: ‘Away from the lines, you can be quiet and introverted, but between the lines, you have to talk,’ but they struggle with it.”
There is still plenty of time for the Red Storm to become more expressive. Pitino specifically mentioned that at the end of last season, Daniss Jenkins prompted players to communicate on defense, which coincided with the Red Storm winning six of their last seven games.
“If they want to win, they will have to figure it out,” Pitino stated, “That’s the ‘if’, if you want to be a great defensive team, you have to talk.”