The Johnnies are among the nation’s best in shutting down opposing offenses — and it’s helped them get out to their best start in 35 years
After St. John’s bested Xavier in a 79-71 overtime thriller in which the Red Storm overcame a 16-point second-half deficit this past Tuesday, Musketeers head coach Sean Miller opened his postgame press conference not talking about his team — but his opponent.
“When you play St. John’s, their level of intensity, their level of physicality, their conditioning, their will to win is something that whoever beats them, they have to be able to cross over a very tall mountain,” Miller surmised in Tuesday’s postgame press conference.
In March 2023, when St. John’s hired Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Pitino as their head coach, many fans expected the program’s resurgence to be inevitable, but not all expected it to come this quickly.
The Red Storm are now 17-3 in Pitino’s second season at the helm, their best start through twenty games since the 1989-90 season, and have won eight of their first nine Big East games for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Much of this season’s success is a product of their lockdown defense, which, like St. John’s itself, hasn’t been this great in generations.
According to KenPom, the Johnnies hold the fifth-best adjusted defensive rating nationally with a 90.9 mark, behind top-ten teams Houston, Duke, and Tennessee, and No. 12 Kansas. Dating back to the 1996-97 season, only the 1998-99 Red Storm team that reached the Elite Eight was better with an adjusted defensive rating of 89.3. However, that 1998-99 team was only ranked 20th nationally in a much slower and less explosive era for offenses. In an era of five-out floor spacing and three-point shooting galore, this 2024-25 St. John’s team could, pound-for-pound, be the best defensive team in the program’s modern history.
St. John’s has turned their sandpaper-tough defense into their trademark weapon. The Johnnies are seventh nationally in block percentage (16.7%) and 20th in steal percentage (13.25), being one of only three teams (Houston and Ole Miss) to sit in the top 20 in both swat and swipe rates. Five Red Storm players average more than one steal per game, and eight players average 0.5 blocks or better.
Compared to last year’s team, which conceded 89 and 86 respective points to Michigan and Boston College and resorted to a matchup zone in place of a leaky man-to-man defense, this unit fits better in Rick Pitino’s gritty system because of its vast cast of strong defenders with their own individual skills.
Around the rim, Zuby Ejiofor is not only a standout rim protector who can play heavy minutes, but he can step out and pick up a guard when necessary. When Ejiofor is not on the floor, his backups, Vince Iwuchukwu, and Ruben Prey, use their power line-esque reaches to shut down space in the lane. On the wings, R.J. Luis brings bullish strength and verticality, while Aaron Scott is the perfect roaming swingman who can switch on all five positions. The backcourt provides opposing guards fits as gifted athlete Deivon Smith closes the point of attack with deft lateral quickness, the beaming Simeon Wilcher provides defensive energy no matter the game situation, and Kadary Richmond’s penchant for punch-away steals would make Charles “Peanut” Tillman proud.
Of course, the glaring question of this St. John’s team is if they can finally start shooting. The Johnnies are one of only three high-major teams to shoot worse than 30 percent from three, and they leave some points at the line with a below-average 70.4% free throw shooting rate. If St. John’s can improve to a simply subpar three-point team and become a middle-of-the-road free-throw shooting team while remaining as vaunted as they are on the defensive side of the ball, there is no telling where the Red Storm’s ceiling caps.