Two things happened Wednesday night to benefit St. John’s. First, they won a basketball game for the first time in two weeks — their second in seven games — and then Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino apologized for scrapping the team’s roster. weekend.
“They never let me down,” Pitino said after his team built a 21-point lead and won 90-85 against Georgetown, ending a three-game losing streak. “I failed them on the fundamentals.”
This is a much different atmosphere from Sunday, when the team blew a 19-point lead and lost to Seton Hall, their eighth loss in 10 games and all but ended St. John’s hopes of making it to the NCAA Tournament. Pitino later called his first season leading the program “the least enjoyable experience I’ve had since being a coach.”
He didn’t stop there. Coach Pitino went on to describe his team as “so unathletic that you can’t guard anyone without fouling,” specifically naming three players who are “laterally slow” and “physically weak.” ” Named three players. Just to cover all the bases, Pitino essentially threw his coaching staff under the bus.
“We lost this season because of the way we recruited,” he said. “We hired guys that were the exact opposite of how I coached: speed, quickness, fundamentals, strength, toughness. We didn’t do that. It’s a good group, we work hard. I try, but I’m not very tough.”
Pitino took all of that back with Wednesday’s win, improving his team to 15-12 overall and 7-9 in the Big East. “Words matter,” he said, adding that he addressed the team when staff warned him that some players were hurt by his comments.
“I love you all so much,” Pitino reportedly told them. “I never wanted to embarrass you. It’s my fault. It’s my fault. I should never have mentioned people’s names. I didn’t mean to.”
He also revealed that he personally recruited everyone on the roster and got the players he wanted.
“My staff didn’t hire them,” he said. “It was all me.”
“I want to apologize to all the St. John’s fans,” Pitino said, adding, “They treated me like royalty.”
As for the players, senior transfer Jordan Dingle, who was named Ivy League Player of the Year last season at the University of Pennsylvania, said they still have Pitino’s back despite the harsh criticism.
“We know how much he loves us and cares about us,” Dingle said, “and how much he cares about winning, so the players don’t take it too seriously. I don’t think they’re taking it seriously.”
Many of Pitino’s former players say the same thing. He was always a tough coach to play as a coach who spared no emotion, but he also didn’t accept mediocrity, making it to the Final Four with three different programs and winning the national championship twice. There is also.
Former Kentucky All-American Tony Delk, who once suggested Pitino should be transferred at halftime of a game, said his recent comments about the Red Storm lineup “didn’t surprise me.” The Athletic this week. “One thing about Coach is that he is brutally honest. It may be difficult for this generation to accept that, but we accept it, we respond to it, and he If I were those kids, I would stay here and listen to him.”
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(Photo: Wendell Cruz/USA Today)
