St. John's Takes Third Place In Baha Mar Hoops Championship

 

Deivon Smith looking to find a path to the lane. @StJohnsBball.

After a crushing loss to Baylor to open the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas, St. John's responded by taking the third-place game as they vanquished Virginia, 80-55, on Friday night.

St. John's, ranked 22nd in the AP Top 25 Poll and No. 20 in the USA Today one, is now 5-1 on the season.

The Red Storm were led by RJ Luis Jr., who had 18 points on 7-14 shooting, including 2-4 on three-pointers, with four steals, three rebounds, and two assists.

Kadary Richmond had 12 points (6-9 FG), four assists, two rebounds, and a steal. Deivon Smith had a double-double with 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-3 threes) and 10 rebounds, with eight assists.

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: "I'm really impressed with our guys coming off a double-overtime, extremely emotional loss. To respond that way is extremely impressive, both offensively as well as defensively. Sometimes when you only have a job for one year, you search for things that you love about a place. And tonight, I found out what I loved about St. John's since being here - to see the fans chanting ‘Zuby’ [Ejiofor], I thought they were chanting something to do with Virginia's nickname, but the chants ‘Zuby’ the whole game, that doesn't happen anywhere in America. I was really, really impressed with our fans, and thank them for making Zuby feel good because he gives you all energy. RJ [Luis Jr.] had another great night.He does so many things defensively. You don't recognize it because he does so many good things offensively, but he's a great steal guy, great on the ball defender, really makes it difficult. When you're one of the best offensive players and you're the best defensive player, that's pretty special. So proud of the guys. Gave us a big lift today, emotionally.”

On last night’s loss to No. 13 Baylor compared to tonight’s win over Virginia: “We talked a lot about it. I told them I’ve been coaching a long time. Because of the shot clock situation, because of the way they game ended, that was probably more difficult than even the Duke loss to Christian Laettner [in the NCAA Tournament] because of the way it ended. … They didn't play tired mentally or physically, didn't hang their heads, just came out and took care of business against a team that could nail threes and keep you in the game.”

 

On playing a tougher schedule this season: “Last year, we weren’t ready early in the year. We were feeling it out. It was my first year. I had 13 players that I never coached before. We got blown out by Michigan. We got beat by Boston College. Beat by Dayton. We made up our mind that was not going to happen again. We also had five guys returning. We had RJ [Luis Jr.], we had Sadiku [Ibine Ayo], Simeon [Wilcher]. We had Zuby [Ejiofor] and Brady [Dunlap] all returning, all knowing, and that's important. We have a good nucleus right now, good newcomers, very wise newcomers. We have a really good basketball team. We're not afraid to play anybody, but we respect everyone.”

 

On RJ Luis Jr.’s progression from last season: “I'm not sure what he can't master. He's a great passer, he shoots it really well with good form. He's a shot blocker, he's a great athlete, he's a great defensive player. So, he's mastered every skill and he's done it through hard work. This summer he paid the price to change his shot. He did a great job with that. I sent him pictures of what I wanted with Joel Embiid’s shot and RJ has mastered that. His shot looks great every time he takes it. He’s has a good mid-range game, goes to the basket, makes his free throws. I don't know how much more he can do. He's very impressive. I think he's a top 10 player in the nation. I said he was a lock [NBA Draft] First Round choice because he's going to be a better pro than he is a college player. I'm not taking anything away from him, but he's going to be a better pro.”