At their best, these Johnnies give us glimpses of what they’re going to be once Rick Pitino’s plan has a number of years to germinate and grow. At their best, they play defense with such ferocity that you just see real fear in opponents’ eyes as they struggle to beat the 10-second clock simply to get the ball over halfcourt.
At their best they’ve multiple inside-out options — Daniss Jenkins, RJ Luis Jr., Jordan Dingle — who keep the opposite guys on their feet, they’ve Chris Ledlum logging lunch-pail minutes, they’ve Joel Soriano having the type of game he had against Villanova on Wednesday night — 21 points, nine rebounds — which makes all of it feel so complete.
For now, we get one of the best of the Johnnies for portions of games. We got it loads Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the Johnnies slapping Villanova around early after which stepping on the Wildcats’ necks late, securing an intensive 70-50 win in front of 12,859 mostly satisfied fans (save for the notable exceptions of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono, all of them sitting courtside and looking out glummer because the spread grew wider).
“Our pressure was about pretty much as good because it could possibly be,” Pitino said, saving his highest praise for Soriano. “He knew how vital this game was for us. He was magnificent. I used to be joyful with the best way he played, joyful with how the team played.”
If the Johnnies could bottle those portions, then distribute them evenly throughout games against the likes of Creighton and UConn and Marquette within the weeks to come back, then possibly we could view this team as something greater than what it seems destined to be: a model for this system going forward, a template for what’s to come back.
In fact, for now, that’s plenty ok.
For now, blowing out Villanova and giving Creighton, UConn and Marquette hell right to the ultimate horn is a welcome step forward from what has too often passed for Big East basketball in these parts the past 25 years. The undeniable fact that it’s been capable of do it enough — including the Red Storm’s first sweep of the Cats in 31 years — means something slightly more tangible.
“It was a giant game for us,” Pitino said. “I won’t bulls–t you guys. They needed it. We would have liked it. And we got here through.”
“We knew this game was very vital, we knew they’d bring a number of energy, and we met the challenge,” Soriano said.
They did. It means you possibly can really begin to make plans for the primary couple of days of the NCAA Tournament since it sure seems like the Johnnies are actually playing for seed lines and never simply sweat out Selection Sunday. Possibly that felt slightly tenuous as they bookended heartbreaking losses to Creighton and Marquette around a full-on meltdown against Seton Hall last week.
However the Johnnies are 13-7 now, and their NET rating, 41 coming in, is more likely to crawl up a few notches since Nova was at 36. Additionally they have a second half of a league schedule which is way more agreeable than the primary half was, with 4 games left against DePaul and Georgetown, the league’s bottom-feeders, with five more games left on the Garden (and 6 more likely Quad-1 opportunities).
In coming years, their climb won’t be quite so innocent and their bar won’t be set quite so modestly, which was the entire idea when Pitino was hired. For the higher a part of twenty years, January and February have been long slogs of misery interspersed with occasional bursts of prosperity on Utopia Parkway, but even those years were a scuffle to the top.
In so some ways, that’s why this was the primary real must-have game of the Pitino Era. They needed to halt the losing streak before it grew infected. They needed to snare a Quad 1 win. They needed to prove that the 0-3 lull was the aberration, and never the 4-1 start.
“We lost a few really tough games on the buzzer,” Pitino said, “but tonight we solid no shadow on who was going to win this game.”
Said Dingle (12 points, 4 assists): “We all know every game we play has a number of significance so far as our postseason potential.”
It’s fair now to take into consideration that potential being more like a probability. This game did that. It was a reaffirmation of what this team is: a crew of employees, a solid of eclectic parts put together on the fly, expertly coached. Mostly that yields some awfully fun basketball, some nights when it seems like the Johnnies can play with anyone. Sometimes it’s something else.
That’s OK. It’s early in the sport. That is the team against whom all teams the subsequent few years will probably be judged. Up to now they not only have been equal to that task, they’ve relished it.
And force you to wonder what’s to come back.
At their best, these Johnnies give us glimpses of what they’re going to be once Rick Pitino’s plan has a number of years to germinate and grow. At their best, they play defense with such ferocity that you just see real fear in opponents’ eyes as they struggle to beat the 10-second clock simply to get the ball over halfcourt.
At their best they’ve multiple inside-out options — Daniss Jenkins, RJ Luis Jr., Jordan Dingle — who keep the opposite guys on their feet, they’ve Chris Ledlum logging lunch-pail minutes, they’ve Joel Soriano having the type of game he had against Villanova on Wednesday night — 21 points, nine rebounds — which makes all of it feel so complete.
For now, we get one of the best of the Johnnies for portions of games. We got it loads Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the Johnnies slapping Villanova around early after which stepping on the Wildcats’ necks late, securing an intensive 70-50 win in front of 12,859 mostly satisfied fans (save for the notable exceptions of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono, all of them sitting courtside and looking out glummer because the spread grew wider).
“Our pressure was about pretty much as good because it could possibly be,” Pitino said, saving his highest praise for Soriano. “He knew how vital this game was for us. He was magnificent. I used to be joyful with the best way he played, joyful with how the team played.”
If the Johnnies could bottle those portions, then distribute them evenly throughout games against the likes of Creighton and UConn and Marquette within the weeks to come back, then possibly we could view this team as something greater than what it seems destined to be: a model for this system going forward, a template for what’s to come back.
In fact, for now, that’s plenty ok.
For now, blowing out Villanova and giving Creighton, UConn and Marquette hell right to the ultimate horn is a welcome step forward from what has too often passed for Big East basketball in these parts the past 25 years. The undeniable fact that it’s been capable of do it enough — including the Red Storm’s first sweep of the Cats in 31 years — means something slightly more tangible.
“It was a giant game for us,” Pitino said. “I won’t bulls–t you guys. They needed it. We would have liked it. And we got here through.”
“We knew this game was very vital, we knew they’d bring a number of energy, and we met the challenge,” Soriano said.
They did. It means you possibly can really begin to make plans for the primary couple of days of the NCAA Tournament since it sure seems like the Johnnies are actually playing for seed lines and never simply sweat out Selection Sunday. Possibly that felt slightly tenuous as they bookended heartbreaking losses to Creighton and Marquette around a full-on meltdown against Seton Hall last week.
However the Johnnies are 13-7 now, and their NET rating, 41 coming in, is more likely to crawl up a few notches since Nova was at 36. Additionally they have a second half of a league schedule which is way more agreeable than the primary half was, with 4 games left against DePaul and Georgetown, the league’s bottom-feeders, with five more games left on the Garden (and 6 more likely Quad-1 opportunities).
In coming years, their climb won’t be quite so innocent and their bar won’t be set quite so modestly, which was the entire idea when Pitino was hired. For the higher a part of twenty years, January and February have been long slogs of misery interspersed with occasional bursts of prosperity on Utopia Parkway, but even those years were a scuffle to the top.
In so some ways, that’s why this was the primary real must-have game of the Pitino Era. They needed to halt the losing streak before it grew infected. They needed to snare a Quad 1 win. They needed to prove that the 0-3 lull was the aberration, and never the 4-1 start.
“We lost a few really tough games on the buzzer,” Pitino said, “but tonight we solid no shadow on who was going to win this game.”
Said Dingle (12 points, 4 assists): “We all know every game we play has a number of significance so far as our postseason potential.”
It’s fair now to take into consideration that potential being more like a probability. This game did that. It was a reaffirmation of what this team is: a crew of employees, a solid of eclectic parts put together on the fly, expertly coached. Mostly that yields some awfully fun basketball, some nights when it seems like the Johnnies can play with anyone. Sometimes it’s something else.
That’s OK. It’s early in the sport. That is the team against whom all teams the subsequent few years will probably be judged. Up to now they not only have been equal to that task, they’ve relished it.
And force you to wonder what’s to come back.
