St. John’s hasn’t forgotten about Kim English’s comments from the first meeting against Providence.
After the Johnnies rallied from a 16-point deficit to win at the buzzer at Amica Mutual Pavilion in December, the Friars coach offered Rick Pitino’s team a backhanded compliment.
“They force turnovers and they offensive rebound,” English said then. “Pretty much the only thing they do really well, and they did it.”
Deivon Smith, who is expected to return from a right shoulder injury that has sidelined him for three of the past four games, responded to those comments Friday.
“I disagree. We do a lot of other good stuff,” the St. John’s point guard said. “We just didn’t play our best basketball that first half. He has to come in here at 12 p.m. Saturday and re-judge.”
Asked if the team is motivated to face English, Smith said: “Yes.”
Pitino doesn’t think the remarks will have any impact on the game, and it has not been a point of emphasis for him.
The issue in the comments was that English suggested that 15th-ranked St. John’s doesn’t do much well besides offensive rebound and force turnovers, when it is ranked fourth in the country in defensive efficiency and has a balanced offensive attack with six different players averaging at least 8.4 points per game.
“After losses, coaches don’t always say the smartest things — include me in on that,” Pitino said.
Asked if it was something that Pitino had used in the lead up to the game, sophomore wing Brady Dunlap smiled and declined comment. But he did say that it has been talked about among players.
“That stuff is something that we see as players, and it’s something we feel like we’re not just what he said,” said Dunlap, who will be out the rest of the season due to an abdominal tear. “You don’t want to call it bulletin board material, but any time a bunch of competitors see someone like that, it’s going to spark some kind of fire.”
Saturday afternoon figures to be an electric afternoon at the Garden.
St. John’s (18-3, 9-1) hasn’t lost since New Year’s Eve, it will have Smith back, and it is off to its best start through 21 games since the 1985-86 season.
A large crowd is expected, potentially even a sellout.
Add in the idea the Johnnies are facing a coach they feel took a shot at them.
“Just walking into the arena tomorrow, seeing the fans come in here early, it’s really going to get everybody going, more so than what Kim said,” Dunlap said. “The energy around New York City right now is really firing all of us up and even firing me up on the bench.”
