St. John’s Red Storm coach Rick Pitino was irate with his team after their defeat against the Seton Hall Pirates on Sunday evening, which saw the university drop to 14-12 on the year and significantly dampened their chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
After the 68–62 loss, Pitino sounded off on St. John’s players, lamenting them for being “weak” and calling his first year with the program “the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime.”
Pitino was critical of the Red Storm’s recruitment process, describing his current crop of players as being the “antithesis” of his coaching style and saying they lacked toughness.
“We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling. For me, I’ve always enjoyed the first year, and I’m not gonna lie to you; This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime. This has been so disappointing,” said Pitino of St. John’s season, via Jaden Daly of Daly Dose of Hoops.
He went on to call out players by name, ripping individuals for lacking specific traits he’s seeking.
“Look: Joel [Soriano] is slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court. Chris Ledlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway’s slow laterally. Brady [Dunlap] is physically weak, Drissa [Traore] is slow laterally,” said Pitino, calling out a pair of his starters and three of his bench players.
According to Adam Zagoria at NJ.com, Pitino’s rant ran for roughly 15 minutes, and included shots at the St. John’s facilities as well as his roster.
“If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year,” Pitino said.
St. John’s has now lost three games in a row and are losers of five of their last six games–as well as eight of their last 10.
The 71-year-old went on to call his team’s defense “atrocious” and said that he’s preparing for another loss during the Red Storm’s next tilt, a matchup against Georgetown on Feb. 21.
