With Exceptional Defensive Strategies, Is Rick Pitino’s St. John’s the Ultimate Underdog Team?

The St. John’s have been a formidable team this season. They have an 11-4 tally and occupy the top spot in the Big East. Though they are not considered as important as the University of Connecticut Huskies or the Marquette Golden Eagles, the Red Storm have a charm of their own. They have lost only four games that too mostly against mighty teams namely – the Michigan Wolverines and the UConn.

Their defeats also reveal a thing or two about their astonishing gameplay and the competitive spirit they have this season.

What have been the Red Storm’s major defeats?

While they lost against the Wolverines by an 89-73 margin, the UConn outdid them by a 69-65 tally. Irrespective of their loss against the Wolverines, the Red Storm put a good show. Three of their players scored in double digits. Their center Joel Soriano smoked the team’s highest 15 points with 9 rebounds. He had a 6-for-8 field goal tally and a 60% free throw percentage. 

Other than Soriano, two of their guards Daniss Jenkins and Jordan Dingle stood out by basketing points just touching the double digits. They put on a decent show but lacked the contribution from their fourth and fifth players and that led to them suffering a loss at the hands of a better Wolverines.

They then lost a close game against the UConn when the latter soused a brilliant 69 in response to the Red Storm’s 65. The UConn had just edged past the UConn in this game. During the first half, the game looked to be in the St. John’s favor.

They had a sloshed 32 points while the UConn could only screech to 26. In the next half however, the UConn outfoxed their opponents, scoring 43 points whereas the Red Storm notched 33. Though, the Red Storm had lost, this game showed their true potential of standing up to a team like the UConn. 

Soriano once again stood out with his exemplary performance, smashing a double-double. He dropped his team’s highest 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Jenkins too didn’t stand far behind with his 13 points. He also supported his team by providing four crucial assists. The team had a better free throw percentage with 75% than their counterparts. And also obstructed 5 blocks as compared to the UConn’s singular one. 

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What was commendable for the St. John’s was that they had contained a team as explosive as that of Dan Hurley. Thus, this game was a show of their resilience and how they could also step on the big stage against top-ranked teams during clutch moments. Their strength was amplified as a team when they defeated the Villanova Wildcats at the Pavilion.

How did the St. John’s perform against the Villanova?

The Wildcats locked horns with the Red Storm on Saturday. The latter hammered the Wildcats by an 81-71 margin. The Red Storm outclassed their opponents in both halves with scores of 34-38 and 47-43. This was a testament to their exceptional offensive and defensive skills. The Wildcats gave their best but still were trumped by the Red Storm. There were four outstanding players for the Red Storm.

Soriano smoked the highest points for his team with 20 points and also nabbed 8 rebounds. It was followed by Jenkins who played the second fiddle basketing 18 points and seizing 3 rebounds. He also supported his team through his five assists.

A surprising thing for the Red Storm was that in this game their forward Brady Dunlap stepped up. Although he has a paltry 4.6 average in the 10 games he has played so far, Dunlap smothered 15 points with 2 rebounds. Thus, he amped up his game when it was needed most, earning their team a special win.

Credit also goes to their guard RJ Luis Jr. Luis Jr. wrecked havoc with 11 points and also nabbed 7 rebounds. Thus, it was a collective performance by the team relying chiefly on two players while the others contributed around them. This game proved their mettle and the Red Storm are surely a team to reckon with.These games obviously speak a lot about their caliber.

Are the St. John’s the ultimate underdogs?

They can regarded as the biggest underdog team after this win in the Big East. How they have performed against the UConn and now with this victory it clearly proves that they can handle big teams and rake in important wins. They handle ball pressure extremely well and guard incomparably.

Their head coach Rick Pitino plays a 2-2-1 zone press that causes problems with the agility and speed of the other team. He also alters his defense by going 2-3 or a matchup at other times. He also tries a lot of permutations and combinations of the zone and man defense. This makes his team really placed strategically which he can use at crucial moments to turn the game in his favor.

This confuses the other teams and they lose a lot of time in figuring out the tactics of their opponents. If the Red Storm continue their game with RJ Luis and Soriano they surely will be extremely difficult to defeat and can also provide good upsets as the season progresses. Hence, they are one of the biggest underdog teams in the tournament.

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