00:00Making three wins in a row for the St. John's Redstone with 92-68 victory over Marquette here at Madison Square Garden.
00:07I'm Dexter Henry, joined by our fantastic beat reporter covering the Johnnies, my guy Zach Braziller.
00:12And Zach, this is going to be interesting when we get into this because St. John's, I just mentioned, they've won three in a row.
00:17They've won eight out of their last ten games. Fans are probably starting to feel a bit better about this team lately.
00:22But I want to talk about this game because I thought it was an interesting game in the way you and I watched it.
00:26And maybe Rick Pitino felt a little bit differently. But St. John's, you know, only up eight at halftime.
00:31To me, they looked a little sluggish, a little sleepy in the first half, a slow start.
00:34How did you see it, even though they had some foul trouble? How did you see how they played here in the first half?
00:39Yeah, they started great. I mean, it was 15-4 out of the gate, and it looked like they were going to overwhelm Marquette.
00:45And, you know, foul trouble, Bryce Hopkins got two early. Zuby, Edgeford got two.
00:50And, you know, so he had to go really deep into his bench, and they're only up six to break.
00:55Like, you know, I thought it reminded me a little of Providence ten days ago.
01:00Rick Pitino clearly didn't agree.
01:02No, he did not.
01:04But, look, I see his point. Like, you know, the Providence game, obviously, they only really had Zuby playing well.
01:08This was very different.
01:09But, you know, they came out with a killer mindset in that second half.
01:15And, like, we look at these last three wins all by double figures, all basically blowouts, and it's kind of been the same where, like, they've been awesome in the second half.
01:25You know, Marquette had 19 turnovers today.
01:29St. John's entered number one in the Big East in 14 turnovers in league play.
01:34I mean, the three-forward starting lineup they've gone to now has been awesome with Edgeford, Hopkins, and Dylan Mitchell.
01:41I mean, look, even UConn.
01:43I don't think there's a team in the Big East that can match them with their athletes up front.
01:49And that's clearly the strength of this team, and they're leaning into it, and it's the right move.
01:53You can make yardage.
01:54Maybe they should have done it a little earlier, but it's the right move, and it's paying off.
01:59Yeah, leaning into the size and the athleticism, we see that paid dividends for them there.
02:03You talked about that second half, right, because I thought the energy was different.
02:06And, yes, we can look at all the foul stuff in the first half, but the energy was different in the second half.
02:12What did you like particularly about what you saw from them in the second half?
02:15One, and do you think maybe they were becoming too reliant on being a second-half team here?
02:20No, I think some of that, Rick is right.
02:23Some of that was playing your end-of-the-bench guys because two of your three, four best players are in foul trouble.
02:30And, you know, Marquette, because of their quickness, athleticism in the backcourt, is a tough matchup for Jay Jones.
02:36You know, Lef Harris, Leotopoulos, who was so good last week, kind of didn't – this wasn't a game for him,
02:42and he really didn't have a role, and, you know, some of the other guards struggled outside of Oziah Sellers.
02:47Who I liked is they really took a two-mark hit in the second half.
02:52They didn't – you know, one thing we've seen in these three wins since the Providence loss is they've –
02:57even when they've gone up, they haven't, like, let their foot off the gas.
03:00They've had a killer mentality, and that's something that they're going to need as this schedule.
03:05Look, at Villanova, Saturday will be tough.
03:07Then St. Hall comes here.
03:08UConn is not – you know, it's still a few weeks away, but UConn's not that far down the road,
03:12and this team is going to need to be a little more consistent defensively, especially in the backcourt.
03:17You know, Patino talks a little bit about that.
03:18But, look, consider where this was, you know, 10 days ago after that Providence loss.
03:23I mean, win by 14, win by 17, and now today by 24.
03:29I think of your St. John's fan, you have to be very encouraged by what's happened here.
03:33Yeah, I think you absolutely have.
03:34And speaking of encouraged, also got to talk about Osiah Sellers because he's been playing really good.
03:38He's been shooting the ball really good on another heater today.
03:42Shot the ball really well all over the floor, including from downtown.
03:45How critical is his shooting to this St. John's team getting to where they want to go?
03:51Yeah, look, you know, when he plays well offensively, the offense usually is very good.
03:55And early on this year he was very good, and then he kind of went into a little bit of a drought,
04:01and the offense struggled, and now lately he's making shots.
04:05And, look, with this big lineup they're playing, teams got to double.
04:08You know, teams can't really deal with Zuby in the post or Bryce Hopkins.
04:12And so you're seeing a lot of double teams, and you're seeing more open shots for him
04:16and Ian Jackson and Darley and other guys.
04:19Yeah, you're starting to see that, and that's working really well for the Johnnies and their offense.
04:23The last thing we ought to touch on, and Zach talked about the schedule,
04:26but before this game, news coming down that St. John's letting go of their GM, Matt Abdelmasi.
04:34What did you make of this?
04:35You reported on this.
04:37What can you tell fans about this?
04:39Is there any concern about this going forward for this St. John's program,
04:42and now they have to look for a new GM?
04:45Yeah, look, I've known Matt a long time.
04:48I mean, he's very good at what he does in terms of the transfer portal.
04:52And, you know, what you hear is the school's looking into some financial, you know, moves,
04:58and that was part of kind of this decision to move on from him.
05:03There obviously is a lot of rumors out there about different stuff.
05:06But, yeah, look, it's a loss.
05:08I don't think there's any question about that.
05:10You know, Matt had a huge role in putting together last year's team,
05:14had a huge role in this year's team.
05:15And he was a former agent.
05:18He really understands the, you know, this ever-changing landscape.
05:22But, you know, they're in the process of looking for new people.
05:26They're going to find someone new.
05:28And, you know, and they go on.
05:30You know, it kind of just is what it is at this point.
05:34I mean, I don't think it's a good situation,
05:39but I don't think it's really going to impact this team too much.
05:42Right.
05:42It doesn't seem like it will impact the team for this season.
05:44And after the game, we got a chance to hear from Coach Patino
05:48about the situation, excuse me.
05:51Here were his comments on the situation.
05:53It's out of my hands.
05:54I found out tonight.
05:57All I was told is four days ago is look for another general manager.
06:02They said to me, don't ask any questions.
06:05I said, okay, I'll look for one.
06:07So it would be like it's really not a big deal, Roger.
06:15We really not a big deal.
06:17What's a big deal is making sure that we don't lose anything.
06:21But that's a university decision.
06:25I'll abide by it.
06:26They didn't ask me my opinion.
06:28And I didn't give it because they didn't.
06:30And in their defense, they didn't want to bother me.
06:32They didn't want to distract me right now.
06:36And I appreciate that.
06:37Are you disappointed in the situation?
06:41It's not a big deal.
06:42It really isn't.
06:44I'm disappointed that somebody will lose a job with four young kids.
06:47Yes.
06:48But it's not a big deal in terms of our basketball program.
06:52And we move on.
06:53We move on.
06:53We'll go find someone else.
06:55Are you interested?
06:55I think you may have some other people already in mind.
07:00Well, I got three guys in mind, to be honest with you.
07:02And one's here today.
07:03But I'm going to look at two other guys.
07:06And making sure that they have basketball ability.
07:10But, look, it's never good to see people go.
07:16But in the eyes of the university, it was very warranted.
07:20So we move on.
07:21So there you heard it from Coach Patino.
07:23But St. John's with a big win here.
07:25At the Garden over Marquette.
07:28Zach talked about it.
07:29Villanova on Saturday.
07:30Big game against Seton Hall next Tuesday.
07:33Seton Hall cracking the top 25 this week.
07:35So that should be a good one.
07:36Zach and I, we've got more coming for you later this week.
07:39On Eye of the Storm, that should be a lot to talk.
07:41We should have a lot to talk about with the Johnnies there.
07:44That should be pretty fun.
07:45This Johnnies team is starting to play some good basketball, Zach.
07:47I think New York fans are starting to get a little bit excited again.
07:50They're definitely headed in the right direction.
07:52Look, it's a very new team.
07:54They had a really tough non-conference.
07:55Obviously lost some games.
07:56They felt like they could have won.
07:58But, you know, they're definitely playing better.
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