00:00This is Eye of the Storm, a St. John's video series presented by Junkless Protein.
00:05I think when you look at this, where the season's turned around, Zach, I guess my question for you is,
00:11how much of this turnaround can be traced back to an inflection point in the season,
00:16or is it more of a gradual process of the team just buying into what Rick Pitino wanted this season?
00:22Do you look at it as one point where this all sort of changed, or this was kind of a
00:26gradual process all along?
00:29You know, part of me says, like, yeah, it's a new team, it was going to take time, and I
00:36think that's true.
00:36The other part of me says, it's Dylan Mitchell starting, dummy.
00:42Like, and I'm talking to myself, obviously.
00:45Yeah, yeah.
00:45They've just been, you know, obviously Dylan Darling's been great lately, and really during this win streak,
00:51but it's been Dylan Mitchell.
00:52You know, it's been Dylan Mitchell, it's been leaning into their strength, which is the front court.
00:59You know, you know, for a big part of the early part of the season, they were, you know,
01:03they were trying to, they were playing, going with a lot of three-guard lineups,
01:07and it was hurting them on the defensive glass.
01:10You know, they didn't have enough playmaking out there.
01:13And, look, some of this is on Mitchell.
01:16He wasn't great early, especially against the better teams.
01:21He wasn't great, but, you know, this 13-game win streak, he's been incredible for the most part.
01:25Maybe had an off-gamer here or there, but their defensive rebounding has done a complete 180.
01:32He's a terrific playmaker, you know, as a, you know, at 6'8".
01:37He's incredible in transition.
01:41You know, look, Zuby's been Zuby all year.
01:43Bryce Hopkins, there's no doubt, has played much better over the last six weeks.
01:46He was just named the Big East Player of the Week, and he deserved it.
01:51You know, Dylan Darling has been a revelation, you know, in this win streak.
01:56But, to me, it's the combination of Mitchell playing really well and them leading into that big three lineup.
02:04There's just no one in this league that can handle that frontcourt.
02:07And we saw it the other day.
02:09They absolutely dominated.
02:10And Zuby didn't even play the last 11 minutes.
02:13And they absolutely dominated.
02:13I mean, I think they combined for something like 36 points, like 24 rebounds, 11 assists.
02:19And, like, and that was with very, you know, limited minutes.
02:22I mean, they could have probably went for something like 45, 35, like, you know, there's just, there's no, nobody
02:30in this league can handle them.
02:32Now, look, the tournament will be different when they face bigger and more athletic teams.
02:37But, you know, if you look in, even, like, some of their tough losses, like Iowa State, that three big
02:43lineup was really good.
02:45And they almost beat Iowa State, one of the best teams in the country.
02:48You know, they used it a lot against Alabama, and they were, they led that game with about six, seven
02:53minutes left.
02:54So, yeah, I mean, this, I thought coming into the year, they had one of the best frontcourts in the
02:59country.
02:59And over the last six weeks, it's, they have obviously been one of the premier frontcourts in the country.
03:06You
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