Friday 9 am here . There are lots of places to lament about last night.
Why let Pitino off the hook for a Coaching mistake that CYO Coaches wouldn’t make and have Zuby in the game in those last 6.5 seconds ? Baylor’s only option was to foul and he shouldn’t have been anywhere near the ball.
Plus , it was designed for Smith to get the inbound but , he pulled back at the last second and it went to Zuby . Why ?
Next , our 2nd half collapse was catastrophic . Baylor ratcheted up their intensity and while , I wouldn’t say we wilted , we were darn close .
Our 3 point defense is pitiful , as it has been under Pitino , Anderson , Mullin , Lavin , etc
It must be a curse for past misdeeds .
I don’t recall if it was the end of regulation or the 1 st OT but , VJ had a wide open shot from the corner that barely missed . None of our players were within miles of him . How come ?
Richmond ? He’s our Million Dollar Man . He was suppose to be the guy to lead us to great heights .Pitino even mentioning he needed more Conditioning last week is not a accolade . And , he was spent in crunch time with cramps , etc
Plus ,let’s face it , his handle is a weakness as is his shooting from range . It’s why he’s playing for NIL money and not in the NBA . He is a amazing passer , no disputes he has many skills .
And , let’s stop with the nostalgia of kids playing College Basketball anymore . Both teams last night were loaded with highly paid professionals . Some of who have already played for 3 or more teams ..Moving along like they are Free Agents like MLB , NFL, NBA players .
Lastly , Pitino wasn’t paid the money he is getting to be Competitive . He was brought here to Win , at the level St John’s hasn’t seen in over 2 Decades . The School fired Anderson , while still under Contract , to pay Pitino millions to come here . Not to be Iona but, to get us to a BE Championship level and into the NCAA tournament .
And , as I said previously , this Tournament ,other than the quality of teams invited was all Minor League . Very weak Officiating team , slippery like ice floor , only hand towels to wipe the Court , amateur Clock operators .
Winning this game would have been a giant step toward attaining higher ranked status and a path to the NCAA , all things being equal .
So far , beating Wagner , Fordham don’t get us any value . The New Mexico win is still to be determined , depending on what kind of season the Lobos have . Beating Baylor would have been that giant step .
Losing like we did last night , is like the Horse who finishes 2 nd by a nose in the Kentucky Derby . No one will say what a great loss that was in March , when the Tourney teams are selected . No one will remember, except that it was a loss .
