Rick Pitino - Head Coach at St John’s University!!!

[fordham96]

SJU is competitive with NIL. But I can assure you a number of their players, see Zuby, would be getting a lot more if they wanted to.

I think that is the point Rick was making.

Also remember what I said earlier about the various traits that make him a great coach, he is as full of sh** as anyone....

 

[espken]

 

[paultzman]

Rick Pitino Joins Dan Dakich on Outkick’s “Don’t @ Me”

St. John’s Head Men’s Basketball Coach discusses Saturday’s top-15 matchup against Alabama at Madison Square Garden

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QUEENS, N.Y. (Nov. 6, 2025) – St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino will join Dan Dakich on Outkick’s “Don’t @ Me” with the episode debuting on Friday.

 

[logen]

- He discussed how the NCAA tournament loss last year came down to the matchup. Said you can build a great team but one bad matchup and you can be knocked out. He said he is confident that he built a roster this year that can play against type of team.

Yeah, SJU couldn’t play with Arkansas, I say nonsense, just a very lame excuse IMO. No player outside of Eijofor had anything resembling a good game yet down 2 with 4:56 to go and the Johnnie’s don’t score for the next 4:36. If you can’t play against a team you are down 22 not 2. If you can’t play against a team you don’t shoot 28% from the field and 9% from 3 and still be right in the game with 5 minutes left.

They certainly could play with Arkansas, no doubt about it. They just didn’t close it out as they had ALL year!

Obviously, huge disagreements as to the why have been discussed ad nauseum on the board but irrefutable is the fact that remains for all time, with the two players who had orchestrated the majority of those close outs on the bench, they just didn’t.

 

[Jack Williams]

Yeah, SJU couldn’t play with Arkansas, I say nonsense, just a very lame excuse IMO. No player outside of Eijofor had anything resembling a good game yet down 2 with 4:56 to go and the Johnnie’s don’t score for the next 4:36. If you can’t play against a team you are down 22 not 2. If you can’t play against a team you don’t shoot 28% from the field and 9% from 3 and still be right in the game with 5 minutes left.

They certainly could play with Arkansas, no doubt about it. They just didn’t close it out as they had ALL year!

Obviously, huge disagreements as to the why have been discussed ad nauseum on the board but irrefutable is the fact that remains for all time, with the two players who had orchestrated the majority of those close outs on the bench, they just didn’t.

Having heard the interview, I don’t think Rick was trying to make an excuse necessarily. I think he was just acknowledging the crapshoot nature of the NCAA tournament. You can have a great team, and be set up for a deep run, but if you get a tough matchup in a given round, you can find yourself in a close game and lose it.

That’s all I think Rick was trying to say, and he kind of used it to segue into a conversation about how the big east doesn’t quite provide the same athletic challenge as maybe Arkansas did in that game.

Which having watched our games last year, I tend to agree with him. I think we overpowered teams in the big east physically in a way that we couldn’t do to Arkansas, and once that was the case, we had to hit shots to win the game. as we all know, we did not hit quite enough shots to win that day. There are other factors that can be discussed as well. Foul trouble issues. For sure

But overall I don’t think it’s an excuse to say Arkansas was a bad matchup. I hated the matchup the day the bracket came out. I actually hated either option, though I think we would’ve fared way against Kansas

 

[Marillac2]

Yeah, SJU couldn’t play with Arkansas, I say nonsense, just a very lame excuse IMO. No player outside of Eijofor had anything resembling a good game yet down 2 with 4:56 to go and the Johnnie’s don’t score for the next 4:36. If you can’t play against a team you are down 22 not 2. If you can’t play against a team you don’t shoot 28% from the field and 9% from 3 and still be right in the game with 5 minutes left.

They certainly could play with Arkansas, no doubt about it. They just didn’t close it out as they had ALL year!

Obviously, huge disagreements as to the why have been discussed ad nauseum on the board but irrefutable is the fact that remains for all time, with the two players who had orchestrated the majority of those close outs on the bench, they just didn’t.

 

[paultzman]

Repole’s response to his 40% of NIL contribution here;

 

[L J S A]

Repole’s response to his 40% of NIL contribution here;

Repole just completely blew the ploy to get other donors.

 

[L J S A]

And let's hope Repole has an eye for coaching talent because in today's NIL world, he's going to have a lot of say in the matter.

 

[paultzman]

 

[logen]

Having heard the interview, I don’t think Rick was trying to make an excuse necessarily. I think he was just acknowledging the crapshoot nature of the NCAA tournament. You can have a great team, and be set up for a deep run, but if you get a tough matchup in a given round, you can find yourself in a close game and lose it.

That’s all I think Rick was trying to say, and he kind of used it to segue into a conversation about how the big east doesn’t quite provide the same athletic challenge as maybe Arkansas did in that game.

Which having watched our games last year, I tend to agree with him. I think we overpowered teams in the big east physically in a way that we couldn’t do to Arkansas, and once that was the case, we had to hit shots to win the game. as we all know, we did not hit quite enough shots to win that day. There are other factors that can be discussed as well. Foul trouble issues. For sure

But overall I don’t think it’s an excuse to say Arkansas was a bad matchup. I hated the matchup the day the bracket came out. I actually hated either option, though I think we would’ve fared way against Kansas

We just disagree.
Personally, and no disrespect to you and your opinion, I don’t care how Pitino sounded; Arkansas was very beatable and I think the way the game played out proves it. I will always think what I posted right after the game.
A couple of questions to ponder.
First, what did the way last years team played against all that “size and length” have to do with the way this years team would, two completely different teams, not just in personnel but in the makeup of the teams.
Second, if the Arkansas “size and length” was such a difference in the game how did we snag 28 offensive rebounds and out-rebound Arkansas? Certainly some of that was the product of our poor shooting but we were far from dominated on the boards. And if that was the key factor, why did Prey only play 13 minutes and Iwuchuka pretty much not at all?
The fact is we shot amazingly poorly and had neither of our go to players on the court when it counted. Going virtually scoreless for the last 5 minutes speaks for itself. And yes I know Eijofor had a completely meaningless dunk with 20 seconds left.
As I stated before, IMO, Arkansas was imminently beatable, we just played, coached and especially shot poorly.
We just disagree.

 

[dk423]

We just disagree.
Personally, and no disrespect to you and your opinion, I don’t care how Pitino sounded; Arkansas was very beatable and I think the way the game played out proves it. I will always think what I posted right after the game.
A couple of questions to ponder.
First, what did the way last years team played against all that “size and length” have to do with the way this years team would, two completely different teams, not just in personnel but in the makeup of the teams.
Second, if the Arkansas “size and length” was such a difference in the game how did we snag 28 offensive rebounds and out-rebound Arkansas? Certainly some of that was the product of our poor shooting but we were far from dominated on the boards. And if that was the key factor, why did Prey only play 13 minutes and Iwuchuka pretty much not at all?
The fact is we shot amazingly poorly and had neither of our go to players on the court when it counted. Going virtually scoreless for the last 5 minutes speaks for itself. And yes I know Eijofor had a completely meaningless dunk with 20 seconds left.
As I stated before, IMO, Arkansas was imminently beatable, we just played, coached and especially shot poorly.
We just disagree.

Arkansas is way overrated by this board and Rick. We should’ve won, and would beat them 7 out of 10 times we play them

 

[austour]

Kadary gets 30 minutes instead of 17 and it's not even close. That was the deciding factor.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Kadary gets 30 minutes instead of 17 and it's not even close. That was the deciding factor.

He had never fouled out of a game in college and then …..

 

[bamafan]

He had never fouled out of a game in college and then …..

Apparently Calipari greased the palms of the refs better than Pitino did.

 

[kranmars]

And let's hope Repole has an eye for coaching talent because in today's NIL world, he's going to have a lot of say in the matter.

Well, he is a fan of Billy Donovan.

Pitino can sell him on how this job was the most fun and gratifying of his career.

And of course, how winning an NCAA championship for New York’s team will always be his most memorable. (Hey, if Deon Sanders can admit he has a favorite son, then Pitino can admit to a favorite title).

 

[Chriscin33]

Well, he is a fan of Billy Donovan.

Pitino can sell him on how this job was the most fun and gratifying of his career.

And of course, how winning an NCAA championship for New York’s team will always be his most memorable. (Hey, if Deon Sanders can admit he has a favorite son, then Pitino can admit to a favorite title).

Right with you on this. Love the idea of a NY guy handing it off to another NY guy that was born here, has ties here and was a big winner in college already. Donovan would be a great choice for the next coach and is still relatively young (compared to Pitino).

 

[Jack Williams]

We just disagree.
Personally, and no disrespect to you and your opinion, I don’t care how Pitino sounded; Arkansas was very beatable and I think the way the game played out proves it. I will always think what I posted right after the game.
A couple of questions to ponder.
First, what did the way last years team played against all that “size and length” have to do with the way this years team would, two completely different teams, not just in personnel but in the makeup of the teams.
Second, if the Arkansas “size and length” was such a difference in the game how did we snag 28 offensive rebounds and out-rebound Arkansas? Certainly some of that was the product of our poor shooting but we were far from dominated on the boards. And if that was the key factor, why did Prey only play 13 minutes and Iwuchuka pretty much not at all?
The fact is we shot amazingly poorly and had neither of our go to players on the court when it counted. Going virtually scoreless for the last 5 minutes speaks for itself. And yes I know Eijofor had a completely meaningless dunk with 20 seconds left.
As I stated before, IMO, Arkansas was imminently beatable, we just played, coached and especially shot poorly.
We just disagree.

Are you taking me saying Arkansas was a bad matchup as me saying that Arkansas wasn't beatable? That's not the argument I nor Rick was making. But they were still a tough matchup for our team last year.

I agree they were beatable. We were the 2 seed to their 10 seed... they SHOULD have been "beatable". A team can still be a bad matchup whilst being beatable.

Just because we rebounded fine, doesn't mean their size and athleticism didn't bother us. We struggled to score not just because of shooting woes, we were defended well around the rim and our dribble penetration was limited. This impacted RJ most of all, he was unable to get things going whatsoever, they really bothered him.

As for Prey/Vince, like I was saying, Ark's length bothered us mostly when it came to generating offense. Vince was not going to do anything about that. Prey, not really known for his shot creation either. Though he did get in and make a couple nice plays.

I don't know why two things can't be true at once? Yea Arkansas could have been had, we didn't play well enough. We had foul trouble woes. It's all true. But I think it is also true that Arkansas was a tough matchup for our roster's skillset to go up against. When I look at the other 7 and 10 seeds in the entire bracket last year, I maintain we got the worst pairing we could have possibly gotten.

 

[paultzman]

Well, he is a fan of Billy Donovan.

Pitino can sell him on how this job was the most fun and gratifying of his career.

And of course, how winning an NCAA championship for New York’s team will always be his most memorable. (Hey, if Deon Sanders can admit he has a favorite son, then Pitino can admit to a favorite title).

In retrospect, I don’t have fond memories of Repole pushing Bobby Hurley for SJU gig. Hurley used us as leverage with ASU as I recall.

 

[kranmars]

Right with you on this. Love the idea of a NY guy handing it off to another NY guy that was born here, has ties here and was a big winner in college already. Donovan would be a great choice and is still relatively young (compared to Pitino).

I am being a bit tongue in cheek. We would all love to have him, but he makes about $6 mm a year coaching in the NBA.

For Donovan to even sniff this job, SJU would have to play every Catholic guilt card and how coaching here would give him the keys to heaven and allow him to bypass St. Peter.