Think twice about hopping on board that St. John’s bandwagon. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
That’s a not a Johnnies dis, either. The Red Storm (10-3) earned their 61-58 win against No. 13 Georgetown on Monday night by being disciplined on offense (just four turnovers), aggressive on defense (the Hoyas’ Big 3 of Austin Freeman, Jason Clark and Chris Wright combined to shoot 7 of 25) and poised in the clutch (props to Dwight Hardy and Justin Brownlee).
They’ve now won five straight and are off to their best start since 1999-2000. It’s almost enough to make Steve Lavin forget about back-to-back losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham last month. Almost.
St. John’s coach probably wishes a few more of those would pop up on the schedule. Here’s what the rest of the Johnnies’ January looks like:Jan 8: at Notre Dame
Jan. 12: vs. Syracuse
Jan. 16: vs. Notre Dane
Jan. 19: at Louisville
Jan. 22: vs. Cincinnati
Jan. 26: at Georgetown
Jan. 30: at Duke
Combined records of those teams? 77-7. All of ‘em except the Cardinals are ranked. If St. John’s comes out of that stretch with only four losses, consider it a small miracle.
And then get Rick Pitino on the phone and ask him who he thinks will win the Big East next season.
Want more? I’m also on Twitter @BeyndArcMMiller.