After winning for just the second time in seven games, St. John’s basketball coach Rick Pitino on Wednesday night expressed some second thoughts about his rather blunt − and some thought overly critical − assessment of the team last weekend.
‘These guys have never failed me,’ Pitino said after a 90-85 victory at Georgetown. ‘I have failed them with the fundamentals.’
It was quite an about-face from his comments after the Red Storm blew a 19-point lead in a loss to Seton Hall on Sunday, after which he told reporters, ‘I look at it pragmatically. We are small, we are slow laterally, we don’t shoot the ball great and we don’t play great defense because of those shortcomings. These are the weaknesses … Outside of that, we’re pretty good.’
After those comments became public, Pitino said some members of the coaching staff informed him that the criticism didn’t sit well with several players who were singled out.
‘Words matter,’ Pitino said after addressing the team and apologizing to them. ‘It’s my bad. I’m at fault. I should’ve never mentioned anybody by name. I didn’t mean it.’
The team responded by snapping a three-game losing streak to improve to 15-12 overall, 7-9 in the Big East.
‘We know how much he loves us and cares about us,’ senior Jordan Dingle, who scored 22 points in the win, said according to The Athletic, ‘and how much he cares about winning, so I don’t think guys really took it too much to heart.”