St. John’s shuts down Iona in blowout win at MSG
· New York PostA year ago, it took until deep into the season for St. John’s press to have any impact. Even in March, the Red Storm’s were good at denying the ball to be inbounded, but then usually fell back on defense.
Early on, these Johnnies seem better suited to executive Coach Rick Pitino’s renowned press.
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Take Sunday afternoon, for instance. Iona didn’t just struggle to inbound the ball against the press, but when it did, getting it past halfcourt felt like an accomplishment. The Johnnies forced 19 turnovers and turned them into 26 points in a 104-65 beatdown at the Garden. By halftime, Iona had committed 15 turnovers.
St. John’s pressure helped them get out to a big lead in the season opener against Monmouth and was a big part of their exhibition finale against Texas.
While Pitino has said this team has a lot of learning to do in terms of getting familiar with one another and improving on basic fundamentals, it has the length and athleticism to be a very strong pressing team. Quinn Ellis and Tounde Yessoufou each had three steals to lead the defensive charge.
St. John’s had its way with the Gaels from the start, scoring 14 of the game’s first 31 points. They closed the first half on a 21-4 run, and went into the break up by 31.
Pitino wanted to see them get up more 3-point attempts, and Ian Jackson came out firing from deep, making his first two attempts. St. John’s finished with 13 made 3-pointers. Yessoufu had four of them, and tallied 23 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Jackson had 17 and Keyshawn Hall added 13. Ellis notched 11 assists, along with seven points and five rebounds.
Forward Babacar Sane (ankle) didn’t play. Godson Okokoh, a four-star forward recruit from Bella Vista College Prep (Ariz.), was in attendance for the game.