RICK ROLLED: St. John’s Jumps Georgetown in Lopsided Letdown, 66-41

Pitino shows Hoyas, Cooley what ‘urgency’ can do

This one was over early. At the under-12 timeout in the first period, FS1 took a live look into the huddle of St. John’s Red Storm. During the media timeout, Rick Pitino said something to the effect of “Early in the clock [Georgetown’s] looking to pass the ball, get your hands up to deflect it. Then it’s one-on-one time. Remember what I said about their assist-to-turnover ratio—it’s a negative, so it’s all one-on-one at the end … Help like you’re helping. Make your rotation and [get] steals.” It’s almost like his staff has been watching your Georgetown Hoyas’ recent games and adjusted since the two teams met at Madison Square Garden two weeks ago.

It was a clinic from the jump. The final score was 66-41 and the deficit only got down to 15 in the second half.

At that first-half media timeout, with 11:47 left, St. John’s led Georgetown 23-3, holding the Hoyas to 1-11 from the floor (1-5 3PT). St. John’s had 10 points in the paint and 7 fastbreak points. They had 4 steals and 4 assists. Georgetown was 0 for their last 6 and had not scored in 4 minutes during a 12-0 run.

The first half ended 47-21 with St. John’s shooting 61.8% (21-34 FG, 5-11 3PT) and GU shooting 7-30 FG (3-11 3PT) for 23.3%. The poor Hoya shooting was across the board with Sorber shooting 1-7 FG, Mack going 3-7 (2-3 3PT), Peavy shooting 1-6, and Epps hitting only 1-5. Ugly.

SJU had balanced scoring in the half with Richmond scoring 11 points (5-6 FG, 1-2 3PT), Luis contributing 8 points (4-7 FG) and Ejiofor scoring 9 points on 4-5 FG, with 6 rebounds. The Johnnies won the half on points-in-the-paint 26-8, fastbreak points 13-2, points-off-turnovers 9-2, and rebounds 21-16.

The second half started with a 7-0 run by Georgetown in the first two minutes before two minutes of scoreless basketball. St. John’s did not score the first points until free-throws with 16:10 left. The Johnnies were only up 20 at the under-16 timeout, 49-29.

The difference during this time was that Thomas Sorber got early touches. Fielder hit a three on the third scoring possession.

For whatever reason, Georgetown stopped passing to Sorber in the post after that. During spurts of the second half, Georgetown was generating transition offense but not orchestrating buckets. While there were only two SJU turnovers at this point and no true fastbreak points, attacking the before the defense sets up was Georgetown’s only offense. But that requires a stop.

After the run, St. John’s capitalized on two turnovers for thunderous dunks to remind Georgetown that the momentum was fleeting.

Georgetown had another 8-2 run to get to the U8 media timeout, but they were still down 55-37.

The rest of the season will depend on what Georgetown and its opponents learn from this game. Ed Cooley and the Hoyas staff needs to reframe the halfcourt offense to get Sorber going, make some space for Peavy, find Epps some good looks, and limit Mack’s turnovers. They cannot rely on transition offense.

With 6:33 left, Sorber got a rare entry pass and drew a foul to pull within 15 points, 55-40. Georgetown scored one more point in the rest of the game to lose 66-41.

The Hoyas shot 7-27 FG (25.9%) after intermission and 14-57 from the field overall (6-26 3PT, 23.1%). St. John’s shot poorly in the second (7-24 FG, 1-10 3PT), but it did not matter. Georgetown had 10 second-half turnovers giving St. John’s 7 second-half steals.

One word that came to mind several times during the game was “urgency,” and the lack of it. Georgetown did not attack the basket with urgency. 8 minutes left and down 18, out of a timeout, there was little Hoyas urgency.

Urgency was also a word that often appeared in the Great Coaching Candidate Debate of 2023. While the New York Post reported today that Rick Pitino anticipates coaching at least another year, everyone knew his limited time window would force a sense of urgency to get his squad to the tournament. That coaching debate does not need to be rehashed today, but the hall-of-famer had his #15-ranked team rolling tonight in D.C. on both sides of the floor.

As the Hoyas were trying to claw back into the game, they kept ignoring Sorber in the post.

There was no urgency to pass Sorber the ball for 10 minutes. This prompted John Fanta and Donny Marshall to discuss whether Sorber will leave for the NBA at the end of the year. The consensus was that he had to go if the league came calling. That would be a nightmare for all Hoyas fans, but it makes sense.

If Cooley and his staff only have Thomas Sorber for 30-some games, the only word to describe it would be a waste. There’s still time, but it’s running out. Where is the urgency?