Rick Pitino desires extra out of his backcourt.
Fifth-ranked St. John’s was outrebounded by 12 by No. 7 Michigan in an exhibition loss Saturday evening on the Backyard, and it was not the fault of huge males Zuby Ejiofor, Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins.
They’d 23 rebounds between them.
The difficulty was that Dylan Darling, Ian Jackson, Oziyah Sellers and Joson Sanon mixed for only one.
“I’ve been very blessed in my teaching profession with guards that rebound, and I’ve acquired a bunch right here that doesn’t rebound the ball,” Pitino mentioned. “Now we have to do one thing about that. They usually’re adequate athletes to rebound.
“Probably the most obtrusive weak spot [on our team] is the guards not rebounding the ball.”
CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS
Sellers, the workforce’s place to begin guard, was scoreless in eight foul-plagued minutes.
“Oziyah has been fouling quite a bit in follow, and we’ve got completed a poor job as coaches in calling fouls,” Pitino mentioned. “We’ve let him get away with placing fingers on individuals. That was an ideal studying expertise for him as effectively.”
Jackson was coping with a sore ankle after lacking a number of practices this week. General, he struggled, capturing 1-for-8 from the sphere in 21 minutes off the bench.
“I’m not involved, he’ll play higher than he did tonight,” Pitino mentioned. “We set to work on Ian’s deal with, the place he will get somewhat bump, he doesn’t cough it up. However he’ll play higher than he did tonight. I’ve acquired confidence in him.”
Michigan star Yaxel Lendeborg had 25 factors, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. He was initially dedicated to St. John’s underneath former coach Mike Anderson. Lendeborg mentioned he had a chip on his shoulder dealing with the Johnnies.
Requested concerning the senior, Pitino known as him a “terrific participant.”
