The glare spoke volumes. So did the terse response. The last thing St. John’s wants to hear are comparisons to Chris Mullin’s forgettable first season when an undermanned roster short on talent won just a single Big East contest.
“No, no similarities,” junior forward Tariq Owens said, seething at the suggestion. “We’re not like that first-year team. This team is completely different.”
Through nine league games, the record is the same — all losses — but to compare the two would be ignoring the obvious. Seven of the losses have been by seven points or less, by an average of 4.1 points per game. How close they have been is what is so frustrating for this shorthanded group that has been without starting point guard Marcus LoVett (knee) since Thanksgiving weekend.
There were blown second-half leads at Creighton and No. 8 Xavier. A seven-point setback at the Garden to No. 1 Villanova. A narrow defeat at Seton Hall without LoVett and leading scorer Shamorie Ponds. The two worst losses, at home against Providence and DePaul in which the Red Storm were outscored by a combined 39 points, they were favored. It has left them as one of two power conference teams without a league victory, Pittsburgh being the other.
“We have to figure out how we can get more [from everyone] and how we can do more,” Owens said. “Each person has to take on that individual challenge to give the team more and to push through.
“We have proven we can keep up and we can hang in the game, so it’s just a simple fact that we are shorthanded. With guys having to play more minutes, you still have to lock in mentally, that’s what it comes down to, and that’s what we have to do.”
It doesn’t get any easier for St. John’s, who faces Butler on Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse before meeting Xavier again back in Queens on Tuesday. Then come games against fourth-ranked Duke, NCAA Tournament contender Marquette, and Villanova in Philadelphia. St. John’s, now under .500 overall at 10-11, could be down to six scholarship players Saturday, as Ponds (thigh bruise) and Kassoum Yakwe (ankle) are nursing injuries, and both will be game-time decisions.
In all the close losses, St. John’s has shown patches of promise, doing good things, only to be undone by stretches of poor shot selection, missed defensive assignments, and scoring droughts. Part of it, of course, is the lack of depth, so much being asked of the starters. The bench of Yakwe, Bryan Trimble Jr. and Amar Alibegovic is averaging a combined 6.6 points per game in 37 minutes this season.
“The fact of the matter is that we are coming up five points short in most [games], which is two possessions,” Mullin said. “It’s not the last possessions, but over the entire game. I think we need better focus throughout the game. Turnovers in the first few minutes are as important as ones at the end of the game. All those things add up, so just keeping attention on the importance of each possession.”
At this point, keeping his team upbeat and determined to break through is Mullin’s biggest job. He’s made a point recently of not wanting anyone to point fingers. They have to own the dismal record, but also not let it beat them down.
“I think you have to digest it, learn from it, and then you have to come out with a positive attitude,” Mullin said.
The narrow losses would indicate that mindset is still there. The Johnnies rallied from a 16-point deficit Tuesday to nearly knock off Creighton. But the question remains how much longer can that effort continue without the payoff.