The start has been fun.
The national ranking is good for optics.
Three 20-point wins to start the year, a feat St. John’s hasn’t accomplished since 1983-84, shouldn’t be dismissed no matter the caliber of opponent.
But now we begin to find out about Rick Pitino’s Johnnies.
Starting Sunday against New Mexico and Pitino’s son Richard at the Garden, followed by three games in four days in the Bahamas that is highlighted by a meeting with No. 12 Baylor, St. John’s will get tested.
It will get pushed.
It will get challenged.
“I feel like people are going to learn that we can play with anybody, we can go out there and compete and look good doing it,” sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher said Friday. “What we’re going to figure out about each other is how we stick together through the ups and downs. Every game is not going to be perfect and great. It’s all about the response when stuff starts to not go our way.
“Not to disrespect any of the teams we’ve played,” he added, “but it’s definitely a big jump.”
St. John’s certainly seems more prepared for a step up in competition than it did at this time last year.
Remember, it had only one tune-up game before being walloped at the Garden by Michigan, which wound up as one of the more disappointing teams in the country.
From there, the Johnnies were fortunate to go 2-1 in the Charleston Classic, scraping past North Texas, losing to Dayton and knocking off Utah.
The competition will be considerably better this year.
New Mexico (3-0) is coming off an impressive neutral-site victory over then-No. 22 UCLA and returns two key pieces from its NCAA Tournament team a year ago in dynamic guard Donovan Dent and physical forward Nelly Junior Joseph, who played under Pitino for two seasons at Iona University.
Baylor, despite a lopsided season-opening loss to fourth-ranked Gonzaga, is a popular Final Four pick.
If St. John’s gets past the Bears, it would likely face No. 11 Tennessee the following night.
The trip ends against Georgia, which is led by fantastic five-star freshman forward Asa Newell and a deep backcourt.
“I’ll be very transparent: I don’t know how good we are. It’s a question mark right now,” Pitino said. “Have we taken care of two exhibitions and three [regular-season games]? Yes, we have. But we haven’t seen competition like we’re facing [the next four games].”
Pitino’s second St. John’s team seems better equipped for this stretch than his first one.
That group was basically completely new.
This one has four returning core players in Wilcher, Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis and Brady Dunlap.
It has looked terrific on the defensive end, ranked 14th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Its three opponents, Fordham, Quinnipiac and Wagner, have scored an average of 59.3 points on 34.8 percent shooting from the field while committing 16.3 turnovers per game.
The offense is more of a work in progress, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering the Johnnies’ two primary ball-handlers, Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith, are newcomers.
Richmond, an All-American candidate who spent the past three seasons at rival Seton Hall, has yet to take command of the offense.
He attempted only seven shots in the past two games, though he had seven assists in the Wagner win and was pivotal in the game-turning 26-3 run in the second half.
“I want Kadary to start getting back to himself, taking more shots because I feel like it’s really not many people in college that can stay in front of him,” Wilcher said. “He’s just figuring it out. It’s still early in the season. We’re only three games in. Watch, next game you’re going to see a totally different [player].”
Really, this feels like the start of the season for St. John’s.
The 3-0 record and No. 22 national ranking look good, but this team is still very much a mystery.
You only can learn so much from practice and by beating up overmatched opponents.
That changes starting Sunday.
“These next few games for us are very important,” Wilcher said. “They’re going to set the tone for the rest of the season.”
A portion of proceeds from the St. John’s-New Mexico game will go to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
The matchup has been dubbed the NYC Hoops for Heroes Classic.
