Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic <\/p>\n
From Providence College to the Knicks and Kentucky to Louisville, Rick Pitino\u2019s teams have traditionally taken major leaps in his second season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Providence reached the Final Four. <\/p>\n
Kentucky had an eight-win improvement. <\/p>\n
Louisville went from eighth to third in the Big East and the Knicks won the Atlantic Division.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can St. John\u2019s follow that script? <\/p>\n
There is optimism after a strong offseason \u2014 during which Pitino and his staff landed top guards Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall) and Deivon Smith (Utah) through the transfer portal and kept the young core of RJ Luis, Brady Dunlap, Zuby Ejiofor and Simeon Wilcher together \u2014 that the Johnnies can break through and return to the main draw of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With summer workouts beginning over the last week, The Post spoke to three anonymous college coaches and two analysts \u2014 John Fanta of Fox and Jon Rothstein of CBS \u2014 to break down what, on paper, has the makings of a formidable roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Strengths\u00a0<\/p>\n
The backcourt has the potential to be elite. Richmond and Smith led a transfer class ranked first in the country by EvanMiya.com, which uses a formula that incorporates box stats and advanced metrics to quantify the overall impact of players. The 6-foot Smith, a speed merchant tailor-made for Pitino\u2019s uptempo system, set a Pac-12 single-season record with five triple-doubles. Richmond, a big (6-6) play-making guard who was an All-Big East first team selection, carried Seton Hall to an unexpected fourth-place finish in the Big East and an NIT crown. They\u2019re joined by the sophomore Wilcher, who was a prized top-30 prospect coming out of Roselle Catholic (N.J.) and improved as a freshman as the year went on. All three are capable of creating their own shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at Rick Pitino\u2019s history as a head coach, his best teams have always been anchored by ferocious guards who can get after the opponent defensively and that\u2019s the makeup of this team,\u201d Rothstein said. \u201cNow, and they have to go out and prove it, St. John\u2019s is in position to have the best backcourt in the Big East and potentially have one of the best backcourts in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s one shortcoming could be perimeter shooting. Wilcher is the best 3-point shooter of the trio, but is still an unproven commodity. Smith shot a career-best 40.8 percent from downtown last year, but only attempted 2.5 treys per game. Richmond has never taken more than 1.8 per game in any of his four college seasons. Teams will play off them. But, Rothstein noted, Smith\u2019s and Richmond\u2019s shooting limitations didn\u2019t hinder them last year as they combined to attempt 7.9 free throws a season ago. Plus, the 6-7 Dunlap is expected to take a leap as a court-spacer, and top-50 freshman recruit Jaden Glover of The Patrick School (N.J.) can make shots.<\/p>\n
There was some uncertainty how Richmond and Smith would coexist as two lead guards who are used to dominating the ball. But the coaches expect that to sort itself out, that Pitino can make it work just like he did at Louisville with Peyton Siva and Russ Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone that thinks that between Richmond\u2019s skill set and Rick Pitino\u2019s coaching ability they won\u2019t figure it out is fooling themselves,\u201d one of the coaches said.<\/p>\n
Versatility is a word that was used a lot to describe St. John\u2019s. Richmond\u2019s size and rebounding prowess \u2014 he averaged seven boards a season ago \u2014 will allow them to play small, with Luis and North Texas transfer Aaron Scott, a capable 3-point shooter and strong defender, at the four. The Red Storm can also go big because 7-1 USC transfer Vince Iwuchukwu and Ejiofor are capable of defending on the perimeter. Pitino has options.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have more proven guys at this level than they did last year,\u201d the coach said.<\/p>\n
Weaknesses\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some questioned the shotmaking, but the bigger concern is up front. Iwuchukwu was a big-time prospect entering USC, but has battled health issues and has yet to prove himself at the college level. International forward Ruben Prey is highly regarded, but still an unknown. Ejiofor had a strong second half last season, but still only averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds as a sophomore. Replacing the production of Joel Soriano and Chris Ledlum won\u2019t be easy. The duo combined for 23.3 points and 16.4 rebounds. There are potential solutions, but still question marks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom that position, St. John\u2019s needs to find a way to get 12 points and 12 rebounds (per game),\u201d Rothstein said.<\/p>\n
X Factor\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luis\u2019 first year as a Johnnie was marred by injuries. He missed an extended period of time due to a broken hand and shin splints. The latter malady limited his practice time significantly and cut into his potential impact. Still, there were flashes of immense promise. In the 15 games in which the multi-talented 6-foot-7 Luis logged at least 21 minutes, he averaged 13.1 points and 5.7 rebounds. He was the best player on the floor in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal rout of Seton Hall, producing 18 points and nine rebounds. Since the season ended, Luis underwent surgery on his shins, and is hopeful of joining summer workouts next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love RJ,\u201d another of the coaches said. \u201cI love his energy, how hard he plays. He\u2019ll be a mismatch problem for other fours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Luis can be a consistent scorer averaging somewhere in the mid-teens, a third coach said, \u201cthat\u2019s a game-changer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Projection\u00a0<\/p>\n
All five sources agree this is, at least on paper, a top-five team in what will be a loaded top half of the Big East. It\u2019s an improved roster, they all agreed, from the group that won 20 games a year ago and was an NCAA Tournament snub. Better depth, more athleticism, and suited for Pitino\u2019s pressing style.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSweet 16. They can win two games in the NCAA Tournament if everything falls into place,\u201d Fanta, the Fox announcer and analyst, said. \u201cAre you really going to doubt Rick Pitino and say he has two years in a row that don\u2019t go his way? I\u2019m not going to do that. They have an NCAA Tournament roster, they\u2019re going to be a preseason top-25 team for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have All-Big East players, and they have returning players who showed some flashes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic From Providence College to the Knicks and Kentucky to Louisville, Rick Pitino\u2019s teams have traditionally taken major leaps in his second season.\u00a0 Providence reached the Final Four. Kentucky had an eight-win improvement. Louisville went from eighth to third in the Big East and the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-136182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136184,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136182\/revisions\/136184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}