00:07This is Eye of the Storm, a St. John's video series presented by the New York Post.
00:13Another edition of Eye of the Storm, Dexter Henry with my guy Zach Braziller, fantastic
00:18beat reporter covering St. John's for us here at the New York Post.
00:21St. John's, two games, two wins, a beatdown here at the Garden today, 104-65 against Iona.
00:28This was a game, Zach, where we saw St. John's really press this Iona team early, and it
00:34worked really well.
00:35They overwhelmed the Gales today.
00:37How impressed were you what they did, particularly with the press?
00:40Yeah, the press has been a real bright spot early on.
00:44You include the preseason.
00:45You know, it gave Texas problems.
00:48It was big early in Monmouth than today.
00:51You know, I think they're better suited to press in terms of their personnel.
00:56Now, when you have a guy like Quinn Ellis, you know, he's 6'5".
00:59Ian Jackson, 6'4", 6'5".
01:02Keyshawn Hall and Tunde Yesfu, like, they have these guys who are, you know, they have the
01:08athleticism and the length to be a good pressing team.
01:11You know, last year, especially the guards kind of struggled to stay in front of guys,
01:15so that makes it harder to press.
01:17And, you know, he said it, that's one area they're actually ahead of last year's team
01:20and well ahead of last year's team is their ability to press.
01:23And, you know, they're so good in the open court.
01:26You know, the press allows them to speed it up.
01:29And, yeah, I mean, that was a big part of today, and I think that's going to be a big
01:34thing all year is their ability to press.
01:36Yeah, they looked really strong today.
01:38And after this game, we heard from Ian Jackson and head coach Rick Pitino about how the press
01:42was so effective.
01:43I think the thing we do better this year than last year is press.
01:48I think that's the one thing that's way ahead of all the other things we do.
01:53We shared the basketball tonight, but we've worked on our press really, really hard because
02:01it creates scoring opportunity, gets us on the break.
02:05I think Ian and Tundee and Quinn are great up close, great denying the basketball.
02:15And, you know, these two guys have gotten better defensively, and they're both potentially
02:21great defensive basketball players.
02:23It puts us in fast, great opportunities.
02:26You know, our back break shots is always high percentage shots.
02:28So it gives us extra possessions.
02:29That's what we're really looking for, a way to get extra possessions for the team.
02:32It just does all the right things for us.
02:35Second game was a strong one for Tunde Yesvu.
02:38Very impressive.
02:3923 points in 21 minutes.
02:41Very efficient from the field.
02:43What did you like about what you saw from him against Iona?
02:46Yeah, I thought he made quick decisions.
02:48He was less hesitant.
02:50Look, they have a ton of guys who can score with him, with Hall, with Jackson.
02:54Right.
02:56You know, so it's kind of been up and down with him.
03:00First two preseason games wasn't great.
03:02Then he was terrific in the Texas game.
03:04Monmouth, he wasn't great, and he was terrific today.
03:07He talked a lot about being efficient.
03:09You know, he wasn't necessarily efficient as a freshman at Baylor.
03:12You know, he made four threes.
03:14Yep.
03:15And it wasn't just scoring.
03:16He had seven rebounds.
03:17He had three steals.
03:18He had two blocks.
03:19He has the potential, I think, to be an awesome defender.
03:22When you look at his athleticism, his length, his physicality, you know,
03:27Rick Pitino talked a little bit about that postgame.
03:30But, yeah, it was a very encouraging performance.
03:31When he is aggressive and he attacks, he's a really, really tough player to stop.
03:36And, you know, I think it's going to take time because this is new.
03:41They do have a lot of scores.
03:42So not every game you're going to see this kind of performance.
03:45But I think gradually you'll see more consistently,
03:48and that's the important thing is consistency.
03:50Yeah, consistency is going to be the key.
03:52And Tunde talked about how he's been waiting to have a game like this with the Johnnies.
03:56I was looking for pretty much, you know, the whole season when I came here.
04:01My main goal was just put out here and then play hard as much as I can
04:07and just win for the team.
04:09Whatever I can do to help the team win, that was my goal.
04:12When we started before this season, the preseason, I asked you about Quinn Ellis.
04:17You waxed poetic about him.
04:18And he's looked really good through the first couple of games.
04:2118 assists, two turnovers through the first two games.
04:2511-1 today.
04:28Is this the kind of point guard that could lead the Big East in assists?
04:30It's been great.
04:32It's been great.
04:32Obviously, Quinn is a great point guard.
04:34You know, he's helped me tremendously, you know, getting easy looks,
04:40getting some easy shots without having to dominate the ball
04:43or have the ball in my hand and try to create a bounce.
04:45So it's been great.
04:47He can find shooters.
04:49He can make everything easy than everybody else.
04:51And he helps out tremendously.
04:52Yeah, he definitely can.
04:54I still maintain he's got to shoot more.
04:56Yeah, you've been saying that.
04:57There were a few times today where he had open shot.
04:59Like, when you get in, when you're facing the better teams
05:02and you get into conference play, like, teams are going to play off
05:05if he's not going to shoot.
05:06And it's going to make it easier to defend him and to defend St. John's.
05:10He has to be more of a threat shooting the ball.
05:13And he's not, like, he's not a great shooter.
05:15He's not a bad shooter.
05:16He can make shots.
05:17And I just feel like he's got to be, you know, right now it's fine.
05:21But when the competition kind of improves,
05:26he has to be a threat to score where teams are going to play off him.
05:30But, yeah, look, he's a terrific two-way player.
05:34He's a great passer.
05:35He doesn't turn it over.
05:37Yeah, I mean, I think he's looked every bit up to, you know, the hype.
05:41And, yeah, absolutely.
05:43I mean, when you look at some of the guys they have who can score the ball,
05:46there's no question he can lead the conference in assists.
05:49Yeah, you can see how he can rack up the assists.
05:51And only seven points today, did have the 11 dimes.
05:54But guys are liking the ability to play off of him right now.
05:58All right, obviously in a blowout, guys are going to get opportunities off the bench.
06:01Rick Pitino able to rotate a lot of guys.
06:03And what did you like you saw from the bench production of St. John's here today against Iona?
06:08Yeah, obviously the six-man Babakar Sane didn't play as, you know, a mild ankle injury.
06:13But, yeah, I mean, they're going to need guys like Aleph Teres Leotopoulos,
06:17like Zomber Maronka, to make shots and to give them minutes.
06:21You know, it was good to see Theo Adema, the freshman, get some minutes.
06:25They're going to, look, they're obviously going to count heavily on the starting five
06:29and Babakar Sane to a lesser extent.
06:32But, yeah, look, they're going to need these other guys to make shots.
06:35And so I think it was good that you saw Aleph Teres make some shots.
06:39You saw the ball go in for Maronka.
06:41And the coaching staff likes him.
06:42He hasn't played, you know, he hasn't really made shots yet, Maronka, up until today.
06:48But the coaching staff says he's better than you guys have seen, and they like him.
06:51So I think, yeah, I think it was good confidence-wise for some of these guys
06:54to see the ball go in the hoop.
06:56Yeah, 10 points for Maronka today.
06:57So good showing for him off the bench.
06:59And then looking ahead for St. John's, a couple of games this week.
07:02Got Colgate on Wednesday at Carneseca Arena.
07:06Then they have Syracuse here at the Garden next Sunday.
07:10Interesting week for St. John's.
07:11What are you going to be keeping your eye on in these next two games?
07:14Yeah, I think it's the consistency.
07:17Look, they played really well against Texas in that exhibition.
07:20Then the Monmouth, 10 good minutes, and then kind of cruised,
07:23and it wasn't a great performance.
07:24And then today was much, much better.
07:26So I think you're looking, look, every game's not going to be perfect.
07:30They're a work in progress.
07:30We all know that.
07:31But I think you're just looking for that sustained effort and consistency.
07:35So, you know, coming off a 40-point win, do they kind of fall back into bad habits
07:40and kind of go through the motions against Colgate?
07:42You know, a team that can make threes.
07:44Right.
07:46So we'll see.
07:47I mean, you know, Drexel beat Colgate the other day.
07:50Drexel St. John's beat by 30 in an exhibition.
07:54So it's kind of, I guess, what you're looking at on that kind of level of a team.
07:58But, yeah, look, it's all about getting ready for Vegas.
08:00There's no question about that.
08:02Syracuse will be their toughest test before Vegas.
08:06Syracuse team that, you know, didn't look great in the preseason.
08:09We'll see what they are as we move forward.
08:11I think they play Indiana this week.
08:13So that will kind of be a good barometer of what kind of team St. John's will see next Sunday.
08:18So that would be fun to see a lot of Syracuse.
08:20I would assume you have some Syracuse fans here next Sunday.
08:23But, yeah, look, it's all about getting ready for Vegas and then Arizona and Alabama after that.
08:26I just want to let the people know, you heard it from Zach.
08:29He is ready for Vegas.
08:30It's all about him getting ready for Vegas.
08:32He's been talking about this since the preseason.
08:34Zach, still haven't got me a ticket to have you.
08:36No, see?
08:37That's it, see?
08:37See?
08:38What a friend, Zach.
08:39Hey!
08:40No, I'll get you one.
08:41You'll get me one?
08:42Yeah, yeah.
08:42Okay, all right, all right.
08:43We're good.
08:43I got to get ready for Vegas with Zach.
08:46But St. John's looking better than they did against Monmouth.
08:49A blowout victory today over Iona here at Manisware Garden.
08:53For the great Zach Brazile, I'm Dexter Henry.
08:54We'll catch you next time on Eye of the Storm.
09:05This is Eye of the Storm, a St. John's video series presented by the New York Post.
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