Now we truly find out about St. John's.
Are the Johnnies really this good, No. 15 in the nation good? Are they 11-1 good? Capable of beating anyone in the nation good?
The season begins for real Wednesday at noon, when the Red Storm visit the Prudential Center to take on Seton Hall, off to an impressive start of its own, to kick off the Big East conference season. That's followed by two more interesting tests at the Garden, Butler Saturday afternoon and No. 6 Villanova on Tuesday.
"I'm pleased with the development of our team yet we realize we have to continue to improve," St. John's coach Steve Lavin said Tuesday.
St. John's — off to its best start since 1985-86 — isn't talking big so far this year. The Johnnies, winners of seven straight games, are letting their impressive play do the talking. The ranking hasn't gone to their heads. Since breaking into the top 25, in fact, they have played even better, winning their last five games by an average of 18.2 points.
"They're arguably the best team in the Big East right now," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. "I love the way St. John's is playing as a team, both offensively and defensively."
While young and inexperienced Seton Hall (10-2) will be without star freshman Isaiah Whitehead (broken foot) — the McDonald's All-American from Coney Island who picked Seton Hall over St. John's — and have looked overmatched against their top two opponents, No. 16 Wichita State and Georgia, the Red Storm aren't taking them lightly. Said Lavin, "If we don't execute at a high level we will be shellacked again."
"We know it's going to be a tough game," St. John's senior D'Angelo Harrison said. "They're right up the street, so with all the talk since Big East media day, we just want to go in there and get the 'W.' "
Though that may be a stretch, it's hard to argue with anything Lavin has said or done this season. Senior forward Sir'Dominic Pointer and junior forward Chris Obekpa have taken major leaps after being pushed in the offseason coming off down years. Senior Jamal Branch has provided a steadying hand at point guard since replacing talented though inconsistent sophomore Rysheed Jordan in the starting lineup.
Jordan, too, has provided glimpses of his immense talent off the bench, scoring 25 points in a rout of Fordham.
"Jamal and Rysheed give us a terrific playmaking and shot-making tandem," Lavin said.
Not only is St. John's not taking bows for its big start, the only loss, a seven-point setback to No. 7 Gonzaga at the Garden, still stings.
"After the Preseason NIT, we let one of the top teams in the country slip away," Harrison said, referring to the loss to Gonzaga. "We were right there and we should've had that one. We should be 12-0 but we let that slip away. It gave us fire for the next few games until now."
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