Weather the Storm
Ex-Johnnies to young squad: Learn from losses
D’Angelo Harrison, Sir’Dominic Pointer and Phil Greene IV can feel the Johnnies’ pain.
They’ve gone through everything the St. John’s freshmen are dealing with — losing frequently, losing ugly and feeling it will never turn around. It was their freshmen year, then head coach Steve Lavin wasn’t even on the bench as he recovered from prostate cancer surgery, and they finished tied for 12th in the Big East.
“You learn a lot,” Pointer, now playing in the NBA DLeague with the Canton Charge, said in a phone interview. “It puts a chip on your shoulder. You remember those times you lose by 30. It’s very difficult. You got to adjust to it.”
Harrison, Pointer and Greene rebounded from that freshmen season when they went 1319 overall and 612 in the Big East to produce two 20win seasons and an NCAA Tournament appearance their senior year. All the losses as freshmen played a vital part in their productive careers.
“It made us realize you’re not that good,” said Harrison, St. John’s alltime leading scorer who is now playing professional basketball in Turkey along with Greene. “Either you are going to put in the work or you’re going to get blown out.”
The situations are similar, though not carbon copies of one another. Harrison, Pointer and Greene’s Johnnies never lost more than four games in a row, though they did lose three or more on four separate occasions, while Mullin’s current team is stuck in mud, losers of 12 straight entering Wednesday’s contest at No. 6 Xavier, still winless in the Big East at 09. The previous group was full of highly rated, top100 prospects, while this one has been without arguably its best freshman, point guard Marcus LoVett Jr., and center Yankuba Sima has missed the last six games with a broken bone in his left hand.
“I can only imagine the hell they’re going through,” Harrison said.
“Just to stay together as a team and family,” Greene said. “Don’t pay attention to what everyone is saying. Keep working and keep grinding each and every day out because it will pay off in the long run.”
The three former St. John’s stars said they have found time to check in from time to time on the Johnnies, and despite the losing, the freshmen have impressed them. Greene and Harrison both liked freshman Federico Mussini’s toughness and shotmaking ability.
Harrison emphasized the importance of individual skill development, for the St. John’s freshmen to spend extra time on their own working out. Coaches can only do so much.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. But there is help on the way. Sima will return this year at some point, LoVett will be eligible next year, Tennessee transfer Tariq Owens will be ready, and the coaching staff already has two impact recruits on the way in top 50 Brooklyn guard Shamorie Ponds and junior college star Bashir Ahmed. Eventually, this difficult year will be nothing more than a valuable learning experience.
“It will all turn around,” Pointer said.