St. John’s MBB beat reporter + Sports editor - @torchsports| @sleepermets Contact: [email protected]
Queens, NY
Joined March 2021
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St. John’s impressed with their physicality and offensive approach in their exhibition victory over No. 7 Texas.
More about their final test before the regular season here ⬇️
#SJUBB
torchonline.com/sports/2026/…
Jason Petrucci retweeted
Quinn Ellis in St. John's last two exhibition games:
90 minutes played, 16 assists, 1 turnover.
Where would you want Babacar Sane to even play more minutes?
Keyshawn Hall and Tounde Yessoufou have been tremendous especially offensively. Sane still has so much to learn considering he’s becoming acclimated to college basketball play.
Not to mention, you can’t run a three forward lineup.
I’m confused on Babacar Sane’s lack of minutes the last two exhibition games. I’m not doubting Pitino’s decision making but I’m curious as to why…
• Could it be that the staff feels his eligibility likelihood is decreasing & Pitino wants to prepare for not having him?
• Did fans/media (including myself) hype him up too much after his performance vs. Drexel in the first exhibition?
#SJUBB
Rick Pitino on St. John's preparation:
"We're excited about the improvement we're making. When you're playing teams like Arizona and in the Las Vegas tournament, we CAN be ready. Before the Rutgers game, I wasn't sure, but now I am."
#SJUBB
Rick Pitino on Babacar Sane:
"Babacar has to learn how to play. He will be a big factor for us when he learns."
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Rick Pitino:
"I thought we made great strides today, but we have a long way to go. These guys don't know anything about each other yet."
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Rick Pitino on Quinn Ellis:
"Quinn dominates the game without scoring. It helps Ian Jackson so much. On this basketball team, Quinn is so key because everyone else wants to score — which he doesn't care about that."
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Rick Pitino on Keyshawn Hall:
"He's a bucket-getter. He is one of the best one-on-one players I've ever coached. He understands the game very well."
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Rick Pitino on Theo Edema:
"He's got a great work ethic. He was big down the stretch; he wouldn't let them come back in the game with offensive rebounds."
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Rick Pitino on Theo Edema:
"You have to get him out constantly because of conditioning. We're going to use him because Ruben is always in foul trouble."
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Rick Pitino:
"I felt we had to make a quantum leap from the Rutgers game, and I feel we did that."
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Rick Pitino:
"Overall, I think this was Ian Jackson's best game. He looked like a complete player in every aspect, by far the best player on the floor today."
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Keyshawn Hall on St. John's:
"We just have to continue to play hard. Skill-wise, when we come together, we can do a lot of different things. I think we're going to be a great team; we just have to come together."
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Tounde Yessoufou on Theo Edema:
"I think he played amazingly. I am a big fan of his game; I don't care that he had four fouls; he had some tough blocks."
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Keyshawn Hall:
"If we match up skill-wise against any team in the country, we probably have more skill."
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Keyshawn Hall on how much better St. John's has gotten in a week:
"We didn't want to come out of a game as we did against Rutgers. We didn't want to have to fight; we wanted to set a standard in front of some of the best fans."
#SJUBB
Keyshawn Hall on how good St. John's can be:
"We can be very good, as long as we play the right way together. We all have the same goal; we aren't thinking about anything else."
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Texas coach Sean Miller on the St. John's press:
"We didn't see the total press since they were winning the whole game. Pitino's press takes on different forms, but it is always there."
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