A week ago, Rick Pitino stressed the need for patience after an underwhelming quadruple-overtime win over Rutgers.
asserted
Pitino → stress → Rutgers
He warned that the exhibition finale against Texas could be ugly.
uncertain
finale → warn → Texas
Just two days ago, he reiterated that his new roster wasn’t ready for an opponent like this.
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roster → reiterate → this
NOW“I try to use you people as much as I can, and you oblige me all the time,” the Hall of Fame coach said with a smile.
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coach → try → smile
“I felt that we had to make a quantum leap from the Rutgers game.
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we → feel → game
I was on them constantly about certain things and they made a quantum leap today.”
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they → make → leap
Pitino had plenty of reasons to be pleased Sunday afternoon.
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Pitino → have → reasons
These Johnnies made last Sunday’s version seem like impostors.
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version → make → impostors
They looked every bit worthy of their preseason No. 13 ranking, torching Texas early and cruising to an 87-74 victory at the Garden in the final dress rehearsal before the regular season begins against Monmouth on Nov. 2.
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season → look → Nov.
“We wanted to come out and set a standard and be dominant in our home court,” said forward Keyshawn Hall, who had 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
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who → want → shooting
“We had to come out and not let them guys get ahead of us or be more physical than us and play harder than us.
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guys → have → us
We match up skill-wise with probably anybody in the country.
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We → match → country
It’s the physical toughness and little intangibles that are going to matter.
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that → ’ → ?
”
There was so much to like in this performance, from the big three of Hall, Ian Jackson and Tounde Yessoufou combining for 65 points on 23-for-41 shooting to the defense turning 16 Texas turnovers into 20 points and Quinn Ellis’ continued poise running the show.
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defense → be → show
The ball moved, to the tune of 19 assists (seven by Ellis) on 34 made field goals, and the Red Storm received a strong effort off the bench from freshman big man Theo Edema (seven rebounds).
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Storm → move → Edema
The seventh-ranked Longhorns were among the biggest spenders in the offseason, adding elite transfers like forward David Punch (TCU), point guard Isaiah Johnson (Colorado) and wing Elyjah Freeman (Auburn).
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Longhorns → rank → Punch
They returned standout center Matas Vokietaitis.
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They → return → Vokietaitis
St. John’s lost that game in overtime.
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John → lose → overtime
St. John’s had struggled on the interior in the first two exhibition games against Drexel and Rutgers.
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John → struggle → Drexel
They were outrebounded in both contests.
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They → outrebounde → contests
“That’s the main key if you want to win, is to hit people,” Yessoufou (23 points, five assists, five steals, four rebounds) said.
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Yessoufou → ’ → people
“That’s what [Pitino] always emphasizes to all of us.
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Pitino → ’ → us
Afterward, Hall and Yessoufou acknowledged they didn’t finish well, lamenting some loose defensive possessions and rebounding shortcomings.
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they → acknowledge → possessions
It’s the little things that could take them to another level.
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that → ’ → level
“This is a good win to give us confidence, but we have a long way to go,” Hall said.
It is still October, after all.
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It → give → way
The group has been together for just over a month and Pitino believes they understand roughly 50 percent of what he wants to do at both ends of the floor.
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he → believe → floor
But they made real progress over the last week.
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they → make → week
This game has Pitino thinking that St. John’s could be prepared for the loaded Players Era Festival in Las Vegas Thanksgiving week after all.
uncertain
John → have → Vegas
“I think we can be ready now,” Pitino said.
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Pitino → think → ?
We just have to cram.”
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We → have → ?
The Aporia
