St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino took a little break from the recruiting trail to watch some of the New York Knicks‘ playoff run — which came to end on Saturday.
But the Hall of Famer wants the franchise to keep its head up after falling just short of its first trip to the NBA Finals since the late ’90s.
The Knicks lost in blowout fashion to the rival Pacers in Game 6, 125-108, behind key performances from Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard. However, the Red Storm coach believes the orange and blue skies are on the horizon in Manhattan, NY.
“Major congrats to the entire @nyknicks organization,” Pitino said. “The players and coaches were awesome. Lot of fun watching young men give every ounce they have in them. Next year we go further!”
Major congrats to the entire @nyknicks organization. The players and coaches were awesome. Lot of fun watching young men give every ounce they have in them. Next year we go further!
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) June 2, 2025
Pitino’s St. John’s squad had similar championship aspirations heading into last season’s NCAA Tournament before being upset by John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks as a No. 2 seed.
The Storm have been extremely active in the portal though and it has New York basketball fans confident that the program is back as a top Big East contender.
Minnesota Timberwolves star Julius Randle actually compared the Oklahoma City Thunder’s high-pressure defense to that of Rick Pitino’s during the height of his success at Louisville.
“They’ve completely formed a championship-caliber team based off of their defense, No. 1, but even more so, it’s how they play defense,” Randle told ESPN‘s Dave McMenamin.
“They’re not just a defense that bogs you down and stops you from scoring. Their identity is creating points off of turnovers and high pressure, which is different. You don’t really see high-pressure defenses in the NBA.”
“You see that [aggressive style] more in college and stuff like that,” Randle continued. “I remember being in college and playing Louisville and they used to press and trap and all those different types of things. … It’s a different kind of team, obviously, than I’ve played in my career.”
The Thunder face the Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night at 8:30 PM ET.
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