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This time each year, various sportsbooks begin to roll out exotic futures tied to college basketball. The Gaming Juice’s junior circuit junkie, Brad Evans, will occasionally unearth bets he believes present excellent value.
Rick Pitino is indisputably the greatest college basketball mind alive.
Fight me.
Yes, his unsavory past stained a once sterling reputation, but after paying the price for nefarious acts committed, Pitino banished himself to Greece for two years, returned to the East Coast scene with Iona in 2020, guided the Gaels to two NCAA Tournaments, left for St. John’s in 2023 and now has the Johnnies primed for MADNESS come March.
No way in hell this avid gambler is betting against quite possibly the most brilliant hoops tactician around.
The following declaration may be obvious to ardent fans, but for the casuals in the back, St. John’s is damn good — Final Four good.
The pick — St. John’s to make the Final Four (+550, DraftKings)
Similar in style and substance as Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars, the Red Storm may not be the sexiest advanced metrics squad around. Their top-20 standing in effective field goal percentage defense is exciting, but they’re aren’t without flaws as evidenced by their rankings of No. 249 in effective field goal percentage offense, No. 339 in 3-point percentage offense and No. 283 in free-throw rate.
St. John’s makes up for its offensive shortcomings in other areas.
First, its uninterrupted on-ball defense wreaks havoc. Over the last 30 days, opponents have committed turnovers on 22.3% of possessions, the seventh-highest rate in the country.
[ Bracket Big Board: Brad Evans' latest NCAA Tournament projections ]
Equally eye-opening is the Red Storm’s ability to grab off-the-mark caroms with unmitigated zeal. In their last nine games, they have secured a second chance on 36.7% of their possessions, which ranks top-25 nationally. On the glass, Zuby Ejiofor has a motor that just doesn’t quit. Overall, the on-the-attack efforts and mentality of St. John’s are tireless.
A school’s draw is everything in the NCAA Tournament. Chris Mullin U doesn’t typically burn the nets, but its defense and blasting of the boards always keep it in games. All four St. John’s losses this season have been by three points or fewer.
As witnessed in their 89-75 annihilation of UConn on Sunday, the reps from Queens could soon stroll to San Antonio.
Slip into a fine Italian suit and back a living legend. A Red Storm is gathering.
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