Rick Pitino Rips St. John's Team as 'The Most Unenjoyable Experience of My Lifetime'

The St. John's men's basketball team has lost eight of its last 10 games, falling to 14-12 on the year, and head coach Rick Pitino isn't happy about it, calling it the "most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime."

"If I said I was disappointed, that would be the understatement of the year," he told reporters. "Our lateral quickness and our toughness is just something I've never witnessed in all my years of coaching. We are so nonathletic that we can't guard anybody without fouling."

"And really it's not about losing," he continued. "Even winning, when I watch the film, I see un-athletic plays, I see people that don't handle the ball, that are just interested in taking quick shots. It's been a disappointing year."

Pitino then ripped a number of individual players.

"Joel [Soriano]'s slow laterally, he's not fast on the court," he said. "Chris Ledlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway's slow laterally. Brady [Dunlap's] physically weak, Drissa [Traore] is slow laterally."

The tirade came after St. John's lost 68-62 against Seton Hall on Sunday, blowing a 19-point lead. The Red Storm are now just 6-9 in Big East play and are going to miss out on the NCAA tournament, barring a miraculous run through the conference tournament in March.

Pitino hastily put together a new roster after taking over as head coach last year, adding eight transfers and a pair of freshman recruits. He said he wasn't necessarily surprised that a team rebuilt on the fly was now having its struggles.

"I had no choice," he said. "We just could take who we could get, who was available, we had no choice. I don't think we were going to win the first year anyway, because when you rush like that, you don't see the players. Not a whole lot we can do."

Still, it will be interesting to see how his players respond to being lambasted publicly. Whether it's the effort and toughness of individuals on the court, finding the right lineup balance or the coaching in general, something needs to change for a St. John's team that has made it a habit of late of blowing leads.

"I think the other team makes adjustments and we have to make adjustments to move the basketball and take good shots. But we just lack toughness," Pitino said. "We just don't move our feet on defense. ... It's really all the toughness things are why we give up leads."

It remains to be seen if Pitino will hold himself to the same level of accountability as he publicly did to his players.