Rick Pitino laughed at the suggestion.
No, the St. John's coach said with a smile, the jeers won't affect senior guard Cadary Richmond as he returns to the Prudential Center as an opponent.
“I think getting booed is something he can handle,” the Hall of Fame coach said Friday as his team prepared for a showdown at The Rock. Here, the Johnny's have only won once in 13 tries. “Well, he grew up on the streets of Brooklyn, so I think he can handle the boos. He's not going to cry.”
It's expected to be an emotional night for the 6-foot-6 Richmond in Newark, N.J., against his former team.
Big East rival Seton Hall expects a sellout in the lower bowl with 10,481 fans.
A good portion of them are probably St. John's fans.
The immensely talented Richmond is known for his stoicism.
He rarely shows emotion on the court.
If he felt pressure or wanted to prove something Saturday night, he didn't convey that to Pitino or his teammates.
But Richmond will get special attention, and not just because of the venom directed at him.
Coach Pitino expects Johnny's engine, Davon Smith, to miss his second straight game with a bruised right shoulder.
Smith still feels uncomfortable shooting and has not been able to practice.
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That means more responsibility for Richmond.
Without Smith, St. John's had its worst first half of the season against Georgetown, trailing by 15 points, but then rallied to win by five points.
“Obviously it's going to be a bigger environment.” [Richmond] Credit to him for everything he's done for their program, but I feel like…he's just going to go in there and show Seton Hall what they're missing.” , said sophomore wing Brady Dunlap, who is currently out with a small tear in his abdomen. “Obviously, I think he's going to overcome this situation, but at the same time, I don't think he's going to go out there and try to score 30 or 35 points.” [points] I don't think he's that type of player or that type of guy, so he compromises with the team.
“I think he's going to go out there and play his game. If that means he's going to score 25 points, he's going to score 25 points. No matter if it's 10 points and eight rebounds and If it means getting a lot of assists, he's going to do it.'' He's going to do whatever it takes to win the game. I don't think he's going to be overhyped at this point.”
The Johnnys are 15-3, off to their best start in 25 years, and are 6-1 in league play for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
Richmond was a big part of that, averaging 10.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists while shooting a career-best 45 percent from the floor.
The Brooklyn player hasn't had the impact some expected, but he's starting to become more of a difference-maker.
In recent games against Butler, Villanova, and Georgetown, he shined in the second half, and against Xavier, he set the tone from the start in a lopsided victory.
“He's a little underrated,” Pitino said. “He owns every mistake he made, every mistake he made. He has a great attitude and a strong will to win.”
Asked about facing Seton Hall after Tuesday's win over the Hoyas, Richmond said he was treating it like any other game. He was not available to the media on Friday.
After deciding to go to St. John's last May, Ms. Richmond told the Post: If they were in my shoes, they would probably understand it better. I'm sure everyone will be up in arms and there will be a lot of backlash from different places. ”
Richmond and St. John's are sure to get Seton Hall's best shot Saturday night.
The Pirates, who have a 1-5 record in league play, are having a tough time without last year's stars Richmond and Dre Davis (Ole Miss).
Fans will voice their dissatisfaction with Richmond, and Seton Hall will look to dampen its rival's hot start to the season in hopes of sparking a turnaround.
Meanwhile, St. John's is focused on winning more games.
“We all had to treat this like a normal game,” senior forward Aaron Scott said. “We can't get involved in all the extra stuff. We have to stay focused on what's important: winning.”
