Separating fact from fiction as St. John’s works out early season snags

St. John’s is in the midst of a nine-day layoff following its disappointing 1-2 trip to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival. Despite their uneven performance, the Johnnies remain nationally ranked at No. 23. Ahead of Saturday’s contest against Ole Miss at the Garden, The Post’s Zach Braziller plays a game of fact or fiction with the current state of Rick Pitino’s team:  

Point guard is St. John’s biggest issue 

Fiction: St. John’s is losing games because of their defense and their inability to keep the opposition off the glass. The Johnnies are 316th in defensive rebounding percentage (36.4). They couldn’t slow down Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr. or Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford down the stretch in a pair of frustrating losses. They allowed 11 second-chance points in the final 7:53 of the Iowa State setback. 

The team struggles to defend athletic guards off the dribble. Combine that with giving the opposition extra chances and it is a recipe for disaster in a close game against a quality opponent. While the focus in the Auburn loss was how poorly St. John’s performed in the final nine minutes, the game turned when Auburn, down nine, reeled off six consecutive points early in the second half on second chances. 

This has to get cleaned up. It’s on the guards to rebound more, something Pitino has preached since the Michigan exhibition, but also on the forwards to be better. Pitino said star forward Zuby Ejiofor is as guilty as anyone of not boxing out well enough. While so much has been made of the point guard position, St. John’s is still seventh in adjusted offensive efficiency.