"He opted for Dylan Darling, who had missed the Red Storm's last game due to a calf injury, instead and it paid massive dividends as the No. 13 Johnnies used a second half surge to cruise to a 93-60 victory. "We were throwing the ball away way too much," Pitino explained of what he saw during practice. Playing Darling next to Oziyah Sellers in the backcourt allowed the Stanford transfer to get free and hunt his shot instead of worrying about orchestrating the offense, and it worked resulting in 13 points on three made 3-pointers."
""He's 5'11" and he's tough as nails," Pitino said about Darling. "I love his toughness. I love his ability. He's got great moxie. He's afraid of nothing. He has no fear at all of who he's playing against. He thinks he's the best player on the court.""
"It nearly the same thing that Kyle Smith, Darling's coach at Washington State, told the St. John's coaching staff when they were recruiting him this spring. "You're getting a hell of a basketball player," Pitino recalled of the conversation. "His heart is a lot bigger than his size." His teammates echo the same sentiments. "He's a great point guard," Oziyah Sellers said about Dylan Darling. "He has great vision, so, whenever I'm playing with him, he definitely finds ways to get me open.""
Rick Pitino replaced his planned starter with Dylan Darling to counter William & Mary’s defensive press, and the change fueled a second-half surge in a 93-60 St. John's victory. Darling, who missed the previous game with a calf injury, scored 13 points on three 3-pointers and added five rebounds, three assists and four steals while playing beside Oziyah Sellers. Pitino praised Darling's toughness, moxie and fearlessness, and referenced similar praise from Washington State coach Kyle Smith. Teammate Oziyah Sellers credited Darling's vision and ability to create openings. St. John's outscored William & Mary by 30 points with Darling on the floor.
Read at Storm The Paint
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]