St. John's changing approach with RJ Luis

While RJ Luis has appeared in only nine of St. John’s first 19 games, the impact he could make is undeniable. The 6-7 forward has shown he can score, rebound and make steals. And, though he hasn’t exactly shown it yet, coach Rick Pitino has said he might be the best passer on the team.

Luis reiterated last weekend how big a scoring threat he can be with a season-high 20 points on 7-for-18 shooting in Saturday’s one-point loss to then-No. 17 Marquette at the Garden. He also had four rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists in his 28 minutes. It brought his averages up to 11.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals entering Wednesday night’s Big East meeting with Villanova at the Garden.

Pitino has communicated that the sophomore transfer from UMass is a special talent who one day could play in the NBA. And he wants more out of him right now, as the Red Storm have lost their three games against nationally ranked opponents by a total of six points.

With that in mind, St. John’s has changed the workout regimen for Luis, who has missed 10 games and seen limited practice time with a broken hand and also because of a case of shin splints that have dogged him since his time with the Minutemen.

To manage the condition, Luis had been put on a mileage limit of sorts. He practiced in spurts until he reached his limit. And his workload in games used to be monitored. Pitino said that, after consulting with Luis and his family, he shelved that last week, calling the system “asinine.”

“Coming to practice and practicing for like 20 minutes out of two hours — he’s not in shape, he doesn’t know the plays,” Pitino said.

The coach continued, “I said, ‘We’re not doing that anymore. We either shut you down, get ready for next year or we’re going to go by my routine. After a game, we’re going to take off, then you’re going to go through a full practice the next day, then you’re going to take off the day before a game. At least then, you will have the reps necessary to play the game.’ ”

“What we were doing was asinine, to say the least. [Luis] couldn’t learn the plays, couldn’t learn the defense.”

Luis didn’t like the old program either.

“I felt a little frustrated, in-and-out, in-and-out,” he said. “The plan now is to practice longer and then take a day off.”

To prepare for the Marquette game, he played almost the entire Thursday practice and then rested the shins and got treatment on Friday to have his legs game-ready for the Golden Eagles, which they clearly were. His 28 minutes on the court were his second most of the season.

“It’s just like just mentally, I’m not able to get in the gym as much as I want to get up shots,” Luis said.

Luis broke his left hand during an early October workout and wasn’t cleared to return until St. John’s hosted Holy Cross on Nov. 25. His debut was a splash, with him coming off the bench for 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.

He felt pain in his shins following that game and an MRI exam showed inflammation in both. He missed the next five games and returned after practicing only once for the Dec. 23 loss to top-ranked UConn in Hartford. Luis has started five of the past seven games.

“I felt like I played with a lot of confidence today,” he said after the 20-point performance on Saturday. “Now, it’s just keep on improving.”

Minko Milestone

St. John’s game against Villanova on Wednesday night was the 500th broadcast for the Red Storm’s radio play-by-play man John Minko. The 70-year-old first took the position for St. John’s for the 2008-09 season, back when he was best known as a WFAN sports update reporter and the Storm games were on WFAN. Minko accepted a 2020 buyout offer from the radio station.

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.