Basketball metrics guy. I have the privilege of helping out the St. John’s men’s basketball team with analytics.
Joined February 2019
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As a kid delivering Newsday, I’d see Pitino, Mullin, Berry & Jackson on the back cover.
40 years later, Roger Rubin of Newsday writes about my St. John’s experience.
Surreal. Beyond grateful to Coach Pitino for the opportunity to be a part of this team.
Meet Long Islander Jason Fortin, the stat guru who helps St. John’s coach Rick Pitino and his staff get an edge.
@NewsdaySports story: newsday.com/sports/college/s…. #sjubb
Rick Pitino needs to be at the top of any all-time list ranking current college basketball coaches.
A reminder of what he inherited — and what those same 6 programs looked like in Year 2:
Boston U: 10-15 → 21-9
Providence: 11-20 → 25-9
Kentucky: 13-19 → 22-6
Louisville: 12-19 → 25-7
Iona: 12-17 → 25-8
St. John’s: 18-15 → 31-5
Combined before Pitino: 76-105 (.420)
Combined in Year 2: 149-44 (.772)
Six programs. Different eras. Same turnaround.
A defensive stat from last night’s exhibition: St. John’s held Drexel to 52 points on 86 possessions—an offensive rating of 60.8.
For context, Drexel’s lowest offensive rating in an official game under Zach Spiker is 71.2, against Hofstra on March 8, 2020.
Honored to meet Tom Thibodeau at St. John's practice today and thank him for all he did for the Knicks.
I showed him the Knicks logo on the “life belt” my wife bought me for my 50th birthday, featuring all my favorite interests. When my wife bought the belt in 2020, the Knicks were coming off a 21–45 season and were one of just eight teams left out of the Orlando COVID bubble. Over the previous 20 seasons, the Knicks had the NBA’s worst cumulative record and just one playoff series win.
Thibs took over the following season and completely transformed the team and its culture over his five-year tenure. I am so grateful for his role in building the foundation for the Knicks to end their 53-year championship drought. Thank you, Coach!
Jason Fortin retweeted
Fun Fact: three of Rick Pitino's five current assistant coaches won national championships as players: Steve Masiello, Taliek Brown, and Peyton Siva.
@steve_masiello @BrownTaliek @PeypeySiva3
At MetLife tonight with my son to see our favorite band: Guns N Roses. Appetite for Destruction was released in 1987 and took off in 1988. The main rotation players for St. John’s that 1987-88 season: Shelton Jones, Michael Porter, Boo Harvey, Matt Brust and Jayson Williams.
At MSG tonight with my son to see Rush.
Happy Birthday to Geddy Lee who turned 73 yesterday.
The last time I was at MSG, another 73 year old put on a show leading St. John’s to a 20 point victory against UConn in the Big East Tourney championship…
A couple hours after Coach took this picture on the day we beat Kansas to punch our ticket to the Sweet 16, we drove to the aiport on three team buses.
I was on the same bus as Kenny and much of the team's support staff. At the aiport, we got word there would be a substantial delay before we could board the plane.
After hearing this news, Kenny cracked a joke about Ed Kull that had our entire bus laughing. He then admitted he may have had a bourbon or two to celebrate the win.
And then Kenny accomplished a modern miracle.
He got every one us to put our phones away as he walked the length of our bus, telling stories about each member of the support staff and the unique contribution they made to the team. It was a Hall of Fame performance filled with humor, warmth, and heart.
Kenny had a tremendous impact on everyone whose life he touched during his two seasons at St. John's. I'm grateful that I was one of them.
Rest in peace, my friend.
Jason Fortin retweeted
The NBA Draft went to a two-round format in 1989. Since that happened, St. John’s has never had three players get selected — until tonight. Bryce Hopkins (Nuggets) joins Dillon Mitchell (Celtics) and Zuby Ejiofor (Hawks).
The Rick Pitino Effect in Queens knows no limits.
Jason Fortin retweeted
Zuby Ejiofor led St. John’s in scoring, rebounding, assists, and blocks. He was 2nd in the Big East in efficiency, 8th in the country in second-chance points, and attempted the most free throws for any Big East player in 12 years.
He can fill a variety of needs, and these are his closest statistical comps over the last 15 years ⬇️
Table of every NBA champion since the introduction of the 3-point line in 1979-80.
Included are:
• Finals opponent
• Average Playoff Net Rating per game
• Average Playoff Offensive Rating relative to that season's league-average defense
• Average Playoff Defensive Rating relative to that season's league-average offense
Ratings are calculated on a game-by-game basis and then averaged across each team's playoff run.
Tom Haberstroh wins my NBA Playoffs Journalist MVP for this article and for the one where he quantified how often SGA and other stars fall on jump shots in the playoffs.
I slept on it. I had to do it.
The New York Knicks title deserves an asterisk.
They join my definitive short list of NBA championships with an asterisk: tomthefinder.com/p/new-yorks…
As a follow up to yesterday's post, here is the full table of every NBA Champion since the introduction of the 3-point line in 1979-80.
Included are:
- Finals opponent
- Average Playoff Defensive Rating per game
- League Average Offensive Rating for that season
- Defensive Rating differential vs. league average.
As a reminder, the 2026 Knicks posted an average playoff Defensive Rating of 105.0.
That's +10.7 points per 100 possessions better than the NBA's 115.7 league-average offense.
That ranks among the most dominant championship playoff defenses ever, despite occuring during the highest-scoring offensive season of the 3-point era.
IMO, there hasn't been nearly enough discussion about how historically dominant the Knicks' defense was during this championship run.
For context, Defensive Rating measures points allowed per 100 possessions. Because NBA offensive efficiency has risen dramatically over time (league average Offensive Rating was 115.7 this season compared to 102.2 when the Knicks and Spurs met in the 1999 Finals), the best way to compare defenses across eras is relative to the league scoring environment of their season.
During the 2026 playoffs, the Knicks averaged a Defensive Rating of 105.0 per game: +10.7 points per 100 possessions better than the NBA's 115.7 league average Offensive Rating.
Going back to the introduction of the 3-point line in 1979-80, the Knicks' playoff Defensive Rating was 10.7 points per 100 possessions better than league average offense, the 2nd best mark by an NBA champion, trailing only the 2004 Pistons.
Top 5:
2004 DET +11.2
2026 NYK +10.7
1999 SAS +8.0
1996 CHI +7.9
2025 OKC +6.4
Kudos to Knicks defensive coordinator Brendan O'Connor for orchestrating one of the greatest playoff defenses in NBA history.
And while every Knicks player deserves credit, I want to give a special shoutout to Karl-Anthony Towns. Long criticized for his defense, KAT elevelated that side of his game throughout the playoffs and played a key role in a championship defense that many pundits -- and even his former team -- thought was impossible with him at center.
IMO, there hasn't been nearly enough discussion about how historically dominant the Knicks' defense was during this championship run.
For context, Defensive Rating measures points allowed per 100 possessions. Because NBA offensive efficiency has risen dramatically over time (league average Offensive Rating was 115.7 this season compared to 102.2 when the Knicks and Spurs met in the 1999 Finals), the best way to compare defenses across eras is relative to the league scoring environment of their season.
During the 2026 playoffs, the Knicks averaged a Defensive Rating of 105.0 per game: +10.7 points per 100 possessions better than the NBA's 115.7 league average Offensive Rating.
Going back to the introduction of the 3-point line in 1979-80, the Knicks' playoff Defensive Rating was 10.7 points per 100 possessions better than league average offense, the 2nd best mark by an NBA champion, trailing only the 2004 Pistons.
Top 5:
2004 DET +11.2
2026 NYK +10.7
1999 SAS +8.0
1996 CHI +7.9
2025 OKC +6.4
Kudos to Knicks defensive coordinator Brendan O'Connor for orchestrating one of the greatest playoff defenses in NBA history.
And while every Knicks player deserves credit, I want to give a special shoutout to Karl-Anthony Towns. Long criticized for his defense, KAT elevelated that side of his game throughout the playoffs and played a key role in a championship defense that many pundits -- and even his former team -- thought was impossible with him at center.
Since the NBA adopted the 3-point line in 1979-80, no NBA champion had ever gone an entire playoff run without allowing an opponent to shoot at least 40.0% from three in a game.
Until the 2026 Knicks.
The Spurs came closest to reaching that 40.0% threshold, shooting 39.5% in the game the Knicks erased a 29 point deficit.
During this magical playoff run, the Knicks held opponents to 31.4% from three (league average: 36.0%).
What's wild is during the regular season, the Knicks ranked just 20th in opponent 3P FG% (36.2%) and allowed opponents to shoot 40.0%+ in 25 of 82 games. Last season, they ranked 26th out of 30 teams at 36.7%.
Who knew 10 weeks of no sex could transform a team's 3PT defense?!?!?!?
There is no doubt that if Brunson’s 3 went in we would have had the world’s first triple “BANG” from the GOAT Mike Breen.
