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Kentucky’s 1996 national basketball championship roster stands alone, and that isn’t going to change, as far as Rick Pitino is concerned.

That team’s talent, which included nine future NBA players, will go unmatched.

But, at least on paper, St. John’s has put together the pieces that are comparable to any other team he has coached.

“This talent may not be the talent of my 1996 team, but I think it’s as close to some of the other teams,” Pitino said Wednesday, before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the Yankees-Guardians game in The Bronx. “I think they’re extremely athletic. We improved our shooting, which we needed to address, and I think we’ll be a very good 3-point shooting team this year, and we just got to match the defense we played last year.”