CHARLESTON, S.C. — Chris Ledlum was quick and to the point.
No sugarcoating his struggles or using his new situation — new team, new coach, new teammates — as an excuse.
“I know I’m better than this,” the St. John’s forward said Saturday. “That’s pretty much where I’m at with the offensive stuff. The biggest thing is on the defensive end of the floor.
“I feel like I’ve just missed open shots, not defended. It really just comes down to me finishing layups. I don’t think there’s anything specific I have to do differently.”
Ledlum was one of the Johnnies’ major additions in the offseason, a highly regarded transfer from Harvard who initially committed to Tennessee before joining Rick Pitino at St. John’s.
He was dominant in the Ivy League last year, an all-conference selection who averaged 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and shot 47.3 percent from the field. Along with fellow Ivy League standout Jordan Dingle, he was part of what many experts felt was a strong transfer class that would elevate the program under Pitino.
Early on, that has yet to happen. St. John’s is 2-2, and Ledlum is searching for his game.
After a strong showing in a win over Stony Brook to start the season, the 6-foot-6 forward has missed 19 of 24 shots from the field. Overall, he’s shooting 26 percent on shots from 5 feet and in, struggling against taller and more athletic big men, according to Pitino.
“What did he do in the Ivy League? He came like a tank in the lane and just bulldozed everybody, dunked on everybody,” the coach said. “So now he’s got to change his skill level. Now he’s got to head fake, head fake, get them up in the air, do a lot of things the old Adrian Dantley used to do. Get them off of their feet instead of just driving to the basket and getting his shot blocked.
“He has to change his game based on the competition because they’re all gigantic. He can do it. He just has to work on different skills, and he can’t get discouraged by this.”
Ledlum doesn’t believe he has to alter the way he plays too much. What he has to do, however, is improve. His performance so far has not been up to par.
“Personally, I’ve been playing against high-level talent my whole life. I don’t necessarily think that’s an adjustment,” Ledlum said. “I think it’s more of an I’m-not-playing-like-myself thing, in all honesty. Pretty much everything. Just have to find myself and obviously we’re going to do that starting on the defensive end. The offensive stuff isn’t worrying me at all.
“Everybody from our point guard [Daniss Jenkins] to Joel [Soriano], everybody knows what I can do. They’ve seen it. Nobody’s down on me. They’re all picking me up. They know I can play better. I know I can play better. They’re confident in me and I’m confident in myself.”
Pitino was critical of Ledlum’s defense in the second half of the Dayton loss Friday, but after watching film, the Hall of Fame coach faulted himself for playing Ledlum too many minutes, an average of 33 in the two Charleston Classic games. His defensive mistakes, Pitino felt, were the result of fatigue.
St. John’s is thin at power forward, but the first-year coach is planning to scale back Ledlum’s minutes somewhat to get better production out of him. He mentioned giving Drissa Traore more time, or possibly playing RJ Luis at the 4 in a small-ball lineup when he gets up to speed after missing so much time with a fractured left hand.
“If I had to look back onto mistakes I’ve made, I’ve played him too many minutes, and I’m not confident in who to put in,” Pitino said. “I think he made mistakes defensively because he was tired, not because he’s a bad defensive player.”
Ledlum, though, wouldn’t use those heavy minutes as an excuse. It comes down to him performing up to his own expectations.