The early signs are promising as St. John’s looks to address concerns about shootings

Rick Pitino doesn’t think shooting will be a problem for St. John’s this year.

This did not appear to be the case at Monday evening’s open training session at the Garden, which included a lengthy battle. RJ Luis, Brady Dunlap, North Texas transfer Aaron Scott and freshmen Jaiden Glover and Lefteris Liotopoulos all showed promise from beyond the arc.

Simeon Wilcher is expected to be one of the Johnnies’ top weapons downtown as well, although he took few jumps during Monday’s scrimmage as he took over point guard duties while Utah transfer Deivon Smith dealt with a shoulder injury failed.

One of the narratives in the roster that Pitino put together is that there was a lack of shooters because the top two freshmen, Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond and Smith, aren’t known for their outside shooting and the team lost good shooters in Daniss Jenkins , Jordan Dingle and Nahiem Alleyne.

Richmond made a three-pointer in the scrimmage.

“I don’t think that’s a weakness. The only weakness is that they just mesh together because they can all play,” Pitino said. “It’s not like five people playing together, but eleven people. [Shooting] is not a weakness. If anything, it’s been a strength so far. RJ has gotten a lot better. We will also get Kadary and Deivon to shoot the ball much better through our player development.”

One of the stars of Monday night’s scrimmage was Glover, the 6-foot-2 freshman from Patrick School (NJ). He scored 19 points and hit four three-pointers.

Glover missed summer workouts with a wrist injury but has returned to action recently and Pitino expects him to contribute this season.

“Jaiden is very talented, he just doesn’t quite know how to move without basketball. Doesn’t understand the basics very well. But in terms of having a great attitude, a great body and a great game, he’s really good,” Pitino said. “I think he will play this year.

“He shoots well, makes contact when he goes to the rim. His weakness, like any high school kid coming to college, is that he’s defensive and doesn’t know all the principles of the game.”

Pitino believes two players have emerged as potential leaders to fill the void left by Jenkins: Richmond and junior big man Zuby Ejiofor.

Ejiofor is more of a singing guy, while Richmond has the experience edge as this is his fifth year of college basketball.

Richmond was a first-team All-Big East selection at Seton Hall last season and is also the most talented player on the roster.

“The respect everyone on the team has for him is enormous,” Pitino said.

Pitino felt that last year’s team needed some time to grow closer, taking into account that the Johnnies didn’t see an upswing until late in the year.

Jenkins and Dingle, two of St. John’s best players, only developed a bond toward the end of the season.

“At the moment that is not the case,” said the coach. “Everyone is connected and everything is led by Kadary. Everyone on the team has great, great respect for Kadary.”

Right now, Pitino would only commit to three starters: Richmond, Ejiofor and Wilcher.

Smith has been out for some time in recent weeks with hamstring and shoulder injuries. Pitino expects to return to practice by the end of the week and play in the exhibition game at Rutgers next Thursday.

He fully expects the starting lineup to change frequently.

Another standout player in the fray was USC transfer Vince Iwuchukwu. He had 16 points and six rebounds, including an acrobatic offensive rebound in traffic and a powerful two-handed dunk over two defenders.

Iwuchuckwu, a former top-30 recruit, was slowed by a heart attack he suffered the summer before his freshman year at USC. He also suffered a back injury this season, which limited him to 14 games at times.

But last year he appeared in 31 games, made 11 starts and averaged 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Trojans. He is expected to support Ejiofor along with Portuguese import Ruben Prey.

“He’s a great physical specimen who needs to learn the game,” Pitino said. “Something very traumatic happened to him. He keeps getting better and better. Great size, great body, great attitude.”