It’s easy to find fault in St. John’s 5-0 start, point to the team’s inconsistencies, defensive issues and failure to dominate inferior competition.

But it’s also worth noting, this is sometimes how it starts. This is how a turnaround begins. This program hadn’t done much winning in coach Chris Mullin’s first three seasons, going 38-60. It has won games this season it previously would lose. The team has already rallied for three come-from-behind wins from sizable second-half deficits and won its first preseason tournament in eight years.

The Red Storm, even without essential forward Sedee Keita (knee surgery, out another three to five weeks), is building a winning DNA. In tough moments they haven’t blinked, rallying behind the exemplary play of Big East Preseason Player of the Year Shamorie Ponds. They are already reminding fans of the 2010-11 team, which parlayed a fantastic start that included the Great Alaska Shootout crown into an NCAA Tournament bid.

Below are four other takeaways from the 5-0 start:

I don’t believe St. John’s is at its best when Ponds has to take over. But it is also a luxury to have a closer like him, a player able to get wherever he wants on the floor in crunch time. In the three tough games so far — Bowling Green, California and VCU — he refused to let St. John’s lose, taking and making almost every big shot.

It’s a crutch the Red Storm would prefer to avoid. I felt Ponds didn’t play his best against VCU, despite scoring 35 points. He went one-on-one too often, and took some questionable shots. Of course, he more than made up for it by coming through in the clutch. It’s no coincidence their best performance came against Rutgers, with Ponds as a playmaker getting everyone involved, not an isolation-heavy scorer. There is too much talent here to be over-reliant on one guy. But it must be comforting to know that one guy can carry everyone when called upon.

The week off is coming at an opportune time. As Ponds admitted, St. John’s has to go back to the drawing board defensively. While praising the long-range shooting of California and VCU, Mullin seemed to back up Ponds’ assertion, saying his team is adjusting to playing small, and switching on everything.

The Red Storm clearly miss Tariq Owens, the shot-blocking menace who transferred in the offseason. They have registered 12 blocks in five games, and gave VCU way too many easy layups. The lack of an interior force and needing to help in the paint has at least something to do with the 3-point defense, which is allowing the opposition to make 37 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc. Even in the win over Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights missed several good looks. VCU is shooting 31 percent as a team from deep, but hit 13 3-pointers against St. John’s. Bowling Green is shooting 33 percent from deep, but hit 11 trifectas in 23 attempts.

The coaching staff takes a lot of heat for its recent recruiting misses. But it deserves credit for LJ Figueroa, the junior-college transfer who looks like a stud. Figueroa has been St. John’s second-most consistent player so far after Ponds, a versatile 6-foot-6 forward who is averaging 14 points, 7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He’s shooting 52 percent from 3-point range. Most important, the game doesn’t seem too fast for him, which is sometimes an adjustment for junior-college players. He has a high basketball IQ, a keen understanding of when to attack and when to be patient. The Red Storm beat out some high-quality programs (such as West Virginia, Baylor) for Figueroa. He is an addition who didn’t get nearly enough buzz, but seems as important as any from this busy offseason.

I understand why Mullin hasn’t played his freshmen much early. He knows St. John’s can’t afford any non-conference slip-ups, and he’s clearly not comfortable using them yet. But he has to take a long look at them in December — especially athletic 6-foot-9 forward Josh Roberts and defensive-minded guard Greg Williams — when the schedule gets extremely soft. Obviously losing Keita hurt the team’s depth, but both Roberts and Williams were considered quality recruits. Roberts, in particular, will be needed in the Big East season against big lineups. He could fall into rebounds and dunks because of his size and athleticism alone. There is no reason to stretch the starters so much – Ponds played 79 of a possible 85 minutes in Brooklyn the last two days – when there is available depth on the bench. Yet when asked Tuesday night if he planned to extend his rotation, Mullin was noncommittal. All the close losses last year should be all the evidence needed to expand the rotation.