Rich Oliveri remembers how frustrating it was to watch the head fakes and the hesitation moves work every time. To see St. John’s defenders duped into fouls and be unable to stay on their feet.

Now? Well, now he can’t get enough of Jalen Brunson’s basketball IQ.

“It’s nice to finally be on the positive side of that,” he said. “There are some bad memories obviously, but I think the fact that the Knicks haven’t had a point guard like him in so long, I’m hoping this is the end of that drought.”

The 35-year-old Oliveri is like many Knicks and St. John’s diehards The Post spoke to about the complexities of what it’s like to now root for Brunson, the guy who killed their favorite college team not so long ago. The overwhelming sentiment is it’s not so hard, considering how long the Knicks have waited for an in-his-prime point guard such as Brunson and how well he has performed, leading them to an 18-14 record and averaging 20.4 points and 6.3 assists while shooting 46.1 percent from the field.

“You root for the laundry,” said Steve Leblang, who grew up minutes from St. John’s. “When the laundry is changed, your loyalty goes with it. That’s the way I feel.”

He added: “As long as he’s not literally trolling St. John’s fans, which I don’t think he is, I’m good with him.”

The consensus among the fans was that though it was painful to watch Brunson and Villanova mop the floor with St. John’s — beating them six of seven times while he was there (the Johnnies got a familiar drubbing from ‘Nova on Wednesday night, too) — they also had a healthy respect for the Wildcats. Brunson was a tough player to dislike because of how smart and disciplined he was. And now that he is a Knick, performing so well and helping their favorite professional team to sixth place in the Eastern Conference, there is so much to like.

“You don’t see it always with all the NBA players, but this guy gives 100 percent every time he’s out there. He plays hard, he plays well, he’s meant so much to the team,” said Chuck Zlatkin, a 76-year-old lifelong New Yorker. “Let’s face it: Brunson is delivering. If he was a bust, it would be different.

“You forgive, but you don’t forget, particularly with what’s been going on with St. John’s lately. You remember, being a fan as long as I have been. It’s a long history. You know who gave it to you in the past. But you gotta move on.”

Zlatkin took solace in the fact that St. John’s did beat Brunson once, back in February 2018 when Villanova was ranked No. 1 in the country. It was the highlight of a 16-17 season under then-coach Chris Mullin, along with a home win over highly ranked Duke. Brunson and the Wildcats did end up winning a national championship that year, and he was drafted in the second round by the Mavericks that spring. Nearly five years later, he’s a Knick doing big things, playing so well in the city where he was once an enemy and winning over the hearts of those he once annually crushed.

“As a St. John’s fan, I was upset at how good he was. I envy the Villanova program. It’s what St. John’s should be,” Queens native Gary Lombardo said. “I have a Jay Wright signed basketball I’m starting at in my office. Brunson is a winner — the Knicks have a winner. You see his resume. He wins big at every level. As a fan, you see the little thing he does that makes his team win.”

Rap(tor) battle

It would have been easy for the Knicks to roll over Wednesday night. They were going to lose eventually. And so much went wrong.

Quentin Grimes was out, taking away the team’s top perimeter defender and one of its top 3-point shooters. The Raptors were rested and hungry after six straight losses, and they received a superhuman effort from Pascal Siakam (52 points). Brunson had arguably his worst game as a Knick, a five-turnover, seven-point no-show. The Knicks trailed by 14 points in the second quarter and 11 in the fourth. They were a step slow, beaten on the glass and a minus-12 in turnover margin.

Yet it didn’t stop coach Tom Thibodeau’s shorthanded team from nearly stealing victory at the end. This isn’t to call the loss a moral victory, but it’s intended to illustrate positives in the Knicks’ first loss since Dec. 3. This team has a will and determination that wasn’t there early in the season. A fight is emerging within this group, something that most good teams develop over time.

It is why in some ways, I was as impressed by this loss as the eight wins that came before it. In so many of those victories, the ball bounced the Knicks’ way. Six of the wins were by double figures. Wednesday was very different. It was also the latest sign that something has clicked with this team. There is cohesion and a refuse-to-lose mindset I saw even in defeat.

RJ in the lane

RJ Barrett’s athletic prowess extends beyond the basketball court. He also can bowl.

Just look at the Lucky Strike-Los Angeles leaderboard of celebrities for evidence. His score of 184 ranks sixth.

“I used to just bowl when I was younger with my family and stuff,” he told The Post. “That’s kind of where it started.”

Barrett will bowl as often as once a week in the summer. His says his best score ever was a 205, though he did that just once. He and his father, Rowan, are fiercely competitive, and that extends to the bowling alley.

“He was better when I was younger,” Barrett said of his dad, a former college basketball player at St. John’s who is now the general manager of the Canadian National Team. “He’s still alright. But I can take him now.”

The Knicks’ talented wing doesn’t have a hook, because he prefers the fundamentals, the southpaw joked.

“I get the angles, though,” Barrett said. “I used to play Wii sports, used to do bowling on the Wii. it teaches you how to do these crazy angles, so I tried it out in person. It was a fun thing to do.”

Barrett likes that the sport is both competitive and fun. There are some similarities to shooting.

“It takes hand-eye coordination, reps, technique,” he said. “The more you do it, the better you are at it.”