St. John's Lavin era will begin at 2 a.m.
Besides the addition of freshman Dwayne Polee, St. John's has the same basketball team as last season except a year older. Only it's not the same.
The 10 seniors on the team - which opens the 2010-11 season against St. Mary's Monday night in Moraga, Calif., at 11 p.m. Pacific time (2 a.m. EST Tuesday) as part of ESPN's 24-hour Tip-Off Marathon - aren't quite the same as they were under former coach Norm Roberts.
Since taking over as coach of the Red Storm in April, Steve Lavin and his staff have worked to put their own stamp on a team that was 17-16 last season. While emphasizing the recruitment of an exceptional incoming class for next season, they haven't ignored Roberts' holdovers.
Lavin said the goal is for the seniors to go out on a high note by reaching the NCAA Tournament, but that to achieve that end, the players have to make changes. Lavin said he told the players: "Let's deal with realism. We were tied for 13th last year. There's no positive spin on that. Now let's examine why we finished tied for 13th, and let's begin to work on those very specific areas so we can enhance the odds of being more successful.''
After examining the evidence, Lavin boiled it down to three main goals for improvement as a team: lifting the free-throw percentage into the range of 70 to 75 percent, cutting turnovers dramatically to eliminate shotless possessions and improving shot selection. But the changes didn't stop there.
Collectively, the players must shave all facial hair on game days, tuck their uniform jerseys in a certain way and tie their sneakers a particular way. The level of detail is just as precise on the court, where the players are learning to adjust.
For instance, preseason all-Big East second-teamer D.J. Kennedy will be the hub of the offense but must learn to play more without the ball. Post man Sean Evans now is limited to no more than two or three dribbles and isn't permitted to dribble upcourt anymore. Forward Justin Burrell, who recovered from a wrist injury in time to travel to St. Mary's, is learning to pivot on his right foot instead of always using his left foot.
"They really want our feet to be ambidextrous, a lot of different pivots and post moves, a lot of distributing it to the cutters from the high post and low blocks," Evans said. "They use the way Kobe [Bryant] plays in Los Angeles as an example, the way he posts up and runs the offense from there."
Opening at St. Mary's, which returns much of its Sweet 16 team, is a tough spot, but Lavin felt it was necessary to prepare for playing three of the first four Big East games on the road.
"I'm not nervous or anxious because I don't see this program being anything but a winning program this year," Burrell said. "I really feel like the culture is not the same anymore. I don't know what it is, but it's not the same."
