Steve Lavin to miss St. John's game vs. No. 1 Kentucky
Head coach Steve Lavin of the St. John's Red Storm gestures during a game against the Arizona at Wildcats at the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden. (Nov. 17, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Country music rules in the Bluegrass State, so St. John's should fit right in because the Red Storm's recent misfortunes have the makings of a good country lament. First and foremost, St. John's is missing coach Steve Lavin, who said on Tuesday in a statement that he won't return to the bench again until he regains full strength following his Oct. 6 prostate cancer surgery.
The Red Storm's talented but undermanned young roster is coming off a confidence-shaking home loss to mid-major Northeastern, and now they're jumping into the fire in their first true road game against No. 1 Kentucky (6-0) Thursday night at Rupp Arena, where the Wildcats have a 36-game winning streak. Not only that, but St. John's (4-3) is playing the role of the appetizer before Kentucky hosts preseason No. 1 North Carolina on Saturday.
Trying to keep things in perspective, assistant coach Mike Dunlap, who is running the team in Lavin's absence, said it's more important to focus on improvement rather than burden his players with too many details about the Wildcats' starting five. Each Kentucky starter is averaging double figures and three average at least seven rebounds: forwards Terrence Jones (13.3, 7.3), Anthony Davis 12.7, 8.2) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (12.5, 7.3).
"Our group can't handle all that information just yet," Dunlap said. "Too much information will slow them down . . . But we won't be satisfied with playing a strong game and losing by 15 points -- that's not in our personalities. We're an aggressive team. We're going in with an attitude of: We're going to go down there and see if we can do something special."
All of Lavin's blood work and tests have come back with encouraging results. "I'm cancer free, but now recognize I set myself back with a premature return to the sidelines," Lavin said of his four-game stint. "I was hoping my stamina would improve, but instead it regressed . . . At this stage of my recuperation, it's the game coaching that presents the biggest challenge."
St. John's stress levels should be through the roof against a loaded Kentucky team that took the top spot in this week's polls after North Carolina was upset by UNLV. Wildcats coach John Calipari Wednesday told his team, "I want you to understand it's not a burden; it's a badge of honor."
At the same time, he noted nearly a third of the poll voters supported someone else. Acknowledging No. 2 Ohio State's convincing win over Duke on Tuesday, Calipari added, "A lot of people say [that] game decided No. 1 for next week."
Sounds like motivation is no problem for Kentucky. "We're not looking past St. John's at all," point guard Marquis Teague said. "We know they're a real good team . . . It's pretty exciting to know you're No. 1, but you've still got to perform."
