Lavin gained trust of his players

On the day last week when St. John's coach Steve Lavin handed out a copy of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" to his players for the third time this season, forward Sean Evans was asked to describe the 46-year-old man who has revived his coaching career and the Red Storm's basketball program at the same time.

"He's good with words," Evans said. "He might be the best Scrabble player ever." Asked if he ever played Lavin in Scrabble, Evans shook his head, saying, "No, but he's got words."

Lots of them.

The words, images, anecdotes, analogies, aphorisms, axioms, credos and occasional cliches spill from Lavin like a waterfall down a mountainside, a force of his nature. Maybe they became a deafening roar eight years ago when he was fired at UCLA, but Lavin's words have connected with St. John's players, worn away their resistance to the changes he invoked and lifted a team with nine active seniors to a level of success and confidence they had only dreamed of achieving.

They enter this week's Big East Tournament with a national ranking (17th AP; 18th ESPN / USA Today), a 20-10 overall record and a 12-6 conference record that tied for third, and they are a lock to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. It would be one thing if the Red Storm's senior class simply matured, but Lavin and his coaching staff dramatically changed the playing style and lineup, transforming them into the season's surprise team.

It wasn't an easy sell to a group of players loyal to previous coach Norm Roberts, but Lavin and his staff coached the players in the new system with unrivaled attention to detail.

"In the past, we always talked about paying attention to detail, and we really didn't," forward Justin Burrell said.

"I never didn't believe him. It just took time for me to see what he was saying and understand the level we could play at. He's taught me a style of play I really didn't know existed. As soon as he started explaining those different ways of playing, I was signed, sealed and delivered.''

Low point before rising

Of course, no transformation could take place without a crisis of confidence. Lavin's came after back-to-back losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham, in which St. John's blew a 21-point second-half lead. Lavin believed he saw the makings of a quality team on the way to that big lead, but blowing leads was a chronic problem in past seasons for this group, and they folded under pressure.

With more than a week between games, Lavin and his staff re-evaluated before facing Davidson and an undefeated Northwestern team in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

"I'd say I felt more pressure to win in the Davidson and Northwestern games than any other games this year," Lavin said. "We knew we had a fragile group. To stop the bleeding, you have to get a 'W.' Those two wins at the Garden on back-to-back nights were pivotal for us."

The players saw the coaches could make adjustments that worked.

"[Lavin] added another play for us so that when we have a big lead, we just slow the game and make them play our pace,'' Paris Horne said. "It's been working.''

Evans said the players also weren't sold initially on Lavin's matchup zone defense because they had been a man-to-man team. But after learning the rotations and how effective they could be in helping each other cover, they bought in.

Offering the following mixed metaphorical description of how St. John's zone should attack any opposing star in the lane, Lavin said: "He should see a collapse like an accordion or the Venus flytrap. We want to drop in there like Robin Hood and his boys out of the trees in Sherwood Forest and just ambush their guys."

String of upsets

Successes mounted after the Holiday Festival as St. John's opened Big East play with road wins at West Virginia and Providence before knocking off Georgetown at the Garden. There was a rough stretch - losing five out of six while playing eight straight ranked opponents - but the Red Storm resoundingly came out of it with upsets of defending national champion Duke, Connecticut and Pitt.

Setbacks are springboards for breakthroughs, Lavin says. That's one of his mantras, but the most well-worn tenet is: "Keep putting hammer to rock." That's how Lavin describes the daily work ethic demanded of his players in terms of practice, conditioning and video study.

Buying into the Lavin Way might have been toughest for Evans and point guard Malik Boothe, both of whom were starters under Roberts but come off the bench now. Yet both have come around.

"He's a great coach," Boothe said. "I think it's all psychological. He gets into our heads his own way and gets us going."

Lavin said he and his staff didn't try to force a relationship with skeptical players.

"It takes time to develop rapport and establish trust to the point where the players know you unconditionally support them and want them to do well," Lavin said. "I think 18- and 20-year-olds have an acute antenna for seeing through a phony. If you don't put actions and deeds to your words, you won't establish the level of trust necessary to coach a team."

Having been immersed in the avalanche of Lavin's confidence-building words this season, St. John's players have become believers. "I always say, coach Lav got the most swag I've ever seen for a head coach," Evans said. "He walks around and got the hair slicked back, got his sneaks on, no tie, just floating around. That rubs off on us . . . Our swagger meter is off the Richter scale right now."