St. John's University Athletics
2012 St. John's Basketball Media Day: Steve Lavin Quotes
10/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 23, 2012
Head Coach Steve Lavin
Opening Statement:
"I'm pleased with the progress we've made so far. We're a very young team and that makes practice interesting on a daily basis, but that comes with the territory of having players that are not familiar with this level of basketball. However, our staff and I feel that it's a group that we can move forward with quickly enough to be competitive by the time BIG EAST play rolls around. They are a very coachable group, they work hard on a daily basis, they ask good questions and are willing learners. It's a very competitive group and because we have more depth now, practices are even more competitive. That's critical because players individually are going to grow through practice, and the more competitive those practices are, the more growth there will be."
"We've been playing a number of games in practice where we actually put on the uniforms, turn on the scoreboard and bring in officials, simulating all conditions that you would face in a game. We're trying to accelerate the players' learning curve with game situations. The hope is that by the time we play Detroit, we'll have 15 to 18 games under our belt as a team. The real learning is when we start playing the regular season games. We'll have a better sense of where we are in December in terms of this team's upside and its potential. The goals when you're at St. John's are always to win the BIG EAST championship and to position ourselves so we can do special things come March in the NCAA Tournament. Those are the things we aspire to, but we know we have a lot of work between now and then to accomplish those goals."
On D'Angelo Harrison playing as a combo guard:
"When we recruited D'Angelo, he was a combination guard and that's what attracted us to him initially. He could run his team as a point guard, but also give up the ball and move well using his teammates to free himself up for shots. He's one of the rare individuals that has a knack for scoring, but his ball handling, his decision making and his play making abilities are underrated. Last year coming down the stretch, he played a good amount with the ball in his hands and because he's a young player rising through the ranks, he's comfortable being a combo guard. When D'Angelo has the ball in his hands, good things happen because he's such a threat on the offensive end of the floor."
On the changes to the coaching in the offseason:
"[Former assistant coach Mike Dunlap] brought a great work ethic, a good understanding of the game and was an outstanding teacher. While it's a loss when one of your assistants moves on, it's also a gift and a blessing, because it reflects so well on our basketball program to have an assistant become a head coach in the NBA."
"I assembled a staff similar to the way [Special Assistant/Advisor Gene Keady] did at Purdue. Ninety percent of what I've learned in basketball is a result of Coach Keady's philosophy and approach to building a basketball program. You want your assistants to move on and become head coaches if that's what they aspire to, and you want your players to earn their degrees and move on and play at the highest level of basketball. Our staff is put together in a way where the responsibilities that our assistant coaches have will prepare them to someday become a head coach. Now we bring in an individual like Darrick Martin who has made a smooth transition to our staff. He brings 15 years of NBA experience, 13 as a player, which is probably unique to any coaching staff in the country. Then you have Rico Hines with his five years with the Golden State Warriors and Coach Keady, who is the Mr. Miyagi of our staff with more than 900 wins and a Hall of Fame résumé. Along with Tony Chiles, Moe Hicks and Derrick Wrobel, I'm very pleased with our staff, their chemistry and the experience they bring. It's unusual to have three former NBA assistant coaches on your staff. It gives you a lot of confidence as you look down that bench."
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