St. Francis - Postgame Links

St. John's coach Steve Lavin returned from prostate cancer surgery two weeks ago. His stamina still hasn’t. After coaching two games in two days at the end of last week and then spending two more days away pursuing high-profile recruits, Lavin needed Tuesday night off when the Red Storm played St. Francis (N.Y.) at Carnesecca Arena.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/ncaa-basketball/coach-steve-lavin-misses-game-st-john-basketball-rolls-st-francis-article-1.981593#ixzz1ebCjR47v

If there were a game for St. John’s coach Steve Lavin to miss, last night’s non-leaguer against winless St. Francis of Brooklyn was a good one. But it probably will not be the only one as a Red Storm scare now permeates the program.

Worn down from last Thursday/Friday’s back-to-back losses at the Garden and a weekend recruiting trip to Connecticut, Lavin called in sick two hours before tip-off, his recuperation from prostate cancer surgery no longer finished.

The concern is Lavin likely will miss more important games later in the season, a scary unknown for a person who means everything to St. John’s basketball.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/tired_out_7JWYVKXQZB6FJ1MKEXWo3O#ixzz1ebCpqS4P

"I'm like a mother hen, I watch him very closely, and I could anticipate that this probably was gonna happen," said Dunlap after the game. "Because he came back with a vengeance, and those two games back-to-back ... that took a lot out of him. And trying to rally today was just too hard."

After being on the bench for St. John's losses to Arizona and Texas A&M last Thursday and Friday at Madison Square Garden, Lavin spent Saturday and Sunday on the recruiting trail, watching former commits JaKarr Sampson and Amir Garrett.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/story/_/id/7271309/st-john-red-storm-coach-steve-lavin-misses-st-francis-ny-game-tuesday

Coming out of the gate, it didn’t look good.
 
St. John’s had shot 1/9 from the field by the 16-minute mark in the first half, but used an 18-4 run and had 10 total steals to take a lead they would never relinquish, beating St. Francis 63-48 at Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday night.
 
Head coach Steve Lavin was not in attendance, still on a modified schedule while he fully recovers from prostate cancer surgery. Luckily for Lavin, he has a wealth of experienced coaches on his bench.
 
“We notice a difference when he’s not here. He’s very, very good at what he does so we miss him and notice the change,” assistant coach Mike Dunlap stressed, “but we – as a coaching staff – got him. All of us, from Coach Gene Keady to myself, are over 1,000 games in our coaching careers.”

Read More:
http://johnnyjungle.com/lasting-impressions/st-johns-bounces-back-defeats-st-francis-63-48/