When does a coach coddle and when does he criticize? When does he bolster his team’s shaken confidence and when does he break down a team that is too cocky for its own good?
These are the question St. John’s Mike Jarvis finds himself pondering these days. And clearly Jarvis has decided to load up on the positives.
After the team’s 73-60 loss to Notre Dame last Saturday, instead of ripping the Red Storm for losing to an inferior opponent, Jarvis pointed out that his team is not the first to be upset by the Fighting Irish, who have posted wins over Ohio State and Connecticut.
“We lost to a team that has beaten some pretty good people so we’re in some pretty good company as far as victims,” said Jarvis.
And after Monday night’s 63-57 loss at Syracuse, which dropped the Red Storm to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big East, Jarvis told his players that a lot of teams throughout the nation would love to trade places with the Red Storm.
Don’t think for a second that Jarvis isn’t aware of the toll four losses in the last five games has taken on his team. In three of those losses the Red Storm collapsed down the stretch, leading to gut-wrenching losses to Ohio State, Notre Dame and Syracuse.
So while others might be reaching for the panic button, Jarvis has his team thinking about making another run in the NCAA Tournament. Jarvis’ Power of Positive Thinking approach gets its first test today when St. John’s hosts Boston College at Alumni Hall.
“I told my guys the other day there’s a pretty good team in the NBA that’s lost like six out of its last nine games and they’ll probably be competing for the NBA championship before its over and that’s the Lakers,” said Jarvis. “So all we got to do is take one game at a time, make a few more free throws, key shots, at the end of games and we’ll be fine.”
The Eagles (9-11, 1-7) are hardly the Lakers. They haven’t won a Big East road game this season and they’ll hard-pressed to end that streak today. But Jarvis isn’t worried about today’s opponent. He’s too busy working on his own players’ psyche.
“I will continue to be mainly concerned about St. John’s,” said Jarvis. “If we can continue to go out and play like we’re playing against Connecticut or Syracuse or Ohio State or someone like that every night, we’ll be fine. But unfortunately kids don’t always look at it the way coaches do. That’s why they have coaches to need to remind them of that all the time.”
Boston College coach Al Skinner seems to have jumped on Jarvis’s bandwagon. He’s well aware today is Senior Day, the last game in Alumni Hall for seniors Lavor Postell, Bootsy Thornton and Chudney Gray. That can be enough incentive for the Red Storm. And Skinner is quick to point out that St. John’s could just as easily be 16-3 as 13-6.
“They’re just playing some quality opponents and the games are going to be close,” said Skinner. “It’s just a matter of making the plays down the stretch that are going to win the ballgames. You’re just talking about a possession or two that makes a difference in the ballgame. Sometimes the possessions go your way, sometimes they don’t.”
The late-game possessions have not gone the Red Storm’s way, which explains why they have been outscored 47-16 in the last five minutes of their three prior losses.
“When things get tough, that’s when you really find out what you’re made out of,” said Jarvis. “Unfortunately, most people don’t get this part of it, [but] losing is part of sport and how you deal with losing is very important as to who you are and what you are really all about, what your character is all about. You will find out more about players and coaches when teams are not going well.
“So what you ask people to do is just always self-examine yourself and ask yourself who you are, where you’ve been, where you come from, where are you going, how you want to get there. Mainly, the thing you’ve got to do is keep working and do your best.”
Heck, bring on the Lakers.
