Steve Lavin went to great lengths yesterday to assure St. John's nation the change he has made in the Red Storm's starting lineup is not a panic move.
Point guard Jamal Branch will replace swingman Amir Garrett for tonight's game against Notre Dame in the Garden, giving the Johnnies a three-guard lineup.
Branch is coming off the best scoring game of his short St. John's career. The Texas A&M transfer scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting but he committed three turnovers with just one assist in the Red Storm's 67-51 clunker against Georgetown on Saturday.
Lavin said after the game he would, as always, evaluate the lineup. That evaluation, and the overall growth of this young team, prompted the change, he said.
"Our goal every season is to play in the postseason,'' said Lavin. "But also, my focus, as it has been every year in my coaching career, is on development, it's on process. You hope that you're employing your best basketball late in the year. And you hope those games are meaningful.
"I told you guys all along I knew this would be the most challenging season in my career for a number of reasons. So for me the focus is less about the standings. The standings and wins are just a byproduct of us growing and maturation.''
Sounds good. But the bottom line is the Johnnies (9-7, 1-3 Big East) need a win. They are tied for second to last in the Big East standings and are tied with Providence (9-7) for the most losses.
"We know this is a big game for us,'' said Phil Greene IV. "We can't go down to a 1-4 start in the Big East 'cause this is basically one of the top conferences in the country, so the next game is very important. We have to come out and play with a lot of intensity.''
Yes, this team is young — all freshmen and sophomores. Yes, Lavin missed most of last season recovering from prostate cancer surgery that he's learning his players. Yes, there is no upperclassman with experience.
But no, another performance like the one the Johnnies turned in against Georgetown is not acceptable. Unlike Georgetown, which came in with a sputtering offense, 20th-ranked Notre Dame (14-2, 2-1) can score and it scores efficiently.
The Fighting Irish started yesterday 38th nationally in scoring (76.8 points per game), fifth in field goal shooting (51.4 percent) and second in assists (19.5).
The Irish have four players — Eric Atkins (77.8 percent), Scott Martin (67 percent), Pat Connaughton (57 percent) and Camero Biedschied (1.000 percent) that are shooting better on 3-pointers than the Red Storm are shooting from the free-throw line (55.4 percent).
Greene IV, who played a season-low 16 minutes against Georgetown, D'Angelo Harrison, who had his string of 29 games scoring in double figures snapped against the Hoyas, and Branch will look to counter the Fightin,g Irish's three-guard attack of Atkins, Jerian Grant and Connaughton.
Of course, if the Johnnies come out as flat as they did for the Hoyas, it won't matter how many changes Lavin makes or why. St. John's won't be playing any meaningful games at the end of the season.
* Chris Obekpa was named the Big East Rookie of the Week after averaging 10.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocked shots in two games. The 20th-ranked Irish came into the last two games in the Garden against St. John's ranked nationally only to get upset by the Red Storm.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com
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