MitchMash: St. Joseph Pilots mirror and text Jason Kidd

Playing in an NBA arena three different times for a state boys basketball championship is more than a little cool.

"Indescribable," said St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda, Calif.) senior point guard Gemeny Givens.

Texting with NBA legend and former Pilot Jason Kidd along the way?

Priceless?

No. That's too easy.

"Surreal," Givens said.

It's been 20 years (1991 and 1992) since Kidd led St. Joseph to back-to-back state crowns – the pinnacle moment for most Northern California prep basketball fans – and now the Pilots have a chance to accomplish the same feat.

Granted, Kidd's teams played at the Division I level – the CIF allowed teams to petition up those days – and now St. Joseph (29-4) plays at the small school classification (Division V).

But for these Pilots, it's not any less exciting or rewarding, especially for Givens, who as a co-captain was selected to communicate regularly this season with Kidd in a Nike promotion. At first, the texts were a nice way for former players to connect to the past.

But clearly for Givens and this surprising bunch, this has turned into something of a magical exchange.

After all, after losing eight seniors off last year's team, including three college players, this was supposed to be a "rebuilding" year.

But legendary coach Don Lippi, who has 701 wins in a 33-year career, doesn't believe in such a notion at the prep level.

With the senior leadership of Givens and off guard Nick Lacy, the vast improvement of sophomore and leading scorer Temidayo Yussef, the defensive work of junior Justin Brown and addition of two talented, fearless freshmen, the Pilots are on the verge of history.

Three other boys teams have won back-to-backs in state history, but none 20 years apart.

Now the communications with Kidd take on even greater meaning to Givens, who shares more than the same position.

"It's such an honor to know that I'm walking the same campus as he did 20 years ago, trying to accomplish the same thing," said Givens, who led the team with 17 points in Saturday's regional final, a 77-53 win over Pinewood-Los Altos Hills. "To be in the same breath with Jason Kidd. … wow. He's such a great role model."

Givens, 17, is well versed on Bay Area sports and one of the main reasons he picked St. Joseph was because of the basketball tradition set by, among others, Kidd, Calvin Byrd, former coach Frank LaPorte, Lippi and the 2004 state-title team led by Alex Harris.

Distributing

The current Pilots have not only meshed beautifully on the court, but off it as well. They give Givens feedback on what to ask Kidd.

Like a true point guard, Givens collects and distributes.

"(Kidd) tells us to stay positive, trust one another and most of all have fun," Givens said. "He tells us not to worry about the wins and losses, that those things will happen if we do the right things."

Nobody teaches those better than Lippi, who saw potential in this group even with just three returners – one who is hurt and out for the year.

Yussef grew three inches in height to 6-6 in one year and even more in skill. He's a definitely Division I college prospect, Lippi said.

"Great hands," Lippi said. "He can shoot, score on the inside or outside. Very nice progression."

Said Givens: "We couldn't be more proud of the guy. He was last guy on our bench last year and now he's our go-to guy. He worked his butt off."

The 5-10 Lacy could always shoot but he's improved greatly on defense.

Freshman Lamont Banks (6-3, 215) is fearless and versatile and the 6-1, 210-pound Brown is a flat-out defensive stopper.

"He doesn't care who he guards," Lippi said. "He'll guard big or small. His strength is that he can guard either and do so very well. He's also a great offensive rebounder."

And what about Givens?

Always athletic, extremely bright - he's a 4.0 student who has an offer from Columbia - Givens switched positions from shooting guard to point once All-Bay Area selection Jacari Whitfield graduated.

Besides being the team's second-leading scorer - he's a good outside shooter - Givens really directs everything.

"He's really grown in that area," Lippi said. "The other day in a tight situation during a timeout he politely asked to change an out-of-bounds. He was right. It was a good call. That's exactly what you want from your kids, to think and coach on their own."

Lippi, who won his 700th game during a North Region semifinal game, always keeps his players thinking and believing.

FIRST STEP

It started as a smart aleck remark, grew to a local newspaper headline and now is a credo at St. Joseph.

We’ll be even better.
 
In 1984, when Lippi was the coach at St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo, his team lost in the Sac-Joaquin Section finals. With only two players returning the next season, the future looked bleak.
 
Didn’t stop a reporter from asking Lippi if his team had a chance to get back to the section finals. Lippi sarcastically told him “Oh, we’ll be better.”
 
“The next day in the paper the headlines said that St. Patrick would be even better next year,” Lippi said. “I shook my head then but sure enough the next year we won the section championship and from then on I decided all you had to do is say it (“we’ll be better”). It’s at least the first step to getting there.”
 
Fast forward 27 years and after St. Joseph won the 2011 state Division V crown nobody in their cockamamie mind thought the Pilots would be close to better. Not even equal. Not even close to equal.
 
But 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, with two more wins than last season, St. Joseph takes on Village Christian-Sun Valley (32-3) for a second straight crown at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.

"Kids can do amazing things if you tell them you believe," Lippi said. "Of course you have to put in the training which this team has done. … They're having fun, sharing the ball and playing hard. I haven't had a team play any better than these guys are playing right now."

Said Givens: "When coach told us we could be better I believed it. We all did. In the summer, I could see we were going to be good. When you have someone like coach Lippi training you every day you know anything is possible. We just kept building and building and now we're one win away."