In Amaker, as in Duke, There’s Always a ‘K’

The reaction looked familiar.

The desperation shot by Oregon’s Darius Wright missed at the buzzer, Seton Hall advanced to the next round of the NCAA tournament and Coach Tommy Amaker thrust his arms over his head, like Joe Montana celebrating a touchdown pass.

We’ve seen it before, when Christian Laettner made the jump shot to beat Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional final. Duke players jumped, ran around or collapsed on the floor. Amaker, then an assistant coach for the Blue Devils, just stood there with his arms held high.

A pattern begins to emerge from the video clips. Attributes are beginning to attach themselves to the young coach. Cool and composed. Poised.

A winner.

But it’s a little hard for Amaker to come into his own when each step forward evokes a flashback from the past, be it his four years as Duke’s point guard or his nine years as an assistant under Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Every place Amaker wants to take Seton Hall, Duke already has visited.

“I only have one point of reference--that’s Duke,” Amaker said.

“That’s been my whole background in terms of what I’ve learned in basketball, playing for [Krzyzewski] and coaching for him. What we do in man-to-man defense, kind of a motion offense, what we do in drills--all of those things are right out of his manual.”

Amaker is adding a new chapter. He became the youngest head coach in Big East history when he took over Seton Hall at age 31 in 1997. In his third season he has the Pirates in the Sweet 16 after topping the Oregon victory by knocking off second-seeded Temple in overtime. He is quickly gaining a reputation as a calm leader, a top-notch recruiter . . . and perhaps someday a worthy successor to Krzyzewski at Duke.

And just as Krzyzewski’s methods differ from those of his mentor, Bob Knight, Amaker is branching off from Krzyzewski.

“One of the things he’s learned and he’s taught me is you also have to be your own person and your own coach and be yourself,” Amaker said. “I’ve learned that that becomes a big part of trying to develop and grow as a coach.”

Part of that growth comes from incorporating as many outside influences as he can. Amaker loves the abundance of sports teams in the New York metropolitan area and he scans the local newspapers for stories he can relay to his players.

He was particularly fond of the teachings of New York Jet Coach Bill Parcells, who stepped down this off-season.

“I remember him saying when he took over the franchise it was 1-15,” Amaker said. “He talked about after that, I think the next year they went 9-7. He mentioned that that really wasn’t the big step. Going from 1-15 to 9-7 is a significant step, but with discipline, with a little hard work, with being a little lucky here or managing something better there, you can make a difference, make a change.

“Our team, the year before [he arrived] had 10 wins. Our first [two years] we won 15. I mentioned that this year, like going from nine to 12 in football, we were going from 15 to 20 in basketball, that’s a hard step. That’s a hard step.

“We’ve tried to use different things along the way to show our players, try to show our staff, different ways that we can learn and grow.”

Amaker reached into his bag and pulled out a clip from the Newark Star-Ledger about Allen Iverson’s latest run-in with Philadelphia 76er Coach Larry Brown, who suspended Iverson one game for missing a shoot-around.

“Your most talented player must also be your most responsible player,” Amaker read. “Your most consistent player and your most dedicated player if your team is ever going to achieve its full potential.”

He thinks his players can learn from those words.

Of course, the first key to successful coaching is getting talented players. Amaker did that by landing one of the top recruiting classes in the nation: point guard Andre Barrett, forwards Marcus Tone-El and Damion Fray and the prize catch, 6-foot-9 forward Eddie Griffin.

Then he turned his attention to the current squad. He urged the Pirates to do more this season than bide time before the new crop of freshmen arrived. He encouraged his seniors to maximize their final seasons.

He taught.

“He’s a smart guy,” sophomore forward Darius Lane said. “He knows the game. He helped a lot of things in my game: defense, how to get my shot off.”

And he restored confidence in his point guard, senior Shaheen Holloway, who was once a heralded recruit himself. Holloway, a holdover from previous coach George Blaney’s era, didn’t mesh with Amaker’s program at first. But Amaker convinced him that the team needed him to be its leader, that he would put Seton Hall’s fate in Holloway’s hands as long as he was up to the task.

“He challenged me and I had to adjust to his style of play,” Holloway said. “Overall, for me sticking with it, he made me a better player, more of a leader.”

Holloway responded with the best numbers of his career in shooting, three-point shooting, free-throw shooting and rebounding. The Pirates went 20-9 in the regular season, 10-6 in the Big East Conference and secured an at-large bid and No. 10 seeding in the NCAA tournament.

“I think Tommy has sold his philosophy to his point guard, which makes him a great, great coach. A great teacher,” Temple Coach John Chaney said. Holloway pulled a Tyus Edney against Oregon in the first round, going coast-to-coast for the winning shot with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime.

When Holloway sprained his left ankle in the first half against Temple, backup Ty Shine stepped in and scored 26 points, including the game-winning three-point basket.

Holloway is questionable for Friday’s game against Oklahoma State, and now senior guard Rimas Kaukenas is sick.

But if Seton Hall can somehow get past a tough Cowboy team, a potential matchup with Duke and Coach K would be next.

“If that happens, that would be a tremendous, tremendous situation,” Amaker said. “First, it would mean that both teams won. That’s the main thing right now, if it occurs it means that we beat Oklahoma State and they beat Florida. That’s two big ifs.”

It already has been one big season at Seton Hall. And Tommy Amaker is a big reason why.

*

J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com.