Lions’ Rallying Call: Wait Until Next Year : Basketball: It’s full speed ahead for Loyola Marymount Coach Jay Hillock, who is optimistic the Lions can rebound from a disappointing 1990-91 season.

Thursday was one of those rare days in Los Angeles, so clear you could almost see the future, and Loyola Marymount basketball Coach Jay Hillock was clearly looking ahead.

“I wish Oct. 15 (the official start of practice) was here,” he said.

Although the Lions managed to finish with a winning record (16-15)--an accomplishment considering they stumbled to a 2-7 start--they lost their last two and looked out of sync, leaving a sour last impression.

“The way things end is kind of your perspective,” Hillock said. “I was disappointed how the year ended, but I was pleased we had our (10-game winning streak) near the end.

“In some respects it doesn’t seem like we had a winning season. I think the kids’ expectations of themselves maybe were higher than (was realistic). We weren’t that gifted. We couldn’t just go out there and outrun people, we had to work hard. You largely play the game against yourself and you have to play good. We didn’t always.”

Hillock has several reasons to look forward to next season, not the least of which is that he survived this season, when he suddenly inherited Paul Westhead’s program after five years as Westhead’s top assistant. Westhead took the Denver Nuggets’ coaching job in September.

Following Westhead--the “Wizard of Westchester”--was not an easy task for Hillock. To some extent, the 1990-91 team had Westhead’s trademark. Hillock tried to tailor the schemes to the team’s decreased level of talent from past seasons and was often second-guessed by his players.

Due to Westhead’s unexpected departure, Hillock made do with two fewer assistants than most head coaches. Things got even tougher when two senior co-captains, Tom Peabody and Tony Walker, were injured in preseason practice.

Peabody, whose daredevil style was expected to set the tone for the team, wasn’t himself until conference play began in January, and Walker, the starting point guard as a junior, never returned to the lineup, sitting out as a medical redshirt after off-season wrist surgery.

Many of those potholes should be filled soon. Hillock will try to hire a top assistant shortly, and Walker returned to practice in midseason and his wrist responded well. The nucleus of the team returns intact, led by All-American candidate Terrell Lowery at guard and 6-foot-10 All-West Coast Conference center Richard Petruska.

Hillock is also recruiting several players--point guard Cobi McElroy from Las Vegas has already given an unwritten commitment--and his goals for next season are for the Lions to improve their rebounding, commit fewer turnovers and find another dependable scorer to augment Lowery, who finished among the nation’s leaders with a 28.5-point average. Petruska, who scored at 16.4 and shot 59% from the field, was the Lions’ only other dependable scorer.

“I think the team will be more mine next year,” Hillock said. “Terrell and Richard have got to be our (offensive) horses and we need to develop a legitimate third scorer. I think teams will hold the ball more because it worked in our last two games, so we’ll have to have better half-court pressure and play a half-court trap. We’re gonna keep pressing (full court) and I think we can play a little faster. And we’ve got to take better care of the ball. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot by turning it over.”

Coming off last year’s emotional surge to the NCAA Tournament round of eight after the death of Hank Gathers, expectations were high, although the team was young and Westhead had filled the schedule with road games against powerhouses UCLA, Louisiana State, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma. Hillock puckishly referred to the Lions as “America’s road team.” Loyola played only 11 home games.

Next season’s schedule will be more balanced and have more home games, including a season-opening tournament at Gersten Pavilion. Washington State, Central Connecticut and Morgan State will compete in the tournament, which the Loyola athletic department hopes to make an annual event.

Hillock, who previously was coach for four seasons at Gonzaga, said he thought resuming his coaching career “was going to be easier, but the pressure of following Paul made it difficult--the expectations, the tough schedule. It’s been a tough transition. I’ve never doubted my own ability before but it’s tough following Paul. No one does things quite like Paul. Paul is the John Wooden of Loyola Marymount. If you do things different there’s a perception you’re trying to change (the Westhead system).”

Among the early changes that met with resistance was the installation of a zone press. Westhead’s teams played a man-to-man press. Hillock worried that without the quick Walker in the lineup, his team might not be suited to play man-to-man an entire game. After a meeting with unhappy players in December, the zone press was scrapped.

“I thought a lousy zone would be better than a lousy man (defense) but the kids didn’t respond,” Hillock said. “We switched back but that wasn’t what was losing us games. Turnovers were killing us.”

Hillock is also more of no-nonsense disciplinarian than Westhead. When Lowery was late for the team bus leaving the hotel in Baton Rouge, La., Hillock ordered the bus driver to pull away. An assistant coach got Lowery to the airport in a cab. Lowery was asked what he would have done if the team had left town without him. “Catch the next plane to Oakland,” he said, referring to his hometown.

Luckily for all involved, Lowery stuck around and the team turned things around, winning 10 in a row to finish second in the WCC after starting 0-5. Lowery, who had the double burden of playing point guard and carrying the scoring load, became the first player in conference history to lead the league in scoring and assists. He had several impressive scoring streaks, getting 40 or more points in four of six games in December, and scoring 32 or more in seven of eight games during the 10-game winning streak. In that stretch his low total was 26.

“Terrell and Richard carried it for a long period, and we were getting good support play from somebody every night,” Hillock said.

Among the players who came to the fore were freshmen Ross Richardson and Rahim Harris. Other returning players include forwards John O’Connell, Christian Scott and Chris Knight, all of whom started a number of games.

Shooting forward Brian McCloskey, who was slowed because of a back injury for much of the season, and guard Craig Holt, also return. Holt started all 31 games, and his season in some ways paralleled that of the Lions: He scored in double figures 14 times with a high of 30, but he was also held scoreless four times.

Also returning will be swingman Kareem Washington, a freshman who suffered a severe groin pull in early December and never suited up again, and backup point guard Greg Walker, who developed into a key player down the stretch. Washington will have freshman status next season.

Lowery, who will be free from full-time point guard duties, is expected to start alongside Tony Walker and split time at the point. Hillock said Lowery will probably play less than the 34 minutes per game he averaged this season.

The Lions will be one of several teams in the WCC returning nearly its entire lineup. Defending champion Pepperdine, San Francisco, Santa Clara and St. Mary’s all finished the season strongly without seniors playing a major role.

“Any one of five teams could win it,” Hillock said.

Hillock said his low point was when the team, after playing better in early January, dropped to 0-5 in the WCC and 6-13 overall.

One of the roadblocks Hillock encountered was an anti-Loyola backlash around the league that had built up during Westhead’s tenure. It had been magnified by recent allegations of illegal inducements to players arising from lawsuits filed after Gathers’ death. But before Gathers’ death a year ago, the league had a bad case of Westhead envy, which was held in check until he left.

“I don’t think they were anti-me, but a lot of people wanted us to lose,” Hillock said. “I think that’ll all pass.

“I’m really looking forward to next year.”