UCLA Remains a Team Searching for Its Identity

They might as well be called the UCLA Who-ins. Because, really, who are they?

Are they the basketball team that beat Purdue on the road, or the one that lost to Cal State Northridge at home? Are they the team that shot 57.6% against the Boilermakers last Saturday, or 33.8% against North Carolina a week earlier? Are they a fastbreaking team, or can they run a consistent and effective halfcourt offense? Is defense an outdated concept?

The Bruins’ mystery tour continues tonight when they open Pacific 10 Conference play against Washington at Pauley Pavilion. The scheduling gods are kind; the Huskies won only three road games in the league last season.

But the folks in Westwood aren’t breathing easy about their 5-4 team. The only predictable things about their team are Coach Steve Lavin’s hairstyle and forward Jason Kapono’s headband.

Lavin was asked if UCLA’s 87-82 victory over Purdue gives his team momentum heading into conference play, considering it was the Bruins’ most impressive performance.

“You really won’t know until the end of this weekend,” said Lavin, whose team plays host to Washington State on Saturday. “I thought we practiced as poorly as I can remember the night before the Purdue game, and yet we came out as sharp as we have all season. . . . There [are] times when you think you’re razor sharp and you’re ready, and you come out and just fall apart. And other games you’ve got ulcers and you’re losing sleep because you don’t think your team’s ready, they don’t understand the magnitude of the game, and [yet] they come out razor sharp. That’s the human element. It’s hard to get a measure on it.”

This season, nearly everything seems to change from week to week for the Bruins. The Bruins have used five different starting lineups in nine games. They switched lineups a dozen times last season and 22 times in 1998-99.

The latest combination is a backcourt tandem of Earl Watson and shooting guard Jason Flowers, who made his first start in the Purdue game and seemed to provide a spark. Lavin said Tuesday there’s a good chance Flowers will start again, and the chances of that happening went up Wednesday when Ray Young was ruled out of tonight’s game because of a sprained left foot.

Lavin is hoping the performance at Purdue was the start of a trend, not an aberration. The Bruins did a nice job of adjusting to the Boilermakers’ perimeter pressure and taking advantage of mismatches inside. Center Dan Gadzuric made each of his eight shots--six were resounding dunks--and showed no effects from the sore hand that had bothered him since the Hawaii game.

“I would like to think the Purdue game gave us some confidence and momentum,” Lavin said. “We were able to grind out a win in a hostile environment. We’re going to need to be able to do that in the Pac-10.”

The Bruins aren’t the only conference team that plays musical lineups. Washington (6-6) has used five combinations, with eight players drawing at least one starting assignment. The Huskies’ shuffling has been a result of injuries, for the most part.

UCLA, which ranks last in the Pac-10 in defense (giving up 78.2 points), split its series with Washington last season, with each team winning at home. The Bruins are 35-2 against the Huskies since moving to Pauley Pavilion in 1965.