Me and My SHADOW

A riddle for brilliant college kids, esteemed professors and every other know-all follower of UCLA basketball:

The Bruins don’t win every game by 25 points, or any game by 25 for that matter. They are a sickly 16-7 overall and a ho-hum 8-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference, clustered with clearly inferior Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, USC and California.

You believe the team’s performance is awful. Who is responsible?

Hint: They call him Coach.

“It is quite normal to enjoy praise and dislike criticism, deserved or undeserved, but true strength of character is shown by those who prevent either to affect them in a negative manner.”

--John Wooden in a letter to Steve Lavin

Lavin, in his sixth season as UCLA coach, has come to terms with the bull’s-eye on his back.

He reads the Internet postings calling for his immediate dismissal. He hears the catcalls at Pauley Pavilion when the Bruins struggle. But like immunity built against disease-carrying germs, he has become indifferent to critics.

“It’s a theater of the absurd and I try to take it with a sense of humor,” he said. “There is a boring side to it because it is not original content. The faces of the coaches change, but the reality is that it’s been this way for 25 years.”

Wooden retired as UCLA coach in 1975, going out with his 10th NCAA championship. From Gene Bartow to Jim Harrick, every coach who followed Wooden was shouldered with unrealistic expectations.

Yet none were clobbered more than Lavin. While Wooden invented the Pyramid of Success, critics believe Lavin offers only a Bermuda Triangle of poor recruiting, disorganized practices and poor game decisions.

Lavin, 37, fell into the job before he was ready because of odd circumstances triggered by Harrick’s firing in 1996. He catches himself longing for a place where mistakes of inexperience don’t cause major earthquakes--often saying the ideal first job for him would have been the University of San Francisco--but he is where he is and knows he’s blessed.

“The one thing that makes UCLA unique is Coach Wooden,” Lavin said. “He is the greatest coach maybe in the history of sport. His accomplishments in basketball are unsurpassed. No one will ever match John Wooden. You might have a honeymoon period if you make the Final Four or win a national championship, but eventually you will fall short.

“I understand you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have recruiting advantages, an incredible institution and great tradition and not expect to have high standards of excellence.”

UCLA, under Lavin, is 130-54 (70.7%), has won at least 21 games every season and advanced to the NCAA tournament round of 16 four times and to the round of eight once.

He is one of three coaches to reach the Sweet 16 four times in the last five years, but many of the folks who fill Pauley Pavilion consider this unexceptional. There has been neither a breakthrough Final Four appearance nor a breakdown like Matt Doherty is experiencing at North Carolina.

Senior UCLA administrators appear content for the moment. Vice Chancellor Pete Blackman played under Wooden in the early 1960s and is acutely aware of what Lavin calls “the mythology and pathology of Bruin basketball.” Chancellor Albert Carnesale wants a clean program and believes athletics serve a higher educational purpose.

When Athletic Director Pete Dalis tossed out the name of Rick Pitino at a news conference a year ago like a zookeeper lobbing raw steak to big cats, Lavin met with Blackman and Carnesale and offered to resign.

“I was prepared to step aside if in fact the final negotiation with Pitino had transpired,” he said. “But once I had dialogue eyeball to eyeball with the senior administrators, that was the determining factor in staying.”

Dalis will retire in June and probably lacks the power to fire Lavin on his way out. Although their relationship deteriorated in the last year, Dalis recently sweetened the coach’s buyout terms.

In a sense, the athletic director identifies with the coach. Dalis also was unproven and unequipped when promoted from director of recreational affairs 19 years ago, and he has taken his share of criticism.

Knowing the importance of remaining in the good graces of Blackman and Carnesale, Lavin strikes a politically correct tone when addressing the team’s struggles.

“It’s important to help the kids learn that although this is only a game, it’s a metaphor for life,” he said. “Whenever there is an obstacle or tough stretch, as a teacher or coach you see those as learning opportunities.

“I grew up in a basketball family big on education. I never got into coaching for money or glamour. I wanted to coach and teach and learn from the best in the history of the game.”

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“Character is what we are, while reputation is merely what we are perceived to be by others, so what we think of ourselves is of far more importance.”

--Wooden to Lavin

Another fact of life for UCLA coaches: Not only did Wooden win the most, his pearls of wisdom--some borrowed, some original--are profound.The 91-year-old legend shares them with the beleaguered current coach in handwritten missives. The most recent came Jan. 25, a day after the Bruins lost to Stanford at Pauley Pavilion for the fifth season in a row.

Wooden was at the game, as usual, sitting behind the Bruin bench, at the same odd angle he preferred during a 27-season UCLA tenure that began in 1948.

Those who know you, love you and are with you. As Pearl Mesta said: “Those that mind don’t matter and those that matter don’t mind.”

Keep it up,

Sincerely, John

Lavin keeps the letters in his office along with ones from another elderly mentor, Pete Newell. They provide a stark counterpoint to the barrage of mostly electronic correspondence from the indignant and the enraged.

Shortly after the Pitino episode, UCLA won games at Oregon and Oregon State. Wooden again picked up a pen.

You came through bloody but unbowed and reminded me of how you, personally, have endured, with class, over the past several weeks.

Hardship often creates strength and it is so nice to see how you and ‘your boys’ have bonded. Those who have never suffered adversity never experience the true feeling of success.

Wooden declined to be interviewed for this story, adhering to his long-standing policy of not commenting on the current state of the Bruins.

Does he cringe when center Dan Gadzuric violates a Wooden tenet, confusing activity for achievement by committing fouls indiscriminately and tomahawking dunks off the heel of the rim?

Does he sigh at Lavin’s haphazard substitutions, the shuttling of 10 players in umpteen combinations, when he steadfastly refused to use more than seven players until his teams had a sufficient lead?

Does he abhor the Bruins’ reckless cross-court passes--a no-no in his system?

Probably. But it is clear from his letters that he believes much criticism is without merit. And he must recognize the irony that his success spawned the culture of negativity that has pervaded Westwood since his retirement.

Actually, it was present when he was coaching, as he pointed out in the January letter after UCLA’s loss to Stanford.

I was severely criticized when I permitted Notre Dame to score the last 12 points to overcome our 11-point lead and break an 88-game winning streak.

I was told that if a hummingbird had my brains in its tail end, it would still fly backwards. Others could not understand why it took me 15 years to have a national championship team and why I did or did not do many things that all knowledgeable basketball fans knew.

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Therein lies a difference. While Wooden did not do many things Bruin faithful wished, Lavin does none.

Losing to Ball State in Maui, to Pepperdine at home, to Villanova on the road. Blowing a 20-point lead at Arizona and getting knocked around by USC at the Forum. Getting crushed at Oregon and losing to Stanford at home for the fifth season in a row.

Unforgivable with a lineup of three senior returning starters, a two-time all-conference junior and one of the nation’s most touted freshmen, critics crow.

Lavin pleads for patience, describing the team as a work in progress. Freshman point guard Cedric Bozeman missed a chunk of time with a knee injury and it took a while for coaches to realize this group is not quick enough to play pressure defense.

But even for those who extended the benefit of the doubt, the grace period ends today.

No. 20 UCLA plays host to Arizona, which leads the Pac 10 by one game over Oregon and 1 1/2 over the Bruins, USC, Stanford and Cal. A Bruin victory could throw the race into a six-way tie in the loss column with five games to play.

After Arizona, UCLA has a home game Saturday against improved Arizona State followed by visits to Stanford and Cal. Oregon State and Oregon come to Westwood in two weeks to end the regular season.

“The three goals we set at the beginning of the season, winning the Pac-10, winning the conference tournament and winning the NCAA championship, are still alive,” Lavin said. “We’ve had a lot of valuable experiences, some tough losses and big wins. But all of our goals are still attainable.”

The Bruins have made a habit of stumbling early, finishing strong and putting a dent in the NCAA tournament. But this team was supposed to be better, a collection of seasoned veterans and talented newcomers picked to win the conference and advance to the Final Four.

“Our upper classmen, especially, understand we have a chance to do something special,” Lavin said. “Now there is a sense of urgency.”

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Now for the answer to the riddle.

Responsibility for the team’s performance, as you undoubtedly guessed, falls squarely on Steve Lavin.

But the correct answer is John Wooden, because his legacy is responsible for anybody believing a 16-7, 8-4 record is awful.

Wooden was Lavin’s age when hired by UCLA in 1948. In his 16th season, the Bruins won their first NCAA title.

Could Lavin last that long before winning a championship? Not a chance. But if Wooden is to be believed, the coach who Bruin fans love to loathe will be better for enduring their wrath.

And chased from Westwood, perhaps that title will come at his next stop. He’ll know whom to thank.

Although it would be great if we never had to face adversity, the fact is that it only makes us stronger--be it physically, mentally, morally or spiritually.

--Wooden to Lavin

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Wooden Standard

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Down the Stretch

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