Future Not Tense

The thought was as fleeting as it was appealing. Steve Lavin grinned a week ago when asked about leaving UCLA for another job, getting out on his own terms, head high, landing somewhere the populace would appreciate a string of 20-victory seasons and Sweet 16 appearances.

DePaul has an opening. Other schools will too.

But the UCLA coach paused, contemplated what he has built in Westwood and said, “I don’t think I want to go anywhere because we have such a great team coming back.”

The current season isn’t over, thanks to the Bruins’ most determined effort in years, a 105-101 double-overtime victory over Cincinnati, the top-seeded team in the West Regional. No. 8-seeded UCLA will face No. 12 Missouri on Thursday in the round of 16 in San Jose.

But it’s not too early to also consider the development of individual players and take a peek into their future. Depending on whether the veteran-dominated starters or the youthful reserves were on the floor, watching the Bruins against Cincinnati and first-round victim Mississippi was like visiting Jurassic Park or Tomorrowland.

“Distributing playing time and coming up with effective combinations has made this my most challenging season as a coach,” Lavin said. “But the only challenges are on the court. There hasn’t been a single problem with these kids off the court, and that’s made the season enjoyable despite the ups and downs.”

Getting up and down the floor with extreme quickness could be the team’s signature next season. Already, UCLA goes from stodgy to sprightly when sophomore T.J. Cummings and freshmen Cedric Bozeman, Dijon Thompson, Andre Patterson and Ryan Walcott are in the lineup. The tempo increases, opponents get flustered and the game is fun to watch.

“That’s the way we’ll be next season,” Cummings said. “I think we’ll press and run and force a lot of mistakes.”

The tournament games at Pittsburgh were a sneak preview. Bruin reserves scored 42 points against Mississippi and 23 against Cincinnati, with Thompson leading the way with 26.

“What’s nice is our freshmen are building confidence,” Lavin said. “They are taking shots with games on the line. That’s a great sign for the future.”

The departure of seniors Dan Gadzuric, Matt Barnes, Billy Knight and Rico Hines will be felt; they combine for nearly 40 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists a game. And if Jason Kapono, a junior, leaves for the NBA, he’ll take with him another 16.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists.

However, Kapono sends signals that he might return. And three players sitting out this season should go a long way toward filling the gaps.

Guard Ray Young, who is redshirting, will be a senior. He is a solid defender who isn’t afraid to launch three-point shots. Although his shooting percentage dipped in each of his last two seasons, he has spent the last 12 months honing his stroke.

Another shooting guard, junior Jon Crispin, will be eligible after transferring from Penn State, where he averaged 8.2 points and made 110 three-point baskets in two seasons.

Michael Fey, a 6-11 freshman center, is redshirting because it took him until January to gain admittance to UCLA. He can’t be expected to fill Gadzuric’s shoes right away, but he’s strong and skilled.

The two players at the end of the bench, redshirt freshman Josiah Johnson and sophomore center John Hoffart, will add depth, and incoming freshman wing player Evan Burns of Fairfax High is expected to contribute immediately, much the way Thompson has this season.

“We have the makings of a really good squad,” Thompson said. “We’ll all get better during the off-season. That’s the key for us, to keep improving.”

Near the top of the long list of criticisms directed at Lavin is that his players don’t improve. But a close look at the current roster provides a forceful rebuttal.

* Barnes and Knight, who both contemplated transferring early in their careers, persevered and steadily polished their games, hiking their scoring averages every year.

Lavin has allowed Barnes to operate on the perimeter for the first time, with mixed results. A streaky shooter, the 6-7 forward has made 41 of 98 three-point attempts and finds teammates while playing something of a point forward, leading the team with 104 assists.

However, he is also the leader in turnovers with 85 and his rebounding has slipped from 7.2 a game a season ago to 6.0. He has only 41 offensive boards.

Knight, a full-time starter for the first time, is 60 of 147 from three-point range, like Barnes making better than 40%. His senior season has been beyond anyone’s expectations.

Both are also on track academically. Knight, who redshirted his second year, has graduated and Barnes plans to finish his requirements during the summer.

* Gadzuric and Cummings. Big men often confound even the most highly respected coaches with their inconsistency. Witness former Arizona center Loren Woods and current Duke post player Carlos Boozer.

Gadzuric’s career, to be sure, has been wildly uneven. But in his last 18 games he has finally found consistency, scoring in double figures in all but four games and dominating Cincinnati with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Like Barnes, he is only a few classes short of his degree despite not redshirting.

Cummings has improved his scoring average from 6.4 to 7.8 and his field-goal percentage from 48.5% to 51.4%. He is not as strong defensively or on the boards as he should be at 6-10, but plans to continue adding muscle mass during the off-season.

* Kapono and Hines. Neither has an especially high ceiling, but both get the most out of their ability.

Kapono is one of the nation’s most accurate shooters and his climb through the Bruin record book in scoring categories is a testament to his consistency. He has 87 three-point baskets this season after making 84 in 2000-2001 and 82 in 1999-2000.

And he proved during a nine-game early-season stint at point guard that his ball-handling skills have improved--UCLA won all nine games.

Hines, a senior, came to UCLA as an afterthought and will leave with a legacy as a leader.

He never did develop a shot--his seven points against Mississippi were three more than any other game this season. But he takes more charges than any other Bruin, dives for balls, brings tenacity on defense and sets a great example for younger players.

Hines, who redshirted last season, has graduated and Kapono is on track to do so if he returns for his senior year.

* Bozeman and Walcott. No one has taken more lumps than the freshmen point guards, but their anticipated meltdown in Pittsburgh never materialized and they outplayed senior foes Jason Harrison of Ole Miss and Steve Logan of Cincinnati.

Their position is the most difficult to master and mistakes ripple across all five players on the court. Both players need to hone their outside shooting and Bozeman must become a better free-throw shooter.

But Walcott’s playmaking in the last month and Bozeman’s improved defense and aggressive ball-handling indicate the basketball will be in good hands in coming seasons.

* Thompson and Patterson. No one has improved more dramatically than Thompson, who went from a turnover-prone liability to a clutch shooter and opportunistic defender seemingly overnight.

Patterson, a human pogo stick, is shooting 53.8% and crashes the boards harder than any other Bruin, averaging a rebound every four minutes.

The 6-7 freshmen are rapidly becoming adept at the full-court press, making the most of their athleticism and long arms.

So Lavin most likely won’t clear out his office in Morgan Center--to the chagrin of his critics.

The future is too bright.

And it’s a future he molded.