Another Sweet and Sour End

Coach Wooden said, “Do not confuse activity for achievement.” I think he was referring to Sweet 16 appearances.

Jon Banks

Brentwood

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About the time UCLA starts hanging “Sweet 16” banners in Pauley Pavilion and USC starts hanging “Las Vegas Bowl participant” banners in Heritage Hall, then everyone will accept the accomplishments of Steve Lavin.

Victor Wilson

Palos Verdes Estates

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After six years of Steve Lavin, it’s pretty obvious what he can and can’t accomplish at UCLA. He will never compete for a national championship. He will not make a Final Four, as that would require four consecutive victories over increasingly difficult competition. He will not win another conference title. He will win on the low side of 20 games each year and will win a couple of games in the NCAA tournament.

For a school with the tradition and capacity for greatness of UCLA, it’s not nearly enough. And that’s why each year, the Pauley crowds become sparser and less vocal; why Lavin, much to his apparent surprise, is the target of so much criticism. It’s why many alumni and fans root in vain for total implosion, as the only hope of escaping this limbo. But because the clueless chancellor and incompetent athletic department seem quite satisfied, we’ll undoubtedly be forced to suffer through more of this dreariness.

Wake us all up next March for another one-week season.

William Platt

Sherman Oaks

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Oh, so that’s it. Bill Plaschke has it figured out. Lavin cost us the game (again) by giving Matt Barnes a rest. Forget about leading scorer and probable soon-to-be pro Jason Kapono inexplicably disappearing yet again in a big game. Forget about a great performance by Missouri’s outside shooters, going 10 for 23 from the three-point line. Forget that sometimes the ball just bounces the other way.

Nope, for Plaschke, and too many others, its always about Lavin when the Bruins lose. Of course, the “hounds will be barking again” started in your pages. One minute and 38 seconds? Maybe the coach should have put himself in the game and hit a couple threes.

Joseph Duncan

Santa Monica

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Bill Plaschke’s comments regarding the UCLA loss are ridiculous and clearly demonstrate that he knows little about active sports and even less about coaching. Lavin’s pulling Barnes had nothing to do with the loss. Dude, the kid can’t play the whole game, and Lavin can’t defend or shoot from the bench, as, obviously, you can from the keyboard.

Dan Jensen

San Clemente

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“Passing of the baton?” You’ve got to be kidding! No offense to guys like Hoffart and Johnson, but the game wasn’t out of reach. Even with no timeouts remaining, 46 seconds in college basketball is an eternity.

Down by seven, it was still a two-, or perhaps three-possession game. A missed shot, quick steal or lucky bounce and the Bruins are right back in it. Steve, did you see the end of Duke-Indiana? You were there in ’95 when Edney made his run. It’s called March Madness for a reason.

Mike Kichaven

Sherman Oaks

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Earlier this week, Bill Plaschke ended his column on Steve Lavin’s coaching technique by asking, “Does it matter?” Mr. Plaschke, yes, it does matter. The Bruins aren’t supposed to be the underdog in basketball, and we aren’t satisfied with solely an appearance in the Sweet 16.

Emotional highs and athletic ability might get wins over Cincinnati and Kansas. But inevitably, the emotions swing and we get smacked with embarrassing losses year after year. So, why get excited when we get back on an emotional high for a meager two-game win streak to start the NCAA tournament? We know Lavin and his rah-rah method cannot sustain an emotional high long enough to achieve four wins for the Final Four or six for the championship. UCLA clearly had more talent on the floor than Missouri and Lavin couldn’t even get by a team that had lots of turnovers and an inexperienced coach. The emotions simply don’t last.

Scott Lorenz

La Canada Flintridge

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I am once again amused at the trumpeting of Steve Lavin’s “success” in reaching the Sweet 16. Lest anyone be confused by this latest sleight of hand, please note the following:

1. When you consistently recruit a “top-10” class of athlete, reaching the “top 16” in the tournament is underachieving.

2. Finishing in the bottom half of the Pac-10 takes total incompetence with such athletes.

3. Losing regular-season games to such luminaries as Villanova and Ball State is incredibly embarrassing.

The bottom line is, any Division I coach in America with similar talent could not help matching the “success” of Lavin. More important, no Division I power would even interview the New Wizard if he were suddenly unemployed. Being in the right place at the right time does not a competent coach make!

Mark S. Roth

Los Angeles

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Ah, Westwood, Land of Impossible Expectations: Lavin’s team loses, it’s because of him. Lavin’s team wins, it’s despite him. It has been that way since Wooden retired, leaving a legacy and a curse of 10 NCAA basketball championships that bedevils all who follow. No one has measured up and, as time embellishes the accomplishment’s magnitude, no one will. In Lavin’s case, the criticisms are especially venomous and, if Times writers (who display no reluctance to lead the boo choir) are correct, he seems to always be on the bubble and buying time--one more season, one more game.

Within this superheated atmosphere he recruits and perseveres and succeeds, coaching in one of the toughest conferences in the country, scheduling fewer encounters with Cupcake U. than most of the anointed college geniuses, and winning more playoff games than any ordinary dope should.

For a guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing, his record seems implausible. In six seasons, Lavin teams have won 135 times and lost 59. He has never had a year of fewer than 21 victories, with a per-season average of 22.5. That puts him close to his mentor and predecessor, Jim Harrick, who in eight years before being banished won 192 while losing 62.

But those teams should win, the detractors cry. The players are simply better than their peers. Oh, right. Then how come over this 14-year span there have been only two Associated Press All-Americans--Ed O’Bannon (twice) and Don MacLean?

A colleague once said, “I’ve got my mind made up; don’t bother me with facts.” He was kidding, of course. In Westwood, though, it seems to have become a mantra.

Bill Walker

Santa Maria

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If only Bill Walton had been packing lunches for Steve Lavin all these years.

John Nisley

Los Angeles