Rotation Remains a Mystery

Nothing has been scrutinized more during UCLA’s eight-game losing streak than Coach Steve Lavin’s substitution pattern.

Pattern, actually, is the wrong term. Call it a crazy quilt.

Lavin exhibits the sense of fairness of a YMCA coach, seemingly more concerned with making sure everybody plays than with giving his team the best chance of winning.

The rotation has gone 13 deep at times. In the first half of the 83-79 loss to Oregon State on Saturday, 11 Bruins had minutes, leading to awkward and previously unseen combinations such as guards Jon Crispin, Ray Young and Ryan Walcott teamed with centers Michael Fey and T.J. Cummings.

That oddly matched group averages only 26.7 points and 13.7 rebounds.

In fairness, the roster is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: Lavin never knows what he’s going to get.

Rarely does a player string together two strong performances. To a man, the Bruins are consistently inconsistent.

“There has been an inability for guys to separate themselves from the pack,” Lavin said. “In my first six years, it was clear that these are your difference makers, your impact players. This year, and it’s an indication of the type of season we’ve had, there isn’t any group or individual that sets himself apart.”

Example: Freshman center Ryan Hollins looked like the second coming of Lew Alcindor on Thursday against Oregon, blocking seven shots and grabbing 11 rebounds. Two days later against Oregon State he drew two fouls in the first 1:28, sat out the rest of the half and finished with four points and no blocks in nine minutes.

“We’ve tried every combination,” Lavin said. “Big, small, older, younger. Just when you think you start to get a breakthrough, the bottom falls out. Every night a different player steps up and the player who played well in the previous game struggles.”