Lavin Makes a List, Fans Check It Twice

Who says that Steve Lavin can’t coach? Just when we think that he only rolls the ball out and doesn’t better the players after years of his tutelage, we learn that the fruits of his labors will pay off next year.

Albeit his coaching is directed at Mr. Guerrero with his list of replacements, any one of the names that he mentioned in his weekly news conference should benefit the players who are fortunate to return.

John Boyte

Newhall

T.J. Simers praises Lavin for his good humor and teaching prowess, while Bill Plaschke berates him for quitting and bailing out on his players! One thing is certain, there will be a “new sheriff” in Westwood next year and our last link to another disastrous era in Los Angeles sports -- the Kevin Malone tenure -- will mercifully come to a long-awaited bit of closure.

By the way, how about adding Stanford’s Mike Montgomery and a very-unhappy-in-Philadelphia Larry Brown to our short list?

Allan Kandel

Los Angeles

Whatever Steve Lavin’s deficiencies as a coach, he has been a great example in the way he has conducted himself this season. Imagine a coach speaking the truth and with self-deprecating humor -- what a concept! Is it really possible that I am agreeing with T.J. Simers? What a concept!

Bob Shapiro

Goleta

Steve Lavin feels sorry for himself. The national media feels sorry for Steve Lavin. Why? Because UCLA has a bunch of unreasonable fans and they are going to cost Steve his job.

Back here, on Planet Reality, loyal Bruin fans know the truth. Unreasonable fans did in Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham.

But no one is expecting the second coming of John Wooden anymore.

We expect teams that are well prepared and fire out every game.

We expect a team that plays well during the regular season, so that winning two games in the NCAA tournament does not seem like a miracle run.

Instead, what we get is a coach whose best team was his first team, and every year since has gotten worse.

Lavin will do well working for the media, where the spin is the thing. The basketball court should be reserved for those who know how to coach.

Tony Siracusa

San Gabriel