Players Having Trouble Sorting Out the Mess

This, in a nutshell, is what UCLA basketball has become. Disappointment and stretches of impossibly bad basketball. Desperate moves by the coach. A rally. Ultimately, not enough to leave you fulfilled.

It was the story of this game, a 75-64 victory by Arizona State. But it felt like the movie version, a two-hour summary of this season, and so many seasons before it.

We’ve got two months to go. For those of you still bothering to come to Pauley Pavilion, bring reading material.

Athletic Director Dan Guerrero says he won’t make a final judgment on Steve Lavin until after the season, so this could have the feel of a long, drawn-out court proceeding.

Besieged by reporters on Tuesday, with the implication that the season already was over, Guerrero felt compelled to remind them that the Bruins were 2-1 in the Pacific-10. Well, it’s 2-2 now, 4-8 overall, with second-ranked Arizona coming to Pauley on Saturday.

I don’t see the late-season rallies and Sweet 16 trips that have defined Lavin’s tenure happening this year. So you’ll have to settle for this mini-rally, a comeback from a 21-point deficit to pull within six in the final six minutes.

It doesn’t look as if it will be the story of a coach who went from pondering resignation in January to wearing a net around his neck in March.

The Lavin stories could work in his favor on two fronts. Either they’d serve to rally the team and make his latest comeback that much more dramatic or the distractions would provide an excuse for further dismal play.

But nothing’s going in his favor right now. That included his latest maneuver, hockey-style line changes every five minutes in the first half Thursday night. He swapped out entire lineups just often enough to stunt whatever flow the Bruins could generate.

“With the five-in, five-out, I don’t think guys had the rhythm,” forward Jason Kapono said. “And we just weren’t playing hard.”

Said Lavin: “All year we’ve been searching for some combination of players that would give us a spark, that energy we need.”

The search continues.

So do the empty seats.

It’s hard to tell which was more damning, the sight of hundreds of empty yellow seats at the top of Pauley Pavilion or the sound of a lone voice that came from the blue seats.

“They quit on you, Lav,” the disgruntled fan said. “They quit.”

Not entirely. The second-half comeback indicated the players still take some pride in the four letters on their chests. But it’s almost as if it’s instinctive, something just to save face.

They sure didn’t show the fire in the first half, when Arizona State grabbed offensive rebound after offensive rebound (10 total in the first 20 minutes) and consistently beat the Bruins down the floor.

Most fans wanted to cheer. They applauded the simplest steps, such as a good defensive stop.

But they booed as Lavin went to and from the locker room in halftime.

Just like any pending divorce, the question you have to ask is: “What about the kids?”

With UCLA and Lavin heading for an inevitable separation, and the only intrigue centered around whether Lavin or Guerrero would file the papers first, UCLA’s players are stuck in the middle.

This week they had to endure a day of speculation spawned by published reports that Lavin would resign, followed by a session of answering questions about the state of the program, their minds and their games.

“It’s a lot of stuff going on,” center T.J. Cummings said. “I’ve really been reaching down into my spiritual life to find things that are balancing my life. Because when things get off-balance you have to find a balance in your life.

“I just try to get back to my Bible and try to get my mind right and go to class and then go right back to work at practice, because that’s all I can do.”

Basketball should be their escape, but instead it only compounds the problems.

“We’re frustrated,” said Kapono, who finally got his chances to take shots in the second half and made only three of them. “We want to get on the court and get a win. Obviously it’s tough on your mind, anytime you’re struggling and you’re always down 20 and fighting back.”

As he said earlier, “We’ve got to get past spotting teams 20-point leads and then trying to play the Comeback Kid for the last 20 minutes.”

And then the minute the game ends it’s back to the speculation.

“I think it bothers us somewhat, but once we get on the floor we get caught up in playing basketball,” Kapono said. “But throughout the week I think guys kind of get preoccupied, like they’re worried about things.”

Lavin refuses to be pessimistic.

“It’s as good a group as I’ve ever been with,” Lavin said. “We’re not playing very effective basketball and obviously haven’t been successful in terms of wins and losses, but I really like the group in terms of a daily basis of working with them.”

Maybe he’ll get visitation rights.

J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com

*

(BGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Off Seasons

*--* 2002-03 Steve Lavin 4-8 Starts of 4-8 or worse by UCLA since it began playing basketball in 1919: Season Coach Start Final 1944-45 Wilbur Johns 2-10 12-12 1945-46 Wilbur Johns 2-10 8-16 1940-41 Wilbur Johns 3-9 6-20 1941-42 Wilbur Johns 3-9 5-18 1936-37 Caddy Works 4-8 6-14 1937-38 Caddy Works 4-8 4-20 1987-88 Walt Hazzard 4-8 16-14

*--*