The Word for Guerrero Is Shaky, Not Stirring

I just happened to take a seat near UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero Thursday during the Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center, which got me to wondering whether the guy who hired Karl Dullard and Ben Howland has been taking any heat.

“I knew when I saw you sitting there I should have gone and gotten some popcorn,” Guerrero said, which means he probably would have found himself standing in line behind Mike Garrett.

“Heat? I don’t feel any heat,” he added, which suggests the columnists in this town haven’t been doing a very good job. I told him I’d have a talk with Plaschke.

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ACCORDING TO the UCLA media guide, “In just one year as UCLA’s director of athletics Guerrero has boldly placed his imprint on the school’s athletic program.”

When you consider Steve Lavin and Bob Toledo were a combined 18-24 before being replaced by Guerrero’s guys, who together finished 17-24, there’s no question Guerrero has boldly placed his shaky imprint on UCLA’s program.

“Shaky?” Guerrero said. “No, not shaky. I hired two coaches who took over programs that were in serious need of revamping. It’d be nice to push a button and go straight to the penthouse, but there are various floors you have to stop on.”

UCLA football, of course, finished the season parked in the basement, losing a who-cares bowl game to Fresno State and prompting a flood of e-mail to Page 2 recently mentioning Dullard and, for some reason, cadavers, in the same sentence.

“Basketball is going to improve quicker,” Guerrero said, while indicating he’s seen lots of life in Dorrell. “It’s not a Ben-versus-Karl thing, but just a matter of where the respective programs were when they took over.”

Say what? You mean the UCLA football program was worse off under Toledo than the basketball outfit under Lavin? That’s the nicest thing anyone at UCLA has ever said about Lavin.

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UCLA MIGHT very well field great volleyball teams for all I know, but Guerrero’s success will be measured by how well Dullard and Howland fare.

“I should be judged on them,” said Guerrero, who gets a failing grade to date then. “What’s the worst that can happen [if it doesn’t work out]?”

Well, UCLA football could forever play tackling dummy to USC, while Bruin basketball plays plodding, boring Big East defensive-minded basketball and, like Lavin’s teams, gets no further than the Sweet 16. Two bad hires could ultimately cost the AD his job.

“That’s the worst that can happen?” he said. “Listen, I do my job like I play golf -- I swing hard and live with the consequences. Sometimes I drive the ball 300 yards down the middle and sometimes I go OB. I can’t change my game.”

I guess that’s his way of saying if he could do it all over again, he would still hire the two guys who haven’t done much for Bruin self-esteem so far. Dullard had no head coaching experience, and Howland appeared to fall in love with his recruits, while writing off this season.

“Knute Rockne wouldn’t have changed what happened with our football team this season,” Guerrero said. “A more experienced coach might have given us one more win, maybe two, and maybe not. There’s no quick fix, and it’s going to be fixed right.

“The question with both of these coaches is: Will they be given the time to get their programs where we want them? I’m going to give them the time.”

Howland, of course, will earn more patience from fans because of his successful track record as a head coach and because he has been doing such a good job selling everyone on the strength of his recruits -- at the expense of the players he was paid to coach this season.

“He’s never given up on these guys,” Guerrero said in Howland’s defense. “He’s coached them to the bitter end, and if tonight is the bitter end, I can tell you he’s coached them hard all the way.”

It was the bitter end Thursday night for UCLA basketball, the Bruins finishing with 14 losses in their last 16 games. They didn’t even get a Lavin finish in the tournament, although Guerrero insisted Howland never gave up on these guys.

At one time, however, before Howland really began talking up his recruits, the Bruins were 5-0 in the Pac-10. And recently Lavin told The Times the Bruins were loaded with NBA talent, which suggests the team should never have finished as poorly as 11-17.

“I didn’t hear that question,” Guerrero said when I asked him about Lavin’s comments, so I repeated it. “I didn’t hear that question,” he said once again.

There are so many more questions to come, of course, especially if Dullard and Howland ever make Bruin fans long for the good old days -- when Toledo and Lavin were still on the job.

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TWENTY-EIGHT NBA teams bought tickets so they could scout the Pac-10 tournament. Like you, I was stunned to learn the Clippers were one of the teams to pay for a ticket.

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I ALWAYS believe the women should be given their due in sports just like the men, so after considerable scrutiny, there is no question Oregon has the best cheerleaders -- for the third straight year in the Pac-10 tournament.

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USC WAS still playing when I left Staples on Thursday night, but it wasn’t football, so who cares?

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Doug Groshart:

“I’d be interested to see if there are any sports franchises or athletes that you actually like and respect. Are they any?”

I’m thinking.... I’m still thinking.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.