On the way to another loss, in a season already up in flames,
Steve Lavin found a new way to try and light a fire under his
team.
With 13 minutes, 14 seconds left in the second half of a game
the Bruins (4-9, 2-3 Pac-10) would ultimately lose 87-52 to No. 2
Arizona, Lavin put perennial benchwarmers Janou Rubin, Marcedes
Lewis, Quinn Hawking and Michael Fey in for four regulars.
Lavin said he was looking for a spark ““ some energy, some
aggression, something that looked like the players on the floor
truly cared.
“Those kids work so hard in practice and hardly ever get
an opportunity to contribute,” Lavin said.
In a way, the spark caught fire. What remained of an announced
crowd of 11,082 cheered the entrance of Lavin’s lovable last
resorts, and the team responded with inspired play on both ends of
the floor.
Rubin hit the Bruins’ first three pointer of the game
““ and hit all of UCLA’s threes in the game ““ to
the delight of a disgruntled Pauley Pavilion.
But just when Lavin had the boo birds on his side, he subbed the
foursome out after only four minutes. When the fans heard of the
change, they booed the entrance of UCLA’s McDonald’s
All-Americans and All-Pac-10 players.
“I heard them booing the starting lineup,” Arizona
forward Isiah Fox said. “We didn’t even see those guys
on our scouting report.”
Beyond acting as another one of his unsuccessful gimmicks, the
surprising move addressed a fundamental problem that is growing as
redundant as their mantra, “we need to play for a full 40
minutes.”
The Bruins keep falling behind early. By their own admission,
they can’t seem to find a way to drum up intensity for more
than 10 minutes at a time. In going to the reserves with so much
time left on the clock, players felt Lavin was making a
statement.
“It speaks for itself,” sophomore Andre Patterson
said of the benching. “It takes a lot of heart to be those
guys. They play so hard, they don’t care how much we’re
losing by. They don’t bitch and moan.”
Lavin made no comments regarding a possible lineup switch, which
may mean that the regulars ““ who managed a season-low 18
points in the first half ““ will have to find a way to turn
things around.
Senior Jason Kapono’s cold streak continued, as he missed
five of seven shots and played only 20 minutes. T.J. Cummings was 3
for 13 from the field. Dijon Thompson, 5 for 15.
And though responsibility for the team has recently fallen
heavily on Lavin, one member of the Wildcats (13-1, 6-0) placed the
onus on the guys on the floor.
“I blame the players,” Arizona freshman Hassan Adams
said. “You could tell they didn’t want it. They have a
talented team, and they need to want it.”
Midway through the first half, when the score was still a
manageable 16-10, UCLA got three straight chances to score but
couldn’t convert.
With Arizona mired in one of its worst shooting slumps of the
season, the Bruins might have been able to get into the game. Or so
the story goes, according to Cummings.
“All that shoulda, woulda, coulda is getting old,”
he said.
Opposing fans sure aren’t tiring from insults toward Lavin
and the Bruins. One Wildcat supporter walked up the middle of the
UCLA student section with a sign that read: “Keep Lavin
““ Arizona Loves Him.”
As their reeling team heads to Stanford and Cal next weekend,
Bruin fans can only wonder what Lavin pulls out next time from his
bag of tricks. Rubin, their hottest shooter, is a sophomore who had
scored a total of six points in his career before Saturday.
Lavin has tried five-man line changes. He’s tried clearing
out his bench early in the game.
What’s next? Janou Rubin, UCLA starter?
“At first I was kind of shocked about going in,”
said an understated but smiling Rubin. “He’s trying to
find somebody to spark this team. That’s the biggest thing
missing.”