UCLA basketball begins preseason

Tuesday, November 12, 1996

BASKETBALL:

All eyes on Lavin as he debuts in exhibition game By Hye
Kwon

Daily Bruin Staff

Normally, exhibition contests are little more than warm-up games
before the real season begins. Run some plays, sell some hot dogs,
get the fans excited for the regular season ­ that’s basically
the idea.

But as the UCLA men’s basketball team starts its 1996-97
exhibition schedule tonight at 7:30 p.m. against Athletes in
Action, suddenly these games aren’t so meaningless.

The Bruins have stated that they are dedicating this season to
their fired coach, and tonight’s game ­ despite the fact that
it is an exhibition game ­ will serve to indicate if that
commitment will translate into on-court success.

Pepperdine head coach Lorenzo Romar, who knows the UCLA players
as well as anyone, believes that the Bruins’ maturity will help
anchor the team.

"Last year, it would have been difficult for the Bruins but this
year, it won’t be too hard for them to make this season a
successful one," Romar said. "They’re a year older and a year more
mature."

In the unenviable position of being an interim head coach with
an uncertain future, Steve Lavin will make his sideline debut
tonight. Needless to say, all eyes will be focused on the
32-year-old Lavin as he replaces the man that brought UCLA its 11th
national championship.

Will Lavin duplicate the success stories of Steve Fisher of
Michigan in 1989 and Todd Bozeman of California in 1992, who guided
their teams to impressive post-season finishes as interim coaches?
Or will he mimic the performance of Southern California’s Henry
Bibby who went 0-9 as the Trojans’ interim coach last season?

Romar believes that despite his lack of experience as a head
coach, Lavin is capable of keeping the UCLA ship afloat and headed
in the right direction.

"He’s one of the sharpest minds to not have been a head coach,"
Romar said. "One of the keys to coaching is communication, and he’s
gifted that way. He’s also been around great coaches, which helps
tremendously.

"I understand it’s a tough situation, but he will do the job
better than a lot of people think. You can’t just count him
out."

The Bruins’ performance tonight can also serve as a measuring
stick against other nationally ranked teams, with some imagination.
Cincinnati, which is ranked No. 1 in many of the preseason polls,
destroyed Athletes in Action 91-74 last Saturday.

The leading scorers for Athletes in Action in the Bearcat game
were Eric Kubel of Northwest Louisiana (class of 1994) and Derek
Farksa of Holy Cross (1993). Kubel finished with 12 points, while
Farksa ended with 10.

Athletes in Action finished the second half of Saturday’s game
shooting 26.8 percent, a mark that must be improved upon if it will
have any kind of success against the Bruins tonight.