Pressure is on for Lavin, Davis to win championship next year

Thursday, 5/1/97 Pressure is on for Lavin, Davis to win
championship next year New talent ups expectations, strong leader
needed to set tone

Steve Fisher felt the pressure because Rumeal Robinson hit two
free throws in 1989 to earn the interim coach a long-term contract
after only six games. Six games and a national championship for the
Michigan Wolverines, that is. One year later, there were no
celebrations, and the buzz around Ann Arbor was that he couldn’t
recruit. Enter Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King
and Ray Jackson. The Fab Five. OK, so Fisher was a recruiting god.
But could he win it all again? In college basketball, the relieving
of pressure only leads to more. At the start of 1996-97 season,
Steve Lavin was wondering how he was going to pay off his debt. Now
at the helm of UCLA’s basketball program, Lavin’s financial worries
have been replaced by the stress induced by having more talent than
a three-ring circus and expectations set higher than a tightrope.
At a place like Arizona, the expectations are just as high for next
year. Lute Olsen’s squad is returning all five starters from the
national championship team. That’s right, all five. Nonetheless,
with the acquisitions of Baron Davis and Schea Cotton, the Bruins
will have more talent than any team in the country. The pressure on
them to win it all will be as great as it is for the Wildcats. And
yet, the players seem to invite it. Jelani McCoy and Kris Johnson
are already talking about the Final Four and a national
championship. Davis announced that his first goal is to win the
title. Certainly, these aren’t unrealistic dreams. But the biggest
challenge Lavin will face will be similar to the one Fisher faced
at Michigan during the Fab Five days. The Bruins aren’t anywhere
near as cocky and arrogant as the young Wolverines were – their
mouths flapped every bit as much as their baggy maize-and-blue
shorts. In terms of stable, on-the-court leadership, however,
someone new will have to step up for UCLA. The loss of Cameron
Dollar and Charles O’Bannon changes the chemistry of the team. The
two seniors were leaders both vocally and in terms of their style
of play. The difference between the Bruins at the beginning of last
season and the team we saw at the end was that the latter was a
poised group that played like five fingers on the same hand. The
catalysts for this change were Dollar and O’Bannon, as both looked
to get their teammates involved more than they looked to score.
Whereas Dollar’s value was felt most strongly on the defensive end
of the floor, Davis will likely be more of an offensive scoring
threat. This changes the complexion of the Bruins’ offensive attack
because more points will be coming from the point guard position.
Last season, Lavin was amazingly able to get consistently unselfish
play out of a group containing four players with dreams of playing
at the next level. O’Bannon was the one who set the tone, letting
the game come to him instead of forcing shots. Next season, there
will be five or six players with NBA hopes and still only one ball.
The pressure to land the prized recruits in Westwood for next
season may have subsided, but Lavin’s new challenge is to replicate
last season’s team’s style of play. At the center of this is Baron
Davis, who will have to do more than dazzle us with his shooting
and passing. He’ll have to grow up fast enough to quarterback a
team of superstars.