Imagine if Bruins Were Out of the Top 10

If I didn’t know better, I would swear that Jim Harrick was still coaching the UCLA basketball team--except this squad is even less fundamentally sound than some of Harrick’s.

I don’t know what Steve Lavin is teaching the Bruins during his closed practices, but it certainly doesn’t include defending [against] the three-point shot, or learning how not to commit useless reaching fouls. And because the offense consists solely of one-on-one play by the talented but undisciplined players, I can only conclude that the likable Lavin is simply an enthusiastic, positive-thinking salesman, 10 years short of the coaching savvy that should have been requisite for this prestigious program.

WILLIAM PLATT

Sherman Oaks

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You never know. Pete Dalis takes a blind flier on Bob Toledo and comes up with a diamond. Steve Lavin, on the other hand, begins to look like a cubic zirconium.

We all know how popular “Lav� is. We’ve heard the stories of “Cap� and “Uncle Pete� and of course he pays the usual lip service to “the Wizard.� He’s sensitive, self-effacing and utterly “real.� Indeed, he seems frighteningly like the young Terry Donahue. But if UCLA isn’t careful, we may all be in for another 20 years of frustration and underachievement.

Let’s face it. Lavin looks like one more lemon on the post-Wooden lemon tree.

He can barely summon the courage to take minutes from the sacred Toby Bailey and J.R. Henderson (the real reason Reed and Knight aren’t playing), or insert Jelani McCoy into the starting lineup. He worries over Earl Watson’s homesickness, while all but wasting Baron Davis’ talents. He has, however, taken the concept of the coach as cheerleader to a new level. This human whoopee cushion could find something positive in Armageddon. In short, he looks like your generic “players’ � coach, one of those guys who piggybacks on the talents of his phenoms without ever refining and molding those talents into a team.

CHARLES CHICCOA

Reseda

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I love the job Steve Lavin has done with UCLA, but he needs to find a way to get more minutes for his talented reserves. It’s no wonder his starters run out of gas and give up big leads down the stretch. He should learn a lesson from Rick Pitino.

ELI EISENBERG

Agoura Hills