Expansive Lavin Antithesis of Brusque Bibby

By BILL PLASCHKE

March 21, 2001 12 AM PT

PHILADELPHIA — Same journey, different trips.

The kid arrives at the Sweet 16 on skates, his hair shining, his rap flying.

The NCAA tournament loves Steve Lavin, and the feeling is mutual.

“It’s like Pete Newell says,” he said. “December is for show and March is for dough.”

The curmudgeon arrives at the Sweet 16 in a tank. He doesn’t have any hair. Rap is something he does to his team when it stinks.

The NCAA tournament has no idea what to make of Henry Bibby, and he couldn’t care less.

“I can’t change now,” he said. “I still have to be ol’ Henry.”

For the first time in 23 years Thursday, two schools from the same city will be appearing in the same NCAA regional semifinals, although it may not seem like it.

A nation watching Bibby lead USC against Kentucky, then Lavin lead UCLA against Duke, may find it odd that both men are from the same place.

Those of us who live there may find it perfect.

Their appearance is as different as Beverly Hills and Buena Park. The climate surrounding their programs is as varied as Santa Monica and San Fernando.

For the last four tournaments, Lavin led the nation to believe that L.A.’s new basketball era was all about pinstripes and platitudes.

Until Bibby joined him this year in a stomping, breathless huff.

Said Lavin: “To walk that fine line between preparing your team and allowing it to have fun is something I have learned.”

Said Bibby: “I’m not about being tough. I’m about business. I’m about being accountable.”

Same town, different planets.

Lavin has conquered March with charm and grace. There is no question too tough, no interview too long, no bottom to the reserve of sermons he saves for answers.

The other day, someone wondered whether Lavin would talk about his hair.

Just then, he talked about whether he thought he was going to be fired.

The writer dared to ask about the hair.

“You’re trying to model for the people in your program,” Lavin said later. “Respecting others, having patience for people, that’s an important example to set for the players.”

Bibby is attacking March with something sharper, that same brutal honesty he used during the season in criticizing his players.

During a conference call earlier this week, a writer from a small-town newspaper in Kentucky asked what he thought of two Wildcat stars. Bibby brushed him off.

The next question, scheduled to come from another small-town writer in Kentucky, was suddenly withdrawn.

“Do you know how many small-town papers in Kentucky write about what Tubby Smith is going to do?” Bibby asked. “Do you know how many of those papers I try to read? I’m not going give away anything like that.”

Then there was the CBS announcer who cornered Bibby for a nationally televised interview after the Trojans’ second-round upset of Boston College.

Typically, a coach will stay on camera as long as possible, hoping that recruits nationwide will see what a great guy he is.

Bibby answered one question and ran, even as the announcer was preparing to ask another one.

“I was excited, can’t I be excited?” Bibby said. “I wasn’t going to stand there and talk for an hour.”

The Trojans and Bibby have actually been more accessible to the media in the past two weeks, leading to the question, is the coach changing for this tournament?

“No, I’m just talking to you because I have to,” he said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I need to stay focused for my team. My team needs to see this.”

Different approach, same result.

Lavin’s players see him smile. They see him take the heat. They imitate him on the court.

The Bruins are typically stressed in February, but serene in March. Watching him act so unafraid, for so long, eventually makes them fearless.

Bibby’s players see him scowl. They see him stew. They hear his honesty.

Their effort in these first two rounds was as hard, and honest, as any effort given by any team in the tournament so far.

“Steve Lavin has a leader over there in Earl Watson, somebody who will not let his team lose, who says that to the players,” Bibby said. “I don’t have that type of leader over here. I don’t have anybody who has said that this year. So I have to be that type of leader.”

Some think this idea of leadership made things tougher on Bibby during the recent controversy surrounding the three walk-ons who quit the team because of alleged mistreatment.

Instead of blaming it on a staff member, or offering explanations--both approaches would have saved him--he curtly did not deny the problems, and paid a heavy public price.

It was the sort of turmoil that Lavin erases every March.

Bibby is attempting to do the same thing now.

But because he doesn’t have the advantage of rhetoric, it will have to be with wins.

“I’m not 36, I’m 51,” he said. “I’m not Steve Lavin, I’m Henry Bibby. I’m not going to make a lot of people happy. But I’m happy with who I am and where we are going.”

The Trojan nation, desperate for basketball stability that will lead to a new arena, is cheering for him.

Those who think any place with lots of Lavin could use a little Bibby are doing the same thing.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at his e-mail address: [email protected].