Lavin's ploy shows nothing is guaranteed

Steve Lavin's approach was familiar and time-tested. And it backfired.

The UCLA coach told his players that Stanford had "guaranteed" a victory over the Bruins last week.

The motivational ploy failed as Stanford beat UCLA. And afterward, one Cardinal player was stunned to learn what he had allegedly said.

"Honestly, I have no idea where they got that," Jacobsen told reporters after the game. "I never have guaranteed any game in my life. Maybe that is Coach Lavin's way of getting his team motivated, which is what coaches do. It's their job to get their guys motivated. If they use that, fine. But we won anyway, so it really doesn't matter."

When asked about Jacobsen's "guarantee," Lavin said with some sarcasm. "I heard it was on KNBR last week," he said, referring to a San Francisco radio station. "I didn't hear it. I got an e-mail. So, that is a credible source."

That wasn't the only source of inspiration Lavin tried to draw from. "We pulled out all the stops, and they still beat us," he said. "We had (Pete) Newell, (John) Wooden, senior day and Internet gossip."

Cardinal coach Mike Montgomery didn't take the matter as lightly as Lavin. "There's always a deal here," he said. "It's a circus all the time. Just let the kids play. Let them play."

Lavin later shot back in an Orange County Register interview, claiming Montgomery was more manipulative than he: "How about that Montgomery? I learned all my tricks working the officials from him. Even that slide down the court. I thought that was one of the all- time sandbaggers for him to take shots at me like that. Mike Montgomery is one of the masters."

Projecting the field

Most scenarios floating around the Internet have five Pac-10 teams getting into the NCAA tournament. Barring a collapse by USC and Cal this final week, that should happen. So now the only mystery is who the Pac-10 teams will play.

Stanford will draw the No.1 seed in the West and should face Monmouth in the first round.

Arizona could travel to the Midwest as the No. 3 seed and play a team like Southern Utah or Iona.

UCLA is good enough to have a No. 4 seed, but whether the Bruins can stay close to home is another question. They should get shipped to the South, where their likely opponent would be George Mason, Western Kentucky, Central Michigan or maybe even Richmond. Cal and USC should both go in as No. 9 seeds and will probably go to the East or the South. Likely opponents could be Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, maybe Wisconsin, or Georgetown.

As for the NIT, Arizona State, Washington State and Oregon are the only Pac-10 candidates. The Sun Devils would have to pull off a sweep at the Bay Area schools to get in. The Cougars need to sweep the L.A. schools at home. Oregon has to beat Oregon State and then hope the NIT committee remembers the solid attendance numbers it got from McArthur Court in 1999.

But, even if WSU (12-14, 5-11), ASU (13-14, 5-11) and Oregon (13- 14, 4-13) finish with .500 records, the most likely candidates for the NIT from the West Coast are Santa Clara (20-12) and Pepperdine (21-8).

Woe is Woods

Seven-foot-1, sure-to-be-a-millionaire next year, Loren Woods is bemoaning his fate. The University of Arizona senior has played inconsistently all season and has been booed by the McKale Center crowd. At Senior Day last week, Woods, a transfer from Wake Forest, did get a standing ovation. But apparently that was not enough to satisfy the moody center.

"If Coach Olson hadn't said anything about the fans booing me two weeks ago, they would still be doing it," Woods told the Arizona Daily Star after the Senior Day ovation. "This is no time for me to get emotional."

Bush update

Washington State's Mike Bush could be ready to play Thursday night against UCLA, Cougars coach Paul Graham said. The junior guard injured an Achilles' tendon two weeks ago and has missed three games. But Monday, he participated in a light practice and Tuesday was put through a more rigorous practice.

Graham said if Bush does play, he will come off the bench. Bush is WSU's leading scorer with 16.7 points per game this season. Without him, the Cougars have gone 1-2. At the time of the injury, most suspected Bush would be done for the season.

Locklier named top newcomer

Washington State junior center J Locklier has been selected to receive the Fred Hessler Award winner for Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball newcomer of the year. The winner of the award, named for the late UCLA broadcaster, is chosen by Pac-10 radio play-by-play announcers.

Locklier, a 6-foot-10 center from Rock Hill, S.C., is averaging 9.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Locklier is the only Cougar to have started all 26 games this season. He's shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 67.6 percent from the line.

He came to WSU from Miami of Ohio, where he played two seasons.

Locklier is the second Cougar to be honored in the nine-year history of the award. Shamon Antrum was the other in 1995.

Coaching moves

UCLA assistant coach Michael Holton is interested in going back to the University of Portland, only this time as the head coach.

"Very interested," Holton told the Portland Oregonian. "That is where I got my start on the Division I level. I love Portland."

The Pilots fired coach Rob Chavez on Saturday. Holton, who played six seasons in the NBA, including two with the Portland Trail Blazers, was an assistant under Chavez in 1994-95. Holton has been at UCLA for five seasons.

Reversal of fortune

The three teams that finished atop the Pac-10 in football, Washington, Oregon State and Oregon, are the bottom three in basketball. Washington (9-19, 3-13) could finish last in the conference for the first time in a decade.

Kent getting house in order

Ernie Kent has proved he knows how to build a basketball program - from the foundation up. Apparently the contractors on Kent's new house didn't apply the same philosophy. Kent is suing the contractors who built his house for $5 million. He and his family are living in a rental because of the problems with the home.

Notes

One more win each by USC and Cal and the Pac-10 will have five 20- game winners. It would be the first time since 1939 that five conference teams have finished the regular season with 20 victories each. In that 1939 season, one of Washington's 20 wins came courtesy of Alpine Dairy, while one of USC's 20 victories came against Bank of America ... Stanford's Casey Jacobsen was named the Pac-10 player of the week. He averaged 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in road wins over USC and UCLA, enabling Stanford to clinch at least a share of the Pac-10 title.

Copyright 2001 Cowles Publishing Company
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