Lavin: Don’t Lose in the First Round

General NCS Basketball Quotes of Note28

“You don’t want to lose in the first round at UCLA because your whole offseason is miserable. Talk Radio. Letters to the editor. Wooo!”

Former UCLA Head Basketball Coach, Steve Lavin on ESPN Television talking about the standards of the great programs. Related Kentucky quotes here. Similar Carolina quotes here.

Lavin was 5-1 in first round games as UCLA’s Head Coach.

Lavin’s quick record:
7 Seasons
6 NCAA Bids
5 Sweet 16’s
1 Elite 8
1 First Round Exit

97 Seed – 2 – Elite 8
98 Seed – 6
99 Seed – 5 – 1st Rnd Loss
00 Seed – 6
01 Seed – 4
02 Seed – 8
Avg Seed – 5.2

Does anyone have any statistics, specifics, or research that they would like to share related to Lavin’s tenure at UCLA?

(In review of this post I just wanted to make sure that nobody FALSELY presumed that I was trying to turn your eye to Lavin in the event that the NC State job every opened. ABSOLUTELY NOT.)

General NCS Basketball Quotes of Note

28 Responses to Lavin: Don’t Lose in the First Round

  1. topOtheorder 03/17/2006 at 2:27 PM #

    Cardiac,

    Georgia Tech is another prime example. They helped their greatest coach ever out the door and were rejuvenated under Paul Hewitt back to the NCAA’s immediately and a Final Four soon after. Hewitt suffered growing pains from the graduation of his first big recruiting class and the early departures Bosh and Jack this year. But, if you anyone thinks GT isn’t going to step up and start swinging at Duke and UNC with Thad Young and Crit coming in next year followed by what is looking like another haul in the 2007 class to bolster guys like Dickey, Smith, Morrow, and an improving Zam…I think they are going to be mistaken. WE better step up too as the days of having 2 wins over GT to depend on each year are gone…

  2. Jeff 04/06/2006 at 9:52 AM #

    For the Lavin acrchive:

    http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/pac10/DBJan16.htm

    Steve Lavin is going to be fired at the end of the season, if he makes it that long. Amid a ton of speculation and leaks, most likely from “ The Lavin Camp “, Steve Lavin was supposedly thinking about resigning. When I first read this in many west coast papers a smile formed on my face. I though to myself, finally the nightmare is over, the guy, at the very least, turned out to be decent, with the best interest of the kids in his heart. Wrong again, in his press conference yesterday he indicated that he never thought about resigning and would love the challenge of coaching the team next year. This guy is unbelievable, not only is he ruining the potential professions and dreams of some of his players by not making them better over there time at UCLA, but he continues to be selfish and out for himself. God forbid he resign and start the healing process to a program that he has single handedly trounced. Throughout his time at UCLA Steve Lavin has failed to realize why so many alumni and fans have wanted him out for so long. He thinks and gets most of the mass media to believe that UCLA fans have unattainable expectations. He raves about his sweet 16’s and writers compare his results in the tournament to Coach K. It is time to set the record straight about Steve Lavin.

    Steve Lavin makes over $500,000 dollars a year to coach the UCLA bruins.

    UCLA has not been ranked in the top 10, in the season ending poll, since 1997.

    In the past 6 years he has failed to win one Pac-10 Championship, the first time in UCLA history.

    He has the second worst winning percentage of any coach post Wooden, after inheriting a team that was one year removed from a National Championship, Walt Hazzard has the worst .621.

    He has not finished higher than third in the Pac-10 conference since he inherited Jim Harrick’s team his first year.

    He finished 6th last year in the Pac-10 the lowest ever at UCLA.

    He has lost the most games at Pauley Pavilion in 20 years.

    Steve Lavin has a chance to lose 20 games this year. He needs to win 5 games the rest of the regular season or 4 and win the pac-10 tourney to avoid the 20-loss mark. The most losses in one season, since John Wooden, are 14; and that is virtually a certainty.

    Steve Lavin will have the first losing season at UCLA in over 50 years.

    Steve Lavin has had at least one McDonald’s All-American on his team every year and at least 3 for the past 5 seasons and has yet to win a conference championship or make a final four.

    Steve Lavin has lost to some bad teams at Pauley Pavilion: Detroit, Cal State Northridge, Pepperdine, Gonzaga (before they were on the map) and this year alone to University San Diego and Northern Arizona.

    Steve Lavin’s teams have also been blown out of some games: 41 points by North Carolina, 36 points to Duke, 29 points to Pac-10 foes Arizona St., Cal, and Oregon, 26 points to Kentucky and 24 points to Iowa St.

    I am continually amazed that the mass media continues to defend a guy who has not accomplished much of anything at UCLA. Zero conference championships and Zero final fours. The simple fact that he has tried to make UCLA fans feel satisfied with Sweet 16’s is an affront to all UCLA fans. Sweet 16’s are fine if that is what your team’s potential is, but taking a preseason top 5 rated team (2001-2002) to the sweet 16 is a bad job and not one that should be appreciated. This year he has taken a top 25 rated pre-season team to a 4-7 record with a good chance to lose their next 5 games. In just 7 years Steve Lavin will have set almost every negative record in UCLA history since John Wooden, and that is not something that should be defended or praised. UCLA fans want a team that plays to its potential, a team that plays fundamentally sound basketball, a team that displays player development and work ethic. If these simple goals are accomplished the accolades of conference championships and final fours will take care of themselves. The saddest part of the entire scenario is that Steve Lavin has done a poor job and will be a Millionaire while the kids that he was supposed to help and mold into successful basketball players and men have been neglected and not given an opportunity to be the best that they could be. The only positive is that UCLA fans have at most 57 days more of Steve Lavin, and the countdown begins.

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