Steve Lavin, UCLA head coach, has long been a target of opposing fans. Now, it seems, not even Bruin fans support him.
UCLA attendance is at an all-time low as Lavin has led his team to a 4-7 record this season, including a 2-5 record at Pauley Pavilion. Now, Lavin is under fire from the media and fans, but this is nothing new for the seventh-year coach. In fact, Lavin criticism is almost an annual event, like Christmas or the Super Bowl.
“His job has always been in jeopardy,” UCLA forward T.J. Cummings told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s why there is so much pressure on him all the time.”
According to the Times, Lavin told Bruin Athletic Director Dan Guerrero on Monday that he will not resign, at least not this week, with the red-hot Arizona schools coming to Los Angeles. And Guerrero told reporters this weekend that he won’t fire Lavin during the regular season.
But with things looking bleaker than ever in Westwood, it can only be a matter of time before something happens to Lavin or his staff. This year’s predicament is even more drastic than past Lavin situations.
In his first year, Lavin’s Bruins suffered their worst-ever loss, at Stanford, but came back to win the Pacific-10 Conference Championship and go to the Elite Eight. Three years later, in 2000, UCLA went 4-8 to start the Pac-10 season but came back to win two NCAA Tournament games and advance to the Sweet 16.
Two seasons ago, rumors about Rick Pitino taking over Lavin’s job swirled as the Bruins started 4-4, but Lavin again led UCLA to the Sweet 16. Last year, UCLA lost in the opening round of the Pac-10 tournament to California, but advanced, once again, to the Sweet 16.
“I’ve never advocated changing coaching in the middle of the year,” Guerrero said. “I’ve been consistent on letting coaches do their job, then I evaluate at the end of the season.”
But Bruin fans don’t lie. The 12,819-capacity Pauley Pavilion was filled with 8,503 people for Saturday’s loss to St. John’s. And many of those fans may not come back until Lavin stops roaming the court.

Wazzu woes
If we’re comparing empty arenas, then Washington State’s Friel Court has Pauley Pavilion beat in every way.
The Cougars drew just 2,772 fans — total — for their Pac-10 opening games against USC and UCLA Jan. 2 and 4. Friel Court has a capacity of 12,058.
Want a ticket for this weekend’s games against Stanford and California? The nicest seats in the Friel house will run you $12 each. General admission tickets are half that price, and student tickets are a mere $3.
Washington State doesn’t just have basketball ticket problems. The Cougars have gotten some heat in recent weeks for not selling enough tickets to the Rose Bowl, which had its lowest attendance figure since 1944. The Washington State Athletic Department sold 26,000 of its allotted 32,000 tickets.
And the game wasn’t even that good.

Arizona heat wave
Both Arizona schools are hotter than a fire poker, and they won’t be able to burn each other until they meet next weekend; They travel to Los Angeles this weekend.
Arizona State is 7-1 in its last eight games, and 3-1 in the Pac-10. The Devils are led by their star freshman, Ike Diogu, who has scored in double digits in every game this season.
Arizona’s story is typical in Wildcat country. Arizona started the season at No. 1 in the nation, lost one game, then started the Pac-10 season 4-0 and moved back into the nation’s No. 2 slot.
Watch out, Pac-10, here’s a daunting statistic: The Wildcats have started the Pac-10 at 4-0 five times under Lute Olson, and every time they’ve gone on to win the conference.
Things certainly are hot in Arizona.