BRUINS FINDING THEIR ZONE : LAVIN'S NEW-LOOK DEFENSE KEYS VICTORY.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

For nine weeks UCLA coach Steve Lavin has asked his players to sacrifice personal goals and beliefs for the good of the team. And on Monday night, he did the same.

Lavin abandoned a lifetime of conviction and ordered the Bruins to play zone defense for every possession of a 64-57 victory over St. Louis.

``Zone for 40 minutes? I've never done that in my life,'' Lavin said. ``The basketball gods will hopefully forgive me.''

Lavin, 32, was weaned on man-to-man defense, studying with some of its greatest teachers, Indiana's Bob Knight, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Purdue's Gene Keady. He moved to UCLA in 1991 and devised the man-to-man defense that helped the Bruins win their national title in 1995.

But it's funny how things unfold. Now that Lavin's a head coach, his team's best defense is a zone. The Bruins used it successfully against Illinois on Saturday, and Lavin figured it was his best bet against the Billikens, as well. Watch for more of it in the Pacific-10 season.

``I can't stand zones. They are completely contrary to my beliefs as a coach,'' he said. ``But if you play against (St. Louis coach) Charlie Spoonhour, he'll slice your man-to-man up like a side of fries, like Princeton did.

``Our man-to-man is not at a point where it can defend a team like this. You have to adjust to your talent, and we'll do whatever it takes to win.''

The introduction of the 3-point shot in 1986 - and the resulting expansion of the scoring area that defenses must cover - marked the beginning of the end of zones in college basketball. Of course, there were holdouts, like Temple coach John Chaney, but most coaches believed man-to-man was the only means of properly defending the 3-pointer.

But as zones disappeared, offenses forgot how to attack them. The strategy for attacking a man-to-man - dribble penetration, force the defense to collapse, then pass to an open 3-point shooter - is contrary to the precision passing needed to slay a good zone. Proof of the revival came last spring, when Syracuse became the first conventional zone team to reach the Final Four this decade.

Physically, the Bruins are well-suited to play zone. Their lateral quickness, essential in man-to-man, is mediocre. But they are tall and have endless arms. The quintet that started the St. Louis game - 6-foot-3 Kris Johnson, 6-foot-5 Toby Bailey and Charles O'Bannon, and 6-foot-9 J.R. Henderson and Jelani McCoy - formed a forest of limbs, capable of disrupting shots inside and out.

``I tell the guys it has to be like quicksand,'' Lavin said. ``It has to be everywhere. And because we're so long-armed, we can cover the 3-pointer and take away (shots around) the basket.''

There are other benefits. The Bruins have rebounded well from the zone, since it keeps them close to the backboard. Its passive nature also reduces fouls. And it's not as exhausting as a man-to-man, thus keeping the starters fresh and trimming demands on the bench.

``It definitely keeps us from getting tired,'' said Bailey, who played 79 of a possible 80 minutes on the two-game roadtrip.

The players seem to enjoy it even though it slows the tempo and can limit fast-break opportunities.

``It's not that we're not a good man-to-man team,'' McCoy said. ``But right now the zone is good to us. When we get our hands up, it's hard for teams to see over us.''

Lavin plans to fine-tune the defense after UCLA's three-day Christmas break. But its best test won't come until Pac-10 opponents have seen it on videotape and have time to prepare. A disciplined offense with capable 3-point shooters - like Stanford, Arizona and Oregon, to name three - may cut through the forest of arms and legs.

``We'll definitely continue working on it,'' Lavin said after the St. Louis game.

Then he looked up to see if the basketball gods would react.

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Photo

Photo: UCLA's Jelani McCoy stuffs a shot by Saint Louis' Sekeue Barentine in a victory Bruins coach Steve Lavin attributes to a full-time zone defense.

Associated Press