FAR FROM RESIGNED LAVIN, UCLA LOOK TO MOVE FORWARD.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

The circus arrived in town Tuesday, setting up camp in Westwood complete with cameras, mikes, notepads, a persecuted coach, beleaguered players and the sense that, finally, things are going to get interesting.

The UCLA basketball team has been lifeless and listless this season as coach Steve Lavin, realizing time is expiring on his reign, has begun to consider his options while many of the Bruins have considered how theirs have dwindled.

The Bruins have lost five of seven home games, have fallen to 4-7 - their worst start in 15 years - and alternately are scorned or shunned by their own fans.

They have done little this season to give the impression they want to play with each other, let alone for Lavin.

Now, thanks to newspaper reports of his resignation, Lavin and the Bruins have everyone right where they want them - drawn into the center ring under the big top.

Lavin's first news conference since Monday's reports of his imminent resignation drew about 30 media, at least three times as many as a typical Tuesday.

Lavin took the opportunity not only to debunk the stories as fiction but to convey the image of an earnest, focused and sympathetic figure whose team's best days are right around the corner, an image rarely projected by his team's performance.

The players, meanwhile, after meeting with Lavin for 90 minutes Monday, showed up for Tuesday's practice reinvigorated and eagerly awaiting Thursday's visit from Arizona State and No. 2 Arizona on Saturday.

``I don't think anyone believes we have no chance to make the (NCAA) Tournament or win the Pac-10,'' said senior forward Jason Kapono, noting the Bruins' conference record is 2-1. ``It's all possible. It's up to us to do it, and we all believe it.''

Lavin's teams routinely have fashioned their best basketball when things looked bleakest.

Three years ago, they went from 4-8 in the Pacific-10 Conference to closing out the season with eight consecutive victories and a Sweet 16 berth. Two years ago, they responded to a 29-point loss to California with a victory at No. 1 Stanford. Last season, they lost to USC and bounced back to beat No. 1 Kansas.

It's during times of crisis that Lavin has been at his best, and he was again Tuesday, using humor to perpetuate the notion UCLA basketball exists in some kind of absurdist cocoon, where the only way to sate the angry masses is to bring John Wooden out of retirement.

He laughed off the reports, which cited unnamed friends and confidants as saying a despondent Lavin was on the brink of resigning this week.

Lavin said he spent Sunday - the day after the Bruins' 80-65 loss to St. John's - watching NFL games and eating turkey subs with his girlfriend, then working out and catching Richard Gere's latest movie.

The only time he considered resigning was when he read one of the stories Monday.

``It was so convincing that by the time I finished it, I thought I resigned,'' Lavin said. ``That's a tribute to a well-written piece.''

Lavin said if he truly were considering resigning, he would call his true friends and confidants - rattling off a litany of college coaches from Pete Newell and John Wooden to Gonzaga assistant Billy Grier and Alabama coach Mark Gottfried.

``I was getting calls from people who were really offended that I wouldn't consult them first,'' Lavin said. ``Wow, is this true? I'd like to know who the friends and confidants are.''

Lavin said the only time he's considered resigning was two years ago, after then-athletic director Pete Dalis made overtures to Rick Pitino.

``At UCLA, any time the coach struggles or the team struggles, his job status is going to come under scrutiny,'' Lavin said. ``Periodically, I've been asked about my job status and whether I'd consider resigning, and I've been pretty emphatic and clear that at no point had I considered resigning and no point would I consider resigning.

``Unfortunately, there are some sources who have credibility with the media who speak on my behalf about resigning or not resigning.''

Patching together a broken basketball team might not be so easy. Two players whom the Daily News reported Sunday had considered quitting or were unhappy - Cedric Bozeman and Dijon Thompson - denied they had considered leaving.

``I just want to get that clear: I'm going to stay,'' said Bozeman, whose father, Rudy, acknowledged his son nearly left the team this season. ``This is where I want to go to school.''

The Monday meeting was a give-and-take between players and coaches. After Lavin assured them he was not resigning, he told them not to be concerned with his status. Athletic director Dan Guerrero reiterated his position that he'll wait until the end of the season to evaluate Lavin.

The players then took turns talking about how to right themselves. The conclusions they reached were to close ranks, ignore what's beyond their control and play hard.

``The bottom line is we all want to win,'' senior Ray Young said. ``Everybody's trying their best under the circumstances. We're not playing for coach, we're not playing for ourselves. We're not playing for anybody else but the UCLA program.''

Guard Jon Crispin said: ``A lot of people want to see us fail. We're trying to build our self-esteem back up. We're playing for pride now. We're not UCLA anymore. We're 4-7, we're the underdog. We need to play harder than anyone else.''

If they do, the Bruins believe there is enough talent to save their season and their sanity.

``All of this drama will subside'' if the Bruins begin to play better, said Kapono, the senior. ``I'm not a soap-opera person.''

Nor much of a circus fan.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) UCLA coach Steve Lavin faced the media Tuesday for the first time since reports surfaced he was planning to resign.

(2) Steve Lavin said of one report he was quitting: ``It was so convincing that by the time I finished it, I thought I resigned.''

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer