USC falls to Oregon State 49-44
by Paragon SC on Feb 27, 2010 6:46 PM PST
in USC Basketball
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PrintI realize this team has been through a lot this season.
After all the turmoil in the off-season, losing a whole recruiting class, being picked to finish 9th in the Pac-10 and then having Mike Garrett essentially pull the plug on any shot at the post season you have to give these kids credit for hanging in there as long as they did this season. They stared down the barrel of a gun and came up with some great performances.
With that being said...
After 27 this games this season how can this team still not have any answers for the zone defense?
USC was throwing the ball around like it was spring throwing drills on Howard Jones Field. I love these kids for standing up to all they have been through and making a season of it but they have no confidence to drive the lane against the zone. There were waaaaay too many 3-point attempts in this game. There way too many turnovers...again. Free throw shooting was atrocious and a ton of terrible fouls.
I realize this team is not deep but Kevin O'Neill has to make the most out what he has but can we please throw the ball up when they are the 1-3-1 zone? Put Kid Euro or Alex back there and let them bang!
29% shooting?
Really?
I guess I can't really be all that upset...this team did overachieve this season when you consider the mountain they had to climb but that doesn't mean I am happy with the results on the floor. Nobody was consistent tonight. Kid Euro and MJ were non factors tonight. Stepheson had some spark early but nothing really in the second half. Gerrity was like 4-12 and he looked rattled trying to work the zone. Lewis had a tough night as well.
O'Neill needs to figure out the zone...he has the players to do it so why isn't he coaching it?
It doesn't get any easier as the last 2 games of the season on the road.
Leave your comments and rants here.
This is our post-game thread...
FIGHT ON!
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Putting it in perspective... The ruins suck more than we do!
What’s their excuse?
STILL LOCO AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!
NOW CELEBRATING THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF AUGUSTUS
M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT
there excuse is that they are fucla and they will always suck
by Dodgermanramon on Feb 27, 2010 9:29 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
There is plenty of reason to be upset
I’m not even sure where to begin. Maybe, I’m just a little ticked off because I wasted two hours of my life watching this pathetic contest. But still, this one is incredibly frustrating. Sorry, I know ‘SC is a little shorthanded and wasn’t predicted to finish anywhere near the top of the Pac-10, but seriously, it’s time to stop making excuses for these guys.
How much longer can we go around saying, “well we did a lot better than people expected us to.” Well, that’s great! Just because prognosticators across the Southland underestimated the talent level on ’SC’s roster and the quality of play throughout the rest of the Pac-10 does not give us the excuses to accept mediocrity from this team. As Paragon noted, this was the 28th game of the year, and the Trojans were still inept against a zone defense. Figure it out! Teams have been running zone against these guys since mid-January and O’Neill and company need to find a way to respond to that. Does he not get it? It’s not the fact that USC hasn’t been successful against the zone, but the fact that their strategy has not even remotely changed. They don’t do anything differently offensively now than they did earlier this year. It’s your job to make adjustments! You’re the head coach for crying out loud! I’m a little disgusted as you cans see. I think KO is certainly a solid college coach, but whether he is the guy for ’SC certainly remains to be seen.
--Conquest Chronicles, SBNation's USC Trojans blog
At one point in the 2nd half
someone (I think Gerrity) turned it over on a cross court pass against the trap that led to an easy lay up the other way. So KO yelled something at him, and the next time down the floor, the players went to the exact same spots, only this time Gerrity looked around, saw no one open, then had to call time out. As he was walking back to the bench, I couldn’t read his lips exactly, but he obviously said “same thing” in frustration and coach gave him a response like “yeah, you’re right.”
After that play is when Marcus Johnson tried driving the ball from the wing (and had some minor success; at least we weren’t turning it over near half court) but we were so cold in the 2nd half, we were even missing lay ups.
To score 44 points in consecutive games is pretty frustrating. I know we don’t have great shooters on this team, but you have to wonder if coach O’Neill repeating over and over again to the press “we don’t have great shooters, we can’t break the zone,” has maybe affected the players’ confidence shooting the ball. I agree with you Joey – the team is certainly good enough to beat the upper echelon teams in the Pac-10, so why is acceptable to lose to all the bottom rung teams just because the team perhaps overachieved some this season? It’s not.
I saw a quote somewhere from one of the players half acknowledging that sometimes they tend to get up for big games and maybe let down for the lesser ones. The problem is, with no post season, every game has to be a big game because the only end result you can achieve is winning the conference.
It’s been a fun season, but also a very strange one. I hope with next year’s recruiting class, KO can get these guys to make a serious run at the Pac-10 title.
Joey I know you have played the sport for a # of years in your life and you know all coaches have different approaches.
I know we had a short one about what happens to players while being coached in college. Yes these guys have been facing zone a lot this year and as usual, they didn’t get better against it. That leaves us with the question WHY, plain and simple it is stubborn coaching. Most college coaches really don’t get it, they claim only one aspect of the game that is their trade mark. This not only goes on in Basketball but in other sports too, heck some coaches don’t even coach (ie. Billy Martin ucla tennis Steve Lavin) they just roll out the balls.
In my 40 years being involve with college basketball I have come across and seen only a few who get it. I think that Jerry Tarkanian and Jack Bagdanovich—Bob Forester were the best I have ever seen, Tark had Ed Gorgian as his offensive guy. But it all comes down to making your players better and that is teaching, maybe 80% in college can’t do both or care about it. The Last thing is how in the heck does a kid get to college and all of sudden can’t shoot, it is the arrogate coach thats WHY. I mean look at Ben Howland he will not change and look what has happen, these modern day coaches get paid way to much.
Oh and by the way I am not flaming on anyone other than BAD COACHES and there is a lot of them. I don’t know if KO is the best but he is all we got, so maybe please he finds a offensive coach because he diffidently can’t get down.
LA Sports is what keep me off the streets and out of trouble, thanks to all the teams Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, USC sports and the Love of Tennis.
by so.cal.native1952 on Feb 28, 2010 11:02 AM PST up reply actions
In defense of KO
We don’t have the shooters to help out against a zone. Lewis can shoot but even he’s rather streaky. But really, nobody is a reliable three point shooter to at least create better spacing.
--Conquest Chronicles, SBNation's USC Trojans blog
by Joey Kaufman on Feb 28, 2010 2:17 PM PST up reply actions
I'm still trying to figure out
he has the players to do it so why isn’t he coaching it?
Which players we have to break the zone. Dwight Lewis? As you said, too streaky. And who exactly on this team can create his own shot?
Des you and I have watch USC BB a long time and college ball too. But yes it is the dam stupid coaches they all suck, bring back Tark.
LA Sports is what keep me off the streets and out of trouble, thanks to all the teams Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, USC sports and the Love of Tennis.
by so.cal.native1952 on Feb 28, 2010 10:22 PM PST up reply actions
Don't blame KO, we just don't have the players
I can’t blame KO. He can’t make shots for us. The way to beat a 1-3-1 zone is to hit perimeter jumpers. Our 4 outside shooters (Lewis, Johnson, Gerrity, and Smith) were a combined 9-33 from the field, and 5-15 from the 3-point arc. Marcus Johnson and Donte Smith had 12 of our 20 TOs by trying to penetrate the zone and make plays.
Basketball is all about matchups. There will always be teams in conference that we matchup with better than others. No surprise that the slow down teams, WSU and OSU, have both given us fits this season. And, Oregon beat UCLA this weekend too.
The fact is that despite their records, OSU and UO are solid teams with excellent coaching. We just don’t matchup well with teams that slow it down and play zone. The bottom rung teams are not much worse than the top rung teams in conference this season. Everyone, except perhaps Kal, is painfully mediocre this year. Anyone can beat anyone in any given game.
Tim Floyd > KO
We knew this…
STILL LOCO AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!
NOW CELEBRATING THE DAWN OF THE AGE OF AUGUSTUS
M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT
KO<TF
1.) Tim Floyd never got past the second round of the Tourney, despite sending five players to the NBA, two of whom are starters.
2.) I doubt KO will ever embarrass and put the school at risk like TF did.
Well...
1.) Floyd did get past the 2nd round. In 2007, TF and the Trojans went to the Sweet 16.
2.) I’d say Garrett did more to embarrass the program than Timmy did. After all, he was there when Guillory got in trouble the first time.
--Conquest Chronicles, SBNation's USC Trojans blog
by Joey Kaufman on Mar 1, 2010 12:20 AM PST up reply actions
plus 1
LA Sports is what keep me off the streets and out of trouble, thanks to all the teams Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, USC sports and the Love of Tennis.
by so.cal.native1952 on Mar 1, 2010 3:38 AM PST up reply actions
And Paul...
Remember that ‘07 game against UNC? We win that if Taj doesn’t foul out.
--Conquest Chronicles, SBNation's USC Trojans blog
Yes that was a strange one if TF just had got another player in there.
Taj just ripped up Tyler H. and is looking way better in NBA.
LA Sports is what keep me off the streets and out of trouble, thanks to all the teams Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, USC sports and the Love of Tennis.
by so.cal.native1952 on Mar 1, 2010 4:16 PM PST up reply actions
Well at least next year we get some scorers but you never know they may go elsewhere.
Noel Johson
Derek Williams
Mo Mo
they all had signed with USC but no bags garrett screwed that up, lets linch that bitch
LA Sports is what keep me off the streets and out of trouble, thanks to all the teams Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, USC sports and the Love of Tennis.
by so.cal.native1952 on Feb 28, 2010 10:26 PM PST up reply actions
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