Arizona Split

by Paragon SC on Mar 2, 2008 8:08 AM PST in USC Basketball

With USC going 1-1 on their road trip to Arizona they still have some work to do to make the tournament comfortably.

I didn't see the game last night but from what I read it looks like SC had some real problems with fouls last night.

USC had won five of its previous six Pacific 10 Conference road games by putting its opponent in a foul mood.

In four of the five victories, the Trojans attempted more free throws than their opponent and in the other -- a victory over Arizona on Thursday -- they equaled the opponent's attempts.

So when USC sophomore forward Taj Gibson contemplated that Arizona State attempted 36 free throws in the second half alone Saturday during an 80-66 victory over the Trojans at Wells Fargo Arena, he felt something was amiss.

"The foul calls were just ridiculous," said Gibson, who was the second Trojan to foul out when he was disqualified with 8 minutes 30 seconds remaining.

"I'm not taking anything away from Arizona State -- they played a great game -- but at the end of the game you look at the foul calls and you've got to question it. Half of our starting five fouled out."

Again, without having seen the game it would be hard for me to comment but I will say that I am not a fan of blaming the refs. The refs set the tone early so teams need to adjust their game quickly and it doesn't surprise me when the refs readjust at half time requiring teams to follow suit, but I can also understand if there is a discrepancy in how the calls are made.

Mayo scoring 37 was impressive but with all the free throws that ASU got to shoot it turned out to be a wash.

Daniel Hackett had his own take.

As he stewed in front of his locker with only a towel wrapped around his waist, the sophomore guard marveled at everything that went wrong in Saturday's foul-plagued, 80-66 loss at Arizona State.

He couldn't believe the Sun Devils shot 36 second-half free throws. He couldn't believe his teammates lost their poise so noticeably when calls started going against them. And he couldn't believe USC squandered such a golden opportunity to all but sew up an NCAA tournament berth.

"I'm not going to sit here and cry about it, but it seemed like they were getting all the calls," Hackett said. "They started letting us play physical at first, and then the calls got really cheap. We didn't do a good job of staying poised, and that's my responsibility as a point guard."

SC needs to focus on Cal and Stanford next week and put this weekend behind them.

AS for the win over AZ it was like everything clicked on all cylinders. SC kept the killer B's, Bayless and Budinger, in single digits and the defense was frustrated them all night. The only bad thing about the game was an Arizona fan throwing a battle of water on the court. That happened shortly after Davon Jefferson threw down a one-handed jam and pointed to the AZ student section. I'm not sure why Jefferson felt he needed to do that but with as crazy as fans are all over the country it wasn't surprising that some thing like that happened.

Of course the etiquette police across town were quick to point out that DJ should have been assessed a technical to which I responded:

I'd get used to it...

As long as the home team fans taut the visiting players with expletives and such sooner or later the player is going to respond.

I am not saying its right and I don't condone the player responding but that is where it's heading.

You can't expect the refs to call a technical for taunting when they can't even call the game competently. We have seen this happen increasingly in the pros so we shouldn't be surprised that it filters down to the college ranks. O'Neill handled it spot on and he should be commended for his quick response.

Conquest Chronicles

by Paragon SC on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 11:36:13 PM EDT
[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Of course the responses were sanctimonious in tone and I particularly liked and was amused that the resident moralist on the board, Fox 71, thought that checking out BN was some form of self-improvement device. Now that's rich and delusional, what a clown.

Anyway...

A win over either Cal or Stanford ensures 10 wins in the Pac-10 and a 4th place finish, which would pretty much ensure a birth in the tournament, as no 10-win Pac-10 team has ever missed the tournament.

We'll see how it goes...

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Comments

Tired of it

I'm not sure if anyone is with me, but I am getting really sick of Jefferson's constant need to rile up opposing fans and other teams. Particularly with the UCLA game where he called out one of the best teams in the nation. He's a great player, but he seems to not be learning to keep his trap shut and just play.

by savebush on Mar 2, 2008 10:12 AM PST reply actions

Well

I don't think anyone here would disagree with some of what you say. He should focus more on what goes on on the court and not the stands but I would also say that the fans bear some responsibility here. I'm no fan of ucla but I would stand shoulder to shoulder with many ucla fans in how Kevin Love handled what he went through in Oregon. He did nothing but the fans taunted him all day.

It would be great if the players just focused on the game and if the fans just rooted for their team but that is not where we are in today's society.

Now, with that being said I disagree with your statements on DJ calling out ucla. I believe it was Josh Shipp who called out SC before the game at Pauley and SC responded and though I can't confirm it I can say pretty confidently that DJ calling out ucla was merely a reiteration of what Shipp said and SC's response in that game. Yes, ucla won the rematch but with no Hackett and with SC going cold late when they had them on the ropes I have a hard time believing that DJ's words fired ucla up. They did not play a stellar game that day unlike when SC played them at Pauley so we'll see if they are, as you say, one of the best teams in the nation when the tourney comes around. I am not yet convinced that they are because I am convinced that the Pac-10 is all that it has been made out to be. There has been some ugly basketball played in the conference.

by Paragon SC on Mar 2, 2008 12:24 PM PST reply actions

Even if the Pac-10 is the same as the lasttwoyears

2008
STANDINGS W-L Pct PF PA W-L Pct PF PA
--------- --- --- -- -- --- --- -- --
1. UCLA............. 14-2 .875 73.2 61.2 26-3 .897 74.1 57.9

2007
STANDINGS W-L Pct PF PA W-L Pct PF PA
--------- --- --- -- -- --- --- -- --
1. UCLA............. 15-3 .833 69.4 60.0 30-6 .833 71.4 59.9

2006
STANDINGS W-L Pct PF PA W-L Pct PF PA
--------- --- --- -- -- --- --- -- --
1. UCLA............. 14-4 .778 67.7 59.3 32-7 .821 67.7 58.7

Just looking at this superficially, UCLA is better in every category except in-conference points against. Even if UCLA only gets a split next weekend, the results this year will be slightly better than last year. No matter how you look at it, the Pac-10 isn't significantly worse than last year, and an argument could be made that it is better.

I know UCLA hasn't made it to the final four yet, but if they don't this year it will be because upsets happen, not because the team isn't as good as in past years.

by SuperBruinMan on Mar 3, 2008 5:33 PM PST up reply actions

I Disagree... but I could really care less

I'm not into stats as they only tell part of the story.

and frankly I'm simply not in the mood to debate it anymore. I don't think the Pac 10 is as dominant as some think, too much in consistency. My opinion simple as that.

How about this...there is ucla and there is everyone else. There, feel better? You can dominate all you want, but no title this year and your season is a failure simple as that.

by Paragon SC on Mar 3, 2008 6:10 PM PST up reply actions

No title-failure

I don't know about that. We had a lot of people in our game that felt that way about the football team, but I wasn't one of them. Reaching the Final Four in any season is a huge accomplishment for any team. Its not a championship, but calling it a failure is tantamount to calling the Rose Bowl insignificant.

by frak on Mar 3, 2008 11:52 PM PST up reply actions

apples and oranges

no one is hanging banners for final four appearances.

in D-1 football winning your conference championship is MUST before you can do anything else. this year even more so as that one loss to Stanford kept us out of the MNC game. thats the drawback to not having a play-off. getting to the Rose Bowl is significant and to me it is more important than going to the MNC because of how subjective the process is. I am still not a fan of a play-off for CFB.

touting final fours to me is simply a moral victory and thats just not the way I play it. also when reading what many bruin fans said prior to the season when Love arrived a good many of them pretty much thought that this was the year they would hang banner 12 so to them it will be a failure if they don't win the title. Love is gone after this season and we have seen what having a true big man will do for your game.

by Paragon SC on Mar 4, 2008 12:31 AM PST up reply actions

I hear ya

But I happen not to agree with you on this issue. Just fyi, in 2001 USC had rings made for the basketball team to recognize their accomplishment of making it to the Elite 8. There was a banner in the Sports Arena also marking the Elite 8 appearance. If, by a long-shot, we make it to the Final Four this year, you can bet that Mike Garrett would hang a banner in Galen Center for it.

As for what bruin fans think, my friends who are rational Bruins, expect a deep run into the tournament, with perhaps a chance at the title. They would be overjoyed with banner #12, but by all means don't expect it.

I don't think that the bruins have a cakewalk to another championship. They've proven that they are not invincible. But they have as good a chance as any other team in the top 10 to bring it all home.

by frak on Mar 4, 2008 8:34 AM PST up reply actions

what he said

that sums up my expectations rather nicely. UCLA has a great shot at the title this year, and I think I can safely say many UCLA fans, icluding me, will be disappointed if we don't win a title, but nobody except some knuckle-dragging nimrods EXPECT a title. Too much can happen in one game. The NCAA tournament consistently demonstrates that emotion, hot shooting or just one bad game can knock a great team out-see Georgetown v. Villanova, NC State v. Houston, UNLV v. Duke or even UCLA v. Princeton. UCLA has the horses to win it all assuming everyone is healthy, has the coaching, and has the experience-but it just takes one game to derail it all.

For most programs, getting to the Final Four is a big deal, a really big deal. It's a big deal to me and most UCLA fans, too. Yes, UCLA only hangs title banners, but only a tool would write off a season that ends with a FF appearance as a failure. If we get to the FF and lose to a Memphis, or Carolina, or some other excellent team, the season would still be a successful one, just not as successful as hoped.

by ucladj89 on Mar 4, 2008 9:48 AM PST up reply actions