Its not that they lost but how they lost...
I have never claimed to be a basketball expert. It simply isn’t one of my interests and I did not plan to really get into hoops until the football season was over but after what I saw this evening I may not get into it at all. This was terrible loss to Oregon St. not just because we lost but how we lost. Why in gods name did USC allow OSU to shoot that three at the end of the game? Why is anyone defending the basket? They should have been defending the perimeter or fouled making OSU get to them line not giving up the open shot for 3 at the top of the key…that’s coaching and that’s all on Tim Floyd.
I missed most of the 1st half but in the 2nd half it looked like SC was starting to focus but it was also clear that they were having trouble with the 1-3-1 zone that OSU was throwing at them. SC was up 15 in the 2nd half and then OSU started to slowly chip away using a lot of pick and roll that SC looked like they were just standing still and looked completely out of focus. Once again, turnovers killed us. SC had 10 turnovers in the first half alone and it didn’t get much better in the second half with Daniel Hackett committing two costly turnovers late in the game, one a 10 second violation. I love Hackett, he is great on defense and has a tremendous amount of energy, but it was very clear that he has not grabbled the title of THE leader on this team this year nor is he a true point guard. I realize that I may be getting late to the party here but this team is not progressing as they should have at this point in the season.
Dwight Lewis was absolutely cold out there tonight and he should have been pulled in favor of Marcus Johnson. Lewis looked disinterested and it’s not like plays a lot of defense anyway so why not make the switch? Lewis either didn’t take the shot when he should have or he took the shot he shouldn’t have. He isn’t bringing anything to the table for us right now. Hackett and Lewis combined to miss 10 free throws and committed 11 turnovers, that is just terrible.
SC seemed afraid to attack the zone; it was like they were intimidated. If you aren’t going to attack the zone then you need shoot effective from the outside and with SC being one the worst teams in shooting in the Pac-10 that didn’t happen either. Is it just me or does it look like this team panics when they get double-teamed or trapped on the perimeter? And when the do penetrate not protecting he ball form a costly steal seems to happen more often than not.
For a team to be supposedly one of the better defensive teams in the Pac-10 they got schooled in the paint. OSU ran that pick and roll all night and SC didn’t know how to defend it, especially Lewis. I have a hard time believing that SC will be competitive next week against ucla with what I saw tonight. There needs to be a lot of improvement and fast if SC expects to even sniff an invitation to the big dance.
That’s pretty much all I have for now on this loss…
Feel free to unload as you see fit.