If you can't beat them, wear their t-shirts instead!

Nike and USC had a little bit of an "oops!" moment, when the accidentally designed a UCLA-color-themed shirt for ...USC. That's right, UCLA-colors on USC-branded gear! Don't believe me? Check them out at Lost Angeles.

Tim Floyd is out of USC (again!)

The Coaching Carousel took a not-so-unexpected spin when Tim Floyd bolted (or was pushed out) of USC - breaking news of the story, both in text and in video on espn.com.

As many had predicted, "touching" OJ Mayo would have caused them troubles, and it looks like the $1000 rumors are indeed directly linked to the OJ Mayo recruiting.

You can watch the 7-minute video at the aforementioned website, with the one and only Andy Katz talking to the studio guy over the phone.

And this brings up the question, who is going to want to be the next USC coach after this mess, with players bolting out, the NCAA investigators drooling, and things like that.

(NOT!) Arizona gets a reality check, hires Tim Floyd

Updated on Friday March 3rd 2009: Well it turned out to be NOT so. Tim Floyd rejected the Arizona job he was offered and he is staying at USC. Did he simply "play" Arizona for a bump in his USC salaries and standing? If so, he will get "showered" with all sorts of pleasantries next year when USC visits McKale.

So much for preserving the run and gun legacy of Lute Olson. Apparently the brass at Arizona was delusional in thinking that they could just bring in just about any coach they wanted. They seem to have forgotten that Arizona basketball IS Lute Olson, and without Lute, it's just another college in the Pac-10 and nothing more.

And certainly, the last three years of drama and revolving head coaching door did not help at all.

So, instead, they were forced to face reality, and pick someone, anyone they could get to sign. I'm glad they didn't pick the ugly Dookie.

Tim Floyd has his advantages, he is already familiar with the Pac-10, he has NBA and NCAA experience, he has ties to the South, which can help with Arizona recruiting.

From Floyd's perspective, this has its advantages too. He goes from being an afterthought in a city of thousands of stars, to a place where he is the only game in town. Much like his Iowa State job. And oh yes, Lute Olson was the head coach at Iowa before he arrived at Arizona. Coincidence? :)

Frenzied USC comeback shrinks the bubble by one!

This was a very breezy and offensive game as the USC Trojans mounted an epic second half counter-offensive chipping away forcefully at the Arizona State lead. The Sun Devils were trying to hold on to their first conference championship, in a fight against both the determined Trojans and time, and the latter won!

This means a bubble spot disappears as it is handed off to the USC Trojans with their AQ (automatic qualifier). And this USC team could do some damage in the tourney. There is no OJ "Diva" Mayo, this is a more team-oriented team, and with more players being available than during most of the season, the Trojans can give many teams a headache. Especially considering their height and length.

Herb Sendek has exceeded expectations in his first two years at ASU, and perhaps made NC State fans wander. The conference championship would have been icing on the cake for this season, but you can't have it all.

And the sad nature of the current selection process is that a basketball team like USC would have been left out, while a handful of ugly Big10 teams would be in. At least in this case, USC took matters in their own hands :)

The hypocrisy of the NCAA, exhibit "H"

We already had a rant on the Daniel Hackett scholarship controversy, but one thing we forgot to mention is the hypocrisy of the NCAA in this.

The NCAA goes on endless rants on how its #1 priority is scholarship and opportunity for the student-athletes. They never stop talking about that, especially when they are using it as a reason for a rule change or to stop additional benefits for student athletes.

So when they complain about the Hackett "free" scholarship, they are putting the "H" in hypocrisy. This perfectly legal situation gives another student-athlete an opportunity and rewards parents who work at a university and encourage their kids to attend a university.

I thought the NCAA was all about opportunity and education!

NCAA leeches please stop the Daniel Hackett witch-hunt

Stupid NCAA, always wasting money on the wrong things. The latest example of these failed politicians-turned-bureaucrats is the investigation *cough* witch-hunt *cough* of Daniel Hackett for not paying tuition because he is the son of a university employee, his dad who is on the basketball staff as a S&C coach.

The NCAA is a big LEECH on student athletes. While the student-athletes spend countless hours working and providing the games that millions want to watch, the NCAA jabba-the-huts (verb) the billions in revenues and sponsorships.

Enough of these weasels leeching and nickel-diming the student athletes.

Want a stimulus package for the economy? Take the money away from the NCAA and university bureaucrats and distribute it to all the student athletes past and present as part of a class-action settlement!

Dirty play has no place: Suspend Leonard Washington for a whole month

A game is not enough to discourage players from dirty play. I say suspend Leonard Washington of USC for a whole month for unsportsmanship-like conduct, and you'll see how quickly all the dirty below the belt punches will stop for years to come!

Leonard Washington, you are the WORSE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER IN THE WooooooooooooooooooooooooRLD!

The Pac-10 needs new referees!

In the third time in a row, the Pac-10 zebras screw up and affect the outcome of the game, instead of letting the players decide the game on the court. This time the three blind mice called an over the back foul on Jeff Pendegraph on what looked like a reasonable putback in traffic. This silly call caused Pendergraph to foul out, and at the same time sealed the game for USC. And oh by the way, ASUs post-season future was on the line.

Memo to the Pac-10: Hire new officials!

USC at Arizona State

Despite the fact that ASU was beaten by the game clock at the 12 minute mark, they were able to put 80 points on the board and get a much needed win against the USC Condoms. Both teams had their "we were supposed to score?" stagnation moments, and the first half was about as exciting as reading the yellow pages while watching paint dry ;-)

But the second half picked up, and there was some excitment, drama, wild runs and swings, and a healthy dose of ...home-cooking that drove Floyd and his band crazy. Yet another physical game - what have they done to my Pac 10? You crazy slugfesters!

This "W" saved the day for Arizona State, and combined with the two home losses of the Cal Bears, it has put ASU in the Top 7. Next week will see a very important game as ASU will visit Oregon, with both teams desperate for the win and hoping to finish the season 50%, which will increase their chances of an at-large bid, since a number of people pay too much attention to the conference record, and not who did you play, where did you play them, who did you beat, and how well did you play.


Beaten by the Game clock
What does "beaten by the game clock" mean? When your points are fewer than the minutes played. For example, if at the end of the first half a team has 19 points, they were beaten by the game clock since 20 minutes were played.

Beaten by the game clock is a sign of a struggling offense and slugfest, because you have to be on pace to score less than 40 points for the whole game in order to be beaten by the game clock. Ouch!

USC at Arizona

Revenge is served cold and on ESPN! USC was able to "take back" their home loss against Arizona, in front of an ESPN audience, a rarity for Pac-10 games.

And once again the Arizona Wildcats ruined it for ESPN. As you may recall, earlier in the year, Arizona visited UCLA for the primetime Gameday Saturday spotlight game. And how did Arizona reward ESPN for this? They did not show up. They got 0wn3d, manhandled, ruined, B-ruined!

This time however, they woke up later in the game, and made it interesting enough for some people to stick around as they threatened to make a comeback, but USC was able to hold on and get yet another road win, something that will work in their favor when the NCAA selection committee picks teams and picks seeds and match-ups for the teams.

The other good news for the Condoms was the return of Hackett. Th return of the do-it-all glue guy is big news for USC as they transform from a bubble team into a team that could win games in the NCAA tourney with Daniel Hackett healthy and in the rotation.

On the other hand, Arizoan did not get back their missing piece, Nic "Hoops" Wise. And Nic Wise is the difference between an NCAA team and a bubble team for Arizona. Can Wise return early enough and can Arizona win a game or two with Wise in the line-up, so as not to find itself on the wrong side of the bubble? Arizona had a couple of close calls the last couple of years, but there is no Silver Fox this time around. Getting the benefit of the doubt this year may not be as easy for the Wildcats! But having the #1 SOS and strong showings at Allen Fieldhouse and at Calipari Forum will be in the plus column.

In closing, I have to repeat: What have they done with my Pac-10? It is looking more and more like Big-10! Meanwhile, ACC is going more run and gun, with Pope K implementing a variation of the Phoenix Suns offense, Wake Forest running faster than fast, and Clemson and such.

UCLA at USC

Who won the battle for Los Angeles? Defense won! That's right, basketball did not win, defense won. And UCLA ended up with a +1 in the win column. This game was supposed to be a premier game, with two of the top freshmen in OJ Mayo and Kevin "Beached Whale" Love. Instead it was an exercise in how to ruin a game with defense. The first one to 50 won.

OJ Mayo had double figures, but in turnovers! Tim "Pink" Floyd insisted on playing five players, and not even giving the rest of the players a sniff (until he got in foul trouble in the first half and needed fouls at the end of the second half). Even though USC played one game this week, the grinding nature of the game wore out the five USC players.

Meanwhile UCLA showed once again why their defense is so good. They foul multiple times per possession. And don't forget the way they screen on offense. Even UCLA great Marques Johnson confessed that the Bruins are "very aggressive" when setting screens and the zebras are not going to call most of them.

Arggg! What have all these slugfest coaches done with my Pac-10? :(


PS> Big props to Marques Johnson for calling the ACC game that preceded the Pac-10 game, the "JV game". Woohoo :-)

PS2> Our thanks to Wake Forest, their players, their fans, their alumni, and everyone associated with Wake Forest for their wonderful victory over the Dirty Dookies. Keep it coming Wake Forest! They win our Duke Slayer Award of 2008!

Arizona State at USC

The battle of complicated defenses and offenses took place at the new shiny Galen center in Los Angeles. What turned the game for good was the 4th foul called on SoCal super freshman star James Harden, at which point the USC Trojans took the game over and grabbed the W.

Daniel Hackett showed some onions by trying to play despite his injury, and his minutes and commitment were enough to help his teammates delivery the Condom fans a much needed home win.

Arizona State is who we thought they would be. Fans who do not follow the Pac-10 closely, or just look at conference standings, without drilling through the records, thought they were a top 25 team at some point. Not so! As we all know now, Xavier is one of the top 10 craziest teams this year, so blowing them out like that was not such a big deal.

Where are they going from here? USC has a reasonable chance for an NCAA tourney tid (thanks to OJ Mayo as a ratings grabber, and their Durant-killah game last year). Meanwhile ASU should be happy and excited for a CBI or NIT bid. Expecting an NCAA bid would be a sign of irrational exuberance at this point. However, because the Pac-10 is so tough, and because of the Pac-10 tourney, they could still pile up enough quality wins (or win the whole thing) to find themselves in the NCAA tourney. But don't count on that!

Arizona at USC

Yet another day at the office in the Pac-10. This would have been a much closer game, had Daniel Hackett not injured himself 2 minutes into the game while trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. The loss of Hackett affected USC's rotation and depth, and the team lost its "soul" as Hackett had been part of the team's infrastructure so to speak.

Arizona continued to play well, and perhaps surprised some that they were able to continue shooting well, despite not playing away from the friendly confines of McKale. But can they do that against UCLA's multi-foul per-possession defense later today, in front of a national audience, and in a very high profile game with ESPN Gameday.

So USC is going to make sure the NCAA selection cmte footnotes this game because of the Hackett injury.

The game itself was very well played. and if it wasn't for USC tiring out on essentially a five-man rotation, this would have probably had a much more dramatic conclusion.

While Budinger scored a lot and got some rebounds, it was J-Mac (Jawann McClellan) who was instrumental to Arizona's win with his defense and his offense, especially in the first half. Game ball goes to McClellan.

USC had productive games from Jefferson and Mayo, but it was not enough. Mayo was able to win his matchup with Bayless who had a rather quiet game, and even more dramatic was a Mayo block on Bayless, and then a three pointer in Bayless's face in the next possession. But just like the Mercer game, OJ Mayo winning his matchup does not mean USC wins the game.

USC at Oregon

USC jumped on to a lead and was so comfortable at Mac Court that Daniel Hackett was making "adjustments" in the middle of the court!

But the Nike Ducks came back when many thought all was lost. And it wasn't the run and gun, but rather Ernie Kent's hack-a-Trojan strategy, combined with a barrage of three pointers made. And it worked! The Nike Ducks made a comeback and tied the game and sent it to overtime.

After a brief scoreboard technobabble delay, the game tipped off, and the delay gave Tim Floyd time to broker a deal on the dark side of the moon, and every three pointer the Trojans took, even the wild ones, were on target. But strangely Ernie Kent did not go to the Hack-a-Trojan strategy during the overtime, and USC went back to So-Cal with a sweep.

The game started with a promise of an exciting game, then devolved into a slugfest, but picked up in the second half and turned dramatic towards the end.

So what does this mean for Oregon? Well for one thing they have to start accumulating wins. The good performances are not good enough. But having said that, this team could have beaten UCLA - if Malik Hairston did not miss the last quarter due to injury - or if the zebras did not allow UCLA to play multiple-foul per possession defense. Essentially the UCLA loss, counted for two, since that loss carried over in the USC game (and that's what Ernie Kent said).

Washington State at USC

DavOn Jefferson was DavOff Jefferson as Roger Walters suspended him for the game for "undisclosed reasons". That hurt USC as the experienced Cougars sliced and diced them (or rather picked and popped them). Hold the Mayo, OJ is not the USC savior people were expecting!

This was a classic neo-Bennett game, with threes, select runs, and Baynes space-eating inside, although most of the first half was more of a classic Dick Bennett slugfest. Perhaps the emergence of Baynes inside is what could be the difference for the Cougars between a second round NCAA exit and an Elite 8 run. You heard it here! You heard me! Not that I am Chief Payne of the House of Payne ;-)

Pink Floyd has his work cut out for him. The team looks much better on paper than on the court and that's not something a coach wants to see happening. Especially when you have a super dooper freshman playing and your team is playing worse than it did before. I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually, but will it be enough, or will they square off with Kentucky in the post-season NIT Final Four? :)

USC at Stanford

This was an ugly game. Ugly! If it wasn't for a "spurt" in the last five minutes which included intentional fouling by USC in order to make a comeback, this game would have been won in the 40s! Ouch! It was an ugly 52-46 (or something like that).

Nevertheless the win counts as a win and the Cardinal (not Cardinals) defended their home court and prevented a 0-2 conference start. The Lopez twins once again were friends of foul, Lawrence Hill has taken a step back, and the guards are the big question for Trent Johnson.

The FSN game was interesting to listen to as well as former Stanford head coach Mike Montgomerry was the analyst. MM seems to start to get accustomed to the analyst gig and he is starting to actually provide some insight - sort of like a Majerus-type of an analyst.

USC was a disaster, and this is confusing. Tim Floyd tried a different line-up (discipline of players or matchups?) - with a perimeter oriented starting five instead of his usual starting five. USC's touted players looked quite pedestrian during the game, and they just couldn't score.

This game was so ugly it made Missouri Valley Games with Southern Illinois look pretty ;-)

USC vs Memphis

Tim Floyd is a party pooper. Not only did he got Kevin Durant out of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, he turned into one of the most anticipated games of the season into a borderline-boring slowfest. His decision to use junk defenses and slow the tempo on offense, derailed the Memphis Tigers offense, and made the game slow and choppy.

This of course hurts the Jimmy V cause, because viewers were more likely to tune out, and the less viewers, the lower the donations made to the Jimmy V Foundation.

So Tim Floyd, if you want to win by slugfest, can you please not sign-up for high-profile "charity" games? Thank you.

The game itself was supposed to be the stars of OJ Mayo and Derrick Rose shining. Instead the star of the game was the triangle and two defense. Expect more coaches to try and copycat this when they play Memphis, and the onus is on Calipari to find ways to attack it a lot better next time.

OJ Mayo played "D" and he probably earned some street-cred with defensive minded coaches as he blanketed Derrick Rose. Rose perhaps lost a lot of money in this game, he looked like a deer-in-the-headlights freshman for a good part of the game. The good news for Memphis fans is that that increases their chances of him staying for another year from 1% to 11% :-)

Scoring was so painful, the overtime score was close to a 0-0 soccer match that was decided on penalty kicks ;-)

Taj Gibson was not as bad as the previous two games, but he continues to struggle. Is he "outshined" by Mayo and Jefferson and that is affecting his game? His return to New York was probably not as he would have hoped it.

While there's no doubt that Vitale raises a lot of money for cancer research, at times he does stupid things like promoting his personal stuff in the middle of emotionally-charged pleas for donations. He did it again last night by promoting his website while being one step away from tears while telling stories of cancer victims. Which can lead some skeptics to ask: Is Digger Phelps the only actor among the ESPN analysts?

Which leads to this question: What's the difference between Dick Vitale and a televanglist? Answer: They are on different channels ;-)

Kansas at USC

Defense won this game that in contrast to popular belief was not officially part of the Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood Series Challenge.

USC did better in the first half, the Kansas defense shut off their water in the second half and managed to grab the lead. OJ Mayo has some flashy OJ-Mayo-Mania monents early in the game, but then he resorted to wild perimeter shots at the defense closed in on him.

Devon Jefferson was able to provide some offense, but for the most part of the second half USC forgot that the purpose of the game was to score. Partially of course because of the KU defense. And to rub it in even more to USC fans, the game ended with the notorious "Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk, K U" - the game was played at USC's new sold out flashy arena with an LA skyline view.

With Brandon Rush still recovering, someone had to step up for Kansas, and the Alaska Assassin, Mario Chalmers, was the one that ended USC's hopes for a comeback. While Kansas is loaded, with Sherron Collins in the pipeline, and Brandon Rush on the recovery path, it feels like there is something missing from this team, just like last year.

Oklahoma at USC

Devon Jefferson in the first half, and OJ Mayo in the fourth quarter were too hot to handle for the Oklahoma State Sooners, and USC won this defense-intensive game. Despite the hard defense, the game was more watchable than the final score may indicate.

Regular readers of this blog knew how good Devon Jefferson was months ahead of time. The rest, found out this week after two solid games against the Southern Illinois wrestling team and the Oklahoma Dookies.

Austin Johnson, strep throat and all, single-handedly brought the Sooners back in the game in the second half, but then Tim Floyd spun a web around him, and took him out, just like he did with touted physical specimen freshman Blake Griffin. Keith "Moose" Clarke had his moments on offense, showing potential if he continues to work and improve his game.

So what did we learn from this game? USC is for real, as we had predicted, and despite the diva moments from OJ Mayo, the team plays defense for real. The Oklahoma Sooners are a team mending and blending, with a new coach and players, and has the potential of getting an NCAA bid, but they have to earn it the hard way. In a worse case scenario they'll probalby be invited to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (CBI), aka not-good-enough-for-the-NIT.

Southern Illinois vs USC

This game showed exactly what I have been talking about when it comes to the Southern Illinois Salukis. This may be a top 25 defensive team, top 25 wrestling team, top 25 hard working team, top 25 over-achieving team, top 25 smartest team, top 25 body building team, top 25 football team, top 25 slugsketball team, but they are not a top 25 basketball team.

Let me describe the Salukis offense in simple terms: Use 20 to 30 seconds of the shot clock while pushing and shoving the opponents, throw the ball at the rim, push all the opposing players out of the way, grab the rebound, and make the layup. I'm sorry but if this is one of the best top 25 basketball teams, I'd rather watch Spelling Bee and Dog and Pony show reruns with Jimmy Dykes on ESPN Classic.

Thankfully the USC Trojans exposed them for the whole nation to see. Enough excuses for the Salukis. They are the premier team of the Missouri Valley (allegedly), they are not a low-major in the RPI #30 conference. They should be playing more basketball and less football/wrestling/slugfest. I'm sure Digger Phelps is going to have a field day with this game - unless he is busy playing ...actor.

Now imagine if half of the teams in the country adopted the Salukis style of play. That would ruin college basketball! Wake up Salukis!

On the other side of the aisle, the USC Trojans were impressive. Tim Floyd did not "Fear the Mayo" as he benched his star recruit, while spinning his decision to the media to save face for the Juice perhaps. Well, his decision apparently paid dividends, not because the two starters played better, but when Mayo and Taj Gibson got in the game, they grabbed the lead and never looked back.

As I have been saying for quite a while now, it was only a matter of time before Devon Jefferson got up to speed, both recovering from his injuries and getting accustomed to the college game. As I mentioned many times, he was a high-school all-star caliber player (he played in one or two of the big four post-season high school all star games in 2005), and he is two years older now, with presumably two years of prep school seasoning. Expect to hear a lot more from Devon Jefferson.

As Steve Lavin pointed out, the Trojans were a different (better passing) team without the Mayo. Daniel Hackett is continuing to emerge as the engine or backbone of the team. Angelo Johnson is another player that can have an impact on the game, as he can shift gears and give opposing defenses a different look.

But perhaps the big Thank You from Trojan fans should go to Charles Coles and the Miami of Ohio Red Hawks who prepared the USC Trojans for this type of a game. While the Trojans looked more jittery against Miami of Ohio, their "training' paid off when they took over the Salukis game and never looked back.

More on this at Trojan Wire, including their piece on Devon Jefferson. Also at Daily Trojan, uschoops.com, and Brendan Loy's Irish Trojan blog.

The Salukis point of view at SIUSalukis.com.

And non-denominational opinions at College Hoops Journal, ArcaMax.com.