Bonus answers, Part II

BRO recently interviewed D Walker and he was talking as though Norris had the other corner spot locked up. I had the impression that Viney and Hester were going to be given the opportunity to win that position. Did something recently just change or was Norris penciled in all along?
At this point, Norris is going to be a fifth-year senior, and heading into spring practice he is the projected starter. It was always going to be that way. However, if Viney or Hester out-perform Norris, they will jump over him. Walker always plays the best guy, regardless of class, and that will not change.

Have you ever seen a scouting report such as one put together by an asst coach like Donny Daniels did for Xavier? Are you able to give a general idea of what it might look like, the different sections it may have, how much is summary or overview, player assessments/tendencies, etc? Would the scouting reports differ during the tournament than those during the regular season against non-conf opponents, considering there is far less time to prepare?
I have seen some of the scouting reports. It’s broken down in tendencies of individual players, the types of things the team likes to run, and how they get shots, and also how they defend different types of offenses and where UCLA may be able to exploit matchups. It’s pretty basic stuff.
And, no, the scouting reports are no different than in the regular season since there is more time than you think to get these reports ready. Daniels starting working on Xavier last weekend, after UCLA beat Texas A&M, just like Scott Garson began working on West Virginia.

Has Neuheisel told you what he expects of Raymond Carter this year? Is he looking to give him some carries or is he going to wait another year to let him recover fully from his knee injury? Basically, what are his expectations for him this year?
The plan is to use Carter at the start of the season. UCLA has some questions about depth at running back, especially given Kahlil Bell’s uncertain availability. Bell told me a few weeks ago he would be ready for the start of August training camp, but we shall see. As for Carter, I expect him to be a central part of UCLA’s offense, beginning early in the season, provided he is healthy and he picks up the offense quickly.

In your opinion, if I may paraphrase, UCLA is not *the* top basketball program because of a lack of consistency throughout the non-Wooden years … or, you ‘cannot overlook the rest of the time UCLA won one national title’. Do you consider SC to be one of the top 3 or 4 programs in football? Does SC also lose points for a ‘lack of consistency’ in the early 90s (other than consistently losing to UCLA’s teams)?
USC’s body of winning national championships as a football program is more consistent over a longer period of time than UCLA’s body as a basketball program. That is my opinion.

Mbah a Moute and Aboya haven't improved in the last two years, and you could even say that they looked better as freshman than they do now. Any idea why that is? Could it be their work ethic? Are they just too raw as basketball players and don't have the natural skill like some others do?
It is not their work ethic, because both work extremely hard. In the case of Mbah a Moute, he played with sore knees all last season, and has dealt with an ankle injury the last few months. I also think his numbers are greatly affected because Kevin Love gets so many rebounds that Mbah a Moute would have gotten in the past. The thing I wonder is why Mbah a Moute’s jump shot has not gotten any better …and maybe worse.
As for Aboya, he plays hard, but he isn’t very skilled.