Scout Says
I spoke to an NBA scout who watched last night's USC-Arizona game.
``They relied a lot on 3s and the game changed when they stopped hitting them. But the real problem is they are soft in the frontcourt.''
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I spoke to an NBA scout who watched last night's USC-Arizona game.
``They relied a lot on 3s and the game changed when they stopped hitting them. But the real problem is they are soft in the frontcourt.''
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Really? Thank you for stating the utterly obvious. Maybe next time you can strive for the seemingly apparent.
Really? Thank you for stating the utterly obvious. Maybe next time you can strive for the seemingly apparent.
Yeah, this is a good point. Over the last two seasons, most of the attention has gone to the backcourt - OJ, Hack, and Lewis. But, perhaps the biggest problem is simply that we lack depth in the frontcourt, and our best frountcourt player is simply not very good. Let's be honest, Taj is a good rebounder and defender, but very weak offensively. Taj Gibson = way overrated? I just don't see him sticking in the Association.
DFW, Gibson is a fine player. He rebounds and blocks shots well. Also, it is hard to be productive on offense when you have 2-3 players guarding you. In the AZ game, the announcers noted that he had more assists than points because he was passing well out of the double team. And, if the defense is dropping 2-3 defenders in your lap, you are a pretty special player. Indeed, he is a Top 30 finalist for the Sam Gilbert, er, Wooden award.
As for the front court, Floyd never developed Cromwell (6' 11"), and the same is true for Diarra (7' 0"). (If the reply is that they suck, then why have them on the roster?) The NBA scout is wrong if he says Gibson or Leonard Washington are soft. They are both bangers on the glass.
Also, I don't understand why Floyd perfers Wilkerson over Vucevic, who didn't even play against Arizona, after scoring 8 pts in 17 min against fUCLA. Perhaps he should be the starting PF.
If USC does not beat ASU, the chances of an NCAA berth become remote. USC would have to go 5-1 with games remaining at Cal, at Stanford, and hosting Wash to finish 11-7 in the conference...or win the Pac-10 tourney.