Still stings
Tim Floyd has talked many times this week about how disappointed he was that USC lost to Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. He mentioned it again Saturday.
``We'll have the opportunity to clean up what we messed up last year losing first game,'' he said.
Screw North Carolina, SC is a shoe in for a number one seed now. Too bad there aren't zero seeds, because you know we'd get one.
Hah! We'll be lucky to get a 13 seed. The selection committee doesn't know squat about what happened out west this year other than UCLA, UW, and Arizona. We'll probably travel the farthest of any tournament team for each round we play.
I think we will make it to the Sweet 16 on raw talent. We showed against UCLA and Arizona State that we can beat system teams with inferior talent if we're healthy. The inbounds debacle at the end of the UCLA game suggests that we'll lose to a similarly talented east coast team, of which there aren't many. Also, I don't see us having a lot of team chemistry on court. We've got some great individuals and can win if we match up well and keep things mostly 1 on 1. Don't underestimate Taj. He won't see anyone as tough as Pendergraft. But the Dukes and NCs always have incredible chemistry to jack their talent up, and we're not going to develop that in 3 games.
DFWTrojan? TrojanInDC? Desmo?
Nobody asked my opinion, but I like the idea of momentum in sports, and SC has it. And, heck, the tournament already began for the Trojans in their win-or-go home games against the Ugly Bears, the Ugly Little Bears, and the Desert Satans.
Now, can they win? Yes. Can they lose? Sure. Lewis has to have a run if SC wants to see one. DeRozan is the real deal, and he is as good as gone after this season. Taj and Hackett are steady. After that there are no point-makers. That is a pretty thin offense.
Still, what Floyd and this team have accomplished in the last 3-years is a beautiful building block for the future.
7 or 8 seed gives you a tough but winnable game. will the focus be there?
It appears most analysts have the Trojans penciled in as a 9 seed. I wouldn't be upset with that. A chance to make a serious statement in the 2nd round. Might as well catch em early.
I like the 9 seed too. We just beat 3 good teams in a row, so our RPI should be way up in the 30s. How will we do in the tourney? Let's see, we are bad at 3 point shooting, bad at free throws, lack a pure PG, have a 2nd rate SG, lack depth, have no scoring off the bench, and, in my experience, teams coming off conference tourney wins usually suffer in the Big Dance from mental and physical fatigue.
So, my prediction for the Big Dance: sweet 16, baby. We have Coach Floyd and a nasty, nasty defense. Honestly, I don't care if we win a game. It's all icing on the cake. Elite 8 in 2010!
I'll wait on predictions until I see what seed is actually drawn.
USC is a 10 seed, playing Boston College, with a potential 2nd round match-up against Michigan State.
I'm glad I was wrong about USC's chances in the Pac-10 tourney. I didn't think USC could run the table. Then again, USC didn't play like that in the 2nd half of the conference season. It shows lots of character and heart to come back from 15 down at halftime. Congrats to LJ, Locoweed and others for never doubting USC.
Beat the Eagles!!
Fight On!!