Matthew Kredell broke into the Daily News in 1998, working part time
at the paper while going to USC. The basketball team’s Elite Eight
run in 2000-01 was USC’s athletic highlight in his time at the
school, when the football team was stuck in the Paul Hackett-era.
After graduating in 2001, he started writing for the Daily News full
time. He’s in his second year covering USC, which coincides with the
rise of the program. He’ll take credit for the success, though Tim
Floyd may have more to do with it. A third-generation Los Angelean,
he grew up reading the Daily News while at El Camino Real High School
in Woodland Hills.
Floyd on Arkansas ...
``They remind me a lot of Stanford. They have the ability to score. They make it difficult for you to get second-chance points off offensive boards because they are a great defensive rebounding team. It's difficult to keep them off the offensive glass. They are tremendous in that area.''
Floyd said he had two coaches and two NBA scouts tell him that Arkansas was the second-most talented team in the SEC behind Florida.
``I had one NBA scout tell us they're as talented as Kansas. They got enough talent to make a long run in this tournament.''
``I think they're tired of hearing from Syracuse, Kansas State and Drexel that they should be in and Arkansas shouldn't be in. They're going to come to play because of that. I guarantee you, we're going to get a team that not only belongs in the tournament but, if they have any pride at all, they're going to lay it all out there.''