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.
Trojans watch Arkansas film
Tim Floyd opted not to have the team practice Monday, giving the players two days rest after playing Thursday, Friday and Saturday in their run to the Pac-10 Tournament final.
The players did report to Galen Center to watch a tape of Arkansas' Jan. 27 victory at then-No. 12 Alabama in preparation for Friday's first-round NCAA Tournament game.
After watching the film, Keith Wilkinson compared Arkansas' 7-foot center Steven Hill to the Lopez twins at Stanford and point guard Patrick Beverley to Aaron Brooks at Oregon.
``They usually have two big guys in there at all times and they're a good defensive rebounding team, so we'll have to find a way to combat that,'' Wilkinson said.