SB Nation - Leonard Washington

Six Games In, USC Hoops Providing Only a Few Answers

Joey Kaufman — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:09:46 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Just six games into the 2009-2010 college basketball season, there are still plenty of questions surrounding Kevin O'Neill's rag-tag Trojan bunch. USC, which presently holds a rather pedestrian 2-4 record, has proven capable of competing with some of the nation's top teams (see: Thursday's game at Texas), while at the same time, they have also showed a tendency to lose to inferior opponents (see: a November 21^st home loss to LMU). Based solely on these games, it can be rather difficult to evaluate these Trojans, who continue to raise numerous question marks that make in nearly impossible for ‘SC fans and casual observers to form any conclusions regarding this year's squad. However, even with that said, there are still a few things that the early part of the season has taught us:

1.) Nikola Vucevic is a budding star

After just six games, one thing is absolutely clear: Nikola Vucevic is the most skilled big man in the Pac-10 conference. I don't mean to suggest that he is the most complete player or the most physically dominant. In fact, I strongly believe his shot-blocking, defensive positioning, and ability to run a pick-and-roll could all use some work, especially at this stage in his career. However, I do mean to suggest that the true sophomore is the most complete big man that the conference has to offer in terms of offensive skills and fundamentals. He is capable of scoring in numerous ways, either down at the block or 10-15 feet away from the basket. So far this year, "Kid Euro," as the message board geeks frequently call him, has averaged a double-double with 14.5 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game despite attempting just 11.5 field goals per game. As the season progresses, expect Vucevic's offensive efficiency to continue to grow.

2.) Donte Smith is not an adequate Pac-10 point guard

Personally, I really like Donte Smith. The guy is a hard worker, and he lost a ton of weight this past offseason in order to better serve a depleted Trojan team this year. However, despite his efforts, there is still very little reason to believe that the Pomona, California native can actually serve as an effective point guard for the Trojans. Early results indicate that Smith is incapable of distributing the ball to the team's scorers efficiently, as he presently posts a sub-par assist-to-turnover ratio of 2:5. That isn't going to cut in the Pac-10, even if it's a down year for the conference.

3.) Free throw shooting is still an issue

Under Tim Floyd, free throw shooting served as the team's Achilles' heel, as poor shooting down the stretch often proved extremely detrimental to the team's chances of success. It doesn't appear any different in 2009, as the team collectively holds a free throw shooting percentage of 67%. That just isn't going to win games. As the 2007-2008 Memphis Tigers proved, free throw shooting can often determine results and when a team is shooting this poorly from the charity stripe, it's tough to imagine them winning any close games.

4.) Dwight Lewis should not be your best player

Being one of the few holdovers from the Tim Floyd era, it is understandable as to why so many fans and media members were prepared to anoint Dwight Lewis as the savior for the 2009-2010 USC basketball season. But early results indicate that Lewis is not prepared to shoulder the burden as the team's leader. Through six games, the Louisiana native, who averaged 14.4 points per game last season, has posted an average of just 10.7 points per game. That won't satisfy too many people, especially after the senior captain was expected to shoulder much of the offensive burden with the departures of DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson, and Daniel Hackett. What has been the most disturbing aspect of Lewis's season thus far has been his tendency to be a complete non-factor in some games. After scoring a season-high 22 points in the opener against UC Riverside, he scored just 11 and 6 in the following two games against Loyola Marymount and Coppin State. In Saturday's debacle at Georgia Tech, in which the Trojans lost by 26 points, Lewis scored zero points while playing just six minutes. It's a bad sign when your supposedly top player can score over 20 points in one game yet fail to score at all in another.

5.) Reinforcements are needed

In the season opener against UCR, Kevin O'Neill played just seven players - a clear indication of the team's severe lack of depth at this point in the season. Luckily, help is on the way. North Carolina transfer, Alex Stepheson, who missed the first two games of the season, has come on strong as of late. Against Texas, Stepheson was a severe disappointment after going 0-for-8 from the field, while scoring just 1 point. Yes, he did grab eight rebounds, which was a much needed boost for the team, but his offensive capabilities were severely limited. However, against Georgia Tech, it looked as if the 6'9" center had finally turned the corner by scoring 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and grabbing 7 rebounds. If he can be that productive on the offensive end, then the Trojans will have a nice inside combination of Stepheson and Vucevic. Yet, even the return of Stepheson to form won't be enough to catapult the Trojans into the upper-echelon of the conference. They will need Mike Gerrity, a transfer from Charlotte who is eligible to play in January, to be capable of taking over the point from Smith, and Leonard Washington to continue to build upon a solid freshman season from a year ago when he returns in late December. Provided, these players can be productive, the Trojans will suddenly have a much deeper, talented roster for Pac-10 play.

BtB 2009-10 Pac-10 Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:57:08 -0000

Last year, the Pac-10 was sneaky good on the national stage, sending 90 percent of its membership to the postseason with little preseason fanfare. However, the postseason ended up being a bit of a downer for the six teams who made the NCAAs, as only Arizona, who was probably the last team in the field of 65, made the second weekend. The College Basketball Invitational was a bigger success, as Oregon State and Stanford met in a semifinal. The Beavers won that matchup and ended up as champions--after they defeated UTEP in a three-game series. Oddly enough, Oregon State had to win the CBI to get to .500 for the year, which is a major accomplishment considering where the Beavers were before Craig Robinson's arrival.

All of that success came at a price for last year's contenders. Six Pac-10 players were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft: Pac-10 Player of the Year James Harden (Arizona State), All-Pac 10 first teamer Jordan Hill (Arizona), all-freshman selection DeMar DeRozan (USC), Jrue Holliday (UCLA), first team selection Darren Collison (also UCLA), and second teamer Taj Gibson (USC). Three more players, first-teamers Jeff Pendergraph (ASU), John Brockman (Washington), and Chase Budinger (also U of A), were selected in the second round. Of those nine, five were underclassmen.

That means the conference will have to try to replicate its success with only two all-Pac-10 first-teamers back (Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle of California) and just two second-teamers, including Freshman of the Year Isaiah Thomas (UW), returning. That means those two teams, who unarguably lost the least, start out as the favorites. UCLA should fit in right behind, though they'll be young. Arizona should also be able to contend, though. much like the Bruins much depends on newcomers, and late signings at that. Oregon State, who should be even better in their second season in Robinson's system, could surprise more than West Coasters this time around, especially as most of their roster is intact. Among the remaining five teams, things are muddled. That mess may become clearer during the non-conference season.

The league also turned over 30 percent of its coaches during the offseason. I'll discuss those changes in each team's individual write up after the jump.

First, here's a look at the final 2008-09 Pac-10 standings.

Pacific-10 Conference Standings

(updated 4.4.2009 at 12:56 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Washington Huskies	14	4	26	9
UCLA Bruins	13	5	26	9
Arizona St. Sun Devils	11	7	25	10
California Golden Bears	11	7	22	11
USC Trojans	9	9	22	13
Arizona Wildcats	9	9	21	14
Washington St. Cougars	8	10	17	16
Oregon St. Beavers	7	11	18	18
Stanford Cardinal	6	12	20	14
Oregon Ducks	2	16	8	23

Now here are my picks for the 2009-10 season, presented in reverse order. If a team's name is a link, click it to go to that school's SBN site, where you'll find in-depth, team-specific analysis during the season.

Stanford (last NCAA: 2008) Johnny Dawkins' task wasn't going to be easy this season, as he had to replace his two leading scorers (Anthony Goods and Lawrence Hill) and his starting backcourt (Goods and Mitch Johnson). His task was made more difficult when start recruit Andy Brown was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Today, Dawkins indefinitely suspended guard Jeremy Green (6.4 ppg, 45.6% from 3, 2.1 rpg) for violating team rules further reducing the Cardinal roster. The best news for Dawkins is that senior forward Landry Fields (12.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) is still around. He and 6-9 center Josh Owens (6.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg) will anchor the frontcourt, but inexperience in the backcourt could lead to Stanford spending a second straight year near the bottom of the league. The Cardinal will play in Cancun over Thanksgiving, where they'll face Virginia, then either Cleveland State or Kentucky.

USC (last NCAA: 2009) Tim Floyd left not long after he interviewed for the opportunity to be Lute Olson's replacement at Arizona. Replacing Floyd is...Kevin O'Neill, who was the coach-in-waiting in Tucson during the 2007-08 season. He faces a serious rebuilding project, as the Trojans second, third, and fourth leading scorers--Gibson, DeRozan, and Daniel Hackett of a year ago are all gone. Leading scorer Dwight Lewis (14.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg) is back, however, to anchor a frontcourt that should be respectable, as 6-9 UNC transfer Alex Stephenson is newly-eligible and 6-6 Marcus Johnson will be back from a shoulder injury. They'll join returnees Leonard Washington (6.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Nikola Vucevic (2.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg). The backcourt is a major question mark though, as junior Donte Smith and freshman Percy Miller (aka Lil' Romeo) will compete with Charlotte transfer Mike Gerrity for the point guard spot that was supposed to be filled by Lamont Jones. The Trojans will spend Christmas in Hawai'i, which should be a winnable tournament, even in a down year.

Arizona State (last NCAA: 2009) The Sun Devils return three starters, most notably senior point guard Derek Glasser (8.8 ppg, 4.8 apg). However, the two starters who left are big pieces to replace, Harden and Pendergraph. Herb Sendek will have to rely on several returnees who saw little playing time last season and a boatload of newcomers, led by 7-2 Russian center Ruslan Pateev and 6-2 local product Demetrius Walker, to replace all of that production. Sendek's team should once again be one of the best in the country defensively (if the newbies buy into his system), but the big question will be can he get enough scoring. The Sun Devils host the West regional of the NIT, where Cal State-Northridge and TCU appear to be their biggest obstacles to getting to New York.

Washington State (last NCAA: 2008) Like the rest of the teams in what I'm projecting as the Pac-10's second division for this year, the Cougars lost significant scoring punch at the end of last season. In this case, their top two scorers are gone, Taylor Rochestie (13.2 ppg, 4.5 apg) and Aron Bynes (12.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.3 bpg). As you can see, the Cougs' former point guard and center brought more to the table than just points. So the challenge for former Portland State head coach Ken Bone in his first year as Tony Bennett's replacement is to find players who can fill those gaps, all while complementing 6-6 sophomore G Klay Thompson (12.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg), one of the best shooters in the conference. 6-8 sophomore and 6-9 Australian freshman Brock Motum will be called on to fill Bynes' spot, while Thompson will be supported by a couple of youngsters in the backcourt--Reggie Moore and Xavier Thomas. The Cougars head north for Thanksgiving. They'll compete in a Great Alaska Shootout group that includes hosts Alaska-Anchorage and Nicholls State. If they win both of those, they'll probably face Oklahoma in the final.

Oregon (last NCAA: 2008) Despite all the rumors to the contrary, Ernie Kent is still the head man in Eugene. Sure the Ducks only won 8 games during all of last year, including only two in the league, but that was with a team that featured eight freshmen. This year's Oregon outfit should be a bit more experienced, and may be even better next year, as leading scorer Tajuan Porter (15.4 ppg) and Joevan Catron (7.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg) are the only seniors on the roster. There's also only one junior, 6-5 swingman LeKendrick Longmire (9.9 ppg. 3.7 rpg). Kent really needs to get someone to play at the point, however, with JC transfer Malcolm Armstead the best hope. One of his teammates at Chipola CC, 6-7 F Jeremy Jacob is also expected to be a major contributor to the frontcourt alongside Catron, Longmire, and 6-10 C Michael Durnigan (8.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg). The Ducks will host a four-team round-robin very early in the season, where Colorado State should be their main competition for the title.

Arizona (last NCAA: 2009) Sean Miller left Xavier to replace Russ Pennell who replaced Kevin O'Neill who filled in for Lute Olson. His first couple of tasks in Tucson have to be considered major successes, as he kept 5-10 guard Nic Wise (15.7 ppg, 4.6 apg) from joining Hill and Budinger in the NBA. Then, he snagged a late recruiting class that should help keep the Wildcats competitive in the Pac-10. 6-6 Solomon Hill and 6-10, 255 pound C Kyryl Natyazhko will provide support to Jamelle Horne (6.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg) in the frontcourt. Two New Yorkers 5-11 Lamont Jones and 6-6 swingman Kevin Parrom could bring a whole new dimension to the Cats' game. The new look Wildcats get their first real test in Maui, where they open with Wisconsin and could face old tournament rival Gonzaga in their second game.

Oregon State (last NCAA: 1990) The Beavers edged toward respectability last year, claiming the CBI crown, beating Stanford in 3 or 4 meetings (the one loss was arguably the most crucial, in the Pac-10 tourney), and sweeping Cal (though they did provide the Ducks one of their two league triumphs). When I saw them play in their first game of last season, I thought it would be a very long season for Craig Robinson's squad. But they grew throughout the year and now they'll try to take the next step nationally. Point guard Rickey Claitt (7.4 ppg, 2.5 apg) is gone, but point center Roeland Schaftenaar (10.5 ppg. 4 rpg, 3.3 apg) is back. So is leading scorer Calvin Haynes (13 ppg, 3 rpg) and the Tarver brothers, starting PG Josh (3.9 ppg. 1.5 apg) and Seth (8 ppg, 5.4 rpg). The newcomers are a promising group as well. They include two Aussie forwards, Angus Brandt and Rhys Murphy, 6-7 forward Joe Burton, and guards Jared Cunningham and Roberto Nelson. Richmond transfer Chris Richard is also eligible this season, and he'll help bolster the backcourt. The Beavers will open their regular season in Lubbock as part of a four-team tournament. They'll challenge host Texas Tech for the title.

UCLA (last NCAA: 2009) A team that lost four of its top five leading scorers probably shouldn't be rated third in this league, but considering the roster changes and inexperience that hound teams four through 10, the Bruins sit here for the moment. Of course, Ben Howland's team could start slowly, as they've turned into the walking wounded during preseason practices. Forward Nikola Dragovic (9.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and G/F Michael Roll (6.7 ppg) are the Bruins two leading returning scorers, and Drew Gordon (3.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg) will undoubtedly get better with more time on the court. This season, Howland's freshmen, led by 6-9 swingman Tyler Honeycutt, 6-8 F Reeves Nelson, and 6-8 Mike Moser, are going to have to carry a lot of the load. The Bruins will anchor the 76 Classic, where they'll open with WCC contender Portland before facing a tough second opponent, Butler or Minnesota.

California (last NCAA: 2009) Mike Montgomery started to earn the trust of Cal fans last season, but if he can bring a Pac-10 crown to Berkeley, Golden Bear fans maybe, just maybe, able to stop seeing him as a Stanford guy. In a league decimated by player departures, Cal only lost only center Jordan Wilkes (4.7 ppg, 4 rpg). Their four leading scorers are back: Randle (18.3 ppg, 5 apg), Christopher (14.3 ppg, 2.1 apg), 6-6 F Theo Robertson (13.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.5 apg), and 6-8 F Jamal Boykin (9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg). Montgomery's biggest challenge is getting more out of his bench, which is led by hardworking guard Jorge Gutierrez. He also needs to find a replacement for Wilkes. That could be 6-7 JC transfer Markhuri Sanders-Frison, but 6-10 Sudanese prospect Bak Bak could be an intriguing player for the Bears. Cal heads east for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, where they'll open with a Syracuse team who will have homecourt advantage at MSG. The winner of that tilt faces North Carolina or Ohio State. A trip to Lawrence to face Kansas also looms large.

Washington (last NCAA: 2009) Lorenzo Romar lost two key players off last year's Pac-10 champs, Brockman and G Justin Dentmon (14.5 ppg, 2.5 apg, 1.5 spg), but he recruited well. 6-3 Tacoma product Abdul Gaddy should slide into Dentmon's spot on the roster. Gaddy will focus on the point, while Thomas will play more in the 2 slot. Inside, 6-7 Clarence Trent will support senior Quincy Pondexter (12.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg), and 6-9 junior Matthew Bryan-Amaning (6 ppg, 4 rpg) should increase his contributions. The main challenge for UW will be replacing Brockman's prowess on the boards. He averaged nearly 12 a game, and it will be no small feat to replace them. The Huskies host a four-team round-robin tournament to open the season, featuring Belmont, Portland State, and Wright State. They also play Georgetown in this year's edition of the Wooden Classic.

It was a tough choice, but I'm picking Washington to edge Cal in the league race this season. The Huskies will hold Pac-10's auto bid in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket, which I will release on November 9. Tune back in then to see my first guess at the number of bids the conference could receive in what might be a down year. Now, to wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-Pac-10 team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-Pac-10 Team

Player of the Year: Jerome Randle, 5-10 G, Sr. (California)

Remainder of the Team
Patrick Christopher, 6-5 G, Sr. (California)
Quincy Pondexter, 6-6 F, Sr. (Washington)
Isaiah Thomas, 5-8 G, So. (Washington)
Nic Wise, 5-10 G, Sr. (Arizona)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the Pac-10 this season?

Arizona

8 votes

Arizona State

4 votes

California

28 votes

Oregon

2 votes

Oregon State

5 votes

Stanford

1 votes

UCLA

36 votes

USC

1 votes

Washington

363 votes

Washington State

4 votes

452 votes | Poll has closed

Basketball tonight against UW

Paragon SC — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:00:31 -0000

just a few quick notes on tonight's game.

After much speculation Dwight Lewis will make the trip to Seattle where he hopes to play even with a sprained ankle. The question is will he play? With Lewis out it puts all the pressure on Hackett because our back-ups just aren't there yet...

That casting call has sophomores Marcus Simmons and Donte Smith trying to prove they are worthy of the role.

"We're begging one of them to come on and give us relief minutes for Daniel and Dwight," Coach TimFloyd said. "There is 22 minutes out there at guard."

Both are trying to clear hurdles to earn some, or all, of that time.

Simmons came in as a promising freshman a year ago but lost most of the season because of a high ankle sprain. He played in only 15 games. He is trying to overcome another ankle injury this season.

Smith was earmarked to be Hackett's backup but is still shaking off the cobwebs from a year without basketball. He sat out last season while attending Mt. San Antonio College. He averaged nearly 17 minutes a game through the first seven games but saw his time fall off because of ineffectiveness.

"We're really trying to give those guys as much time as we can with the first unit," Floyd said. "We see improvement in both of them."

SC swept UW last year but that was with Mayo and Jefferson, this year we are not at that level of talent. Last weekend's win against the Arizona schools was nice to see but there needs to be more of that grittiness on the road before I am completely comfortable that this team can move forward.

So, if Lewis can't be effective let alone available SC would already be starting at a negative.

[t]he Trojans face the prospect of trying to make up for the loss of a rather indispensable part of their squad.
"Obviously it's his ability to make shots," coach Tim Floyd said, assessing what his team would miss most with Lewis out. "In the past we had so many shotmakers ... he's a guy who can go get you points in bunches, which he did the other night for us. As much as coaches like to talk about defense and rebounding and turnovers, the ability to make shots is an important part of this game."

Again, not an optimal situation.

Couple that with Leonard Washington still not 100% and its an up hil climb fro SC on the road.

We'll have a game thread up later but with the game starting at 11pm EST I don't plan on staying up to watch it...I need all the beauty sleep I can get, not that it helps! Heh.

No Excuse for Washington's Cheap Shot

Paragon SC — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:30:05 -0000

One problem with USC is that this year like last is that the team is trying to finad an identity. Gibson and Hackett are clearly the faces of the program as they are into their third year at USC. Last year we were star struck with OJ Mayo and pleased, for the most part, with Davon Jefferson and the performance they put forth.

Both are gone and now SC has new faces with DeMar DeRozan and Leonard Washington. How Tim Floyd is able to secure this type of talent is impressive but not without a price. Both Mayo and Jefferson were one and done with Mayo going high in the draft and Jefferson....well who knows where Jefferson is now. We all know the issues with Mayo so there is no need to discuss that here.

With the issues that swirled around the Mayo mess it was surprising that Tim Floyd was able to get DeRozan to commit. Most everyone thinks that DeRozan will be one and done but unless he gets to that Mayo type of production he may end up staying for an extra year. Washington's commitment on the other hand was iffy at best. He had academic issues and he then he waffled on his commitment but in the end he was acdemically cleared and he honored his commitment to USC.

But is it worth it?

The cheap shot that that Washington committed on Blake Griffin was an embarrasment on many levels for all the obvious reasons and regardless of why he did it there is simply no excuse for him to go down that road. What makes it even more embarassing is that Washington actually tried convince Tim Floyd that he didn't do it.

Washington was ejected after officials huddled to see replays of his elbow striking Griffin below the waistline as the Trojans prepared to set up their offense.

"What do you think he said? 'I didn't do it,' " said Trojans Coach Tim Floyd, who didn't see the play happen live. "He's a freshman. He doesn't know that we film everything. But he's a good guy."

Right...

These guys never watch Sports Center. They have never seen replays of all the plays on from all the differrent angles....right.

That's a thug move...period. And Washington should be benched by Tim Floyd because of it.

USC basketball is having a hard enough time trying establish a positive identity especially after the Mayo mess and this doesn't help things. The other problem I have is that the press is out there saying that SC really hung tough in only losing by one point. Well, if you look at that carefully the run that SC went on that got them back in the game started right after Blake Griffin went to the bench after he shot the free-throws because of Washington's cheap shot. If it never happened would SC have made that run to get back into the game? Hard to say but becuse they did it AFTER Griffin went to the bench to me its tainted. SC was holding their own but it was clear that OU was getting the upper hand, if Griffin was on the floor it could have really gotten out of hand.

I realize that SC is wants to claim their share of the college hoops headlines in LA but this is not the way to do it and this only perpetuates the opinion that SC will only be able to recruit players with questionable actions both on and off the court. SC has enough things to deal with without tarnishing their image more with a thug play on national T.V.

Tim Floyd needs to send a strong messasge that this will not be tolerated.

Basketball Notes

Paragon SC — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:00:06 -0000

Just a few brief notes on some basketball happenings...

On Sunday USC had their first scrimmage at the Galen Center that was open to the public and DeMar DeRozan showed all that we have heard about him.

DeRozan passed with flying colors, scoring 29 points before several hundred fans who watched the scrimmage at the Galen Center. His alley-oop dunks and spinning layups offered hope that USC can replace a large chunk of offense lost when O.J. Mayo and Davon Jefferson left school early.

"People have always labeled me as a scorer," he said. "In high school and the camps, everywhere."

He has some big shoes to fill in replaing the scoring that left the program when Mayo and Jefferson left but i am more interested in seeing how the team chemistry is coming together with what could be called a more complete roster. I don't expect SC to have the chemistry issues early on this season that were rumored last season. DeRozan is a sure one-and-done but he has a lot of upside with a solid perimeter shot and his production should go a long way to help make up for what was lost when Mayo left.

Another player to watch will be Leonard Washington who will bring a strong rebounding presence to the team this season, as that was something we really lacked last season and it will take the pressure off of Taj as well.

Dwight Lewis will get a lot of playing time as well this season. Is it me or was Lewis lost in the shuffle last season? He will contribute.

Laughing Stock took note of Andy Katz's article yesterday over at ESPN that has a lot of positive things to say about the team this year, particularly Alex Stepheson.

Alex Stepheson took the feed in the post and dunked with authority.

Granted it was a drill, and there was no defensive pressure, but the emphatic slam signaled a significant change for USC.

If Stepheson's presence was this pronounced in practice, what would happen if he were granted a waiver to play without sitting out a season after transferring from North Carolina? The balance of power in the Pac-10 could shift within L.A.

Stepheson could have that kind of impact if an NCAA committee grants his wish to play immediately due to a family hardship.

Put Stepheson next to junior forward Taj Gibson and the Trojans would have the most experienced front line in the conference. Add these two to a starting perimeter of junior guards Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis and arguably one of the top freshmen in the country in DeMar DeRozan, and suddenly the Trojans could have the most experienced and talented starting five in the conference.

That would be a great think but I am not getting my hopes up yet because I think there is a good chance that the NCAA won't clear Stepheson's eligibility.

Jeff Goodman has his preview up on Fox Sports...not a bad read.

I am interested in seeing how Marcus Johnson will fare this season he could be a big deal on defense giving us a little more stability.

Clearly this team has a lot more depth than last season and that is a big plus as we head into the season. Injuries were a big issue last season and they could pop up again this seaon so depth just like with the football team is a big deal.

There is a lot to be excited about!