What is wrong with the basketball team?

[SouthbayTrojan91]

They are not playing good defense and that is their heart.

I sure hope this is a very short term slump.

Oregon State is not a good team by any stretch. They should have won easy.
Their size and ability to get the rebounds saved them.

 

[Alta Loma Trojan]

SC played great D in the 2nd half and won by 10.

 

[IETrojanFan]

This is essentially the same OSU team that made the Elite 8 last year... same as USC. Are you calling us "not a good team"?

Both teams coming off tough losses. Playing at home, but without a home-crowd is almost a draw. They played with more heart in the first half, we played with more heart and skill down the homestretch. To come back from 10 down to win by 10 is no mean feat!

 

[DaFireMedic]

This is essentially the same OSU team that made the Elite 8 last year... same as USC.

Yes, but OSU is 3-12 this year, we are 14-1.

Nonetheless, while it was harder than most thought it should be, the team pulled through just fine.

 

[IETrojanFan]

Yes, but OSU is 3-12 this year, we are 14-1.

Nonetheless, while it was harder than most thought it should be, the team pulled through just fine.

Yes they are, but sometimes the record doesn't tell the whole tale.
Anyway, you are right. It was a tougher game than I had hoped for coming off a tough first loss and playing at home, I was hoping for a steadier and more dominant performance.

 

[HectorSpectre]

Winsawin.

Hey, it’s basketball. Even a 1-point win in OT counts.

13-1 sounds like sumthin ’ special brewing. Fight On!

 

[SouthbayTrojan91]

This is essentially the same OSU team that made the Elite 8 last year... same as USC. Are you calling us "not a good team"?

Both teams coming off tough losses. Playing at home, but without a home-crowd is almost a draw. They played with more heart in the first half, we played with more heart and skill down the homestretch. To come back from 10 down to win by 10 is no mean feat!

Yes. They are not a good team. Period.

Did you watch the game? They pulled away in the final 90 seconds. And the game turned on a timely foul out.

Even that 2nd half defense is not the defense this team plays when in top form.

They have shown a tendency to play to the level of the competition and this may have just been a continuation of that tendency.

 

[SouthbayTrojan91]

Ugly lost to OU.
Did not see the game. Don't know if ugly played bad or OU is playing a lot better.

 

[IETrojanFan]

Yes. They are not a good team. Period.

Did you watch the game? They pulled away in the final 90 seconds. And the game turned on a timely foul out.

Even that 2nd half defense is not the defense this team plays when in top form.

They have shown a tendency to play to the level of the competition and this may have just been a continuation of that tendency.

Oh, I agree the defense was not up to par. And there was some "luck" involved. But given the forced time off and getting over the first-loss blues, I still say it was a decent win.

 

[TrojanSigma]

OSU defense was pretty good. I would call them scrappy in the middle. SC had a weak start and was playing from behind the whole game. They eventually broke down OSU and slowly regained control. Will need to play on another level against the Ducks so as to not fall into that trap.

 

[scdan92]

Basketball is a different game than football. Lucas shot lights-out from beyond the arc to keep them close or ahead much of the game. They hit on nine 3-pointers at over 50%. Three's over two's at that clip are a big deal. Almost every quality basketball team will play down to their competition at times - it's pulling out the win that counts.

 

[BlemBlam]

Every team has periods in a season where they go through slumps.

 

[3rd Slide]

Basketball is a different game than football. Lucas shot lights-out from beyond the arc to keep them close or ahead much of the game. They hit on nine 3-pointers at over 50%. Three's over two's at that clip are a big deal. Almost every quality basketball team will play down to their competition at times - it's pulling out the win that counts.

This. Lucas couldn’t miss - every time we pulled the score close he made 3’s. Sometimes a team gets hot, and OSU played over their heads for three-fourths of the game. They were playing a really physical game but that eventually caught up with and they lost the game with a couple of players fouled out.

I don’t see this as us being bad, I see this as being the kind of game that toughens us up and helps prepare us for the tourney.

And Chavez Goodwin is so freakin good. Dude absolutely brings it every day.

 

[WhtHorse]

They had a long break between games...got rusty.

 

[Alta Loma Trojan]

Yes. They are not a good team. Period.

Did you watch the game? They pulled away in the final 90 seconds. And the game turned on a timely foul out.

Even that 2nd half defense is not the defense this team plays when in top form.

They have shown a tendency to play to the level of the competition and this may have just been a continuation of that tendency.

Do you really think we're good enough to blow out every Pac-12 team? It will never happen in any year.
Not just us, every team in America sometimes plays to the level of the competition for many different reasons.
These are kids and it even happens in professional sports.

 

[Eeks2284]

Haven't watched OSU's other games this year, but they were definitely motivated to sneak out of Galen with a win. Lucas was lights out for most of the game scoring a career high and they were making a ton of great hustle plays (blocks and steals) for easy transition buckets. Never like to see USC get out-hustled at Galen, but USC had to have caught OSU on a day where they were playing up to their potential which they likely haven't most of the year. Mobley also had a somewhat off shooting night. Shame the reffing played such a big factor, but a 10 pt margin of victory is the max allowable for the NET rating equation, so I'm glad the team closed well to hit that margin.

 

[SouthbayTrojan91]

Basketball is a different game than football. Lucas shot lights-out from beyond the arc to keep them close or ahead much of the game. They hit on nine 3-pointers at over 50%. Three's over two's at that clip are a big deal. Almost every quality basketball team will play down to their competition at times - it's pulling out the win that counts.

This is exactly my point. This USC team is generally excellent on the defensive side and limits the ability of teams to get wide open three's.
They were slow to close out and there were way to many open shots.

Maybe they were tired, maybe the lack of energy from an empty Galen was the cause, maybe it was the lack of interest in playing a 3-11 team....

 

[SouthbayTrojan91]

They had a long break between games...got rusty.

They had a 2 day break. The Stanford game should have removed the cobwebs.
and frankly, losing to Stanford should have made the team extremely motivated.

 

[ICEnEC]

When you play multiple times per week, sometimes the legs, focus, or whatever just isn't there. If the win/loss ratio going forward is in the 12-1 range??? Not much to complain about really.

 

[SCnAZ]

They are not playing good defense and that is their heart.

I sure hope this is a very short term slump.

Oregon State is not a good team by any stretch. They should have won easy.
Their size and ability to get the rebounds saved them.

Because of their ranking, they are getting everybody's best shots. it's going to get tougher

 

[TommyT]

Growing pains, they won not playing their best game, only potentially great teams can dig down deep and find the will to win

 

[Alta Loma Trojan]

They had a 2 day break. The Stanford game should have removed the cobwebs.
and frankly, losing to Stanford should have made the team extremely motivated.

Did you watch the 2nd half?