BASKETBALL

Can USC Remain An Elite Eight Contender?

When you make it to the Elite Eight at USC, it’s always noteworthy.

USC didn’t win the Pac-12 Conference. It didn’t win the Pac-12 Tournament. But it did get to the Elite Eight.

The question is did it get there because of or in spite of Andy Enfield?

Here’s two small examples of why I say things like that:

  • When point guard Julian Jacobs wanted to transfer, Enfield did not want to keep him. Assistant coach Jason Hart had to talk Enfield into keeping Jacobs, who then became an All-Pac-12 player in 2016.
  • Enfield did not want to recruit Nick Rakocevic, but again Hart intervened and convinced Enfield to sign the forward, who averaged 14.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in 2018-19.

I could go on-and-on with these types of stories but none of them inspire confidence in Enfield.

Unless he hires the next Eric Mobley, what are the odds USC remains an Elite Eight contender?

Even with the Mobley brothers, USC caught a lot of breaks this season thanks to COVID-19, including in the Kansas game. I think the Trojans would have won no matter what but COVID-19 did play a role for the Jayhawks.

USC could return every player next season except Evan Mobley, but that still makes the Trojans a different team.

With a lot of talent, Enfield can win games. But can he ever get USC to the next level, whether that means win the conference, winning the conference tournament or going to a Final Four?

That is the dilemma for Mike Bohn.

  • Check out the USC newsletter today for a recap of some embarrassing behavior in the stands by USC fans at last night’s Elite Eight basketball game.
  • Skip Bayless sounds in this video like USC was the favorite going into the Gonzaga game.
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35 thoughts on “Can USC Remain An Elite Eight Contender?”

  1. “SUCC plays hard in the first 3 minutes and then quits.” Ouch! All those 2021 SUCC BB awards and top ten stats were worthless in a real game.

    Thanks Enfield!

    #How ’bout them Bruins though – they got game.

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    1. Free & sincere advice to a friend:
      I just have a feeling it’ll be time to stop gloating….soon.
      Maybe it’s time to quit while you’re ahead.
      #”How’BoutThemBruins”WillBePostMortemTalk

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I will MG the minute the SUCCster’s retire their references to the 50 – 0 FB game.

        BTW, where the hell is Dear Pisley and his posse, T4 and old stogie.

        #SUCCschadenfreudeissosodelicious

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      2. Ha! Well, I can’t speak for everybody …but I promise I won’t bring up embarrassing bruin stuff IF UCLA football is suffering in December and WE make the NC Playoffs…..
        #YouKnow,LikeSomePeopleAreDoingWithBasketballToday

        Liked by 1 person

      4. problem for bruins hoops is that they don’t have a lot of offensive firepower, and Zaga will go off for at least 75.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Yeah —on second thought, I’ll root for the bruins….but I won’t put my (wife’s) money on them…..
        #TheyCouldEasilyGetBeatWorseThanUs…
        #Oh,IWishItWereHappeningTonight…
        #OwnsIsSoFullOfJoyICan’tTakeIt….

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Hey BruinRob, are you referring to the game where you and “your kids” were verbally and physically harassed at the Coliseum?

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    2. No, USC played terribly the first 3 minutes of the game and that set the tone. They played hard until the final whistle. They played well the last part of the first half and most of the second half , but just met the best team in the country. Too bad they didn’t get to face an overrated Michigan team and get to go to the final four. You’re up next pal! Good luck!

      Liked by 4 people

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      1. Turnovers, turnovers, so many turnovers in the first 6 minutes. Seems like they just weren’t prepared. Can’t blame them really, quick turnaround after the quacks and Zag is a really top notch team.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. The way I see it, SUCC BB was the overrated team. Usually during the game, Andyain’twinning is up stalking the sideline screaming at somebody. But last night, every shot of Enwhine had him in his sit watching his team bend over 18 – 24 points behind.

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      1. Ted showed up! Thought he was locked out…but if Scottie let’s in tinfoil tebow, then anything goes.

        Alford is a pretty good coach. He was looking better than Cronin up to the last 2 weeks. Let’s see if Cronin can do a 31-5 or 28-8 record in the future after Zaga blows him out in a few days.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Well look who’s back now that ucla made the final four, Theodore, a charter member of the ucla ass clowns who’ve made it a habit over the years polluting this blog with their inane comments. So where have you been? At least BruinRob has the stones to show up on a regular basis. How about your twin sister Small Michael? And of course the godfather Charlie Bucket?

        Liked by 1 person

    4. My god, for an Attention Whore, you are sure boring. Get some game jackass so you can actually make a significant contribution.

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  2. Mike Bohn needs to let Andy I can’t coach Enfield seek other employment opportunities. So he doesn’t embarrass him by letting him go, after getting smoked in the elite 8. The team wasn’t prepared at all and they looked like a bunch of lost deer in the head lights last night from the opening tip.
    Then he needs to make a serious run at Mark Few from Gonzaga or Mick Kronin from cross town UCLA whom he has ties with from his Cincinnati days. He also could of let Enfield go already when he got the job and hired Mick Kronin as head coach. You snooze you lose! Now your rivals are in the final 4; while your team goes home. Another black eye to the athletic program. Way to go Folt and Bohn! Always compete fell by way side last night.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. 2020-21 USC basketball seems similar to 2017-18 USC football (when USC lost to Ohio State in Cotton Bowl), in that both teams had many important successes but weren’t up to the task at the very end.

    In terms of whether Andy is a consistent elite 8 coach? He is a great recruiter, that is a big part of the game. There are better x’s and o’s guys out there for sure. Can you hire an obviously a better person? For USC football, yes you can hire an obviously better coach than Clay. Many, many coaches would be better. For Andy, probably hire obviously better, though how much $$ will Caruso/Folt part with?

    Picking coaches is difficult, what might look good before may not turn out to be good after they arrive. Dean Smith is always held up as one of the coaching gods, but given the talent he had, he probably should have won many more natties than he did. (how did he manage to get only 1 with Jordan and Sam Perkins?)

    Congrats to bruins, they are really overachieving. I don’t see them beating Zags, but I hope they do.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Really enjoyed your post, 67 [although —let’s face it — bottom line, Andy’s staying—there’s really no debate on that subject].
      As far as the Cotton Bowl loss and last night’s loss —to me, they were different. Sam wasn’t as interested in USC football after the Rose Bowl — or, more accurately, he wanted to get away from Helton as fast as he could….and it showed in his play and in his leadership of the team. From the news over the summer after the Rose Bowl that Sam was consulting with private QB coaches right through the Notre Dame game (where Sam quietly trotted off the field after the refs said he fumbled after he didn’t), it was obvious that year’s team was capable of imploding if the circumstances were right. I never got that feeling about this year’s basketball team. The lack of focus against Gonzaga really surprised me. I’m not saying there was any set of circumstances whereby they coulda won —I’m just surprised at how little poise they showed in the first half. It was like the game got too big for them. And I NEVER thought I’d see that from this team.

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. Things Got Heated In Stands At USC-Gonzaga Game

        Scott Wolf
        Mar 31

        “While USC lost to Gonzaga last night, there was a lot going on in the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium.

        There was an unruly fan (described to me as an Andy Enfield family/group member) who was making annoying heckles directed at Gonzaga center Drew Timme while USC was down double digits. It was embarrassing and even Amanda Enfield turned around to tell him to keep it down.

        “He was a total embarrassment,” said a USC fan who witnessed his behavior.

        Then there was a USC fan who sat right across the aisle from the Enfield family who was making derogatory comments about Andy Enfield and the zone defense in the final two minutes of the game. Amanda Enfield asked security to ask him to keep it down to avoid a confrontation with the male family member from above.”

        “It wasn’t a sterling example of the Trojan family at work.”

        “More like entitled on entitled crime at its best.”

        Ouch!

        #Toejam class shines bright on or off the court.

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      2. Michael, things are upside down at USC. We are a football school and we have a the idiot of all idiots as coach. Andy won’t be getting any offers from Kansas (once they are on double secret probation and Self is fired), but he is not a fraud and his team doesn’t quit on him.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Agree with every word, 67.
        [I had to pick juries for 25 years of my life — I got to the point I could tell if a prospective juror were lying just from the sound of his/her voice. Helton doesn’t believe one word of what he’s saying in the above video. Just look at those blank eyes. Wow! What a fraud]….
        #AndThePlayersKnowIt….

        Liked by 1 person

      4. My dear friend Owns,
        I like venal rich vs. venal poor crime the best.
        #TheyDoItBestInWashingtonD.C.

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      5. When Scottie posts videos of Helton, I can’t click on them. His voice. So disingenuous. He’ll do anything for a buck.

        Liked by 2 people

      6. I would say that’s the right approach, 67 —-EXCEPT for the fact I’ve heard Carol Folt’s computer specialists have found a way of detecting who doesn’t watch the Helton videos —- a list is being made up and those on the list won’t be allowed to drive or eat or shop in Los Angeles.
        #”It’sGoodTheyDidThat….RealGood!”
        ——-The Twilight Zone (The Corn Patch episode)

        Liked by 1 person

      7. Things got heated in Westwood. Students starting fires, had to call out riot police. Can’t UCLA do ANYTHING right? They cannot even win with dignity.
        Luckily, they left Pauley alone since that is now the property of USC.

        Well at least UCLA did not wait two decades to get back into the final four. At that their rate they are going, we do need to wait until the 2030s for the their next visit. In the final analysis, when I wake up I know I am USC fan and smile and pity the poor sods that are saddled with being UCLA fans. Marred for life. They will have their occasional successes (after all if you throw enough darts at the board eventually you hit it ) but in the end they will always be behind USC. UCLA is the Tantalus of LA sports.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Michael, are you talking the “Wish him in the corn field Anthony! That is a right good thing you did, Anthony!” Twilight Zone? That was a big one. Still packs a wallop! Just for fun, I hired a few bruins to drive around Coach Folt’s house 24/7 and see what she does. Hoping she breaks soon and fires Clay.

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Yep. That’s the episode. I sympathize with the grovelers in Anthony’s family. He was vindictive AND he could read their thoughts. Not a good combination. When I was a kid there was a puppet show with a witch who told the audience “I can read your minds–and I’m gonna get the kids who don’t like me!” I went to bed every night for week saying “I don’t know about the other kids but I kinda liked that witch —- she seemed
        alright to me!”
        #YouNeverKnowWhenAWitchIsReadingYourMind…
        #…UnlessYou’reMikeBohn……

        Liked by 1 person

  4. MG, with all due respect my friend, you’re sadly delusional.

    You mention SUCC FB in the same sentence as the 2021 NCAA CFB NC playoffs.

    Last year with a record of 5 – 1 (A better record than many bowl teams) SUCC declined to participate in a bowl game. Real elite FB teams don’t pussy out of bowl game competition because they lose a Conf. Championship game at home.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Recent years:
      UCLA in basketball against USC 1-5
      UCLA in football against USC 1-5 (even with Clay Helton as coach). Wow, what a disgrace.

      Made the final four, but USC still owns LA, still owns Pauley. Perhaps the darkest mark of all, a losing record against Clay Helton! I mean you must have the softest of soft teams to pull that off. Someone should tell UCLA this is tackle football.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. SUCC BB hasn’t been to a Final Four since 1954.

        In that Final Four they lost the semi-final game and then they dropped the consolation game – damn impressive.

        Old stogie, the only thing SUCC owns is a seat in front of the TV to watch the semi-final match ups. Some things never change.

        Thank Enfield!

        BTW stogie, UCLA FB has never lost to a 41 point ‘dog at the RB.

        Like

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