BASKETBALL

Alijah Arenas Changes Mind, Will Return To USC

The whole Alijah Arenas situation has become so sloppy. He hasn’t made any public announcements, entered his name in the NBA Draft and now has suddenly withdrawn it.

Arenas returning to USC will be cheered in many quarters. But I will stand by what I said earlier today. He took 13 shots a game last season (too many); shot 34 percent from the field and 21 percent on 3-pointers.

Those numbers will improve next season but in order to make USC better, Arenas will need to realize there are other players like Rodney Rice on the team who are capable of being the go-to player.
It is going to be Eric Musselman’s job to meld this group into a high-quality team.

45 thoughts on “Alijah Arenas Changes Mind, Will Return To USC”

  1. Lots of talent on that team with Arenas, Rice, and the three tall incoming Freshman. Will likely take time to develop but may be dangerous at tournament time. There are 3 NBA players on the team.

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      1. KAM: Recording of Phone Call Reveals USC alumnus D e m o c r a t Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Was Warned About Danger of Wildfires Before Her Trip to Ghana.

        DON:She had all of this information before she left the country for a trip to Ghana. She went anyway.

        It’s just another reminder of how incompetent Bass is as a mayor. The people of Los Angles were doomed before the fires even began.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. “Karen Bass, the 43rd Mayor of Los Angeles, has an educational background focused on health sciences, physician assistant studies, and social work. She earned a Bachelor of Science in health sciences from California State University, Dominguez Hills (1990), graduated from the USC Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program (1982), and earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California (2015)”

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      5. Bass earned a PA certification in 1982. A PA is a very impactful job. She could have really helped her community but instead abandoned this job in favor of social work and politics. Now she is destroying her community with her DEI/woke policies. She was one of the first to call for the defunding of the police.

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      6. Yes, Plow Horse, we all know she is a great example of how easily one can achieve great academic credentials, without necessarily being very smart or having any common sense.

        It’s pretty sad.

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      7. So true, So Cal. As a matter of fact, I’ll take a person with no degrees and common sense over one of these looney Ivy League jerk*ffs any day.

        [I recently had to rescue a friend from the care of “doctors” who weren’t even checking his medications against his chart —-and didn’t seem to know his liver from his kidneys when I asked them questions about how these medications were being processed by his body]….

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      8. MG, knowledge is power. The more that you know, the safer you are, and it pays to have good friends like you to share their knowledge. Best wishes always. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

        Liked by 1 person

      9. I’m still curious as to why Sane Gabby used the MALE form of the word, rather than “alumna”. 🙂

        We’ve all heard the Big Mike rumors. Is the same true of Karen???

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      11. Knowledge is power, Ambitious —but it doesn’t come in the form of degrees anymore. I recently watched Yale students enthusiastically applaud an anarchist guest speaker —who was, basically, calling for his audience’s demise.

        #HowDumbCanYouGet?

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      12. Part of learning is knowing how to separate the wheat from the chafe. Free speech is not always wise speech, but I would rather deal with lousy concepts so that speech is truly free. Every student should have to take a mandatory debate class so that they can learn how to function in a free speech society. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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      14. Great response, Ambitious.

        [By way of background: It was depressing watching the patrician snob undergraduates at Yale applaud a speaker espousing violent revolution —apparently, they are so pampered and sheltered they didn’t realize he was explicitly threatening their own parents…and, by extension, them personally]….

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  2. Arenas returning to our team is great news but only as Scott said, if he is willing to truly be a team player to maximize his talent and mature as a team mate. If Musselman can create a true team with Arenas, Rice and his top recruits, that would be fantastic. Trust but verify and actions speak louder than words. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962 P.S. Something positive must be in my drinking water, I’m finding myself agreeing more with Scott who is sharing more objective comments instead of negativity.

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    1. Ambitious,

      If Arenas can pull his ass out of his head, he could be a team captain and lead the young men that are coming in. I think that would help settle the program down, help the coach, and help himself. If he puts the effort into leadership, he will get the points and it will increase his draft choice. Just an idea.

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      1. Excellent suggestion. Hope that Musselman is smart enough to lead him in a direction of team leadership. None of us is as smart as all of us. Always appreciate your thoughtful comments. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Concept for HBO film:

      Cynical but wise sports reporter and idealistic but resourceful blog commentator join forces to combat Martian invasion…

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      2. Michael,

        I have the perfect team to do this, and that is, drum roll please, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, Howard Cosell and Scott Wolf. What a team that would be.

        This is Howard Cosell with Scott Wolf reporting live In Las Vegas where the Martins are planning to invade the world. Scott, why are the martins landing in Las Vegas?

        Scott: Howard, the reason is, that they are gonna get odds on the invasion and make out like a bandit.

        Howard: There you have it, live from Las Vegas, This is Howard Cossell and Scott Wolf signing out.

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      3. Pasadena, was that the ghost of Howard Cosell teaming with Scott. Scott always wanted to be the second coming of Don Meredith. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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      4. “Why did the Martians land in Las Vegas?”

        Because they wanted to give Cowardly Gabby a good azz whipping. He earned it. Time to slap him around like a pinata. The Martians are going to pinch his head until poop comes out. Ouch!

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      5. “Why did the Martians land in Las Vegas?”

        Because they wanted to give Cowardly Gabby a good azz whipping. He earned it. Time to slap him around like a pinata. The Martians are going to pinch his head until poop comes out. Ouch!

        Liked by 2 people

      6. “Why did the Martians land in Plow’s backyard ?”

        Because they wanted to give manureman a good azz whipping. He earned it. Time to slap him around like a pinata. The Martians are going to pinch his head until poop comes out. Ouch!

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  3. GAS PRICES ARE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN FOUR YEARS.

    THANK YOU, DONNY. SLO CAL LOVES IT WHEN IN STICK IT IN THIS AZZZZZ……OUCH!

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      1. When someone needs to reach for something that happened more than 5 years ago (and MUCH smaller than the dozens of riots we saw a few months earlier) as “evidence” the hate & violence is coming equally from both sides, we’re not exactly dealing with a MENSA member.

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      1. Not quite that “activist’ —but on the same wave length…

        [I wish the FBI would release the cable histories of these would-be assassins — it would be instantly clear where they are getting their “news”]….

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    3. Fake gabbbby, the assssssswipe, thank Newscum on this. 33 refineries have shut down because of that piece of no good feces. He has stopped oil leases and pumping. Go to the West LA Choir Boy fest. They miss you. Tell them no oil this time. You want it dry.

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      1. SPEAKING OF “NO OIL”……YOU SOUND LIKE AN EXPERT ON THE TOPIC….OUCH!

        ……..AND YOU HAVE YOUR GABBY’S MIXED UP……YOU SENILE TURD

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  4. BREAKING NEWS:

    Carol Folt changes mind —will return to USC!

    [Sub-headline: Chair of University of Southern California Board of Regents found in pool of b-l-o-o-d —detectives say victim of apparent s-u-i-c-i-d-e]….

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  5. Sure USC will go to the Final Four- WITH MUSSELMAN COACHING THAT TEAM- IT WILL BE THE FINAL FOUR OF THE NIT – NOT THE NCAAA. The guy is a loser just watch this upcoming season.

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  7. If we bring back Howqr Cosell, how about bringing back Frank Gifford, a very noble Trojan. His senior season in 1951 was one of the first to televise most USC games, and Frank Gifford was one of my first Trojan heroes. Then along came Jim Sears in 1952 and others to follow at tailback U. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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    1. My favorite Monday Nite Football Moment: The New York Jets are getting killed in the first half, O. J. asks Don Meredith “why don’t they throw the bomb?!”, Don sez he doesn’t know…. third quarter and the Jets are really taking it up the shorts, O. J. again asks Meredith, “Why aren’t they throwing the bomb?”, again Don sez he doesn’t know. The fourth quarter comes around and O. J. wants to know “Why aren’t the Jets throwing the bomb?!?” — Meredith pretends to start weeping and sez “I don’t know, O. J…… I don’t know…I just don’t know.”

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  8. Michael: Let’s put it this way- USC Basketball under “Muscle” Man is meaningless the team to watch is our Women’s Team next year led by JuJu. and Jazzy. Besides the girls are more fun to watch than the Men’s teams aren’t they? Galen will be packed next year for the Women’s games this will be one of the great women’s teams ever.

    Dennis “Mo” Layton for two there were no three’s in the 70’s, ha ha

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