At the Founder's Club, the mood was up for the second opportunity, post-covid pause, for the fans to see their 17-2 Trojans. The last time the Trojans had a record this good, was when they went 24-2 in 1970-71 under Coach Bob Boyd. That team featured future NBA All-Stars and USC Hall of Famers Paul Westphal (RIP) and Gus Williams. Westphal is also in the college basketball and Naismith Memorial HOFs.
While waiting for our speaker, I pass Mike Bohn and throw out my question, "when will we have a Caleb Williams announcement?" He smirks and replies "I thought you were handling that!"
The guest speaker was Jay Morris, for the second time. He points out that DJ Malski is in the room and tells a story about first meeting Malski when he was the DJ for Alemany HS. Coach Morris said Malski deejayed his wedding. With his 10 yr wedding anniversary coming up Morris' wife asked him if he thought they could get DJ Malski again. Jay, laughing, said he told his wife that I don't think we can afford him anymore since he is now bigtime. He then says to Malski in front of everyone, " unless, Malski, can I get a hook-up?" The reply was "of course you can Coach!" - Good stuff.
Coach said Max was starting tonight. Josh Morgan has tendonitis in a knee and will again sit out. He noted the difference having a crowd could make vs. the empty arena for the game at Maples. He said he would be suprised if the Trojans did not come out fired up and get off to a good start.
I got a couple of questions in. I asked him if Reese has earned more playing time based on his recent play. He said he has, but more court time was contingent on better mastery of the playbook. My last question was an homage to DJ Malski, "Coach, new school or old school music, which is better?" - those that have been to games at Galen no doubt have heard Malski posing that question to the crowd.
Entering the arena, I see the student section seats all have a yellow towel draped over them, the full section of students would later be waving them on command. I see Bohn and Sosna, but the closest we get to seeing Lincoln Riley are the ads featuring CLR on the big screen video board, pushing for fans to buy football season tickets. The basketball band is there, led by Ben Chua. New this season is the presence of the drum major with his sword. There's lots to take in: the Dance Force, Spirit Squad and a dozen Song Girls. Of course DJ Malski is in the house. Tonight's attendance is 4148, a decent sized crowd for Galen, which is supposedly limiting new ticket sales to maintain a 50% capacity, to meet covid guidelines.
Onto the game action. Well Coach Morris was right about the fast start, only it wasn't the Trojans that had it, but the Cardinal who hit 2 quick 3-ptrs to open the game. Stanford's lead would reach 23-15 at the 9:09 mark and it was nervous time.
Kobe Johnson changed the momentum in his best game as a Trojan, with a cut through the lane and a Mobley feed for a one-handed slam. He would get 2 more buckets before half and finished with a productive 6 pts, 4 rebs, 1 blk, 1 assist and 1 steal in just 12 minutes. He looks more comfortable each game and will be needed to contribute the rest of the season. Late in the game, the video board would show the Play of the Day - Kobe's dunk, as called by Trojans' radio play-by-play announcer Jordan Moore.
Down 26-19, SC would go on a run of its own, with two 3's from Boogie Ellis, a 3 by Drew Peterson, 2 layups from Kobe and a layup by Mobley. SC was suddenly going into the half up 6, at 34-28., I was seeing a momentum shift like in the ASU game and thought the victory would be wrapped up shortly. That feeling didn't last long as Stanford opened the second half with 6 straight points to tie the game at 34-34. The play after that was fairly even, with SC maintaining a slim lead, until the 10:55 mark, when Stanford would tie the game at 50-50. At the 5:12 mark, Stanford took the lead 56-55 and would push this to 60-55 with 2:47 remaining. A minute later Max would hit a short baseline jumper and cut the lead to 60-57. Drew Peterson would nail a clutch 3 with 59 secs left. Harrison Ingram would give Stanford a 62-60 lead, Mobley was fouled with 14 secs left, shooting 1-and-1. He would make the first FT before Jerod Haase froze him with a timeout. Mobley missed the second and down 62-61, SC was forced to foul to stop the clock. Brandon Angel hit both FTs (64-61) and SC needed to hit a three to force OT.
Mobley was looking to take the last shot himself. The Cardinal collapsed on him and rather than pass the ball to Boogie Ellis, who was open in the corner, Mobley took the shot and it missed. Did he see Boogie and decide that he should take the last shot instead of Ellis. Here is the clip.
Game over. Stanford wins 64-61, sweeping the Trojans to go to 12-6, (5-3). SC drops to 17-3, (7-3) and will drop in the next rankings. They are solidly in third place, but tied with Stanford, Oregon, UW and WSU with 3 conference losses.
Statistically, this game was very even. Stanford made 1 more FG than SC 23-22, both teams shot 9-21 3FGs, and the Cardinal made 9-11 FTs, SC 8-10, a very good night at the line for SC. The difference in the game was TOs, SC turned the ball over 14 times, Stanford 9. Those extra possessions in a close game, really hurt the Trojans. It was a given that the Pac-12 officiating would be atrocious, but that did not account for the number of bad passes that SC threw, many of them in trying to hit a moving target in a crowded lane. There was really no reason to force those passes , it was not an intelligent thing to do.Also, too many points were given away on missed layups and no-footers by SC, including 3 missed dunks (Max, Mobley and Boogie). Boogie's was injured on the play and lay on the court for quite awhile before being helped to the lockerroom. The crowd feared the worst, but were surprised when Boogie returned to the game minutes later.
Missing dunks and bad passes were one thing, Drew choosing not to pass to an open Max in the corner on an inbounds play and instead forcing the ball to a covered teammate, resulted in a steal and 2 points for the Cardinal. Just not smart. The team really needs to improve it's basketball IQ.
Drew led the team in scoring, for the third consecutive game with 14 pts (4-11 FGs, 3-3 3FGs, 3-3 FTs), grabbing 7 rebs, with 4 assists, 2 steals and a block.
Boogie Ellis first shot, a made 3-pts was more than he scored last game against ASU (2 pts). He had a good 1H, but in a pattern, tailed off in the 2H. He ended with 11 pts (4-6 FGs, 3-4 3FGs), but needs to take more than 6 attempts.
Isaiah Mobley was just shy in several categories of a triple-double with 9 points, 9 assists and 7 rebs. He shot 3-8 FGs, 1-4 3FGs, 2-3 FTs, but had 3 TOs.
Max tallied 9 points on 4-8 FGs, 1-3 3FGs. He defended well and had 4 rebs, but for every positive thing he contributed, he would confound it with a stupid mistake. All 3 of his TOs were ill-advised passes. If he could only improve his decision making he would be so much better, he has the length, athleticism and stroke to achieve, but he is blocked from putting it all together by his low basketball IQ.
Chevez had a poor game. In 23 minutes, he had only 4 pts and 1 rebound and committed 3 TOs. He has issues when he plays bigger opponents.
Ethan started, but played only 8 mins, missing his only shot. His lack of productivity and lead guard skills has resulted in declining minutes. Reese and Kobe are getting more time.
Reese needs to seize on the opportunity and produce more. He played 18 minutes and made one 3-ptr. Hehad a reb, assist and block. With a team leading 86.7% FT shooting, I believe he needs to drive to the hoop more often, looking to get fouled.
Isaiah White played 10 minutes and scored 5 pts on 1-3 FGs, 0-2 3FGs (the 3-ptrs were clean looks) and 3-4 FTs
Absent Josh Morgan, I expected Boubacar to get more than 1 minute of playing time, but that's what Andy gave him. He grabbed 1 rebound.
Post-game, Mobley and Drew's comments suggested the Trojans had taken this game lightly, believing that they were the better team and would be awarded the win, playing the game was a mere formality. This team cannot get to the point where they are not the aggressor in games. They have to play harder, scrappier, get rebounds and the loose balls, and play smarter. They are a good, but not great team. They have lots of flaws and can only overcome this with stepping it up on defense, sharing the ball, cutting down turnovers and making shots, including FTs. It all starts with defense and rebounding. Shooting comes and goes, but you can always count defense and rebounding to keep you in games.
Next up for SC on Saturday at 4 pm are the Cal Bears, the Trojans will be looking for a series sweep after winning in Berkeley 77-63, with 4 Trojans scoring in double digits, led by Isaiah Mobley's 19 pts. Cal is 9-11 (2-7). They are in the midst of a 6-game losing streak and have yet to win a road game. They were blown out by UCLA in an 81-57.
Cal has three players averaging double digits: Jordan Sheperd - 14.4 ppg, Andre Kelly - 13.5 ppg and Grant Antecevich -10.5 ppg. Kelly leads with 8.6 reb pg. Coverage will be provided by Pac-12 Networks.
Following the Cal game, SC travels to the Arizona schools, facing the Wildcats for the first time.
While waiting for our speaker, I pass Mike Bohn and throw out my question, "when will we have a Caleb Williams announcement?" He smirks and replies "I thought you were handling that!"
The guest speaker was Jay Morris, for the second time. He points out that DJ Malski is in the room and tells a story about first meeting Malski when he was the DJ for Alemany HS. Coach Morris said Malski deejayed his wedding. With his 10 yr wedding anniversary coming up Morris' wife asked him if he thought they could get DJ Malski again. Jay, laughing, said he told his wife that I don't think we can afford him anymore since he is now bigtime. He then says to Malski in front of everyone, " unless, Malski, can I get a hook-up?" The reply was "of course you can Coach!" - Good stuff.
Coach said Max was starting tonight. Josh Morgan has tendonitis in a knee and will again sit out. He noted the difference having a crowd could make vs. the empty arena for the game at Maples. He said he would be suprised if the Trojans did not come out fired up and get off to a good start.
I got a couple of questions in. I asked him if Reese has earned more playing time based on his recent play. He said he has, but more court time was contingent on better mastery of the playbook. My last question was an homage to DJ Malski, "Coach, new school or old school music, which is better?" - those that have been to games at Galen no doubt have heard Malski posing that question to the crowd.
Entering the arena, I see the student section seats all have a yellow towel draped over them, the full section of students would later be waving them on command. I see Bohn and Sosna, but the closest we get to seeing Lincoln Riley are the ads featuring CLR on the big screen video board, pushing for fans to buy football season tickets. The basketball band is there, led by Ben Chua. New this season is the presence of the drum major with his sword. There's lots to take in: the Dance Force, Spirit Squad and a dozen Song Girls. Of course DJ Malski is in the house. Tonight's attendance is 4148, a decent sized crowd for Galen, which is supposedly limiting new ticket sales to maintain a 50% capacity, to meet covid guidelines.
Onto the game action. Well Coach Morris was right about the fast start, only it wasn't the Trojans that had it, but the Cardinal who hit 2 quick 3-ptrs to open the game. Stanford's lead would reach 23-15 at the 9:09 mark and it was nervous time.
Kobe Johnson changed the momentum in his best game as a Trojan, with a cut through the lane and a Mobley feed for a one-handed slam. He would get 2 more buckets before half and finished with a productive 6 pts, 4 rebs, 1 blk, 1 assist and 1 steal in just 12 minutes. He looks more comfortable each game and will be needed to contribute the rest of the season. Late in the game, the video board would show the Play of the Day - Kobe's dunk, as called by Trojans' radio play-by-play announcer Jordan Moore.
Down 26-19, SC would go on a run of its own, with two 3's from Boogie Ellis, a 3 by Drew Peterson, 2 layups from Kobe and a layup by Mobley. SC was suddenly going into the half up 6, at 34-28., I was seeing a momentum shift like in the ASU game and thought the victory would be wrapped up shortly. That feeling didn't last long as Stanford opened the second half with 6 straight points to tie the game at 34-34. The play after that was fairly even, with SC maintaining a slim lead, until the 10:55 mark, when Stanford would tie the game at 50-50. At the 5:12 mark, Stanford took the lead 56-55 and would push this to 60-55 with 2:47 remaining. A minute later Max would hit a short baseline jumper and cut the lead to 60-57. Drew Peterson would nail a clutch 3 with 59 secs left. Harrison Ingram would give Stanford a 62-60 lead, Mobley was fouled with 14 secs left, shooting 1-and-1. He would make the first FT before Jerod Haase froze him with a timeout. Mobley missed the second and down 62-61, SC was forced to foul to stop the clock. Brandon Angel hit both FTs (64-61) and SC needed to hit a three to force OT.
Mobley was looking to take the last shot himself. The Cardinal collapsed on him and rather than pass the ball to Boogie Ellis, who was open in the corner, Mobley took the shot and it missed. Did he see Boogie and decide that he should take the last shot instead of Ellis. Here is the clip.
Game over. Stanford wins 64-61, sweeping the Trojans to go to 12-6, (5-3). SC drops to 17-3, (7-3) and will drop in the next rankings. They are solidly in third place, but tied with Stanford, Oregon, UW and WSU with 3 conference losses.
Statistically, this game was very even. Stanford made 1 more FG than SC 23-22, both teams shot 9-21 3FGs, and the Cardinal made 9-11 FTs, SC 8-10, a very good night at the line for SC. The difference in the game was TOs, SC turned the ball over 14 times, Stanford 9. Those extra possessions in a close game, really hurt the Trojans. It was a given that the Pac-12 officiating would be atrocious, but that did not account for the number of bad passes that SC threw, many of them in trying to hit a moving target in a crowded lane. There was really no reason to force those passes , it was not an intelligent thing to do.Also, too many points were given away on missed layups and no-footers by SC, including 3 missed dunks (Max, Mobley and Boogie). Boogie's was injured on the play and lay on the court for quite awhile before being helped to the lockerroom. The crowd feared the worst, but were surprised when Boogie returned to the game minutes later.
Missing dunks and bad passes were one thing, Drew choosing not to pass to an open Max in the corner on an inbounds play and instead forcing the ball to a covered teammate, resulted in a steal and 2 points for the Cardinal. Just not smart. The team really needs to improve it's basketball IQ.
Drew led the team in scoring, for the third consecutive game with 14 pts (4-11 FGs, 3-3 3FGs, 3-3 FTs), grabbing 7 rebs, with 4 assists, 2 steals and a block.
Boogie Ellis first shot, a made 3-pts was more than he scored last game against ASU (2 pts). He had a good 1H, but in a pattern, tailed off in the 2H. He ended with 11 pts (4-6 FGs, 3-4 3FGs), but needs to take more than 6 attempts.
Isaiah Mobley was just shy in several categories of a triple-double with 9 points, 9 assists and 7 rebs. He shot 3-8 FGs, 1-4 3FGs, 2-3 FTs, but had 3 TOs.
Max tallied 9 points on 4-8 FGs, 1-3 3FGs. He defended well and had 4 rebs, but for every positive thing he contributed, he would confound it with a stupid mistake. All 3 of his TOs were ill-advised passes. If he could only improve his decision making he would be so much better, he has the length, athleticism and stroke to achieve, but he is blocked from putting it all together by his low basketball IQ.
Chevez had a poor game. In 23 minutes, he had only 4 pts and 1 rebound and committed 3 TOs. He has issues when he plays bigger opponents.
Ethan started, but played only 8 mins, missing his only shot. His lack of productivity and lead guard skills has resulted in declining minutes. Reese and Kobe are getting more time.
Reese needs to seize on the opportunity and produce more. He played 18 minutes and made one 3-ptr. Hehad a reb, assist and block. With a team leading 86.7% FT shooting, I believe he needs to drive to the hoop more often, looking to get fouled.
Isaiah White played 10 minutes and scored 5 pts on 1-3 FGs, 0-2 3FGs (the 3-ptrs were clean looks) and 3-4 FTs
Absent Josh Morgan, I expected Boubacar to get more than 1 minute of playing time, but that's what Andy gave him. He grabbed 1 rebound.
Post-game, Mobley and Drew's comments suggested the Trojans had taken this game lightly, believing that they were the better team and would be awarded the win, playing the game was a mere formality. This team cannot get to the point where they are not the aggressor in games. They have to play harder, scrappier, get rebounds and the loose balls, and play smarter. They are a good, but not great team. They have lots of flaws and can only overcome this with stepping it up on defense, sharing the ball, cutting down turnovers and making shots, including FTs. It all starts with defense and rebounding. Shooting comes and goes, but you can always count defense and rebounding to keep you in games.
Next up for SC on Saturday at 4 pm are the Cal Bears, the Trojans will be looking for a series sweep after winning in Berkeley 77-63, with 4 Trojans scoring in double digits, led by Isaiah Mobley's 19 pts. Cal is 9-11 (2-7). They are in the midst of a 6-game losing streak and have yet to win a road game. They were blown out by UCLA in an 81-57.
Cal has three players averaging double digits: Jordan Sheperd - 14.4 ppg, Andre Kelly - 13.5 ppg and Grant Antecevich -10.5 ppg. Kelly leads with 8.6 reb pg. Coverage will be provided by Pac-12 Networks.
Following the Cal game, SC travels to the Arizona schools, facing the Wildcats for the first time.
