“NIT Bound” read the latest post on a USC message board just twenty minutes following the Trojans’ narrow four point victory over the visiting North Dakota State Bison:

Look at our schedule, we have only beaten weak teams. The only good teams we have played, we have lost.

We must finish 2nd in the Pac 10 to make the tournament, because our non-conference schedule absolutely sucks.

Key wins: USF, pepperdine and NDSU; all of which we BARELY beat!

The future is ugly

While it was certainly a little frustrating to watch the Trojans, a preseason top twenty-five team, struggle against a team from the the Summit League, claiming that the men of troy are bound for the NIT tournament may be a rash judgement. A four point victory was not what Tim Floyd was hoping, but there were some definite positives about the Trojans’ victory over the Bison.

Defense

Allowing just fifty-seven points against North Dakota State is nothing to frown upon, as the Bison rank third in Division 1 in points per game with an average of 89.4 and return four senior starters from last year’s squad. The Trojans held the Bison to .368 percent shooting, which is well below their season average of 50.7 percent. Additionally, they held star guard Ben Woodside, who scored sixty points in one game this season, to just 14 points on a season low 38 percent shooting. Not too shabby, especially in comparison to their last two outings where both Oklahoma and Pepperdine, shot over 45 percent from the field.

The Freshmen

Freshmen Demar DeRozan and Leonard Washington are beginning to make fans forget about O.J. Mayo, as they combined for 35 points. DeRozan scored a career-high 18 points, while Washington also had his best scoring game of the year with 17 points. But what was most impressive about their scoring outputs was the fact that DeRozan shot 72 percent from the field, while Washington made 5 of his 7 shots. This kind of offensive efficiency is what separates these freshmen from O.J. Mayo, who did lead in the team in scoring a year ago but was known for taking most of the shots on offense. 

Taj Gibson

The Trojans usually have success when they get Taj Gibson the ball on offense. While Gibson did not have a big offensive performance, just ten points, he did do an excellent job at defending the paint while also grabbing 17 rebounds. A lot of the team’s success relies on his ability to control the basket.

There were certainly some negatives as well, such as the dismal assist-to-turnover ratio of 1:4, but this is still a young team that is going to improve as the season progresses. Claiming that they are already out of the running for the NCAA Tournament is a little bit premature at this point in the season, especially when they already have a 7-3 record. With two more non-conference games left and a whole slate of Pac-10 games remaining, it is unfair to throw this team under the bus just yet.

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