USC Takes the Ball out of Basketball

Kate and I watched the UW/USC game last night and it was one of the worst games I have ever seen.  UW fell behind early so USC changed their tactics to just suck up time on the clock.  This started in the middle of the first half!  With USC up by 10, they started to run out the shot clock on every single possession by just standing right in front of the half court line.  It was maddening.  It was boring.  I wanted to run onto that court and start throwing elbows.  The Dawgs play a fast-paced game so to combat this new stalling tactic, they would just run it down the court and shoot the 3 or go for a lay-up, then we would have to wait another 35 seconds for USC to attempt a shot again. 

If you want to beat the Dawgs, just play the zone defense.  That's it.  Every team in the NCAA knows this.  USC knows this because I saw them playing the zone last night.  You don't have to do that idiotic hang onto the ball trick which just about didn't work for you in the end anyways.  Any decent team playing against the Dawgs will always take an early lead as well because Isaiah Thomas is ice cold for the first half of every game.  The guy scores all of his points in the second half, mostly through free throws nowadays.  Matthew Bryan-Amaning will miss the majority of his shots within five feet of the rim and .....  I could keep going, but you get the point.

Maybe I'm not really mad at USC, but am deflecting my anger because I'm pissed off at UW.  They commit consistent turnovers, miss the easiest shots in the world, don't hit their free throws, and it looks like they just relish playing in the come from behind, underdog role.  You guys play WSU in the PAC-10 tournament next week.  You've already lost to them twice, I foresee a third loss.  You guys will make it into the NCAA tournament as a double digit seed and will need a miracle to make it out of the first round. 

Sorry about your last home game seniors, we'll definitely miss Overton's defense, but I am really looking forward to anyone else taking over the low post from MBA right now who can actually score in regular intervals.