SoCalHoops College News

USC Looking Good in Exhibition Win, No Matter
Who They Really Played--(Nov. 15, 1998)

Last night we wandered over to USC to take a look at the "new" Trojans, along with about maybe 750 other souls who came to the Lyon Center to do the same. The uniforms of the opponents said "Amer-I-Can All Stars."  The LA Times, the official schedule, and the media release notes all said that SC's opponent was the "City Sports All-Stars" and that USC had played the I-Can All Stars last week.  Maybe they did, and maybe the I-Can All-Stars just left their uniforms behind, but these guys were wearing I-Can All Star jerseys and shorts.

  Whatever.  Whoever these guys were, they at least gave the Trojans a workout.  That's about the best thing that can be said of the competition.  USC won, kinda like the Harlem Globetrotters beat the Washington Generals every time out.  Not a really pressing game, but it still provided a workout for the team nevertheless.  And we've got to say that those CIF High School refs who didn't know that the rule about calling time out when falling out of bounds had changed was a nice touch.  But it was still hoops, and there were some bright moments in a sea of rough spots. Here are some impressions from what we saw last night:

Kevin Augustine (6'-0" So. PG) was still out, suspended from the team and didn't play or show. Adam Spanich (6'-7" Sr. F) didn't play, although he was sitting on the bench wearing his warmups.  We heard that he had a sore knee and decided to rest it for next Tuesday's game against San Diego State.   The starting lineup included Brandon Granville, Jeff Trepagnier, Brian Scalabrine, Elias Ayuso and Jarvis Turner.  Here's what we saw:

Jarvis Turner  (6'-8" Jr. F):   Jarvis looked pretty good, shooting 2-4 in the first half, finishing with 9 points.   He tends to force the plays a bit, but does push on the break.  He's a big, strong guy, who has the ability to play very well, but we only saw glimpses of it last night. Huge defender though, and grabbed 7 boards and 2 steals and 3 assists.

Jeff Trepangier (6'-4" So. G) :  Jeff was really amazing at times, and then at other times he just disappeared.  The Compton native finished with 11 points, all of them in the first half (can that possibly be right?. . .it's what the stats say, but we thought we remembered him scoring at least once in the second half.  Maybe not).  Jeff has the ability to elevate, runs the floor well, and can jam all day if he's given a good enough lead pass, as he was several times from Brandon Granville. He had 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers, again all in the first half.

Brian Scalabrine (6'-9" So. F):  Can he really be 6'-9"?  He finished with 10 points, (4-4 from the line), but maybe it's true what they say about white men not being able to jump.  Brian has this really huge frame, good agility, and decent hands, and when he thinks about it, a nice turnaround j and a good drop step, but for somebody that tall to only get 4 boards against non-Pac-10 competition, he's going to really have to step up his game in order to have a chance against Moiso, Gadzuric, Madsen, Lampley, Sauer and the Collins twins.  Don't get us wrong, Brian's got a hell of a game, and is a good athlete, but he struggled a bit last night, and when the season really gets underway, there won't be room for that.

Brandon Granville (5'-10" Sr. PG).  He's gotten stronger since last season, put on a bit of muscle, and it hasn't slowed him down at all. He started the game, and played about as capably as any Pac-10 senior would have running the point for about half the game.  He still has the eye for the alley-oop pass to Bluthenthal, but now he's managed to work Lakey and Trepagnier into the act. Brandon will definitely start if this keeps up, and we really saw no negatives to his game. He got the ball to where it should be, hit a couple of three's, and in the first half had 0 (zero) turnovers.  Really impressive, he finished with 6 points, 5 steals (3 in the second half) and two assists.

Elias Ayuso (6'-2" Sr. G):  Elias looked like a taller version of Brandon last night, finishing with 10 points on 4-9 shooting from the field and two free throws. He didn't have a very good first half (only 1-4 in 10 minutes) but made up for it a bit in the second half, pushing the break and playing really good defense, getting a steal and committing only one turnover.  But was he playing up to "senior" status?  With the Pac-10, who really knows anymore, because there are so few seniors left, but if he can get past the streakiness, he'll lend some leadership to the floor. Interestingly, Bibby told the LA Times, "One day there is no better player on the floor than [Elias] Ayuso, the next day, [Ayuso] is not there, but you have Jeff Trepagnier who steps up."

Quincy Wilder (6'-3" Jr. G): Quincy finished with 15 points (9 in the first half on 4-8 shooting from the field and 0-2 from behind the line in 12 minutes). He looked good, strong and can drive the lane and finish. He also has a very good leaping ability and he grabbed 5 boards.  Quincy though has a tendency to also just sort of fade away at times and he's got to keep up his intensity.

Shannon Swillis (6'-6" So. F) has a very good body and can run the floor well, but had absolutely no shot in the first half, playing for 8 minutes, and not even attempting a field goal, and settling for only two free throws. The second half was a little better, and he finished with 10 points overall, 6 of them on free throws.  Shannon tends to stay out on the wing a lot, and unless he's going to start developing his shot from the baseline corner, he better use his height and size, all 225 lbs. of it in the paint where he belongs.  He only had 1 rebound for goodness sakes. 

David Bluethenthal (6'-7" Fr. F):  Can you say "Trying to be like Jason Kapono?"  Hey, we don't mean that as any kind of an insult to David, but in high school he was strictly a post up guy, maybe getting the back door alley-oop from Brandon, but when was the last time you remember seeing David handle the ball or drive the lane, or shoot from outside. It was really refreshing, and  David showed a lot, including that he can play the wing and handle the ball too.  On several fast breaks, he actually brought the ball up and drove the lane, and he shot from the perimeter more than he ever did at Westchester. Now if he can only make those shots. Finished with 5 pts,  5 rebounds, and 1 steal.  A good night.

Greg Lakey (6'-8" So. F)  Russell's cousin from Lynwood played great at times and at other times we wondered where he gone. Greg has this really lanky, wiry frame, good speed, excellent ability to run the floor, and he can really fly, as he demonstrated on two consecutive slam-n-jam dunks.  Needs to improve his defensive intensity, and on offense can drift a bit, but last night he showed tons of good stuff too. Shot 3-5 from the field and had 9 points.

Sam Clancy (6'-7" Fr. F) Sam finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and one blocked shot. Pretty impressive, and he played well. Now if he can only develop a set of Pac-10 hands, because he also had 5 turnovers on dropped balls. Maybe it was nerves, maybe just inexperience, maybe it was the competition, because trying to play a finesse game against a guy like Robert Mukes,  this 290 lb. guy from (I think) Oklahoma State,  or Curtis Gains who must have been at least 6'-9" and about 280lbs. also, (both of whom look like they might also be good football players too) was not going to work, and in the first half, Sam only managed 6 points, 4 of them from the line, and he needs to be a bigger power player inside if he's going to get the job done.  But he still looked very promising, and certainly as good as Gadzuric looked for the Bruins in his debut last Thursday.

So the Trojans "managed" to hang on for the win, 101-54.  Their next game is Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Sports Arena where they'll take on the San Diego State Aztecs, and if Trenkle lets it happen, you'll see a battle of the freshman points as Granville and Abramowitz take each other on.   Possible Pac-10 Freshman of the Year against the potential WAC-Freshman of the Year.  See you there.

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