Only Miss Cleo, fully armed with tarot cards and a gigantic
bottle of rum could have predicted last year’s Pac-10 season.
UCLA was picked to finish first, and ended up sixth, its worst
conference finish ever.
So will this year be any different? There is a lot of potential
on this team: if Cedric Bozeman and Dijon Thompson continue to
mature and play well, if Steve Lavin can discover the mystical
secrets of setting screens for Jason Kapono, if T.J. Cummings or
Michael Fey can provide some interior defense and rebounding, and
if … oh, who am I kidding?
This team couldn’t finish first if it were allowed to play
all 12 men on the court.
Be that as it may, here is this “expert’s”
analysis of the Pac-10 standings, in order of worst to first.
Washington State: Perennial cellar dwellers the Huskies were
1-17 last year. They’re going to improve on that rather
dubious mark, but not by much.
They’re the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Pac-10, without the
incomparable Paul Moekeski (give yourself a pat on the back if you
got that one).
Junior guard Marcus Moore, an Inglewood native, is going to end
up leading the Cougars in scoring, rebounding, assists, minutes,
steals and cornrows. He’s probably the best player
you’ve never heard of, with one possible exception at Oregon
State.
Washington: Junior Doug Wrenn is a nice talent, but I’m
not so convinced he can lead a team. He seems to have Rasheed
Wallace-type issues. Add to that a low field goal percentage and
you’ve got a bad situation.
Sophomore guard Will Conroy has a nice stroke from three-point
land but is streaky at best. They’re better than the Cougars,
but not by much.
Arizona State: Freshman forward Ike Diogu has hops and a nice
post-up game.
He’s my bet for Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, since
he’s going to get more than a whole lot of minutes. Senior
guard Curtis Millage is the leader of the team, and senior center
Tommy Smith might lead the Pac-10 in blocks.
This isn’t a bad team at all, but just not good enough to
place higher than the rest of the Pac-10. Besides, it’s
pitifully overshadowed by Arizona; the Sun Devils are the Clippers
to the Wildcats’ Lakers.
USC: The Trojans lost Sam Clancy, David Bluthenthal and Brandon
Granville to graduation. That’s a huge hit to the program, a
loss of 43.9 points per game. Errick Craven and Desmond Farmer can
ball, but will Southern Cal be able to board? I don’t see
anybody on that team that can rebound the way Clancy and
Bluthenthal did.
Plus, USC lost to Rhode Island and was recently ripped 69-53 by
UC Santa Barbara.
What’s the deal Trojans; you’re starting to look
like the Bruins. Better get your act together, otherwise the L.A.
media just might start getting on your case instead.
Oregon State: It’s all about senior Phillip Ricci. The boy
has mad game. He’s like a white Charles Barkley. At 6 feet, 7
inches he just may end up leading the Pac-10 in rebounding.
When you think of Oregon State basketball, you think of Gary
Payton.
But the SECOND name you should think of is Phillip Ricci.
I’m actually frightened ““ yes, frightened ““ of
what he’s going to do to the Bruins.
The Beavers were 4-14 last year, but fellow seniors Brian
Jackson and Jimmie Haywood are going to help Ricci out.
Plus, they’ve got a guy named Floyd North III. I
don’t even have a joke for that, because I think it would be
redundant. (But do you wonder if North III owns a yacht called
“Beaver Ball” or is it just me?) Anyway, I’m
convinced the Beavers will improve on an ugly 4-14 season this
year. They’re my sleeper team in the Pac-10.
Cal (tie): Senior guard Joe Shipp can light it up, and certainly
he’s going to take a lot of shots this year. Senior Brian
Weathers and sophomore Amit Tamir will help to score, and both are
solid rebounders.
Last year, the Golden Bears won games based on a tenacious
defense and clutch scoring. But Solomon Hughes graduated and Jamal
Sampson foolishly left for the NBA, so the Bears are lacking size
in the middle.
Still, the same strengths that carried them to the NCAA
tournament last year will get them there again this year.
Stanford (tie): They lost Curtis Borchardt and Casey
“Backstreet Spice” Jacobsen, and at times the Cardinal
are going to struggle to score.
Senior guard Julius Barnes and sophomore swingman Josh Childress
will have to score a whole lot, especially if Teyo Johnson keeps
thinking he can hit threes. You’re a football player, Teyo.
Go rebound.
And please, help Josh find his way to a weight room. A stiff
breeze might shatter the poor kid’s bones.
Despite their shortcomings on the offensive end, head coach Mike
Montgomery (winner of Most Arrogant Coach of the Year; a ceremony
on Fox Sports Net is in order) will get his team to play hard every
night.
UCLA: Yeah, I ripped it earlier, but the rest of the conference
just doesn’t thrill me that much.
Except for Oregon State. Man I love the Beavers. Did you know
that Brent Barry, one of my favorite players in the NBA, went to
Oregon State? And he’s the teammate of the aforementioned
Payton. Great stuff.
Oh yeah, this is the UCLA section. I think my colleague Jeff
Eisenberg said it best when he described the Bruins as having all
the interior presence of a donut. Plus, the Lavin factor is like an
automatic handicap of around five to seven points a game. Still,
with a roster of Kapono, Bozeman, Thompson, Ryan Walcott, Ray
Young, Cummings and, (if he can manage to pass a few classes) Andre
Patterson, UCLA should be good enough to finish somewhere around
12-6 in conference play.
Oregon: The two Lukes, Jackson and Ridnour, are crazy good.
This team lost Freddie Jones, who was its only legitimate threat
to attack the basket every time he had the ball. It also lost Chris
Christofferson, the very same guy that Yao Ming was last seen
abusing in his draft-camp workouts.
Stop laughing. That will hurt the Ducks more than you think.
Still, when considering the fact that the team plays in Mack
Court and has tons of talent, there’s no way it will finish
lower than second place in the Pac-10.
Arizona: Is this an NBA team or what?
Luke Walton, Jason Gardner, Channing Frye and one of the best
recruiting classes in the nation combine to form Lute Olson’s
most talented team since, well, maybe ever. In fact, after a
1000-16 thrashing of the Sisters of the Poor, Lute actually
quipped, “We’re going to beat a lot of teams by a lot
of points.”
Those are big words from an otherwise humble man. The Wildcats
are the No. 1 team in the country right now and might be all season
long.