There has been nothing more entertaining for UCLA fans this
basketball season than following the plight of USC.
Nothing.
First there was the firing of Henry Bibby only a few games into
the season, leaving USC in a horrible position for the rest of the
year.
Then former UCLA assistant coach Jim Saia was promoted to USC
interim coach. Remember, Saia was an assistant under Steve Lavin
““ who many Bruin fans still have nightmares about.
It gets better.
Later USC held a press conference to announce it had hired Rick
Majerus, only to hold another conference days later to say it
hadn’t.
This was the ultimate dagger to their heart. Just when it looked
like our crosstown rival may have gotten one of the best coaches in
college basketball, he pulls a shocking 180 and resigns.
And then there’s the saga of the Stewart twins. First,
Rodrick Stewart transferred to Kansas, and now, Lodrick said this
week that there was a 50-50 chance he’d leave after the
season to go to the NBA.
So, coming off of a three-game losing streak it looks to be the
perfect time for the Bruins to face the Trojans when they play each
other Saturday.
But beware. UCLA better not lose this game.
Not only do the Bruins badly need this win, but the few fans
that haven’t turned on the Bruins undoubtedly will with yet
another loss to USC.
The inferior college basketball team has beaten the superior
team four times in a row now, with UCLA’s last win in the
series coming on a last-second Billy Knight shot in 2002.
Last year’s games were painful. Dijon Thompson missing the
free throw he needed to make, making the one he needed to miss. And
then the comeback that almost was, with UCLA down 20, crawling back
to within a few points and then finally succumbing to the Trojan
fate.
So it appears that Saturday is the perfect time for the Bruins
to triumph over their evil crosstown rivals.
USC is in last place in the Pac-10. The Trojans have a lame-duck
coach, with replacement Tim Floyd already waiting in the wings.
But most importantly, the Bruins need to win because they still
have the ability to turn this season around, and their losing
streak needs to end now with a trip to the Washington schools
looming.
So to recap, UCLA is facing crosstown rival USC in the middle of
a three-game losing streak, after losing four consecutive games to
the Trojans, and with a season in the balance and a NCAA Tournament
berth possibly at stake. If all this doesn’t motivate them to
win this game, then I’m afraid nothing will.
As for the rest of the season, UCLA would probably need 17 wins
before the Pac-10 Tournament to have a good chance at making the
NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid.
The Bruins are currently 10-6, with 11 regular season games
left. A win against USC, and UCLA would have to finish a very
doable 6-4 to get to the magical 17-win mark. Very doable because
UCLA would have all nine conference opponents left on its schedule
again, and assuming the Bruins win the games they are the favorites
in, they would not have to beat Arizona, Washington in Seattle,
Stanford at Maples or Notre Dame at South Bend. Though it’d
be nice if they would surprise us.
If the Bruins were to lose to USC, they would then have to
finish 7-3 to get to 17 wins, which may be too much to ask. Not
only would UCLA have to win one of those tough games I listed
above, a dysfunctional Bruin team with a losing record in the
Pac-10 and on a four-game losing streak would have to do the
unthinkable.
But first things first. Just beat USC.
Gilbert swears he hasn’t called USC evil more than 99
times. E-mail him at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.