The USC Trojans’ European basketball tour ends on August 15. Before the 11-day journey ends, the Trojans will go on a boat ride in Croatia, a reward for the three games they played. The final game of the three took place on Sunday in Dubrovnik, Croatia. USC won, but it allowed 87 points to Montenegro-based pro team SC Derby.
The Trojans scored 96 points and showed that they are capable of playing high-octane basketball. However, when the game gets slower and uglier, the Trojans might be in a difficult spot this coming season. Can they win a slog and manage to grind out possessions? Can they win in the mud? These are legitimate questions which will follow the team as it moves along.
The piece USC really could use was not able to play in Europe. It showed.
Vince Iwuchukwu, not just Bronny James, was unavailable to play in Europe. He has been practicing this summer, but he wasn’t part of this past week. Per NBA TV, his health is not yet at 100 percent, and the USC coaching staff hasn’t provided a specific timeline for future availability.
Big men Josh Morgan and Kijani Wright played solid minutes in Europe. Freshman Arrinten Page gained meaningful playing time and began his college basketball education at USC. Yet, none of those three bigs play defense as well as Vince Iwuchukwu does. Vince the Prince is USC’s best big-man defender and rim protector.
His absence was keenly felt in Europe.
If you’re worried about USC’s defense, you should be, but if Iwuchukwu enters the picture and can consistently play 20 minutes per game this season, USC becomes a better defensive team and a far more complete team. USC really needs him on the floor this November. We’ll see what happens.
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