We talked to college basketball expert Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated about the coming Pac-12 basketball season.
Sweeney noted the contrast between UCLA and USC in rosters and playing styles.
“I think what’s fun about it is UCLA is all in on size. They might start Adem Bona at the five, (Aday) Mara, who’s seven foot three, at the four. Berke (Buyuktuncel) at the three is 6-foot-9, 6-foot-10. So they’re very, very big,” Sweeney began. “USC has the chance to play really small and really focus on what can we do to attack you and create mismatches. If USC can get Kobe Johnson matched up with a 6-foot-10 Turkish freshman, they’re probably going to feel pretty good about that matchup. But on the other end, if UCLA can create post-up opportunities with that, I think Mick (Cronin) is going to play grittier basketball at times this year, because they’re a little bit bigger and a little bit stronger. The teams are probably pretty close nationally. I’ll wind up with them within three to four spots of one another in a preseason poll. Part of that is me being a little higher on UCLA than the national consensus.”
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.