When a situation becomes so bad that everyone in a large community can see it for what it is, words become less and less necessary. The basic details of the situation, known by all, represent more than enough commentary on the severity of the matter. Pictures, statistics, scoreboards, box scores represent all the evidence needed to offer a searing indictment of the people responsible for a downward spiral, a crisis, a sorry state of affairs.
That’s where we are with USC men’s basketball. A team projected to be a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament by a lot of college basketball experts before the season began, and which looked like it was on its way to a successful year after a season-opening win versus Kansas State, is now 6-7 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-12 after eating a 16-point loss to a not-very-good Oregon State team.
The Trojans got blasted by the Beavers in Corvallis on Saturday, marking the first time this season Oregon State has beaten a Power Five conference team. That USC lost was bad enough; getting blown out by one of the lesser programs in the Pac-12 is a true rock-bottom moment.
We haven’t even reached the new year — 2024 — and yet USC’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament are already slim to none. This is with top-ranked recruit Isaiah Collier, veteran scorer Boogie Ellis, veteran perimeter defender Kobe Johnson, and touted recruits Bronny James and Vince Iwuchukwu.
The magnitude of this failure is beyond description. The facts tell the story.
USC committed 20 turnovers against Oregon State. The Trojans allowed 31 free throw attempts and earned only eight, a minus-23 differential. USC was outrebounded by 10, 28-18. The Trojans allowed Oregon State to hit 57 percent of its field goal attempts. It’s hard to play worse, and yet USC keeps lowering the bar instead of raising it.
The season which had a chance to elevate the brand and identity of USC basketball has instead made the Trojans especially irrelevant, more than at any point since 2019.
The facts tell the story. More words aren’t necessary at this point.
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