I'm done with watching the NCAA tournament. OK, not really, but my heart's not going to be in it anymore. Not after watching USC pull an epic tank job against Kansas St. in their first round game yesterday. I guess for all the hype about OJ Mayo vs. Michael Beasley, USC forgot that Bill Walker is, in fact, a pretty good player as well. If only there was someone on the Trojans who was familiar with Walker and could have helped create a good scouting report to stop him.
Oh wait...
Actually, I don't blame OJ Mayo - he basically single-handedly lead the team back in the second-half from a double digit deficit to a brief lead. The problem is that, at least on offense, he had no help. Dwight Lewis made a couple of big shots, but other than that...nothing. I guess that is what happens when all three of your big men wind up playing most of the second half with four fouls. Although fouls or not, Taj Gibson was a mess yesterday - passes getting fumbled out of his hands and out of bounds, missed free throws, blown shots from two feet away...and always with the whining to the refs after every call or non-call. He's done that since he came to USC two years ago, and it needs to stop - it's embarrassing to watch.
Here's the bottom line - instead of being a Great, Program-Changing Season, this year's team simply turned out to be good, but not as good as last year's team. Even with someone as talented as OJ Mayo, there just wasn't enough scoring options and (ultimately) team cohesion to match what last season's team brought to the table. And with anywhere from one to three starters leaving after this season (Mayo, Gibson and Davon Jefferson could all declare early for the NBA draft), next year's team is going to have the same issues with coming together as a young team.
But hey, at least Lil' Romeo's going to be there next season, right? Maybe I can get him to autograph my bag of "BBQing with my Honey" flavored Rap Snacks...
