Enfield can build success given time
As the calendar approaches February, and with conference play well underway, the USC men’s basketball team reached a milestone this past week when it notched its first Pac-12 win of the Andy Enfield regime.
The celebration was short-lived, though, as the Trojans were back to their losing ways in a loss to Stanford on Sunday, but I have to wonder if there was any real celebration in the first place.
It’s not a good thing the team had to wait until its sixth attempt at a Pac-12 victory, especially given that USC lost its first five conference games by an average of 22.4 points, including a 107-73 bludgeoning at the hands of UCLA that was particularly hard to watch.
After a solid non-conference showing that saw the team rack up nine wins against some respectable opponents, the Trojans appear to be outmatched in the Pac-12, which currently sits at No. 3 in the conference RPI rankings.
Barring a dramatic turnaround, Enfield’s first season appears destined to end without a postseason berth, which would be the third consecutive season in which the Trojans failed to appear in the NCAA Tournament. No one really expected USC to qualify for the tournament at the season’s onset, so we show some patience and give Enfield time to turn the program around.
The future looks somewhat bright for the Trojans, as Enfield has already had four commitments to the 2014 recruiting class, including the top-ranked point guard in California, Jordan McLaughlin, who chose USC over UCLA, Indiana and Kansas, among others. Joining McLaughlin next season will be three-star recruits in forwards Malik Price-Martin and Malik Marquetti, and center Jabari Craig.
The Trojans’ class currently ranks No. 30 among all schools, according to ESPN.com, and USC will also have the services of sophomore guard Katin Reinhardt and sophomore forward Darion Clark, who both transferred to USC and will be available next year after sitting out this season.
Reinhardt averaged 10.1 points per game and 29.2 minutes per game as a freshman at UNLV while shooting 35.1 percent from the 3-point line.
Clark averaged 6.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a freshman at Charlotte and will, at the very least, provide depth to a thin USC frontcourt.
Though patience is being preached for the men’s team in its first year under a new coach, the same cannot be said for the USC women’s team. Under head Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, the Women of Troy have shot up the Pac-12 standings and appear headed for their first NCAA Tournament since 2006.
After an up-and-down start to the non-conference season, the Women of Troy have found their stride in Pac-12 play. Despite its 86-59 loss at Stanford on Monday, the team currently sits in second place in the Pac-12 and has already beaten two ranked conference foes in Cal and Colorado, and nearly beat a third in Arizona State.
The Women of Troy have yet to drop a conference home game and have shown great poise in close games so far, especially in their 56-54 win over UCLA in the Pauley Pavilion.
This success has the team sitting just outside the AP Top 25 Poll, which is an accomplishment in itself, considering how mightily the team struggled last season.
The gap between the successes of the men’s and women’s team is staggering, and it’s tempting to criticize the men’s team when seeing how quickly success has come for the women.
But I believe that the Women of Troy’s early triumphs are the exception rather than the rule — we should try not to grow impatient with how the men’s team has struggled in the early going.
Both Enfield and Cooper-Dyke like to run fast-tempo offenses, and the players that Cooper-Dyke inherited might be a better fit for that system than Enfield’s. Junior guard Ariya Crook is a lightning bolt of energy and paces the Women of Troy’s attack.
Crook currently leads the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game. Enfield’s starting point guard, senior Pe’Shon Howard, on the other hand, is not as explosive athletically compared to his competition and is only in his first year with the program after transferring from Maryland, where he averaged just 3.3 points per game last season and shot 29.1 percent from the field.
Having a quick, experienced point guard is crucial to playing fast, and that is a luxury that Cooper-Dyke has that Enfield does not. Howard has been effective this season, especially considering the rushed manner in which he was forced to adapt to a new program, but might not be the type of floor general that Enfield needs for his system to work.
Next season, with McLaughlin in the fold, perhaps Enfield can take a page out of Cooper-Dyke’s book and take USC toward the top half of the Pac-12 standings.
Until then, it would be in Trojan fans’ best interest to remain invested in the men’s program, because as the women have shown this year, success can come quickly — and when you least expect it.
Nick Selbe is a senior majoring in communication. His column “Inside the 20s” runs Tuesdays. To comment on this story or to tell Nick that “In the Nick of Time” would be a better column name, visit dailytrojan.com or email him at [email protected].