Bracketology has us grouped with Az, Gonzaga, Illinois… far from set of course, but interesting that we would play all rematches (assuming chalk for the others) after the 1st game to get to the final 4 (which IIRC matched us with Michigan) another rematch to reach the final. We should have won 3 of those 4 during the season and Michigan was a 2 point game at the half.
Thanks, Dmitri! We'll never know what the loss of Eric Musselman mattered. But it's great seeing our team kind of peaking at the right time. It'd great seeing Tyler's shooting confidence, back. Go Bruins!
Guess I didn't realize that MSU/Michigan is tomorrow, but yeah, an MSU loss would drop them to the #3 seed. Not an ideal matchup but a nice chance at revenge.
Crazy that we are a top 20 team (#19) on offense, and only 50 in defense per kenpom. Hope we can continue to play good D in the big ten tourney and in the big dance
You know Paulie, I stated in another post that I hoped we didn't play too many games at the Big 18 Tourney just because of injury and fatigue prevention prior to the NCAA's, but I have to admit that I am curious to see whether our team's newfound attitude (offensive and defensive hustle and proficiency) exhibited in the PST can now travel East to other time zones.....
Dimitri - when you have the time, can you share your perspective on how Musselman landed this coaching gig.
I'm not a basketball officionado, but even to me he his coaching skills seem severely limited. I was in Pauley for the SC home game, and his sideline antics were a clown show. He seemed like he had no clue what was going on.
I don't know much about Musselman directly, but he has always been a highly regarded coach, with a long career as a HC or assistant coach and he does have a good overall record. He was 110–34 at Nevada and 111–59 at Arkansas in his last two coaching jobs.
I had thought he was a much better coach than Andy Enfield (SC's previous coach), so I guess I'm happy to proven wrong
To me, Musselman landed at SC in large part because Southern Cal wanted a "name" head coach following the departure of Andy Enfield to SMU. Musselman projected as a name who had won a bunch at previous stops but was already on the outs at Arkansas - his team went 16-17 his last season coming off a two-year run of success, and his recruiting classes were taking a major hit.
Musselman made his name in college basketball as a guy who took advantage of transfers at a time when that was not a thing in the sport. He was able to build a large amount of that success by bringing in guys who were "troubled" at previous stops and getting the most out of them. That worked really well at Nevada, where he was able to out-talent so many opponents, and it got him a good opening run at Arkansas when he was trotting out older lineups against an SEC that was going through a youth movement with high school talent. But NIL and the transfer portal made his preferred method of building teams much harder to pull off - his last year at Arkansas went bad once everyone else in the league was using his same tactics. And at Southern Cal, he's had solid NIL support, but because everyone in the league also has that support, it's putting more of a focus on his coaching, where he's been much more suspect.
I don't think he's gone after this year unless he himself chooses to leave, but Musselman is a guy who is going to get exposed during the NIL era. Everyone is playing the same game he was for so long, and he doesn't have the Xs and Os acumen to fall back on.
Agreed DD, most of SC's athletic NIL support is dedicated to the football program through Rick Caruso and his coordinated alumni group......I would be surprised if their support for basketball was comparable....
SC has a ton of money, and while football is still king they did throw a ton behind basketball as part of Musselman’s arrival; their roster this year likely cost as much as ours did, if we’re being honest.
Assuming you are correct regarding NIL, and with 11 Portal players, 12 -1 start, then injuries, a Big 18 reality check and locker room politics, maybe this is another example of how difficult it is to corral some talent (and SC had some significant talent) and get them to play together over the course of a season......or as many have suggested, Mabey the shirtless wonder just stinks as a coach......
On a side note, my sister and her husband are long time boosters at Nevada. While they enjoyed the winning Musselman brought to the program, they were not fans of his. They truly believed the real brains behind the operation was the assistant coach. He cut from Musselman as soon as could. I'll leave it at that.
Apparently, the Bruins felt right at home, as the effort by the Men of Westwood to transform the Galen Center into Pauley Pavilion worked to perfection... ;-)
Was fun watching the preseason AP #12-ranked team show up once again and give U$C another sound beating. This 4th win in a row against them helps to offset HC Cronin's initial 0-5 record vs. U$C (painful to remember, but he's now 8-2 since then).
Many thanks also go to Baker-Mazara for causing so much trouble and contributing to U$C's 7-game losing streak (and counting). And unless Arenas transfers out, HC Musselman still has to put up with his role model father ("When you’re the best player on the team, whatever you say, you’re right!”).
Ben Bolch asked on Twitter after the game whether Bilodeau was an NBA player so I googled his draft stock and was pleasantly surprised to see him sitting in the second round in many projections.
He, along with many other players, definitely benefited playing alongside an elite passer in Dent but he’s established himself as one of the best scoring big men in the country. He’s just a bit too slow and undersized for the 4 and 5 in the NBA but being a second round pick and a few years in the G league can help improve his NBA longevity. He’s only 21 so he still has a lot of improvement in his game
Thanks, Dmitri! Of concern is Skyy not hitting any of his shots. How long will it take for him to get his shot back? Missing and missing is negative feedback putting stress and fear on making another shot. The Tournaments are not the time to work on getting it together.
Ehh, he's generally been fine shooting since returning from injury (this was only his third sub 50% shooting performance in the 7 games he's been back), he just hasn't been shooting a ton of volume, which makes sense because he's a great team player who's recognizing that other players (Bilodeau, Perry) have been hotter.
Also, the more confidence he gets in his base (legs/hamstring), the more comfortable he will get in playing defense and then shooting his various shots........he will keep improving and like Dent, Perry and Bilo, he will have his "explosion" game offensively in the near future....
If he's healthy, KJ, he should be feeling more and more confident about shooting....hell, he was averaging 48.6% on 3's prior to his injury.....He just needs Cronin to tell him, "Hey, you're our best shooter....we need more shots from you....when you get a look, shoot it!" I just think the timing is perfect for him.....especially now, with all the attention Dent will be getting from defenses....
Lunardi currently has us as a 9 seed in the West, facing Clemson, who is 10 spots worse in Ken Pom then us, then a 2nd round matchup against Arizona. The crazy part is we wouldn't leave California until the Final 4, with the first 2 rounds in San Diego and the Sweet 16 in San Jose. That would be a dream draw for this team.
Conference tournaments and the expanded field are ridiculous. At this point, implement Wooden's "all in" format. That would replace conference tournaments while protecting tv and school revenue.
Certainly not when we leave the Western time zone this season.......As I stated in a previous post, maybe this team has finally developed a mindset and commitment to defense that travels. Offensively, I think they will find ways to put points up.
Only conference tournament winners get automatic qualifiers, so Miami of Ohio would need to be an at-large bid. As a resume and quality of team standpoint, they're squarely on the bubble, but they'll probably get in because they have 31 wins and the rest of the bubble is miserable.
(For the record, UCLA is squarely off the bubble at this point and comfortably in the tournament. They're just playing for seeding and to see how high they can put themselves.)
There has been an interesting debate over whether Miami of Ohio would get an at-large bid if they did not win the MAC Tournament. They have no Quad 1 wins. It definitely hurts that they did not make it past the quarter finals. 3 of their wins are against non-Division 1 teams. They had a NET ranking of 54 which is respectable but KenPom ranks them as 93. The 68 teams that make it to NCAA Tourney are not the 68 best teams. That's part of the March Madness.
I think they will get in because 31 wins is still 31 wins, even if their record in one-score and OT games goes beyond rational thought. I'm also of the belief that the Tournament should celebrate the entirety of college basketball and not favor teams from the Big Ten/SEC/Big 12, which feels like it is behind many of the arguments from the media against Miami.
Plus there's the Wally Szczerbiak thing......he's a key voice in the CBS college basketball studio coverage during the NCAA Tournament. Every time Miami of Ohio has been mentioned this past month, they've had to strap him down in his chair.....I think they'll make it just on the Szczerbiak factor alone........
Bracketology has us grouped with Az, Gonzaga, Illinois… far from set of course, but interesting that we would play all rematches (assuming chalk for the others) after the 1st game to get to the final 4 (which IIRC matched us with Michigan) another rematch to reach the final. We should have won 3 of those 4 during the season and Michigan was a 2 point game at the half.
Thanks, Dmitri! We'll never know what the loss of Eric Musselman mattered. But it's great seeing our team kind of peaking at the right time. It'd great seeing Tyler's shooting confidence, back. Go Bruins!
Great write up, but a small correction, unless Michigan State upsets Michigan at Michigan, it’s more like we will see MSU in a second tournament game.
Guess I didn't realize that MSU/Michigan is tomorrow, but yeah, an MSU loss would drop them to the #3 seed. Not an ideal matchup but a nice chance at revenge.
It's looking like we have figure out how to get revenge on Minnesota first.
Crazy that we are a top 20 team (#19) on offense, and only 50 in defense per kenpom. Hope we can continue to play good D in the big ten tourney and in the big dance
You know Paulie, I stated in another post that I hoped we didn't play too many games at the Big 18 Tourney just because of injury and fatigue prevention prior to the NCAA's, but I have to admit that I am curious to see whether our team's newfound attitude (offensive and defensive hustle and proficiency) exhibited in the PST can now travel East to other time zones.....
Lol, and now Washington is gonna have a ridiculous comeback to let us play another west coast team in Chicago.
Incredibly soft foul gives Oregon a chance to pull it out.
I personally love watching a basketball game watching one player take 6 consecutive free throws.
Dimitri - when you have the time, can you share your perspective on how Musselman landed this coaching gig.
I'm not a basketball officionado, but even to me he his coaching skills seem severely limited. I was in Pauley for the SC home game, and his sideline antics were a clown show. He seemed like he had no clue what was going on.
I don't know much about Musselman directly, but he has always been a highly regarded coach, with a long career as a HC or assistant coach and he does have a good overall record. He was 110–34 at Nevada and 111–59 at Arkansas in his last two coaching jobs.
I had thought he was a much better coach than Andy Enfield (SC's previous coach), so I guess I'm happy to proven wrong
To me, Musselman landed at SC in large part because Southern Cal wanted a "name" head coach following the departure of Andy Enfield to SMU. Musselman projected as a name who had won a bunch at previous stops but was already on the outs at Arkansas - his team went 16-17 his last season coming off a two-year run of success, and his recruiting classes were taking a major hit.
Musselman made his name in college basketball as a guy who took advantage of transfers at a time when that was not a thing in the sport. He was able to build a large amount of that success by bringing in guys who were "troubled" at previous stops and getting the most out of them. That worked really well at Nevada, where he was able to out-talent so many opponents, and it got him a good opening run at Arkansas when he was trotting out older lineups against an SEC that was going through a youth movement with high school talent. But NIL and the transfer portal made his preferred method of building teams much harder to pull off - his last year at Arkansas went bad once everyone else in the league was using his same tactics. And at Southern Cal, he's had solid NIL support, but because everyone in the league also has that support, it's putting more of a focus on his coaching, where he's been much more suspect.
I don't think he's gone after this year unless he himself chooses to leave, but Musselman is a guy who is going to get exposed during the NIL era. Everyone is playing the same game he was for so long, and he doesn't have the Xs and Os acumen to fall back on.
Wow, that is quite insightful, and gives me additional perspective. I appreciate it. Thank you!
Is SC's NIL support for MBB greater than, less than, or equal to ours?
I'd say it's less than ours, but not by a notable amount, to the point where I'd say it's closer to equal than anything.
That said, I do wonder if Musselman is going to see less NIL support in the future because of how bad these first two years have been.
Agreed DD, most of SC's athletic NIL support is dedicated to the football program through Rick Caruso and his coordinated alumni group......I would be surprised if their support for basketball was comparable....
SC has a ton of money, and while football is still king they did throw a ton behind basketball as part of Musselman’s arrival; their roster this year likely cost as much as ours did, if we’re being honest.
Assuming you are correct regarding NIL, and with 11 Portal players, 12 -1 start, then injuries, a Big 18 reality check and locker room politics, maybe this is another example of how difficult it is to corral some talent (and SC had some significant talent) and get them to play together over the course of a season......or as many have suggested, Mabey the shirtless wonder just stinks as a coach......
On a side note, my sister and her husband are long time boosters at Nevada. While they enjoyed the winning Musselman brought to the program, they were not fans of his. They truly believed the real brains behind the operation was the assistant coach. He cut from Musselman as soon as could. I'll leave it at that.
Apparently, the Bruins felt right at home, as the effort by the Men of Westwood to transform the Galen Center into Pauley Pavilion worked to perfection... ;-)
Was fun watching the preseason AP #12-ranked team show up once again and give U$C another sound beating. This 4th win in a row against them helps to offset HC Cronin's initial 0-5 record vs. U$C (painful to remember, but he's now 8-2 since then).
Many thanks also go to Baker-Mazara for causing so much trouble and contributing to U$C's 7-game losing streak (and counting). And unless Arenas transfers out, HC Musselman still has to put up with his role model father ("When you’re the best player on the team, whatever you say, you’re right!”).
Fart On, $C!
Ben Bolch asked on Twitter after the game whether Bilodeau was an NBA player so I googled his draft stock and was pleasantly surprised to see him sitting in the second round in many projections.
He, along with many other players, definitely benefited playing alongside an elite passer in Dent but he’s established himself as one of the best scoring big men in the country. He’s just a bit too slow and undersized for the 4 and 5 in the NBA but being a second round pick and a few years in the G league can help improve his NBA longevity. He’s only 21 so he still has a lot of improvement in his game
big man who can shoot the three and can't play D....and NBA GM's wet dream.
Thanks, Dmitri! Of concern is Skyy not hitting any of his shots. How long will it take for him to get his shot back? Missing and missing is negative feedback putting stress and fear on making another shot. The Tournaments are not the time to work on getting it together.
Ehh, he's generally been fine shooting since returning from injury (this was only his third sub 50% shooting performance in the 7 games he's been back), he just hasn't been shooting a ton of volume, which makes sense because he's a great team player who's recognizing that other players (Bilodeau, Perry) have been hotter.
Also, the more confidence he gets in his base (legs/hamstring), the more comfortable he will get in playing defense and then shooting his various shots........he will keep improving and like Dent, Perry and Bilo, he will have his "explosion" game offensively in the near future....
Here's to hoping, Perceptive1!
If he's healthy, KJ, he should be feeling more and more confident about shooting....hell, he was averaging 48.6% on 3's prior to his injury.....He just needs Cronin to tell him, "Hey, you're our best shooter....we need more shots from you....when you get a look, shoot it!" I just think the timing is perfect for him.....especially now, with all the attention Dent will be getting from defenses....
Thx, I think we need him to get hot again and establish himself. We've seen IMNSHO Tyler go through a gun-shy stretch. Mental cases happen.
Lunardi currently has us as a 9 seed in the West, facing Clemson, who is 10 spots worse in Ken Pom then us, then a 2nd round matchup against Arizona. The crazy part is we wouldn't leave California until the Final 4, with the first 2 rounds in San Diego and the Sweet 16 in San Jose. That would be a dream draw for this team.
Yep, San Diego as the opening pod would be excellent. But lots of basketball left next week, and opportunities for the brackets to change
with how this team plays outside of the pacific time zone, i'd rather be a 13 seed in the west than a 4 seed in the east.
The other popular draw ive seen is a 2nd round matchup against Florida in Tampa. Not sure that would be worth getting on the plane.
Agreed E.....
UCLA will likely get a rematch with Minn, and if we win, then we play Mich St and Fears who loves to kick players, smdh.
Lunardi now has UCLA as an 8 seed in the West.
If we win the first round, I think we could beat Arizona. And I believe Freeny could be the X factor in the Madness of it all!
Let's hope the Committee embraces the drama of UCLA potentially playing their arch nemesis and then getting another shot at Gonzaga.
💙💛💙💛
Plus the fan support for those games would be off the charts... kinda like a movie! 💙💛💙💛
Watching the end of Southern Cal and Washington right now.
Neither of these teams deserves to see basketball heaven.
Washington outlasted the cupcake.
Conference tournaments and the expanded field are ridiculous. At this point, implement Wooden's "all in" format. That would replace conference tournaments while protecting tv and school revenue.
But I repeat myself.
Northwestern is going to beat Indiana by double digits... Makes our loss to Indiana even worse.
I wouldn’t say that; Indiana has just completely collapsed down the stretch.
Looks like we will be facing Rutgers.
Wow we get to play rutgers tomorrow! Would've wanted a rematch with Minnesota but Rutgers should be an easier game
Is anything easy with our Bruins?
Certainly not when we leave the Western time zone this season.......As I stated in a previous post, maybe this team has finally developed a mindset and commitment to defense that travels. Offensively, I think they will find ways to put points up.
Well we did win our previous meeting against them by 32 pts , but that was at Pauley so who knows
I always read the articles then the replies and decided to finally create an account. Hello Mighty Bruin Family.
Miami of Ohio finally loss. But they should be an Automatic Qualifier right?
Only conference tournament winners get automatic qualifiers, so Miami of Ohio would need to be an at-large bid. As a resume and quality of team standpoint, they're squarely on the bubble, but they'll probably get in because they have 31 wins and the rest of the bubble is miserable.
(For the record, UCLA is squarely off the bubble at this point and comfortably in the tournament. They're just playing for seeding and to see how high they can put themselves.)
I guess this means UMASS hurts Indiana's chances to be an 11 seed.
I think Indiana losing yesterday did that already.
There has been an interesting debate over whether Miami of Ohio would get an at-large bid if they did not win the MAC Tournament. They have no Quad 1 wins. It definitely hurts that they did not make it past the quarter finals. 3 of their wins are against non-Division 1 teams. They had a NET ranking of 54 which is respectable but KenPom ranks them as 93. The 68 teams that make it to NCAA Tourney are not the 68 best teams. That's part of the March Madness.
I think they will get in because 31 wins is still 31 wins, even if their record in one-score and OT games goes beyond rational thought. I'm also of the belief that the Tournament should celebrate the entirety of college basketball and not favor teams from the Big Ten/SEC/Big 12, which feels like it is behind many of the arguments from the media against Miami.
I agree that a 31-1 mid major team should make it in over a 17-15 team from the SEC (Auburn), but high major bias exists
Plus there's the Wally Szczerbiak thing......he's a key voice in the CBS college basketball studio coverage during the NCAA Tournament. Every time Miami of Ohio has been mentioned this past month, they've had to strap him down in his chair.....I think they'll make it just on the Szczerbiak factor alone........