Pac 10 Hoops so far

[Russ Smith]

UCLA and ASU lead at 3-0, WSU is 2-0.

UCLA and WSU play tomorrow, with Collison possibly out it probably favors WSU although UCLA has won several games this year without Collison.

The overwhelmingly big disappointment so far is 0-3 USC. With all the Mayo hype they're now only 9-6 overall and in desperate need of some wins if they want to make the tournament.

After the weekend in the Bay Area they had a team meeting to clear the air about team chemistry. SCott Wolf is reporting that Floyd suspended Davon Jefferson from last nights game because of bad grades and bad attitude amid reports he got into a shouting match with coaches after not playing much against Stanford. Mayo came out last night and said Jefferson not playing is hurting the team but he didn't say Davon needs to be smarter he said it's hard to play without him as if he was supporting Davon(his best friend on the team).

Several USC fans at the game said it was obvious how bad team chemistry is.

Stanford and oregon are both 2-1 coming off nice wins. Stanford a blowout of Oregon State, Oregon over Cal, now Oregon and Stanford face off Saturday.

Cal and UA are 1-2, UA needs Bayless back, Cal has 2 tough losses UCLA and at Oregon a very tough place to win at.

UW is 0-2 and they don't look very good, they've got talent they'll pull an upset or 2 but it's really Brockman and a bunch of guys.

OSU and USC are 0-3, OSU doesn't have a lot of talent and they're not very experienced start a lot of first and second year guys. USC has a lot of talent but again inexperienced, start a lot of first and second year guys.

Maybe it's me but I think the talk of 7-8 teams getting tourney bids is off base I think 6 max. I just think teams are going to pile up too many losses in the tough conference.

 

[Assface]

The overwhelmingly big disappointment so far is 0-3 USC. With all the Mayo hype they're now only 9-6 overall and in desperate need of some wins if they want to make the tournament.

After the weekend in the Bay Area they had a team meeting to clear the air about team chemistry. SCott Wolf is reporting that Floyd suspended Davon Jefferson from last nights game because of bad grades and bad attitude amid reports he got into a shouting match with coaches after not playing much against Stanford. Mayo came out last night and said Jefferson not playing is hurting the team but he didn't say Davon needs to be smarter he said it's hard to play without him as if he was supporting Davon(his best friend on the team).

Several USC fans at the game said it was obvious how bad team chemistry is.

USC is the college version of the Knicks.

 

[Gaddabout]

Mayo is a victim of his own hype. I'm not sure if he's been turned loose yet, but now he better make sure his academics are in order because his draft stock is dropping every game. He might need USC a little more now.

 

[Russ Smith]

Mayo is a victim of his own hype. I'm not sure if he's been turned loose yet, but now he better make sure his academics are in order because his draft stock is dropping every game. He might need USC a little more now.

Supposedly he made the honor roll, as did Kevin Love at UCLA. Mayo is a bright kid but I'd be stunned if he stays at USC. But then I'm stunned he is even playing there in the first place. Mayo's stock is sliding I think he's probably scared another year in college hurts him more. His problem is he's no longer getting better, that's been the knock for 2 years now. Defense improved but offensively no real improvement.

Compared to Bayless and Harden who are clearly improving(Bayless with his pg skills Harden all around) and you can make a case that both guys if they haven't surpassed Mayo already they soon will.

They got a win against UW, the game next Saturday at UCLA is basically the season for USC, if they lose they're 1-4 in conference 10-7 overall and in serious danger of not making the tourney. Must win for them I expect Floyd to pull out all stops. UCLA is due for a letdown game I just hope it's not against USC.

 

[Skkorpion]

Mayo = Stephon Marbury = Steve Francis.

 

[Russ Smith]

FYI LA Times says that UCLA and Kevin Love were investigated for possible illegal recruiting contact.

For those that remember the USC football deal where the RB admitted on live radio he'd spoken to Reggie Bush adn then recanted later after being informed it was a violation, this is the same allegation with Love and John Wooden.

The difference is Wooden is a paid consultant of UCLA and according to UCLA compliance officers he is allowed to have such contact with recruits as long as it abides by NCAA rules. What they always do is Wooden has breakfast at the same restaurant, they bring a recruit there and bingo he bumps into Wooden. I've pointed it out before it's one of those skirt the rules things that every school does. UNC uses Dean Smith the same way and has used Michael Jordan as well.

I would suspect USC is the one who reported it just because of all the innuendo about Mayo I think they probably decided to cast some blame somewhere else.

According to the article the investigation is still open but based on what I understand the NCAA has already ruled on this before and said there is no rule violation in this situation but it will be interesting. It would suck if Love were suspended or something as a result but we'll see, they have to have rules so if UCLA violated one they should take the hit.

Ny expectation is nothing would happen but we'll see.