The Season Is NOT Over

For those that say that the USC Trojans dreams at reaching the NCAA Tournament for a third consecutive season are over, think again. There's a reason the Pac-10 Tournament is played next week at Staples Center. As I recall, the winner of that tournament gets an automatic bid to the Big Dance. The path is clear for the Trojans: They must win that tournament next week in order to make the NCAA. My goal in pointing out this all too obvious information is this: The two games the Trojans play this week at Galen Center against the Oregon schools are not meaningless, as some people might have you thinking. On the contrary, they are pivotal because they will make the difference as to what seed the Trojans will have next week. If the Trojans remain in the bottom four teams, they have to start the tournament next Wednesday night and win four straight to capture the crown. Win both games this week at Galen and the Trojans will assure themselves of a first round bye. With the bye, USC would only need three victories to ensure themselves of the automatic bid. There are two key players in my opinion that may make the difference in their chances of making an NCAA run: Marcus Johnson and Marcus Simmons. Simmons emerged last week in the Bay Area as a player, when healthy, that can defend the opponent's best player and provide a spark offensively as well. We already knew the defensive ability of Simmons, but his offense took a big step forward last week as well. The Trojans need him to be as close to 100% on his ankle that has constantly bothered him throughout the past two years. Marcus Johnson's absense, in my opinion, has been the single biggest reason for the Trojans recent troubles. He had average 8 ppg in his last four games before the injury. Who has replaced that production? The answer is absolutely nobody. Not only has the scoring been absent, but the energy and spark that Johnson provides has been missing as well. Doctors have cleared Mr. Johnson to play this week. We'll see how much time he gets, but the key is this: Play him as much as you can, but having him at full strength next week is much more important than this week. The Trojans can win both these games without Marcus Johnson, but winning three straight next week without him would be next to impossible. Just make sure he doesn't do too much this week to hurt his chances for next week. Must win against Oregon tonight unless the Trojans really want to play on Wednesday next week instead of Thursday. Let's go.