Southern California Trojans - NCAA Basketball Betting

After a considerable spell of mediocrity, the USC Trojans men's basketball team found itself with a lot going for it following last season.

USC had a rejuvenated head coach, Tim Floyd, who had proven himself a winner at previous stops in the collegiate ranks. The Trojans were coming off a 17-13 season, their best record in five years. They were headed into their first season at their beautiful new on-campus home, the Galen Center.

The random tragedy of real life stepped in and shook this team when point guard Ryan Francis, who had started every game last season as a freshman, was killed in a shooting in his home state of Louisiana in May. Basketball became very small for a while for this USC team. As crass as it sounds when talking about such a tragedy, life goes on, as did this season.

The Trojans now were returning four starters, and had to find a replacement for a guy who was a very solid defender and was going to be counted on to be the floor leader. Despite Floyd's track record and the talent already in place, most “experts” figured USC for a middle-of-the-pack finish in the PAC 10.

Senior guard Lodrick Stewart is a dangerous three-point threat and the team's second-leading scorer. Freshman forward Taj Gibson, at 6-9, grabbed better than eight rebounds a game, and fellow freshman Dwight Lewis took over a guard spot in the starting lineup about halfway through the PAC 10 slate.

The loss of Francis still affects this team. With his absence, USC lost much of its ability to penetrate defenses from the perimeter, and the Trojans can look stagnant on offense at times, like during their loss at UCLA in early February. Floyd has had four guards on the floor at times, and none of them are true point guards. The Trojans can be beaten in the battles on the boards.

USC last made the NCAA tournament in 2002, but this is a program on the rise, probably a season ahead of schedule. However, it will be hard to advance too far in the postseason without a true point guard and some inside help.

Nick Young – A scorer from the wing.

Gabriel Pruitt – Valuable, but shot has been off.

Taj Gibson – Frosh forward and team's best rebounder.

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