USC dealing with March isolation at NCAA Tournament
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — Things are a little different at the NCAA Tournament this year as college basketball plays through the pandemic. So much so that just taking an outdoor team picture is cause for celebration for USC.
“I have not been outside since we’ve been here, two days,” head coach Andy Enfield said Wednesday. “We’re excited to see some daylight.”
Such is life in Indianapolis this year. Like all 68 teams in the tournament, the Trojans have the entire floor of a hotel to themselves to avoid outside variables. Food is brought to their rooms, and the hotel has an indoor bridge that connects to the convention center where practices are held.
Gone is the typical festivity that accompanies the event. No community events, no team dinners to celebrate reaching the Big Dance, no fans waiting outside the hotel to cheer the team as it boards the bus to the arena.
Family members can’t even be there for that purpose. Enfield said that when his wife and three children arrive in Indianapolis on Thursday, his only interaction with them will be to wave from the court prior to tip-off.
“I really enjoy watching the family members of the staff get on the plane and fly out with the team and be part of our program for a few days at a very special time of year,” Enfield said. “The atmosphere is totally different.”
There have been some complaints from players in this bubble environment about the quality of food the NCAA is providing for the student-athletes, especially in light of the recent name, image and likeness debate. It’s led to some players, most notably Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon and Rutgers’ Geo Baker, to start tweeting about the issue using #NotNCAAProperty.
“Players ISOLATED entire year to help make this tournament happen,” Baker tweeted on Tuesday. “NCAA: rewarded w/ $900 million. Players: rewarded w/ free deodorant and small boxed meals.”
USC freshman center Evan Mobley, though, said he is enjoying the bubble experience as best he can, even if it admittedly doesn’t live up to the image he had in mind when he dreamed about this moment.
“They got good food, everything, so it’s a great experience so far,” Mobley said. “I would like it to be like normal, like in the past years, but it is how it is with the coronavirus and everything. But it’s been great so far.”
WAITING GAME
Sixth-seeded USC has one day left until it finds out who it will play in the first round, as 11 seeds Wichita State and Drake face off for that right on Thursday at 3:27 p.m. PT.
Mobley said he has yet to review much video of either potential opponent, but he says USC will be watching Thursday’s game to see how those teams approach the First Four matchup to help kick off the NCAA Tournament.
Enfield praised both Drake and Wichita State’s accomplishments this season but also said the opponent won’t necessarily change the style of play USC deploys.
“You have to do what you do well at this point in the season,” Enfield said. “You also have to make adjustments to guard the other team. I think both Wichita and Drake present challenges with us. We have a size advantage in the interior but they have some advantages at different positions.”
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Jets are in talks with JuJu Smith-Schuster.
That’s nice, but the Jets, like the Trojans, need to rebuild their OL.
I feel sorry for JuJu if he has to go to the Jets. But receivers are generally viewed as a dime-a-dozen in the NFL, so they often lack bargaining power.
As usual, Evan Mobley taking the high road. We are going to miss this kid.
Pete Carroll is finally trying to make Russell Wilson happy. He signed TE Gerald Everett from the Rams (excellent, athletic target who was buried in L.A.) and got OG Gabe Jackson from the Raiders (big improvement). Seattle still needs another big improvement at center.
So Wilson’s public complaints have paid off big, and quickly, for him so far, and Pete has finally listened to his QB.
I think PC knows as well as anyone what is needed for the seahawks to improve. Wilson’s remarks just gives PC more leverage to convince the ownership heirs (the old man isn’t around anymore) to open up their checkbook. They may not be so willing to do so. And if that is the case, some of the blame goes to them. It wouldn’t be the first time the family survivors have changed the philosophy of what the program will be.
Money is not the problem in Seattle, and never has been. Pete controls EVERYTHING there. It’s his issues that have been holding the team back, and Wilson simply forced the team’s weaknesses to the forefront because Pete wasn’t doing anything about it with his limited Wilson-Do-Everything offense.
This is all on Pete, so it’s nice to see him finally get serious about keeping Wilson, who had to threaten to leave to get some action.
Oh and you are saying the ownership has nothing to say what an AD-HC can do? You may be right about PC holding most of the cards. But he may not be so free as before to make quick changes. That’s all I am saying.
I refer to the Carolina Panthers, the Chicago bears, the New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons where the deceased owners took over the program and made changes not necessarily popular with their fanbases.
There’s never been one single iota of evidence that Jody Allen has in any way whatsoever restricted Pete’s spending, decisions, or movements. None.
Pete’s not a god, and he definitely misses Paul Allen’s superior influence a lot because the guy was heavily involved when alive, and watched over Pete in some regards.
But Pete holds ALL the cards about what and when the Seahawks do things. And he is free to make moves as he sees fit. That’s just a fact.
That last sentence says a mouthfull. We have Mobley, they have everything else.
No doubt about it, Trojan guard-play has to step up.
LAT — When one player suggested that he “didn’t have his legs” during practice Wednesday, Andy Enfield joked that assistant coach Jason Hart called him out.
“What do you mean?” Hart said. “You’ve been laying in a hotel room for a couple of days!”
Too much laying around can make your legs heavy till you get moving again.
Is that why my legs feel so heavy? 😉