Love it. The numbers do not lie. I have been looking at our overall teams numbers and am amazed at how great we are as a team defensively. Haslametrics has us ranked 9th in overall Field goals attempts per 100 trips upcourt vs. the average opponent. Man, I am impressed as we all should be by how much this TEAM has bought in to CAE & his staff. Clearly no ego’s, just want to come out & win. We kicked BRUIN ass for an entire 40 minutes & Ethan surprised us all by his performance from beyond the arc.

Great post!

I mean, considering that we basically have an entirely new roster, and our starting point guard was out for much of the season, this is an amazing job by Enfield to this point. Give him his due, haters. What are you waiting for?

We haven’t been 9-2 in conference since 1992.

I really doubt they come out & give him his due. Fwiw there have been a small group of us on twitter trying to bait Scott Wolf to come out & say something but to no avail. He only tweets his classic “THANKS, ENFIELD” when USC Hoops suffers a loss ha-ha

We won despite E Mobley taking more plays off on defense than usual. Not sure if he just underestimated their interior players with Hill and Cody out but at times he didn't seem into it.

We SHOULD come out of this next week 17-3. The pessimist in me thinks we'll drop 1 to the Washington's like we always did in years past especially right after getting ranked. But, F THAT. We're sweeping the Washingtons. Keep it rolling, boys!

Yep & we still won by 18

An objective fan should tell it like it is. Sometimes things need to be criticized. The football program is not as good as it should be, and anyone with two eyes can see it.

But the football program is a traditional power that has dominated the conference for decades and essentially recruits itself in a lot of ways. Our basketball program is not that at all.

I admittedly was not a big fan of the Enfield hire from the beginning. I think his first two teams were not super talented but could have won more. I think it has taken us years to get to where we should be defensively. Our struggle to recruit the PG position after JMac has been a big problem.

But here’s the thing: when we as fans make judgment calls on coaches and call for them to be fired prematurely, we essentially rule out the real possibility that said coaches WILL GET BETTER WITH EXPERIENCE, which is generally how life goes. We look at the anomalies like Saban and Meyer, Coach K and Calipari, and if our guys don’t perform like that, we want to shitcan them. But more often that not, these things take time.

I think all of us would have been jazzed if we would have hired Shaka Smart when the job was open. He ended up at Texas. He has struggled for years and only now is it coming together. It looks like the same thing is happening for Enfield, and unlike football, he has to do it with tremendous roster turnover almost every year. He is currently doing it without Tony Bland, who many thought was the key.

I think as posters we often make it part of our identity to be “realists” or “true fans through and through,” and that makes it harder to be honest with ourselves about what is happening when the results clash with our identities.

This team is an excellent team, maybe Enfield’s best. It is good because of Andy and his staff. He has won me over for the foreseeable future. He has done a very good job at SC, as Floyd did before him.

I agree with part of what our fearless site creator Melton has said: for this season, we should unite and enjoy the ride. Although I would add this, it will be easier to get the past naysayers on board if we avoid trash talking them after wins. I’ve been guilty of some of that in the past, and I’m gonna resolve to be done with that.

Let’s not turn this board into the football boards. A lot of Johnny Come Latelys over there. There are none here. All of us are big time fans for a program that generally no one pays attention to. Let’s enjoy it together this year.

I wonder if it had something to do with the way the refs were calling the game? It seemed like Evan was called for a couple of questionable fouls which may have made him hold back a little?

I felt so good about last night's game, I made a bet with my basketball group 4 are Bruins to take them out and rest of the group for lunch if UCLa win. But they are not going to win hahaha. Happy we won. Team played well in 2nd half. EA unexpectedly played like a stud and my MVP of the game. Fight On EA!

I dont think so. He didn't get back on defense on some plays. Sometimes players don't bring 100 percent for some reason (personal or some sort of mental distraction maybe).

Good post! I promise I won't call people out forever, but I think in the short term it's important to do so for accountability's sake and MORE IMPORTANT to help adjust the mind set that surrounds USC basketball. Programs are reflected by the attitudes of their fans and sometimes vice versa. I'd like our fan base to be optimistic yet realistic about this program vs. pessimistic, negative and petty. Over time it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The program deserves better than fans who bail at the first sign of adversity, or fans who are ever-skeptical of any signs of success.

Since you own the board, you should let the rest of us do the fighting. 😆 I run some large groups (not sports). It became much more active as I became more neutral (behavior in the group, not mindset). Not that I agree with opposing views per say but just allowing them more freedom to express themselves and give their thoughts even if I don't necessarily agree. Just my experience.

TVofTroy, Love this post.. You are like the Yoda of forum. ✌

Not sure if any of you check out the bruinzone board. I do from time to time, there is some good info on there, but also a lot of internecine squabbling and name calling. Glad for the overall positive atmosphere and respect on this board.