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**Guest** · 02-25-2021, 10:08 PM

Originally posted by swamdog

They have some head scratching losses but when they play to their potential they are just better. The two games looked exactly the same so there is nothing that makes me believe that we can compete with them. Doesn't take anything away from our season. USC has had an amazing year. And like someone posted earlier I commend the effort. We didn't quit. In past years under AE we have seen us just flat out quit.

So why can't we compete against them? (1) The Mobley's have basically been a non factor in both games. Evan will always get his numbers but he doesn't dominate. For us to have a chance he has to play like the #1 pick in the draft. Colorado is capable of keeping him off the spots on the floor where he wants to be.
(2) Anderson & Peterson just have to flat out play better. Anderson dribbles too much with no purpose. His over dribbling just bogs down the offense and his defense had no answer for Wright. And Peterson when he doesn't play with confidence is just ineffective.
(3) Haven't really commented on Max this year but 17 minutes 0-4 & 2 rebounds 2 turnovers just isn't going to cut it. He has had many games like that this year. I also have seen many deficiencies in his defense. Sometimes his length makes up for it.
(4) What I have seen with Colorado is their length really bothers us. You would think our length would bother them as well but it doesn't. Part of that reason is because they are just more physical than us.

Not sure why anyone didn't think Tahj played well. Sure his numbers weren't great but shit Colorado hedged every screen on him. They were not going to let him beat them. The rest of the team needs to work harder to free him up. Because when you have I Mobley, Anderson, or Max taking too many shots we won't be effective.

If we happen to play Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament I'm not sure what we could do to be more competitive. One thing for sure I would do is put E. Mobley in the low post and keep him there. He would have to work harder for position but if started being effective it would sure help out with shooters getting better looks.
And if all else fails just muck up the game. Other than Wright, the rest of their team does not handle pressure well. They will turn the ball over if you get in their face.

Great post. A ton of truth in this. We’ve had a terrific year given our roster limitations. Just need better guards and a little more shooting. Wright and Horne are terrific players and they got really good minutes from Schwartz, Parquet and Daniels tonight.

**PxPxTrojan** · 02-25-2021, 10:08 PM

Colorado has the best PG in the conference. We have prayers that EA or Drew will have a good game.

**FastEddieFinalFour** · 02-25-2021, 11:02 PM

Originally posted by swamdog

They have some head scratching losses but when they play to their potential they are just better. The two games looked exactly the same so there is nothing that makes me believe that we can compete with them. Doesn't take anything away from our season. USC has had an amazing year. And like someone posted earlier I commend the effort. We didn't quit. In past years under AE we have seen us just flat out quit.

So why can't we compete against them? (1) The Mobley's have basically been a non factor in both games. Evan will always get his numbers but he doesn't dominate. For us to have a chance he has to play like the #1 pick in the draft. Colorado is capable of keeping him off the spots on the floor where he wants to be.
(2) Anderson & Peterson just have to flat out play better. Anderson dribbles too much with no purpose. His over dribbling just bogs down the offense and his defense had no answer for Wright. And Peterson when he doesn't play with confidence is just ineffective.
(3) Haven't really commented on Max this year but 17 minutes 0-4 & 2 rebounds 2 turnovers just isn't going to cut it. He has had many games like that this year. I also have seen many deficiencies in his defense. Sometimes his length makes up for it.
(4) What I have seen with Colorado is their length really bothers us. You would think our length would bother them as well but it doesn't. Part of that reason is because they are just more physical than us.

Not sure why anyone didn't think Tahj played well. Sure his numbers weren't great but shit Colorado hedged every screen on him. They were not going to let him beat them. The rest of the team needs to work harder to free him up. Because when you have I Mobley, Anderson, or Max taking too many shots we won't be effective.

If we happen to play Colorado in the Pac-12 tournament I'm not sure what we could do to be more competitive. One thing for sure I would do is put E. Mobley in the low post and keep him there. He would have to work harder for position but if started being effective it would sure help out with shooters getting better looks.
And if all else fails just muck up the game. Other than Wright, the rest of their team does not handle pressure well. They will turn the ball over if you get in their face.

Good stuff Swamdog.
At the beginning of the season trojan2016 predicted:
Colorado 1
USC 2

I was also in that camp.
I thought their PG gave them that championship advantage.
Did you guys see how many T's they got and how much yapping they do during the game?
This is all an extension of Boyle.
He refuses to lose to USC.
It's actually embarrassing that he can't get his team up for UW but he makes it clear that they cannot lose to the Trojans.
Well after 6 straight losses, CAE better think outside the box.

Beat the Utes and FTFO!!!!!

**SirHeftyBoy** · 02-25-2021, 11:08 PM

Anderson was by no means the issue tonight. Wright was 4-14 shooting with three turnovers, which is his second worst shooting percentage of the year in games in which he took ten plus shots. Sure, Wright had a ton of assists, but that had more to do with our forwards (Mobleys included) leaving Horne open all damn game and Colorado not missing an outside shot all game. Colorado only had 24 points in the paint, which means they were just absolutely lethal from outside. (For context, Oregon also scored only 24 points in the paint against us, but they scored 58 total points. Not 80.) Not really sure what to do when a team scores 42 points on us from outside the paint and shoots what had to be over 50 percent on jumpers. Sure, we weren't great, but on an average shooting game for Colorado is this not like a nail-biter?

I think Andy may not have adjusted well in game to how they were guarding our guards. Might need to work the pick and roll more and give Ethan/Drew/Tahj more options to get our targets down low. Side note: Isaiah Mobley needs to be treated like a bench guy. If he's not playing well, he should not be on the court. It's absurd that he played more than Goodwin today.

**PxPxTrojan** · 02-26-2021, 12:21 AM

I just mean that in general, one way or another you are getting stellar guard play from Wright. He’ll beat you scoring and/or with assists while also playing great defense.

Drew and EA are nowhere near his level when it comes to what you can expect from them. They have a few great games mixed in with a lot of OK to bad, nowhere close to the definite first team all pac-12 level of Wright

**MeltonNotHelton** · 02-26-2021, 05:04 AM

Originally posted by PxPxTrojan

I just mean that in general, one way or another you are getting stellar guard play from Wright. He’ll beat you scoring and/or with assists while also playing great defense.

Drew and EA are nowhere near his level when it comes to what you can expect from them. They have a few great games mixed in with a lot of OK to bad, nowhere close to the definite first team all pac-12 level of Wright

Yes it is well established that we don’t have an all conference level point guard, just as Colorado doesn’t have an all conference level big. You do what you can with what you have and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. With this team this year, it has worked more than most.

**ob4sc** · 02-26-2021, 05:39 AM

It was a tough game to win when early on, Colorado was hitting 65% on three's (a lot of tough shots too), the refs were making some horrible calls against us, and we again had a bad outside shooting night when we needed just an average night to stay close. I seriously do wonder how much the altitude has an effect on visiting teams, too. We looked gassed in the first half. But man, whenever it looked like we'd pull close there was a shit call by the refs or a 25-foot three with a man in their face. Brutal loss and not fun to watch.

**SC MOJO** · 02-26-2021, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by swamdog

(2) Anderson dribbles too much with no purpose. His over dribbling just bogs down the offense and his defense had no answer for Wright.
(3) Haven't really commented on Max this year but 17 minutes 0-4 & 2 rebounds 2 turnovers just isn't going to cut it. He has had many games like that this year. I also have seen many deficiencies in his defense. Sometimes his length makes up for it.

The rest of the team needs to work harder to free Tahj up. Because when you have I Mobley, Anderson, or Max taking too many shots we won't be effective.

All such good points. Colorado did a great job of making Evan and Tahj uncomfortable. We did not reciprocate. One of the best ways to defeat any team is to make secondary players handle the ball more/attempt more shots. Your last point is poignant. When Tahj and Evan get pushed around, we haven't quite figured out where to go for consistent offense. Peterson's the guy imo. He had a bad game, but unlike when Ethan missed time, Drew just doesn't have the ball in his hands much. I think it would be interesting to see Tahj run primary point, and Drew run secondary point with Ethan's minutes spent at the 2. Just sayin. Ethan has a propensity to pound the ball, and his tendency to pick up his dribble continues to put us at a disadvantage. He has, however, been lights out on his catch-and-shoot 3's this season. Our offense can stagnate when Ethan has the ball in half court sets. Drew and Tahj are also much better attacking, as they both have pull up jumpers and are better finishers at the rim. We seem to be missing some of that ever-important dribble penetration in games when we struggle. Thoughts?

What a rollercoaster the past week has been. Arizona.....(weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee).....Oregon.....( ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka)......Colorado....(weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee). I'm nauseous.

Let's rock into the PAC-12 tourney on a 3 game win streak!

**Trojan2021** · 02-26-2021, 10:31 AM

Originally posted by SC MOJO

All such good points. Colorado did a great job of making Evan and Tahj uncomfortable. We did not reciprocate. One of the best ways to defeat any team is to make secondary players handle the ball more/attempt more shots. Your last point is poignant. When Tahj and Evan get pushed around, we haven't quite figured out where to go for consistent offense. Peterson's the guy imo. He had a bad game, but unlike when Ethan missed time, Drew just doesn't have the ball in his hands much. I think it would be interesting to see Tahj run primary point, and Drew run secondary point with Ethan's minutes spent at the 2. Just sayin. Ethan has a propensity to pound the ball, and his tendency to pick up his dribble continues to put us at a disadvantage. He has, however, been lights out on his catch-and-shoot 3's this season. Our offense can stagnate when Ethan has the ball in half court sets. Drew and Tahj are also much better attacking, as they both have pull up jumpers and are better finishers at the rim. We seem to be missing some of that ever-important dribble penetration in games when we struggle. Thoughts?

What a rollercoaster the past week has been. Arizona.....(weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee).....Oregon.....( ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka)......Colorado....(weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee). I'm nauseous.

Let's rock into the PAC-12 tourney on a 3 game win streak!

Yeah, thats actually a nice point on Ethan. I feel confident when he brings the ball up honestly, but unless we're breaking a press, tahj or Peterson can bring it up just fine.

Put Ethan on the wing and let him knock down some 3's; or catch the opponent in the air and drive right to the rim. Thats his game. EA's 2pt % is obviously low, but he makes himself take tough shots - floaters, lots of contact, when he drives from pg position. As a wing, once he makes a man miss he has the advantage or can kick it out.

**usernamealreadytaken2** · 02-26-2021, 09:15 PM

I wonder if having Ethan and Tajh post up their defenders and hit bigs cutting down the lane would be a strategy to try against CU if we met them in the P12 tournament. A high low game with Isaiah to Evan, akin to how we had Nick and Big O play last year, might be another option to consider.

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