Season Got De-Pressing for Trojans

SACRAMENTO —  On a series of plays in which he would normally have elevated and thrown down ferocious dunks in some poor unfortunate soul’s face, Sam Clancy, second-team All-American, blew two layups and a put-back.

Two minutes later, Errick Craven dug deeply enough to find his lightning-quick first step, blowing by a defender. But instead of slamming it home with a left-handed jam to raise the roof and USC’s spirits, Craven could only look on helplessly as his layup rimmed out.

The Trojans could have taken a four-point lead and deflated North Carolina Wilmington in the process by converting those overtime chances. Instead, they were spent, having used up every ounce of energy they had in erasing a 19-point deficit in the last nine minutes of regulation. Their full-court press, which had sparked so many runs this season, sapped their strength when they needed it most.

“The hole we dug was just too deep,” Clancy muttered. “We couldn’t get out.”

And so the 18th-ranked Trojans’ season closed at 22-10, as did the college careers of Clancy and fellow seniors Brandon Granville and David Bluthenthal.

The Trojans’ 93-89 overtime loss to unheralded North Carolina Wilmington on Thursday in the NCAA tournament South Regional sparked more questions than answers regarding a program purported to be experiencing a renaissance:

* Did the Trojans, a popular pick for the Final Four, peak too soon this season, or did they merely punch themselves out in coming back from the massive second-half deficit to force the extra period against the Seahawks?

* Were they taking the Seahawks too lightly, and why didn’t the Seahawks even blink when USC unleashed its press?

* Did a season’s worth of pressing, and, more recently, three games of full-court pressure in three days in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament tire the Trojans beyond recovery?

“There were a lot of expectations for USC,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “I thought we were a very, very good basketball team, but maybe not as good as everybody thinks we are.”

Turns out Bibby’s ubiquitous baseball cap with the Final Four symbol on it was more delusional than inspirational and he admitted to having used smoke and mirrors on occasion.

“I thought we had some flaws,” he said. “I don’t think we shot the ball well outside at times. I didn’t think we executed what we needed to during the course of the season. I didn’t think we rebounded the basketball well.

“There were a few things that we had shortcomings on. We covered up a lot of things with our defense. Our defense was really good. Our defense carried us all year ... our press carried us all year. They tricked a lot of people. We won a lot of games with that. We were disguising some things that we were doing. Sometimes it catches up to you.”

It caught up to the Trojans on Thursday night at Arco Arena.

Resorting to the press so much this season, USC wore itself out and the Trojans’ legs became heavier than the expectations they had created for themselves.

An argument could be made that the Trojans’ season actually ended with more than five minutes remaining in the first half of the conference tournament title game March 9.

Having pressed Stanford into oblivion in a first-round game, and then used the press to get by Oregon in a semifinal, USC was dominating Arizona via the press. The Trojans were forcing turnovers and getting steals by the handful as they held a 13-point lead, 33-20, with 5:35 until halftime.

Then they hit the wall of fatigue.

From that point until when North Carolina Wilmington led by 19, 68-49, with 9:46 remaining in regulation, the Trojans had been outscored, 129-90.

The Trojans were half a step behind the Seahawks most of the night. USC missed 12 free throws in the second half and made only two of nine shots in overtime.

The frustration, though, of knowing what you want to do and not being able to do it bubbled up much earlier and USC was on the verge of breaking down mentally.

With Clancy picking up two fouls in the first 3:24 against Wilmington, he could not play as aggressively on defense. And after he was beaten in the post, he glared and extended his arms at Bluthenthal, who had failed to come over and help.

Later, Craven yelled at Desmon Farmer after the reserve guard had taken an ill-advised three-point shot late in the first half.

But the Trojans, who had been beaten four times this season on last-second shots, pulled it together in time to force overtime when Craven nailed a three-pointer from the right corner with 7.9 seconds left.

But that was all USC had. The tank was empty.

And now, with the three senior starters’ eligibility expired, some would say that USC’s cupboard is similarly bare, a nagging prospect, given USC’s missed opportunities this season.

“That’s been the question all year,” Granville said. “We never felt like we were out of games, but we just couldn’t figure out why we’d go through so many offensive lulls.”

USC has a summer to think about it.