USC vs. USD – Game Preview

When:  Thursday, Nov. 22 @ 9:00 PM (PST)
Where:  The Arena at the Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, CA)
Watch:  ESPN2

USD is coming off a 5 point loss at home to their rival San Diego State
and are currently 2-2 overall.  The Toreros (matadors) are led by
Junior forward, Gyno Pomare (6’7, 220), and Junior guard, Brandon
Johnson (6’0, 195).  Gyno is the player to look out for, he plays a
physical style of ball offensively/defensively and leads the team in
points and rebounds.  USD only has two scorers that average over 10
pts, so the game plan will likely center around getting the ball out of
Gyno’s hands and forcing the other starting 4 to pick up the slack.
Four of the 5 starters returned from last season and the team is led
by long-time Gonzaga assistant, Bill Grier, so you can expect a
well-coached squad.

On the Trojans side, we’ve built some momentum coming off victories
against the Citadel and South Carolina.  We currently have 4 players
averaging over 10 points and 2 over 20, so you have to like the balance
in scoring.  You can feel the team hitting their stride and you have to
believe with a nationally televised game, they will come out with a lot
of intensity.  Coach Floyd might go with the guard-oriented line-up
from last week to start the game, but if I had to guess, I think Kasey
will replace Angelo to take pressure off of Taj defensively and on the
boards.  Earlier in the week, Coach Floyd was quoted saying he doesn’t
want to play Davon yet because he’s still behind in practices and
doesn’t want to give "entitlement minutes"
to a player that hasn’t earned it, so we might have to wait till after
the tournament to see the debut of the fab freshman.  Personally, I’d
like to see him get 10-15 minutes per game this week to prepare him for
the upcoming monster 3 of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Memphis.  It’s against
those teams that you’d expect to see foul trouble early and it would be
a waste to see such a talented player like Davon sit on the bench or
come into the game with no experience.  But going back to the game at
hand, I think USD will keep the game competitive, but won’t ever truly
threaten to pull off the upset. 

Prediction:  W by 12+