As best defined by Assistant Coach Anthony Ruta’s bellows from the bench, USC men’s basketball’s first team scrimmage Tuesday afternoon at Galen Center marked the beginning of its grand opportunity.
Over the offseason, first-year Head Coach Eric Musselman welcomed 11 transfers and an all-new coaching staff. Given the recency of these arrivals, Musselman has a short window to construct a cohesive team identity, and the stakes of the team’s first practices were not overlooked.
At the beginning of practice, a whiteboard towered over the sidelines with a bold declaration, “Four weeks from the start of College Basketball season.”
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The sign stressed the urgency of the imminent season, and the Trojans’ positionings for the day were inscribed below the countdown. With the exceptions of sophomore transfer guard Kevin Patton Jr., who is out indefinitely, and freshman guard Kallai Patton, the entirety of the Trojan roster sported a jersey for the scrimmage.
Practice began with drills siphoned to opposite ends of the floor. Although they were evading imaginary opposition, each play was conducted with an intensity reflective of the players’ determination to prove their value to Musselman and the coaching staff.
In the frenzy of energy, senior forward Harrison Hornery looked out of place. Well, not quite, more so the opposite. Hornery matched the focus of his teammates, yet, as the only Trojan to have played more than five in-season minutes for USC, his comfort on the Galen floor was evident. Hornery made his way to the rim with ease while managing communication between his teammates and staffers.
Soon, practice escalated into full-court drills. With Musselman drawing up football-esque routes and dribbling exercises ensuing on the sidelines, the shrieking sneakers and ceaseless movement sounded less like jazz and more like a composition of Debussy’s “Estampes III.”
After about an hour of drills, Musselman demanded the official start of the scrimmage. It was played in four 10-minute frames, and pairs of assistants coached each side of the red versus yellow bout.
Musselman studied the court keenly throughout the scrimmages, typically with his arms folded and his face bearing an unwavering potency. And every couple of minutes, Musselman called timeouts for full-team huddles.
During one intermission, Musselman requested a monitor to play a clip from the “Mind the Game” podcast. In the excerpt, LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach J.J. Redick express their disdain for 2-for-1 situations.
“Let’s just get a good shot,” Musselman said to his players after the video concluded.
In another time-out, Musselman praised graduate forward Matt Knowling’s ball movement.
“We’ve got guys shooting 1-5 right now and he’s got 5-5 because he’s not looking for his own [shots],” Musselman said. “[Knowling] is letting the game come to him, he’s cutting, he’s doing what we’re supposed to do. He’s not thirsty to score, he’s patient and letting the game dictate his shots.”
Musselman used Knowling’s defensive attentiveness as an exemplar.
“The other difference: the man passes the ball on defense,” Musselman said. “We’re not a shot-blocking team so we have to have great protection off the ball.”
The Trojans maintained competitiveness all through the scrimmage, but when USC didn’t play through the whistle at the conclusion of practice, Musselman made his expectations clear in a climactic closing speech.
“I don’t care if we’re down 100 or up 100. Don’t stop playing until the final buzzer,” Musselman said. “People pay their money to watch 40 minutes.”
USC’s first full 40 minutes of regular season play begins Nov. 4, at Galen Center against Chattanooga.
