USC’s Aim Is to Improve Shooting

USC basketball Coach George Raveling gets that helpless feeling whenever he talks about his gang that can’t shoot straight.

“It’s like driving,” he said. “Someone toots his horn and points under your car. You stop, get out and see gas pouring out. You don’t know what to do.”

Even though USC is the worst shooting team in the Pacific 10 at 41.7%, though, it has remained competitive with solid defense.

USC has held opponents to a shooting percentage of 43.4%, and only Arizona is better in the conference at 43.3%. The Trojans are also second-ranked in scoring defense at 64.6 points a game. Moreover, the Trojans have limited their last five opponents to less than 60 points a game. That’s all very impressive, but if you can’t shoot, you usually don’t win, and that’s USC’s problem going into tonight’s game with California at Harmon Gym.

There are other factors, of course, such as overall talent, that have contributed to USC’s 8-11 record, 3-7 in the conference.

But Raveling contends that if his team could shoot just a bit better, it would be a factor in the last half of the regular season.

“If we could just shoot consistently at 45%, it would make an unbelievable difference between winning and losing,” Raveling said. “And how often do you hear a coach say that he wants his team to shoot just 45%?”

USC has lost 6 of 11 games by six or fewer points. So a basket here or there could have made a difference.

Derrick Dowell, USC’s All-Pac-10 forward, is shooting at a decent 48% clip, averaging 20.3 points. Bob Erbst, a freshman forward, is at 47.2%, while center Rod Keller, who averages only five shots a game, mostly inside, is at 52%.

But USC’s outside shooters, the guards, are out of touch. Brad Winslow is at 38.1%, followed by Rich Grande, 31.8%, and Ivan Harris, 31.7%. Chris Munk, a freshman forward-center who gets sufficient playing time, is shooting only 34.8%.

Raveling says he once asked Oregon State’s Ralph Miller, the dean of America’s college basketball coaches, what was the most important thing he looked for in recruiting.

“He told me that he wanted to recruit athletes who were quick and who could shoot,” Raveling said. “If they couldn’t shoot, he wouldn’t recruit them. He said he’d teach them all the rest they needed to know.”

Raveling says his team spends a minimum of 30 minutes of practice time daily on shooting.

“We’re shooting the ball off the dribble, standing still and off the pass,” he said. “And we simulate game conditions by having them guarded. It wouldn’t do any good to have our players shoot without a hand in their faces, because it’s not going to be that way in a game.”

Raveling added: “If just one perimeter player would surface for us to go along with Dowell, we would make a run for it (the conference race).”

Trojan Notes Tonight’s game, beginning at 7:30, will be broadcast by KNX. . . . Cal, 13-10 overall and 6-5 in the Pac-10, has lost its last three games and is 4-5 since losing center Leonard Taylor for the season with a congenital spinal injury. . . . “Losing Taylor takes away from Cal’s offensive balance,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “I rated him as one of the three best post men in the league, along with Jose Ortiz (Oregon State) and Chris Welp (Washington).” . . . Taylor was averaging 19 points and 8.8 rebounds before he was injured. The Bears now rely mainly on their perimeter shooting and have an outstanding guard in Kevin Johnson, who is averaging 17.5 points a game and 5.3 assists. . . . Hartmut Ortmann, a 6-8 sophomore from West Germany, is Taylor’s replacement. . . . Cal has a 10-1 record at home this season and is 23-3 the last two seasons under Coach Lou Campanelli. . . . The Bears aren’t a particularly good shooting team, either, at 46.2%. But they’re shooting 73.8% from the free throw line. . . . Cal beat USC, 79-76, Jan. 2 at Loyola Marymount as Johnson scored 31 points. . . . USC guard Rich Grande has made six of his last nine shots, a sign that he may be coming out of a shooting slump. . . . USC will play Stanford Sunday at 3 p.m. in a game televised by Channel 2 from Maples Pavilion.