Bibby Searches for a Silver Lining

After seeing his team lose seven of eight games, Coach Henry Bibby can still think of one opponent the Trojans could beat--last year’s disappointing 9-19 team.

“We would have beaten them by 15 points,” Bibby said.

Unfortunately, the 1997-98 team isn’t on the schedule. Instead, the Trojans face road games against California, Stanford and UCLA in the next two weeks, which leaves them searching hard for someplace to steal a victory.

“Yeah, you want a win but where do you get it?” Bibby said. “I don’t know.”

No. 6 Stanford ranks seventh in the nation in defense, surrendering only 57.1 points a game. No. 9 UCLA ranks fourth in offense, averaging 87.6 points.

“Look at the teams we’re playing,” Bibby said. “You beat all those teams, you deserve to be in the Final Four.”

With the season having slipped away, the time for pep talks and inspirational slogans has apparently passed.

“They’ve probably heard every speech I could give,” Bibby said. “The motivation has to come from within. They have to keep fighting.”

Coming up: Thursday at California, Saturday at Stanford.