USC’s Trip to Hawaii Not a Vacation

Tropical weather, lots of pineapple, endless ukulele music . . .

The Trojans got enough of that last year.

This three-day Yahoo! Sports Invitational on the campus of Brigham Young Hawaii is about, at least, protecting No. 13 USC’s national ranking and unbeaten record (7-0). At most, it’s the start of the most grueling phase of the team’s nonconference schedule.

Starting with tonight’s game against BYUH, the Trojans will play five games and travel through four time zones in the next 10 days. After the tournament, USC travels to Northwestern on Dec. 27, and comes back to face Long Beach State before opening Pacific 10 Conference play against Washington.

USC wants to enhance its attractiveness to the NCAA tournament committee. It would not be a serious crime to lose to Mississippi or Iowa State, two of the stronger teams in this tournament. But this is also not the time for any stumbles against teams the Trojans should beat.

“That’s why I say we take one game at a time,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “We’re not looking at the overall tournament and talking about winning it. We’re talking about getting better each game. My concern is, are we ready to play? That’s what I’m focused on, and what the kids should be focused on.”

Even so, the players understand they are one of the favorites to win the tournament and the importance of finishing of the nonconference schedule strong. Last season, USC was 7-5 entering the Pac-10, won only nine more games and was not invited to the postseason.

“This tournament is not as tough as last year,” said guard Brandon Granville, referring to the Maui Invitational. “We’re also later in the season, with seven games under out belts as opposed to playing a top-five team for the second game.

“It might be a little tough, playing three games in three days, but this is still good preparation for Pac-10, especially with a lot of games on the road. We need to get accustomed to a routine on the road.”

USC is still without guard Jeff Trepagnier, who is being investigated by the NCAA and, as of Wednesday, had not been cleared to rejoin the team. Tyler Murphy, with a jammed finger, is questionable for tonight’s game. But Desmon Farmer, after battling an illness last week in his chest, is back at full strength.

One benefit in playing in these three-day tournaments, according to Bibby, is teams don’t have that much time to dissect what the opponent does. So the Trojans will spend their practice time working on polishing their game.

“If I took something from John Wooden,” said Bibby, referring to his coach at UCLA, “it’s that he was never concerned about other teams. You prepare your team, and you do what you do best. It’s something I’ve always tried to do in coaching.

“My concern will be are we ready to attack what BYU does.”