Benchmark Tournament for USC

It’s an opening, a dollhouse window of opportunity.

But, starting with USC’s first-round game against Brigham Young Hawaii in the Yahoo! Sports Invitational tournament late Thursday night, it may be the best and last chance for Trojan reserves Nate Hair, Robert Hutchinson and Kostas Charissis to get into the player rotation Coach Henry Bibby will settle on when the Pacific 10 Conference schedule begins in January.

With three games in three days, Bibby wants to save the legs of starters David Bluthenthal, Sam Clancy, Desmon Farmer, Brandon Granville and Brian Scalabrine as much as possible. And one reason 13th-ranked USC is off to a 7-0 start is because Bibby has used his bench frequently; 12 players have gotten game action.

Another reason why Hair, Hutchinson and Charissis want and need to impress in this tournament, and in the last two nonconference games against Northwestern and Long Beach State, is because there is depth on the Trojan bench this season. The remaining minutes not eaten up by the starters will become scarce, especially when forward Jarvis Turner recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery.

There is also the Jeff Trepagnier factor. Trepagnier, who is suspended while under investigation by the NCAA, could be cleared to rejoin the team any day now, although sources close to the investigation indicated it may come next week, in time for the Northwestern game.

When Trepagnier returns, he may go back to the starting lineup, putting Farmer on the bench. But Farmer, who is averaging 8.3 points, will still play.

For the second consecutive season Hair was sidelined the beginning of the schedule because of injury. Last season he averaged 16 minutes a game off the bench. This season he has played in only two games at guard. And while Hair has averaged 21.5 minutes so far, he is battling Tyler Murphy, a fifth-year senior who filled in for Hair during his injury, for playing time.

“I’m as recovered as I’m gonna get,” Hair said. “I felt pretty good about my first two games; I’ve been concerned about being able to play hard and doing the little things they like me to do, like rebounding and playing defense.”

Hutchinson, who came to USC after a junior college season in Florida, was first viewed as relief at point guard for Granville. He has played in all seven games, but is averaging only 8.7 minutes. Granville is averaging 35 minutes--the most of any Trojan.

Hutchinson has shown he has the dribbling skills needed for a guard. But he hasn’t shot much--only nine times, making four--so defenders are mostly laying off him.

“Coach has talked a lot to me about playing time and what he expects from me,” Hutchinson said. “Lately he’s said I’ve been playing too conservative, too structured. I’ve been too worried about Xs and O’s, about where I’m supposed to be. He wants me to just go out there, play my game, and do what I do well.”

Charissis has a different pressure. Bibby has wanted him to be the first big man off the bench whenever Clancy or Scalabrine need a rest. But Charissis has been so anxious to prove himself that he’s still prone to foul (10 in six games) and he has missed all four field goals attempted. He has made five of six free throws.

All in all, Charissis has averaged 4.7 minutes a game, five minutes less than last season.

“When I get in I want to do so many things,” Charissis said, “and I wind up making mistakes instead of just trying to play basketball.”

Bibby had not told any of the reserves how they would be used, and Hair said he did not expect the coach to tell them.

“It depends how the game is going,” Hair said. “He keeps that to himself. He goes by what he feels and what he knows you can do.”

So the ball is back in the players’ court, so to speak.

*

The USC game against Brigham Young Hawaii finished after The Times went to press. For the game story, go to https://sports.latimes.com

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