Craven Looks for His Soph Touch

This isn’t how Errick Craven had envisioned it.

As USC’s leading returning scorer, the sophomore shooting guard had expected to be the most consistent Trojan on an inconsistent team. But as the struggling Trojans, in search of an identity after losing three senior starters, head into today’s Wooden Classic game against No. 15 Missouri, the weight of preseason expectations has caused Craven to buckle a bit.

“I tend to over-analyze things and I think that threw me off my game,” said Craven, who also admitted to forcing shots and playing outside of the offense. “I felt a little pressure at first but now it’s like we just need to win, do what it takes to get wins.

“I’m not going to be down on myself. We lost games but I don’t think it’s just because of me. I think I could have produced more to help the team but the suspensions and just not making baskets messes up the rhythm of the whole season and the season hasn’t gone smoothly.”

Suspensions? The even-tempered Craven? The guy Coach Henry Bibby referred to as the best freshman he’d ever coached and the most spectacular freshman at USC since Harold Miner in 1989-90?

It’s true.

Craven has already been dinged by Bibby the disciplinarian three times this season. He couldn’t dress for Midnight Madness after missing a team meeting, was benched for the first 13 minutes of a season-opening win over UC Riverside after showing up to the arena five minutes late, and was suspended for the Morris Brown game after switching roommates on a trip.

“Last year I got away with it a little but this year I can’t,” Craven said. “I was late last year but I wasn’t penalized for it. This year I got made an example of. I have to move on.”

Bibby’s staff has spent the early part of this season trying to wean Craven and his twin brother, Derrick, from each other. But on the trip to Rhode Island, Errick, who was rooming with Kostas Charissis, and Rory O’Neil, who was bunking with Derrick, swapped so the Cravens could be together.

“We switched rooms and didn’t think too much of it, since we share the same toothpaste and stuff, the same toiletries,” Errick said. “I thought it was a mistake ... but I ended up getting penalized for it.”

As did O’Neil, who was also benched against Morris Brown.

It’s not as though Craven is playing badly. He is the team’s third-leading scorer with a 12.3 average, incrementally better than last year’s 11.8.

But he’s shooting only 35.9%, almost 10 points below last season’s 45%, and his rebounding average of 3.7 is down from last season’s 4.4.

“We’re waiting for Errick to show up,” Bibby said after USC’s 69-53 loss at UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday.

The pressure of preseason expectations?

“It could be,” Bibby said. “I think he can handle it. He’s super-talented, but this year all eyes are on him. Last year they were on Sam [Clancy], Dave [Bluthenthal] and Brandon [Granville] and he could sneak in there and have success. With everybody looking at him, he can’t go hide now.”

Derrick agreed.

“He’s the same guy, people are just focusing on him now,” he said. “The expectations, he’s not used to it because the college hype is a whole different element from high school.”

After making only two of 13 shots against Santa Barbara, Errick went to a familiar place for advice.

“I talked to my mom [Sonya] about it and she just explained that I had some bad games and I can’t let that get the best of me,” Craven said. “It’s frustrating because I look back and I analyze what I’m doing wrong but I don’t think I’m doing much wrong. It’s just not going my way. The ball’s going to eventually drop.

“I’m not really concerned about what people think, what people expect of me. I just have to play hard and try to do the best that I can.”

USC TODAY

vs. No. 15 Missouri, 4

Channel 9

Site -- Arrowhead Pond.

Radio -- KMPC (1540), KPLS (830).

Records -- USC 2-2, Missouri 3-0.

Update -- Trojan senior point guard Robert Hutchinson sat out practice again Friday with a sprained right ankle and is doubtful for today’s game. Expect Derrick Craven to get the start. As an assistant at Arizona State in 1984-85, Bibby tried to recruit Missouri Coach Quin Snyder, who was a McDonald’s All-American at Mercer Island (Wash.) High, but Snyder went to Duke. The Tigers have won their three games by an average margin of 29.3 points and have three players averaging more than 16 points in center Arthur Johnson and guard Ricky Clemons (17 each) and guard Rickey Paulding (16.7). Long Beach Jordan High alumnus Travon Bryant, a junior forward, is averaging 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.