At This Point, It Looks Like Anybody’s Guess

Henry Bibby has a new toy ... or three.

For four seasons, the USC men’s basketball coach leaned on Brandon Granville, his reliable if unspectacular point guard, knowing exactly what he had.

Bibby, a former point guard who won championships in college, the NBA and the CBA, and the diminutive Granville, the Trojans’ first four-year starting point guard in nearly 20 years, had a unique relationship that more resembled Dr. Evil and Mini-Me than father-son.

But the graduation of the 5-foot-9 Granville left a hole not only in Bibby’s heart, but in his game plan as USC prepares to open its season tonight against UC Riverside with a roster full of question marks, none as large as the one at the point.

Sure, losing power forward Sam Clancy, last season’s Pacific 10 Conference player of the year, and small forward David Bluthenthal stings. But how does Bibby replace a floor general who left campus as the school record holder in assists (779), steals (229), three-pointers (218), minutes (4,043) and games (124) and was the Trojans’ No. 8 all-time scorer with 1,430 points?

Bibby’s answer: take three capable point guards in senior Robert Hutchinson, sophomore Derrick Craven and junior college transfer Brandon Brooks, roll out the ball and see who emerges with the starting position.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Bibby said.

Of the three, Hutchinson is a known quantity, a solid, play-it-close-to-the-vest veteran whose game most resembles Granville’s.

Craven is a bulked-up defensive terror who is learning the position on the fly.

Brooks is a high school All-American who has not played organized ball in two years but has been viewed as an NBA prospect by scouts.

“They’re athletic, they’re quicker, they’re more crafty than Brandon was,” Bibby said. “Brandon was fairly limited and when you’re limited you don’t do a lot of things on the floor. I can kind of equate that to when I played.

“I was an average ballplayer that wasn’t fancy, wasn’t super quick, wasn’t athletic. So Brandon and I hit it off and I knew what he was doing. Now it’s a little different.

“The other guys, especially [Brooks] and Derrick, can do so many things out there. They can break people down, they can get to the basket, they can make that extra pass, they can dunk the basketball, they can steal the basketball, they’re quick enough to chase you from behind.”

The first five weeks of practice and two exhibitions have provided more questions than answers.

Bibby has said that Brooks was third on the depth chart, then proclaimed him his starter at Pac-10 media day; started Hutchinson in the exhibition opener, and then started Craven for the second exhibition after suspending Brooks for the game for missing class.

“It’s very intense because coach said he isn’t happy with any of the point guards right now.... He says he could start anybody at this point,” said Hutchinson, who was named team captain last year, then started only once and played 11.7 minutes a game. “He wants a leader on this team, a leader on the floor.

“It’s going to be like this all season. He’s never going to let his guard down.”

Hutchinson has an experience edge, having been in Bibby’s system for two full seasons. It was Hutchinson who stepped up for the Trojans in the 2001 NCAA tournament when he came in for Granville, who’d fouled out, and converted five of six free throws in the final 77 seconds of USC’s 74-71 second-round win over Boston College.

But can the 6-1, 185-pound Hutchinson lead the Trojans -- picked by the media to finish sixth in a watered-down Pac-10 -- to the NCAA tournament for a school-record third straight season?

Lately, Bibby has been raving about Craven, who spent his summer lifting weights, gained 30 pounds of muscle and had seven steals in an exhibition.

“That’s also why I got in the weight room, because they’re not as big as I am and as quick as I am,” said the 6-2, 200-pound Craven, who had been more of a combo guard than a point guard. “As big as I am now, and as quick as I am, I can rebound too.

“[Bibby] wants me to make the open shot but not really be a scorer. Control the tempo of the game and just be a coach out there. That’s what coach likes about me and that’s why a big part of my game is my defense. If I make a turnover, I’ve got to get the ball back.”

The wild card in the race is Brooks, a slasher and scorer who signed with Arizona State out of high school but bounced around to three junior colleges, playing at one, before arriving at USC.

The feeling around Heritage Hall is that Bibby will give his senior the start tonight, go to a point-guard-by-committee approach during the nonconference schedule and wait for Brooks to win the job in time for Pac-10 play.

That sounds fine with Brooks.

“My ultimate goal is to win [games] but of course I’m shooting to be the starting point guard,” said Brooks, who acknowledged that his being suspended had left him behind Hutchinson and Craven.

“When we’re on the court, we’re not really friends but I respect them. With that said, I’m still trying to be the starting point guard and I feel as we progress ... I’ll be the starting point guard.”

Brooks averaged 14.7 points and 7.6 assists at Indian Hills College two years ago, after having averaged 21 points, nine assists and four steals while leading Jefferson High to the state title as Oregon’s high school player of the year in 2000. Hutchinson has career numbers at USC of 1.5 points and 1.2 assists and Craven, who was slowed by a stress fracture in his right leg last season, averaged 0.3 points and one assist in 13 games.

“I’ve got respect for Derrick and Hutch,” Brooks said, “but I can’t say nothing but, ‘May the best man win.’ ”

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*--* USC Schedule Date Opponent Time Today UC RIVERSIDE 7:30 p.m Tuesday at Rhode Island 4:30 p.m Nov. 30 MORRIS BROWN 1 p.m Dec. 3 at UC Santa Barbara 7 p.m Dec. 7 MISSOURI* 4 p.m Dec. 11 CAL STATE FULLERTON 7:30 p.m Dec. 21 LA SALLE 5 p.m Jan. 2 at Washington State 7 p.m Jan. 4 at Washington 6 p.m Jan. 8 at UCLA 7:30 p.m Jan. 11 PENNSYLVANIA** 8 p.m Jan. 16 ARIZONA 7:30 p.m Jan. 18 ARIZONA STATE 8 p.m Jan. 23 at California 7 p.m Jan. 25 at Stanford 3 p.m Jan. 30 OREGON STATE 7:30 p.m Feb. 2 OREGON 12 p.m Feb. 5 UCLA 7:30 p.m Feb. 9 at Nevada Las Vegas 12:30 p.m Feb. 13 at Arizona State 5:30 p.m Feb. 15 at Arizona 10 a.m Feb. 20 STANFORD 7:30 p.m Feb. 22 CALIFORNIA 8 p.m Feb. 27 at Oregon 7 p.m March 1 at Oregon State 4 p.m March 6 WASHINGTON 7:30 p.m March 8 WASHINGTON STATE 5 p.m March 13-16 Pacific 10 tournament***

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Home games in CAPS; All times Pacific -- *Wooden Classic at Anaheim Pond; **at Forum; ***at Staples Center