Bibby Pleased With Players

It was the day before USC embarked on its Bay Area trip that Coach Henry Bibby, without the slightest hint of a pause, gave himself an “A” for the job he has done in coaching a young and rebuilding Trojan team this season.

After being swept by California and Stanford, there’s no doubt what grade Bibby would give Pacific 10 Conference officials. Especially after they awarded the Golden Bears nine free throws to the Trojans’ one in the final six-plus minutes Thursday and before the Cardinal went to the free-throw line 21 more times than USC in the second half Saturday.

Still, Bibby was pleased with the efforts of his team, which fell into sixth place in the Pac-10 at 3-4, 7-8 overall.

“The kids are playing hard,” he said. “The kids are playing to win. I tell them to keep their chins up, that life isn’t always fair.

“But you can’t win a game when you give up 17 easy points in the first half [against Stanford]. It’s so tough to fight the uphill battle. You’ve got to be ahead. You can’t play even with a great team like that on the road.”

Junior guard Desmon Farmer said that the Trojans, who have been in every Pac-10 game this season while going 2-3 on the road, are biding their time in anticipation of return games.

“Everybody that took us, we’re hunting them now; we want to get them at home,” Farmer said of Washington, Cal and Stanford. “We’re learning, learning from the losses.”

Bibby said that attitude is what makes coaching this year’s team, which starts four sophomores and a junior after losing three senior starters, a fulfilling experience.

“Yeah, you want to be [undefeated] but you’ve got to be realistic and we’re not there yet,” Bibby said. “It takes time to build and develop.

“This team is probably the sharpest team we’ve had since I’ve been here, in the way of knowing what we’re doing. And again, we’re short on experience and we’re short in talent in some areas. That’s the difference.

“The kids have just stepped up and kept us in ballgames.”