The Pall of Troy

The roller coaster stops tonight for USC’s six seniors, who didn’t expect to go out like this.

Guards Derrick and Errick Craven, forwards Nick Curtis, Gregg Guenther and Jeff McMillan and center Rory O’Neil finish their collegiate careers against Oregon State at the Sports Arena, though the Trojans’ season actually ended long ago.

The surprising firing of Henry Bibby after four games, the Rick Majerus fiasco and the misguided (albeit with good intentions) approach of interim Coach Jim Saia led to last place in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Instead of being on the bubble for their first NCAA tournament appearance in four seasons, as the coaching staff had hoped at the beginning of the season, the Trojans on Thursday were eliminated from contention for the Pac-10 tournament.

USC is 11-17 overall and 4-13 in conference, and that’s much less than was expected at Heritage Hall, even with the off-court distractions.

It would have taken a super-sized dose of senior leadership for the Trojans to have achieved their goals with so much upheaval in the program, and the senior class didn’t deliver.

When the group needed to do more, it did less.

When opportunities arose, they were squandered.

When accountability was needed, excuses were offered.

“There was a lot of stuff that happened,” McMillan said. “You just try to focus on the game.”

As the season slipped away and Saia sought options, he shifted the focus to newcomers instead of the six players USC once billed as the strength of its team.

That didn’t work either, however, and Saia’s decision to put the spotlight on underclassmen only stirred more problems within the program.

It’s not all on the kids, though.

Athletic Director Mike Garrett acknowledged that firing Bibby early in a season was “unconventional,” and Majerus exacerbated an already difficult situation by resigning his “dream job” after five days. But Saia, who had never been a Division I head coach, was simply overmatched, and his leadership accelerated the Trojans’ decline.

Saia took a permanent approach to a temporary position, having tried to do too much with seniors who weren’t interested in a novice short-timer’s opinion.

He wanted to “change the culture” of a program that went 26-32 combined in the previous two seasons, an admirable goal, but culture-changing wasn’t his assignment. Garrett made it clear Saia wouldn’t be a candidate for the permanent job, so Saia was, in effect, a caretaker this season.

Aspiring to help players improve and win games is fine, but leave the program building to Coach Tim Floyd, who actually knows how to do it and will be on the USC bench next season.

Saia’s missteps were especially glaring in the Trojans’ closed practices, many within the program said, as he would stop sessions repeatedly to instruct. Turning each practice into a coaching clinic isn’t the way to hold a weary group together.

The emergence of forward Nick Young and point guard Gabe Pruitt, among the conference’s most productive freshmen, was a source of frustration for seniors Derrick Craven and Curtis, who had envisioned bigger roles in their last season.

And others expressed confusion about the team’s direction during games, which also reflects badly on Saia.

“There were a lot of different ideas thrown in the air, a lot of different ways of playing, so we lacked consistency, which is the key to success,” Errick Craven said. “Yeah, we had a veteran team, but all that happened made it a rebuilding year again.

“With everything that happened ... I wish that we could have just kept Bibby.”

In fairness to Saia, some seniors bristled at Bibby’s approach as well. They made their feelings known to Garrett, which wasn’t the reason Garrett made a change, but didn’t help Bibby either.

Players’ parents also have expressed their frustrations to Garrett about how Saia has handled things.

“I wouldn’t have done anything differently,” said Saia, who hopes to have a position on Floyd’s staff.

“I went with young kids because I thought they gave us the best chance. All my decisions as far as personnel ... I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

Garrett, who also has remained confident despite the tumultuous season, intimated the seniors needed to grow up.

“I’ve done everything the seniors would want me to do for ‘em,” he said. “What they’ve experienced, pretty much, is what they’ve decided to do with the situation.”

The group is on track to graduate, which is supposed to be the focus, and the future could be bright for USC.

The 10,258-seat Galen Center is on schedule to open for the 2006-07 season. Floyd inherited bigger messes in less desirable places to recruit, and based on his success at the college level, the future could happen quickly.

But the present is painful for the seniors.

“It’s all a joke. The season’s a joke,” Errick Craven said. “When my brother and Nick can’t get a reason why they’re not playing, and the inconsistency ... well, it’s not a joke, per se. It’s just a mess. Discombobulated.”

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TRANSITION GAME

HENRY BIBBY: Four games into his ninth season, Bibby was cut loose by Mike Garrett, who said his decision was based mostly on “intuition.”

JIM SAIA: The former UCLA assistant started 5-2 after taking over for Bibby, but an 0-5 start in Pacific 10 play ultimately doomed the season.

RICK MAJERUS: Five days after being hired and calling USC his “dream job,” Majerus resigned for health reasons, leaving school officials stunned.

TIM FLOYD: After a disappointing spell in the NBA, Floyd agreed to take over at USC, hoping to repeat the success he had at Iowa State.

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Diminishing Returns

One of the casualties of USC’s turbulent basketball season was the Class of ‘05, which failed to attain the promise of its sophomore season. A look at the four key members of that class, with yearly averages of minutes, points, rebounds and assists:

*--* DERRICK CRAVEN Year MPG PPG RPG APG 2001-02 6.5 0.3 0.6 1.0 2002-03 19.9 4.6 2.2 2.3 2003-04 21.0 6.1 2.2 2.9 2004-05 16.4 4.0 2.3 2.3 ERRICK CRAVEN Year MPG PPG RPG APG 2001-02 27.7 11.8 4.4 1.8 2002-03 29.5 13.0 5.3 2.6 2003-04 28.1 11.1 3.0 3.0 2004-05 13.8 4.8 2.2 1.1 NICK CURTIS Year MPG PPG RPG APG 2001-02 5.1 1.0 0.8 0.2 2002-03 21.0 6.6 5.3 0.7 2003-04 12.6 3.0 2.5 0.3 2004-05 15.6 4.5 2.9 0.7 RORY O’NEIL Year MPG PPG RPG APG 2001-02 13.4 4.3 2.3 0.4 2002-03 25.9 10.1 4.9 0.8 2003-04 24.3 8.3 3.8 0.7 2004-05 23.5 8.9 4.4 1.0

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