Photo: Keith Birmingham/Pasadena Star-News
USC coach Andy Enfield was known more for being the coach of the upstart, high-flying Florida Gulf Coast team that made its Sweet 16 run in 2013. USC hired him after that run with the idea he can make the basketball program entertaining and exciting with wins to show for it.
Enfield coached USC for eight seasons, and prior to this year, his time in Southern California resulted in mediocrity at best. He won one play-in game and one tournament game in the 2016-2017 season. Fans expected more from him such as USC being constant in the Sweet 16. They yearned for a breakthrough season.
It took a while, but Enfield may have something going finally for good. USC will make its first Elite Eight appearance since 2001 after a dominating 82-68 Sweet 16 victory over Oregon Sunday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
USC joins Oregon State and UCLA as the three Pac-12 teams to qualify for the Elite Eight. This speaks well of how well-coached those three programs are to be in this position. Enfield deserves as much credit as UCLA head coach Mick Cronin and Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle for the job they all have done.
There’s a lesson to be learned here. Patience pays off. It takes five or six years until a coach can build a program into his image and into prominence. Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell can say that from experience after starting off with lean years just to finally lead Rutgers to the NCAA Tournament and a tournament win this season.
Unfortunately, college basketball does not work that way. Indiana fired Archie Miller after four years with no NCAA Tournament appearance to show for it. Indiana would have been a tournament team with a 20-12 record if the pandemic never occurred last season. He never got a fair shake despite inheriting a downtrodden program. Shaka Smart left Texas after six seasons to coach Marquette knowing that he would be fired if he did not leave on his own accord. The boosters and fanbase wanted more than just a tournament appearance for Texas. He didn’t win them a tournament game.
Fortunately for Enfield, USC did not listen to its fans who criticized him often in his tenure. The powers-to-be left him to coach and results finally happened.
No one expected this run by USC. Not even Enfield or his players. No one knew what to expect when the Trojans were in the tournament. Most figured Kansas would beat them in the round of 32.
USC blitzed Kansas to the score of 85-51 to advance to the Sweet 16. USC’s Sweet 16 appearance made it a second Sweet 16 appearance in Enfield’s coaching career. After the win, the USC head coach mentioned his program is on the rise.
USC’s Sweet 16 win over Oregon validated his claim. The Trojans put on an excellent performance against a team that knows how to win this time of the year in the Ducks.
USC asserted its will in the first half by going on a 17-2 run after trailing 17-16 early in the first half. It resulted in a 41-26 Trojans lead at the half.
What struck me about the Trojans was they shot from downtown and frustrate the Ducks defensively. That’s a far cry from Enfield’s Florida Gulf Coast days of being a team that relied on glitz and run-and-gun. Enfield adapted to the times where now in basketball, a team wins by playing the 3-ball often. He also understood the importance of a good defense, especially this time of the year.
USC shot 58.8 percent from the 3-point line. With the way USC got its points in the first half, Oregon focused on clogging down the three-point line. This resulted in USC scoring 42 points in the paint with guys having the room to score.
USC used its zone defense to frustrate Oregon in the first half to the tone of 44 percent. Oregon relies on the 3-ball, and USC forced its counterpart to shoot 23.8 percent. USC forced Drake and Kansas to shoot only 30 percent in its two tournament victories last week.
USC wore Oregon down from the first half with its size and length.
Watching the Trojans for the first time this season, it’s understandable why they made the Elite Eight for the time in 20 years. This is not just a cute team making a cute story for itself.
They can do even better. They can actually win the NCAA Championship if they play defense and shoot lights out.
The Trojans certainly give Gonzaga something to think about on Tuesday night when they meet up for the right to be in the Final Four. As much as Gonzaga makes shooting an art, USC has the bodies to go wear its Elite Eight opponent down.
This Elite Eight matchup with Gonzaga and USC could be the best matchup of all Elite Eights coming up.
Everyone will ask for more from USC after this Sweet 16 win, especially USC fans.
USC certainly provides an intrigue with its matchup against Gonzaga.
No matter the outcome, Enfield made his mark with the USC program.
This could be the beginning of more Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances to come.
