Pac-12 Basketball: Strengths and weaknesses of each team for 2020-21

Pac-12 Basketball: Strengths and weaknesses of each team for 2020-21 season

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: A basketball is shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the UCLA Bruins and the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats won 78-67 in overtime. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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Pac-12 Basketball Andy Enfield (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images) /

6. USC Trojans

Projected Starters:

G: Ethan Anderson, 6’1 So. (5.5 ppg, 4.2 apg)

G: Tahj Eaddy, 6’2 Sr. (9.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg) *at Santa Clara

F: Noah Baumann, 6’6 Jr. *sat out last season

F: Isaiah Mobley, 6’10 Jr. (6.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

C: Evan Mobley, 6’11 Fr.

The Mobley brothers are ready to party. The Andy Enfield era is now on year eight after he came over to Southern California following FGCU’s magical Sweet 16 run. Roster turnover has been a mainstay in Enfield’s time to USC, and this year is no different. The Trojans will rely on a lot of youthful energy and one of the top recruits in the country to carry them to the tournament.

Strengths: Evan Mobley is the second-highest recruit in program history (No. 3). He will be paired with his brother Isaiah inside, and the two of them should be one of the more dynamic tandems in all of college hoops. The older Mobley really started to click in the second half of his sophomore year.

They return point guard and leader Ethan Anderson, who led the Trojans in assists (4.2 apg) in his freshman campaign. Noah Baumann and Tahj Eaddy are two transfers with a willingness to score. Baumann will have a shot to be the primary 3-point shooter, after knocking in 81 three-balls (at a 46% rate) his last year at San Jose State.

Chevez Goodwin is one of the more exciting newcomers, scoring 11.9 points per contest at Wofford last season. He should also provide some leadership as a senior in a young squad.

Weaknesses: The Trojans shot 65.9% from the free throw line last season. That was only worse than a couple dozen teams in the entire D-1 landscape. They also were 202nd in the NCAA in scoring and lost right around 75% of that scoring this offseason.

They simply do not have the offensive firepower, even with both Mobley’s performing at a high level, that the top tier conference teams will have. They also have zero players that have played in the program for more than two years.

The Call: Last year’s 22-9 Trojans could have done something quite fun in the big dance. This year’s team will have a much tougher time doing that. Evan Mobley will be one of the best freshmen in the country and Isaiah will improve his game as well. The lack of perimeter firepower will haunt USC and will limit their ceiling. it is more likely than not that this is a tournament team, but asking for much more than that seems steep.

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