Arizona: Coming off a homestand where they shot the lights out past both Washington and Washington State, Arizona hits the road again to face the SoCal schools. Both games should be close, and they each have different match-ups. Game one will be feature to great freshman guards in Bayless and Mayo. Whoever wins that match-up will dictate who wins the game. Their second game will primarily focus on Kevin Love and Jordan Hill. Both are great big men, but play contrasting styles. Hill is quick and slender with more of a resemblance to Kevin Garnett, whereas Love is more of a power center that muscles his way to the hoop and can be related to a Shaq of the PAC-10. The foul situation is going to be what to keep your eyes on in this match-up.
It’s hard to say what will happen this week because the chances of Arizona sweeping are just as good as them being swept. Personally, I’m picking a split with a win over USC and a loss to UCLA.
Arizona State: After starting their conference schedule 4-0, ASU has dropped three straight which includes being swept at home by the Washington Schools. Getting swept at home is not something that teams can afford to do in the PAC-10, so ASU needs to rebound in a big way. A road trip to SoCal isn’t the easiest way to do it. Harden and Pendergraph are both going to have to come up huge this weekend if ASU hopes to come away with a split. Frankly, I think ASU was over-rated and their downward spiral to the bottom half of the conference continues as they get swept.
California: After being 2-2 in conference play, Cal looks doomed to be stuck in the 9 spot of the conference as they’ve dropped their last 3 games, all at home. To make matters worse their only win in the last 5 games is against Oregon State. Ryan Anderson leads the conferences in points per game, but this conference is too tough for one player to make a team win. They need to step up their team defense if they want to turn things around. They travel to Washington to face WSU & UW this week. They will be lucky to get a split this weekend, their heading into a state where you can almost write them off for the year.
Oregon: Definitely this year’s Jekyll & Hyde story. You never know which team is going to show up. Last week against the SoCal schools is the perfect example. They held a lead in the second half over UCLA, while only committing 5 turnovers in that game (granted they still lost this game, but that’s more of a testament to the talent of UCLA), and two days later they struggled to keep up with USC the entire game (they forced OT and lost, and their ability to force OT is more of USC’s inability to close out games against quick-teams). Fortunately Oregon should have a gimme this week against Oregon State. I’ve got to go with them, especially since they’re at home. It should be an interesting game since it is a rivalry and OSU looked better this week now that Jay John and CJ Giles are gone.
Oregon State: There’s no doubt that they are the worst team in the PAC-10. But they looked good for 20 minutes against UCLA. The dismissal of Giles and Jay John may have been just what this team needs to get motivated. Who knows they might make some games interesting the rest of the way. They’re still undermanned and under-talented to compete every night with every team in this conference. They face their State-rivals Oregon this Saturday. Unless Oregon’s Hyde comes out OSU still loses this game.
Stanford: Their conference schedule started out similar to Cal’s, 2-2 with losses against UCLA and Oregon. Since then they have won 3 straight. The Lopez twins will need to step up big against Brockman and Baynes, because in order to win, they’ll need to force their game plan against both schools. Washington is too inconsistent and they don’t have the slashing guard, but Stanford will need to get back on defense quickly against them. Washington State plays more the tempo that Stanford would like, but watch Stanford will need to watch out for WSU’s great defense and Derrick Low. I’m predicting a split for Stanford this week as they handle UW, but drop a close, hard fought game against WSU.
UCLA: Coming from behind on the road against Oregon is impressive; especially when you’re without two key subs. They’ll have to defend their home-court against the Arizona schools this week. They’ve got a slumping ASU who could break out of their recent struggles, followed by hot-shooting Arizona. Neither game will be a cake-walk, but they are at home and that counts for a lot. Howland can’t let his team sleep through these games or they’ll suffer the same fate as WSU did last week. Despite close games, I’m predicting a sweep for UCLA this week, although I hope I’m wrong on that one.
USC: The Pac-10’s other Jekyll and Hyde team. USC is a streaky team that will need to be performing at their peak if they want to beat the Arizona schools. Outside of beating UCLA, their rival, USC has not beaten anyone noteworthy, or in the top half of the conference. I’m predicting a split for USC this week, despite both games being close. Arizona will pull away at the end with their superior offensive talent. But they’ll pick off the slumping ASU after their hard-fought game against UCLA.
Washington: After a split last weekend, the Dawgs needs to protect their home court against the Bay Area schools. They looked great against ASU winning on the road in a hostile environment by 10. Hopefully they can regain that type of play against Stanford then Cal. Brockman’s ability to stay out of foul trouble and UW’s ability to get Appleby looks from the outside will dictate how they do. I like this team, but I just think they’re overmatched as a team. Washington will fail to protect their home court and get swept this week.
Washington State: They pulled off a hard-fought split last week against the Arizona schools. They snuck out a 1 point win against ASU, that was gutsy. I’ll bet they’re glad to return home. They’ll be facing Cal and then Stanford this week. Their defense needs to return to form if they hope to slow down Anderson (Cal.) or the Lopez twins (Stan), and they need to get a big game out of Low to keep the pressure on the perimeter. Harmeling could have a surprising week shooting from the corners against CAL & Stanford. I’m predicting a sweep by WSU this week.