LOS ANGELES — It must have been a flash of deja vu for Bronny James, this 6-foot jitterbug in an Oregon-green uniform dropping in every shot in the realm of possible imagination. And some that weren’t, too.
In James’ final year of high school, an up-and-down senior year at Sierra Canyon, he matched up with highly-touted West Linn freshman Jackson Shelstad during a tournament in Oregon – and came away disappointed as Shelstad went off for 38 points. The kid couldn’t be stopped and West Linn won by 17.
Such it went, in the first half of a 78-69 loss to Oregon on Thursday night, that now-Duck Shelstad came out unconscious. The freshman scored the Ducks’ first seven points in front of a half-empty, morbid Galen Center, pulling Oregon out to an early lead in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace. A few minutes later, he dropped in a nasty step-back 3-pointer that single-handedly prompted a USC timeout, a perfect 6 for 6 from the floor for 15 points at that point, propelling the Ducks to a 29-22 lead and sending the Trojans into another apparent death spiral.
In the huddle, USC assistant coach Chris Capko went ballistic.
As head coach Andy Enfield sat with his clipboard in hand, his longtime right-hand-man stood, hunched over, so evidently frustrated with USC’s lackadaisical defensive effort he began turning and roaring in players’ faces. They hadn’t defended like they could; they hadn’t made shots like they could. And Capko’s own face grew red, trying to pour some passion into a group desperately needing a sense of urgency, mired in a five-game losing streak at the bottom of the Pac-12 and a near-lost season wrecked by injury. It felt, in the moment, like a last stand of sorts.
And USC crumbled. Again.
After igniting offensively and finding some paint heft to close the half, bigs Joshua Morgan and Arrinten Page both carrying three blocks into a seven-point halftime deficit, USC came out completely flat after the break. Perimeter defenders got…
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