Basketball must bounce back from painful loss to Cal

Stanford (6-7, 0-1 Pac-10) faces a team Wednesday that won’t make the NCAA Tournament, the NIT or even the Pac-10 Tournament this season. Yet USC (10-4, 2-0 Pac-10) is probably one of the best teams in the Pac-10 and presents a great challenge when it comes to Maples Pavilion tonight.

The shocking news of its postseason nullification came Sunday for the Trojans, when the school announced it was sanctioning the program by forfeiting victories and money, reducing scholarships and forbidding postseason play this season. The sanctions arose from a scandal surrounding former USC star O.J. Mayo, who allegedly received more than $200,000 in benefits from L.A. promoter Rodney Guillory.

Tonight’s game at Maples Pavilion will be the first time USC has taken the court since the punishment was announced. The Trojans were on a roll before Sunday, winning eight games (including a 22-point victory over then-No. 8 Tennessee). The 7 p.m. Pac-10 home opener for the Cardinal will be an important game for both teams, as Stanford will try to get on track after a 26-point loss at Cal to start conference play, while the Trojans will try to play through the pain of having their budding postseason hopes shot down prematurely.

The Trojans were clearly rattled by the massive punishment, which had little or nothing to do with any of the current players or the current head coach Kevin O’Neill. How they are able to recuperate after taking such a blow will go a long way in determining the outcome of Wednesday’s game.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve had to do,” O’Neill said to the Los Angeles Times. “You’re talking to a guy who’s been fired four or five times — and you’re not really a coach in this business until you’ve been fired — but telling our team that yesterday was much harder than ever getting fired.

“I hope I don’t ever have to do that again, because when you break young people’s dreams and hearts, that’s hard to do,” he added.

That said, Stanford has plenty of issues of its own to still work out, though most of those have taken place on the court. The Cardinal had a rough winter break, going 1-4 over that period. The team gave up an average of 89 points in its last three games, with its only win over the break coming against James Madison at home by the score of 80-76. In its Pac-10 opener, Stanford was trounced by the rival Golden Bears, 92-66.

If anything, the Cardinal could take its cue from the Trojans when it comes to defense. USC has the best team defense by far in the Pac-10, as its opponents average only 54.5 points a game. The Trojans allowed just 50 points to Arizona while locking Arizona State down to a measly 37, so Stanford will have its hands full when it comes to putting the ball in the basket.

Another main issue Stanford will have to work out is finding production from players other than senior forward Landry Fields and sophomore guard Jeremy Green. Fields and Green have both been stellar so far this season — Fields will probably be named First-Team All Pac-10 the way his season has been going, as he is averaging 23.2 points and 9.1 rebounds a game. Green, who was suspended briefly for an offseason incident before rejoining the team for its game against Oral Roberts, has been averaging 16.7 points and 4 rebounds a game.

Both get a large percentage of their points from their jump shot, so if either of the two has an off night shooting the ball it could get ugly for the Cardinal. In any case, though, Stanford still has something to play for this season. Players on the USC basketball team, guilty of no wrongdoing, are not blessed with the privilege of saying that for themselves.