Andy Enfield addresses USC's intensity level amid six-game losing streak

A six-game skid brings a lot of things into question, especially since it brought the record at USC down to 8-13. However, when it comes to effort, Andy Enfield says the Trojans are still giving a lot to get better and to try to win.

Enfield spoke about his team’s intensity during his postgame press conference following their latest, 78-69 loss to Oregon. He felt it was clear that the Trojans were clearly still playing hard considering they cut an 18-point margin down to within just a few points by the end of the game.

“Well, for the most part, we played hard tonight,” said Enfield. “We had great effort at the end there to cut the lead down, could have cut it to four with 45-50 seconds left.”

Most of that effort comes from the fact that more players are involved in USC’s lineup at this point. Injuries have forced more players into minutes in the rotation and, as such, they’re fighting in those opportunities out on the floor.

“We’ve made a lot of improvement,” said Enfield. “When Josh (Morgan), Boogie (Ellis), and Isaiah (Collier) all got hurt or were out at the same time three weeks ago? It gave other guys an opportunity to play and I think it has helped our team’s defense because guys now have game minute and some experience.”

However, with all that said, the one area that Enfield feels that the Trojans could show some more intensity is on the defensive glass. That’ll be the quickest way for any of their players, including those in the frontcourt, to earn more minutes.

“Rebounding? Our four bigs are not very good defensive rebounders. In fact, they’re poor,” said Enfield. “You can’t keep playing 15, 20, 25 minutes a game and have zero or one defensive rebounds. That really hurts us.”

“That’s toughness, that’s pursuit of the ball. You have to have a desire and a toughness about you to do that,” Enfield said. “That’s what we need. If our bigs rebounds? They’ll play more minutes. Guys all want to play. They always blame the coaching staff if they don’t play minutes. If they want to play more minutes? They can defend and rebound. We’ve told them that. We’re looking forward to seeing who wants to do that on Saturday.”

In the end, Enfield isn’t questioning his team’s energy, even as they sit at five games under .500. He expects them be long bought in by now and be competitors regardless of their current standing.

“Buying in? Look – everybody gets a chance to play,” said Enfield. “If they’re competitors at this level? They’ll go out and play as hard as they can and try to keep improving.”