Andy Enfield calls Bronny James outstanding against Utah

USC won by four over Utah last night with a total team effort at home against the Utes. One individual who played a key role in that outing was Bronny James who, in the opinion of his head coach, was brilliant in his minutes off of the bench.

Andy Enfield applauded James’ impact in his postgame press conference following the 68-64 win for the Trojans. Simply put, he thought his freshman guard was fantastic with how he played in his reserve role against their latest conference opponent.

“He was terrific tonight,” said Enfield.

In 21 minutes off of the bench, James went for seven points (2-4 FG, 1-3 from three), three rebounds, and three assists. That’s right around his season averages of 5.9 points, three rebounds, and 2.6 assists over his 17 games so far.

James might only be knocking 36.2% of his overall attempts from the field and 27.5% from three to this point. However, his overall impact on the game far surpasses just how effective he is only when he’s shooting or scoring.

“He had been struggling with his shooting. We want him to shoot open shots but, as you saw tonight, he can affect winning in a variety of ways,” said Enfield. “He did that.”

To this point, the best example of how James affects the game in more ways than one is on the defensive end. He finished with one block and one steal versus Utah. That was part of a performance that featured seven blocks and 10 steals for USC.

It took a few errors that the staff had to correct James on to get there. Still, as the game went on, Enfield was proud of how James competed on that side of the ball.

“He played outstanding defense,” said Enfield. “He made a couple of defensive mistakes in the first half. The second half? He learned from that. We talked to him at halftime. In the second half? He was terrific.”

James has had to feel his way into the collegiate game after missing the first month of the season. With him now settled in, it’s clear how he, much like his father, leaves his mark in every area of the game, both on the floor and in the box score.

Thursday’s win was just the latest example of that fact to Enfield.

“I just thought that he played great. Smart player,” Enfield said

“He was outstanding,” said Enfield.