Andy Enfield cites injury issues for offensive struggles

We are more than halfway through the college basketball season, and it has been one to forget for the USC Trojans men’s basketball program. The season has been riddled with offensive and defensive issues for the Trojans and head coach Andy Enfield.

Even with how things look right now — USC sitting in last place in the Pac-12 with an 8-13 overall record and 2-8 in the conference — the year is not over, and USC still has a chance to go dancing at the end of the year. So, what things would need to change offensively for the Trojans to start picking up steam and wins down the stretch? According to Enfield, get healthy.

“Well, it would be nice to have Isaiah Collier healthy,” said Enfield following USC’s 78-69 loss to Oregon. “Against Cal and Stanford, we scored 84 [and] 93 points. And then when Josh, Boogie, and Isaiah Collier got hurt, at the same time; you lose your two leading scorers, your two playmakers, and then your starting center. And we haven’t scored 70 points since then. So yeah, you say, ‘What can we do?’ We get our guys healthy.”

“When you score 84 [and] 93, you’re on a two-game winning streak, and you’re playing really well, and they all three go out the same time the next game. It’s been a struggle offensively… you need your playmakers to have a chance to do this, this, and this as effectively as you want to be able to do that.”

It is not as if other programs across the country aren’t dealing with their fair share of injuries. However, USC has been dealing with a slew of injuries since the very start of the season. The injuries to Isaiah Collier, Boogie Ellis, and Joshua Morgan have only further complicated the struggles the Trojans have been dealing with.

While the injuries have been a problem, that has been only a portion of the problem for USC. The Trojans still have some serious talent on their roster that has yet to gel correctly and produce winning basketball. And Enfield addressed that as well.

“That’s not an excuse because guys need to be more efficient. You can’t have your three best offensive players now shoot low percentages and turn the ball over. You need to be more efficient. So you can work on that. Defensively, I think we’re making improvements. Offensively, there’s still a little bit of inefficiency [in] certain areas. But we did have 21 assists tonight. I thought our guys had a willingness to share the basketball, and they competed. We went through a little stretch there where our offense just wasn’t good enough, and that was [because of] some shot-making [and] decision-making.”

On Saturday, USC has a chance to pick up a much-needed win at home against Oregon State. And so far, through the first half of basketball, the Trojans are well on their way to picking up the win. At the half, USC leads Oregon State by 15 points, 38-23. The return of Ellis and Morgan has been significant for the Trojans, who are in search of a much-needed victory to keep pace in the Pac-12 this season.