Eric Musselman explains his continued frustration with USC

While 4-1 overall this season, Eric Musselman still isn’t too pleased with his team so far at USC.

Musselman explained some of his dissatisfaction with the Trojans thus far following their 82-68 win over San José State on Wednesday. He did admit, though, that some of that is just who he is as a person and coach.

“Well, one, it’s my personality,” Musselman said postgame.

Still, for two, Musselman doesn’t feel as though USC is coming ahead on every possession on both sides of the ball. That’s specifically so defensively to the point where he’s already having to reconsider the rotation.

“You know, like, I think it’s our job to try to win every possession,” said Musselman. “Defensively, you want perfection. Offensively, you want perfection.”

“You know, a couple guys defensively, you know, have got to improve or I can’t keep playing them the minutes that I have,” Musselman said. “You know, some of it might be a surprise down the road. But we need some guys to guard better too.”

However, Musselman knows that he and his team also still need some time to figure it all out. They’ve won four out of their first five with decent numbers, more so offensively, to start his tenure. It could be better but he gets that there’s more for them to figure out in Los Angeles.

“I’m still trying to figure this out,” said Musselman. “Obviously, we changed the starting lineup again. We’ve had three different people jump center. I mean, that’s, you know, probably the only team in five games that has had three different guys jump center. But I’m trying to figure it out. I don’t have all the answers.”

USC only has one more game in this home stretch, which has mostly comprised of mid-majors, though, before competition picks up with Saint Mary’s along with former Pac-12 but current Big Ten opponents in Oregon and at Washington. That makes Grambling State as an important next outing this weekend to see if the Trojans can put some more together.