Three issues we discovered from Bronny James’ first USC begin

A collection of accidents to the USC lineup lately created a gap for Bronny James to make his first collegiate begin at Colorado on Saturday night time. Starters Joshua Morgan, Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier have been sidelined, so Trojans coach Andy Enfield added the son of NBA star LeBron James to his beginning 5.

Nonetheless, the absence of Morgan (averaging 2.3 blocks per sport), veteran Ellis and projected first-round NBA draft decide Collier took its toll, and the Trojans went into the CU Occasions Middle — which sits at an elevation of 5,430 toes because the fifth-highest venue in faculty basketball — and squandered a 13-point halftime result in lose 68-58. It was additionally a chilly night time for James, who completed 0-for-7 with simply two rebounds and one help.

With the defeat, the Trojans are actually 8-9 (2-4 Pac-12) with a NET rating within the 90s. They’ll want a significant turnaround to earn a spot within the NIT. The NCAA event shouldn’t be but a legitimate dialog for Enfield’s program.

And but James, who performed 25 minutes Saturday night time, continues to exhibit his development, in addition to a number of the challenges he’s navigating. It is also necessary to notice that the competition in Boulder was solely his ninth sport as a Division I participant. Nonetheless, USC will want extra from the freshman — and the complete roster, actually — to alter its present trajectory.

Right here, we break down what we discovered about Bronny James the starter and USC with out its star gamers.

James makes key play simply minutes into matchup

With 17:31 to play within the first half, James drew an offensive foul on KJ Simpson, Colorado’s main scorer. It was additionally Simpson’s second foul of the sport, sending him to the bench till across the 14-minute mark. Because of these two early fouls, Simpson performed the remainder of the primary half extra cautiously than he sometimes does and was 2-for-6 from the sphere going into the break.

James efficiently defended Simpson on a number of possessions and continued to show himself as a participant prepared to make hustle performs, which could not earn a point out on “SportsCenter” however nonetheless affect the sport.

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Cody Williams blocks Bronny James’ layup try

Cody Williams makes a pleasant defensive play with this swat on Bronny James’ shot try.

Must work on his assertiveness

James likes to defer, and he had good motive to try this at first of the sport. His teammates, together with Oziyah Sellers, helped USC go on an early run to finish the primary half up 37-24. However two of James’ early pictures have been blocked in what was an 0-for-5 begin for the freshman. He’s nonetheless looking for his offensive function for this workforce.

Saturday’s contest was an opportunity for James to showcase his full ability set that had made him a top-20 highschool recruit, however he did not play with the aggression that may have allowed him to try this. It is clear he’s nonetheless looking for the steadiness between getting his teammates concerned, which he does properly, and growing his scoring output.

Regardless of struggles, he confirmed promise with constant power

James missed his first seven pictures, and his workforce could not shake its scoring drought within the second half, both, beginning 3-for-15 from the sphere after the break. Nonetheless, James by no means appeared to lose confidence. This issues, particularly for a freshman. He continued to assault within the second half, and his defensive depth by no means waned whilst Colorado ran away with the scoring and finally gained by double digits.