The week began for the USD men's basketball team in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands with back-to-back games against Top 25-ranked Wisconsin and Miami.
It ends this afternoon a few thousand miles, four time zones west and a quantum level lower in competition in the Toreros' own Jenny Craig Pavilion against San Diego Christian, the NAIA affiliate from El Cajon.
It's a game that was scheduled with the intention of giving the Toreros an opportunity to recover from jet lag, decompress and get ready for the return to Division I competition next week. A game that now looks to be very much needed for those purposes.
The trip from San Diego to the Virgin Islands took nearly a full day each way for the Toreros. The effects of it may have become apparent when USD seemed to hit the wall early in the second half against Miami in an 80-45 loss Monday night.
“From about the 17½-minute point of the second half on, we just folded,” USD coach Bill Grier said. “I'd never seen this group do that before. I'm hoping it was mainly because we were just tired. That's a long trip and it's why they usually mainly get teams from the East and Midwest for the tournament.”
The Toreros (2-3) returned to San Diego on Tuesday and have had three practices since. Grier said the first two were “OK” but he didn't like the energy or concentration levels yesterday.
“We need to get over the jet lag and get back to playing basketball the way we can and get our confidence back up,” Grier said.
Sophomore forward Rob Jones is one player in particular the Toreros will be hoping to restart in terms of confidence and efficiency. Jones entered the Paradise Jam averaging 21 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and came out three games later averaging 10.8 and 5.6.
Early foul trouble and the tough defenses of Wisconsin and Miami limited Jones to 20 minutes of playing time, four points and five rebounds in the two games combined.
“We really need him to get back to playing like he did the first two games, which I thought was terrific, and put the last two behind him,” Grier said.
The status of Toreros sophomores Clinton Houston and Trumaine Johnson, suspended since before the Nov. 14 start of the regular season for unrelated violations of team rules, will remain unchanged for today's game, Grier said.
Houston will be reinstated Monday for the Toreros' game at Cal State Bakersfield, Grier said. But Johnson – the starting point guard in USD's 12-3 close to the 2007-08 season, which included winning the West Coast Conference Tournament and an NCAA Tournament upset of Connecticut – remains on indefinite suspension.
“We miss him a lot, and I'm disappointed to have to do it, but he hasn't done some of the things he has to do to get back with us,” Grier said.
Hank Wesch: (619) 293-1853; hank.wesch@uniontrib.com
