Player Ratings for USC - Marcus went out fighting

This game chart for the player ratings tells a pretty good story. I have USC rated No. 8. If you recall, the marker for each player is more or less the projection needed to beat a team rated around 10th or so (it is not an exact target). So we needed every player to be at or above the marker. Of our top 7 players, only 2 were above the marker. That spells blowout. McCormack was close but as I said, when playing a top team, you need all players above the line. One player excelled and that was Marcus. He went down fighting which is nothing less than what you would expect for a team captain and senior. Harris also had a decent game, mostly on the back of a strong plus-minus. Christian and Ochai and especially Christian were simply not up to the task. They were not up defensively, offensively or any other way. Therein lies a big part of the problem with this team. We had guys who would be decent role players off the bench on an elite team starting and playing starters minutes. I mean I can't find it in me to blame Ochai and Christian. They are being asked to deliver what they do not possess. It is actually a credit to them and to the coaching staff that we achieved as much as we did this season.