Pac-10 basketball week in review -- This is not your father's UCLA

UCLA can't guard anybody/AP Photo Jae C. Hong

The Pac-10 is not very good this season, and the conference looks even worse in the eyes of the nation because its marquee team is floundering.

UCLA is . . . well, UCLA is just not UCLA this season, at least not so far. And with the Bruins struggling again this past week, the Pac-10’s image is not getting any better.

The week’s results suggest Arizona State, Washington State and Stanford may be better than anticipated, but expectations were so low for those three, it won’t take much for them to overachieve.

Here’s how we rank the teams at the moment, with a brief update on each.

1. Washington (5-0) – The Huskies have not done anything to embarrass themselves, but they were not impressive in their four-point home win over Montana on Sunday, having to overcome a 12-point deficit to squeeze out a win. Quincy Pondexter had his first poor game, and freshman point guard Abdul Gaddy continues to struggle with his shot. He is just 8-for-29 from the field for the season (27.6 percent). Washington has had a soft schedule so far, and plays its first road game Thursday at Texas Tech. A Dec. 12 game against Georgetown should tell us more about Washington.

2. Cal (4-2) – The Bears eased past Princeton 81-60 on Monday, and Jerome Randle continues to put up impressive numbers. But the Bears have issues: Patrick Christopher continues to struggle on offense, Theo Robertson has missed the past four games with a foot injury (although he should return soon), and Harper Kamp has yet to play this season because of knee problems. It may be awhile before Kamp returns, and his absence was made more noticeable because Markuri Sanders-Frison missed the Priceton game with the flu and may miss Wedneday’s game against New Mexico as well. The Bears have a tough stretch of games coming up.

3. Washington State (6-0) – Putting the Cougars this high says something about the conference, because they have not really played anyone. Their road game against Gonzaga on Wednesday will give us the first real indication if WSU is any good. Beating San Diego by 37 points is impressive, and Klay Thompson has proved he can score, getting 43 against San Diego and averaging 28.3 points. Reggie Moore, who is averaging 13.5 points, looks like the best freshman point guard in the state (better than Gaddy so far) and has been key to the early success. The Cougars seem to be responding to the faster tempo employed by coach Ken Bone, but something about the Cougars smells like what Stanford did last season, when the Cardinal raised hopes by going undefeated in nonconference play against mediocre opposition.

4. Arizona State (5-1 before Monday game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff) – The Sun Devils are playing that tough zone defense again, and that will pay off at Pac-10 time. They beat LSU rather easily after giving Duke a challenge for three-quarters of the game before falling by 11 points. Derek Glasser seems to be the guy in charge, and is doing a pretty good job, and 6-10 Eric Boateng may be one of the better big men in the Pac-10, which isn’t saying much, however. Ty Abbott cut his eye over the weekend, which may sideline him for a game, and freshman Trent Lockett looks like he can help if he stays out of foul trouble.

5. Arizona (3-2) – It’s hard to know what to make of the Wildcats, who had to go to overtime to beat a mediocre Colorado team and then let a lead get away in a loss to a pretty good Vanderbilt team. With two of their top three scorers being freshmen – Derrick Williams (12.6 points) Solomon Hill (12.0 points) -- the Wildcats should get better. They have the size to cause problems in the Pac-10.

6. Oregon (4-2) – Beating Montana State by 23 points on Saturday with several of the Ducks players sidelined with injuries provides some optimism. Michael Dunigan played 16 minutes and scored 15 points after missing two games with a hip injury, and junior-college transfer Malcolm Armstead again started at the point, suggesting Tajuan Porter may move back to off-guard when he returns from his ankle injury (which should be soon).

7. Stanford (4-3) – The close loss to Kentucky turned some heads, and Jeremy Green is supplying enough offense to complement Landry Fields, who has simply been outstanding. The Cardinal has two weeks off for exams now.

8. Oregon State (2-3) – The Beavers rebounded from the inexplicable home loss to Sacramento State with a road win over George Washington with the President looking on. Freshmen Joe Burton and Jared Cunningham made their first starts in that game, with two of the Beavers’ best players, Roeland Schafternaar and Calvin Johnson, coming off the bench. It will be interesting to see if that continues. Seth Tarver has been the team’s best player so far.

9. USC (2-2) – The Trojans lost at home to Nebraska, and that’s not encouraging, and neither is the shooting slump plaguing Dwight Lewis, their top scoring threat who shot 24.2 percent (7-for-29) the past three games. But 6-10 North Carolina transfer Alex Stepheson, who sat out the first two games with a knee injury, had 13 points and 12 boards against the Huskers, and he should help the Trojans quite a bit as the season goes along. There is hope for USC.

10. UCLA (2-4) – A few scary notes: 1. Long Beach State seemed to have better athletes than UCLA in the 49ers’ 79-68 victory, which was UCLA’s third straight loss. 2. UCLA coach Ben Howland is threatening to play zone defense because it can’t guard people one-on-one (the Bruins’ man-to-man defense is what made them great). 3. Howland told the Los Angeles Times, “We really had a hard time with Casper Wave.” Now, I’m sure Long Beach State’s Casper Wave is a fine young man, but if UCLA is having trouble with him, it does not bode well. Nikola Dragovic is back from his suspension but is shooting just 25 percent, and point guard Jerime Anderson has more turnovers than assists. The play of Michael Roll and freshman Reeves Nelson and a close loss to Butler are the only reasons for optimism. UCLA has lost twice to Big West teams for the first time ever (UCLA lost to Cal State Fullerton earlier).

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