USC star Alijah Arenas finding his rhythm with Trojans

While Gilbert Arenas was putting out a basketball show, his son was putting on one.

It’s something of a family tradition.

Displaying one silky move after another in only his fifth college game, USC freshman Alijah Arenas vaulted his team to a critical victory over Indiana on Tuesday with a 29-point scoring binge.

His father, a former three-time NBA All-Star, watched the game from afar because he was recording his podcast at the time. Alijah gave him plenty of fodder for a future episode.

“He’s actually the one who told me you’ll start to get in your groove around the fifth game and he kind of put the money on it,” Alijah told the California Post, “so I thank him for that.”

Alijah’s season debut didn’t come until late last month after he persevered through a series of setbacks. There was a life-threatening Tesla CyberTruck accident last spring that left him hospitalized for six days. Over the summer, a knee injury sidelined him at a time when he was putting in critical development work.

He’s quickly rounded into form since returning to practice, pushing through a series of cold-shooting games. His scoring total against the Hoosiers allowed him to already match his father’s top performance his entire freshman season at Arizona.

No breakthrough was needed for Alijah to feel fortunate given his circumstances.

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“Just being here and alive,” Alijah said when asked about his showing holding extra significance. “Like, it makes that incredible whether I’m playing or not; it has nothing to do with playing, it’s just being alive.” 

His big game started with a 3-pointer in the opening minutes before the 6-foot-6 guard got the bounce on a mid-range jumper. His favorite move came when he used a hesitation crossover to get past one defender and a scoop layup to score around another.

“I was really having fun way before I even scored a basket,” said Alijah, who wears a No. 0 jersey, just like the father known as “Agent Zero.” “Like, I saw the guys shooting well, I saw everybody getting going, and then it led to my 3 getting open and got myself going too.” 

With the Trojans (17-6 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) trying to hold on for a victory they badly needed to enhance their NCAA tournament standing, Alijah rose to the moment. His 19-point second half featured a leaning jumper in which he was fouled, a couple of 3-pointers and another dazzling move in which he split two defenders at the 3-point line before driving for a hanging floater around a third defender.

“He can get his own shot whenever he wants,” USC coach Eric Musselman told reporters afterward of a player averaging 11.8 points per game. “He’s a great find-your-own-shot creator.”

Alijah’s output was all the more essential considering that swingman Chad Baker-Mazara, the team’s second-leading scorer, went down with a right knee injury early in the second half. Picking his spots to be aggressive, Alijah heeded the advice of coaches and teammates.

“Everybody,” Alijah said, “they were telling me, like, go at your pace, it’s your game, don’t let anybody speed you up, so just learn to play to my own pace and manipulate my defender by not letting them manipulate me into speeding up.”

Alijah anticipated his father breaking down game footage with him in another family tradition. They love watching hoops together, Alijah constantly viewing a December 2006 battle between his father and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant. Bryant finished the game with 45 points. Gilbert Arenas got 60 – and a victory for the Washington Wizards.

“I remember that game inside and out,” Alijah said. “The way that they battled it out was amazing to me.”

When it comes to comparisons between father and son, Alijah said his 14-year-old brother, Aloni, more closely mirrors the family patriarch.

“I’d give that similarity to my brother – the athleticism, the strength, the speed is kind of what all my dad had,” Alijah said, “the deep raise [on the shot], that’s definitely what my little brother Aloni has.”

After rewatching footage of his breakout game with coaches, Alijah wasn’t patting himself on the back. There were too many areas for improvement. He said he could be more aware off the ball defensively. Blow up screens with his shoulder. Get back into the paint and rebound.

His father’s advice? Be present on a journey that’s just getting started.

“Just, keep going,” Alijah said, repeating his father’s message. “You have more games ahead of you, stay disciplined, stay level-headed, be humble about it and just love what you’re doing because I’m going to go down, I’m going to go up.”

If his most recent game is any indication, that trajectory is headed up, up, up.