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Underrated Archie still fitting in
Playing out of place for most of his career, USC’s forward is drawing praise
USC's Dominique Archie
Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com
CommentsDominique Archie has been waiting almost from the moment he stepped on campus. Waiting to play. Waiting to find his best position. Waiting to emerge as the player many think he can be.
In his fourth season at South Carolina, there are signs it finally might be coming together. Archie said he feels comfortable in his role, having given up obsessing over it, and his coach has nothing but praise for the junior forward.
The coach on the other sideline tonight has been just as impressed. Florida coach Billy Donovan called Archie “the most underrated frontcourt player in the league ... I love the way he plays.”
So will Archie get more recognition? Some of that is up to Archie. Some of it is out of his control and always has been.
The past week was good for Archie. He had double-doubles against LSU and Tennessee, averaging 18 points and 11½ rebounds. That was after an up-and-down nonconference season, during which he disappeared at times — occasionally because of foul trouble and sometimes because of other factors.
“I think I’m playing a little harder than I played in nonconference play,” Archie said. “Shots are starting to fall. Teammates are starting to get me open.”
Archie credits extra work in the gym for his improved shooting. As for his effort, Archie said he has stepped it up on the defensive end, “which has allowed me to get out on the break, get a couple layups. So that’s leading to my point totals.”
Left unsaid is that Archie, despite his all-around skills, never has been a focal point of the offense. That’s because he might have been playing out of position his entire career at USC.
Archie has played almost exclusively in the post, despite his 6-foot-7, 200-pound frame and a fairly reliable outside shot. That leaves him undersized against many SEC post players, but that is the position USC has needed him to play, so he has started there all 78 games of his college career.
Archie, a top-150 recruit out of Augusta, redshirted his freshman season. He was caught in a numbers game early on: Renaldo Balkman, Tarence Kinsey and Brandon Wallace among the forwards who were ahead of him.
Since then he has been a model of consistency but not of stardom. He averaged 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a freshman, while this year’s averages — 11.6 points and 7.3 rebounds — are a slight improvement from last season. His career high is 21 points.
Before Archie’s sophomore season, Dave Odom vowed to play him at least half the time at small forward. By the time the season started, that plan was off track.
New coach Darrin Horn quickly came to the same two-part conclusion as Odom: The team didn’t have enough of a post presence — a suitable center and power forward — and the team was better off with a three-guard lineup anyway.
But Horn also said Archie doesn’t need a defined position.
“The world in general wants to define things. It makes them feel better about it,” Horn said. “The best basketball advice I ever got was from my high school coach: If you can play, you can play. And Dominique Archie can play this game.”
Archie said he came to peace with the position situation before this season. He had to, because it was affecting his ability to improve.
“Every preseason it was always the question of where I would play, and I would kind of lose focus on actually playing the game ... (and) what I needed to work on in the offseason,” he said. “This summer I just focused on both, and I tried to work kind of in the post and kind of in the wing.”
In essence, Archie is a “tweener,” — a player who can play two positions without quite being a perfect fit for either. He probably would have been able to play an inside-outside role if the Gamecocks had better options in the post.
As it is now, Archie is on the inside, making plays on the perimeter when needed. That hurts his ability to get more recognition — although Donovan is among his fans.
“If you look at what he’s done the last couple years, he may be one of the least-talked about guys, as far as players are concerned, who I think’s a really good player,” Donovan said. “Dominique Archie is a terrific player. He’s a great athlete who can do a lot of different things, and I think he can impact the game in a lot of different ways.”
Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.
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