At 11-0, Staley setting specific goals for Gamecocks
There’s a nearly two-week break from games after this one, which is a lot of time where No. 2 South Carolina can fine-tune anything it desires before the two-month crucible of SEC play.
Never one to waste time, USC coach Dawn Staley is starting now.
“We have to give them goals,” she said on Monday before Tuesday’s game hosting Elon. “I think they’re really good at it when you give them a goal to accomplish in a game. They usually focus in on it. When they’re broad, they can’t really concentrate on what they need to do, so that’s what we’re going to start doing.”
USC’s defense has improved – three Gamecocks had double-figure rebounds in beating East Carolina – but it’s still not locked down to the point where it has been, or needs to be. About to play the Phoenix, coached by Staley’s former WNBA teammate Charlotte Smith, Staley wants to see more.
Staley installed new system to track its defense. The coaches add points and rebounds from the opponents’ guards and forwards, find the totals and issue a simple, but stern directive to the Gamecocks.
“We try to cut that production down in half,” Staley said. “We just started that this particular game, because I think we got exposed a little bit by (ECU’s) post players putting the ball on the floor.”
The Gamecocks’ bigs coasted in the final two periods against the Pirates, which helped take the onus off guards hit by foul trouble and inconsistency. Khadijah Sessions was on the bench for most of the first half, which got Bianca Cuevas and Shay Colley into a rotation.
Each was hit-and-miss, but as long as each could get the ball into the paint, good things would happen. Alaina Coates, Jatarie White and Sarah Imovbioh each had strong games.
The Gamecocks (11-0) want to function through the paint. That involves shutting down opponents who prefer the same.
“The plan is you take the points, you accumulate the points and the rebounds of the post position and the guard position and you let them know, ‘They can’t meet their mark,’ ” Staley said. “We got to give our post players goals to accomplish during a game.”
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Elon (7-2) at No. 2 South Carolina (11-0)
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia
TV: SEC Network Plus
Tickets: Available at the box office
Elon’s probable starters: G Essence Baucom 5-5 Jr. (9.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg); G Shay Burnett 5-9 So. (14.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg); G Maddie McCallie 5-10 Jr. (4.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg); F Jenifer Rhodes 6-0 Jr. (8.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg); C Malaya Johnson 6-3 So. (8.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
South Carolina’s probable starters: G Khadijah Sessions 5-8 Sr. (5.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg); G Tiffany Mitchell 5-9 Sr. (13.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg); G Asia Dozier 6-0 Sr. (4.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg); F A’ja Wilson 6-5 So. (18.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg); C Alaina Coates 6-4 Jr. (13.0 ppg, 9.1 rpg)
Next game: USC hosts Arkansas at 3 p.m. on Jan. 3.
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "At 11-0, Staley setting specific goals for Gamecocks."