Shooting, shooting — and some other things: Where USC needs to improve after 10 games
A third of the way through the season and South Carolina, a team of high expectations, is 6-4.
The 76-56 downer to Houston on Sunday was the Gamecocks’ second loss by 20 or more points in five games and ran their record to 0-3 when facing teams among the top 100 of kenpom.com’s national rankings. Their next two opponents are No. 89 Clemson (5-4) and No. 10 Virginia (8-1).
It’s fair to say this has been a disappointing start to 2019-20. It’s also fair to not completely write off USC as last year proved Frank Martin can dig his team out of an early hole and have it near the top of the SEC. But when is the hole too deep? South Carolina’s 11-7 conference record in 2018-19 got it a No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament, but the overall résumé — 5-8 non-conference showing included — wasn’t enough to land an NIT or NCAA Tournament bid.
In other words, the Gamecocks need to right the ship in a hurry. Here are some ways to do it:
Find some shooting consistency
South Carolina is one of seven teams in Division I men’s basketball (a pool of 353) that is shooting 60% or worse from the free throw line and under 30% from 3-point range. The others — North Carolina A&T, Florida A&M, Morehead State, Georgia Tech, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Mississippi Valley State — have a combined record of 13-40.
The Gamecocks haven’t outscored their opponents on made free throws and 3s since being plus-17 against Cleveland State in a 90-63 win on Nov. 15. They’re minus-131 in the seven games since.
The worst Martin-coached free throw shooting team — at Kansas State or South Carolina — was the 2008-09 Wildcats at 64.8%. These Gamecocks are at 60%. The worst Martin-coached 3-point shooting team was the 2014-15 Gamecocks at 30.1%. These Gamecocks are at 27.2%.
Houston, which held South Carolina to six 3s on 25 attempts, dared the Gamecocks to beat them from the outside and executed their plan to take away A.J. Lawson.
“The key was building a wall,” said Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson. “We didn’t get back (on defense) and try to guard the 3-point line. We got back and guarded the paint. So when (Lawson) came down, all he saw was bodies. So now they just strictly became a half-court team. You take away a team in transition and they have to run their half-court offense. And our team’s pretty good at guarding you in the half-court.”
Lawson shot a season-worst 20% percent from the floor and finished with 10 points.
Stars play like stars
The main key to South Carolina’s turnaround last season was Chris Silva’s revival. After a slow start, the senior turned it on and got back in All-SEC form. The Gamecocks took his cue and became relevant down the stretch.
Silva’s gone, as is Hassani Gravett, the 2019-20 SEC Sixth Man of the Year. Each created a void that South Carolina needs replaced in some fashion in order to have success this season. Simply put: The Gamecocks need their best players to be that way all the time.
Justin Minaya, Jermaine Couisnard and Lawson went a combined five of 28 from the floor for 20 points against Houston after going 18 of 30 for 49 points against UMass on Wednesday.
Lawson played just eight second half minutes Sunday.
“You can’t be a good player if you can’t keep the guy you’re defending out of the paint,” Martin said of Lawson. “He was really bad defensively. He’s the only returning guard on our team. He should understand how we defend and be the one taking ownership and leading everyone else. He’s the only one that’s prepared from last year to understand how to do that.
“He has slipped really, really bad defensively. And we got to get it right. He’s a great kid, we got to get it right. And I’m not into playing guys that don’t defend. I didn’t play Michael Beasley when he didn’t defend. I’m not going to play A.J. Lawson when he doesn’t defend.”
The Gamecocks are No. 102 nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive ratings. No Martin team has finished out of the top 71 in that category since 2015.
Better point guard play
South Carolina entered the season with seemingly four solid point guard options, but asked to address that position after game No. 10, Martin quickly responded, “Awful.”
“Don’t make say something negative,” Martin continued. “Our point guard play’s not good right now.”
Jair Bolden, T.J. Moss, Lawson and occasionally Couisnard took reps there Sunday. Trae Hannibal, meanwhile, stayed on the bench for a second consecutive game.
Could the freshman from Hartsville help the situation?
“I’m not going to speak about individual players and their performances,” Martin said. “Our point guard play is not good right now. It’s not consistent, it’s not very good.
“I’m always curious why everybody always wants coaches to speak about the guys that don’t play. I don’t walk in the locker room with favorites and I play guys I like. I play the guys that are playing the best. I’ve always done it that way. Our point guard play’s not very good.”
NEXT GAME
What: South Carolina at Clemson
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum
When: 5 p.m., Sunday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 10:25 AM.
