How Jair Bolden overcame ‘scary’ moment with Frank Martin, cracked UVa defensive code
Scary.
What’s it like to have Frank Martin staring through your soul?
“It’s scary,” Jair Bolden said.
Bolden spoke from experience Sunday following South Carolina’s 70-59 win over No. 9 Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena. The George Washington transfer had his best game in a Gamecock uniform, but it started with a non-verbal scolding from the USC coach.
Showing the form he flashed to close out Clemson last Sunday, Bolden was hot out of the gate against the Cavaliers. He stuck a wing 3-pointer on Carolina’s third possession and drew a charge on Virginia’s fifth.
But it’s how he reacted after the latter of those plays that got Martin’s attention. Bolden clapped in the face of UVa’s Kody Stattmann, drawing boos from the home crowd and causing the buzzer to sound for a substitution.
Bolden wasn’t given a technical, but he was given a spot on the bench, Martin looking at him every step of the way there.
“I don’t coach that,” Martin said. “I’m not going to condone that. It’s not about us individually. It’s about us doing our jobs so we can all have success together. That’s why I took him out. He knows. I’m sure my assistants behind me had a conversation with him and just got him refocused.”
Bolden chalked up the taunting to adrenaline. South Carolina was playing the reigning national champions in front of 14,409 fans, on national television, and the spotlight got the best of him.
“We were real excited to play today,” Bolden said.
His “cooling off” period didn’t last long. Martin had Bolden in 45 seconds after he took him out. Two minutes later, Bolden hit another 3, this one a top-of-the-key, step-back number with a high degree of difficulty.
The winning formula against any Tony Bennett-coached UVa team is simple, but hardly executed. The Cavaliers pack the paint defensively and invite you to make outside shots. No one has done much of that this season — as evidenced by Virginia’s 9-1 record (entering Sunday) and its No. 1 national ranking in points allowed (44.2) and opposing field goal percentage (32.1).
Bolden on Sunday had 22 points and made eight of his 13 shots, including four 3s — and he was named SEC Co-Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts. He led the charge for USC’s first road win over a top 10 opponent in four seasons.
“We’ve been in the gym a lot this week, knowing how they play defense,” Bolden said. “Coach Frank gave us a good idea of how they played with the shots we were going to get. ... I worked on those shots and it felt good.”
Over his last three halves, Bolden has scored 32 points on 11 of 20 shooting, including six 3s. His numbers in the five halves — full games against UMass and Houston, opening period at Clemson — before that? Seven points on 3 of 11 shooting.
Why the improvement? No. 1, he’s playing a new position. The former point guard is now off the ball as A.J. Lawson runs the offense. But No. 2, he’s found better chemistry with Martin.
Bolden showed up to his coach’s office following the 20-point Houston loss on Dec. 8 that dropped USC to 6-4.
“I just knew I hadn’t been playing my best,” Bolden said. “I felt like I could do more to help the team. But I wasn’t performing the way I was capable of and the way he felt I was capable of. That’s not a good feeling. I feel like it let the team down, I feel like it let the guys down. So just talking to him, he was reassuring in telling me what he thought he could get better at and we just put it into action and we practiced.”
Added Martin: “I’m not big on chasing kids around to force them into what I’m trying to tell them to do. He came to see me after the Houston game. And he’s had two great weeks of practice.”
South Carolina is now 8-4. Bolden’s 22 are the second-most individual points scored against UVa this season.
“He played like an upperclassman and he gave them a great lift,” Bennett said, “and we couldn’t handle him early.”
Next
What: Stetson at South Carolina
When: 3 p.m. Dec. 30
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network Plus
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 10:05 PM.
