Best way for USC to get better? ‘They all should lead together,’ Chris Silva says
While the numbers represented the sloppy performance, Frank Martin wasn’t sitting A.J. Lawson for long stretches of the Stetson game strictly because of four turnovers, no assists and four missed 3-pointers.
Chris Silva, molded for four years in Martin’s South Carolina program, knows the above as fact.
“Listen,” Silva told The State earlier this week, “to be honest, I don’t think it was because A.J. wasn’t playing well. Knowing Frank, it probably because A.J. got down on himself because he wasn’t making shots or something like that or coming out with a bad attitude.
“I’m telling you something, if you miss 100% of your shots and you don’t have an attitude, you’re still in-tuned to the game, I don’t care how many shots you miss, he’s going to play you because you want to play and you don’t get down on one thing. If you get down on one thing, the rest of the team’s going to follow. Because when you’re on the court there’s five people playing. If one’s not doing his job, the whole team’s going to pay.
“Knowing Frank, it probably wasn’t A.J. missing shots or couldn’t guard anybody, but it was he was getting down on himself and Frank couldn’t take it anymore. That attitude was bringing the team down and he decided to take him out.”
Since his All-SEC college career ended last March, Silva has became a part of the elite fraternity of names Martin will occasionally reference at a news conference to get a point across to his current team. A sampling of the others: Sindarius Thornwell, Michael Carrera, Jacob Pullen, Denis Clemente, Udonis Haslem. These are all former players of Martin’s, from Carolina to his days at Kansas State to on the high school benches in Miami, who bought in to Martin’s demands, became leaders and embraced roles as extensions of their coach on the floor.
Fourteen games into this season, it’s clear Martin is still searching for his next alpha dog.
The Gamecocks (8-6, 0-1 SEC) travel to Tennessee (9-5, 1-1) on Saturday.
“There’s some guys on our team, they better go back to their dorm room today, put their hands together and get down on their knees and pray for the new year that I don’t end up recruiting another Michael Carrera or Sindarius Thornwell here,” Martin said after the shocking Stetson loss on Dec. 30, “because they would be having a bad, bad night today and bad days leading to the next game. I don’t have that right now. I don’t have anyone on my team that has that kind of personality to demand others do things the right way.”
Silva is now a rookie with the Miami Heat, a organization long respected for its winning culture. He said leadership in that locker room is asked of everyone — from coach Erik Spoelstra to veterans Haslem and Jimmy Butler to the first-year players. That collective accountability is partially why the team has the second-best record in the Eastern Conference through three months.
“That’s one of the things that I wish I learned earlier about being a leader,” Silva said. “My last two years at South Carolina I tried to learn to lead a team and try to do everything myself and try to push the guys. It can’t be one person.
“Like what Coach Spo tells everybody, there’s gotta be leadership from the coaches to the best players to the rookies because there’s leadership at all levels. Everybody’s got to put their foot on the gas and say, ‘OK, that’s what we are. We are a defensive team or we are whatever, a faster team, that’s what our identity is, that’s what we gotta do.’”
USC has been identified so far by its inconsistent play. Road wins over Clemson and Virginia have been followed by home losses to Stetson and Florida.
After each of the latter performances, Martin has labeled his team as being “too quiet.” In other words, no booming voice — besides his own — or presence comes alive when adversity strikes.
Lawson, USC’s most decorated player, and Maik Kotsar, USC’s most experienced player, are the top candidates to fill this void. But their respective personalities — more laid-back and reserved — make it difficult.
Kotsar grinned this week when asked to compare his leadership style to the previous captain.
“Well,” he said, “compared to Chris, I feel like I’m a bit more of a quiet person, just by character. But I try to help everyone in practice as much as possible, try to make sure that everyone’s on the same page and that everyone knows what they’re doing in practice.”
Silva was a freshman when Carrera was a senior. He spent two seasons with Thornwell. Gamecock teams that included Silva went 84-52.
“Frank, he’s like a sweet guy when he’s off the court,” Silva said. “He’s always going to joke with you and talk to you about things you need to know to be mature in college. I think he does his part. But part of my maturity came from Sin and all these guys, when I was hanging out and they were telling me how to work and how to grow as a man.
“I’m sure Frank’s doing his part. Now it’s the players who have to figure out their part.”
From Kotsar, Lawson and on down.
“I think A.J. should do a good job,” Silva said. “Justin (Minaya)‘s been there long enough to know, so he should take part of the leadership too. Maik, of course, he should take his game to another level. They all should lead together, that’s what it is. That’s what it’s all about. They all got to lead together and take ownership of the team.”
NEXT
What: South Carolina at Tennessee
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Knoxville, Tennessee
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 10:53 AM.
