Kotsar for SEC defensive player of the year? Why USC senior matters so much vs. UGA
South Carolina men’s basketball coach Frank Martin sees a peace that comes over some of his seniors.
This year, it’s Maik Kotsar, who has quietly transformed from an inconsistent presence who was consistently in the Gamecocks lineup to a decidedly solid performer. He’s following a similar path to Hassani Gravett last year, Frank Booker the season before and even back to Sindarius Thornwell.
“Seniors mean the world to me,” Martin said. “A freshman always has next year. So does a sophomore, so does a junior. Whether it’s at this school or another school, there’s always another year.
“Seniors don’t have another year, and I just think that seniors get to a place where they’re at peace with who they are. They get past the the world of trying to prove people wrong or trying to get their feelings hurt because somebody doesn’t think they’re quite good enough, and they just get to a place where, ‘You know what, who cares? I’m at peace with the people who believe in me.’”
He and Kotsar had a talk last offseason. The coach said they couldn’t again do the dance they’d done for three years, a relationship that seemed to always leave Martin needing something more.
Martin made some reference to Kotsar moving past something on the personal side, but declined to get into specifics.
What’s out in the open is the production he’s delivering on a nightly basis. Kotsar is second on the team in minutes per game (29.5), and he’s scoring in double digits (10.2 ppg) while hitting 52.1 percent of his shots. He’s the top rebounder, third on the team in assists, first in steals and first in blocks. He even improved his free-throw success by nearly 25 percentage points.
And perhaps his biggest line on the resume is something that doesn’t tie into his individual stats.
“Maik can be the defensive player of the year in the league,” Martin said. “Someone said we were back to the No. 1 field goal percentage defensive team in the conference. If that’s what we are, our team defensive MVP is Maik Kotsar. I mean, he leads us in steals, leads us in blocks, defends every ball screen. They try to drive him when he has to switch. They can’t. I think he’s the defensive MVP in this league.”
Kotsar is, in many ways, the anchor to South Carolina‘s defense, which in SEC play has been the most stingy in the conference — and by a not insignificant margin. On a team without a ton of reliability when it comes to big-man defense, he’s a top post defender and provides a great deal of versatility with his ability to help on the perimeter and in various situations.
And his particular set of skills could loom large as the Gamecocks head to Georgia on Wednesday for a crucial opportunity to pick up a road win.
Martin described the Bulldogs as a five-out offense, meaning their nominal “center” is a guy who played small forward in recent seasons. That seems like an assignment for a player with Kotsar’s perimeter skills.
The UGA offense also often likes to get going by leaking as many players as it can down court when an opponent‘s shot goes up. One counter there — Martin’s preferred counter in fact — is crashing the offensive glass. Kotsar is the team‘s best player on that front and represents the biggest size mismatch.
“How do you slow down a fast team?” Martin said. “There’s two ways of doing it. No. 1, take whatever shot you want and run everybody back. No. 2, beat them up at the rim.
“I got too much testosterone to run backwards. That’s just who I am.”
Game info
Who: South Carolina (14-9, 6-4 SEC) at Georgia (12-11, 2-8)
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens
TV channel: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
