Shorthanded and ‘winded,’ Frank Martin’s Gamecocks find a way to push through
Long and lean, South Carolina guard A.J. Lawson never seems to tire out. Head coach Frank Martin jokes that the 6-foot-6, 177-pound Lawson could run an entire marathon without ever taking a deep breath.
Yet late in Saturday’s 78-71 win over Florida A&M in Columbia, Lawson was gasping for air. And he wasn’t alone.
“I feel like everyone was definitely a little winded,” Lawson said. “But we had to push through it. Like I know for myself I was tired … but it’s all worth it because we all locked in and we ended up getting the win. That’s what we’re all about.”
Saturday’s game was the first South Carolina had played in nearly a month, and its first home game since March. Members of the program tested positive for COVID-19 after the team’s Dec. 5 road game at Houston, and since then, the Gamecocks canceled or postponed five straight games and paused activities twice.
This week marked the first time since the outbreak that the Gamecocks were able to string together multiple practices. Even then, Martin only had nine players at his disposal, and those players had lived sedentary lives in isolation for weeks. The head coach could only push them so hard in practice or risk wearing them out before they could even play.
When the Gamecocks took the court Saturday, veteran forwards Keyshawn Bryant and Alanzo Frink didn’t join them. Neither did key rotational players T.J. Moss or Jalyn McCreary. Presumably all of them remain in quarantine, although Martin doesn’t discuss individual COVID-19 cases on the team.
The players that were left had to carry Saturday’s load — with limited reinforcements behind them.
“I got no idea how our guys had the courage to make the plays to go win that game,” Martin said. “I thought we played hard. We didn’t play great. We didn’t shoot great. Defensively we had some breakdowns. But that’s to be understood after what we went through for the last three and a half weeks.”
The Gamecocks were sloppy. Wide-open shots were missed. A dunk was missed. Defensive assignments were jumbled. At certain points, Martin said defensive lapses occurred simply because fatigued players slowed to catch their breath instead of sprinting to the other end of the court. All of that was expected.
It says something about the Gamecocks’ mettle that they were able to compete at all.
“Just being without our guys — really that was all the motivation we needed,” senior guard Seventh Woods said. “We got guys who can’t play right now, so just going out there and going hard for them.
“We knew how the game was gonna go. We knew for a long time we’d be limited, so there’s no excuses to make today. We just had to go out there and make plays and play for each other.”
Of course, too, there was the added excitement of simply being able to play basketball again after the turmoil of the last few weeks. It meant something for the Gamecocks to be able to make their home debut, especially for Columbia native Woods, who hadn’t been able to play a basketball game in front of friends and family since he transferred from North Carolina in 2018.
Martin said he could barely sleep Friday night after learning that both his team and the Rattlers were cleared to play. He found himself sitting at home in front of the TV, wide awake, feeling nervous.
“It felt like the first game of the year,” Martin said. “And the nervous part has nothing to do with winning and losing. It’s with the unknown. How do I handle certain situations? And trying to think through rotations and responsibilities. One of the things I’m going to have to have here for the next week or two is tremendous patience.”
Thankfully for Martin, he still had veterans to lean on like junior forward Justin Minaya, who finished with a 10-rebound, 10-point double-double. Guard Jermaine Couisnard made a pivotal 3-pointer with 3:22 left in the game to push the lead just out of reach.
And Lawson, despite feeling winded late, delivered his best performance of the young season, leading both teams with his 25 points.
Lawson said the time in quarantine was difficult, but he tried to use it to study. He watched film, watched other teams, absorbed as much as he could. Only nine seconds into the game, Lawson shot a 3-pointer and watched it fall through the cylinder.
“I felt great. It’s been a while since playing,” Lawson said. “Shooting my first shot, it was a 3-pointer and it went in — it just gave me some spirit, some confidence. And my teammates encouraged me the whole game.
“It just felt great to be out there and to finally hoop again.”
This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 8:59 PM.
