How a change in defensive scheme could spark Frank Martin’s USC team down the stretch
When most basketball people think about a Frank Martin style of team, “defense” is usually the first word that comes to mind.
The 55-year-old head coach is known for a defensive system that matches his fiery on-court persona: aggressive, attacking and unrelenting. In the 10 years he’s coached the South Carolina men’s team, Martin’s Gamecocks have played a physical, pestering man-to-man defense with the goal of clogging up passing lanes and controlling the glass.
But as much as Martin believes in that genre of defense, he’s not too stubborn to change when a change is needed.
During the team’s 2017 Final Four run — the height of USC men’s basketball in the Martin era — the coach recognized an opportunity to utilize a 3-2 zone defense, a scheme that allowed the Gamecocks to take advantage of their length in the backcourt with guards Sindarius Thornwell, P.J. Dozier and Duane Notice creating a formidable wall. And because of the mobility of big men Maik Kotsar and Chris Silva behind them, the corners of the perimeter weren’t left exposed.
The 2022 Gamecocks (14-10, 5-7 SEC) are much different from that 2017 team. They don’t have the same length in the backcourt, nor are their bigs as mobile as Kotsar and Silva were. But with the Gamecocks dropping three straight games in SEC play, Martin unleashed a 2-3 zone look against Georgia on Saturday. It made all the difference in an 80-68 losing-streak-snapping win, with Martin saying “it saved us” after the game.
With the Gamecocks sitting outside the NCAA tournament picture and with only six regular-season games remaining, expect to see more of the 2-3 zone defense down the stretch, starting with Tuesday’s 7 p.m. road tilt at Ole Miss.
Martin said top assistant Chuck Martin approached him about incorporating the scheme into the team’s plans this summer, and the Gamecocks have worked on it more and more during practice in recent weeks. Given the makeup of this year’s roster, Martin said he felt a 2-3 zone made more sense than the guard-heavy 3-2 zone the Gamecocks employed in 2017.
“Playing the 2-3 zone was a better option for this team, I felt,” Martin said. “I don’t like the passive nature of 2-3 zones. And when Chuck convinced me over the summer to give this zone a look, as we entered this year, and we tried it, I really liked it.
“I kind of put it on his plate, and I let him run with it. And he’s coached it up, and he’s taught me the intricacies of the zone. He’s taught the players, and the players believe in it. And I’ve committed practice time to it. I believe in it for this team. And so it’s really helped us.”
Saturday’s game at Georgia wasn’t the first time USC has used the zone this season, as Martin has sprinkled it in throughout the SEC slate. But Saturday’s game might’ve been the clearest example of its effectiveness.
USC opened the game in its traditional man-to-man defense and struggled to stop the last-place Bulldogs. UGA led 21-14 midway through the first half when the Gamecocks made the switch.
The benefits were instantaneous. Flummoxed by the change, UGA fell apart offensively, and the Gamecocks took advantage by scoring transition buckets on the other end. USC went on a 20-0 run, changing the course of the game.
When the Bulldogs tied the score early in the second half, Martin went back to the zone again, and again the Gamecocks pulled ahead. He said after the game that the team’s “man-to-man has slipped” in recent games. While the man-to-man look won’t go away, the 2-3 zone should remain part of the mix.
Though more passive by nature, the Gamecocks play the 2-3 zone with more aggression than most, adding an element of pressure to make life more difficult for the team’s opposing guards.
“We’re playing it a little high,” senior Keyshawn Bryant said. “So we’re trying to pressure everybody, and make everybody run their offense towards the halfcourt line, so that’s the difference in that.”
With time running out in the regular season, expect the Gamecocks to get creative wherever they can.
“What I’ve tried to convince the team of after the Kentucky game, it’s no longer a 30-game season,” Martin said. “It’s a seven-game season. And we’re in a good spot. We’re not in a great spot ... We’re not in a bad spot. Some teams are in a bad spot. Some teams are climbing a very steep hill late in the year. We’re in a good spot, and we got opportunities in front of us.”
Next USC men’s basketball game
Who: South Carolina at Ole Miss
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: SJB Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi
Watch: ESPNU
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 2:45 PM.
