The USC men’s team is leaning into ‘positionless’ basketball. Will it pay off?
South Carolina is leaning into “positionless” basketball. It is not the first team to do so, and it won’t be the last.
The idea has existed since at least the early 1970s, but the mid-2010s Golden State Warriors helped usher in the most popular era of this championship blueprint in modern basketball. Now, many teams at the collegiate and professional levels are prioritizing dribbling, passing and shooting ability from all five players on the court. This approach isn’t new to Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris.
“Everybody talks about positionless basketball and what that means,” he said after South Carolina’s 92-71 win against North Carolina A&T in Tuesday’s season opener. “But, you know, I’ve been on that for a long time.”
This iteration of Paris’ Gamecocks may be the most positionless yet. USC wheeled out a starting lineup of four guards — Meechie Johnson, Mike Sharavjamnts, Kobe Knox and Myles Stute — against the Aggies. Even the lone forward, UC San Diego transfer Nordin Kapic, jokingly protested his listed position.
“What do you mean? I’m also a guard,” Kapic said with a laugh. “I’m comfortable. I believe in coach Paris. Whatever he wants me to do, I’ll do it.”
Compared to last season’s opening game lineup, which featured a traditional three guards and two forwards, and it appears the Gamecocks are ready to place skill and shooting above all else this season.
But there are downsides to every approach. Two in particular stick out from USC’s strategy so far: Interior and transition defense. It’s early, but never too early to try getting better. So why are the Gamecocks struggling in these areas, and what can they do to get around it?
Gamecocks’ size in the paint
The position that seems to be the most neglected by this positionless approach is the traditional big. USC does not have the tallest roster, particularly compared to the rest of the SEC. Jordan Butler and Christ Essandoko — both seven-footers — are the only Gamecocks listed as 6-foot-10 or taller.
Compare that to USC’s conference foes, and the Gamecocks don’t stack up. Only Auburn, Ole Miss, Texas Vanderbilt and Georgia have fewer than three players 6-foot-10 or taller — less than half the conference. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky and Missouri have five each.
Size concerns are most prominent when defending close to the rim. N.C. A&T scored 34 points, or 47% of its total, in the paint. Paris acknowledged the concern but credited the Aggies with being adept in the interior.
“Maybe we should have emphasized this a little bit more in our shootaround today,” Paris said. “We did some, but it’s not it’s not what I think we did, it’s what the guys picked up on. So we probably should have done a little bit more with just showing more attention to whoever it was that had the ball that was attacking.”
Here’s the thing: N.C. A&T also has only two players taller that 6-foot-10 on its roster. When USC goes against taller lineups, interior defense could be an even bigger factor.
The solution? Either know when to put Butler or Essandoko on the floor, or find your best options from the rest of the bunch. Forwards Elijah Strong and Hayden Assemian look to be the most capable off-ball and paint defenders of USC’s non-bigs so far.
“I think if that’s what your five guys look like out there at any particular time, and three of them are pretty good defenders, I think you got a chance to fight on the glass and to be a pretty good, solid defensive unit,” Paris said.
Defending transitions by preventing transitions
Time and time again, Paris has emphasized multiple decision-makers on the floor at once as a need for his system.
The issue arises when the wrong decisions are being made, and the result is turnovers and transition points. USC turned the ball over 13 times against the Aggies and let up 28 fast-break points. When your main problem is interior defense, free buckets are the last thing you want to add on the pile.
Is it a cop-out to say the solution is playing better? Maybe, but it’s the reality of the situation. If the Gamecocks can limit turnovers as much as possible, there are fewer chances for other teams to get out in transition, beat the defense to the other end of the court and score an easy basket.
USC has the guards to achieve this solution. Making the most of its biggest strength — guard play — is part of why the team is shifting this heavy into positionless basketball at all. The path to avoiding turnovers is as simple as time and reps in Paris’ offense, something most of USC’s 12 newcomers just don’t have a lot of yet.
“(There are) some things we got clean up for sure, but generally speaking, I was happy with the performance,” Paris said.
Again, it’s early. USC won its opener handily, and the panic button doesn’t even exist to be pressed yet. But when it comes time to play bigger, faster and simply better competition, the little things turn into big things if gone unresolved.
South Carolina men’s basketball upcoming games
- Sunday: vs. Southern Mississippi, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Nov. 12: vs. Presbyterian, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Nov. 18: vs. Radford, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Nov. 21: vs. Butler (at Greenbrier Tip-Off in WVa.), 2 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
- Nov. 23: vs. Northwestern (at Greenbrier Tip-Off in WVa.), 5 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
