In Defense of Darrin Horn and USC Basketball
by Gamecock Man on Mar 15, 2010 6:38 PM EDT
in Basketball
5 comments
In light of the general response I'm hearing from a lot of our fans to the Gamecocks' disappointing loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the first round of the SEC Tournament, I feel that I need to respond to what I believe are some general misperceptions about the state of our basketball program. These are, from more specific to general:
1. Darrin Horn's poor coaching cost us the game against Alabama.
2. We're going to be toast next year without Devan Downey.
3. Darrin Horn will never bring this team to the level that we hope to see our program rise to.
Let's take a look in order at these ideas, all of which I feel are on some level mistaken.
1. Darrin Horn's poor coaching cost us the game against Alabama.
The complaint against Horn's coaching in the Alabama game focuses on his choice to begin trying to run the clock out midway through the second half. I won't disagree that this was a questionable call on Horn's part. Going conservative--particularly when you're coaching a team that seems to run on rhythm and that's having its way with its opponent by playing uptempo--is always a tough call. However, I don't think we can totally slam Horn for this one. Consider this: we were up by 18 with around 11 to go. In this situation, it's reasonable to believe that you can try to begin running out the clock and, as long as your team manages to make a few more buckets, limit turnovers, and play good defense, win the game. Even if you were to score no more points, your opponent would basically have to score a little less than a bucket a minute to make the comeback, not an easy feat for the opponent if you manage to run most of the shot clock off on each of your possessions. The problem, of course, is that we completely failed in most aspects of what would be considered wise clock-draining procedure. Not only did we fail to create and make good shots, but we turned the ball over a handful of times and allowed 'Bama to score easy baskets, perhaps the cardinal sin of running out the clock. (Doing this is analogous to fumbling in the final five minutes of a football game you're leading, which is of course why coaches preach ball protection in that situation.) In other words, the problem was as much a failure to execute the game plan as it was poor coaching by Horn. Trust me; Horn didn't want Brandis Raley-Ross turn the ball over or for Downey to attempt and miss widely next-to-impossible shots.
Continue reading after the jump.
5 comments | 0 recs |
Spring Break in Review
by The Feathered Warrior on Mar 14, 2010 10:53 PM EDT
in Baseball
0 comments
Brown: increasingly the tint to our season
Spring break 2010 got off to a less than auspicious start when the Gamecocks, needing a win on Sunday to take the series, dropped a 19-6 decision to the Team from the Upstate. The 13 point loss is the largest in Carolina Stadium history and the largest since the Tigers beat USC 10-2 in their last trip to Carolina Stadium on April 22, 2009. I hope this isn't the start of an unfortunate trend.
Pressing on to more sunny matters, USC stealed its resolve to finish Spring Break week on a 5-0 run. Of course, the oppenents for this week consisted of Valparaiso (3-6) and Brown (1-6) . But pay no attention to that Win/Loss record behind the curtain.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not sounding the alarm bells yet. Clemson and ECU are both great teams, and losing a series to them doesn't indicate that we'll miss the post season this year. Clemson managed to sweep one of the ACC's most prolific offenses in NC State. We were a couple of runs from taking both of those series. Then again, we were also a couple of runs from being swept in both of those series...
More concerning is that we needed extra innings to take the third game from Brown 6-5 on Sunday. Outscoring Brown University by a talley of 24 - 16 doesn't exactly indicate the prolific offense or the overpowering pitching staff that we were rumored to have pre-season. More bothersome, still, is that Ray Tanner felt it necesarry to send Jackie Bradley, Jr. to steal second during Saturday's second game. Bradley, who was already back a few weeks early from an injury that was supposed to keep him out 4-6 weeks, re-injured his hand (he was out on the throw, by the way). Who knows how long Bradley will be out now that we really need his services, even as we start SEC play with a series against Tennessee this weekend. That one's on you, coach.
Also on Coach Tanner was a horific double steal attempt that made my eyes bleed in the second Saturday game. Runners were sent from both first and third in an attempt to take a run from Brown while we were down. Some signals were crossed on the play, resulting in a run down between first and second that the baserunner narrowly escaped to remain safe at first. I have to give it to coach Tanner, though, he made a gutsy move, Mav, and called the exact same play before the next pitch was even thrown. This time the play worked as planned when an imperfect throw home resulted in a perfect run for the Gamecocks (tieing up the game if memory serves me). Hat tip to you, Coach Tanner. We'll, no doubt, keep that play in our back pocket for when we may need it later in the season.
I'd like to be more forthcoming in my analysis, but to be honest, homework and fantasy baseball preclude me from giving this re-cap more of my time. On the slate for this week are games at Furman and vs. Davidson before the weekend series against Tennessee. I'll concede that this post might be a little negative for a week that saw us go 5-0, so I'll leave you with this. If you want a hero for the season thus far, look no further than one Kyle Enders. That kid has been great. Let's hope he keeps it up.
The State has more in-depth re-caps for you below:
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Weekend Open Thread: USC-Brown Series and SEC Basketball Tournament
by Gamecock Man on Mar 13, 2010 11:39 AM EST
in Baseball
28 comments
I'm going to take the weekend off from writing anything substantial. I have a few things to say about the basketball team and how people are taking the loss (sneak preview: the future is brighter than some are saying), but I'm going to give it a rest for for a couple of days. We have nothing but time now, and frankly I'm a little spent.
We can, though, chat about the goings-on here in this open thread. We can talk about our series against the Brown Bears (there's a double-header today after yesterday's postponement) and that basketball tournament that we crapped our way out of.
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SEC Tournament Round One Recap: Alabama vs. South Carolina
by Gamecock Man on Mar 11, 2010 4:30 PM EST
in Basketball
7 comments
Disaster against the Alabama Crimson Tide struck again for the Gamecocks today, as the Tide rallied from 18 down with around 11 minutes to go and beat Carolina 68-63. Hats off to 'Bama for pulling off one of the more impressive rallies I've ever seen. Coming back from that deficit at the half is difficult enough; doing it almost halfway through the half is mind-bending. The big performers for Alabama were Justin Knox and Mikhail Torrance with 16 and 17 points, respectively. Devan Downey led Carolina with 21.
For Carolina, this win almost certainly ends the season unless Darrin Horn was lying about not accepting a CBI invite, and I doubt he was. And, quite frankly, although I'm sad that this was the last time we got to see Downey suit up for Carolina, this team doesn't deserve to play another game after what happened today. Alabama deserves all the credit in the world for what they did, but as we all know, comebacks like this always involve some combination of stellar play from the team that's down and huge meltdown from the team that's up. And a meltdown it was for the Gamecocks. We went completely cold for the last ten minutes of the game. With an 18 point lead, though, we probably still would have won the game despite the cold shooting if not for the numerous turnovers committed in the last few minutes. Brandis Raley-Ross was the biggest goat here, as he committed two costly turnovers that allowed the Tide to take the lead and then extend it to three on the very next possession. We also got our wires crossed on our final, potentially game-tying possession. As if to cement the utterly impotent play we saw in the final minutes, the usually icy-veined Downey missed a potentially game-tying free throw in the final minute. All in all, it was an ugly way to end a game, particularly one in which we played very well for most of the day.
If I can think of one positive to report, it would have to be the continued strong play of Ramon Galloway and Lakeem Jackson. Galloway looked great offensively and was one of the only players to do anything of note at the end of the game when he made a tying three. Jackson missed some key shots and free throws, but he nearly earned a double-double with his 9 points and 14 boards and had an overall strong day on defense. I'm really glad we have these guys for the next few years. In particular, you have to be happy that Galloway will be taking Raley-Ross's place next year; Galloway will be a major upgrade there.
At the end of the day, though, this game pretty much sums up our season: good enough to put ourselves in position to have a chance to do something big, but not good enough to finish. That's your 2009-2010 South Carolina Gamecocks.
7 comments | 0 recs |
SEC Tournament First Round Open Thread: Alabama vs. South Carolina
by Gamecock Man on Mar 11, 2010 10:46 AM EST
in Basketball
7 comments
SEC Tournament First Round Opponent: Alabama Crimson Tide
SB Nation Community: Roll Bama Roll (they have a good preview here)
Record: 16-4 (6-10)
Season Thus Far: We were talking Tide just a week ago when they came to Columbia. After pulling off the upset against us, 'Bama went on to defeat their nemesis the Auburn Tigers to wrap up the season with a winning overall record. Their two wins last week took away some of the sting of several straight losses.
Like ourselves, 'Bama comes into the tournament on the NIT bubble, likely needing to win this game to keep their season alive.
What to Expect: Again, you already know 'Bama, so I'll keep this brief. The main difference between this game and the last is that 'Bama has star forward JaMychal Green back for this game. Green provides 'Bama with a versatile big man that will create matchup problems for our bigs.
Of course, considering that backup Justin Knox had his best game of the season in the added minutes he got during Green's absence against us, maybe the key in this game isn't so much to worry about Green as it is for our big men to just come to play. Green or no Green, it's unlikely that 'Bama could have a better game from its frontline than it did last time if we actually show up. The key to the Tide's surprising victory in Columbia was their complete dominance of the glass, particularly all the second-chance points they got off of putbacks. I strongly believe that Coach Horn lit a fire under this team's butt before the Vandy game and that we won't see such lackadaisical play again this afternoon. We may be a small team, but that performance was inexcusable. As we've proved in many games this season, we're capable of protecting the glass, and I think we do it today.
The other issues for 'Bama remain the same as before, particularly that we need to deny Mikhail Torrance and Senario Hillman. We can't allow Green's return to force us to get lazy on the perimeter as we try to protect the block.
What It Means: Of course, everyone who isn't a lock is playing for the conference's autobid. Considering the small likelihood of us getting that, though, it's worth noting that this game is essentially an NIT play-in game for both teams. While our record isn't particularly impressive even for an NIT bid, we have a strong RPI due to our three marquee wins against the Richmond Spiders, Kentucky Wildcats, and Vanderbilt Commodores. (It should be noted that all three wins are probably stronger than any we picked up last year, which is why our RPI isn't all that much worse than last year despite the dramatic difference in overall record.) If we can bump our RPI up a few more spots with a win over RPI top-100 'Bama, we should get into the NIT regardless of what happens in Round Two against Kentucky. I think this is the case despite the fact that the NIT bubble has shrunk a good bit due to the outcomes in the conference tournaments.
Prediction: If this team can play anything like it did against Vandy, it can not only win this game but perhaps a couple more, as well. With everything on the line, I expect you'll see more torrid play from us, particularly from Devan Downey. I'm calling for a close 'Cocks victory.
7 comments | 0 recs |
Gamecocks Spring Practice: Five Questions
by Gamecock Man on Mar 10, 2010 5:56 PM EST
in Football
0 comments
Spring is here and with it comes spring football practice. I'm a little late getting in on the discussion here, mostly because I've been busy with basketball and that sueño known as the real world. However, better now than never, so what follows are the five questions I'm most interested in hearing about over the next few weeks, beginning with least important and moving to most.
5. How will we use Tori Gurley and Alshon Jeffery together?
We've already heard one bit of good news out of practice: the coaching staff is working on getting the twin towers on the field at the same time, with Gurley moving to slot receiver. Along with Jason Barnes and a talented group of backups, this could be one of the--if not the--best receiving corps in the conference. It will be exciting to see how they look on the field together.
4. Will special teams play improve?
There are a couple of questions here. First of all, we need to see our kickoff return coverage unit play much better. This needs to be a top priority in 2010; it's very possible to argue that our coverage unit cost us at least one big game last year--Georgia--and hurt us in others. Second of all, I'd like to see an improved return game. We have two of the faster players in the league in Chris Culliver and Bryce Sherman. It's time for us to see these guys take a couple to the house.
3. Who will end spring as the top runningback?
We were crowded at runningback last year and will be more so this year. Candidates for top spot will be Kenny Miles, who started most of last year, Brian Maddox, who started some and played a lot in short yardage situations throughout, Jarvis Giles, who was highly recruited but never broke into the rotation consistently, and Bryce Sherman, a dimunitive speedster. I think the big issue here is probably how much Giles has improved; he's probably the most explosive player of the group, but his decision making and small frame cost him last year. If he is ready to be more of a downhill runner and has put on a few more pounds, he could challenge Miles. There's been talk of moving Maddox to fullback (and last year's fullback Patrick DiMarco to tight end), which I think is a great idea, both for the team and Maddox's NFL prospects. Sherman will likely continue to play in specialty packages. Finally, of course, regardless of what happens in the spring, Marcus Lattimore will get his chance when he gets on campus in the summer.
2. How will the new faces on defense fare?
We return a good bit of talent on D, but a few longtime starters are gone, particularly Eric Norwood, Darian Stewart, and Nathan Pepper. What is more, a few of next year's projected starters, such as Chris Culliver, will be taking it easy this spring as they nurse recovering injuries. This will give us a chance to see how some of the new faces on the depth chart look. I'm especially interested in DeMario Jeffery, D.J. Swearinger, Tony Straughter, Josh Dickerson, Toquavius Gilchrist, and Melvin Ingram.
1. Can we expect improvement from the offensive line?
Despite hitting some road bumps at times, the performance of the offensive line improved last year under Eric Wolford. Can Shawn Elliott complete the job? If so, our offense has the tools and experience in place at the other positions to be one of the best in the league.
This post is intended to be a general conversation starter; please sound off with your own questions / concerns in the comments section.
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Coaches All-SEC Awards Released; Devan Downey and Sam Muldrow Honored
by Gamecock Man on Mar 9, 2010 2:06 PM EST
in Basketball
0 comments
The Coaches' All-SEC Awards have been released, and here are the pertinent facts for Gamecocks fans:
Devan Downey was named to the coaches' All-SEC first-team for the third straight year, and he and teammate Sam Muldrow were both named to the league's All-Defense team.
Kentucky freshman John Wall was named the SEC player of the year, although teammate DeMarcus Cousins was named the league's freshman of the year.
Many of us will undoubtedly be disappointed to learn that Devan Downey did not win SEC Player of the Year. And indeed, Downey's statistical dominance--he led the league in scoring and steals and was high on national lists in both--and the MVP-like quality to his play give him a good argument. However, there are several factors working against him that I think we should all take off our garnet glasses and consider, factors that in my mind made DeMarcus Cousins or John Wall better choices. First of all, Downey's scoring numbers are at least partially the result of the fact that he oftentimes took 20-30 shots per game. Voters may have reasonably asked whether Downey would have scored that many points while playing for other teams, and they may have conversely reasonably asked if Wall or Cousins would have scored even more points if either played for us. Second of all, Downey's play fell off towards the end of the season, notwithstanding his stellar performance against the Vanderbilt Commodores. His per game and his shooting percentage both dropped, and he often failed to make the big shots late in games that we had become accustomed to seeing him make. Third of all and perhaps most importantly, Downey failed to carry his team to success. One element in deciding on a POY is always, and reasonably, I think, whether or not that player is able to lead his team to glory. We might have been as bad as the LSU Tigers if not for Downey, and he deserves credit for leading this team to the brink of an NIT bid. However, NIT bids will never translate to "glory" in the eyes of basketball coaches, and for that reason Downey lost a lot of credit with coaches. If we had won a few key games--Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama come to mind--this result might have been different.
A few other thoughts on these results after the jump.
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Darrin Horn Not Keen on the CBI
by Gamecock Man on Mar 8, 2010 10:38 PM EST
in Basketball
2 comments
According to a press release put out today, Darrin Horn would not accept a CBI invitation if offered one:
"We want to compete and play in the NCAA
Tournament ," said Horn. "If we can’t do that, the NIT with the changes that have been made will put you in the top 100 in the country in the postseason. Anything beyond that is not anything we would have interest in."
I'll have to admit that I'm not exactly sure that I agree with Horn's thinking here. I understand that the CBI is a lower-tier tournament and thus not much of an honor, but I think that the opportunity to allow Devan Downey to put a bigger mark on the record books and to give our younger players more in-game experience would make it a valuable opportunity.
So, what does everyone else think about a CBI invite? Backhanded compliment or compelling opportunity?
2 comments | 0 recs |
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Gamecocks Football Schedule
@
N.C. State
|
Thu 09/03 | W 7 - 3 |
|
@
Georgia
|
Sat 09/12 | L 37 - 41 |
| Florida Atlantic | Sat 09/19 | W 38 - 16 |
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Mississippi
|
Thu 09/24 | W 16 - 10 |
| S. Carolina St. | Sat 10/03 | W 38 - 14 |
|
Kentucky
|
Sat 10/10 | W 28 - 26 |
|
@
Alabama
|
Sat 10/17 | L 6 - 20 |
|
Vanderbilt
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Sat 10/24 | W 14 - 10 |
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@
Tennessee
|
Sat 10/31 | L 13 - 31 |
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@
Arkansas
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Sat 11/07 | L 16 - 33 |
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Florida
|
Sat 11/14 | L 14 - 24 |
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Clemson
|
Sat 11/28 | W 34 - 17 |
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@
Connecticut
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Sat 01/02 | L 7 - 20 |
Southeastern Conference Standings
(updated 1.8.2010 at 2:57 AM EST)
| East | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Florida Gators
|
8 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
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Georgia Bulldogs
|
4 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
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Tennessee Volunteers
|
4 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
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Kentucky Wildcats
|
3 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
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South Carolina Gamecocks
|
3 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
|
Vanderbilt Commodores
|
0 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| West | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
8 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
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LSU Tigers
|
5 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
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Mississippi Rebels
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4 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
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Arkansas Razorbacks
|
3 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
|
Auburn Tigers
|
3 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
|
Mississippi St. Bulldogs
|
3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
Gamecocks Basketball Schedule
Last 5 Games
|
@
Alabama
|
Thu 03/11 | L 63 - 68 |
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@
Alabama
|
Thu 03/11 | L 63 - 68 |
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@
Vanderbilt
|
Sat 03/06 | W 77 - 73 |
|
Alabama
|
Wed 03/03 | L 70 - 79 |
|
Mississippi St.
|
Sat 02/27 | L 63 - 76 |
Southeastern Conference Standings
(updated 3.15.2010 at 1:34 AM EDT)
| East | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Kentucky Wildcats
|
14 | 2 | 32 | 2 |
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Vanderbilt Commodores
|
12 | 4 | 24 | 8 |
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Tennessee Volunteers
|
11 | 5 | 25 | 8 |
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Florida Gators
|
9 | 7 | 21 | 12 |
|
South Carolina Gamecocks
|
6 | 10 | 15 | 16 |
|
Georgia Bulldogs
|
5 | 11 | 14 | 17 |
| West | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
|
Mississippi St. Bulldogs
|
9 | 7 | 23 | 11 |
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Mississippi Rebels
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9 | 7 | 21 | 10 |
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Arkansas Razorbacks
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7 | 9 | 14 | 18 |
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Alabama Crimson Tide
|
6 | 10 | 17 | 15 |
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Auburn Tigers
|
6 | 10 | 15 | 17 |
|
LSU Tigers
|
2 | 14 | 11 | 20 |
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