South Carolina at Tennessee: A Quick Recap
by Gamecock Man on Feb 16, 2011 10:34 PM EST
in South Carolina Gamecocks Basketball
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PrintThe Tennessee Volunteers defeated Carolina 73-67 in Knoxville this evening. Scotty Hopson led all scorers with 23, while Malik Cooke had what was perhaps his best game as a Gamecock with 22 points, 8 boards, and 2 steals.
I'll have to admit that Carolina played better than I expected in this one, particularly considering that Lakeem Jackson was out. We kept the game relatively close throughout, and considering that I was expecting a blowout, I suppose we should be pleasantly surprised with how things turned out. However, let's not make too much of this game. If the score was close, it was largely so because Tennessee failed to take advantage of its many opportunities to put the game away. The Vols shot only 60% from the free-throw line, their failure to convert belying the fact that they dominated the interior for much of the game. The same old problems for the Carolina offense popped up, including a 6-20 shooting performance from Bruce Ellington, which I guess we should view as progress after 1-12 last weekend. The positive to take away was that Carolina did play some good defense at times, registering nice blocks and turnovers numbers. Overall, though, not much has changed other than that we failed to take advantage of a vulnerable Tennessee team instead of getting crushed by one.
Next up is UK in Lexington. Excuse me if I'm not looking forward to it right now.
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I did not see the game, but from the box score, it looked like Slawson was the best of our freshmen tonight. The best thing about Ellington is his will to win, but I am not impressed by his basketball skills. Overall, I would have to say our freshmen class has been a disappointment to me. I think Slawson needs more playing time, and Harris probably needs less.
Muldrow is a good shot blocker, but not very good at any other part of the game of basketball. As a senior, and as the tallest, heaviest player, he should be our leading rebounder in every game, but he usually is not. We need much better play from our post players, but probably won’t get it this year.
If this team continues to shoot the ball as poorly from the field as they have been, another win this season will be hard to come by. Bottom line is, the players we have now are simply not good enough. Coach Horn and his staff need to upgrade our talent. Maybe Gill and Leonard can be an improvement, we’ll see. Holloway should easily replace the points and rebounds of Muldrow by himself. Harris is going to have to improve much by next year, or he might lose his minutes to Gill, and/or Slawson, both of which have talent. Someone once said that the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. Hopefully, all our players who will return next year will have improved their games, and gotten heavier and stronger.
I appreciate that Harris tries hard, but I completely agree that Harris needs to play much less.
Putting Cooke in for Jackson seemed to make a world of difference in this game. We need scorers, and Cooke is a better scorer than Jackson. Slawson had been almost a total no show the whole season, but now has come on the past two games. I agree Horn needs to continue riding that streak ‘til it runs out. Though, I still say where the fudge is Jefferson? He got a paltry five minutes of play last night, even though Harris was doing nothing and Jackson was out with an injury. I don’t think he’s getting a fair chance, which makes no sense to me seeing as how no one on the team has cemented a starting job except Muldrow.
Also, Smith needs to start, and Ellington needs to come off the bench. I think that is totally obvious to everyone except Horn. Our team cannot afford to waste so many possessions on bad shots. Smith more often than not tries to work it underneath to one of the big men. That’s what we need more of. There’s no sense in forcing an inexperienced freshman lead the offense when he’s struggling. Ellington doesn’t need that kind of unwarranted pressure.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Feb 17, 2011 8:16 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I'm kind of with you guys on Harris.
I was an early proponent of giving him more PT, but the results have been less than satisfying, especially over the last few games. One thing that I’d really like to see from Horn is more flexibility with the lineup. He seems to want to stick with the same guys no matter how poorly they’re playing. Less minutes for Ellington and Harris would seem like a natural answer right now, but we’re not really seeing it. At least we’re seeing him give Slawson a chance, although I’m not sure that’s as much of a choice by Horn as a product of the injuries. And I agree that Muldrow shouldn’t get as much credit as he does. Great shot blocker, but not consistently good at much else. He was 1-6 from downtown last night. I’m happy to see him shoot some threes, because he’s obviously worked on his shot, but maybe we’d be just as well served by putting him in better position to get some offensive boards, like other centers.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Feb 17, 2011 8:21 AM EST up reply actions
Oh yeah, welcome by the way!
It’s a new person!
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Feb 17, 2011 8:20 AM EST up reply actions
I'm still a Harris proponent.
I think what he struggles with most is fouling. If he could play within himself a little better in that respect, he’d be much more productive. We’ve seen what he can do offensively (Florida earlier this year), but he can’t do that when he’s on the bench 4 minutes into the game.
Defensively, I also think he has a great chance to become our shotblocker after Sam leaves, but he’s been whistled for goaltending a few times. Again, the potential is obviously there; he just needs to hone that aspect of his game.
Agreed, however, that Slawson has been on a tear recently and needs more minutes.
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