South Carolina Gamecocks at Georgia Bulldogs Basketball: A Quick Recap
by Gamecock Man on Feb 26, 2011 10:25 PM EST
in South Carolina Gamecocks Basketball
Email
PrintIt was the same story on a different day in the South Carolina Gamecocks' 64-48 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs this evening, as the Carolina's effort were again done in by anemic guard play. Carolina's backcourt combined for 6-36 from the field, and they played a large part in allowing Georgia's guards to rack up plenty of points off the perimeter, particularly during UGA's decisive run late in the first half. Carolina's front court played fairly well, although Sam Muldrow sat a large portion of the game while in foul trouble and was unable to contribute as much defensively as we're accustomed to. Unfortunately, though, we went to our big guys far too infrequently for them to make a major difference in the outcome of the game.
I would rant and rave about the lack of reasonable strategy apparent in our performance in this game, but what's the use? This is more or less the same thing we've done all season. I'll give Coach Horn credit for giving Eric Smith nearly as many minutes as Bruce Ellington received. Smith didn't help us much in the scoring department in this game, but he did contribute three assists and didn't turn the ball over a single time, in both categories far outperforming Ellington. Maybe this week Smith will finally get the start he deserves. Past that, Horn yet again deserves no credit for adjusting to this team's problems. We continued inexplicably to rely on Ellington and Ramon Galloway, and it got us another ugly loss. These two players are dead weight on the team and have been for weeks, and they combined to take nearly 50% of our field goal attempts in this game. That tells the story of the game as well as the story of this season, and that's why we've harped on it here for weeks now. All I can really say at this point is that it's profoundly frustrating to watch a team with enough talent to at least be a solid bubble team get routinely pounded by average basketball teams because our coach refuses to make adjustments that are abundantly logical according to prior results.
Carolina hosts Tennessee in this week's midweek game.
10 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Amen
from the other side of the internet.
USC Gamecocks Sports Analysis and Insight
www.leftoverhotdog.com
Thanks, bro.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Feb 27, 2011 3:10 PM EST up reply actions
They absolutely have to find guys who are more efficient with the ball.
They can’t keep wasting that many possessions on missed shots. Most fans could go out there and shoot 20%. I liked your idea about going bigger. I don’t know much about basketball strategy, but I think they should use that extra forward and just sell out underneath. Forget about the long range shots, unless Muldrow is feeling it that day. Get Smith out there as the only guard, and have him dump it off underneath every single possession. They may get mauled, and blocked, but it’s better to fall behind shooting shots they have a decent chance of making rather than falling behind shooting a bunch of threes from guys who can’t even shoot twos. If they’re getting mauled, the only thing they can do is just try to draw fouls. That’s the situation our team is in right now, but Horn can’t recognize that. He just keeps wishing on a star that our guards will have a great day, and that hasn’t happened in a very long time.
stuff 'bout stuff.
I believe that if you what you're doing definitely isn't working, you have to try something different.
What we’re doing isn’t working. If Ellington and Galloway only struggled a game or two it would be one thing. But this has been going on for weeks now. Galloway has struggled on and off all season, and Ellington hasn’t had a good game since the early part of the conference slate. These two aren’t the answer. Would going big solve all our problems? Probably not. We don’t have quality back-to-the-basket post players. That said, Harris and Muldrow have proven that they can score with more efficiency than Ellington and Galloway, so I believe we have to be looking to these guys and others each and every possession. Maybe it wouldn’t make us a tournament team, but it would at least give us the hope we’re not getting from Ellington and Galloway right now.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Feb 27, 2011 12:25 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I'd just like to reiterate that a lot of underclassmen shoot poorly.
You never know when one of them or a family member of theirs may read this, and I don’t want them to think I blame them. I don’t blame Ellington, Richardson, and crew. They’ll probably get better as their careers progress, and even if they don’t it’s just a game. Horn needs to live in the here and now, though. He has made token changes, but he refuses to do anything earth shattering when our team is clearly in a free fall.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’m going to keep saying it ‘til he gets a fair chance. Jefferson only played two minutes against Georgia, just long enough to get called for traveling once. That’s not fair to him. Jefferson has done everything asked of him on the court this season, and has highly efficient numbers in limited play. I realize enough of our forwards are on right now to fill the starting lineup, but two minutes is ridiculous for the only other senior on the team besides Muldrow.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Feb 27, 2011 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
Oh, neither do I. I think they're all talented players and I appreciate the contributions they've made to the program.
I think Ellington and Galloway have plenty of potential, which is actually part of my problem with what Horn is doing. I don’t think it’s good for a players to confidence to place them in situations where they’re bound to fail. Neither of these two players are ready to be stars, so why expect them to be?
Agreed on Jefferson. It was abundantly clear to me why we aren’t playing Spinella when I saw him get into the game against Auburn, but Jefferson has been effective in his minutes. A coach needs to reward players for effective minutes by giving them more minutes and vice versa. That is one of the problems with Horn’s coaching this year.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Feb 27, 2011 3:09 PM EST up reply actions
Jefferson is the Ellington of the bench.
Regardless of how much Ellington is struggling, Horn won’t pull him. Regardless of how well Jefferson does, Horn won’t start him.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Feb 27, 2011 5:06 PM EST up reply actions
The women really blew their game.
They were up by two with under a minute to go, so they decide to shoot a three from the wing. Of course that misses, so Vandy drives down the court and ties it up. Then, in a clutch situation, the Carolina chick with the ball steps out of bounds. Then, Vandy completely dominated in overtime.
I dunno if it’s the speed of the game or what, but basketball players in general seem to have little game awareness. They routinely make bad decisions based on the score and time remaining.
stuff 'bout stuff.
Re: speed of the game...
The issue is partially that basketball, unlike football, doesn’t have what’s essentially a timeout between every two plays.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Feb 27, 2011 4:53 PM EST up reply actions
Women and Men
The refs took away two of our baskets early with bogus charging calls. No way either one was an offensive foul. Give us one of those baskets, and we win in regulation.
But then the women could have saved the game if they had been better FT shooters. I heard that they lost the LSU game this week because of poor FT shooting. And the TV announcers said they are last in the SEC in team FT percentage. Don’t expect much from the girls until they can get better at free throws.
And same for the men. They are 11th in the SEC in free throw percentage, and tied with Auburn for last in FG percentage. They don’t make enough shots to be any good.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Garnet And Black Attack
Related FanShots on Garnet And Black Attack
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
