South Carolina Gamecocks at Mississippi St. Bulldogs Basketball: A Quick Recap
by Gamecock Man on Mar 5, 2011 6:07 PM EST
in South Carolina Gamecocks Basketball
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PrintSouth Carolina fell to Mississippi St. in Starkville this afternoon, falling short 60-58 in a comeback bid. Instead of a conventional recap, this post will be a list of complaints against the display our coach and players put on today. Here goes:
1. Sam Muldrow played 24 minutes, sitting out large portions of the game. Muldrow was never in serious foul trouble. Perhaps we're missing something that happened behind the scenes here, but I can see no rational reason for Horn sitting his best player and senior team leader in the last regular-season game of year, particularly when we're playing against a team with a massive front line that was beating us on the offensive boards.
2. Where was Eric Smith? The kid has played his butt off all year and has done everything you can do to earn some playing time by playing efficiently and clearly outplaying the guy who starts in front of him. He only got into the game for a handful of minutes today, at one point coming in, quickly draining and three, and then being pulled again. I can only shake my head and feel sorry for this kid, who deserves better.
3. Last but not least, let's look at Bruce Ellington's role in this game. Ellington had one good stretch towards the end of the game where he scored a few baskets while we closed the gap. He also went 6/20 from the field and 3/10 overall. Is this the guy you want taking multiple potential game winners, particularly when this utterly average performance is the best one he's had in weeks? Most people would say no, but Darrin Horn says yes. Ellington took our two final shots, both threes, the first while we were down one and the second while we were down two. In either of those situations, I would have preferred to see us attack the basket. Why not give Muldrow the final shot? He's the only guy who's done anything for us all year. In sum, Horn's inexplicable commitment to Ellington cost us this game. One can only conclude that either Horn is incompetent at personnel evaluation, or he promised Ellington that he would never seriously consider sitting him. Either way, it's a coaching failure.
Frankly, I wouldn't be heartbroken if Horn were fired after this performance. This game, which was virtually on a platter for us to take, was the low point of a completely forgettable season, and that's really saying something.
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I have been a Horn fan
and would like to be again, but his loyalty to Bruce Ellington is inexplicable. It boggles the mind that Horn would play this bad basketball player as much as he does and let him take shots any time ellington pleases, with no consequences at all. At least none that are apparent.
If ellington stays on this team, he might be the horse that Horn rides all the way to the unemployment line.
Galloway is no better. He is a MEAC, or Big South level talent that needs to be transfer and free up a scholarship.
For all the complaining we've been doing, this season really wasn't worse than three out of the last four seasons prior to this one.
stuff 'bout stuff.
while that's true, Blade ...
its no consolation. hoops programs ebb and flow. ours is in ebb mode. if you have a top coach who has delivered before, then you can afford to wait it out. but if your coach has not delivered, and it appears he’s not going to deliver next season, my question (not to you personally, but to Mr. Hyman) is why wait until March 2012 or March 2013 to make a move?
Does anyone seriously think we’re going to make the 2012 NCAA?
They wore garnet helmets.
Oh, I agree.
Horn should be let go. I don’t agree with his strategies at all. For his offensive strategies to work he would have to have a highly efficient do everything point guard (Downey), and at least two guys with laser accuracy from beyond the arc (Fredrick, Baniulis). I also don’t like the lack of bulk underneath which he sacrifices for speed on defense.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Mar 6, 2011 3:48 PM EST up reply actions
agree w/ ya Gamecock Man
Puzzles me why Eric Smith does not get more PT and why Muldrow is bi-polar in his performances. Goes back to the overall question all season with Horn – what is the offensive strategy?
My beef with Horn the last two years is the lack of effective coaching especially on the offenisve side. Too much dependence on the three ball and “street ball” type play.
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Agreed.
I like his fire, the “Garnet Army,” and his defensive philosophy. Personnel evaluation and offensive strategy are complete question marks.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
Seems like we are in the same place on Horn.
You know the worst part of my critique?
As Goad is my witness, I wrote it on my phone from a car when Ellington was 3-13 with 8 minutes to go. It took me that long to get it tapped out and posted, but it looks just like I was talking about today’s game. The fact that today’s game ended in the same exact same way just shows how pathetic our coaching has been this season.
Horn’s wasted a season to keep a player from leaving for football that many other coaches would have by now privately encouraged to try football just to get the scholarship back.
"They've just discovered a new use for sheep over there at Clemson... wool." - Lewis Grizzard
by GwinnettGamecock on Mar 5, 2011 7:42 PM EST reply actions
BIG mistake by Coach Horn
Ellington does not possess the basketball skills necessary to play the point at a high level. And he’s too small to play shooting guard. And he can’t shoot either. Horn should admit, at least to himself, that signing Ellington was a mistake, and encourage him to play football. And free up a scholarship. If he doesn’t, it might eventually cost him his job.
I disagree with you guys about Ellington. He's shown flashes of great potential.
Saying that we wasted a scholarship offer on him is just silly. He had offers from plenty of top programs. Is he John Wall? Certainly not. But he’s not some rube who can’t have a future in our program. I just think that Horn has misused him this year. He wasn’t ready to be the star, which is what Horn was asking of him. Horn should have either (1) told him to look to shoot the ball less and (2) if that didn’t work because Ellington is too much of a shoot-first kind of guy, we should have gone with the true PG in Smith. It seems that Horn chose to do neither either because Horn just doesn’t get it or to keep his mind away from football.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Mar 6, 2011 12:57 AM EST up reply actions
When Ellington is a junior and shooting mid-40% from the floor we'll look back on this and laugh.
Downey shot 28.4% from three point range his freshman year. Ellington is higher at 30.9%, Downey was only 5.8% better in total field goal percentage.
stuff 'bout stuff.
silver, I agree. I think Ellington has tons of potential. He was misused this year.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Mar 6, 2011 12:47 AM EST up reply actions
5.8% is nothing at which to sneeze.
At Ellington’s clip, that’s 24 additional buckets. That’s likely worth a few wins.
That is a great point
looking even further back …. Tre Kelly’s freshman stats were 5.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 2.0 apg and 0.5 spg and during his sophomore campaign was a starter that averaged 8.9 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 3.6 apg and 0.9 spg.
If Ellington turned out to be as good as Kelly, who was overshadowed by BJ McKie before him and Devon Downey after him, I think we’d all be happy.
My beef is not with Ellington. He’s trying to carry the team on his back.
My beef is with Horn. He shouldn’t let Ellington try to shoulder a load that’s too big for him. He shouldnt let Ellington take any shot he wants. He shouldnt coach Ellington to have the rock for the last shot of the game.
Ellington will improve with time. I cannot say the same thing about Horn. We’re wasting time giving him another season or two.
They wore garnet helmets.
Ellington will
always be more athletic than Eric Smith. But Eric Smith will always be the better basketball player because he has more natural talent for the game. Ellinton might improve some aspects of his game, but he will never be a great point guard, which is the postition that his size requires him to play.
I like pass first point guards. Ellington is a shoot first guard who lacks the natural instincts to play the point guard position. And if that weren’t bad enough, Ellington is a bad shooter.
i can agree with you ...
that Smith was who we needed now. I still think it comes back squarely on the coaching, however. Ellington plays the way he plays because Horn allows it … in fact must coach him to play that way. Otherwise, Ellington would be riding the pine.
They wore garnet helmets.
I also agree with tryptic on this one.
You guys might be right that Ellington will never be as good as Eric Smith, but it’s too early to tell. Maybe he won’t, but if he does, it wouldn’t be the first time it happened. Horn’s coaching, though, isn’t helping Ellington get there. What Ellington needs to do is improve his basketball IQ and learn to select higher-percentage shots. One way to teach a player to do that is to put put him on the bench if he refuses to stop playing street ball. Horn’s refusal to do that is encouraging Ellington to continue taking the bad shots. In a way, you could say that not only has Horn wasted a few extra wins with his overcommitment to Ellington; he’s also wasted Ellington’s season by not working hard to rein in Ellington’s bad habits.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
More time
I don’t want to fire Horn. This is only his third year, and he’s playing a bunch of freshmen. You can’t build a basketball program at USC in three years. Nobody else has been able to do it, not even McGuire. After two more years, we should know whether Coach Horn has us improving. If we are better then than we are now, and we are recruiting reasonably well, then we should give Horn even more time. If we are still like we are now in two years, then we should consider making a change.
Here I agree with you.
I’ve been discouraged by Horn’s performance this year, but I also think that South Carolina basketball is not in a position to fire the third year coach without serious repercussions to the program and fanbase’s image. What talented coach would come here after that, knowing that he’d be expected to win big despite limited resources? Second of all, every coach deserves some time to implement his plan. I’d like to see what Horn can do once this crop of players matures and guys like Leonard and Gill get on campus. We might see a huge difference. And honestly, I really want Horn to succeed. The guy has an admirable passion for the game and has something offer to our university in that regard.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
I like Horn
I would like for him to be our coach for many years. If he is, that means he is successful, and that’s what all of us USC basketball fans want. I think that Horn has the best chance to be successful of any coach we have had since McGuire. I’m serious. He is young, smart, and a good recruiter. But, like anyone who is young, he doesn’t know everything, and we can expect him to learn some things as he goes. And, like everyone, he is going to make some mistakes. He may have made some this year. I expect him to learn from his mistakes.
I think the team will be better next year, and better still the year after. Success will lead to more success. Reaching the NCAA’s the first time will be the biggest hurdle, but if Horn can get us there, and I think he can, then we might all be surprised at how well Coach Horn does.
Someone should make a poll on whether Horn should be let go or not.
There is much division.
stuff 'bout stuff.
by silver82blade on Mar 6, 2011 6:56 PM EST up reply actions
Not gonna happen,
Horn is not going to be fired now. Mr. Hyman is going to give him more time, as he should.
Yeah, there's absolutely no chance Horn gets fired this year.
You can expect this to be a continued conversation here, though, for the next few weeks, so maybe we can do a poll to get a better picture of what the fanbase thinks.
I don’t think Horn should be fired. I think he’s done a terrible job this year, but like you say, gsb, I think he deserves an opportunity to learn from his mistakes. I do think, though, that he’s expended a good bit of good will this year. It’s now going to be more incumbent that we see significant improvement next year.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog By and For Gamecocks Fans.
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