South Carolina at Ole Miss: A Quick Recap
by Gamecock Man on Jan 29, 2012 10:29 AM EST
in South Carolina Gamecocks Basketball
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PrintIn an excellent opportunity to nab a much-needed road upset, the Gamecocks fell short to Ole Miss, 66-62. Carolina had its chances to win this game, as Malik Cooke missed the front-end of a potentially lead-changing one-and-one with less than a minute to go, and the Gamecocks then gave up an open three to the Rebels, which iced the game. Malik Cooke led Carolina with 17 points, while Terrance Henry led the Rebels with 15. Former Gamecock Murphy Holloway made his contribution with 14 for Ole Miss.
There are a couple of things to observe about this game. First of all, we're continuing to play poor offensive basketball. Our 8-21 from beyond the arc doesn't look too horrible, but then you realize that Cooke and Brenton Williams made six of the eight connections while taking less than half the total attempts. The 3FG% culprit was, again, Damien Leonard, who shot 1-7 from beyond the arc and 1-8 total. I was all for getting this kid more playing time a couple of weeks ago, but it appears that I was wrong. I would have to agree with tryptic's claim that Leonard's play is a screaming indictment of Darrin Horn; whether Horn is encouraging Leonard to do nothing but jack up threes or if Horn lacks the gumption to give Leonard the red light, you just can't have a guy on the floor who's playing like this. Tell him to attack the basket or sit down. Attacking the basket, I should add, might be a nice change of pace for a team that shoots a high FT% but that oftentimes gets to the line less than 10 times per game. In any event, I think it would be a good idea to give Williams Leonard's minutes. Williams has made the most of his minutes this season and deserves a look for a bigger role.
The good news is that Carolina won the TO battle again and was able to take +11 FGA. The defense wasn't great in this game, but it wasn't as bad as it has been. Able defense and the ability to produce turnovers are a hallmark of Horn's philosophy, so it's pleasing to see us execute his plan. If we can continue playing like that night in and night out, we'll win a few more games this year, regardless of how the offense produces.
It's difficult to be too upset after this game, as it was, after all, a road game against a solid team. The Gamecocks played well enough to win, which is major improvement after the recent Auburn debacle. That said, we needed this win in a bad way. We're about to head into a road game against Florida, a home date with Kentucky, and road games against Tennessee and Arkansas. It's hard to see us winning too many of those games. This may have been our last chance for a while, and we came up just short.
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I guess I'm upset about the game
we really had to have it and Ole Miss wasn’t playing so well … and we couldn’t close it out. Watching Murphy Holloway stick it to us was galling; seeing Leonard out there forcing bad shots that could be turned into inside passes to Cooke or Gill is beyond frustrating (and, yes, I know Horn coaches him to make better shot-making decisions, but he’s not gaining experience by being given a free hand, and then failing)
The program is in bad shape – we are still going to be “young” next year,, and we’ll see more and more evidence of what Connor Tapp calls the death spiral … no fan support, recruiting misses, players leaving.
I would postpone the W-B video board I so desperately covet to get Gregg Marshall to USC for 2012-2013 (heresy, yes, I know). A whole generation of USC fans are missing out on what it’s like to be excited about college hoops.
It’s not that I have anything against Coach Horn personally – I like his defensive style immensely, and you are right to praise him for that – but the program is officially in the ditch in my estimation.
Here's a health, Carolina, forever to thee! UNIVERSITAS CAROLIN MERID. 1801 Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros (Ovid)
Oh, I agree. I like Coach Horn, but there's simply no excuse for the offensive dumpster fire we see every game. No offensive identity, no improvement from individual players, etc.
Horn hasn’t coached these guys up very well, and if you want to blame it on recruiting instead, then that’s his fault, too, because while he’s recruited some highly rated players, they’ve mostly been athletic projects like Lakeem Jackson and Demontre Harris as opposed to guys who know how to play basketball well, and, well, they’re still at the project stage, either because they lack basketball IQ, because Horn hasn’t helped them blossom, or some combination of the two.
That said, I don’t think we’re going to fire Horn this year because of his buyout and all the money we have invested in other projects, so I’ve more or less resigned myself to the fact that he’s going to be around for another year. As such, I’ve just decided to hope for the best. Maybe Horn will turn it around. Maybe he won’t, in which case we’ll hopefully make a good hire next year.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Jan 29, 2012 1:17 PM EST up reply actions
Pretty much agree
If Leonard and Richardson can’t make shots, there is really little reason to play them. Lakeem Jackson is better at every aspect of the game than they are, and if they can’t score, play Lakeem. I’d try Leonard and Richardson and see if they were hot, and if not, play Williams and Lakeem at the two.
Brenton Williams should be starting at the 2G. He is our best shooting guard. Our most efficient guard. I wish Ellington was a better percentage shooter. Bruce has a good shooting game now and then, but most of the time, he does not shoot it well. He should really give it up more if he isn’t shooting well.
We need to get to the FT line much more. We lead the SEC in FT percentage, but are last in attempts. We are missing several points per game by not getting to the line. Gotta fix that.
Need to get Harris and Gill more shots. Between them last night, they were 7-8 on FG. But only 8 attempts between them. Each of them should be getting at leas 8 attempts per game. If I fault Coach Horn for anything, it is letting his guards shoot too much and not getting enough shots for Gill and Harris.
Agreed on all of that.
I’ve been a bit miffed about the drop in Lakeem Jackson’s playing time. I mean, I get that he’s a limited player because he doesn’t shoot the ball well. However, he does everything else better than just about anyone on the team, and with Leonard and Richardson unable to do the one thing they’re supposed to be able to do, which is to shoot, I don’t see why we don’t just give their minutes to Jackson. He’d be good for some decent defense and could create some matchup problems against smaller guards that might help him score a few points per game. Seems like an easy choice. Either that or playing Williams a lot more. I didn’t know what to think of him when he came in, but so far, he’s looked like a pretty solid player. Shoots accurately, doesn’t make too many glaring mistakes. Certainly better than what Leonard and Richardson have given us, and, as you say, more efficient even if not as flashy as Ellington.
And yeah, Harris and Gill need more looks. They’re both playing efficient basketball, but we don’t get the ball to them enough. Too many of our possessions involve a couple of perimeter passes followed by a contested 3FGA from too far beyond the arc. We should be giving our big guys at least one look per possession, unless one of our shooters is particularly hot.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Jan 29, 2012 5:33 PM EST up reply actions
Great points, GSB
I keeping thinking of Jackson as a 3 instead of a 2 or a 1. Completely agreed on getting Gill and Harris more shots.
Here's a health, Carolina, forever to thee! UNIVERSITAS CAROLIN MERID. 1801 Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros (Ovid)
Well, ideally, he is a three. However, considering his versatility and the lack of production we're getting from our more traditional two guards, he seems like a good pick at two.
The more I think about, the more I like it. The matchup problems he would create against some teams might be a nice addition to our strategy.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Jan 29, 2012 7:32 PM EST up reply actions
I wouldn't mind seeing how Brenton Williams handles the point
if we could get Lakeem and Gill on the floor at the same time, at the two and three slots respectively – two really good swing-men. Cooke and Harris would continue to hold down the low post.
Here's a health, Carolina, forever to thee! UNIVERSITAS CAROLIN MERID. 1801 Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros (Ovid)
Another option
might be to play Cooke at the 2G and Lakeem at the 3. Lakeem needs to play with guys who can score to be his most effective. Williams can play PG or 2G, but his ball handling is a bit shaky. He needs to work a lot on dribbling in the off season. I would also like to see him penetrate into the paint and shoot some floaters. If he had a floater to go with his threes, he would give defenses much more to worry about. Ellington needs to do that more as well.
Williams is like a freshman. He only played part of his freshman year in JC, so he doesn’t have much experience. I expect him to improve as he goes and to be much better next season. Right now, we need somebody who can score the ball. And we desperately need to get to the FT line. We can score on FT, but we have to get to the line first.
FTAs...
Getting Leonard and Richardson off the floor should help with that. Neither gets to the line much at all because all they do is shoot jumpers, especially Leonard. Again, I think we’ve got to give Cooke, Harris, or Gill a look each possession. Those guys are playing efficient basketball, but we have too many possessions where they don’t get a touch.
Another thing to consider is that the lack of minutes for Lakeem has undoubtedly helped our FT%. If we start playing him a lot again, that number will go down.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Jan 29, 2012 9:35 PM EST up reply actions
The percentage might go down
but Lakeem can still draw some fouls, getting us to the bonus quicker, and maybe getting our opponents in foul trouble. I would rather have Lakeem at the line than nobody. Plus, Lakeem will look to pass to our post players which will be a good thing,
Good points.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Jan 29, 2012 10:53 PM EST up reply actions
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