Carrera impresses in USC’s open practice
For the first time in the Frank Martin era, the public got a chance to see the new-look team that the first-year South Carolina coach has put together.
The Gamecocks scrimmaged each other in an open practice at Colonial Life Arena Friday evening.
Martin’s new philosophy was on full display as both squads were attacking the basket and playing physical defense. It’s something that Martin has preached to his new team, and the coach likes what he sees so far, particularly the play from his guards.
“If you can’t pressure the rim, then you can’t win,” Martin said. “Common sense tells you that the closer you get the ball to the rim, the easier it’s going to be. When you do that, there is different ways of pressuring the rim. You can pressure the rim through post-ups, you can pressure the rim through cuts and you can pressure the rim through dribble drives.
“The one good thing that I am seeing from our team is that we are doing it all three ways. I sit there and I see the way that we’re driving the basketball, and that makes me proud. (It’s) something that my team last year couldn’t do.”
Martin went on to say that it is a two-sided coin because while there have been open lanes thus far, that’s also an indicator of defensive weaknesses.
Junior forward RJ Slawson has enjoyed the new approach Martin brings.
“Just cutting to the basket opens up a lot of stuff,” Slawson said. “Some backdoor (cuts), easy buckets; it puts a bunch of pressure on the defense. It also puts a lot of pressure on the offense as well.”
Freshman Michael Carrera took over the show Friday. The Venezuela native had success driving to the basket through contact and disrupting plays on the defensive side of the ball. Martin has been pleased with Carrera’s play but said his aggressiveness has led to some mistakes on defense.
“What you see is what you get with him,” Martin said. “It’s a ball of enthusiasm and energy, he is reckless with his body, I mean, he’s not scared to throw his body around. He’s making a ton of mistakes defensively, as they all are, but his energy; it’s a big thing I preach. You can make up mistakes with the kind of energy and toughness you play with, and he does that.”
USC has added two new walk-on players to the team. Forwards Brian Steele and Austin Constable joined the team for the scrimmage Friday. Martin said the move was made to provide some depth for a team that has experienced some early injury woes.
“We’ve got to have bodies to practice,” Martin said. “The way we play is taxing on your team in practice (and) you don’t have enough guys. We kind of liked what we saw in tryouts, and we’ve brought them on for a trial period to see if they can help us. Everyone thinks that the guy who scores 25 points a game is the only one who helps your team. No, it’s everyone. Even the guy that doesn’t get in the game sometimes helps a lot more than some of the other guys.”