After 2 narrow conference losses, Martin says team will focus on finishing games strong
South Carolina will look to rebound from two tough conference losses today when they travel to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU.
The Gamecocks have lost their first two league games by a combined five points, spoiling what had been a 10-3 start to the season. For USC to get its first SEC win of the season, players and coach Frank Martin said the team has to execute at the end of games. The Gamecocks had late leads in both conference games.
“Everyone just has to lock in at the end of games and just focus and listen to what Coach says so we can try and execute that play to the best of our abilities,” junior guard Eric Smith told reporters. “Don’t let us losing be because we executed a play wrong, let it be because we couldn’t make a shot or something like that.”
Smith also said that Martin has told the team to be “fearless” at the end of games.
After the loss to Auburn on Saturday, Martin expressed his belief that his team was just a few plays away from a 2-0 start to SEC play. The first-year coach said his players are still adjusting to his aggressive, ball-pressure style of defense.
“You could play a 2-3 zone or a soft man-to-man but I don’t like that,” Martin told reporters. “That’s not who I am. It’s not easy, it’s hard because you’re asking guys to get out and extend.”
Senior small forward Lakeem Jackson said the team was adjusting by trying to work together more.
“With any defense, it is just being disciplined,” Jackson said. “If one guy slips up, it just messes everyone else up. Everyone has to cover for each other and just have each other’s backs.”
However, Martin says that it is going to be “fun” when everyone on the team gets a grasp of the defense and begins to trust one another.
The Gamecocks will need a team effort on the defensive end as LSU has four players that average double-figure points. Junior forward Shavon Coleman leads the Tigers with 13.1 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game.
But it isn’t Coleman’s play that has caused Martin to lose sleep the past couple nights. Instead, it has been LSU’s sophomore point guard, Anthony Hickey, who averages around 11 points per game and an SEC-leading 3.5 steals.
Because of the turnover problems his team has had so far, Martin says LSU could be a mismatch for the Gamecocks.
“As aggressive as those guards are, if you take a lazy dribble or make a lazy pass, they can make it into a comedy show with the way they steal the ball,” Martin said.
In addition, USC will face the tallest player it has faced all season Wednesday in 7-foot-3-inch LSU senior Andrew Del Piero. The former walk-on averages 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds while playing about 14 minutes per game. Jackson said USC is going to put Del Piero through a lot of ball screens to see if he can move his feet well.
In order to give Martin his first SEC win as a USC coach, he said they must put the two recent losses behind them.
“I don’t care what happened yesterday,” Martin said. “I care about us competing today. Let’s get better today. I only care about one thing and that is LSU at LSU. Everything else is irrelevant.”