The Daily Gamecock

Gamecocks aim to rediscover confidence

<p></p>

Two of South Carolina's offensive deficiencies were exposed Saturday afternoon by No. 1 Kentucky. 

First — as anyone who watches the games could tell you — the Gamecocks have had a tough time knocking down shots recently. South Carolina shot an ice cold 22.6 percent from the field against the Wildcats, which is the second-lowest offensive output by a major conference team this season. In November, Kentucky held then-No. 5 Kansas to a 19.6 field goal percentage — the lowest mark by a major conference team — in a 72-40 victory.

The Gamecocks found Kentucky's defense in the post uncompromising and were only able to muster 14 points in the paint. Because of their lack of success in the post, the Gamecocks were forced to take several low-percentage shots, many of which they missed. 

Against LSU Wednesday, South Carolina will likely encounter that the same style of play. 

Like Kentucky, LSU has a collection of freakishly tall athletes, including four players over the 6-foot-10-inch mark. In fact, the Tigers are the second-tallest team in the Southeastern Conference behind only Ole Miss. Centers Darcy Malone and Elbert Robinson III, who are 7-foot and 7-foot-1-inch respectively, anchor an LSU team whose average player is just a shade under six-foot-six.

During head coach Frank Martin's tenure at South Carolina, he's faced tall teams like Kentucky and LSU and has seen success in some instances. 

"You know, the problem with LSU is we've played their height before. And, going into the Kentucky game, we had played teams who had height," Martin said. "But, we've played teams that had big front lines. We took some good shots [against Kentucky], we just didn't make them."

Of the Gamecocks' first six conference opponents, four have been in the top half of the SEC in terms of height. Against those four, South Carolina has averaged 24 points in the paint and have lost three of the four contests. Losses came against Mississippi, Florida and Kentucky, while the team's only win came against Alabama, the seventh-tallest team in the conference. 

South Carolina sits as the No. 10 team in the conference in height, with its average player just a hair under 6-foot-5.

But for Martin, South Carolina's concerns lie with getting its confidence back rather than overcoming the Tigers' towering heights. The Gamecocks upset then-No. 9 Iowa State in Brooklyn, New York and demolished Oklahoma State before entering league play, but ever since starting its SEC slate, South Carolina has struggled.

"Since we were playing like that consistently, we played with more confidence and we hadn't practiced or played that way in three weeks," he said. "Then you get beat. And when you get beat, all of a sudden guys lose a little confidence in themselves. And it's our job to rediscover that confidence we had a month ago."


Comments