Two games into Sindarius Thornwell’s indefinite suspension from the team, it has become obvious that this South Carolina team is not nearly the same without him.
Many expected this team to struggle without their leading scorer, rebounder and assist man. Yet the extent to which his absence would affect the team was unknown.
Now, just two games into his suspension, it is obvious that South Carolina is not the same team offensively without Thornwell. Their field goal percentage has gone down eight percent, as now Duane Notice and PJ Dozier are being forced to manufacture offense and oftentimes force shots as a result. Furthermore, floor spacing has become a problem as teams seem much more willing to help off Justin McKie than they previously did Thornwell.
The offense has relied much more heavily on the play-making abilities of Dozier, who has stepped up in Thornwell’s absence. But, as good as Dozier has been, the offense as a whole has become more predictable and stagnant with him at the helm.
Without Thorwell’s size and athleticism, the Gamecocks have also averaged nearly 5 fewer rebounds per game. This can be largely attributed to smaller players being forced into more minutes in his absence, as coach Frank Martin even went as far as playing Gravett, Felder and Dozier together at one point in the game versus Seton Hall.
Felder and Gravett, 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-1 respectively, are smaller guards to begin with, and while PJ Dozier, at 6-foot-6, is tall enough to matchup with many teams' small forwards, these three on the court together pose a rebounding challenge that the team never had with Thornwell active.
Furthermore, South Carolina has struggled from the foul line without Thornwell. Outside of Thornwell, no other player on the team shoots above 75 percent. This trend of terrible free throw shooting continued against FIU and Seton Hall, as the team shot just 61.4 percent from the foul line, compared to the 73.5 percent that they’d shot in the seven games prior.
South Carolina’s undefeated season has now come to an end. As they gear up for conference play, they can only hope to win enough games so that, when their star returns, this team's dream of reaching the NCAA Tournament is still possible.