February 22, 2012

Greetings from Nashville.  Pre-tip reads before the Gamecocks face the baseline benches, elevated floor, and Kevin Stallings' gym-piercing whistle at Vanderbilt:

SEC-ond Coming:  What did we learn from South Carolina's last meeting with Vanderbilt, a 67-57 Commodores win January 10?  Pay attention to these four factors Wednesday:

1.)     Vanderbilt's best rebounder may not be who you think:  If Vanderbilt personnel read like a high school yearbook....

-          Most powerful player?  Festus Ezeli. 

-          Most explosive leaper?  Jeffery Taylor, scary highlight-reel maker and the SEC's leading scorer in conference games (18.6).

-          Best rebounder?  Neither.

The most difficult Commodore to contain on the boards continues to be 6'7," 230-pound senior Lance Goulbourne.  In 2 of his last 3 games against South Carolina, Goulbourne pulled down 14 and 10 rebounds, respectively.  South Carolina will need every bit of its athleticism - R.J. Slawson's in particular - to prevent Goulbourne from factoring on missed shots. 

The Commodores have wanted their role players to pitch in more offensively, and Goulbourne has gone just 5 for his last 24 from the field (20.8%).  Carolina can't let that let Goulbourne generate his offense off rebounds, and emerge as a complementary scoring threat. 

  2.)   The Commodores can be turnover-prone if you make them.  South Carolina's 3/4-court press has harried Vanderbilt the last two seasons, forcing them into turnovers or speeding them up once they cross into the forecourt.  South Carolina forced 18 turnovers in their Jan. 10 meeting; the Commodores committed 20 turnovers in a 61-52 win over Georgia Sunday. 

A textbook trap of Vanderbilt's John Jenkins (left) Jan. 10.  The Gamecocks forced 18 Vandy turnovers in their first matchup. 

The Commodores have a strong mix of polished, athletic finesse players -- when they find their rhythm in Kevin Stallings' thick-playbook motion offense, they can be hard to stop.  South Carolina needs to make it a rock fight, and force Vanderbilt to beat them ugly.  With more turnovers, Carolina can exact its brand of raw, low-possession basketball, a style not befitting the freewheeling Commodores.

3.)     Vandy can be dangerous any night from three.  The numbers don't leave much to subtlety:  Vanderbilt leads the SEC in 3pt. FG% (40.2%).  South Carolina ranks last in 3pt. FG% defense (39.0%).  The Commodores drained buckets -- and the Gamecocks' wills - when they connected on 13 of 22 three-pointers in January.  Like Florida, Vanderbilt has three players who shoot better than 40% from three-point range (Taylor .496, John Jenkins .459, Brad Tinsley .423).  If the Gamecocks trap out of their zone, they must do so decisively, and make their rotations crisp.  Any waffling could lead to sluggish rotations - and dangerously open looks for a good-passing Vandy team.  If the Commodores want to beat the Gamecocks from three-point range, make them shoot challenged three-pointers.

4.)     Don't lose track of John Jenkins.  Vanderbilt's three-point sniper produced one of the more incredible stat lines in college basketball against Ole Miss last week.  The junior shooting guard scored a team-high 28 points... on just five field goal attempts.

John Jenkins vs. Ole Miss:  28 pts.  (5-5 FG,  4-4 3pt.,  12-15 FT)

Jenkins leads the SEC in scoring (20.1 ppg), and leads the nation in three-point field goals per game (3.8).  Vanderbilt weaves Jenkins relentlessly around screens - forward Steve Tchiengang is a particularly hard screener - hoping to give him enough daylight for his lightning-quick release.  Jenkins also loves the stepback jumper if a defender tries to slip underneath a screen.  The Gamecocks can't let him get in rhythm or shoot open transition three's.

Big Fes' vs. Big 'Tre:  Damontre Harris told me he considers Vanderbilt big man Festus Ezeli the strongest player he's faced.  His play against the Commodores' 6'11," 255-pound center will be critical Wednesday. 

Ezeli ranked 7th in the nation last year in fouls drawn/40 minutes, inducing an average of 7.9 fouls per 40 minutes.  As we've seen all year, South Carolina's production inside ebbs and flows with Harris' foul situation.  He picked up his first career double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) against Vanderbilt Jan. 10.  Can Harris be a wrecking ball against Ezeli, while also staying out of foul trouble?

Damontre Harris (left) vs. LSU.  He recorded his first career double-double against Vanderbilt Jan. 10.

"It's just about doing my work early in the play, pushing him off the block, and figuring out how the refs are going to call the game," Harris told me.

Bump In The Road:  South Carolina was scuttled by a season-low 5 offensive rebounds against LSU.  Despite that output, offensive rebounding remains South Carolina's biggest statistical strength.  The Gamecocks rank 30th in the nation in Offensive Rebounding % (36.8%), a figure which also leads the SEC.

That bodes well against Vanderbilt:  statistically speaking, Vanderbilt is one of the poorer teams in the nation at preventing offensive rebounds for its height.  The Commodores rank 11th in the nation in Average Height (players measure an average of 68.1").  However, the Commodores rank 7th in the SEC, and 170th nationally, in Offensive Rebound Percentage Defense.  Only Florida State and Syracuse have taller average heights, but worse percentages.

Vanderbilt                             NCAA Rank

Average Height                    11th

OReb % Defense                  170th

Watch This:  Need another confirmation of South Carolina's meat-grinder schedule?  Vanderbilt is one of three teams to put three players (Taylor, Jenkins, Ezeli) on the Wooden Award Preseason Watch List.  The other two?  North Carolina and Ohio State.

Now that we're prepared, we hope you are as well.  Our pre-game coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. EST on the Gamecock IMG Sports Network.  We'll see you in Nashville.

February 17, 2012

When the losses pile up, players have plenty of reasons to "check out."  To lose pride, slink away, and stray from the things that made them successful.  It's the first slip on a slope that can lead teams to a cardinal sin of sports:  being okay with losing. 

When the whistle blew - ahead of schedule -- to end South Carolina's practice Tuesday, the Gamecocks could've merrily skipped away, content to punch the clock and enjoy the early dismissal.  Yet for a half-hour after practice, every Gamecock player stayed behind to get up extra shots.  They went through shooting drills, pushed up free throws, rebounded for one another, and generally ribbed each other as they waited their turn in the rotation. 

A 1-9 start in the SEC could have worn away at the Gamecocks' resolve.  It could've splintered them, left them resigned - or worse, made them okay with losing.  But inside those losses were comebacks.  Plenty of them.  In Knoxville, Gainesville, Oxford, and Fayetteville.  Yes, the losses had piled up.  But South Carolina had shown too much fight to stop now. 

The Gamecocks finally showed the fruits of their fight against Georgia.  Wednesday's game didn't come easy, nor did it come pretty, but the Gamecocks grinded their way from a seven-point deficit to beat the Bulldogs 57-56.  Will that preparation pay off further against LSU (15-10, 5-6 SEC) Saturday? 

Pre-tip reads before Gamecocks and Tigers renew pleasantries at Colonial Life Arena:

Malik Cooke (left) led South Carolina with 13 points vs. Georgia.

Quick Hands:  Georgia came in averaging 10.3 turnovers per game, the 4th-lowest total in the nation.  South Carolina shook out 13 turnovers from the Bulldogs, their second-highest total in SEC play.

Let's put it another way:  Georgia committed 13 turnovers in 40:00 against South Carolina.  Georgia had committed 13 turnovers in its last 82:15 of SEC play. 

Man To Stop:  center Justin Hamilton.  Behold!  A true low-post player.  At 7'0," 260 pounds, Hamilton sat out last year as a transfer from Iowa State.  He has since led the Tigers in scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounds (7.3 rpg), while shooting a team-best 52.2% from the floor.  Hamilton has soft hands and a nice touch around the rim, with the ability to shoot smoothly from 8-12 feet.  His post offense is measured and well-schooled, rather than herky-jerky and explosive, and he shields the ball from his defender exceptionally well.  When you're 7'0," 260 pounds, why not use your body to your advantage?  He's also a terrific offensive rebounder (2nd SEC, 3.7 rpg).

Person of interest:  LSU 7-footer Justin Hamilton, an Iowa State transfer.   

Trap Game?  The Gamecocks weren't afraid to trap on the wing, or rotate a weak-side player over, to hunt for turnovers against Georgia.  The risk of a trap, of course, is that it leaves behind one less defender if the opposing ball-handler breaks your trap.  Even if the Gamecocks double LSU's posts, or force the Tigers to slingshot around the perimeter to avoid a trap, it may be worth the gamble.  LSU has shot 13 for its last 73 from three-point range (17.8%) in its last 5 games. 

Matchup to Watch:  South Carolina's Bruce Ellington vs. LSU freshman guard Anthony Hickey.  Maturity isn't measured easily in college basketball.  But Ellington has quietly shown more poise at the point during his sophomore season:

Bruce Ellington

Year                        Assists                   Turnovers

'10-11                    42                           43

'11-12                    40                           27

As you can see, Ellington has nearly as many assists - in five fewer games - while committing 16 fewer turnovers.  He's rushed less, and played in control more.  He'll receive a test Saturday from Hickey, a 5'10" former Kentucky Mr. Basketball who has had a solid rookie season for head coach Trent Johnson.  In addition to averaging 9.6 ppg and a team-high 3.8 apg, Hickey ranks among the SEC leaders in steals (2.1 spg).

Bruce Ellington will get a test from one of the quickest pairs of hands in the SEC, LSU point guard Anthony Hickey. 

Ellington and Hickey have several traits in common:  height (Hickey 5'10," Ellington 5'8"), hype (starting point guards from Day One), and crossover ability (both starred at quarterback for their high schools' football teams). Ellington will need to use his more mature ballhandling against Hickey's hyper-quick hands.  We'll also see if Ellington can use his athleticism to shed Hickey off ball screens, something the Gamecocks did often against Georgia.  At eye level, few players see eye-to-eye with Bruce.  Look at how Ellington has fared when facing an opposing point guard shorter than 6'0" in SEC play:

Date                       Team                      Player                                     Height                    Points Scored

1/15/11                 Florida                  Erving Walker                       5'8"                         23 points              

2/2/11                   LSU                         Andre Stringer                       5'9"                         20 points

1/14/12                 Florida                  Erving Walker                       5'8"                         17 points

Clearly, Ellington has shown he can get his shot up.

Threes Need Not Apply:  South Carolina has shot 10-51 (19.6%) from three-point range in its two SEC wins. 

We Interrupt This Game... South Carolina sealed the Georgia game thanks to stellar, 14-15 free-throw shooting.  Neither team has shown a penchant to drive or play physically - South Carolina ranks 334th in the nation in FTA/FGA, LSU 335th  That could easily decide the game - which team gets to the line better?

And Finally... Did the Gamecocks receive some serendipitous scheduling?  South Carolina held Georgia's triangle offense to an SEC season-low 35.1% FG.  Georgia head coach Mark Fox learned the triangle as an assistant coach at Nevada to Tigers head coach Trent Johnson.

Repetition and preparation.  The Gamecocks exhibited it after the practice whistle Tuesday.  They'll try to show it when the referee's whistle blows Saturday.

Now that we're prepared, we hope you are as well.  Our pre-game coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. EST on the Gamecock IMG Sports Network.  We'll see you at Colonial Life Arena.