December 14, 2011

Assistant coach Mike Boynton had the unenviable task of charting the Gamecocks' missed layups against Presbyterian Tuesday.  In the first half, Boynton tallied 13 missed layups (on 22 overall FGA), prompting head coach Darrin Horn to channel his inner Dan Hawkins in the locker room ("Make a layup," he told his team.  "It's Division I basketball").  With 19 points and another halftime deficit, the aggravation was mounting.

By the second half, Boynton could save his ink.  The Gamecocks finished with 0 missed layups, 47 points, and a 66-58 victory over the Blue Hose.  Anchored by those close-range baskets, South Carolina shot 70.4% (19 of 27) in the 2^nd half, its best shooting percentage in a half since connecting on 68.0% of its attempts in the 2^nd half against.... Presbyterian December 23, 2008.

More notes, quotes, and anecdotes from Presbyterian and the prior week in Carolina basketball:

Three No More:  Once again, stifling defense set the tone in the second half.  The Gamecocks made better weak-side rotations out of their 2-3 zone, denying Presbyterian the wide-open, kickout three-pointers they had feasted on in the first half.  In the past two games - both comeback wins - the Gamecocks have thrown a fence around the arc in the 2^nd half:

Last 2 Games

Half                         3pt. FG%

1st Half                   47.6%  (10-of-21)

2^nd Half                   13.3%  (2-of-15)

South Carolina builds its zone around a philosophy of "switching out to take away" on the perimeter.  They've hammered that home the last two games.

Finding His Rhythm:  Bruce Ellington has shown that competitiveness and confidence doesn't need to be rusty, too.  In his third game back, Ellington put together his most complete game of the season against Presbyterian, dropping a team-high 15 points.  Several times against the Blue Hose, the armor-plated sophomore showed his greatest value:  with a high ball screen and the shot clock winding down, he's one of the few players who can create for himself and create for others.  The Gamecocks do not have a true pick-and-pop forward on screen-and-rolls like Sam Muldrow last season.  Those kickout three-pointers will more likely come from Ellington turning the corner on screens, getting inside, and swinging out to a shooter in the corner or "lifting" to the wing.

Ellington also enjoyed his steadiest ballhandling half of the season.  In addition to his 8 points, Ellington distributed 3 assists without a turnover in the 2^nd half.  Ellington has played 100 minutes this season - was the PC game a sign of things to come?

Bruce Ellington:

First 75 minutes:  3A, 6 TO

Last 25 minutes:   3A, 0 TO

Penny For Your Thoughts:  With Ellington's return, junior Lakeem Jackson has moved back to his natural small forward position after an early-season cameo at point guard.  I asked Lakeem, jokingly, for the point guard he modeled his game after.

"Penny Hardaway," he replied, cracking a smile.  His head coach was unmoved. 

Bruce Ellington scored 8 pts.

without an assist vs. PC.

"I played against Penny Hardaway.  He's no Penny Hardaway," Darrin Horn told me on "Carolina Calls."  "Anthony Mason, maybe."

(For the record, Horn's Western Kentucky team eliminated Memphis St., led by Hardaway, in the 1993 NCAA Tournament.  The game ended Hardaway's college career.) 

Mid-90's NBA comparisons aside, Horn praised Jackson for his commitment to learning the point guard position, even if the displacement was temporary. 

"One of the things that attracted us to him during the recruiting process was a young man who wanted to do the right things.  A lot of guys feel like, 'I can handle [the ball] a little bit, I'm good with dishing the ball.  But there's a big difference between doing that and running the point.  [Lakeem] has learned from that, and I think he's grown from that as a player," Horn said. 

And Finally....:  Monday (Dec. 12!) marked the first time Darrin Horn had his entire roster healthy and available for practice.  Not only had Ellington returned, but Brenton Williams, R.J. Slawson, and Damontre Harris all healed from their separate, nagging injuries.  With a full cadre of players, Horn sensed an opportunity to turn up the pressure. 

"We want to pick up our pressure a little bit more.  Hopefully getting everyone back and being a little bit deeper will give us an opportunity to experiment with that and do a little more," he told me in our pre-game interview.

Tuesday, the Gamecocks scored their highest percentage of points off fast breaks all season (19 of 66, 28%). 

 Check back Friday for our preview of Saturday's showdown with #2 Ohio State.