SB Nation - K.C. Rivers

Bobcats Pre-draft Workout Video: Stephen Curry, Danny Green, Gerald Henderson

David Arnott — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:35:58 -0000

There really isn't much to see in the last fifteen minutes of an NBA team's pre-draft workout. Thursday morning, I went to the Bobcats' workout with Stephen Curry, Toney Douglas, Danny Green, Gerald Henderson, KC Rivers, and Garrett Temple. As you can tell from the video below, which I shot for The Baseline, figuring out which 20-year-old is going to be a pillar of your franchise for the next decade from having them run back and forth and shooting with no defense seems like a futile exercise.

Sure, there are identifiable differences between the players. Watch Curry in the video. You won't see him miss a shot, because he didn't miss any. I can really tell from the video is that Toney Douglas is nowhere near the caliber of shooter as Stephen Curry, which you can see from the segments where they shoot side by side. We didn't get to see any of the defensive drills, and even if we had, what good does a defensive drill do if you don't have a five on five situation to work with?

A single workout is such a small sliver of performance that we can't really tell anything meaningful. Even if Curry picked up Larry Brown's instructions more quickly than anyone else, so what? NBA players have all the time in the world to devote to the game, and if one guy doesn't learn as fast as another in a "classroom" setting, that doesn't necessarily mean that the bar is lower for what can be expected of him. It's just that he'll have to work longer hours, and he might actually be capable of doing more.

In any event, enjoy the video, because it has footage of Curry showing that, in a confined and controlled practice environment, he's an extremely impressive NBA prospect. After the action footage, stick around for clips from the post-workout interview scrums.

We're Dancing: Clemson Tigers

SFBE.MP — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:50:46 -0000

Clemson student tackles Wake Forest player (via chaztopher)

Location: Clemson, SC

Enrollment: 14,172

Record: 23-8 (9-7)

Leading Scorers: Trevor Booker (15.3 ppg), K.C. Rivers (14.2 ppg), Terrence Oglesby (13.5 ppg)

What to know:

Clemson became a surprise team when they jumped out to a 16-0 start but was brought back to Earth and actually dropped 4 of their last 5 games in the "L" column.
Clemson is only 1-4 versus the Top 25 and only 3-5 versus the Top 50.
Clemson's strength is their manacing full court defense. they will cause turnovers, so a poised team will be needed to disect the tigers and their defense that ranks 7th in the nation in steals.

Projected Performance: Clemson is really slumping right now and we don't see any reason that things are looking up. Michigan has played their way in with some big wins and we see some desire out of their camp.

ACC Tournament: Clemson vs. Georgia Tech Recap

MRickman84 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:57:56 -0000

Georgia Tech and Head Coach Paul Hewitt, who had won only three games in all of 2009, knew that the ACC Tournament is a welcome fresh start. Using that logic and the magic that Georgia teams have seemed to have in the Georgia Dome the last two years, the Yellow Jackets were able to blitz the Clemson Tigers by a final score of 86-81.

Behind a career-high 32 points from Lewis Clinch, and a maskless Maurice Miller, who provided eight assists, the Yellow Jackets used solid defense and effectively broke the Clemson press to give the 12 seed in the ACC tournament their third win against the five seed in the last four seasons. TO, fresh off his contract signing with the Buffalo Bills, was in attendance and was just munching on some popcorn during the game.

Georgia Tech did an incredible job down low, with 42 points in the paint and 22 second chance points, but set the tone with 33 fast break points--showing just how much of a double-edged sword Clemson's press has been all year. When it works, it works well, but when teams break it consistently, the defense has no time to get set and guys can get free for uncontested look, something that Gani Lawa used time and again on his way to 20 points for the game.

I've said it all year, but it bears repeating: Georgia Tech is not a bad basketball team. Lawal, Clinch, Zach Peacock, Iman Shumpert, Miller and Alade Aminu are all good ACC players. I joked with Dan Collins after the game and he said that this year's Tech team just might be the best two win ACC team ever.

The game came down to the wire, as Clemson caught fire from deep near the end, paced by Terrence Oglesby who was just launching it near the end of the game. He finished with 11 points, as did K.C. Rivers, Demontez Stitt and Raymond Sykes. Trevor Booker finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Clemson, who backed into the tournament after losing four of their last five conference games, continued their woes, and has seen their NCAA seeding plummet in the last two weeks. It will be interesting to see what their seed ends up being and whether or not they can bounce back come next week.

For Georgia Tech, their next foe is Florida State, who they match up well against, and hey, in the ACC Tournament, anything can happen, especially in the Georgia Dome.

I'll be back to talk about tonight's games, but leave your impressions about the first half of Thursday's action below.

Taking a Look at Our Chances During the Hoops OOC Schedule

Gamecock Man — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:00:43 -0000

Below is the OOC basketball schedule, per the USC athletics website.

F-Nov. 7 Kentucky Wesleyan (EX) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 7 p.m.
F-Nov. 14 Jacksonville State (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 7 p.m.
Su-Nov 16 Winthrop (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 4 p.m.
Sa-Nov. 22 USC Upstate (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 1 p.m.
Tu-Nov. 25 Gardner Webb (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 7 p.m.
F-Nov. 28 College of Charleston Charleston, S.C. (Carolina First Arena) 7 p.m.
Tu-Dec. 2 Princeton Princeton, N.J. (Jadwin Gym) 7 p.m.
F-Dec. 5 Furman Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 6 p.m.
Tu-Dec. 16 NC Central (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 8 p.m.
Sa-Dec. 20 The Citadel (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 5 p.m.
Tu-Dec. 23 Presbyterian College (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 7 p.m.
Tu-Dec. 30 Clemson (FSN) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 7 p.m.
F-Jan. 2 Baylor (FSNSW) Waco, Texas (Ferell Center) 5:30 p.m.
M-Jan. 5 Wofford College (SS) Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) 7 p.m.

Four games stand out here as important tests for our team: Winthrop, College of Charleston, Clemson, and Baylor. The other games should be easy wins. Of course, Gardner-Webb did beat Kentucky last year, but hopefully we'll escape that fate. Princeton's career as a giant killer is well known, but the Tigers have fallen on hard times. As far as Jacksonville State is concerned, we'll just have to hope that record keepers don't get confused when we play them and credit the wrong team with the win.

We're flattered, really.

Let's take a closer look at the better OOC opponents we face.

Winthrop

Winthrop has had a lot of success in the Big South conference in recent years. Last year, they went 22-12 and, as usual, represented their conference in the NCAA tournament. Despite their Big South success, though, wins over major conference foes have not come often for the Eagles, so they'll be looking for blood when they come to Columbia.

Luckily for us, however, the Eagles should be in a rebuilding phase this year. They lose four of their top five scorers from a year ago, and while Randy Peele has proven that he's a good enough coach to get his young team ready for the Big South, he'll likely have trouble with a more experienced, athletic Gamecocks team.

Verdict for Winthrop: Likely Win

College of Charleston

The COC had a tough year last year, going 16-17 and 9-11 in the Southern Conference, otherwise lately known as Davidson's Whipping Boys. However, Bobby Cremins's team returns every significant player this year. Cremins is a good, proven coach, and if things come together for his group of players, his team should challenge Davidson in the SoCon.

COC may be a tough out for the Gamecocks. The Cougars present minor matchup problems for Carolina. Carolina's Achilles Heel last year was talented big men, and COC sports two in Jermaine Johnson and Dustin Scott. Johnson and Scott don't sport quite the size of the SEC big men that plagued the Gamecocks last year, but they should be able to score some points in the paint against us. Also playing in COC's favor is that this game will take place in Charleston and lots of COC fans will undoubtedly be on hand to see the Cougars try to take out one of the big boys.

Verdict for COC: Somewhat Probable Win

See previews for Clemson and Baylor after the jump.

Clemson

Our friends from Pickens County have developed a nice little basketball program over the last few years under Coach Oliver Purnell, who is undoubtedly one of college hoops bright young coaching stars. The Tigers made the NCAA tournament last year and anything less than that this time around will be a disappointment, as they return senior guard and team leader K. C. Rivers along with other talented players. Many media outlets rate Clemson in their pre-season top 25s.

This will definitely be a difficult game for the Gamecocks. The Tigers have a number of talented shooters and are capable of scoring lots of points, and Darrin Horn's up-tempo offense plays into Clemson's hand to a certain degree because the Tigers have strong full-court and perimeter defenders. Clemson also brings in 7-2 center Catalin Baciu from Romania. Baciu is raw player and will need development before he really blossoms into a top player, but he's capable of scoring under the basket and Clemson will undoubtedly try to get him the ball so he can take advantage of the fact that he's a good several inches taller than our big men.

To make a long story short, we'll need to play a great game to beat the Tigers. We can do it, but it's not very likely. The game takes place in Columbia, so hopefully we'll get a little help from a pumped up crowd.

Verdict for Clemson: Likely Loss

Baylor

After enduring well-publicized scandal and tragedy in 2003, the Bears surged to a 21-11 record last year and ended up being one of the season's feel-good stories. A repeat performance may be likely this year, as Baylor returns its best players. The Bears sport one of the nation's best backcourts in Curtis Jerrells and Henry Dugat, and their frontline is also good. They won't sneak up on anybody again this year, but they're good enough to play with most teams.

Baylor doesn't have a player like Clemson's Baciu that will give Carolina fits. They also aren't as good defensively as the Tigers, so we should be able to score points against them. However, they'll get their points as well, and since they have a little more momentum coming into the season than we do, they'll likely be favored in this game.

Verdict for Baylor: Somewhat Probable Loss

Final Thoughts

Our OOC schedule this year is a good bit easier than what we faced last year. Gone are the Southern Cals, NC States, and George Masons, most of them replaced by teams that we should handle easily. That being the case, we should have no more than three losses headed into conference play. That's a good thing for this team, as the wins will build confidence and gives us a better chance of finishing with a respectable record even if we don't play great in SEC play. Playing tough OOC opponents is great for good teams that need the quality wins to help their NCAA seeding, but we're probably not at that point this year. And if we are, we need to beat Clemson and Baylor.