SB Nation - Zam Fredrick II

Darrin Horn and the New Culture of Gamecocks Basketball

Gamecock Man — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:21:36 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

8 months ago: FILE - In this March 13, 2009, file photo, South Carolina guard Devan Downey (2) shoots around Mississippi State forward Jarvis Vernado during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Southeastern Conference men's tournament in Tampa, Fla. Downey is making himself eligible for the NBA draft without hiring an agent, meaning he can withdraw his name by June 15 and still return to school. The 5-foot-9 guard announced his decision Tuesday, April 7. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

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In the wake of Dominique Archie and Devan Downey's decisions to return to South Carolina for their senior season, expectations for Gamecocks hoops are sky high. I think it's safe to say that this is the most experienced, talented team we will have had in Columbia in many years. We lose a key scorer in Zam Frederick. However, we have likely preseason All-SEC players in Archie and Downey, two big men in Mike Holmes and Sam Muldrow who could form a solid front line with a little more seasoning, and a cast of role players like Evaldas Baniulis who perform key functions for the team. We also have an incoming freshman in Lakeem Jackson who will be ready to contribute immediately and will be a key player on this team for the next few years. While this team doesn't have the raw talent of a Kentucky or even a Florida, the experience it brings to the table will make us a contender.

We also have Darrin Horn. Horn proved in his first year as our head coach that he could win in the SEC with this lineup using the up-tempo pressing style he developed at Western Kentucky. I expect his success using this system will only improve as he recruits more players like Jackson that fit the mold of what he's looking for. Horn wants mid-sized, rangy players that can play defense and score in transition, players much like Jackson. While in physical terms Downey isn't exactly the type of player Horn seeks, Downey has had success in this system precisely because he can do some of these things. Downey's great speed generates lots of steals and fast break opportunities, which is exactly the idea. Horn will find more players that can do these things and we will continue to get better.

The tactical advantages Horn provides us with, though, are clearly not the only thing he is contributing to USC. Many fans have commented that Horn has changed the feel of the program. He has installed new traditions like calling the student section the "Garnet Army." These changes invigorated the culture of a program that was plagued by a general lack of fan interest over the last few years of Dave Odom's tenure. Archie and Downey's choice to return to USC for their final year of eligibility further illustrates the success Horn is having in this area. We've had problems in the past with players like Renaldo Balkman foregoing their eligibility despite not being projected as lottery picks. And can you really blame them? It's not like they had a whole lot to play for, or at least that was the general perception. I feared that either Downey, Archie, or both might also leave to make some money in Europe instead of coming back to try to fight for USC's first NCAAs appearance in several years. However, both decided to come back. That says a lot about how these two players perceive this program. They see an excited fan base, the chance to be part of something. We have Horn to thank for part of that.

So, kudos to Horn and his squad for all that they have and will accomplish. I'm really excited about the future of this program, and you should be, too.

Selection Sunday and NIT Thoughts

Gamecock Man — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:04:55 -0000

Unsurprisingly, we missed out on the NCAAs. While it's painful to make yet another trip to the NIT only two weeks after what at the time seemed like a season-defining win over Kentucky, it's hard to be too bitter over the way things turned out. While it would be easy to say that a 21-win team that shared the Eastern Division Title deserves better, our weak non-con resume and lack of quality conference wins just doesn't give us enough mileage to get into the Big Dance. Moreover, we had plenty of chances to lock down a bid over the last few games and simply failed to do so. In the end, this is a team that has beaten most of the teams it should beat and that has gotten a couple of minor-but-not-earthshattering upsets. Such teams are borderline NCAAs teams at best, and we ended up on the wrong side of a bubble that shrunk very quickly over the weekend.

Although I'm not surprised that we missed out on the NCAAs, I will say that I'm a little surprised we're only a three seed in the NIT. It seems to me that that's a little low, especially considering that Florida and Auburn, two teams with very similar resumes, got one seeds, and Virginia Tech, a team with 18 wins and that lost to Georgia (!) got a two seed. Still, you can't complain about our first opponent: Davidson. The Wildcats are, of course, led by last year's NCAAs darling Stephen Curry. Davidson and Curry will serve as a worthy opponent and should give us an exciting game. If we win that game, we'll face the winner of St. Mary's and Washington State. Personally, I think Davidson will be a much tougher test than either of those two teams. Washington State is plain bad and St. Mary's took a hard pounding from Gonzaga in their final game.

And, while on the subject, I say that if we're in the NIT, we should support our team and hope they can win it. Other than Zam Fredrick and possibly Devan Downey if Downey goes pro (I don't think he will), all of these guys are going to be back next year. A solid performance in the NIT could give them something to build on next year and will give Horn some much-needed exposure to tout on the recruiting trail.

A few more thoughts on South Carolina, the SEC, the NCAAs, and the NIT.

South Carolina wasn't the only team from our conference that didn't get a lot of respect from the NCAAs committee. Florida and Auburn were also kept out of the tournament, and the three teams that got in got low seeds. LSU and Tennessee got eight and nine seeds, respectively; LSU must have gotten one of the lowest seeds ever for a major-conference team with 27 wins. With a 13 seed, Mississippi State obviously wouldn't have gotten in if they had lost today, meaning that the SEC would have only gotten two teams if not for the Bulldogs' upset victory over Tennessee. Like LSU, State got a very low seed considering their win total of 23. By comparison, UGA got a 14 seed last year after winning the SECT with only 17 wins.
A lot has been made of how down the SEC has been this year, and when they talk about the SEC's low profile in the NCAAs this year, that's how the pundits will explain things. However, the idea of a down SEC is largely a media construction; the conference is down, but is it really much worse than the Big 10, the Big XII, or the Pac 10? Probably not. (The ACC and Big East, by the way, are different stories. Both are loaded.) The committee knows that, and they don't base their selection and seeding process on the thought processes of talking heads that like to stir the pot. However, when you compare the bubble teams from the SEC and teams like Arizona and Maryland, what you see is that 'Zona and Maryland played tougher non-con schedules and thusly have more quality wins. Quality wins is a stat that selection committee pays very close attention to, and it explains why a team like 'Zona with a low RPI and lots of losses beat out teams like Auburn, Florida, and South Carolina that played weak non-cons, all of whom possess relatively respectable RPIs and won-loss records. Again, these SEC teams have no one to blame but themselves. It was their choice to play cupcakes early in the season.
While on this subject, though, I don't think Darrin Horn and South Carolina made a mistake by scheduling a light non-con slate. A team that has suffered through two abysmal seasons like we had coming into this year can oftentimes benefit from getting a few early wins under its belt. It's good for confidence. By comparison, last year we had, if memory serves me, five OOC losses. The team's confidence was shaken going into conference play, and it showed in all the close losses. Moreover, we broke in a new coach this year. The easy early schedule allowed the players to adapt to Horn's system. In this sense, our easy non-con helped this team build confidence and an identity, which benefited us throughout the season. It's also worth noting in our defense that Baylor and Clemson were considered to be much better at that point in the year than they are now.

That's all for tonight. It's rough to be relegated to the NIT yet again, but it's where we are and we should hope for the best now. I'll be back with a Davidson preview over the next couple of days.

Mississippi State vs. South Carolina: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:25:09 -0000

While I'm going to give it a go all the same, I'll have to admit that it pains me to write this. Despite the fact that this season has mostly been a joy to behold, it's been tough to suffer through these late-season losses. This one probably hurts the most. We were in a position to win at the half and things were looking like we would finally come through with the huge, NCAAs-clinching win we needed. It didn't happen, though. In the end, Mississippi State defeated South Carolina 82-68. Barry Stewart led State with 21 points and Zam Fredrick led USC with 20. Devan Downey was held in check with only 11 points. Congrats go to the Bulldogs, who played incredibly well in all facets of the game in the second half and were clutch from the free throw line in the final minutes.

A couple of points bear noticing in how this game went down. First of all, State did a great job defending Downey. Dee Bost played him tough on the ball and as a team I thought State did a good job of keeping Downey out of the lane, where Downey is most dangerous. Downey finished with 11 points on 5/20 shooting (!!!) and only had three assists. The truth is that down the stretch our opponents have learned how to contain Downey; that's what happened against Tennessee, and that's what happened yesterday. This wouldn't be such a problem if other players could step up and fill his shoes, but, unfortunately, that hasn't happened. This isn't to say that the rest of our team is chopped liver on offense--Zam and Dominique Archie played well yesterday, for instance--but it's painfully obvious that we're not the same team offensively when Downey isn't controlling the flow of the game.

I'll have more to say about what I think this team needs to do to improve next year after the season is over, but suffice it to say that numero uno is that we can't simply rely on Downey to do everything in the half-court game. When our half-court offense has worked this year, it has basically involved Downey beating a guy off the dribble and either scoring on short jumpers or layups or dishing to a big guy or open three-point shooter after the defense collapses on him in the lane. When the half-court offense has failed, it's failed because opposing defenses have kept Downey from doing this and we haven't had any other options. No one else can really create consistently for us, and we consequently have trouble getting open looks. We have to work on our general efficiency running offensive plays and returning players like Archie have to elevate their games so that we aren't lost when Downey is being kept in check. That's what will change this team from a capable offensive team to a juggernaut.

The second point to recognize about this game is that State had an offensive performance for the ages in the second half. At times I thought we could have defended the perimeter better, but honestly, they really shot the lights out. They made several of their threes with hands in their faces. Stewart, especially, was a force from outside, shooting 4-6 from downtown. This is the kind of game State likes to play, and when they're doing it well, they're hard to beat unless you can keep pace with them offensively. We didn't do that, and we predictably lost.

As I said yesterday, I think we're NIT-bound. I think we have a SLIGHT chance of making it to the NCAAs, mainly because I suspect the tournament committee will give the SEC more bids than the biased, Kentucky-focused national media thinks the conference deserves. However, even if the committee throws the SEC a third or fourth bid, I doubt we'll be the one that gets it. Auburn deserves it more than us, especially if they beat the Vols again tonight. State, moreover, just made their statement with a win against LSU. And if Auburn wins, that'll set up a State-Auburn title game, meaning that one of them will certainly get one of the SEC bids. And honestly, even if one of them doesn't win the auto-bid, do any of us really think we deserve it more than the Bulldogs or Tigers? I hate to say it, but I don't. Those two teams are just better than us right now, so we probably shouldn't expect to get any love from the committee just because they want to be nice to the SEC; any such gifts will go to Auburn or State.

All of that said, I still think we all know deep down inside that this season has been a success. I'll have more to say about the season as a whole after it's over, but we have surpassed expectations this year. We were projected to be fifth in the East and lucky to make it to the NIT; instead we shared the divionsal title and ended up squarely on the bubble. And if we do go to the NIT, we need to support this team. Most of them will be back next year, and they need to feel like a good post-season showing is the first step to a big 2009-2010.

South Carolina at Georgia: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:08:04 -0000

Back in Black.

The Gamecocks netted that all-important 10th conference win today by beating UGA 68-51. Devan Downey led the way with 23 point; Zam Fredrick, Mike Holmes, and Evaldas Baniulis also made important contributions. Howard Thompkins and Chris Barnes both had 10 for UGA. The Dawgs had an awful offensive (or awfully offensive?) outing, shooting 18-66 from the field.

The keys to this win were great three-point shooting in the second half and good perimeter defense. Our offense was about as slow as UGA's in the first half, but in the second, we found some open shots and made the Dawgs pay. Doing that on the road in a game when our backs were against the wall is a credit to this team's fortitude and desire to get into the Dance. Defensively, I thought we played UGA's strengths well by selling out by selling out to make sure the Dawgs didn't get too many open threes balls. The Dawgs live and die (usually the latter this year) from downtown, and we let them heave them up but made sure we got a hand in their faces. The sometimes dangerous Terrance Woodbury was 4-21 with only nine points. Magic shots weren't falling for UGA, and they had no alternative or at least were unwilling to try to do anything else. Of couse, it's easy to say your defense did great when you play a team that was as cold as UGA was tonight, but I'd like to think Coach Horn's gameplan and our consequent perimeter pressure had a bit to do with that.

This win more or less puts us in a good position for the NCAA tournament. A win in the SECT quarters would be nice in that it would make us a lock, but a loss probably won't kill us unless other bubble teams make serious strides tonight and during their conference tourneys. (For those watching in the SEC, the 'Cats lost to the Gators today and Auburn is currently making its statement by leading LSU at the half. I like Aubie's chances a lot right now; that team has really come together.) Of course, to make sure we get in, it would be great to see us get that quarters win and perhaps more. When this team is playing well, there's no reason to believe they can't hang with any team in the conference outside of UT, who I believe presents major matchup problems for us. We'd have to have a magic shooting day to beat the Vols, but other teams are fair game on any night. It's time for this team to get a week of rest and make a run at an SECT Title!

Tennessee at South Carolina: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 03:31:55 -0000

On a night when everything was in place for a showcase victory for the Gamecocks, we came out flat in the second half in fell to Tennessee 86-70. As I've already said, congrats to the Vols on winning the Eastern Division crown; they were undoubtedly the better team and perhaps the best we've played this year other than Clemson. Their unique combination of inside power and full court offense makes them a formidable team. Tyler Smith led all scorers with 22 while Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick led USC with 16.

Where does the blame lie for this loss? First of all, I think we can validly criticize Coach Horn's strategy of trying to press and run with Tennessee. The Vols clearly held an athletic edge on us. Moreover, their ability to move the ball around and find creative ways to get the ball to their big guys was impressive. Trying to run with a team with these advantages was probably ill-advised in the first place, and continuing to try to do it in the second half after UT scored 44 in the first, many in transition, was even more perplexing. And while it's not our strength, it's not like we can't defend against big teams. I was impressed with how we handled Patrick Patterson against Kentucky last week by having Sam Muldrow swat at Patterson's shots from the weak side, but last night we typically didn't even have time to set up a weak-side double team plan because the Vols beat our press in transition so easily. I should say that I'm not at all turning against Coach Horn. He's done a fantastic job and, whatever happens, what he's done this year can only be characterized as a success. Last night, though, was not his best night.

The loss wasn't all due to Coach Horn's faultly game plan, though. I generally think we fell apart mentally when the Vols mounted their run in the second half. We stopped trying to move the ball around and instead just started heaving up threes or haphazardly driving into the lane. (Actually, we did that to a certain degree early in the game, but at least then the shots were falling.) We committed numerous strange mental mistakes, such as when Sam Muldrow turned the ball over by stepping over the line on an in-bounds play. We allowed the Vols to get a number of hustle offensive rebounds. Rebounding was obviously key to this game; the Vols had 43 to our 20. While a negative differential in this category was expected to some degree, I think tougher, more mentally focused play could have gotten a few of those. All in all, this is the first game I came away from thinking we truly lost focus and fell apart when the chips were down. It wasn't fun to see.

Where are we now in terms of our NCAAs chances? I'd say we still have a better shot than any SEC teams other than LSU and UT (Auburn is creeping up fast, though, and the winner of tomorrow's Kentucky-Florida game will have a shot), and it's hard to imagine the SEC getting only two teams, even if the NCAA says that they don't take such factors into account. That said, our backs are now unquestionably against the wall. To get an at-large bid, we MUST beat the Dawgs tomorrow. Winning that one will probably put us in decent shape for a bid, but to become a lock, I think we need to win at least one in the SECT. Of course, a deep run in the SECT or a championship would be ideal and might get us back into a decent seeding. Right now, though, we need to focus on this UGA game. It's a big one, and the surging Dawgs (did I just say that?) are no longer pushovers. I expect to see a close, hard-fought battle in Athens, but I also expect we'll come together and take this one.

A note about officiating. I've read and heard a lot of complaints about the officiating last night, and it was certainly pretty bad. However, let's stop with the conspiracy theories. The game was poorly called, but it was evenly called. What you basically saw was the refs, as they sometimes do, letting the teams play a little bit under the basket. Unfortunately for us, that favored the Vols to a certain degree because they're a bigger, more physical team. It's not the refs' fault that we lack physical presence down low. As far as some of the more bizarre calls, such as when Sam Muldrow was called for goaltending on an obvious block and then was alllowed to obviously goaltend with no call a possession or two later, I'll just chalk it up to idiotic officiating. No bias, just idiocy. I wish the SEC could get more competent refs in there, but, alas, it is what it is.

Gamecocks Hoops Weekly Forecast: 3/1-3/7 (Part Two)

Gamecock Man — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:42:11 -0000

Time to get to the weekly previews. This week, the final of the regular season, we host the Tennessee Volunteers in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN and visit the Georgia Bulldogs to wrap things up. The Tennessee game, as anyone paying any attention knows, is as big a game as we've played around here in quite some time. At stake in the contest is the SEC Eastern Division lead and a likely move to "lock" status for the NCAAs. If we beat the Vols, UGA will also turn into a must-win game, as a win against UT followed by a loss to the Pups will result in a tie with the Vols for the Eastern Division lead if Tennessee beats Bama over the weekend. If that occurs and I'm not mistaken, Tennessee will win the tiebreaker by virtue of their superior divisional record. (The Vols have lost most of their conference losses to Western Division teams; I think their only divisional losses came to Kentucky, whereas we have lost to UT, Florida, and Vandy.) Knowing all of that, let's take a look at these upcoming games.

Tennessee

The Vols are an interesting matchup for us because they're a team that dares you to try to run with them, much as we do. They're also a team that seems to suffer when they're forced into a halfcourt game. So what are we, a team that lives off our full-court press and forced turnovers, to do in this situation? Our previous game against the Vols doesn't tell us much. In that game, we pressed in both halves. Unfortunately, we failed in the first half because we couldn't force turnovers or shoot the ball well. In the second half, we almost made a monumental comeback when we began to get those turnovers and easy baskets. In fact, we scored 51points in the second half--quite a feat. All of this being the case, I say that we try to play our usual fullcourt game against the Vols. It can work and, moreover, I don't like our chances if we just try to outshoot them. You just have to play smart against these guys, because they'll burn you if you don't.

When we get into the halfcourt game, we can maximize our scoring by crashing the offensive boards; we had some success here last time around. In halfcourt defense, the key will be to bring to limit Tennessee's post game. The Vols lack the Chris Lofton of yesteryear, but they do have some good forwards as well as a huge guard in uber-recruit Scotty Hopson, who has come along well of late. Hopson will be a brutal matchup on Zam Fredrick due to the size difference, so don't be surprised to see Hopson take it to Zam in the post.

Georgia

OK, OK. I know UGA isn't a good team and that we have no business losing to them. Why even worry? Well, the Pups have won a couple of games down the stretch, both in Athens. When we visit the Classic City, we don't want the same thing to happen to us.

The key to this game, as before, is to slow down Terrance Woodbury, who stuck a dagger in Florida's heart a couple of weeks ago with 32 points. This guy can shoot when he gets going, as he proved when he went 7-7 from three against the Gators. Past playing enough perimeter defense to shut this guy down, we need to take advantage when Georgia makes mistakes. Georgia is a team that we possess a decided athletic advantage over, and that will lead to plenty of turnovers; we had 24 against them last time. We need that kind of defense again.

Kentucky at South Carolina: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:24:35 -0000

Patrick Patterson after yet another run in with Sam Muldrow and Dominique Archie.

Well, if you watched it, you know what happened: South Carolina plastered Kentucky by a score of 77-59. That score really doesn't tell the story; we were up by close to 30 midway through the second half, but the Cats scratched their way back to relative respectability while we played sloppily late in the game. Devan Downey led USC with 21, while Pat Patterson led all scorers with 28. Patterson, though, will go down as something of a goat in this game. A lot of his points came late in the game at the free throw stripe; while it mattered earlier in the game, he spent his time getting the ball shoved down his throat by our big men. Sam Muldrow was the defensive hero of the day, with seven blocks. USC set a school record with a total of 16 blocks.

How did we win this game by such a large margin? Surprisingly, post defense was the key. Although Kentucky's big men play was supposed to be key for taking advantage of our defensive weaknesses down low, Patterson wasn't able to get into the game until it was too late because he kept getting blocked. Darrin Horn's choice to have the backside defender shadow and swat away was pure genius, as Patterson, true to form, tossed up short shot after short shot instead of passing to the teammate that our double teams left open. We also forced quite a few turnovers, as expected against a team that has played sloppily at times. Offensively, we looked very solid until late in the game. Downey was able to drive the ball and either score or create. We shot 40% from beyond the arc, returning to a sharpshooting form we had lost over the past few games. Another surprise: we shot 72% from the line, including a perfect 8-8 by Zam Fredrick.

All in all, we played an incredible game tonight. Coach Horn had a perfect game plan and we executed admirably. UK, on the other hand, looked lost for most of the night. Part of that was due to how well we played; it's hard to get into a game when your opponent is playing as well as we did tonight. But, and I mean this with all due respect to UK, the Cats' inability to adjust to some of the things we were doing was very striking. UK has played well at times this year, but tonight was a serious mark against their standing on the national stage.

This win puts us alone for first in the East at one game ahead of Florida and Tennessee and two ahead of Kentucky due to the tiebreaking sweep we have over the Cats. We're now in excellent position to take the East and, barring a collapse, I would say that it's extremely unlikely that we'll finish any lower than second. That will net us a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament and thus an excellent chance to bolster our NCAAs resume by a deep run towards the SEC Title. As far as our NCAAs chances go, we're now two victories away from moving off the bubble and into lock status. Next step? Vandy at Memorial Gym. That one will be tough, but if you knew that we might play like we did tonight again, would you bet against us?

Kentucky Wildcats @ South Carolina: Gameday Breakdown

Ken Howlett — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:56:37 -0000

Sole possession of first place in the SEC East is all that's at stake tonight in Columbia, South Carolina. With LSU defeating the Florida Gators 81-75 in a terrific game in Baton Rouge last night, UK and South Carolina (19-6, 8-4) find themselves tied at 8-4 in SEC play. And with only three conference regular season games remaining for each squad after tonight's 7:00 EST tilt, the winner will find themselves squarely in the catbird's seat.

78-77 Recap

It's only been a little over three weeks since UK lost 78-77 to Darrin Horn's team on a fade-away 12-foot jumper by electrifying Gamecock guard Devan Downey. In my post-game thoughts,"It's a 40 Minute Game," I thoroughly dissected what I saw as a six minute lapse of focus by UK. Other than those fateful few minutes of sub-par play, Kentucky (19-8, 8-4) played very well. Of course that game was in Rupp Arena; tonight, one can be sure Colonial Life Arena will not be nearly as friendly as the 'Cats legendary lair.

Here's a quick look at the unseemly statistics from the earlier UK vs. South Carolina game, played on January 31 (For a complete boxscore go here).

FG FG% FT 3-pt Reb. Off. Reb. Ast. Stl. TO Blk.

UK -- 25-48 52.1 24-29 3-8 40 9 16 5 21 8

S.C. -- 32-76 42.1 7-15 7-20 35 18 7 9 10 2

* -- South Carolina beat UK in points off turnovers 14-8, and in second chance points 11-5. That's minus 12 points in those two critical categories for Big Blue. Actually, the discrepancy in points could have been much, much worse, but the Gamecocks were not very efficient in converting their offensive rebounds, or UK's turnovers, into points.

South Carolina Personnel

Devan Downey: 5'9" 175 lb junior point guard -- On the year Downey averages 20.0 points (3rd in the SEC), 4.3 assists (4th in the SEC) and 3.6 turnovers (13th in A/TO Ratio in the SEC - 1.21). He averages 3.0 steals (1st in the SEC), and 2.8 rebounds per game. He makes 45.4% of his field goal attempts (11th in the SEC), 37.6% of his three-point tries (44-117), and 73.1% of his free throws (10th in the SEC).

In conference play Downey averages 19.5 points, 4.2 assists (4.1 turnovers), 2.9 steals, and 2.8 rebounds per game. He's making 39.8% of his shots, 35.9% of his three-point attempts (28-78), and 66.7% of his free throws -- In the first contest Downey scored 23 points on 10-21 shooting (3-5 threes), dished out four assists, had four steals and three turnovers. He played 35 minutes.

Zam Fredrick: 6'0" 203 lb senior guard -- For the year Fredrick averages 15.3 points (10th in the SEC), 2.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game (2.6 turnovers per game). He makes 39.5% of his shots, 36.2% of his trey attempts (46-127), and 66.1% of his free throws.

In SEC play Fredrick averages 15.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game (2.7 turnovers per game). He's shooting 39.0% from the field, 37.5% from behind the arc (24-64), and 62.1% from the charity stripe -- In the earlier contest Fredrick led the Gamecocks with 24 points on 9-20 shooting (4-8 threes). He also had one assist and two turnovers. He played 36 minutes.

Dominique Archie: 6'7" 200 lb junior forward -- Archie on the year averages 11.5 points, 6.7 rebounds (2.7 off. rebounds - 9th in the SEC), 1.4 steals (2.0 turnovers), and 1.0 block per game. He shoots 52.7% from the field, 34.6% from the three-point line (18-52), and 62.0% from the free throw line.

In league play Archie averages 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds (3.1 off. rebounds), and 2.4 turnovers per game (his conference steals and blocks are negligible). He shoots 52.5% from the field, 36.7% from the three-point line (11-30), and 61.2% from the free throw line -- In the earlier game, Archie scored seven points on 3-9 shooting (0-3 threes), grabbed three rebounds, had one steal, and four turnovers. He played 24 minutes.

Mike Holmes: 6'7" 220 sophomore F/C -- Overall, Holmes averages 11.2 points, and 7.8 rebounds per game (6th in the SEC). He also averages 3.0 offensive rebounds (6th in the SEC), and 1.2 blocks per game (10th in the SEC). He's shooting 48.1% from the field, and 46.2% from the free throw line.

In SEC play he averages 9.7 points, 6.8 rebounds (2.0 off. rebounds), and 1.6 steals per game. Holmes shoots 47.4% from the field, and 44.4% from the free throw line (24-54) -- In the first game he made 6-8 shots for 15 points, and 8 rebounds (3 off. rebounds). He played 32 minutes.

Evaldas Baniulis: 6'7" 210 lb junior forward -- On the year Baniulis averages 7.0 points, and 2.8 rebounds per game. The Lithuanian shoots 50.4% from the field, 50.6% from beyond the arc (42-83), and 65.2% from the charity stripe.

In league play he averages 5.4 points, and 2.4 rebounds per game. Baniulis shoots 40.8% from the field, 44.7% from the three-point line (17-38), and 66.7% from the free throw line -- In the earlier game Baniulis did not score (0-1 field goals), and had one rebound. He played only eight minutes.

Brandis Raley-Ross: 6'2" 193 lb junior guard -- For the season Raley-Ross averages 6.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game (1.5 turnovers). He makes 41.1% of his shots, 27.1% of his threes, and 70.6% of his free throws.

In conference play he averages 5.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game (1.6 turnovers). He's shooting 39.1% from the field, 23.5% from beyond the arc (8-34), and 68.4% from the charity stripe -- In the first game Raley-Ross scored one point on 0-6 shooting (0-3 threes), nabbed one rebound, dished out two assists and had two steals. He played 26 minutes.

Sam Muldrow: 6'9" 216 lb sophomore forward -- On the year Muldrow is averaging 6.3 points, 5.3 rebounds (2.7 off. rebounds), and 1.4 blocks per game. He's shooting 60.4% from the field, and 50.0% from the free throw line (18-36).

Muldrow's above numbers are his season, and SEC stats (he did not play in any pre-conference games) -- In the earlier contest against UK, Muldrow went 3-9 from the field for six points, grabbed 12 big boards (8 off. rebounds), and blocked one shot. He played 26 minutes.

Austin Steed: 6'8" 215 lb sophomore forward -- For the year Steed is averaging 4.1 points, and 3.9 rebounds per game (1.7 off. rebounds). He shoots 46.8% from the floor, and 68.2% from the free throw line.

In SEC play Steed averages 3.0 points, and 3.8 rebounds per game (1.8 off. rebounds). He's making 44.4% of his shot attempts, and 80.0% of his free throws -- In the first tilt Steed scored two points on 1-2 shooting, grabbed three rebounds (two off. rebounds), had one steal and one block. He played 13 minutes.

South Carolina Team Statistics - Season (SEC rank in parenthesis)

South Carolina Opponents

Points per game -- 79.8 (1) 70.6 (10)

Field Goal% -- 45.8 (4) 43.3 (9)

3-Point% -- 38.1 (1) 32.0 (3)

Free Throw% -- 63.2 (10) 72.5 (12)

Rebound Margin -- -1.0 pg (12)

Off. Reb. Per Game -- 13.5 (4) 12.9 (9)

Off. Rebound% -- 35.5 (5) 36.0 (12)

Def. Reb. Per Game -- 22.9 (12) 24.6 (10)

Def. Rebound% -- 64.0 (12) 64.5 (5)

Assists Per Game -- 11.3 (11) 12.6 (6)

Turnovers Per Game -- 14.1 (7) 19.7 (1)

Blocks Per Game -- 4.4 (5) 4.4 (10)

On the season South Carolina averages 75.1 possessions per game (6th in the SEC).

South Carolina Team Statistics - Conference Play (SEC rank in parenthesis)

South Carolina Opponents

Points Per Game -- 77.5 (3) 75.6 (10)

Field Goal% -- 43.7 (7) 46.2 (12)

3-Point% -- 36.1 (4) 31.8 (6)

Free Throw% -- 59.1 (11) 72.1 (12)

Rebound Margin -- -5.3 pg (12)

Off. Reb. Per Game -- 13.3 (3) 13.0 (9)

Off. Rebound% -- 32.8 (9) 37.5 (12)

Def. Reb. Per Game -- 21.7 (11) 27.3 (11)

Def. Rebound% -- 62.5 (12) 67.2 (9)

Assists Per Game -- 9.7 (12) 13.8 (8)

Turnovers Per Game -- 14.4 (6) 19.5 (1)

Blocks Per Game -- 4.2 (5) 4.8 (9)

In league play South Carolina averages 76.2 possessions per game (1st in the SEC).

CliffsNotes Analysis

Defensively, controlling South Carolina point guard Devan Downey will be the key to success for the 'Cats. DeAndre Liggins and Ramon Harris did a credible job of diminishing Downey's impact in the first half of the earlier contest, so it would not be surprising to see a similar defensive rotation tonight.

UK simply has to do a better job of keeping the Gamecocks off of their offensive glass. UK's big men will need to put their collective be-hinds into the mid-sections of the South Carolina board crashers, and not give up position by trying to block every shot within the paint. The Gamecocks took 28 more shots than UK in the January contest, in part due to SC's 18 offensive rebounds (a 40.9% offensive rebound conversion rate for a team that averages 32.8% in SEC play).

Offensively, UK needs to make hay in the paint. In the earlier game Patrick Patterson was 10-16 from the field and scored 28 points (his best game with the bandaged finger). Perry Stevenson was 4-5 and scored eight points. That's a combined 14-21 and 36 points for UK's primary big men.

Duplicating that effort on the road, though, may be tough. Holmes, Archie, and Steed had a difficult time controlling UK's big men so I look for ball-denial into the paint, and double and triple teams for Patterson. Making SC pay for helping-off on Patterson means that the big fella should be able to find open teammates, either on the perimeter, or with ball reversal.

Jodie Meeks will face the same dilemma he's encountered since his 54 point outburst earlier in the year -- A chaser who knows what he had for lunch. To counter that strategy, I really don't look for Billy Gillispie to do anything different than what he's done over the last several games: Run Meeks all over the floor in search of an open look, and hope when he gets the ball, he'll either be open for the split second that he needs, or find an uncovered teammate.

As always, it is so much easier to get Meeks open looks off the fast-break. But first Kentucky must get stops and steals. If UK can smother the Gamecocks with their defense (which they are capable of), it will be a long night for Hootie and his Blowfish.

Versus Tennessee Saturday, UK's "role players" performed exceptionally well. They played unafraid, and made shots at an exceedingly high rate (24-33 = 72.7%). That effort needs to become a trend, and not a one-night stand, if Kentucky expects to win tonight.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

Gamecocks Hoops Weekly Forecast: 2/8-2/14

Gamecock Man — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:12:23 -0000

South Carolina enters this week at 17-5 and 6-3 in conference. We're alone in second place in the Eastern Division, with Florida at number one at 6-2 and Kentucky and Tennessee right behind us at 5-3. This week we don't have a midweek game and take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. We're ranked 35th in the AP Poll and 34th in the ESPN/USA Today's Coaches Poll. I was a little surprised that we dropped so much in the AP, but such is life. If we beat Bama this weekend, we'll likely be knocking on the door next week. Lunardi moved us up this week, now having us as a 10 seed taking on Tubby Smith's Minnesota Golden Gophers. That's a game I think we'd have a shot at winning.

One thing to keep an eye on this week is the Florida-Kentucky tilt Tuesday in Lexington. This game looms large in the conference standings. Who should a Gamecock pull for here? It's hard to say. A Cats win would create a three-way tie for first between us, UK, and UF, and I think we'd be ahead by a tiebreaker over UK. It would also possibly facilitate a path for us to finish first, as we still have another game against the Cats but don't play the Gators again. If we could sweep the Cats (and beat UT), that would have us sitting pretty for the Eastern Division crown. A Gators win would help Florida solidify their hold on first and push Kentucky further down the standings. We'd be further behind Florida but would have a more solid hold on second place. Since a second place finish in the division would net us a first-round bye in the SEC tourney and possibly facilitate a deep run for the tourney championship, I'm going to cheer for Florida in this one, as much as I hate to do that.

Alabama

Bama will come into this game at 13-10 and 3-6 in conference. Their last game was a loss at LSU. The Tide are led by Coach Philip Pearson, who took over a couple of weeks back after embattled coach Mark Gottfried resigned. Senior shooting guard Alonzo Gee leads the Tide in scoring. Surprisingly enough, Gee also leads the Tide in rebounding, a rarity for a guard.

Alabama is not a very good team this year, as demonstrated by the fact that they're being run by an interim coach. However, there's talent in Tuscaloosa and the game is in the Coleman Colliseum, so the potential for the upset is there. The keys for us will be to shut down Gee and power forward JaMychal Green. The shifty, sharp-shooting, and, for his position, big Gee is a matchup problem for most teams, while Green could cause problems for us in the post. However, aside from guard Senario Hillman, the Tide don't have many scoring threats, so if we can shut down at least one of these players, they might not have many other options.

Offensively, I would like to see us get the ball inside more in this game. Bama plays a lot of smaller lineups, and while we lack a true, skyscraper center, we do play a larger lineup than Bama when we have Dominique Archie, Mike Holmes, and Sam Muldrow in the game. Our offensive strategy has typically been to create long range shots with dribble penetration and to have Holmes and Muldrow jockey for offensive board position, but, this time, I think we should actually try to let them post up a little. That is, unless Zam Fredrick or Devan Downey heat up, at which point I say you just give them the ball. It's also worth noting that our emphasis on offensive rebounding has paid off in a number of games, so perhaps we should just keep doing what we've been doing. I just like our bigs in this game and I fear that we won't shoot as well in a road atmosphere, even if excitement for Bama hoops is probably at an all-time low right now.

South Carolina at Florida: A Quick Recap

Gamecock Man — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:19:35 -0000

Well, we can't win 'em all on last second shots, even though I thought we just might for a moment. The Gators survived a late barrage of Devan Downey threes to beat us 97-93 in Gainesville. Hats off to the Gators for gutting out the win; Gators fans should thank their lucky stars that Walter Hodge managed to hit his FTs down the stretch. Downey ended with 33, tying his season high against Clemson. Nick Calathes led the Gators with 22; all Gators starters ended in double digits.

So, how did we lose this game, despite the fact that we played a pretty solid offensive game tonight, shooting for a high percentage and getting a lot of offensive boards? First of all, our turnover margin was pretty bad. We gave up 17 and took away 10, a far cry from the kind of margin we've gotten in the past few games. Many of these led to easy Gators baskets. The Gators get credit for forcing a few of them, but at times we played sloppily as we moved the ball up court against the Gators press. I'm sure Coach Horn will work with the team on this.

Second of all, we finally did what we all knew we would do eventually: we lost a game due to horrendous free throw shooting. We've gotten away with our poor percentages a few times this year, but you had to know it would come back to bite us eventually. We were 10-22 tonight, with many losses coming on 1-1s down the stretch. We knew coming into this season that players like Mike Holmes and Dominique Archie would be liabilities at the line, but things have gotten even worse than anyone could have possibly expected. Even players like Devan and Zam Fredrick are now missing lots of their shots at the stripe. You have to think it's in the team's head at this point.

Some people have criticized Coach Horn for not focusing enough on FTs. While I agree that it's more of an issue than Coach is letting on, we have to keep in mind that there's not a whole lot he can do to change things. Practicing free throws essentially involves just taking some time each day and shooting a bunch of them, and I gaurantee you that we're doing that. There's not much else we can do because most of our practice time has to be spent prepping for our next opponent. Players can work on their FTs during the offseason, and I hope our returning players do just that. It won't help us now, though. Let's just hope that we get over whatever is messing with our heads and go from being one of the worst FT shooting teams in the country back to being only a mediocre shooting team. If we don't, expect a few more losses like this down the stretch.

On a last note, while I would've loved to win this game, if won't kill us to have lost it. It's tough to beat the Gators in their house, and we've got many more winnable games to play down the stretch. Hopefully this loss will keep this team motivated and they'll start another winning streak this weekend against the Dawgs.