C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
The Gamecocks beat Western Kentucky 75-64 Sunday afternoon to improve to 2-1 on the year. They'll host UAB Thursday.
--South Carolina gets out of Asheville with at least one win, which is certainly better than the alternative. The Gamecocks looked good at times but struggled to find consistently as Frank Martin and the staff try to figure out their best rotation of players. Western Kentucky has a chance to be a tournament team this year and South Carolina was able to withstand some pressure from them to win the game. That was desperately needed.
--Erik Stevenson has outright bad from three to start the year but came up big in the second half with South Carolina up just three at the time. He’d knock down a transition three-pointer and then another bucket after a Western Kentucky miss to make it an eight-point game. South Carolina was able to keep things at arms length for the rest of the game after that. He absolutely needs to shoot the ball better (just 3-for-11 again Sunday) but that’s why South Carolina brought him on campus. He also has been one of the teams best defenders to start the year.
--Offensively the Gamecocks need to just be more consistent. The shooting was much better Sunday compared to Friday, but there were multiple stretches were they didn’t score for over two minutes and would rush shots and turn the ball over far, far too much (24 on the day). That can’t happen once things get into conference play, and it seems like things have a tendency to snowball at times and guys press offensively.
--South Carolina’s really struggled to get much from their bigs early in the season breaking in pretty much and entire new crop besides Wildens Leveque. The one who’s been the most consistent outside of Leveque has been Ta’Quan Woodley who’s made a pretty big impact three games into his career. He treats his body like a ragdoll and without regard for other people. Needs to be better, obviously, in a few areas but there’s plenty to work with there.
Couisnard needs to be better from the point guard position but did hit a big three late in the game with Western Kentucky making a run.
--Speaking of turnovers, the Gamecocks really struggled with Western Kentucky’s full court press and trapping. There were times the guards were too lackadaisical getting the ball up or pressed too much and turned it over. Then sometimes the wing or big inbounding wouldn’t set a screen in time or get to the middle of the floor to help out. It led to some empty offensive possessions, which needs to improve.
--South Carolina defensively really gave up a bunch of open looks the Hilltoppers missed. The Gamecocks were late on a few rotations and it could have come back to hurt them but ultimately didn’t. The on ball defense from the guards was solid most of the night but rotations need to be better.
--Devin Carter got a lot of hype in the preseason and gave a little glimpse into what he can do against Western Kentucky. He finished with 16 points on 40 percent shooting and was really the first guard this season to attack the rim the way South Carolina and Frank Martin want them to. He got to the line eight times, making every single one. They’ll need Carter to play a lot of minutes this season and need his shot to continue to come along but he has a really good knack of getting to the rim.
--This is the kind of game South Carolina needs nightly from a guy like James Reese. He has the ability to but they don’t need him to go out and put up 30 points a game. He finished with 14 on a decent 5-for-11 shooting, 4-for-9 from three. He was one of the team’s best defenders and vocal guys out there Sunday. If he can give you that on efficiently shooting then that can really help this team.
--I really like the lineup South Carolina closed with in Couisnard, Reese, Carter, Stevenson and Leveque. Gives the Gamecocks some size with good rebounders who are smaller. Reese and Carter are incredibly athletic. Think that could be a really good lineup for South Carolina moving forward.
--South Carolina gets out of Asheville with at least one win, which is certainly better than the alternative. The Gamecocks looked good at times but struggled to find consistently as Frank Martin and the staff try to figure out their best rotation of players. Western Kentucky has a chance to be a tournament team this year and South Carolina was able to withstand some pressure from them to win the game. That was desperately needed.
--Erik Stevenson has outright bad from three to start the year but came up big in the second half with South Carolina up just three at the time. He’d knock down a transition three-pointer and then another bucket after a Western Kentucky miss to make it an eight-point game. South Carolina was able to keep things at arms length for the rest of the game after that. He absolutely needs to shoot the ball better (just 3-for-11 again Sunday) but that’s why South Carolina brought him on campus. He also has been one of the teams best defenders to start the year.
--Offensively the Gamecocks need to just be more consistent. The shooting was much better Sunday compared to Friday, but there were multiple stretches were they didn’t score for over two minutes and would rush shots and turn the ball over far, far too much (24 on the day). That can’t happen once things get into conference play, and it seems like things have a tendency to snowball at times and guys press offensively.
--South Carolina’s really struggled to get much from their bigs early in the season breaking in pretty much and entire new crop besides Wildens Leveque. The one who’s been the most consistent outside of Leveque has been Ta’Quan Woodley who’s made a pretty big impact three games into his career. He treats his body like a ragdoll and without regard for other people. Needs to be better, obviously, in a few areas but there’s plenty to work with there.
Couisnard needs to be better from the point guard position but did hit a big three late in the game with Western Kentucky making a run.
--Speaking of turnovers, the Gamecocks really struggled with Western Kentucky’s full court press and trapping. There were times the guards were too lackadaisical getting the ball up or pressed too much and turned it over. Then sometimes the wing or big inbounding wouldn’t set a screen in time or get to the middle of the floor to help out. It led to some empty offensive possessions, which needs to improve.
--South Carolina defensively really gave up a bunch of open looks the Hilltoppers missed. The Gamecocks were late on a few rotations and it could have come back to hurt them but ultimately didn’t. The on ball defense from the guards was solid most of the night but rotations need to be better.
--Devin Carter got a lot of hype in the preseason and gave a little glimpse into what he can do against Western Kentucky. He finished with 16 points on 40 percent shooting and was really the first guard this season to attack the rim the way South Carolina and Frank Martin want them to. He got to the line eight times, making every single one. They’ll need Carter to play a lot of minutes this season and need his shot to continue to come along but he has a really good knack of getting to the rim.
--This is the kind of game South Carolina needs nightly from a guy like James Reese. He has the ability to but they don’t need him to go out and put up 30 points a game. He finished with 14 on a decent 5-for-11 shooting, 4-for-9 from three. He was one of the team’s best defenders and vocal guys out there Sunday. If he can give you that on efficiently shooting then that can really help this team.
--I really like the lineup South Carolina closed with in Couisnard, Reese, Carter, Stevenson and Leveque. Gives the Gamecocks some size with good rebounders who are smaller. Reese and Carter are incredibly athletic. Think that could be a really good lineup for South Carolina moving forward.
