C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
South Carolina will face an intriguing early season test this weekend going to Asheville for two games over a 72-hour span on Friday and Sunday against Princeton and either Western/Kentucky.
It’ll be an interesting time for the Gamecocks who are still trying to find their footing with so many newcomers. Here are some thoughts as the Gamecocks head up to the mountains:
--Princeton is a tough match up early in the season. The Tigers have played one game in over 600 days after last season’s Ivy League was canceled, which makes scouting a team like that hard. Princeton is a team that will rely heavily on back cuts, the standard Princeton offense, and the Gamecocks will really need to be on their toes defensively and in the passing lanes. They have some good defensive pieces on the perimeter with Erik Stevenson, James Reese and Jermaine Couisnard and they’ll need to really work in tandem with the bigs.
Martin mentioned it postgame after USC Upstate but Princeton likes to attack through their power forward and having Josh Gray play stronger than he did against the Spartans and then, if AJ Wilson is back, he’ll bring a veteran defensive presence there. The last full season Princeton played, it was a good shooting team so it’ll be a good test for the Gamecocks defensively this early in the season.
--Offensively the Gamecocks were sluggish at times against Upstate and was in large part because of some inconsistent play from the point guard spot and in the frontcourt. Couisnard did miss long stretches before the opener because of getting his wisdom teeth out and tweaking his hamstring.
He looked like a player who missed practice over the last few weeks. I’ll be interested to see just how he looks in Asheville and if the offense looks more efficient as he gets back into practice more consistently. If not, the offense might take some time to get off the ground.
--This is a team that already has an identity and that’s something I didn’t necessarily expect. It’s taken some time over the last few years to really get a comprehensive identity in place but they’re already a team that likes to work the ball inside and have leaders in place already with those three guards. How that identity continues to improve and set will be interesting to track and if South Carolina can get to the rim on both ends of the floor against Princeton, which isn’t that big of a team.
--I’m not overly worried at this juncture about the Gamecocks’ shooting performance against Upstate. James Reese has shown an ability to knock down shots over his career and Erik Stevenson took some good shots at times Tuesday. Chico Carter Jr. also shot well from three last season. South Carolina didn’t take smart shots at times against Upstate and settled for some contested looks in the paint, so taking smarter shots will be important as the season wears on, especially this season.
--This will be a big test for South Carolina going against a team without a lot of film on it and then either high-major in Minnesota or one of the better mid-major teams over the last few years in Western Kentucky. How a team of a lot of newcomers handles it will say a lot about the mental makeup of this team if it handles it well. South Carolina’s tripped up in non-conference play a couple times over the last few years and getting a couple wins on a neutral court would certainly help South Carolina early in the year.
It’ll be an interesting time for the Gamecocks who are still trying to find their footing with so many newcomers. Here are some thoughts as the Gamecocks head up to the mountains:
--Princeton is a tough match up early in the season. The Tigers have played one game in over 600 days after last season’s Ivy League was canceled, which makes scouting a team like that hard. Princeton is a team that will rely heavily on back cuts, the standard Princeton offense, and the Gamecocks will really need to be on their toes defensively and in the passing lanes. They have some good defensive pieces on the perimeter with Erik Stevenson, James Reese and Jermaine Couisnard and they’ll need to really work in tandem with the bigs.
Martin mentioned it postgame after USC Upstate but Princeton likes to attack through their power forward and having Josh Gray play stronger than he did against the Spartans and then, if AJ Wilson is back, he’ll bring a veteran defensive presence there. The last full season Princeton played, it was a good shooting team so it’ll be a good test for the Gamecocks defensively this early in the season.
--Offensively the Gamecocks were sluggish at times against Upstate and was in large part because of some inconsistent play from the point guard spot and in the frontcourt. Couisnard did miss long stretches before the opener because of getting his wisdom teeth out and tweaking his hamstring.
He looked like a player who missed practice over the last few weeks. I’ll be interested to see just how he looks in Asheville and if the offense looks more efficient as he gets back into practice more consistently. If not, the offense might take some time to get off the ground.
--This is a team that already has an identity and that’s something I didn’t necessarily expect. It’s taken some time over the last few years to really get a comprehensive identity in place but they’re already a team that likes to work the ball inside and have leaders in place already with those three guards. How that identity continues to improve and set will be interesting to track and if South Carolina can get to the rim on both ends of the floor against Princeton, which isn’t that big of a team.
--I’m not overly worried at this juncture about the Gamecocks’ shooting performance against Upstate. James Reese has shown an ability to knock down shots over his career and Erik Stevenson took some good shots at times Tuesday. Chico Carter Jr. also shot well from three last season. South Carolina didn’t take smart shots at times against Upstate and settled for some contested looks in the paint, so taking smarter shots will be important as the season wears on, especially this season.
--This will be a big test for South Carolina going against a team without a lot of film on it and then either high-major in Minnesota or one of the better mid-major teams over the last few years in Western Kentucky. How a team of a lot of newcomers handles it will say a lot about the mental makeup of this team if it handles it well. South Carolina’s tripped up in non-conference play a couple times over the last few years and getting a couple wins on a neutral court would certainly help South Carolina early in the year.
