Frank Martin’s Gamecocks passed their first test. Now the schedule really heats up
Frank Martin didn’t yell.
At least, not as much as he usually does.
The South Carolina head coach carries a reputation for being a fiery, passionate motivator — a reputation he doesn’t shy away from. Yet on Saturday afternoon in Kansas City, with his Gamecocks down big to Liberty in their season opener, Martin chose to bite his tongue.
He didn’t see the need to yell. He knew the Gamecocks were nervous. Martin could see how tight they were from the moment they stepped on the court for the four-team Hall of Fame Classic.
No amount of verbal prodding would unwind them. It would probably only make things worse.
“I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care how many years you’ve been in college. Your first game of the year, you always have nerves,” Martin said after the team’s 78-62 loss to the Flames. “It’s the first time you go out there and there’s referees. And we’re in a 20,000-seat building with 20 people in the stands. It’s a different look. It’s a different vibe.”
“Different” doesn’t even begin to describe it. Even Martin’s appearance stunned television viewers and social media users over the weekend. The 54-year-old shaved his head just before the season started. He started losing his hair in patches after his positive COVID-19 diagnosis in May. Though not certain, Martin said he believes the virus is to blame for it.
“If it is stress, and eventually (my hair) comes back, then we’ll get the gel out again,” he said.
Still, Martin didn’t stress very much over Saturday’s results. Martin expected the rust to show against a Liberty team that had already played two games and defeated Mississippi State. USC, meanwhile, wasn’t even able to get in an exhibition game against Coker due to a delay in virus testing results.
What mattered more to the head coach was how the Gamecocks responded the next day.
The team showed some resolve in a feisty, back-and-forth affair with Tulsa, defeating the Golden Hurricane 69-58 on Sunday. The more relaxed Gamecocks played a smoother brand of basketball, moving the ball more effectively and making better shot selections against Tulsa’s matchup-zone defense.
When Tulsa took a 51-49 lead midway through the second half, the Gamecocks answered by going on a 15-0 run and holding the Hurricane scoreless for nearly 10 minutes. That sort of late-game response is what’s expected from a veteran team, and that’s the kind of team the Gamecocks will need to be moving forward.
The schedule is only getting harder. This Saturday, South Carolina will travel to Houston and take on the No. 10 Cougars. Games against Wofford and Clemson — both with 2-0 starts — will follow.
Houston just took down No. 17 Texas Tech for its third straight win. For the Gamecocks to have a chance Saturday, they’ll need to leave their nerves in Columbia and play with the kind of poise they showed in Game 2.
“Having these kinds of games off the bat is only going to help us in the long run,” said senior guard Seventh Woods, who made his USC debut in Kansas City. “We’re gonna see what kind of team we’ve got right away.”
A transfer from North Carolina, Woods has experience playing for a championship on a national stage. He seemed to provide a calming effect in his 17 minutes on the court Saturday, especially as last year’s leading scorers A.J. Lawson and Jermaine Couisnard combined to make just three of 13 field-goal attempts in the season’s first 20 minutes.
Both players regrouped Sunday, showing why coaches voted them on the All-SEC first and second team, respectively. Lawson scored 17 points, and Couisnard paced the team with 20, playing with a ferocity that elicited comparisons to a pit bull from ESPN2’s announcers.
The redshirt sophomore guard said he took it upon himself to energize his teammates after their shaky start to the season.
“I was just telling the guys like, ‘Just play (like yourself),’” Couisnard said. “‘Just build your confidence, just make the shots you take every day.’”
All summer long, Martin raved about his players’ aggressiveness and maturity during practice. USC returned the overwhelming majority of last year’s young team, and Martin has said he doesn’t believe those players get the national credit they deserve.
“For all the years I’ve been here, we always have that underdog mentality,” Lawson said. “We feel like we haven’t been respected at the level that we should be. It just adds extra fuel to our fire, and we want to come out and be hungry.”
The Gamecocks are deep, with at least 10 players seeing the court in both games this season. It might take time for Martin and the coaching staff to nail down the right formula, especially in the frontcourt, which lost four-year mainstay Maik Kotsar to graduation. In Kansas City, lengthy sophomores Wildens Leveque and Jalyn McCreary both showed flashes on the bench behind junior big Alanzo Frink and entrenched starters Keyshawn Bryant and Justin Minaya.
Plenty of guards saw action, too, with Woods and sophomores T.J. Moss and Trae Hannibal working in with Lawson and Cousinard. At times, Martin deployed three guards on the court at once. Expect the coaching staff to continue tinkering.
No matter who takes the court against Houston, the Gamecocks will be expected to play with the kind of veteran moxie they showcased on Sunday.
They responded to that moment. Now, the moment gets bigger.
“The season teaches you how to grow,” Martin said. “And the season teaches you how to win or how to lose.
“The teams that are willing and humble enough to grow become winners. The ones that don’t become losers.”
Next game
Who: South Carolina (1-1) at No. 17 Houston (2-0)
Where: Fertitta Center in Houston
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Watch: Streaming via ESPN-Plus
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Frank Martin’s Gamecocks passed their first test. Now the schedule really heats up."
