Frank Martin’s Gamecocks tip off Tuesday. Three last thoughts before the season opens
The exhibition was an appetizer, a sneak peek at the “fast and furious” style of basketball head coach Frank Martin promises for the South Carolina men’s team.
After last week’s lively, energetic exhibition win over Benedict, Martin’s Gamecocks will open regular-season play Tuesday at 7 p.m. against visiting USC Upstate. Nine new players aim to rejuvenate the program after a trying 6-15 season that included multiple COVID-19 shutdowns.
“We’re excited to see (Colonial Life Arena) rocking,” veteran transfer guard Erik Stevenson said. “We’re excited to try and get this thing packed out, try to have it looking like a football game.”
Here are three final thoughts before USC’s season tips off.
Who steps up in Bryant’s absence?
We already knew the Gamecocks would be leaning on a lot of new faces this year, but on Monday we learned that the Gamecocks will also be without one if its key returners.
Martin announced that senior Keyshawn Bryant is suspended for the first five games of the season due to an undisclosed violation of the school’s athletic department policy. With 14.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last year, Bryant is the team’s top returning scorer and rebounder.
With six transfers and three freshmen, Martin has plenty of candidates to help fill the void, and that’s especially the case on the wing, where the additions of Stevenson, James Reese and freshman Devin Carter should help soften the blow of Bryant’s suspension. Reese and Stevenson were the stars of the exhibition game, showcasing pinpoint shooting from the perimeter, and both players have quickly seized leadership roles on the team.
But don’t sleep on the freshman Carter, who is a dynamic athlete and can play above the rim much like Bryant can. The coaching staff and teammates have raved about Carter’s ability all offseason.
Expect a more aggressive, physical team
While only an exhibition, the USC offense was operating at a breakneck pace against Benedict, pushing the tempo and racing down the court en route to 101 points. Martin said if he had to sum up the team’s offensive identity in two words, it would be “fast and furious.”
The new additions Reese, Stevenson and Carter are key drivers of that pace and play with a level of aggressiveness and edge seldom seen on the court last year. However, on the flip side, one area where the Gamecocks struggled last week was in defending Benedict’s equally fast pace of play. Transition defense was a point of emphasis in practices after the exhibition, as the Gamecocks failed to contain the Tigers on the fast break.
In the frontcourt, 7-foot LSU Josh Gray turned in a stellar outing against Benedict, posting a double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Outside of Gray, Martin said he was disappointed in the lack of physicality from his big men in that game. But the additions of Gray and veteran George Mason transfer A.J. Wilson should help in that area.
Point guard could be a revolving door early on
Experimentation is inevitable with nine new players, and Martin seems likely to shuffle through a few options at point guard. Last season, Seventh Woods and T.J. Moss drew the bulk of the starts at the point, but neither provided much consistency.
Of the returners, junior Jermaine Couisnard has the most experience at the position, and Martin said he has confidence in Couisnard to run the offense. However, the preference is to play the physical 6-foot-4 guard off the ball. Coming off a minor hamstring tweak, Couisnard returned to practice over the weekend and should be available.
Transfer Chico Carter Jr., a Columbia native, started the exhibition game at the point, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him start there Tuesday night. Though Martin said that Carter Jr. seemed out of sync with the offense against Benedict, he’s also drawn praise for his veteran leadership and shooting ability.
Freshman Jacobi Wright looks like USC’s point guard of the future and could work his way into that role sooner than later, showing cool confidence in the way he ran the offense against Benedict and leading the team with six assists. Martin said Wright is still adjusting to the speed of the college game and played somewhat tentative at times last week, but Wright is an agile ball-handler with 3-point ability and Martin likes his potential as an on-ball defender.
Next USC men’s basketball game
Who: South Carolina vs USC Upstate
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia
Watch: Not on TV; streaming on SEC Network Plus
Listen: 107.5 FM in the Columbia area
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Frank Martin’s Gamecocks tip off Tuesday. Three last thoughts before the season opens."
