By ABE DANAHER | 11/13/2016 | The Daily Gamecock
Driving layup, commanding defensive rebound, steal and assist. That was how the second half started for PJ Dozier and the South Carolina Gamecocks. It was just three minutes in the first game of the season, but already PJ Dozier looks like a new player on the basketball floor.
Coming into the season, there were a lot of questions surrounding Dozier. After last year's much-hyped-turned-abysmal season, some had already written the five-star point guard off as a colossal flop.
Yet this entire offseason, coach Frank Martin defended Dozier. He mentioned Dozier’s physical developments and overall maturing since the end of last season and voiced how he believed that Dozier would not be the same player that fans had seen last season.
And in the opening win over Louisiana Tech, Dozier’s development was very apparent.
“PJ, just, he’s just so much better,” said Martin. “He is light-years ahead of where he was at this time last year.”
And after his efficient and controlled play Friday, it is hard to argue with coach Martin’s assessment. Dozier ended the night with 17 points on only nine shots, while recording four rebounds and two assists.
Last season, Dozier’s main struggle was with turnovers. He averaged a turnover nearly every seven minutes of playing time, causing Martin to restrict the amount of time his heralded freshman saw the court.
Yet in 30 minutes of playing time, second most of any Gamecock player on the team, Dozier only turned the ball over twice. He actually appeared to be one of the only players comfortable handling the ball against Louisiana Tech’s token press, as Sindarius Thornwell turned the ball over six times and the team as a whole turned it over 15 times total.
Dozier also showed a new dimension to his game, shooting three shots from behind the arc and knocking down two of them.
Martin touched on Dozier shooting shots he was not accustomed to taking previously.
“Last year, he looked gun-shy, if you remember. There’s certain shots he wouldn’t take and now he’s being aggressive,” he said.
Fans can only hope to see more development out of Dozier in the coming season. If he can continue to play turnover-free basketball and be a constant threat from behind the arc, PJ Dozier could end up being the star that many hoped he would be upon his commitment to South Carolina.
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