USC v. Top 10 (and other Houston thoughts)

[doublea1971]

There's a free article (non-paywall) on Rivals yesterday (https://southcarolina.rivals.com/news/gamecocks-recent-history-over-ap-top-10-teams) detailing USC's record vs. top-10 opponents.  Since we're approaching the Houston game, I thought that some highlights from the article might be helpful here:

• South Carolina went 2-1 last season against AP top 25 teams (both teams inside the top 10).
  
• Over the last three seasons, the Gamecocks are 7-10 against top 25 teams, including going 3-5 against top 10 teams.
  

Coach Martin has done a great job of scheduling the teams which give the Gamecocks a chance to see what they are made of.  This early (pre-conference) testing has made the 'Cocks ready for battle in the SEC, and has allowed the men's basketball program to finish much higher in the SEC than predicted most years since the Final 4 run.

While I'm not ready to predict a Gamecock win v. Houston on Saturday evening, I am prepared to say that the Gamecocks should make the game very competitive.  As noted elsewhere, I believe that the keys to a victory include Keyshawn Bryant, Seventh Woods, and Justin Minaya giving us good minutes and upping their season averages in scoring.  Good interior play at the Center position, and an inside-out focused game will force Houston to not play at their normal defensive pace.  For USC, if we play strong Frank Martin-style defense, we should force Houston into shot selection that they don't typically take.  (Whether or not they make those shots... that remains to be seen).

Just for grins, here's a screen capture of the shot chart from ESPN from the Houston/Texas Tech game.  Anything stare at you in terms of WHERE they are shooting from?



Our usual hard man-to-man, force the opponent to the perimeter defense, if applied well, will keep Houston off rhythm.  More missed threes (they're 8 for 50 on the season), and keying on Grimes (keeping the ball out of his hands) means a likely Houston loss.

We shall see how things go, but I like what I see from the Gamecocks so far... if we stick to a solid defensive gameplay, have shots falling from AJ and 2 of the 3 names I mentioned above (Bryant, Woods, and Minaya), as well as solid interior play/scoring, we will keep things within 6 the vast majority of the game.

Love to hear y'alls thoughts on this game and what I propose above...

 

[The Bear]

I , agree the key will be South Carolina  D,  If we can hit some 3 pointers to keep them out of rhythm and hit our foul line shots we should be in the game till the end I Like what Martin has done and this should be an big game early for the cocks.   

 

[doublea1971]

They do miss a lot of threes, but they also get a LOT of offensive rebounds - we have to block out and keep them from getting putbacks.

We lack inside strength but do have length and athleticism on the perimeter - the guards/wings will have to help on the defensive boards. They are a like an uptempo football offense - if we can slow them down and force them into a halfcourt offense, we can win. 

It would be my estimation that as long as we're actually playing "Frank-style" defense that the blocking out shouldn't be problematic, except on longer rebounds (which has been somewhat problematic thus far this season).

Would you be so kind as to define what you mean by "inside strength"?  

I ask because if I'm, personally, defining interior strength I think we've got one heck of a beast in Alanzo Frink (he's not really getting pushed around by anyone when he's facing up with them), and I don't see Leveque getting messed with too much either - though he seems to have a less aggressive personality.  If on the other hand, you're talking about Lawson/Minaya/Bryant, then I'll concede you that they aren't the strongest players.  But they DO seem to play intelligent basketball when it comes to the defensive side of the coin (which I read your comments above to agree with).  McCreary, for me, is somewhere in between... needs to be more aggressive with the size that he has, and could also stand to strengthen himself a bit, though he provides some offensive spark (this combination is probably why he's been a bit lower on the depth chart in his Gamecock career thus far, as Frank seems to like players who are first "defense-minded" then offense minded).  

Our top 4 rebounders are currently Minaya, Frink, Bryant and Leveque in that order, with Leveque and Bryant being the better of those 4 on the offensive glass.  I'll say again, Keyshawn's offensive output needs to improve for us to hang tight in this game (2 points like vs. Tulsa won't get it done, but 9-12 points - a "Liberty-like" performance vs. Houston will).  Add in additional offensive output from one of Minaya or Seventh Woods, more than 6-8 points from the big man rotation, and normal output from the rest of the squad, and we've got a potential winner.

If history is an indicator, I think we'll be fine when it comes to slowing down the uptempo offense that you describe (and rightly so, when it comes to Houston).  This is part of the reason that I say I'm not as worried about Houston outplaying us as some others are.  If we play the pace that we did last year offensively, and keep Houston's offensive tempo where I believe we are capable of keeping it, then Houston will have to grind things out offensively to stay ahead of us.  In other words, they will only potentially stay in control if they are willing to play "ugly" ball, and perhaps even at that might still lose.

So overall, it seems we're in agreement... this one should be fun to watch.

 

[doublea1971]

Not just strength in terms of muscle and bulk - also length, quickness and hops. Frink is strong and wide, but not tall and hardly a quick twitch leaper. Leveque has height and strength, but not quicks - he is stiff and does not move that well.

Houston has several guys with length, quickness and hops that get on the rim. Like a Keyshawn Bryant, only taller and more of them.  They have three guys that are 6'7", four that are 6'8", and they all hit the boards hard,

Thanks. I'll grant you that Frink isn't Mr. "quick twitch", but when he's in good season form, he's got pretty good footwork.  He also makes up for the lack of height with his body size... it's hard to get the ball over him if he's in front of you, because he can jump and you can't move him out of the way (or get in front of him) before the lob.  I'm really high on the kid, as he's not your prototypical center, but he's got all the tools to be really good.  

Leveque is a work in progress.  Frank Martin saw another Silva in him, and I've got to believe that Frank knows what he's talking about.  After all, he helped shape Chris into the player that got himself into the NBA.  But I, like you, am waiting to see some of the stiffness disappear and a more aggressive play for someone at his size to come out.

As to Houston's size, we only give up an inch or two at most to them at most positions, if not matching exactly.  I guess that's where you and I differ somewhat... I just don't really see their length as being a problem for us.  If we defend Grimes well, which I think that we can do, then Houston's game is changed dramatically.  I won't say that I'll be "happy to be proven wrong" (because that means a loss for the 'Cocks), but we will see soon enough if I'm overestimating our strengths against this kind of a team.

I'll also say that when it comes to coaching vs. Kelvin Sampson, I take Frank Martin ahead of him strategy-wise any day of the week.  Kelvin is great at the X's and O's, but Frank Martin is good at that PLUS he squeezes every last drop of effort and talent out of his players that he can.  

Again... we'll see soon enough how this game plays out.

But back to my original post... any other thoughts on the gameplay I envision?

 

[kingofnerf]

My gut tells me that Frink, Leveque and Minaya will be more productive getting rebounds than Kotsar and Silva were during their respective regular seasons.

There were plenty of games where Kotsar only pulled 2 or 3 boards even though he wasn't in foul trouble.  Silva had the athleticism, but stayed in foul trouble too much.

I feel like Cousinard is good at the PG and we have more athleticism in the front court than we have had in a while if they can stay out of foul trouble.

Frink and Minaya both had 9 boards in the Tulsa game and the rest were pretty evenly distributed.  We would have had more wins last year if Minaya hadn't got hurt.

 

[Tccoog10]

I'll also say that when it comes to coaching vs. Kelvin Sampson, I take Frank Martin ahead of him strategy-wise any day of the week.  Kelvin is great at the X's and O's, but Frank Martin is good at that PLUS he squeezes every last drop of effort and talent out of his players that he can

I guess the coaching matchup we really should have been watching was Frank Martin vs Houston’s #2 assistant Quannas White.

 

[doublea1971]

I guess the coaching matchup we really should have been watching was Frank Martin vs Houston’s #2 assistant Quannas White.

No, in hindsight the coaching matchup we should have been watching was Frank Martin vs. Jermaine Cousinard (to figure out what planet Jermaine was on during the game.  He certainly wasn’t at Houston).

 

[kingofnerf]

I don't get ESPN+ so I couldn't watch the game and didn't listen it on the radio.  Mulched the leaves instead.

I would rather us improve through the year rather than upset UVA and tank the rest of the season like we did a while back.