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What do you think of Lamont Paris now?

AikenGameFan

AikenGameFan

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Dawn's first season - 10-18 Lamont's first season - 11-20
Dawn's second season - 14-15 Lamont's second season - 13-1 to start.
Lamont went and found some talented players both in recruiting and the portal and it shows. But it is not just the players, it is how he plays them. He uses the bench perfect yesterday to keep his team refreshed and put on more D when needed. This man can coach.
And his recruiting is taking off too. He already has another 5 star committed for next year and is working to get others.

I heard so many people complain about Tanner hiring Lamont. I think he was just what we needed and it think he is going to do a great job here. I just hope we keep him around for a while.

BTW...Frank Martin 1st season 14-18
Frank's 2nd season 14-20

So what do you think about Paris?
 
Still pretty early but I like his style and demeanor. He never seems to get rattled and that shows in his players. Assembling this team and getting them to gel has been impressive so far. There are areas for improvement and I’m sure he realizes that and will do what he can to address that as the season goes on. Players are having fun but that goes with winning. Great ball movement on O and gritty team defense. Need to continue developing paint presence but the team rebounding yesterday was a pleasant surprise. I really don’t think they’ve reached their potential as a team yet and this should be a fun season to watch.
 
I was neutral about his hiring but he is definitely making a good impression. His calm demeanor is refreshing after Frank's constant screaming and death stares.
 
One of the keys this year has been the amount of experience Coach Paris was able to assemble for this year's team. I heard the announce team say that last year we were 132 in the country in experience and this year we are 16 (numbers made up 'cause I'm old and can't remember, but they were similar, and definitely representative of the spread). At the moment, it seems like he has been able to cherry pick the top 5th year talent from the Southern Conference. As this team's success grows, recruiting and portal talent will only improve.
 
I lost track of how many times I heard the words "great pass" in the stands yesterday and the other games I have been to this season.

Unselfishly passing the ball and protecting each other on defense. Something that is the standard for Dawn's teams, but sorely missing on the men's side until now.

Next we're on the road at Bama and Mizzou, then UGA at home during the week. All winnable games.
 
As I stated when he was hired, the folks that worked with and played for him and he worked for all consistently stated one thing about Coach Paris, he is as cool under pressure as they come while all using the word special or destiny at some point when describing him. I have to agree with every one of them!
Many bragged at how great he was at communicating with his players and constantly coaching, using anything and everything to communicate his knowledge of the game! Most bragged at his unique way of looking at the game and coaching the game to fit his team, each player to put them in the best position to win.
I have seen this game in and game out, he impresses me more every game, from his calm demeanor to his ability to give every player confidence to take that shot, make that pass and stay aggressive in the moment! His rotations, changing defenses and new set plays being introduced every game. The seamless introduction of Murray-Boyles to the line up has been genius...
He was smart enough to know he had to semi sacrafice the team to GG but also show some discipline to him for all future local recruits/parents/HS coaches/handlers...
Getting Meechie back with Stute and Cooper made us competitive, getting a healthy Mack and Boyles makes us dangerous while Wright, Davis, BBV, Gray, Clark and Ugusuk give us depth with Wright and Davis giving us some instant offense on occasion. I really thought Dibba would be more of an impact but the Achilles took more out of him than I thought.
 
We have 5 players that will finish their college ball this year. 3 of them play a lot of ball, Mack, Clark, and Cooper. I wish them well. Players like Stute, Meechie, and Jacobi have another year left. I sure hope they don't transfer.

Paris already has 2 very good-looking commitments, Trent Noah and Okku Federiko, and is being considered by a couple others. Get into the Tourney and even more guys will consider us.
If you can fit, a freshman can be a starter for Lamont, i.e. CMB. We have 4 other freshman this season and they do get some playing time to grow.
We will see if Paris has another good portal result this coming year, but he is obviously building one heck of a team. Him being such a good coach, I feel we will see the success continue.

Previously noted...
Dawn's first season - 10-18 Lamont's first season - 11-20
Dawn's second season - 14-15 Lamont's second season - 18-3 to start.
This man can coach, and he follows Dawn's lead. Can he be as good as her? Who knows? He is just getting started.

He has a $2.3 million / yr. contract (lowest in SEC) for 3 more years getting an extra $100,000 per year.
I feel if he gets in the tourney, they should change that salary to $3 million (avg. in SEC is 3.8) and $500,000 / every year he gets in with bonuses for higher levels like sweet 16 etc.
BTW, Dawn makes right at $3.2 million / yr. until 2028. If Lamont is getting more wins, he should get similar money. It was her 4th year before she got us to the women's tourney, but she has stayed there 12 years in a row now. Would love to see Lamont do that.
 
The portal throws a monkey wrench into comparing Lamont's second season with that of Dawn and Frank or anyone else before the portal.

Lamont's name is getting passed around in national coach of the year conversations.

I also think the men's and women's fan bases are feeding off each other's successes to a certain extent this year.

This is going to be a great year for Gamecock basketball.
 
I had a "wait and see" attitude when Lamont was hired. I was neither excited by it nor disappointed by it. I realize it's still early but I've been very impressed with what I've seen to date.
 
kingofnerf said:
The portal throws a monkey wrench into comparing Lamont's second season with that of Dawn and Frank or anyone else before the portal.
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You are right. I was not thinking of the Portal. I sure am glad Lamont knows how to make it work so well. Hoping he will be able to keep his players here this year. Especially Stute, Meechie, and Jacobi. They will all be Seniors. A couple of our freshman did not play much, but hoping he is getting them trained up and they stay. Also hoping he can get some more 5 stars to want to come play here.
 
I haven't heard the national conversations for coach of the year, but I have certainly heard the conference discussions (not doubting the national conversations). If Coach Paris wins a coach of the year award and gets us into the tourney, I imagine some school will take a run at him. Contract adjustments may need to be made. I also, like what he is building with the men's team.
 
AikenGameFan said:
You are right. I was not thinking of the Portal. I sure am glad Lamont knows how to make it work so well. Hoping he will be able to keep his players here this year. Especially Stute, Meechie, and Jacobi. They will all be Seniors. A couple of our freshman did not play much, but hoping he is getting them trained up and they stay. Also hoping he can get some more 5 stars to want to come play here.
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I cannot remember his name, but I know we lost a good player from Horn's squad to UVA when Frank took over.

His body type was very similar to the guys that Lamont has brought in. The right balance of length and muscle mass.

He played very well for Tony Bennett when he became eligible to do so and was on his Tournament teams.

He probably just got tired of losing here more than anything else.
 
kingofnerf said:
I cannot remember his name, but I know we lost a good player from Horn's squad to UVA when Frank took over.

His body type was very similar to the guys that Lamont has brought in. The right balance of length and muscle mass.

He played very well for Tony Bennett when he became eligible to do so and was on his Tournament teams.

He probably just got tired of losing here more than anything else.
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Anthony Gill, he is in the NBA now.
 
FurmanCock said:
Wow, big props for remembering that.
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Believe it or not, but from the time I was a student at USC (2001-2005), I can remember most of the basketball players that played here. Now, I might miss a few of the walk-ons or get their years mixed up. When we hired Frank, I was hoping both Gill and Damontre Harris would give him a chance because they both seemed like players that could thrive in his system. Alas, they both transferred out. Worked out for Gill, Harris not so much.
 
He transferred to Florida when Frank was hired like Gill, never played due to traffic violation warrant during his sit out year and went to a small school in Kentucky... has had some decent success in Europe, he could have helped Coach Martin for sure, was a great shot blocker. They both could have been successful with Coach Martin
 
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