Go Cocks
12-04-2007, 07:15 PM
The sky is falling … after eight games
Because it’s germane to my job - and because I apparently have a wish to get stupider - I spend part of each day perusing message boards. It gives you a window into the soul of diehard fans, and makes you hopeful that such people are not representative of the general public.
It seems many “fans” of the South Carolina men’s basketball program have decided the season is over. Yes, it’s a month before the SEC schedule starts, but never mind such formalities: It’s over. Move on. The Gamecocks are done. NCAA tournament? Ha! At this rate, you can forget the NIT!
(Actually, it was Devan Downey who said that last part. But he spoke it under his own name on Saturday and did not, to my knowledge, immediately rush to post on gogamecocks.com.)
If you’re a Gamecocks fan, it was probably good to hear Downey say that, because Tre’ Kelley didn’t go off until more than halfway through last year’s miserable season, and by then it was probably too late. Downey was trying to light a fire under his team because he still has hope.
Many fans, on the other hand, have given up. And that’s silly.
I point out the following not because I’m a cockeyed, optimist homer, but because some people need to be talked off the ledge, or at least away from their computer:
--- Of the four teams that have beaten South Carolina, two are currently ranked (No. 18 Clemson and No. 24 Southern California), another just left the rankings (N.C. State), and the other (George Mason) is receiving votes in the poll and has a good chance to make the NCAA tournament.
--- In those four losses, the Gamecocks were competitive in all but the first half at Clemson. The four games were decided by a total of 24 points. Compare that to last year, when USC was blown out by Clemson and Kansas by a combined 35.
--- South Carolina’s four wins this season have been by an average of more than 30 points. Last year it struggled against the likes of South Carolina State, Lipscomb and Jacksonville. It also lost to UC-Irvine.
--- The SEC is looking pretty weak - only Tennessee and Vanderbilt are ranked - so the Gamecocks have a decent chance to do some damage in conference play.
Yes, last year’s team also won at Southern Cal and Baylor. But those were outliers in a season when the Gamecocks clearly didn’t have much talent. This team’s modus operandi is it has enough to, as Downey said, bully the weaker teams, but it hasn’t figured out how to beat the better ones.
So none of this is to say you will see South Carolina dancing in March. For that to happen, the Gamecocks need to win either or probably both of their next two games, against Providence and Baylor. It’s OK to lose to quality teams, but at some point you need to show you can beat them. And as weak as the SEC is looking out of conference, I think an 8-8 or even 9-7 conference record may not be enough to get into the NCAA tournament.
This South Carolina team has some issues to address: Is Downey correct that certain players aren’t pulling their weight? When will coach Dave Odom feel comfortable starting freshmen Sam Muldrow and Mike Holmes together, giving the team the height it needs? When will Evka Baniulis show he’s capable of playing more than a few minutes a game, and when will Chad Gray and Austin Steed show they’re capable of playing at all?
But you could make a good argument that it’s good for these problems to arise at this point in the season. There’s plenty of time to fix them, and for the team to be playing its best at the end of the season.
We’ll see, and longtime followers of this program are right to be skeptical. Fact is, however, it’s way too soon to be declaring this a lost season and predicting coaching changes. We’re only eight games in, and there are at least 22 left.
Settle down. If it’s March and things haven’t gotten better, OK. Until then, let the season play out.
http://gogamecocks.com/index.php/seth_emerson/
Because it’s germane to my job - and because I apparently have a wish to get stupider - I spend part of each day perusing message boards. It gives you a window into the soul of diehard fans, and makes you hopeful that such people are not representative of the general public.
It seems many “fans” of the South Carolina men’s basketball program have decided the season is over. Yes, it’s a month before the SEC schedule starts, but never mind such formalities: It’s over. Move on. The Gamecocks are done. NCAA tournament? Ha! At this rate, you can forget the NIT!
(Actually, it was Devan Downey who said that last part. But he spoke it under his own name on Saturday and did not, to my knowledge, immediately rush to post on gogamecocks.com.)
If you’re a Gamecocks fan, it was probably good to hear Downey say that, because Tre’ Kelley didn’t go off until more than halfway through last year’s miserable season, and by then it was probably too late. Downey was trying to light a fire under his team because he still has hope.
Many fans, on the other hand, have given up. And that’s silly.
I point out the following not because I’m a cockeyed, optimist homer, but because some people need to be talked off the ledge, or at least away from their computer:
--- Of the four teams that have beaten South Carolina, two are currently ranked (No. 18 Clemson and No. 24 Southern California), another just left the rankings (N.C. State), and the other (George Mason) is receiving votes in the poll and has a good chance to make the NCAA tournament.
--- In those four losses, the Gamecocks were competitive in all but the first half at Clemson. The four games were decided by a total of 24 points. Compare that to last year, when USC was blown out by Clemson and Kansas by a combined 35.
--- South Carolina’s four wins this season have been by an average of more than 30 points. Last year it struggled against the likes of South Carolina State, Lipscomb and Jacksonville. It also lost to UC-Irvine.
--- The SEC is looking pretty weak - only Tennessee and Vanderbilt are ranked - so the Gamecocks have a decent chance to do some damage in conference play.
Yes, last year’s team also won at Southern Cal and Baylor. But those were outliers in a season when the Gamecocks clearly didn’t have much talent. This team’s modus operandi is it has enough to, as Downey said, bully the weaker teams, but it hasn’t figured out how to beat the better ones.
So none of this is to say you will see South Carolina dancing in March. For that to happen, the Gamecocks need to win either or probably both of their next two games, against Providence and Baylor. It’s OK to lose to quality teams, but at some point you need to show you can beat them. And as weak as the SEC is looking out of conference, I think an 8-8 or even 9-7 conference record may not be enough to get into the NCAA tournament.
This South Carolina team has some issues to address: Is Downey correct that certain players aren’t pulling their weight? When will coach Dave Odom feel comfortable starting freshmen Sam Muldrow and Mike Holmes together, giving the team the height it needs? When will Evka Baniulis show he’s capable of playing more than a few minutes a game, and when will Chad Gray and Austin Steed show they’re capable of playing at all?
But you could make a good argument that it’s good for these problems to arise at this point in the season. There’s plenty of time to fix them, and for the team to be playing its best at the end of the season.
We’ll see, and longtime followers of this program are right to be skeptical. Fact is, however, it’s way too soon to be declaring this a lost season and predicting coaching changes. We’re only eight games in, and there are at least 22 left.
Settle down. If it’s March and things haven’t gotten better, OK. Until then, let the season play out.
http://gogamecocks.com/index.php/seth_emerson/