Our opponent tonight, South Carolina, is a different beast offensively than Friday's Virginia team. The Gamecocks do not prefer to jump out in transition on offense, and they do not crash the offensive boards. They take fully half of their shots from 3, and 40% from within a few feet of the rim. Many of their three-point attempts come off drives into the lane before a kick-out pass. Butler was able to force them into more bad midrange shots than they prefer to take, and we will likely attempt to do the same. Defensively, South Carolina will be similar to Virginia, but more extreme. SC allows the 3rd-fewest 3-point attempts in the country and the 36th-lowest assist rate, so they again will be trying to force us to beat them 1-on-1 and drive to the rim. The difference is that unlike Virginia, they do not have a 7-foot center to play 40 minutes. They do have two 7-footers on the roster, and against Butler they actually played them together for 7 minutes along with their 6'9" wing, where they were +7. Not sure why they aren't giving more minutes to the big men...odd.
Starters:
#5, 6'2" PG Meechie Johnson - As I mentioned the other day, Johnson has ping-ponged between OSU and South Carolina over the past 6 years, and is presumably in his final year of college basketball. He seems determined to make it count, as he takes 31% of their shots when he's on the floor and has a 26% assist rate while also drawing a ton of fouls. If he limited himself to being a passer and 3-point shooter, he'd be a really excellent player. Unfortunately for them, he loves to drive into the lane and shoot, where he's an awful 7-21 on layups and even when he draws fouls, he's only a 61% FT shooter. Meanwhile he shoots 50% from midrange and 39% from 3. Defensively, he is one of their weakest links.
#4, 6'5" PG Kobe Knox - At his 3rd school in four years - one at Grand Canyon and two at South Florida (where he was Jayden Reid's teammate) - Knox has struggled shooting to start the season, while being transformed from a shooting guard into more of a point guard. He's very steady with the ball, and does not turn it over, but is just 7-23 on the season on all non-dunks, including 21% from 3. It's strange, because he is an 89% FT shooter, so let's hope he doesn't suddenly remember how to shoot today. Unlike Meechie, when Kobe drives, he's usually looking to pass to a teammate. He's also a more patient player, willing to use pick and roll action to get the ball down low, or looks for a backdoor cut. Defensively decent, nothing special.
#10, 6'7" SF Myles Stute - Another 6th-year player, Stute had a season-ending injury last year and is another player who has struggled from deep starting off the year. Prior to this season, he was a career 37% shooter from deep, yet is just 24% so far this year. Despite the struggles, he's taking 80% of his shots from deep, preferring to hang out around the 3-point line. When he does decide to drive, he's much more likely to pass it to a teammate, and he's much more effective in this role.
#55, 6'9" Stretch 4 Mike Sharavjamts - The Mongolian menace, at his 4th school in four years, Sharavjamts is their best player right now. He's shooting 62% from 2, 44% from 3, and 89% from the FT line. Averaging 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists per game, he will be a difficult task to defend. If we can force him into midrange shots, that will be the best case for us. He's also gotten into foul trouble in a few games, with 4 fouls against Butler on Friday and against Southern Miss previously.
#20, 6'6" C(?) Hayden Assemian - The 5-spot for SC is a mess, but this freshman has started the past few games for them. He doesn't shoot 3s, and can't stay on the floor because he fouls constantly. He's a solid rebounder when he's on the floor, but right now he's only averaging about 12 minutes per game.
Reserves
#15, 6'0" PG Eli Ellis - Man, Lamont Paris loves playing point guards together. Ellis doesn't start, but averages 28 minutes per game, often playing with both Meechie and Kobe at the same time. A freshman, Ellis loves to drive to the rim as much as Meechie does, but he actually scores and shoots FTs at an 87% clip. He's also a threat to pull up and pop a floater successfully. He's also the best of their PGs in transition, and defensively as well.
#24, 6'8" C(?) Nordin Kapic - A member of last year's cinderella UCSD team, Kapic started the first two games of the season seemingly playing very well, and has found himself stapled to the bench the past three games. Odd. He's 4-9 on the year from 3 and 3-3 on midrange shots. Might see him, might not.
#0, 7'0" C Jordan Butler - This guy is probably their best center, and yet is only getting 13 minutes per game. He's a great rebounder, blocks shots, shoots 85% at the FT line, and has made 9 of his 11 shots this year. It would be coaching malpractice to not play him more against us given our rebounding issues. When he's in the game, he will largely look to post-up and shoot, but is also a threat to pass it out for a 3 or crash the boards for a second-chance shot.
#31, 6'8" Stretch 4 Elijah Strong - Coming over after two seasons at BC, Strong has struggled to make an impact so far this year. Doesn't really do anything well so far, only shooting 2-12 from 3. A real offensive black hole.
#13, 6'6" Wing Grant Polk - Looks like this guy has largely played in garbage time so far this year, but he's a deadeye sharpshooter in his chances. Seems very Max Green-like. If he does get onto the court, we will need to clamp down on him quickly, because he will fire away if given the opportunity.
#2, 7'0" C Christ Essandoko - At 280 lbs, this dude is a massive man, and yet he's only getting ~10 minutes per game. He played great for St. Joseph's as a freshman, less great but serviceable last year at Providence, but this year, he seems to have zero offensive touch. Played 10 minutes against Butler with 0 points, 3 defensive boards and 2 fouls.
We need to win this game, a loss here would be really devastating for our bubble hopes. Let's get it done tonight!
Starters:
#5, 6'2" PG Meechie Johnson - As I mentioned the other day, Johnson has ping-ponged between OSU and South Carolina over the past 6 years, and is presumably in his final year of college basketball. He seems determined to make it count, as he takes 31% of their shots when he's on the floor and has a 26% assist rate while also drawing a ton of fouls. If he limited himself to being a passer and 3-point shooter, he'd be a really excellent player. Unfortunately for them, he loves to drive into the lane and shoot, where he's an awful 7-21 on layups and even when he draws fouls, he's only a 61% FT shooter. Meanwhile he shoots 50% from midrange and 39% from 3. Defensively, he is one of their weakest links.
#4, 6'5" PG Kobe Knox - At his 3rd school in four years - one at Grand Canyon and two at South Florida (where he was Jayden Reid's teammate) - Knox has struggled shooting to start the season, while being transformed from a shooting guard into more of a point guard. He's very steady with the ball, and does not turn it over, but is just 7-23 on the season on all non-dunks, including 21% from 3. It's strange, because he is an 89% FT shooter, so let's hope he doesn't suddenly remember how to shoot today. Unlike Meechie, when Kobe drives, he's usually looking to pass to a teammate. He's also a more patient player, willing to use pick and roll action to get the ball down low, or looks for a backdoor cut. Defensively decent, nothing special.
#10, 6'7" SF Myles Stute - Another 6th-year player, Stute had a season-ending injury last year and is another player who has struggled from deep starting off the year. Prior to this season, he was a career 37% shooter from deep, yet is just 24% so far this year. Despite the struggles, he's taking 80% of his shots from deep, preferring to hang out around the 3-point line. When he does decide to drive, he's much more likely to pass it to a teammate, and he's much more effective in this role.
#55, 6'9" Stretch 4 Mike Sharavjamts - The Mongolian menace, at his 4th school in four years, Sharavjamts is their best player right now. He's shooting 62% from 2, 44% from 3, and 89% from the FT line. Averaging 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists per game, he will be a difficult task to defend. If we can force him into midrange shots, that will be the best case for us. He's also gotten into foul trouble in a few games, with 4 fouls against Butler on Friday and against Southern Miss previously.
#20, 6'6" C(?) Hayden Assemian - The 5-spot for SC is a mess, but this freshman has started the past few games for them. He doesn't shoot 3s, and can't stay on the floor because he fouls constantly. He's a solid rebounder when he's on the floor, but right now he's only averaging about 12 minutes per game.
Reserves
#15, 6'0" PG Eli Ellis - Man, Lamont Paris loves playing point guards together. Ellis doesn't start, but averages 28 minutes per game, often playing with both Meechie and Kobe at the same time. A freshman, Ellis loves to drive to the rim as much as Meechie does, but he actually scores and shoots FTs at an 87% clip. He's also a threat to pull up and pop a floater successfully. He's also the best of their PGs in transition, and defensively as well.
#24, 6'8" C(?) Nordin Kapic - A member of last year's cinderella UCSD team, Kapic started the first two games of the season seemingly playing very well, and has found himself stapled to the bench the past three games. Odd. He's 4-9 on the year from 3 and 3-3 on midrange shots. Might see him, might not.
#0, 7'0" C Jordan Butler - This guy is probably their best center, and yet is only getting 13 minutes per game. He's a great rebounder, blocks shots, shoots 85% at the FT line, and has made 9 of his 11 shots this year. It would be coaching malpractice to not play him more against us given our rebounding issues. When he's in the game, he will largely look to post-up and shoot, but is also a threat to pass it out for a 3 or crash the boards for a second-chance shot.
#31, 6'8" Stretch 4 Elijah Strong - Coming over after two seasons at BC, Strong has struggled to make an impact so far this year. Doesn't really do anything well so far, only shooting 2-12 from 3. A real offensive black hole.
#13, 6'6" Wing Grant Polk - Looks like this guy has largely played in garbage time so far this year, but he's a deadeye sharpshooter in his chances. Seems very Max Green-like. If he does get onto the court, we will need to clamp down on him quickly, because he will fire away if given the opportunity.
#2, 7'0" C Christ Essandoko - At 280 lbs, this dude is a massive man, and yet he's only getting ~10 minutes per game. He played great for St. Joseph's as a freshman, less great but serviceable last year at Providence, but this year, he seems to have zero offensive touch. Played 10 minutes against Butler with 0 points, 3 defensive boards and 2 fouls.
We need to win this game, a loss here would be really devastating for our bubble hopes. Let's get it done tonight!
