Lamont Paris reveals his initial thoughts on NCAA Tournament matchup vs. Oregon
South Carolina may not have known too much about Oregon heading into the week. They’ve had to get familiar quickly, though, with them set to meet up in the NCAA Tournament this afternoon.
Lamont Paris assessed the Ducks while speaking to the media after the Gamecocks learned of their bid on Selection Sunday. He said that he wasn’t very familiar with Oregon besides watching some of their outing in the Pac-12 Championship the night before.
“I mean I saw them play last night. That’s about it,” said Paris. “Not surprisingly, I haven’t been – since I just found out a couple minutes ago. I haven’t been brushing up on my Oregon basketball all season.”
“I know that, if you win that Pac-12 Tournament, you’re a good a team,” Paris said.
The only thing that was familiar to Paris, and to many others, was Jermaine Couisnard. Couisnard spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at South Carolina. He finished top-three in scoring in every year there, including being their leading scorer his final year, at 11.4 points per game in 73 appearances with the program.
Now, after transferring to Eugene two years ago, Couisnard is one of the Ducks’ best players. In his fifth season, he’s averaging career-highs of 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.
“I know they have a former Gamecock on their team,” Paris said. “He played really well in their championship game.”
Oregon went 23-11 overall this season in their 14th season under Dana Altman. However, to get into the NCAA Tournament, they won four games in four days to win the Pac-12 Tournament and earn the automatic bid out of the league. They will now dance today for the first time in three years since they made the Sweet 16 in 2021.
With all that said, Paris didn’t need to know too much detail about the Ducks. They’re playing in March Madness which, to him, tells him everything that he needs to know about them.
“At this point, every team that’s in the NCAA Tournament is either really good, they’re playing really well, or both,” Paris said. “You have to be ready to play and you have to expect to play well if you’re going to advance in that tournament.”
Paris gives injury update on Ta’Lon Cooper, Myles Stute
As Lamont Paris and South Carolina ready for their NCAA Tournament opener against Oregon, the Gamecocks are hoping two key players heal quickly from injuries that sidelined them at least temporarily during the SEC Tournament.
Myles Stute (hip pointer) and guard Ta’Lon Cooper (ankle) are both recovering from various knocks. The prognosis on both players is relatively positive, though, heading into Thursday’s matchup.
“I think there’s been good progress on behalf of each of those guys,”Paris said. “I think, Myles Stute, his injury was a little more significant in that he had to miss some game time. But he has made some good progress. So I expect him to be available at some level.”
“We’ll see what that looks like in terms of what percentage of his usual self he is in terms of mobility, in terms of absorbing contact, and being able to continue to play the way that he needs to to be an effective piece for us,” Lamont Paris said.
Paris also provided an update on Cooper, whose injury doesn’t sound quite as serious.
“And then Ta’Lon was the same,” he said. “I think he’s at a pretty high percentage of full health and he’ll be ready to go.”