Scouting Report: South Carolina State Bulldogs

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The South Carolina State Bulldogs (0-3) gave the South Carolina Gamecocks a real scare in their season opener. Shooting 11-26 from beyond the arc helped keep the game close until the end. However, the Bulldogs came up just short 80-77. Since then, things haven’t gone as well. South Carolina State has lost to Tennessee State 80-61 and Duquesne 96-71.

First-year head coach Erik Martin, a long-time Bob Huggins assistant, will face the Kentucky Wildcats (2-1) fresh off their hard-fought loss on Tuesday evening. The ‘Cats lost 86-77 in double overtime against Michigan State in the Champions Classic. This will serve as a bounce-back spot for head coach John Calipari and company before heading out west to take on Gonzaga.

Quite simply, South Carolina State is not a very strong team. They will be one of the two worst teams Kentucky faces this season. While the result shouldn’t ever be in doubt, this is still an important opportunity for the Wildcats. There are defensive miscues and offensive woes that need to be cleaned up following Tuesday’s frustrating loss. Working out the kinks and regaining confidence will be the name of the game at Rupp Arena on Thursday night.

Despite the quick turnaround, we’ve still got a full scouting report ready for this contest. We will break down their personnel and look into what they like to do offensively and defensively. Here is everything you need to know about the South Carolina State Bulldogs.

South Carolina State Bulldogs Personnel

Starters

#0 Lesown Hallums: 6’2″ 180 lbs, Sophomore Guard

12.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.3 apg

Dynamic guard. Best player. Much more aggressive as a driver than as a shooter. Last season in JUCO he shot just 44 of 149 shots from beyond the arc. He is 2-5 through three games this season. Need to get a hand up to contest, but much better as a driver. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! Likes to use the left-to-right crossover. Get over and cut him off. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs to stay between him and the basket. Very quick with the ball. Get the ball stopped in transition. You can come help when he drives it and try to steal the ball. Not really thinking about passing when he is driving it right. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then close out short. No right-hand drives. No layups.

#1 Cameron Jones: 6’6″ 190 lbs, Junior Guard

6.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.0 apg

Tall, long guard. Non-shooter. Just 18-62 (29%) for his career from beyond the arc. Only two of 21 shots have been 3s this season. Much more of a driver than a shooter. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! Need to stay between him and the basket. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Go up through downscreens and under the flares. Closeout short to stay between him and the basket. You can help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then close out short. No right-hand drives. No layups.

#24 Shaman Alston: 6’4″ 185 lbs, Junior Guard

4.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.3 apg

Tall, long guard. Capable shooter, but much more aggressive as a driver. Just 58 of 290 shots last season in JUCO were 3’s. Shot 34.5%. This season he is only 0-1 from deep. Much more of a driver than a shooter. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! Need to stay between him and the basket. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Go up through downscreens and under the flare. Closeout short to stay between him and the basket. You can help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then close out short. No right-hand drives. No layups.

#55 Davion Everett: 6’6″ 215 lbs, Sophomore Forward

12.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.7 apg

Undersized, athletic forward. Strong finisher around the basket. 13-17 from 2 on the season. Slasher and right-hand driver. No right-hand drives! Will face up and drive it right from the elbows and short corners. Need to get over and cut him off. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Use your length and make him score over you. You can start by closing out short to him on the perimeter. Just get your hands up to contest the catch-and-shoot. Runs the floor hard in transition. They will throw it ahead to him. Don’t get beat down the floor. Will crash the offensive glass hard. BOX OUT!

#42 Dallas James: 7’0″ 200 lbs, Sophomore Center

0.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.0 apg

Tall 5-man. Does not want the game to be physical. Push him off the block. Will only score if you give him a very deep post catch. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Just stay between him and the basket. No layups for him. Box out!

Bench

#11 Rakeim Gary: 5’10” 165 lbs, Junior Guard

6.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.3 apg

Aggressive scoring guard. Shooter! 20 of 34 shots have been 3s! Has taken nearly twice as many 3s, and eight more shots, than anyone else on the team. Need to be there to give a hard contest to his 3s. Will shoot them off of the dribble. Go over the ballscreens and handoffs. Break his rhythm when he is bouncing it on the perimeter. Will shoot them from deep. When you take away the 3 he is going to drive it right. No right-hand drives. Make him finish when driving it. Just 1-14 from 2 this season. Do not bail him out by fouling. Get your hands up and make him finish over you. No 3s! No layups.

#10 Rahsaan Edwards: 5’11” 200 lbs, Junior Guard

6.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.3 apg

Shooter! No 3s! Half of his shots have been 3s. Shooting a better percentage from 3 than 2. Need to get out to him and take away the catch-and-shoot 3s. Really wants to shoot jump shots. Contest everything. Go over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and get over the flares. If he drives it he is looking to drive it right. No right-hand drives. He is generally driving it to a pull-up. Will look to slip the high cross-screen in their Motion to get a little jump shot. Don’t get slipped. No 3s!

#14 Isaiah Turner: 6’10” 240 lbs, Junior Forward

5.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.0 apg

Big backup forward. Will look to stretch the floor some. Capable shooter. Need to be there to contest the catch-and-shoot 3s. You can still help off of him, but closeout to contest the 3s. May pick-and-pop some. You don’t have to switch it, but it is certainly okay if you do. When he rolls he will look for it at the rim. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off of the block. Don’t let him duck you in. Likes to cut along the baseline when he is off the ball. Don’t get back cut. Good offensive rebounder. Box out!

#12 DaJuan Bates: 6’1″ 170 lbs, Freshman Guard

5.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.0 apg

Backup guard. Willing shooter. 7 of 12 shots have been 3s this season. Will look to be aggressive when he is in there. Good ball handler. Will initiate offense when he comes in. You can start by going under the ballscreens and handoffs. Would rather keep him from driving it. We will adjust if he makes a couple. Stay between him and the basket. No right-hand drives!!! Get your hands up and contest the floaters and mid-range jumpers. If you help on his drives come and take it off of him. Not thinking about passing. No uncontested jumpers. No layups from right-hand drives.

#5 Raquan Brown: 6’3″ 200 lbs, Junior Guard

5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.3 apg

Backup guard. Solid shooter. 3-3 from 3 this season. Need to be there to contest the catch-and-shoot 3s. When you take that away he is looking to drive it right. No right-hand drives! You can still help off of him, but close out to contest the catch-and-shoot 3s. Be physical at the end of his drives.

#2 Jordan Simpson: 6’5″ 185 lbs, Freshman Guard

4.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.7 apg

Long, athletic backup guard. Willing shooter, but 1-7 from 3 this season. Very athletic. Will look to cut off the ball and slash to the basket. Don’t get back cut. Stay between him and the basket. No right-hand drives! Just be there to contest the catch-and-shoot 3s. Contest the pull-up jumpers.

#34 Justin Wilson: 6’8″ 215 lbs, Junior Forward

2.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.0 apg

Backup forward. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Need to be physical and push him off the block. His percentages will go down the further off the block he gets his catch. Will shoot the turnaround jumper some as well. Give it a good contest. Be physical when the shot goes up. Box out!

South Carolina State Bulldogs Offense

The South Carolina State Bulldogs will look to push the tempo on Thursday night at Rupp Arena. They are Top 100 in Kenpom’s adjusted tempo metric with an average of nearly 73 possessions per game. While the Bulldogs aggressively push the ball up the floor, they are more so looking to attack the basket than hunt 3-point attempts. This is not a very good shooting ball club.

In the half court, South Carolina will get into ballscreen actions, run a dribble weave offense, and set a lot of high cross screens at the free throw line. That cross-screen action is something unique to guard. We need to do a good job of giving help at the point of the screen to keep them from curling for layups. Staying between them and the basket will be the name of the game on Thursday night.

We gave up a couple of transition buckets to Michigan State due to simply not sprinting back on defense. Transition defense will be a key once again against the South Carolina State Bulldogs. Protect the basket, stop the ball, and match up with the next most dangerous. That is your transition defense checklist. You have to SPRINT back to the rim to keep layups like this from happening.

South Carolina State will begin a lot of possessions with a simple dribble weave on the perimeter. We are much more concerned with them driving the ball than shooting it from the perimeter. Going underneath all of these handoffs, even on the guys labeled as “shooters” is fine. When going under, there is no reason to get lost like this on a fake handoff. Do not let your man turn the corner by keeping it! Lazy defense in this clip by Tennessee State.

From their dribble weave, they will also do the backdoor option some. There is no reason to be so far out that you allow a backdoor. Just stay between them and the basket!

Much like Michigan State, the South Carolina State Bulldogs run several set plays from a Horns alignment. On this set, they cut over the top of the elbow entry and come together for a split action on the wing. They can either downscreen into the handoff or backcut and come off the handoff as you see here. If you go underneath the handoff you won’t give up the roll man.

South Carolina State Bulldogs Defense

Coach Erik Martin will likely mix things up defensively on Thursday night to give us some different looks. The South Carolina State Bulldogs will play quite a bit of a 2-2-1 full-court press that essentially looks like man-to-man. It is primarily meant to slow down the opposing offense. The Bulldogs have played a good amount of 2-3 zone this season as well. When they go zone it will be very spread out. Their guards play high and wide on the perimeter and their bottom wings come all the way out to the perimeter as well. There should be driving lanes to attack the middle of the floor.

When South Carolina State plays man-to-man they will look to “ICE” ballscreens and keep the ball on one side of the floor. They are going to be aggressive and we should find plenty of opportunities to attack the basket. Drive the ball hard in a straight line and be ready to kick it out. Be ready to shoot on the perimeter! The Bulldogs will help with two hands and two feet when the ball gets driven.

Keys to the Game

Win the turnover battle. South Carolina State has taken care of the ball better than we have this season. We need 12 or fewer turnovers tonight while forcing 15 or more.
Dominate the glass. We have to tighten up the rebounding efforts early this season. Opponents have rebounded over 30% of their misses through three games. That is not even close to good enough. Have to have 77% or better defensive rebounding tonight.
Protect the paint. The Bulldogs are going to attack the basket off of the dribble. They don’t have outstanding, high-volume shooters. Stay between them and the basket. Go under ballscreens and handoffs. Protect the rim at the end of their drives.
Regain confidence from 3. We attempted 25 3-pointers on Tuesday night. That is a good number. However, we only made seven. Fredrick was 1-6, Reeves was 1-3. Need those guys to combine for five or more tonight. 10 makes from the team would be a good number.