Josh Gray not afraid to 'talk trash back' when he faces old teammate Jermaine Couisnard
There are a lot of benefits to playing against your old teammates in a game setting. You know what their tendencies are and what they’re like as a player better than most. But you also know what makes them tick.
For Josh Gray, he’s one of two players on South Carolina that used to play with Oregon guard Jermaine Couisnard. The two were teammates for one season in Columbia before Couisnard left for Eugene after their old head coach Frank Martin was fired.
The two friends still text from time to time. But two years after Couisnard left, they’ll get to face off in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Gamecocks and Ducks will meet on Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh (4 p.m., TNT).
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Once Gray first sees Couisnard again, he said it’ll probably “be all smiles.” But after that, he’s got a specific plan of attack for his old teammate.
“When I get on the court, I’m going to try to annoy him because he definitely gets annoyed pretty fast,” Gray told GamecockCentral. “I watch a lot of basketball, I know different types of people and different types of characters. He’s one of those people that I feel like you can’t get under their skin because it just makes them play better. So I’m going to pick and prod and see what I can get away with.”
Why would Gray do this? It’s pretty simple. Back when they used to practice together on the same team, Couisnard would open his mouth and talk plenty of trash.
“Just very angry and aggressive, those are two words I could use to describe him. He would hit a three and automatically start talking,” Gray said. “I’m coming off the bench my sophomore year as well, so I’m on the other team, like the scout team. And he’s just talking trash to the scout team. So I just feel like we’ve got to talk trash back. And then he gets all in his feelings.”
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As for what Gray might have up his sleeve, it won’t be anything crazy. No personal insults or anything of that liking.
“Just regular, old, common trash talk,” Gray said. “I don’t do any over-the-top stuff, just regular, old-fashioned trash talk. And he’s a talker. He likes to talk trash back. So it’s going to be fun.”
His go-to line?
“You suck,” Gray said. “Miss a layup or free throw? You suck. … Every time a good player gets told that, they get emotional and then they start to defend themselves. It’s really not that deep. But some people, you know, they have that pride. And then pride can be a double-edged sword. So we’ll see how that works tomorrow.”
