The 3-2-1: Three positives, two negatives, and one lingering question from South Carolina basketball's win over North Carolina A&T
In the 3-2-1, we identify three positives, two negatives, and one lingering question following South Carolina basketball’s latest time out on the court. Let’s dive into the Gamecocks’ 91-72 win over North Carolina A&T.
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Three Positives
- Letting it fly from outside
South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris said he wanted his team to take a lot of outside shots this season. Through one game, the Gamecocks fulfilled their head coach’s wishes.
USC took just over half of its non-fouled shots from behind the 3-point arc against North Carolina A&T. Even better than that, they shot a good percentage, going 14-for-32 (43.8%) from the perimeter.
Nine Gamecocks made a 3-pointer, 11 attempted one, and four knocked down more than one. Transfer forward Nordin Kapic led the way with three (on five attempts), and Meechie Johnson, Kobe Knox, and Myles Stute each canned a pair.
The bigs (Kapic, Elijah Strong, Jordan Butler, and Christ Essandoko) combined to go 6-for-9 behind the arc.
Following the modern basketball scoring motto of “three, free, or bunny,” Carolina earned 85 of their 91 total points from the 3-point line, free throw line, or paint. Two of the three mid-range makes came from open shots at the foul line, too. - Additional offensive punch
With the construction of South Carolina’s current roster, scoring points will be crucial. While Paris demands defensive effort, the Gamecocks don’t have many proven high-level defenders at this time. On Tuesday night, they scored enough that it didn’t matter.
In addition to the outside shooting, South Carolina saw some other offensive positives, as well. The team tallied 23 assists on 31 made baskets, including 12 from their primary facilitators, Meechie Johnson, Eli Ellis, and Mike Sharavjamts. Virtually every player who saw time on the floor made a nice pass or two.
Power forwards Nordin Kapic and Elijah Strong made five baskets inside the arc, including some through contact. 7-footer Jordan Butler looked more comfortable than at any other time in his career en route to nine points, a number that tied for his USC career-high. The Gamecocks posted up their guards several times, too.
Players like Christ Essandoko, Hayden Assemian, and Kobe Knox showed a greater ability to play as part of the offense than some envisioned.
In total, seven Gamecocks scored at least nine points. - Lineup flexibility
A few days before the season opener, Lamont Paris told CBS’ Jon Rothstein that he was thinking about playing veteran wing Myles Stute in some small-ball power forward minutes. Not only was he thinking about it, but he deployed his starting lineup that way.
The move put Nordin Kapic at the five-spot and allowed Kobe Knox into the starting lineup.
However, Paris also played his two 7-footers (Jordan Butler and Christ Essandoko) over 20 combined minutes, even with neither of them in the starting five. There were times, too, in which he played them next to each other.
With South Carolina’s abundance of guards and Stute’s positional flexibility, Paris will continue having the freedom to give different lineups a try before conference play in January.
Two Negatives
- Some disjointed/uncomfortable play
There wasn’t much to critique from South Carolina’s offensive output against the Aggies.
However, there were some times in which the Gamecocks didn’t look overly comfortable with the ball. That led to some lackadaisical passes and extremely avoidable turnovers.
NCA&T managed to score 14 points off of USC’s 13 turnovers, showing that many of them led directly to good opportunities for the opponent.
On more than one occasion, a Carolina ballhandler unnecessarily picked up his dribble. It didn’t typically hurt the Gamecocks against North Carolina A&T, but against more athletic teams, that type of decision can lead to additional turnovers. - Defense
It’s not easy to continue defending hard in a game that is out of hand. South Carolina led by 18 at halftime, and following the intermission, they gave up far too many points to A&T.
Post defense likely will be a struggle this season for the Gamecocks. The Aggies managed 34 points in the paint.
The Aggies’ two top scorers were wings Lureon Walker and Lewis Walker. The duo combined for 38 points on 14-for-25 shooting. They diced up the USC perimeter defense and were undeterred against the post D.
In transition, North Carolina A&T scored 28 points. As mentioned previously, some of that was because of turnovers. However, other times, Carolina just didn’t get back quickly enough.
After the game, Coach Paris lamented his team’s “overall grit and intention” on that end of the floor but thought his team showed a few things defensively that make him optimistic about them down the road.
One Lingering Question and What’s Next
What about the “point guard” position?
Though South Carolina wants to play more positionless basketball, the team has three primary ballhandlers in Meechie Johnson, Eli Ellis, and Mike Sharavjamts. Johnson and Sharavjamts started on Tuesday. All three players had some quality moments distributing the basketball.
However, there didn’t appear to be very many instances of one of those players comfortably running a designed set and commanding the offense. Instead, much of the facilitation came in a more improvisational way.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as the Gamecocks continue to be willing to share the ball. Early returns were good in that regard. However, if the offense gets stagnant down the road, how might things need to change at the “point guard” position?
What’s Next?
South Carolina basketball will take the floor again on Sunday, November 9th. The Gamecocks will host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Colonial Life Arena. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. SEC Network will handle the broadcast, while the ESPN app makes the action available via streaming.