South Carolina women's basketball: Why aren't the "other three" playing, and how could they get into the rotation?

Over the past few weeks, South Carolina has settled into a consistent 10-player rotation. That leaves three players – all expected to contribute this season – on the outside. Why aren’t they playing and what could they do to change that?

Dawn Staley had to juggle injuries and suspensions to start the season and the Gamecocks didn’t have all 13 players available until the fourth game of the season. It took a couple more games for the rotation to take shape fully, but since the Iowa State game things have been pretty consistent. 

Raven Johnson, Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts, and Sania Feagin are the five starters. The first substitutions come around the first media timeout, and Maddy McDaniel, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Tessa Johnson, Joyce Edwards, and Ashlyn Watkins form the second unit.

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That leaves Maryam Dauda, Adhel Tac, and Sakima Walker stuck on the bench. All three were expected to play a more significant role this season for different reasons. 

Dauda is an experienced SEC player, having started 33 games at Arkansas last season and averaged 10.1 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 32% from three. She also averaged 2.2 blocks and led all SEC players with 2.8 blocks per conference game.

Tac is a super-talented and intelligent freshman who Staley compared to Aliyah Boston. She dealt with serious injuries in high school but enrolled at South Carolina last January to get a head start on rehab and learning South Carolina’s system.

Walker is the veteran who played sparingly last season but has experience with South Carolina and returned for a bigger role. She is a good shooter and shot-blocker.

Dauda has appeared in nine games and averages 1.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, and has just one block. Tac has played in eight games and averages 0.8 points and 1.98 rebounds. Walker played in six games and averaged a point and rebound.

So why aren’t they playing more? It essentially comes down to three reasons.

1. The inn is full

It’s hard enough to juggle playing time for 10 players, as Staley talked about following the USF game. That only leaves a few minutes here or there for the other three to get on the court and show what they can do. Coming in cold makes it even more challenging.

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“We play consistently 10, which is hard, right?” Staley said. “We’ve got 13, so the three other players that don’t play, they’re sitting, they just sat for 38 minutes, and then we put them in, and our expectation is, you don’t give them any points, and you push the lead forward. That’s our expectation. It’s hard, though, to sit there for that long and not get any run.”

2. Better fits

Each of South Carolina’s post players brings a different set of skills to the table, which Staley likes. However, that can also make it hard for some players to find the right fit. 

South Carolina excels when it plays uptempo and in transition, in no small part because that’s what suits Kitts, Feagin, Edwards, and Watkins. Dauda, Tac, and Walker are more half-court players.

With the playing time and style that those four have earned, it becomes harder for the other three to find a role.

“It’s more the numbers,” Staley told me this week. “The four post players are definitely going to get their minutes. They have to, they’ve earned their minutes, they’ve been here, they know what we’re doing. So, the other ones just have to play well in that window that they have.”

3. Worst case scenarios

I mentioned all the strengths the other three bring to the table, but they also entered the season with significant question marks. Unfortunately, those concerns have been realized. 

Dauda played in a radically different system at Arkansas, and the transition to South Carolina’s style of play hasn’t been as smooth as hoped. 

Tac essentially missed the last two seasons due to those injuries, and the rust shows. She also needs to get stronger finishing at the rim.

And Walker struggled with turnovers and fouls last season, a problem that she hasn’t solved.

I’m definitely not saying the three are lost causes. During the portion of practice open to the media on Wednesday, Walker was playing with the Highlighters and she had several impressive blocks. 

It turns out Walker was a late substitution, according to Staley 

“Actually, Adhel was with the Highlighters and Adhel kicked our butts,” she said. “So we want some of that good action.”

I asked Staley what the “other three” could do to earn more playing time.

“In practice, it’s doing what they do,” she said. “When you play well with the highlighters, you get the nod. I mean, it’s like three of them playing for an opportunity to get in. And when they get in, they don’t have to play perfectly, but they have to know what we’re doing. It’s unfortunate that (as compared to) some players on some teams, (our players’) window of opportunity is smaller, so they have to build trust with us.”

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